le Róislín 

Mostly this blog will discuss beverages associated with Lá Fhéile Pádraig and save sú páiseoige and sú tráta and the like for a later blog. 

Let’s start with some of the basics, like beer, ale, and whiskey (note the ‘-ey” spelling of whiskey here, since this a blog about Irish.  Ceistín ort: Cé a litríonn é mar “w-h-i-s-k-y”?  Freagra thíos.

A. “Beoir” is a feminine noun, so we also have the forms “an bheoir” (the beer, with the “bh” pronounced like a “v”) and “na beorach” (of beer)  The fact that “beoir” is feminine also affects an adjective that directly modifies it (beoir fhuar) or a noun that acts as an adjective (beoir shinséir).

So how would you say the following (note: there will be some duplication in answers):

1. buidéal _______________ (a bottle of beer)

2. ____________ bhairille (draught beer, lit. beer of a barrel)

3. canna _________________(a can of beer)

4. anraith _________ cáise (cheesy beer soup), made with “green cheese” for St. Patrick’s Day?

5. _______________ neamh-mheisciúil (non-alcoholic beer)

6. braichlis _______________ (beerwort, lit. wort of beer).  Note: “braichlis” is a feminine noun, which causes an additional change to the word “beoir.”

7. scoth____________ (premium beer).  Note: this is a compound word, with “scoth-“ as a prefix.  What happens to the second half of a compound word in most cases in Irish?

B. “Leann” (ale) is a masculine noun.  Seo cúpla cineál leannta.  Can you fill in the missing Irish word?

leann ________ (porter, stout).  Hint: this phrase, reversed, is similar to the place name “Dublin,” even though the “-lin” of “Dublin” is from the Irish word “linn” (pool), not from “leann.”  Interesting coincidence though!  Not that “Dublin” is actually called “Dublin” in Irish – the Irish name for the capital city is “Baile Átha Cliath,” but that’s ábhar blag eile.

leann ________ (ginger-ale)  

leann ________ (heather-ale).  This ale was long relegated to the legend about an Irishman’s attempt to learn the Danish secret of making heather-beer.  But, about 25 years ago, the product was revived as “Fraoch Heather Ale,” as noted in my blog of 20 Eanáir 2010 (https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/tag/zymurgy/).  At the time, the following sites sold it: http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/ (UK mainland only); this company is also known for its ales made with feamainn, péine, and caor throim (seaweed, pine, and elderberry).  For Nua-Eabhrac, Filideilfia, San Francisco, and Siceagó, this site http://www.beermenus.com/beers/fraoch-heather-ale lists pubs that stock it.  Ar bhlais tú riamh é?

And the language note here, even though “fraoch” is a good clue, it’s not the exact form you would use to fill in the blank!

C. “The Craythur” et al.: There are several ways to say “whiskey,” (the legal type) in Irish, both based on the word “water” (uisce).  Can you fill in the blanks to create them?

__uisce (litir amháin, just one additional letter needed here)

uisce _________ (whiskey, lit. water of life)

As for the Hiberno-English word, “the craythur,” either ask Tim Finnegan or just “stick to it” and it will “sink your sorrows” and “raise your joys.”  Má tá leid eile, de dhíth ort, féach ar na freagraí (C.)

SGF, ó Róislín

Gluais: fuar, cold (becomes “fhuar” after “beoir,” with the “fh” completely silent); páiseog, passion-fruit, páiseoige, of passion-fruit; sinséar, ginger sinséir or shinséir, of ginger, as in arán sinséir and the phrase above, beoir shinséir (no séimhiú after “arán,” since it’s masculine); tráta, tomato, of tomato (no changes here)

Freagra don cheist faoi litriú: na hAlbanaigh (Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey)

A. Freagraí faoi bheoir): 1. buidéal beorach, 2. beoir bhairille, 3. canna beorach, 4. anraith beorach cáise (lit. beer-soup of cheese, even more lit. “soup of beer of cheese”), 5. beoir neamh-mheisciúil, 6. braichlis bheorach, 7. scothbheoir.  As you might have noticed, buidéal, canna, and anraith are all followed by the form “beorach,” since they are masculine nouns.  “Braichlis,” being a feminine noun, is followed by the lenited form of “beorach,” so the phrase is “braichlis bheorach,” with the “bh” pronounced like a “v.” 

B. Freagraí faoi leann: 1. leann dubh, 2. leann sinséir, 3. leann fraoigh (“fraoigh” [free], of heather, is the tuiseal ginideach for “fraoch [freekh or fraykh or frookh]  The pronunciation of “fraoch” depends on your dialect.  The key-thing, for Béarlóirí, is that the “ch” is the voiceless velar fricative (guttural) sound we find in German “Buch,” Welsh “Bach,” and Hebrew/Yiddish/English “chutzpah”)

C. Freagraí faoi “whiskey”: fuisce, uisce beatha.  Home-distilled whiskey also has a variety of names in Irish and English, “poitín,” being the most typical in Irish; this word is usually anglicized as “poteen,” with the “t” pronounced almost like an English “ch” (as in “child,” “church,” etc.).  I mBéarla: the craythur (with a good Hiberno-English dental “t” in the middle), the stuff, and for the first pint, “the pure drop.”  At least one writer implies that poitín is distilled from the tears of angels (!), as noted on the site http://www.paul-hyde-author.com/cioran.html.  It’s unclear to me whether the actual comparison is by Emile Cioran himself or by Paul Hyde, referring to a statement by Cioran.  Either way, a great analogy.  Anyone else familiar with it, i nGaeilge (deora aingeal, is dócha), nó i mBéarla?

Iarsmaoineamh:  Wow!  A final search for ale-related terms online took me, by sheer coincidence,  to the term “Sl. Waialeale,” which is the official Irish version of Mt. Wai’ale’ale’ (sliabh i Haváí).  The “Sl.” stands for “Sliabh” (mountain).  I know it’s coincidental, and that the final “-e” is actually pronounced (unlike the silent “-e” in “ale”), but how intriguing that Sl. Waialeale is one of the wettest places on earth.  Seems like it would be a good place to get your whistle “wel y-wet,” as Chaucer would have us say!