(le Róislín)

Who says that cait dhubha aren’t “gleoite”? There are all kinds of pisreoga about them being or bringing bad luck, and I’ve heard that people are reluctant to adopt them from shelters. But there’s no reason that having a cat dubh should be any different than having a cat of any other color (cat a bhfuil dath ar bith eile air nó uirthi).

October 29^th was “Lá Náisiúnta na gCat” in the United States, so what more timely topic than “cait dhubha”?

Before we practice saying “black cat(s)” in different phrases and sentences, let me just note that the “náisiúnta” part of “Lá Náisiúnta na gCat” refers to Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá. I don’t know if other countries have a “national cat day.” An bhfuil a fhios agaibhse, a léitheoirí? Of course, most American “national days” don’t have official Irish language versions, but I went ahead and translated it for this blog to provide some language practice. If you’re fairly new to Irish, note the word order: day-national-of the-cats

World Cat Day (aka International Cat Day) was on August 8^th and will be celebrated again on August 8, 2015. It was started in 2002 (tuilleadh eolais anseo: http://www.cute-calendar.com/event/world-cat-day/9900-world.html). Féilire gleoiteachta, mar a deir an nasc – mh’anam! Ach, i ndáiríre, tá an oiread sin gleoiteachta postáilte ar an Idirlíon, níl iontas orm go bhfuil féilire di ann. Dá bhfeicfeá an piscín deas gleoite sa phictiúr ar an suíomh (“cute-calendar”), é (í?) ag súgradh le ceirtlín olla!

Agus tá tuilleadh eolais anseo, ón ngrúpa a bhunaigh an Lá: http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/world-cat-day-no-need-expel-kitty

Cén chaoi a ndéarfá “International Cat Day” más é “Lá Náisiúnta na gCat” atá ar “National Cat Day”? Bain úsáid as “idirnáisiúnta” mar an aidiacht: Lá Idirnáisiúnta na gCat. “Idir” [ID^J-ir^zh] means “between” and may be translated as the prefix “inter-“; sometimes it’s used to mean “both.” Not that the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) has an official designation for the name of this day in Irish, as far as I can tell, although its website (http://www.ifaw.org/international) is available in over half a dozen world languages.

If we wanted to make it specifically “World Cat Day,” we’d use “domhanda” [DOH-un-duh, silent “m”] instead of “Idirnáisiúnta.” Anyone want to venture how to put that phrase together? If so, please write in your suggestion.

You might pick up some hints from the following, which do have official Irish versions (aistriúchán thíos): Lá Domhanda an Chomhshaoil, Lá Domhanda an Bhia, and Lá Domhanda na nÉan Imirce

Anyway, let’s get back to na cait dhubha. Here are some basic forms of the phrase:

cat dubh, a black cat; Feicim cat dubh.

an cat dubh, the black cat; Feicim an cat dubh atá trasna na sráide.

cait dhubha, black cats; “An maith leat cait dhubha?” “Is maith, tá siad go hálainn.”

na cait dhubha, the black cats; An uchtóidh duine ar bith na cait dhubha atá sa bpóna?

And let’s practice these phrase a little. Can you translate the sentences below? Aistriúcháin thíos.

1. Ní cat dubh a bhí ag Holly Golightly sa scannán Breakfast at Tiffany’s ach cat a raibh dath na marmaláide air; “Cat” ab ainm dó sa scannán ach “Orangey” ab ainm dó sa saol mar atá.

2. Ní cait dhubha a bhí sna scannáin The Cat from Outer Space agus Bell, Book, and Candle.  Cé na dathanna a bhí ar na cait sna scannáin sin?

3. Cé acu is fearr leat – an cat dubh nó an cat dubh le lapaí bána?

4. Tá dán i mBéarla le John W. Sexton ina bhfuil sé ag caint faoi chait dhubha (iad ag blaiseadh den bhainne scáthach).  Chuir Gabriel Rosenstock Gaeilge ar an dán agus d’athraigh sé “black cats” go “na cait dhubha” (the black cats).   An athraíonn an difear sin (an t-alt nó gan alt) ciall an dáin i ndóigh ar bith, i do bharúil? Is féidir an dán agus an t-aistriúchán a léamh anseo: http://www.lochravenreview.net/2006spring/blankenship1.html . Tá an dá dhán an-ghairid (is haiku iad); tá siad sa leabhar Shadows Bloom / Scáthanna Faoi Bhláth (Doghouse Books, Ireland 2004)

Bhuel, sin é don bhlag seo.  B’fhéidir go scríobhfaidh mé faoi chait arís nuair a bheas Lá Idirnáisiúnta na gCat ann i mí Lúnasa. Nó b’fhéidir, hmm, an bhfuil Lá Náisiúnta na bPiscíní ann roimhe sin? SGF – Róislín

Aistriúcháin na Laethe Domhanda:

Lá Domhanda an Chomhshaoil [un KHOH-heel, silent m and s], World Environment(al) Day; Lá Domhanda an Bhia, World Food Day; Lá Domhanda na nÉan Imirce, World Migratory Bird Day

Aistriúcháin na nAbairtí faoi chait dhubha:

1) Ní cat dubh a bhí ag Holly Golightly sa scannán Breakfast at Tiffany’s ach cat a raibh dath na marmaláide air; “Cat” ab ainm dó sa scannán ach “Orangey” ab ainm dó sa saol mar atá.

Literal translation: It isn’t a black cat that Holly Golightly had in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s but cat that had the color of marmalade on him; “Cat” was his name in the movie but “Orangey” was his name in real life (even more literally: in the life/world as it is)

2) Ní cait dhubha a bhí sna scannáin The Cat from Outer Space agus Bell, Book, and Candle. An bhfuil a fhios agat cé na dathanna a bhí ar na cait sna scannáin sin?

Literal translation: It isn’t black cats that were in the movies The Cat from Outer Space and Bell, Book, and Candle. Do you know what colors were on the cats in those movies?

3) Cé acu is fearr leat – an cat dubh nó an cat dubh le lapaí bána?

Which do you prefer – the black cat or the black cat with white paws?

4) Tá dán i mBéarla le John W. Sexton ina bhfuil sé ag caint faoi chait dhubha (iad ag blaiseadh den bhainne scáthach). Chuir Gabriel Rosenstock Gaeilge ar an dán agus d’athraigh sé “black cats” go “na cait dhubha” (the black cats).   An athraíonn an difear sin (an t-alt nó gan alt) ciall an dáin i ndóigh ar bith, i do bharúil? Is féidir an dán agus an t-aistriúchán a léamh anseo: http://www.lochravenreview.net/2006spring/blankenship1.html (le Gary Blankenship). Tá an dá dhán an-ghairid (haiku); tá siad sa leabhar Shadows Bloom / Scáthanna Faoi Bhláth (Doghouse Books, Ireland 2004)

Literal translation: There is a poem in English by John W. Sexton in which he is talking about black cats (and them sipping shadowed milk). Gabriel Rosenstock translated the poem and he changed “black cats” (cait dhubha) to “the black cats” (na cait dhubha). Does that difference (with the article [the] or without) change the meaning of the poem in any way, in your opinion? It is possible to read the poem and the translation here … The two poems (they are haiku) are very short; they are in the book …

Nasc eile: If you enjoyed talking about “cait dhubha,” you might want to check out another blog in this series: Bígí Ciúin! Ba é an cat é! Or Should That Be “Ba Iad Na Deich gCat Dhubha Iad”? posted on 15. Oct, 2012 by róislín in Irish Language

Gluais: ab, was; cailin bailé, ballerina; gairid, short; lapa, paw; piscín, kitten