(le Róislín)

How many Easter expressions can you come up with in Irish, and how many different forms of the word “Cáisc” are used?  This blog is based an iarbhlag (3 Aibreán 2015), but instead of earlier approach of filling in the blanks, which gives more prompting, this one has complete phrases to be translated.  The good news, though, is that there is a “banc focal” (word bank), which the original quiz did not have.

First, though, a little review of the various forms of the word “Easter” in Irish.  There are three main forms, each with variations.

Cáisc, which usually shows up as An Cháisc, lit. “the Easter.”  Like “An Nollaig” (Christmas), the Irish word for the holiday takes the word “the” in front, most of the time (but not all the time!).

The other two typical forms are:

Cásca, of Easter, and “na Cásca,” which also means “of Easter” and includes the definite article, but note that we wouldn’t translate the “the” into English.  Remember, we don’t say “What do you do for the Easter?” or “the meal of the Easter”.

And there’s a plural:

Cáisceanna, Easters. Not used often, even in English, probably, but there’s always the context of reminiscing, as in “Of all the Easters I remember, 1998 was the best.  And here are the remaining forms which might occur in specific phrases:

gCáisc, would follow the preposition “in”, among other uses, for example: i gCáisc na nGiúdach, déantar … (Cáisc na nGiúdach is Passover; the phrase means, “in Passover, … is/are done)

Chásca, would follow feminine singular nouns, as in “Máirt Chásca” (Easter Tuesday, not as widely recognized as “Domhnach Cásca” and “Luan Cásca“)

Much less commonly, we have: gCáisceanna, Cháisceanna

So, let’s get started with some phrases.  Freagraí thíos, and also, note that I’m not putting in the exact number of dashes for letters or words, just one long-ish line, so the dúshlán, will be a little greater.  You’ll have to decide whether to include the definite article.  The word bank lists all the words needed, including repetitions.

In the word bank, only the forms of “Easter” are capitalized.  If the entire phrase needs to be capitalized, please add that to your answer.

Word Bank: aimsir, amach, beannachtaí, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cásca, Cháisc, Chásca, ciseán, éirí, mion-, na, na, na, na, na, Oileán, ort/oraibh, tine, uan, ubh, uibheacha

1) ________________Happy Easter (lit. the blessing of Easter)

2) ________________an Easter egg

3) ________________an Easter basket

4) ________________Eastertide

5) ________________ Easter Island / Rapa Nui)

6) ________________the Easter Rising (1916)

7) ________________Low Sunday

8) ________________Paschal lamb

9) ________________Paschal fire

10) ________________ Easter eggs

Hope you enjoyed that.  SGF – Róislín

PS Here’s a fun, slightly surprising article showing a unique twist to cruth an uain: http://www.hungrysam.com/hungry-sam/2011/4/20/not-your-average-pesachpaschal-lamb.html

Freagraí

1) Beannachtaí na Cásca ort/oraibh: Happy Easter (lit. the blessing of Easter); the Irish phrase will typically include ort/oraibh, for “to you”

2) ubh Chásca: an Easter egg; note the lenition (ch, not “c”) which is standard, although I’ve also seen it without the lenition

3) ciseán Cásca: an Easter basket (no lenition!)

4) aimsir na Cásca: Eastertide (includes the definite article)

5) Oileán na Cásca: Easter Island / Rapa Nui; also includes the definite article

6) Éirí Amach na Cásca: the Easter Rising (1916), the definite article again

7) Mion-Cháisc: Low Sunday (lenition after the prefix)

8) uan Cásca: Paschal lamb (no lenition, no definite article; also, interesting how English alternates between using “Paschal” and saying “Easter”)

9) tine na Cásca: Paschal fire (includes the definite article); a variant, not in the word bank, is “tine Chásca”

10) uibheacha Cásca: Easter eggs (note that the lenition is dropped in the plural); btw, “cúbóg” and ”clúdóg” can also be used for a clutch of Easter eggs.