(le Róislín)

Since we’ve just finished going over the Irish word for “spring” (as a season), I thought it would be fun practice to try some fill-in-the-blanks with the different seasons.  Here’s a quick review before we start.

geimhreadh [G^yEV-ruh, OR, GEE-ruh, OR, G^yEV-roo, with the “mh” pronounced like a “v” and the “d” silent], winter (an geimhreadh, srl.)

earrach [AR-ukh], spring [an t-earrach, srl.)

samhradh [SOW-ruh, with “sow” as in “now” or cow,” not like “to sow seeds” OR, i nGaeilge Uladh, SOW-roo], summer (an samhradh, srl.) NB: the “m” and the “d” are silent

fómhar [FOH-wur, with the “m” silent], fall/autumn/harvest (an fómhar, srl.)

Each of these will take a different ending for “an tuiseal ginideach.”  The singular forms are shown here (ginideach uatha):

geimhridh [GyEV-ree], of winter

earraigh [AR-ee], of spring

samhraidh [SOW-ree], of summer

fómhair [FOH-wir^zh], of winter

But remember, in Irish, we don’t just have to keep track of word endings, but we may also have some ICMs to keep in mind.  And by “ICM” here, I don’t mean “Integrated Crop Management” or “Ice-Cream Man,” or any of the hundreds of other meanings “ICM” (i mBéarla) can have as an “inisealachas.”  Instead, like many other people (especially téacsálaithe) I’m jumping on “bannavaigín na n-inisealachas,” since it is quicker and easier to say “I-C-M” than “initial consonant mutation.”  What’s a typical ICM?  One quick example is when “geimhreadh” becomes “ngeimhreadh” [ngYEV-ruh] or “gheimhreadh” [YEV-ruh].

So here are some sample phrases and sentences.  Can you fill in “na bearnaí“?  Freagraí thíos.

1. bradán _________________ (spring)

2. Thugamar féin an _____________ linn.  (summer)

3. codladh ___________________ (winter)

4. san __________________ (autumn/fall)

5. Bhí mé lá breá __________ i mo sheasamh ar an mhargadh (summer)

6. Bíonn béir (mathúna) ag geimhriú sa _____________ ach bíonn ríomhairí ag geimhriú i séasúr ar bith, am ar bith nach bhfuil siad “ag oibriú” nó “ina gcodladh.” (winter)

7. De réir cosúlachta níl an focal “________” ná an focal “sicín” sa fhrása Gaeilge a chiallaíonn “spring chicken” go meafarach ach is féidir rud éigin mar “Is fada na fiacla curtha ag an duine sin” a rá chun caint fhíortha a úsáid.  (spring)

8. Níorbh é lá __________  “Hurley” (Hugo Reyes) é nuair a fuair sé an ticéad buaite sa chrannchur i LOST (an clár teilifíse de chuid ABC). (fall/autumn)

Bhuel, sin dúshláinín [DOO-HLAWN-een].  Tá súil agam gur bhain sibh sult as. — Róislín

Freagraí:

 1. bradán earraigh, spring salmon

2. Thugamar féin an samhradh linn (a song title; no endings or mutations needed for this answer)

3. codladh geimhridh, hibernation

4. san fhómhar, in the autumn/fall; could also be “sa bhfómhar” but that’s less standard these days

5. Bhí mé lá breá samhraidh i mo sheasamh ar an mhargadh (a line from the song, “A Stór, A Stór, A Ghrá,” ar fáil ag suíomh KeepMusicPagan, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74DCX3V21Hk, i measc áiteanna eile)

6. Bíonn béir (mathúna) ag geimhriú sa gheimhreadh ach bíonn ríomhairí ag geimhriú i séasúr ar bith, am ar bith nach bhfuil siad “ag oibriú” nó “ina gcodladh,”  Bears hibernate in the winter but computers hibernate in any season, any time they are not working or asleep.   Is féidir “sa ngeimhreadh” a rá freisin. 

7. De réir cosúlachta níl an focal “earrach (earraigh)” ná an focal “sicín” sa fhrása Gaeilge a chiallaíonn “spring chicken” go meafarach ach is féidir rud éigin mar “Is fada na fiacla curtha ag an duine sin” ” a rá chun caint fhíortha a úsáid (i.e. He’s a little long in the teeth).   We could use either “earrach” or “earraigh” here, i mo bharúil féin.  “Earrach” would be the basic, root form of the word, a logical choice for discussing the phrase in the abstract.  But we could also accept “earraigh,” since that’s the form we’d use for “spring” as an adjective (as in the example above, “bradán earraigh“).

If you really wanted to say “spring chicken,” the word “earrach” would be sa tuiseal ginideach (“earraigh“). But, to use the existing Irish vocabulary, wouldn’t a “spring chicken” essentially be “eireog” or “puiléad“?

8. Níorbh é lá fómhair “Hurley” (Hugo Reyes) é nuair a fuair sé an ticéad buaite sa chrannchur i LOST (an clár teilifíse de chuid ABC), It wasn’t the “lucky day” of “Hurley” (Hugo Reyes) when he got the winning ticket in the lottery in LOST, (ABC’s television program).   Ach murar tharla aon rud eile as, stad Hurley de bheith ag obair ag “An tUasal Ó Glógarsaí” (an bhialann sicín) mar gheall ar an ticéad sin. 

Cén fáth “fómhair” in ionad “áidh” nó “lá ádhúil”?  Just a traditional idiom, building on the idea of the “harvest” being a time of gathering, gleaning, acquiring things, or, as it were, winning or being lucky.  Maybe like saying one’s ship has come in.

Normally, of course, we think of winning a lottery as lucky, but as LOST fans will recall, in Hurley’s case, it seemed to trigger a stream of bad luck.

Gluaisín: bannavaigín, bandwagon (as far as I can tell, I’ve just coined the Irish version of this word since I see no sign of it, as such, in Irish); inisealachas, initialism (as opposed to an “acrainm“), mar gheall ar, because of; murar, if not (when used with past tense verbs, otherwise it’s “mura” or “muna“); stad, stopped; uatha, singular (in grammar)

As for “An tUasal Ó Glógarsaí,” that’s my unabashed, but hopefully fun, translation of “Mr. Cluck.” Perhaps it’s all the more off-beat when we consider that the “cearca” do the “glógarsach” (clucking) while if we hear the “coiligh” (the “Misters” of the species, as it were), they are “ag scairteadh” or “ag glaoch” or “ag gairm,” not “ag glógarsach.”  At any rate, the males don’t “cluck.”  So why “Mr. Cluck” in LOST? Beyond my (chic)ken!  Couldn’t resist that leathimirteas focal.   Maybe analogous to “Mr. Softee”?

Come to think of it, why are so many more restaurants named after men or male characters, at least in the chains and franchises?  Hmm, there’s Burger King, Long John Silver, Popeye, Wimpy, Big Boy, and Starbuck (Ahab’s first mate, did he ever have a first name? or was “Starbuck” actually a “sloinne” at all?), and in real life, Bob Evans and Arthur Treacher, to name a few.  Even the tie-in characters are mostly male, like Ronald McDonald, the erstwhile “Hamburglar,” Piggly-Wiggly’s Mr. Pig (OK, siopa, ní bialann é, but the same basic issue), and the “Colonel,” etc .  And then, in stark contrast, there’s Wendy’s, perhaps the main (or sole?) female contender in the field.  Oddly, Starbuck’s name refers to a man but the logo depicts a woman. Á, bhuel, go leor den chaint leataobh, go dtí blag éigin eile, ar a laghad.

nasc don phictiúr: http://www.clker.com/clipart-15544.html