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An Pápa Proinsias agus an tAinm Proinsias/Proinséas Posted by róislín on Apr 8, 2013
(le Róislín) “Jeanne d’Arc” ach “An Mháthair Treasa“? It’s interesting to note whether the names of internationally recognized figures have Irish versions, or if they are left in the original. “Joan of Arc” and “Mother “Teresa” provide insightful examples. “Joan of Arc,” as she is known in English, retains her French name, “Jeanne d’Arc,” in…
More Green Ideas, Mostly _Not_ Colorless (Sorry, Chomsky!) Posted by róislín on Mar 31, 2013
(le Róislín) The color “green” is such an interesting topic, I’m reluctant to stop quite yet, even after having written several blogs on it. Today we’ll start out with some common and some not-so-common examples of “green” in Irish, and end up, out on a limb (verdant, no doubt) discussing “colorless green.” If that last…
Aibhneacha: Glas nó Uaine? (Rivers: Green/Glas or Green/Uaine?) Posted by róislín on Mar 29, 2013
(le Róislín) And now for the final part of our “glas vs. uaine” (green/green) discussion, stemming from the St. Patrick’s Day discussions. Somehow it has turned into a mionsraith ad hoc, so I suppose I could have labeled each section (Cuid a hAon, Cuid a Dó, and today, Cuid a Trí). But I guess I’ll just…
Béigil: Uaine nó Glas? (Which Type of ‘Green’ for Bagels?) Posted by róislín on Mar 27, 2013
(le Róislín) I figured there would be a lot more online references to “green beer” than to “green bagels” and, iontas na n-iontas, that was the correct assumption. When you search for the terms in Irish (beoir ghlas, beoir uaine, béigil ghlasa, béigil uaine), the numbers for both drop dramatically. Not that there are that…
Aimsir na Cásca, Redux (Eastertide, Revisited) Posted by róislín on Mar 25, 2013
(le Róislín) Since An Cháisc is so early (chomh luath) this year (i mbliana), we’re interrupting the green beer-green bagel-green river thread to offer an Easter topic. We’ll resume the St. Patrick’s Day (Lá Fhéile Pádraig) follow-up shortly. For this blog, we’ll deal with the terminology of “Aimsir na Cásca” (the Easter season OR Eastertide). Here…
Beoir: Uaine nó Glas nó Ceachtar? (Beer: Green/Uaine or Green/Glas or Neither?) Posted by róislín on Mar 22, 2013
(le Róislín) Our last blog primarily covered the actual history of St. Patrick and his name. This blog will take a lighter-hearted look at some St. Patrick’s Day imagery, namely the much-maligned-but-nevertheless-consumed green beer. I’m refraining from value judgments on the topic (unlike many of the online commentators!), but am primarily interested in whether people…
How Magonus Succetus Became ‘Naomh Pádraig’ (St. Patrick) — Or Is It ‘Pádraig Naofa’? Posted by róislín on Mar 17, 2013
(le Róislín) There are so many topics concerning “Lá Fhéile Pádraig” (béigil uaine and beoir uaine, aibhneacha uaine and amhráin mar “Chaitheamh an Ghlais,” to name just a few), that they can’t possibly fit into one blog. So for this “Blag Fhéile Pádraig” we’ll just concentrate on the saint’s name (Magonus, Maewyn, Succetus, Succat, Pádraig…