(le Róislín)

Last time, we looked at some interesting words (fearaíocht) and phrases (ag guailleáil) from one of Liam Ó Muirthile’s “An Peann Coitianta” columns in the Irish Times.  And prior to that we looked at how he used four different forms of the Irish word for summer (samhradh, samhraidh, tsamhraidh, and samhraí).  Tá na trí nasc thíos.

I’d suggest opening up the Irish Times article as you read this, so you see the phrases in their full context.  Remember, he’s talking about a lá ag an trá, the summer after doing the “an Ardteist.”  The young men are “ag guailleáil” and “ag ligean glamanna” (not quite Ó Muirthile’s phrasing, but close) and the buíonta ban, are, well, ina mbuíonta.

So, what else were na fir óga doing sa tsáile, besides, it sounds like, shouting and pushing, and generally having a good time?

3)) Bhí siad ag baint leagadh as a chéile sa tsáile: They were knocking each other down in the sea.  Technically “sáile” usually means “sea-water” or “brine,” but I don’t think we need to get that specific.  The phrase is interesting if you break it down literally, something like: They were hitting (reaping) knockings-down out of each other.” Of course, I’m not suggesting that as a final translation, just as an in-between version to show the structure.

I’d usually use “leagan” instead of “leagadh.”  Not that I, cool, calm, and collected, even i lár an tsamhraidh, or i lár m’ógantachta, ever remember being as rambunctious as na déagóirí described by Ó Muirthile seem to be.  So, at least, as an “athchuimhne,” I wouldn’t have much reason to combine “baint” with “leagadh” or “leagan.”  Speaking autobiographically.  I believe that around the same age, I was peacefully and painstakingly reading Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan trilogy, at the beach (not holed up in a library so I was at least getting some sun and outdoorsiness).  That was my teenaged idea of what they now call “beach reading.”  And I still have all the vocabulary notes I took from those books.  Someday I’ll see how those translate into Irish!

 

Anyway, an chéad fhrása eile …

 

4)) duileasc, faochain á ndíol: probably pretty basic for those readers actually raised in Ireland, but perhaps not so familiar sna Gaeltachtaí thar sáile (the Gaeltachts abroad or overseas, not literally hovering over the “sáile” or “brine.”  “Duileasc” is “dulse,” a type of seaweed eaten dried and crispy at the seaside.  And it’s probably making inroads inland, but I can’t say I recall much about dulse i lár na tíre.  “Faochain” are edible winkles (a type of mollusk).  Outside of Britain and Ireland, I’m not sure how frequently you’ll find someone eating a “faocha.”  But they, like donkey rides, seem to be, or to have been, a seaside staple in these areas, a distinctly different beach culture than say Atlantic City or Malibu.   By the way, winkles have given us the name of a shoe style, in English at least.  An bhfuil sé ar eolas agat?  Freagra thíos .

Maidir leis an “á ndíol, ” ciallaíonn sé “being sold.” 

Agus an ceann deireanach do bhlagmhír an lae inniu …

5)) Bé Jumping Jack Flash leis na Stones hit an tsamhraidh úd: literally, “It was ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ by the Stones [that was] the hit of that summer.”  “Bé” here isn’t “bé” (a woman, a maiden) but a short (contracted)  form of “ba é” (it was).   “Hit” is, well, you guessed it, I imagine.  The phrase “an tsamhraidh” [TOW-ree] means “of the summer.”  And “úd” is “that” for more distant things or memories.   It could possibly be translated as “yon” but that sounds a little too Shakespearean for this sixties seaside summer.

 

Bhuel, three more down, five more to go.  Cé mhéad blag eile sa tsraith seo?  Níl a fhios agam fós, ach tá súil agam go bhfuil sibh ag baint suilt as.  Más amhlaidh go bhfuil, cliceáil ar “Is maith liom” (“Like”) mura mhiste leat.  Bheinn buíoch as sin.  Idir an dá linn, ná déan dearmad ar an ngriansciath (sunscreen). –– Róislín

 

Naisc: 

alt Uí Mhuirthile san Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/2.663/saoiri-samhraidh-1.1091985 (14 Lúnasa 2002)

na blaganna roimhe seo:

Deich bhFrása Shuimiúla as Alt Uí Mhuirthile (‘Saoirí Samhraidh’ san Irish Times), Cuid 1 Posted by róislín on Jul 25, 2016 in Irish Language

Samplaí an fhocail ‘samhradh’ in alt le Liam Ó Muirthile san Irish Times Posted by róislín on Jul 22, 2016 in Irish Language

Freagra (cineál bróige): winklepicker, from the long narrow toe, evoking the image of picking or digging winkles out of the sand.  Oddly, the exact opposite shape of what I’ve seen as actual “clam-digging” shoes (more like booties), used on the American Atlantic coast.