(le Róislín)

Seo an dara chuid den leagan nua den cheistiúchán faoi Rúdolf (ceisteanna 11, 13, agus 14, agus na freagraí; beidh ceist 12 i mblag eile mar tá sí fada).  Tá gluais bheag agus níos mó roghanna sna freagraí ann anois freisin.  The nasc for the original (2009) is https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/ceistiuchan-faoi-rudolf-an-reinfhia/ and you’ll find an chéad chuid (the first section) of the new version (2011) at https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/rudolf-an-reinfhia-%E2%80%93-redux-cuid-a-haon/

But before we continue, some pronunciation tips:

First a reminder.  What happens to the “f” of “fia” (deer) when it becomes part of a compound word, like “réinfhia”?  Our old friend séimhiú!  So the “f” becomes “fh,” which is silent.  And that means that “réinfhia” is pronounced like “RAYN-EE-uh” and the plural, “réinfhianna” as “RAYN-EE-uh-nuh.”

What’s that “réin-“ part anyway?  It’s not a normal Irish prefix, of which there are dozens, perhaps hundreds when you start including poetic and literary usages.  Some of the more typical Irish prefixes are “sean-“ (seanathair, grandfather), “an-“ (an-chraic, great craic), and “droch-“ (drochoíche, a bad night).

“Réin-,” as such, isn’t the Irish word for reins as one would use with a horse, which is “srian” [SREE-un].  And we may as well do a pronunciation note for that before we proceed, since it’s a bit unusual.  The “s” of “srian” is pronounced “broad,” like the “s” in “sráid” or “srón,” at least in Standard Irish (An Caighdeán).  The broad pronunciation may seem surprising, because the adjacent vowel in the word “srian” is “i,” which is “slender” in the Irish system (broad: a, o, u; slender: e, i).  Slender “s” in Irish is pronounced like “sh” in English, as in “seanbhean” ([shanvan], old woman), “siopa” ([SHOP-uh], a shop), or “An Seanbhaile” (Shanbally, Co. Cork), or, for that matter, in “Siceagó,” the Irish spelling of “Chicago.”  The slender pronunciation is used with most consonant clusters (slí [shlee]; scian [SHKEE-un], scríobh [shkreev], stéig [shtayg]), but not with “sm,”  “sp,” or “sr” (smig [smig], spéir [spayrzh], sreang [srang]).

This broad “sr” sound is almost unknown in English, but it is exactly as one would expect, a hard “s” followed by an “r.”  Perhaps like “streak” or “pastrami” if you took away the “t” (an odd idea, I know, but there’s not much choice).

“Srian” also means “bridle,” “restraint,” and “frenum,” by the way.

The “réin-“ prefix in Irish apparently is just a borrowing from the English “rein-,” making “réinfhia” a hybrid word, half Irish (fia, deer) and half English borrowing (rein-, adapted slightly as “réin-“ to fit Irish spelling conventions).  Unless of course those manaigh Éireannacha san Íoslainn in the Middle Ages actually came up with the term, but somehow, ní dóigh liom é.  How did Iceland get into the mix?  Read on!

“Rein-“ isn’t really a typical prefix in English either, is it?  Hmmm, samplaí ar bith eile ar chor ar bith?  “Reinantelope” – ní dóigh liom é.  Ah, as usual, a bit of etymology holds the key.  Apparently this “rein-“ is from the Old Norse “hreinn,” which means “a reindeer.”  So “reindeer” really means “reindeer-deer,” a little overdone semantically, but <searradh Gailleach>, not the first time (Shrimp scampi, chai tea, cheese quesadilla, the Pont Champlain Bridge, Picacho Peak, etc., all examples of mixed-language tautologies).  Precision and “streamlinedness” (an focal é sin?) isn’t always the prime directive in human speech!  So, the “rein-“ of “reindeer” isn’t related to the reins, traces, harnesses, or bridles, used to hitch Santa’s flying reindeer to his sleigh.  But maybe this linguistic “puntential” helped inspire Clement Moore’s original poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”

Actually, since reindeer are more associated with the far northern reaches of Críoch Lochlann (Scandinavia), than with Iceland (fad m’eolais), the “manach Éireannach” theory doesn’t really hold much water here.  But we do know that early Irish monks went to Iceland, and that there is some Icelandic influence on the Irish language, separate from the general Viking influence.

Agus anois, na ceisteanna.  Arís, níl anseo ach 11, 13, agus 14 ón leagan bunaidh, mar tá 12 réasúnta fada – ábhar don chéad bhlag eile).

11. Cén fáth a raibh solas breise de dhíth ar Dhaidí na Nollag?  a) ceo   b) báisteach c) clocha sneachta  d) síobadh sneachta

13. An raibh fearg ar na réinfhianna eile gur roghnaigh Daidí na Nollag Rúdolf?  a) Bhí, agus bhí siad iontach mioscaiseach ina dhiaidh sin  b) Ní raibh, bhí siad go deas

14. An ndéanfar dearmad ar Rúdolf choíche?  a) Déanfar  b) ní dhéanfar, beidh clú mór air (é ina “bhoc” mór?)

Anyway, sin cuid a dó den cheistiúchán.  Tá súil agam gur bhain tú sult as (enjoyed).  Cuid a Dó.  Hmmm, so could we continue, Cuid a Dó a deer?  On that drochimeartas focal note, slán go dtí an chéad bhlag eilit.  Úúps!  “Eilit?”  That’s the Irish for a “doe.”  Oh, dear!  Should have said, “Slán go dtí an chéad bhlag eile” — Róislín 

Freagraí: 11a, 13b, 14b (uimhir 12 i mblag eile)

Gluais (in ord an téacs, ní in ord na haibítre): dara, second; Gailleach, Gallic, though it also means “Gaulish,” which means we could be talking about a “Gaulish shrug”!; searradh, shrug; breise, extra; clocha sneachta, hail; síobadh sneachta, blizzard; roghnaigh, chose; mioscaiseach, spiteful; dearmad, forgetting, clú, fame; boc, buck, fellow, boc mór, bigwig; imeartas focal, word play, pun