{"id":11111,"date":"2019-07-20T14:06:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T14:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11111"},"modified":"2019-09-07T10:59:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-07T10:59:15","slug":"the-beach-irish-terms-from-swash-to-berm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/the-beach-irish-terms-from-swash-to-berm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beach: Irish Terms from “Swash” to “Berm”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

graphic:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/fiis\/naturescience\/images\/Parts-of-the-Beach_RC-cartoon_Pdrive-photo.JPG, per https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Beach#\/media\/File:Beach-sections.jpg public domain; t\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It may seem like a simple thing to just say you’re going to the beach (or “the strand” or “the shore”), but in reality, there are many zones or parts to a beach.\u00a0 They have interesting names in English and so, there’s also a slew of interesting Irish vocabulary words to match.\u00a0 Here are a few:<\/p>\n

1)) Closest to the water, the swash zone: “slaparnac<\/strong>h” is the Irish for “swash” and it may be clarified by “na dtonn<\/strong>” (of the waves).<\/p>\n

After a word like “crios<\/strong>” (belt, zone) or “z\u00f3n<\/strong>,” the word “slaparnac<\/strong>h” changes to “slaparna\u00ed<\/strong>,” since we’re now saying, “zone _of_ swash.”\u00a0 Irish doesn’t use a word like “of” in this case — it just changes the end of the final word.<\/p>\n

2)) Next, the main and probably widest area: urthr\u00e1<\/strong> (to really specify “foreshore” as opposed to “backshore”).\u00a0 For pronunciation, remember the “t” of “tr\u00e1<\/strong>” is now silent, so it’s approximately “ur-hraw.” We could also simply say “tr\u00e1<\/strong>” (beach, strand, shore) or “cladach<\/strong>” \u00a0(beach, strand, shore, sometimes specifically a “rocky foreshore,” although a rocky beach can also be a “duirling<\/strong>” — there’s never a shortage of vocabulary in Irish, especially where nature is concerned).<\/p>\n

3)) Third, we have the “wrack line,” where most debris from the sea (like “raic<\/strong>” or English “wrack” is deposited and may remain until there’s a really high tide).\u00a0 In the graphic above, we don’t see any actual wrack, just the green area, but typically there would be seaweed (feamainn<\/strong>) and driftwood (adhmad farraige<\/strong>).\u00a0 Sadly, these days, there might also be “bruscar<\/strong>” (litter) or other debris (“smionagar<\/strong>” or “treascarnach<\/strong>“).<\/p>\n

Another way to say “wrack line” is “crannlach bharr taoide<\/strong>,” a really interesting phrase.\u00a0 “Crannlach<\/strong>” does derive from “crann<\/strong>” (a tree), although we might wonder why, since trees don’t typically grow right in the middle of a sandy beach.\u00a0 But with the suffix “-lach,” the word now means “brushwood<\/strong>,” “withered stalks<\/strong>,” \u00a0or “haulm<\/strong>” (another intriguing English word, meaning “stems” or “stalks” in general, especially after a crop has been harvested).\u00a0 Adding “b(h)arr taoide<\/strong>” specifies that this is high (barr<\/strong>) tide (taoide<\/strong>) brushwood (as it were), in other words, this is specifically a maritime feature, not agricultural.<\/p>\n

4)) Finally, we have the “berm,” which is almost the same in Irish: beirm<\/strong> (an bheirm<\/strong>, the berm, na beirmeacha<\/strong>, the berms).\u00a0 This is the raised strip of land separating the beach area from the non-beach inland terrain.\u00a0 Clearly, this word is closely akin to the English and is probably a recent borrowing.\u00a0 Interestingly, Irish also has two other terms that could be used for “berm” (berm terms!) but my hunch is that these are not used as much nowadays, since “beirm<\/strong>” is so easily recognizable.\u00a0 The additional words are cos\u00e1n dreapa<\/strong> (from “cos\u00e1n,” a walking path or trail, and “dreapa,” related to “dreap,” climb), and laft\u00e1n<\/strong> (ledge, overlook, shelf, stand).<\/p>\n

So, whether you go to the beach just to relax (do sc\u00edth a ligean<\/strong>) or to learn more about the environment and the relevant Irish vocabulary, now you have a little more specific background for defining the territory.\u00a0 And if you lose your “lionsa\u00ed tadhaill<\/strong>” (contact lenses) at the beach, now you can tell your friends where to help you look: sa chrios slaparna\u00ed, san urthr\u00e1, sa l\u00edne raice, <\/strong>or sa bheirm, srl<\/strong>.\u00a0 And good luck (\u00e1dh m\u00f3r<\/strong>) with that.\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)   It may seem like a simple thing to just say you’re going to the beach (or “the strand” or “the shore”), but in reality, there are many zones or parts to a beach.\u00a0 They have interesting names in English and so, there’s also a slew of interesting Irish vocabulary words to match.\u00a0…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":11112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[1924,514196,514193,10669,384247,514195,508646,514194],"class_list":["post-11111","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-beach","tag-berm","tag-cladach","tag-shore","tag-strand","tag-swash","tag-tra","tag-wrack"],"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