(le Róislín)

Now that you’ve (hopefully) worked your way through the A-to-Z Olympics glossary that was posted recently (nasc thíos), how about a little fun quiz?

An answer key will be provided, so you can see for yourself how you did.  A pronunciation guide will also be added here for some of the trickier ones; some of the words had pronunciation guides in the original blogpost.   There are a lot of words with the “broad” Irish “-ch” here, so remember, the pronunciation is like the “ch” of … my favorite three examples: Irish or Scottish Gaelic “loch,” German “Buch,” and Welsh “bach.”  In other words, it’s the voiced velar fricative, a sound discussed copiously elsewhere in this blog.  The “ch” in Irish is never as in the English “chew” or “child;” nor is it like the English “ch” in “chord” or “chaos.”  The “slender” Irish “ch” (as in “oíche” or “a Chiaráin“) is a different sound altogether, but that is ábhar blag eile.

A: an Aithin, [un AH-hin, silent “t”]______________.

B: bailtín Oilimpeach _______.

C: canúáil, [kah-noo-awil, note the two long vowels in a row, somewhat unusual in Irish] ________________.

D: dornálaíocht, ___________, based the word  ___ ___ ___ ___ , meaning “fist”.

E: eachaíocht, [AKH-ee-ukht] _____________, based on the word ___ ___ ___ ___ (horse, steed, but not the more basic “capall“)

F: foireann, ___________.

G: gleacaíocht, ________.

H: hacaí, ______________.

I: iomrascáil, __________.

J: júdó, _______________ (simplí go leor, is dócha!)

K: keirin, ______________.  (The same in English, and presumably Irish and most other languages since, so far, I haven’t seen any adaptations of this word).

L: líonpheil, [leen-fell]  ____________, based on the word ___ ___ ___ ___, which also gives us the word ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ (as in “an t________________” or “ar an ______________”)

M: marcaíocht, ___________________, based on the Old Irish word ___ ___ ___ ___ (yet another word for “horse,” not really used in Modern Irish as such, but used in derived or compound words ).

N: nuapheantatlan [NOO-uh-FAN-tat-lan] or nuachoimhlint chúig mhír [NOO-uh-KHIV-lintch khoo-ig veer^zh]___________________.

O: Oilimpeach, _____________.

P: pionsóireacht, ____________.

Q: quarte agus quinte, ___________ (téarmaí pionsóireachta i bhFraincis, i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla).  Ní úsáidtear an t-aistriúchán, fad m’eolais). 

R: rámhaíocht,__________.

S: staidiam, ____________

T: trí-atlan, [TRzhEE-at-lan], ________________.

U: uiscíocht, [ISH-kee-ukht], ________________.

V: veirtige, [VER^zh-tig-yuh], __________.  (aka meadhrán) [M^yOW-rawn, with the “ow” as in “cow” or “now,” not as in “bowtie” or “rowboat).  

W: Johnny Weissmuller, well, OK, there’s no definition to quiz here, but, hmm, how about these questions?  In Irish, what was his role in the Olympics (which sport): ___________ and on what did he swing to and fro as Tarzan: _____________.  Now that would make an interesting Olympic competition, wouldn’t it?  Vine-swinging for “fad” (distance) and “luas” (speed)!

X: Again, no real definition as such, but which “Oilimpiad” was this, in uimhreacha Rómhánacha? Oilimpiad _________. 

Y: And yet again, not really a definition as such, but which “crómasóm” determines gender and, language-wise, what happens to the word “crómasóm” in Irish when we use “y” as a prefix: ___-c___rómasóm”?

Z: Since all I could find for “z” was some prominent surnames, no actual sports terms, let’s just see who remembers the surname of the man credited with reviving the Olympics in the modern era, even though he died before the starting date usually given for the modern Olympics … yeah, my reaction to that is “Say what?” also!  Anyway: Ba é Evangelis _______________ an fear a bhunaigh na Cluichí Oilimpeacha nua.  Fuair sé bás sa bhliain 1865 agus thosaigh na Cluichí Oilimpeacha nua sa bhliain 1896.  

Bhuel, sin an ceistiúchán. Tá súil agam gur bhain tú sult as.  Tá na freagraí thíos.  SGF — Róislín

Freagraí

A: an Aithin, Athens

B: bailtín Oilimpeach, Olympic village

C: canúáil, canoeing

D: dornálaíocht, boxing, based the word dorn, meaning “fist”.

E: eachaíocht, equestrian sport, equitation, based on the word “each” (horse, steed, cf. the more basic “capall“)

F: foireann, team, crew.

G: gleacaíocht, gymnastics

H: hacaí, hockey

I: iomrascáil, wrestling

J: júdó, judo (simplí go leor, is dócha!)

K: keirin, keirin.  (The same in English, and presumably Irish and most other languages since, so far, I haven’t seen any adaptations of this word from Japanese into other languages)

L: líonpheil, netball, based on the word “líon“, which also gives us the word “Idirlíon,” (as in “an tIdirlíon” or “ar an Idirlíon“)

M: marcaíocht, riding, based on the Old Irish word “marc,” (yet another word for “horse,” not really used in Modern Irish as such, but used in derived or compound words ).

N: nuapheantatlan or nuachoimhlint chúig mhír, modern pentathlon

O: Oilimpeach, Olympic, a “shoo-in,” but note the adjustment for vowel harmony, adding the extra “i’s” and the “e”

P: pionsóireacht, fencing

Q: quarte agus quinte, same in English

R: rámhaíocht, rowing.  As you probably noticed, this is also the answer to the caption of the graphic.  The person who does this sport is a “rámhaí.”  Or we could also say “iomróir (rower, oarsman/woman/person),” but that doesn’t match this term for the sport itself.  Another word for “rowing” is “iomramh,” but then that opens the door for at least two more versions of the word for “rower,” and I guess we have to draw the line somewhere.  Ábhar blag eile d’am éigin eile?  

S: staidiam, stadium

T: trí-atlan, triathlon

U: uiscíocht, aquatics

V: veirtige, vertigo

W: for Johnny Weissmuller: snámh (ba shnámhaí é); féitheacha (vines)

X: Oilimpiad XXXI. 

Y: y-chrómasóm (we add the “h”, but it’s still not pronounced like the English “chr-“.  It’s the guttural sound (voiced velar fricative), represented in my transcriptions as “kh.”

Z:  Zappas

Nasc: Na Cluichí Oilimpeacha ó A go Z (An Olympics Alphabet in Irish)Posted by róislín on Aug 16, 2016 in Irish Language