![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2019\/06\/0959A-giant-water-lily-photo-text-on-side.jpg\")
<\/a>C\u00e9n t-ainm at\u00e1 ar na bl\u00e1thanna seo?\u00a0 grianghraf:\u00a0 https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Botanical_Garden_V.L._Komarov_Botanical_Institute.jpg ; User:\u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0418\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432 [Public domain]; t\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/em><\/p><\/div>(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/b><\/p>\n Intriguingly, Irish has quite a few words for water-lily.\u00a0 For water-lilies in general, we have bual-lile, bior-r\u00f3s, duilleog bh\u00e1ite<\/strong>, and p\u00f3ic\u00edn locha<\/strong>.\u00a0 More specifically, for distinct types, we have bac\u00e1n b\u00e1n<\/strong> or duilleog bh\u00e1ite bh\u00e1n<\/strong>, for the white, and cabh\u00e1n abhann, duilleog bh\u00e1ite bhu\u00ed<\/strong>, and liach-loghar<\/strong>, for the yellow.<\/p>\n With compound words like this, I think it\u2019s always fun to split them apart and see if the Irish words are really the same as the English words.\u00a0 \u00a0One interesting point is that so far, none of the terms I\u2019ve found actually include the word \u201cuisce<\/strong>\u201d (water) and only one uses “lile<\/strong>” (lily).\u00a0 Never a dull moment, when it comes to how words are formed!<\/p>\n So if \u201cuisce<\/strong>” is the common word for \u201cwater,\u201d what are the other words that we see in our examples?\u00a0 Well, for starters, \u201cbual<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cbior<\/strong>,\u201d as we will see below.\u00a0 Related terms are “b(h)\u00e1ite<\/strong>” (drowned, submerged), “locha<\/strong>” (of a lake), and “abhann<\/strong>” (of a river).<\/p>\n a)) Bual<\/strong>, water, not very commonly used, in my experience, but it does show up in the phrases\u00a0 \u201croth buaile\u201d (a water-wheel), which, reassuringly, can also be expressed by \u201croth uisce,\u201d with “roth” meaning “wheel.”\u00a0 \u201cBual\u201d also shows up in \u201cbualchomhla,\u201d sluice valve or sluice-gate, i.e.. a water valve or water-doorleaf, “comhla” normally being the \u201cleaf of a door.\u201d\u00a0 A sluice gate can also, more straightforwardly, be a \u201cloc-chomhla,\u201d or \u201clock-valve,\u201d as in canal locks.\u00a0 That probably would have been familiar to all the Irishmen who traveled \u201cFifteen miles on the Erie Canal,\u201d that is if they lived anywhere on the route from Albany to Buffalo (and Lake Erie).\u00a0 “Bual” combines with “lile” to give us “bual-lile,” sometimes written as “buail-lile.”<\/p>\n b)) Bior<\/strong>, water, another less common word for water, as in \u201cbiorchop\u00f3g,\u201d water-dockleaf.\u00a0 It combines with “r\u00f3s” (a rose), to give us “bior-r\u00f3s.” Why “rose”?\u00a0 Well, the European white water lily is sometimes known as the “white water rose” — that’s as much as I can tell.\u00a0 Eolas ag duine ar bith eile?<\/p>\n Now for the “water-related” terms:<\/p>\n c)) B\u00e1ite \/ bh\u00e1ite<\/strong>, drowned, submerged, as in “duilleog bh\u00e1ite” (submerged leaf).\u00a0 This gives us a general term, duilleog bh\u00e1ite, and two specific types, “duilleog bh\u00e1ite bh\u00e1n” (white water-lily) and “duilleog bh\u00e1ite bhu\u00ed” (yellow water lily).\u00a0 The “h” is added to “b\u00e1ite” because “duilleog” is grammatically feminine. \u00a0“Bh\u00e1ite” used to be spelled “bh\u00e1idhte.”<\/p>\n d)) Locha<\/strong>, of a lake, from “loch,” a lake, well known through place names like Lough Neagh (lough being the anglicized form) and, in Scotland, Loch Lomond, etc.\u00a0 A “p\u00f3ic\u00edn” is a “small pocket” (from “p\u00f3ca,” a pocket) or, geographically speaking, a confined place or small enclosed patch (pocket) of ground.\u00a0 So, “little lake patches,” I assume, referring to the idea that giant water-lilies, at least, look large enough to walk on. \u00a0Not that the “giant water-lilies” are native to Ireland, fad m’eolais.\u00a0 I couldn’t really see calling the giant ones “p\u00f3ic\u00edn\u00ed”!\u00a0 \u00a0In English, the flower may be referred to as a “lough lily.”<\/p>\n e)) Abhann<\/strong>, of a river, from “abhainn,” a river, as in “cabh\u00e1n abhann,” \u00a0another term for the “yellow water lily.”\u00a0 Hmm.\u00a0 “Cabh\u00e1n” is mostly recognized as the Irish for the town and county of Cavan, but in its basic meaning, it\u2019s a hollow or cavity or a little hill.\u00a0 So, literally, this would presumably “little water hill” or “little water cavity.”\u00a0 Hmm (again), seems to me that a hill and hollow\/cavity are the opposite of each other, but, well, whatever.\u00a0 It can also mean “a field,” “a valley,” or “a plain,” all of which would seem distinctly different to me.\u00a0 And I’ve even seen “cabh\u00e1n” \u00a0interpreted as “a hollow plain” (what’s a hollow plain?\u00a0 I thought plains were quite flat!), which leaves me somewhat mystified.<\/p>\n And finally, with no particular water reference, we have<\/p>\n f)) Bac\u00e1n b\u00e1n<\/strong>, with “bac\u00e1n” meaning ” a stalk of water-lily” and “b\u00e1n” being the color white. \u00a0\u00a0There is also \u00a0“bac\u00e1n” meaning the following: one’s bent arm, a peg, a piton, a short post, a stake, a handle, a hinge, a hinge-hook, a spade threadle (!), a pothanger; the back stone of a fireplace, the projecting stones to which the s\u00fag\u00e1in (hand-twisted ropes) are fastened in thatching, and a hook for gathering seaweed.\u00a0 Whether “bac\u00e1n” for a water-lily stalk and “bac\u00e1n” with all of these other uses is supposed to be the exact\u00a0 same word is unclear, but it seems plausible, given what a water-lily stalk looks like.<\/p>\n g)) \u00a0Liach-loghar<\/strong>, yellow water lily, from “liach” (spoon, spoonful, ladleful) and “loghar” (sometimes “lobhar” ) which has me a bit stumped.\u00a0 The nearest interpretation for “lobhar” seems to be ” weak,” “afflicted,” “rotted,” “ailing,” or “leprous,” none of which would leap out at me as being logical folk taxonomic names for this plant.\u00a0\u00a0 Any chance it’s related to “luachmhar” (valuable) or “loghmhar” (bright, excellent, famous)?\u00a0 I sort of doubt it but \u00a0… \u00a0tuilleadh eolais ag \u00e9inne?\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe I should just say it’s “The ‘Lobhar’ Spoonful” and be done with the guesswork. \u00a0\u00a0Even there, I would normally use “l\u00e1n sp\u00fan\u00f3ige” for spoonful,” (not the obscure “liach”).\u00a0 As for the “lovin’ ” part (just for fun), literally it would be “gr\u00e1mhar” or “cean\u00fail” or “gean\u00fail,” but in this context, I would assume “sp\u00fan\u00f3g hear\u00f3ine,” which gets us way way way off-topic, but, hey, it’s all good vocabulary practice and “hear\u00f3ine” gives us another “tuiseal ginideach, ” to boot.<\/p>\n As for the “giant” part of “giant water-lilies,” given the size the “bual-lil\u00ed<\/strong>” in the graphic above, I find no precedent in Irish, but would assume either “oll-<\/strong>” as a prefix or “m\u00f3r\/mh\u00f3r\/m\u00f3ra<\/strong>” as an adjective following.\u00a0 Tuilleadh eolais ag aon luibheola\u00ed anseo<\/strong>?\u00a0 If so, f\u00e1ilte roimh n\u00f3ta\u00ed tr\u00e1chta<\/strong>.\u00a0 If not, bhuel, rinne muid \u00e1r seacht\u00a0 nd\u00edcheall.\u00a0 SGF\u00a0 – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n BTW, Scottish Gaelic, at least, does have an “uisce<\/strong>” reference in “Lili bhuidhe ‘n uisge<\/em>” (yellow lily of the water), “uisge<\/em>” being a slight variation in the spelling.\u00a0 And, conveniently, it also uses “lili<\/em>” for “lily.”\u00a0 Nice and straightforward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Intriguingly, Irish has quite a few words for water-lily.\u00a0 For water-lilies in general, we have bual-lile, bior-r\u00f3s, duilleog bh\u00e1ite, and p\u00f3ic\u00edn locha.\u00a0 More specifically, for distinct types, we have bac\u00e1n b\u00e1n or duilleog bh\u00e1ite bh\u00e1n, for the white, and cabh\u00e1n abhann, duilleog bh\u00e1ite bhu\u00ed, and liach-loghar, for the yellow. With compound words like…<\/p>\n