(le Róislín)

Súil siar gasta ar an mbriathar “a fheiceáil” agus na foirmeacha coibhneasta.  If you don’t remember the translations for these, please check back in the recent blogs.

 

Aimsir láithreach: Feicim an bhó.  An bhfeiceann tú an bhó?  Sin é an fear a fheiceann an bhó.  Sin é an fear a bhfeiceann a mhac an bhó. 

 

Aimsir chaite: Chonaic sé an bhó.   An bhfaca sé an bhó?  Sin é an fear a chonaic an bhó.  Sin é an fear a bhfaca a mhac an bhó. 

 

Aimsir fháistineach:  Feicfidh sé an bhó.  An bhfeicfidh sé an bhó?  Sin é an fear a fheicfidh an bhó.  Sin é an fear a bhfeicfidh a mhac an bhó.  

 

And now the verb “to make / to do” in the present, past, and future tenses.  You might recall its command form (déan) and the verbal noun form (déanamh).  We’ll keep to the bovine theme, but this time we’ll take the topic a generation younger, to the calf (an lao).  So we’ll talk about making a muzzle (soc) for a calf.  Next verb around, perhaps a more high-tech topic, but for today, “slisín de shaol traidisiúnta na tuaithe” (a little slice of the traditional life of the countryside). 

 

Aimsir láithreach: Déanann sí soc don lao.  An ndéanann sí soc don lao?  (She makes a muzzle for the calf.  Does she make a muzzle for the calf?)

Foirmeacha coibhneasta:

Seo í an bhean a dhéanann soc don lao. This is the woman who makes a muzzle for the calf. 

Seo í an bhean a ndéanann a hiníon soc don lao.  This is the woman whose daughter makes a muzzle for the calf. 

 

Aimsir chaite (and this is where the verb “déan” starts to look much more “neamhrialta”):

Rinne sí soc don lao.  An ndearna sí soc don lao?  (She made a muzzle for the calf.  Did she make a muzzle for the calf?)

Seo í an bhean a rinne soc don lao.  This is the woman who made a muzzle for the calf.

Seo í an bhean a ndearna a hiníon soc don lao.  This is the woman whose daughter made a muzzle for the calf. 

 

Aimsir fháistineach:  Déanfaidh sí soc don lao.  An ndéanfaidh sí soc don lao?  (She will make a muzzle for the calf.  Will she make a muzzle for the calf?)

Seo í an bhean a dhéanfaidh soc don lao. This is the woman who will make a muzzle for the calf.

Seo í an bhean a ndéanfaidh a hiníon soc don lao.  This is the woman whose daughter will make a muzzle for the calf. 

 

As you can see, we’re applying the same process throughout: lenition (d -> dh) for the direct relative clause and eclipsis (d -> nd) for the indirect relative clause.  And remember, also, all this is because Irish doesn’t use a relative pronoun (who) or a relative possessive pronoun (whose) to create relative clauses, the way English does.  It uses the particle “a,” which then triggers lenition or eclipsis according to the type of sentence. 

 

Now that you’ve suffered through conjugating the verb “déan” in three tenses and embedding it in six relative clauses, here are some more fun terms using the noun “soc.”  Mostly these are just phrases – no conjugating, no clauses (Ailliliú!), all just le haghaidh an chraic:

 

soc (of a person): a beak nose or sharp snout.

soc (of an animal): a muzzle or snout (curiously, when applied to people, the word implies beakiness or sharpness; when applied to animals, it’s just a gnáthshoc [gnaw-hok] an ordinary snout).  

soc (of a person’s expression): a pout.  We could use that to say “Ba chóir duit gan a bheith ag cur soic ort” (You’d better not pout), where “soc” is changed to the genitive case “soic” [sik].

 

And, if you’re willing to take the consequences, you can call someone a “soc searbh” (sourpuss), which is literally “sour snout.”  Interesting that the word “pus” in Irish has a similar meaning to “soc,” ranging from “a protruding mouth,” “a pout,” or “a calf or dog’s snout.”  So perhaps the word “sourpuss” is one more example of how the Irish created slang!  For pronunciation, do note that the Irish word “pus” has the same vowel sound as American English “put” or “pudding,” not the sound in “putt,” “custard,” or the less savory but homographic English word, “pus.”  

 

Finally, if you were wondering about the quote from the February 17 blog, it was from the satiric classic novel, An Béal Bocht.  And, faraor, no one wrote in to tell me that they recognized it!  The two relative clauses were “don mhuintir a leanann sinn” (for the people who follow us) and “na dibheairseans agus na haidbhintiurs a bhí ann lenár linn” (the diversions and adventures that were in it in our time, using “that” here since diversions and adventures are inanimate, however animated they may have been).

 

I hope you enjoyed this, or at least found it úsáideach, since we still have the following verbs to deal with:  abair, beir, clois, faigh, ith, tabhair, tar, and téigh.  Nach maith an saol (Isn’t life good)?    Slán go fóill — Róislín