(le Róislín)

You may have noticed Transparent Language’s recent WOTD, an bhialann, the restaurant, and you may recognize a keyword in this expression, “bia” (food).  It’s helpful to know the suffix “–lann” also, since it is used to make dozens of words.

The suffix comes from the word “lann,” which has many meanings, including “land,” “ground,” “building,” or “church.”  Its gender is feminine, which means that any noun based on “lann” will also be feminine.  

Here are a few more:

amharclann, theater, from the root “amharc” (sight, vision)

pictiúrlann, movie theater, from “pictiúr” (picture)

dánlann, gallery, from “dán,” which most commonly means “poem” in Modern Irish but which can also mean “art,” “craft,” or “gift,” especially in the abstract senses.“Gailearaí” is also used for an art gallery.  

Here are some that might come into play as you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day:

grúdlann, brewery, from “grúdaigh” (“brew,” the verb).This gives us a whole “slua” (host or horde) of beer-related words, like “grúdaire” (brewer) and “grúdaireacht” (brewing). But beware of “grúdarlach” (swill or slops)!

drioglann, distillery, from “driog” (distill).This also gives us some occupational terms, such as “driogaire” (distiller) and “driogaireacht” (distilling).

On the literary side:

dialann, a journal, from the same root as the phrases “Dé Luain,” “Dé Máirt” (Monday, Tuesday, etc.), that is a somewhat archaic word for “day.”You’ve probably also seen “lá,” which is the ordinary word for “day.”

leabharlann, library, from “leabhar” (book).

And finally:

sólann, leisure center.  This is a fairly new word in Irish, although its core word, “só” (comfort, luxury, joy) is traditional.  It’s probably safe to say “Ní raibh sólanna ag na SeanGhaeil” (the Old Irish didn’t have leisure centers)!

cultúrlann, clearly from the word “cultúr” (culture).  Two of the more well known ones in Ireland are the fairly new Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, which is i mBéal Feirste (in Belfast) and Cultúrlann na hÉireann, which is i mBaile Átha Cliath (in Dublin).  Cultúrlann na hÉireann is the headquarters of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

One caveat: As we find in English, Irish has a number of pairs of words that look alike but that have completely different meanings.There is another word “lann,” which means “blade” or “lamina.”  Usually context will make it clear which word is meant.  While the compound words mentioned above are all quite widely used, “lann” is not really that common in modern spoken Irish.  There are other words that convey its basic meanings of “land,” “ground,” “building” and “church.”  As for “lann” meaning “blade,” that’s not really that common in modern spoken Irish either, unless you’re discussing “claimhteoireacht” (swordsmanship) or “gaibhniú” (forging, metalworking) or some related topic.

And yes, there is a very new word in Irish, “blaglann,” meaning something like “blog place.”  It’s not in the dictionaries yet, but has a grand total of 10 hits in Google, as of the day this was written, an dara lá déag de mhí an Mhárta, 2009 (March 12, 2009).  Bhur mblagálaí – Róislín

Nuashonrúchán (maidir leis an bhfocal “blaglann”), 1/31/15: Rinne mé cuardach eile inniu.  Fuair mé ocht n-amas (8) le Yahoo! (gan sórtáil) agus 438 roimh shórtáil le Google (ach gan ach 15 tar éis na sórtála).  Laghdú mór tar éis na sórtála!

Nuashonrúchán (maidir leis an bhfocal “blaglann”), 7/22/16: Rinne mé cuardach Google eile inniu.  Fuair mé 546 amas roimh shórtáil  (ach gan ach 21 tar éis na sórtála).  Laghdú mór tar éis na sórtála!