{"id":11022,"date":"2019-03-31T09:22:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T09:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11022"},"modified":"2019-06-06T15:24:14","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:24:14","slug":"how-to-say-port-and-starboard-in-irish-and-a-few-other-nautical-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-say-port-and-starboard-in-irish-and-a-few-other-nautical-terms\/","title":{"rendered":"How to say ‘port’ and ‘starboard’ in Irish and a few other nautical terms"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Port_and_starboard#\/media\/File:Aft_(PSF).jpg<\/a>; Pearson Scott Foresman-Archives of\u00a0Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the\u00a0Wikimedia Foundation. Public domain. T\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn (2019)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nautical terms have always intrigued me, including such colorful ones as “scuttlebutt” and “three sheets to the wind.”\u00a0 So today I thought I’d cover a few of the most basic terms pertaining to parts of a boat or ship.\u00a0 If there’s interest, perhaps we can cover more such terms in the future.<\/p>\n

So here are today’s terms, and there will be a few samples of usage: starboard, port, bow, stern.<\/p>\n

1.. Starboard, which refers to “steering” not to “stars”!<\/p>\n

a.. The translation that seems most straightforward is “deasbhord<\/strong>,” with “deas<\/strong>” here meaning “right.” “Ar an deasbhord<\/strong>” means “to starboard.” “Ar a deasbhord<\/strong>” also means “to starboard,” lit. “to her starboard,” referring to the ship itself (as “her”).<\/p>\n

b.. There is another option, “bord na heanga\u00ed<\/strong>,” lit. on the side of the net, from “eangach<\/strong>” (a net). With this usage, “ar bhord na heanga\u00ed<\/strong>” means “to starboard.”<\/p>\n

A brief online survey of usages in context (i.e. not dictionary entries or basic word lists) yielded 11 for “ar an deasbhord<\/strong>” and 3 for “ar bhord na heanga\u00ed<\/strong>.” Admittedly a very small sample of hits, but probably enough to show a trend, that the more straightforward term seems to be favored these days. I am left wondering if “ar bhord na heanga\u00ed<\/strong>” would also be used on a large ship, like a “long chr\u00fas\u00e1la<\/strong>” or a “l\u00edn\u00e9ar farraige m\u00f3ire<\/strong>,” which would probably not typically lower fishing nets.\u00a0 Eolas ag \u00e9inne<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

2.. Port, so-named because it’s generally the side on which the boat or ship ties up to the wharf (the left side as you face the bow), which is part of the port harbor. At least that was true when boats used to be steered with oars and the steering oar was on the right side (starboard) as you faced the front of the boat.<\/p>\n

As with “starboard,” there are two typical phrases for “port” — cl\u00e9bhord<\/strong> (from “cl\u00e9<\/strong>,” left) and bord na sceathra\u00ed<\/strong> (or “bord na sceartha\u00ed<\/strong>“).<\/p>\n

a.. The more straightforward term is “cl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” and “to port” is “ar an gcl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” (OR “ar an chl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>“).<\/p>\n

b.. “Bord na sceathra\u00ed<\/strong>” is based on the (rather amazing) word “sceathrach<\/strong>,” a noun whose meanings include the following: vomit, spewing, spawn, discharging, material that is thrown overboard from a fishing boat (presumably fish that are too small to keep or scraps from gutting fish), and finally anything spread about chaotically or in a disorganized matter. An-\u00fas\u00e1ideach mar fhocal<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

So it does raise a question in my non-nautical mind — on a traditional fishing boat, is there a pattern of lowering fishnets to the starboard side and discarding unwanted material to the port side?\u00a0 If so, why, and how come I didn’t learn that from my rigorous maritime education — mostly gained by watching Captains Courageous<\/em> or A Perfect Storm<\/em>.\u00a0 Or should I have learned this from Laurel and Hardy’s unbelievably named Towed in a Hole<\/em>\u00a0(racht g\u00e1ire anseo, mura mhiste leat<\/strong>). \u00a0On the other hand, perhaps this whole duplicate terminology situation is just a relic of days gone by, with little practical application today.<\/p>\n

“Land to port” is “Talamh ar an gcl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” or “Talamh ar bhord na sceathra\u00ed<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

“Port” also used to be called “larboard,” which sounds vaguely familiar to me, probably from novels set in the days of “longa ard<\/strong>a” (tall ships), and, btw, I did buy A Sea of Words<\/em>\u00a0to help with the Patrick O’Brian novels. \u00a0What a treasure trove for a “ieithgi<\/em>” (Welsh for “language hound”)!\u00a0 \u00a0In this older term, the\u00a0 “lar-” of “larboard” referred to the “load” the ship was carrying.\u00a0 AFAIK, there’s no specific Irish word for the loading side of a ship based on the typical word for load (uall<\/strong>, or sometimes “l\u00f3d<\/strong>,” with “lasta<\/strong>,” “lastas<\/strong>,” and “luch<\/strong>t” for “cargo”).\u00a0 So larboard would also be “cl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” or “bord na sceathra\u00ed<\/strong>,” same as the definitions above. Apparently “larboard” faded out of usage in English\u00a0 because it sounded too much like “starboard” and generated confusion on a noisy ship.\u00a0 Watch that you don’t mistake English “larboard” for the Irish “l\u00e1rbhord<\/strong>” which means “afterdeck” (aka aft deck) from the Irish “l\u00e1r<\/strong>” for “center.”\u00a0 How “center” gets used for English “after,” I have no idea!\u00a0 Eolas ag \u00e9inne<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

As for the comparison between using “cl\u00e9<\/strong>” or “sceathrach<\/strong>” for the term for port side, these are the results I got for contextual usage:<\/p>\n

“ar an gcl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” – 6 hits with none for the northern variation, “ar an chl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

“ar chl\u00e9bhord<\/strong>” – just 1 hit but it’s a solid source since it’s from BORD IMSCR\u00daD\u00da TAISM\u00cd MUIR\u00cd (The Marine Casualty Investigation Board) (http:\/\/www.mcib.ie\/_fileupload\/MCIB%202009%20(Irish)%20Annual%20Report.pdf<\/a>): “ar chl\u00e9bhord an t\u00ed deice<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

For what it’s worth, I don’t see any mention in this document of “bord na sceathra\u00ed<\/strong>” or “bord na sceartha\u00ed<\/strong>” or, for that matter,\u00a0 “bord na heanga\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Admittedly, not a lot of results, but “Is fearr leathbhuil\u00edn n\u00e1 a bheith gan ar\u00e1n<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

“Bow” and “stern” in Irish seem to be much more straightforward than their English equivalents.\u00a0 Anyone with basic Irish should be able to interpret “ceann<\/strong>” \/ “tosach<\/strong>” and “deireadh<\/strong>.”\u00a0 But to be quite honest, the world of English nautical terms has always seemed to me like a whole other language, from the prow (as opposed to the “bow”) to the sternpost and from the crow’s nest to the bilge — it keeps me on my toes checking out what the words actually mean.\u00a0 Anyway, here’s “bow” and “stern.”<\/p>\n

3.. bow – the two main choices are<\/p>\n

a.. tosach<\/strong>, front part, often used with “b\u00e1id<\/strong>” (of a boat) or “loinge<\/strong>” (of a ship) to give the specifically nautical meaning<\/p>\n

b.. ceann<\/strong>, head, again often used with “b\u00e1id<\/strong>” or “loinge<\/strong>” to give the specifically nautical meaning<\/p>\n

I’ve also seen “gob<\/strong>” (lit. beak, beak-like mouth) used for “bow,” but it seems more like a “prow” to me.\u00a0 Bar\u00fail ag seolt\u00f3ir n\u00f3 ag mairn\u00e9alach amuigh ansin<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

4.. stern: deireadh<\/strong> (lit. “end” as in “deireadh an sc\u00e9il<\/strong>,” the end of the story or “an deireadh seachtaine<\/strong>,” the weekend). “Of the stern” is “deiridh<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Examples include:<\/p>\n

toward the stern (aft): i dtreo an deiridh<\/strong><\/p>\n

fore and aft: chun tosaigh agus chun deiridh<\/strong><\/p>\n

from stem to stern: \u00f3 thosach go deireadh<\/strong><\/p>\n

stern foremost: ar lorg a deiridh<\/strong> (“deiridh<\/strong>” = “of the end,” “of the stern”)<\/p>\n

stern ladder: dr\u00e9imire deiridh<\/strong><\/p>\n

In conclusion, I’m left wondering if these terms were\/are used equally with currachs, small sailboats, motorboats, tall ships, and modern ocean liners, battleships, cruisers and cruise ships.\u00a0 The larger the vessel, what are the chances of the crew being fully Irish-speaking and using these terms, anyway?\u00a0 Ceist do Chabhlach na h\u00c9ireann, b’fh\u00e9idir.<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00ed seolt\u00f3ir m\u00e9, agus mar sin f\u00e1ilte roimh cheart\u00fach\u00e1n n\u00f3 roimh shoil\u00e9iri\u00fa!\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)   Nautical terms have always intrigued me, including such colorful ones as “scuttlebutt” and “three sheets to the wind.”\u00a0 So today I thought I’d cover a few of the most basic terms pertaining to parts of a boat or ship.\u00a0 If there’s interest, perhaps we can cover more such terms in the future…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":11025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[513815,513163,11731,513817,6499,513816,359039],"class_list":["post-11022","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-aft","tag-bow","tag-fore","tag-larboard","tag-port","tag-starboard","tag-stern"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11022"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11059,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions\/11059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}