(le Róislín)

Looking over the last blog, ar “uaigneas” agus “aonaracht,” I thought some léitheoirí might welcome a gluaisín ([GLOO-ish-een] little glossary) and cuidiú [KWIDJ-yoo] le fuaimniú [FOO-im-nyoo, with that “-ny-” like the “-ny-” in “canyon”].

If you didn’t get a seans [shanss] to read an blag sin yet, seo an nasc: https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/o-tillich-go-henry-bemis-solitude-vs-loneliness-agus-dearcadh-na-gaeilge/ .  If you did have a chance to read it, you may recall that it dealt with a quote from theologian/philosopher Paul Tillich on the words “solitude” and “loneliness.”  It concluded by pondering the Catch-22-type difficulty of asking “Henry Bemis” about the matter.  “Bemis,” played by Burgess Meredith in the “Time Enough At Last” of The Twilight Zone, was left “ina aonar” after an H-bomb destroyed the entire population of the world, so he should be something of an expert on the subjects of “uaigneas” and “aonaracht.”

Ach ar an drochuair, áfach, ní féidir linn ceist a chur ar Bemis mar, de réir na heipeasóide sin, níl duine ar bith eile ann, muide san áireamh.    Ach muna bhfuil muide ann, cé muide … ach, bhuel, sin ceist eiseach do na fealsúnaithe!  Tá cúpla nasc don eipeasóid sin thíos. 

Agus seo an gluaisín, na heochairfhocail [HUKH-irzh-OK-il] ar dtús [dooss, silent “t”] agus ansin rogha focal ar “solitude” agus ar “loneliness.  Dála an scéil, for the pronunciation of “rogha,”  say “row,” as in “cow,” “now,” or the UK pronunciation of “a row,” i.e. “a quarrel;” remember, “row” for “quarrel” is not used much, if at all, in the US.

uaigneas [OO-ig-nyuss], loneliness (and sometimes “solitude,” etc., as previously discussed)

aonaracht [AYN-urr-ukht], solitude (and sometimes “loneliness,” as previously discussed).  That “ay” of “ayn,” by the way, in this transcription, is as in “hay” or “may,” not as in the semi-invented, semi-traditional name “Ayn.”

uaigneach [OO-ig-nyukh], lonely, etc.

uaigneachán [OO-ig-nyukh-awn]: solitary person, hermit

aonar {AYN-urr], one person, a lone person, based on the number “aon” (one)

aonaránacht [AYN-ur-AWN-ukht], solitariness

Agus roinnt [rinch] focal eile a bhí sa bhlag sin:

dearcadh [DJARK-uh, with Donegal dialect speakers typically saying “DJARK-oo;” either way, the “-dh” at the end is a vowel sound, not a consonant]: outlook, look, gaze, viewpoint

athfhriotal [AH-RIT-ul, note the first “t” and the “fh” are silent]: a quote.  This word is based on “ath-” [ah], which means “re-” and “friotal” [FRIT-ul], which means “speech” or “expression.”  Putting “ath-” in front of “friotal” causes “friotal” to change to “fhriotal” [RIT-ul].  Gotta keep your “friotals” and “fhriotals” straight!  Not to mention your “miotail“ [MITul], your “cóimhiotail” [KOH-VIT-ul],” and your “tearcmhiotail“ [TCHARK-VIT-ul], not to mention your “sofhriotail [suh-RIT-ul]!”

suimiúil [SIM-yoo-il], interesting

ábhar [AW-wur], subject, topic

doiléir [DWIL-yayrzh]: dim, obscure, vague

neamhshoiléir [NYOW-HIL-yayrzh, with the “nyow” as in “cow” or “how”; it’s not so difficult if you remember that “neamh-” is a prefix]: not clear, not distinct, not plain

fealsúnaí [fyal-SOON-ee, with the “fy-” as in “few” or “feudal’], philosopher

eiseach [ESH-ukh], existential

diagaire [DJEE-uh-gurzh-uh], theologian, based on “dia” (god)

H-bhuama [AYTCH-WOO-um-uh, or however you care to pronounce the “H-” part, such as “HAYTCH-WOO-um-uh]; H-bomb.  The key thing here is that the word “buama” ([BOO-uh-muh] changes to “bhuama” [WOO-um-uh] after the prefix.

faidhbín [FIE-been, with the “fie” like English “fie” or “pie” or “my”], a little problem; usually this would be expressed as “fadhb bheag” (a little problem), but I added this “-ín” suffix here, for extra impact.

todhchaí [TOW-khee, with the “ow” as in “cow” or “now”], future.  This is mostly used in the abstract sense, not for describing aspects of grammar such as “the future tense,” which would be “an aimsir fháistineach” (the future or, literally, “prophesying’ tense).  In my experience, “todhchaí” mostly comes up in the phrase “sa todhchaí” (in the future).

And if someone (cainteoir Polainnise?) would like to offer up a pronunciation guide for “Trzcińsko-Zdrój,” the Polish town where Paul Tillich spent part of his childhood, as mentioned in the previous blog, it would be very welcome.  Bhuel, actually, athsmaoineamh [AH-SMWEEN-yuv], I’ll let my fingers do the walking and cliceáil on the Wikipedia entry, and, lo and behold, there it is, in IPA: [ˈtʂt͡ɕiɲskɔ ˈzdrui̯].  I’d still like to hear it pronounced (not surprisingly!), but for now, at least, that one’s settled.  Someday I’d like to learn the basics of Polish, at least enough to be able to confidently pronounce short words like “prosze” (le do thoil) or “ojciec” (athair).  Not to mention useful phrases like “Szczesliwego Nowego Roku” (Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise) or “Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji urodzin!” (Lá breithe sona duit).  Agus b’fhéidir, lá éigin “dziewięćdziesięciokilkuletniemu” agus “pięćdziesięciogroszówka.”

I can, however, say, “Na Zdrowie!” (Irish: “Sláinte“) reasonably well I think, but simply because I’ve heard it previously.

And, hmm, now that I’ve somehow delved into Polish, I guess it’s time to say “pożegnanie.”  Or should that be “Do widzenia!”  Maybe I’d better stick to Irish!  Slán go fóill, Róislín

Nóta 1: cúpla nasc do “Time Enough at Last” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_at_Last or http://www.tv.com/shows/the-twilight-zone/time-enough-at-last-12592/

Nóta 2 — Maidir leis an bPolainnis: níl cleachtadh ar bith agam leis na focail Pholainnise seo i gcomhthéacs beo.  Tá súil agam go bhfuil cainteoir Polainnise ar bith atá ar an liosta seo sásta leo!