{"id":10617,"date":"2018-05-31T09:16:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T09:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=10617"},"modified":"2018-07-01T01:34:09","modified_gmt":"2018-07-01T01:34:09","slug":"rothar-vs-rothair-agus-badhsacal-vs-badhsacail-irish-words-for-bicycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/rothar-vs-rothair-agus-badhsacal-vs-badhsacail-irish-words-for-bicycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Rothar vs. Rothair agus Badhsacal vs. Badhsacail (Irish words for ‘bicycle’)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

photo (five bicycles) http:\/\/publicdomainarchive.com\/public-domain-images-red-bike-public-transportation-shadows-nashville-tennessee\/<\/a>, Public Domain Images \u2013 Red Bike Public Transportation Shadows Nashville Tennessee; graphic: single bicycle: http:\/\/www.publicdomainfiles.com\/show_file.php?id=13493568016145<\/a>; Public Domain Clip Art Image: Illustration of a bicycle, By: Hatalar205, Courtesy: Open Clip Art Library; t\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2018<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

There are a few final points about bicycles that I’d like to mention before we wrap up this discussion, at least for the time being.\u00a0 So we’ll briefly discuss:<\/p>\n

rothar vs. rothair<\/strong><\/p>\n

rothar vs. badhsacal<\/strong><\/p>\n

badhsacal vs. badhsacail<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, rothar vs. rothair<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Many of you probably recognize that “rothar” (an rothar)<\/strong> is singular and “rothair<\/strong>” is plural (na rothair<\/strong>).\u00a0 This is true when the bicycle is the subject of the sentence (e.g. T\u00e1 rothar agam<\/strong>) or the direct object (Cheannaigh m\u00e9 rothair do na p\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/strong>) or the object of a preposition (C\u00e9n dath at\u00e1 ar an rothar?\u00a0 C\u00e9n dath at\u00e1 ar na rothair?)<\/strong><\/p>\n

But when we get into possessive forms (like “the handlebars of the bicycle” or “the handlebars of the bicycles”), the spellings are reversed.\u00a0 \u00a0We say “hanla\u00ed an rothair<\/strong>” (singular) and “hanla\u00ed na rothar<\/strong>” (plural).<\/p>\n

So the pattern is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nUatha \/ singular<\/td>\nIolra \/ plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.<\/td>\nRothar (a bicycle)<\/td>\nRothair (bicycles)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\nRothair (of a bicycle)<\/td>\nRothar (of bicycles)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

If this seems strange, just think of the word “fear<\/strong>” (man) for the basic pattern:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nUatha \/ singular<\/td>\nIolra \/ plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.<\/td>\nfear (a man)<\/td>\nfir \u00a0(men)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\nfir (of a man)<\/td>\nfear (of man)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

This pattern applies to many words in the m1 category of Irish nouns (first declension), such as cup\u00e1n, cup\u00e1in, cup\u00e1in, cup\u00e1n<\/strong>.\u00a0 By the way, if you’re quite new to Irish, the pronunciation of the “ea” in “fear<\/strong>” is like the “a” of “Larry” or “marry,” but not like the “a” of Mary.\u00a0 And not like the English “fear<\/strong>” (as in “fright).<\/p>\n

Our next point is “rothar” vs. “badhsacal.”\u00a0<\/strong> First,\u00a0 let me say that it was years before I actually saw the spelling “badhsacal<\/strong>” in print.\u00a0 I’ve yet to find “badhsacal<\/strong>” in any major dictionary.\u00a0 If you find it, please do let me know.\u00a0 \u00a0“Badhsacal<\/strong>” is a gaelicization of “bicycle” and this word is very widely used in the Gaeltacht.\u00a0 However, every phrase I’ve seen in print that describes parts of bicycles or regulations or signage about bicycles uses “rothar<\/strong>” (or “rothair<\/strong>“), not a \u00a0\u00a0form of “badhsacal<\/strong>” (e.g. slabhra rothair, l\u00e1na rothar<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

There are a few spelling variations for “badhsacal<\/strong>,” such as “badhsalaic<\/strong>” and “badhsacail<\/strong>” (with -ail for the singular), and I’ve heard what sounds more like “baidhseacal<\/strong>” although I’ve yet to see it in writing in Irish in a natural context.<\/p>\n

And finally, “badhsacal” vs. “badhsacail”<\/strong> — simply a matter of singular (badhsacal<\/strong>) vs. plural (badhsacail<\/strong>).\u00a0 So, “an badhsacal<\/strong>” but “na badhsacail<\/strong>.”\u00a0 If we go with that variant “badhsacail<\/strong>” as the singular, I have to say I’ve never seen a plural, but assume it would be “*badhsacail\u00ed<\/strong>,” or maybe “*badhsaicl\u00ed.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

As for the questions in the graphic (C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad rothar? C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad badhsacal?). \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Why “rothar<\/strong>” and not “rothair<\/strong>,” since the question is plural in English (How many bicycles?).\u00a0 The answer is that the English structure has no bearing whatsoever on the Irish, and there’s no reason why it should, since they’re two different languages from two different language families (Irish\/Celtic but English\/Germanic).\u00a0 Similarly, for the alternate vocabulary word, the question “how many” uses “badhsacal<\/strong>,” not a plural form.<\/p>\n

And now for the answers to the questions in the graphic.\u00a0 For the singular: rothar amh\u00e1in<\/strong>, with the singular ending “-ar.” BUT we also have “c\u00faig rothar<\/strong>” (five bicycles), since nouns usually stay singular in Irish, after numbers (dh\u00e1 chat, tr\u00ed chat, c\u00e9ad cat<\/strong> — although the plural of “cat<\/strong>” is “cait<\/strong>,” as in “na cait<\/strong>“).\u00a0 So “rothar<\/strong>” doesn’t change after a number.\u00a0 Strange, perhaps, but true.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that’s a bit more for the cyclist out there, and who knows, maybe Dervla Murphy, whose cycling trips inspired this mini-series on bicycles, is perhaps reading it herself, or reading it to “Rozinante.”\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Since we’ve talked about both “fir<\/strong>” and “rothair<\/strong>” in this blogpost, it seems fitting to end with the famous saying, without fishing for analogies, “Bean gan fhear, is cos\u00fail le hiasc gan rothar \u00ed.”\u00a0 <\/strong>Or “Bean gan fhear, is cos\u00fail le hiasc gan bhadhsacal \u00ed.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc don bhlag faoi ph\u00e1irteanna an rothair:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agus Anois an Ceisti\u00fach\u00e1n: P\u00e1irteanna Rothair i nGaeilge: L\u00edon Isteach na Bearna\u00ed<\/a>\u00a0Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on May 23, 2018 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

P\u00c1IRTEANNA ROTHAIR i nGAEILGE (Parts of a Bicycle, in Irish)<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on May 20, 2018 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nasc don iarbhlagmh\u00edr faoi thuras rothair Dervla Murphy:\u00a0<\/strong>C\u00e9 a chuaigh \u00f3 \u00c9irinn go dt\u00ed an India ar rothar (Which Irish cyclist went from Ireland to India by bike) agus ar an \u00e1bhar sin, c\u00e9n Ghaeilge at\u00e1 ar \u2018full tilt\u2019?<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on May 15, 2018 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Agus maidir leis an rothar a bh\u00ed ag Dervla Murphy (‘Roz’ aka Rozinante):<\/strong> https:\/\/groups.google.com\/forum\/#!topic\/rec.bicycles.tech\/QnY09W3lyok<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) There are a few final points about bicycles that I’d like to mention before we wrap up this discussion, at least for the time being.\u00a0 So we’ll briefly discuss: rothar vs. rothair rothar vs. badhsacal badhsacal vs. badhsacail First, rothar vs. rothair: Many of you probably recognize that “rothar” (an rothar) is singular…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":10619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[332149,513297,513268,513258],"class_list":["post-10617","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-badhsacail","tag-badhsacal","tag-rothair","tag-rothar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t