{"id":11130,"date":"2019-08-20T01:52:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T01:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11130"},"modified":"2019-11-19T16:35:47","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T16:35:47","slug":"bluebell-or-broadbrand-which-word-should-be-in-a-childrens-dictionary-a-british-example-and-irish-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bluebell-or-broadbrand-which-word-should-be-in-a-childrens-dictionary-a-british-example-and-irish-question\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bluebell’ or ‘Broadbrand’: Which Word Should Be in a Children’s Dictionary? — A British Example and Irish Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

Graphic: https:\/\/www.publicdomainpictures.net\/en\/view-image.php?image=34268&picture=bluebell-flowers<\/a> , by Karen Arnold; License: CC0 Public Domain. T\u00e9acs Gaeilge & B\u00e9arla le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

As far back as 2009, many people noticed that the Oxford Junior Dictionary<\/em>, a monolingual English dictionary for children seven years old or thereabouts, dropped approximately 50 words about nature so they would have room for more 21st<\/sup>-century tech-oriented words.\u00a0 While I can sort of understand the logic, I wonder if perhaps hundreds of definitions could have been trimmed\u00a0 slightly instead, to make room. \u00a0\u00a0In this era of 140-character sound bites, we\u2019re used to trimming our texts so the dreaded red \u201c-1\u201d (or higher) warning doesn\u2019t show up.\u00a0 As long as you\u2019re even -1 (or 1 character over the limit), many online forms will not post or send your message. \u00a0And, these days, we\u2019re not counting \u201cwords\u201d as such, in many cases, but characters, including blank spaces and punctuation.\u00a0 So if we\u2019re used to such tweaking, maybe enough space could have been made to add the new words while keeping the more traditional ones.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t we use to sing \u201cMake new friends, but keep the old \u2026\u201d?<\/p>\n

At any rate, no use crying over spilt milk (or, to use an Irish near-equivalent: \u00a0N\u00edl maith a bheith ag gol in \u00e1it na maoiseoige<\/strong>).\u00a0 Whether the OJD could have trimmed a bit here and there, here a nip, there a tuck, we may never know.\u00a0 But what we can do is make sure those deleted words (like bluebell, dandelion, willow, etc.) are not forgotten, in English, Irish, or any of the world\u2019s other languages (and there are about 6000 of them).\u00a0 The 50 or so deleted words from the OJD have been heralded in the social media, a 21st<\/sup>-century, high-tech phenomenon which, ironically we\u2019re using to discuss this very issue.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Oxford Junior Dictionary<\/em> is a monolingual English dictionary, probably not much like what most adult Irish learners are using, but the situation provides us \u201c\u00e1bhar machnaimh<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 What should we be learning first when we start a new language?\u00a0 While I don\u2019t have a ready answer for that, I do plan to look at the Oxford deleted words and line them up with their Irish equivalents to see which ones seem to be well represented in our pedagogical materials and which ones are not.\u00a0 Of course, there are all kinds of demographic specifications that should be part of such a study, and my approach will be necessarily streamlined, but I still think it will give us some interesting insight into nature terms in Irish.\u00a0 In general, I\u2019ve always been impressed by how prevalent some of these words are in Gaeltacht literature and in textbooks, although the trend may be changing.\u00a0 In particular, I was always touched by a sentence I remember from years ago, something like, “The weak lamb is not eating,” (IIRC, in Irish it was: N\u00edl an t-uan lag ag ithe<\/strong>; I’ll have to track that down sometime\u00a0 — c\u00e9n leabhar a raibh an abairt sin ann, an cuimhin le duine ar bith?<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

This project will take a while, probably creating a \u201csraith<\/strong>\u201d of these \u201cblaganna<\/strong>,\u201d to go through the list, but I thought I\u2019d start today with \u201cbluebells\u201d vs. \u201cbroadband,\u201d partly just because I love alliteration!<\/p>\n

So, to get to the actual Irish words: as the graphic above hints, the literal word order for \u201cbluebells\u201d in Irish is \u201clittle bells blue,\u201d or maybe that should even be \u201cbells-little blue,\u201d since the \u201clittle bells\u201d part is one word, using a suffix.<\/p>\n

Got the suffix for the \u201clittle\u201d part?\u00a0 Think \u201chouseen,\u201d \u201csagarteen,\u201d and \u201csmithereen,\u201d and now their Irish equivalents, \u201ctig\u00edn<\/strong> OR teach\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d \u201csagairt\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201csmidir\u00edn<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, now you\u2019ve got the ending, \u201c-\u00edn\u201d (plural: -\u00edn\u00ed).\u00a0 And the Irish for \u201cbell\u201d (or clock)?\u00a0 Clog<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Irish for blue?\u00a0 \u201cGorm<\/strong>\u201d (pronounced with two syllables, not like English \u201cworm\u201d or \u201cgormless\u201d or Star Trek\u2019s \u201cGorn\u201d — couldn’t resist that one, even though it’s “n” not \u201cm\u201d).<\/p>\n

Put it altogether and you\u2019ve got bluebells: cloig\u00edn\u00ed gorma<\/strong> (clog<\/strong> + slenderization\/inserting \u201cI\u201d + suffix \u201c-\u00edn\u201d + plural ending \u201c\u00ed\u201d followed by \u201cgorm<\/strong>\u201d plus plural ending \u201ca\u201d).\u00a0 Piece o\u2019 cake, or to use a more Irish expression, \u201c\u00e9asca p\u00e9asca<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for \u201cbroadband,\u201d I don\u2019t deny it\u2019s useful as a term.\u00a0\u00a0 That said, I don\u2019t really know how much the 7-year-old target audience for the Oxford Junior Dictionary<\/em> really uses the word, but the OJD\u2019s editors say they made their selections based on children\u2019s usage.\u00a0 \u00a0The Irish for \u201cbroadband\u201d is, quite straightforwardly \u201cleathanbhanda<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cbanda leathan<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 So, if you had to choose, which would you rather learn first in Irish \u2013 cloig\u00edn\u00ed gorma<\/strong> or leathanbhanda<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Of course, I acknowledge that dictionaries for adults probably don\u2019t have the word-count restrictions that printed books for children do, so probably we can learn both words easily \u2013 but how quickly?\u00a0 We can\u2019t learn an entire vocabulary overnight, so either we prioritize or someone does it for us (textbook writers, YouTube artists, lexicographers, language bloggers, etc.).\u00a0 \u00a0And the online dictionaries are only limited by the storage capacities of their websites, which seem to be enormous, which is a great advantage over print (bibliophile that I am \/ c\u00e9 gur m\u00f3r an leabharbh\u00e1ch m\u00e9<\/strong>).\u00a0 But I still think it\u2019s worth considering, what would the reaction in the Irish language community be to the systematic removal of words related to nature (which btw is \u201cd\u00falra<\/strong>\u201d in Irish), from language-learning resources to make way for t\u00e9arma\u00ed teicni\u00fala<\/strong>? Do bhar\u00fail f\u00e9in<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help wondering if the same fate has befallen the Oxford Australian Junior Dictionary<\/em> and the New Zealand Oxford Junior Dictionary<\/em>.\u00a0 Billabong?\u00a0 Wallaby?\u00a0 Bilby?\u00a0 Kiwi (no way you could get rid of that, I think)?\u00a0 Moa?\u00a0 Tuatara?\u00a0 Or other dictionaries, monolingual or otherwise, in other languages?\u00a0 And now I\u2019ll have to look further into trends in the world of \u201cfocl\u00f3ir\u00ed Gaeilge<\/strong>,\u201d most of which are bilingual, and few of which are just for children.\u00a0 In fact, adult learners probably constitute a huge market for all kinds of Irish dictionaries today, whether it\u2019s a hard-copy book we actually buy (remember doing that?) or a free app.\u00a0 So what do adult learners want to learn first \u2013 if they have to prioritize \u2013 the Irish for \u201cbluebell(s)\u201d (cloig\u00edn gorm<\/strong>, pl. cloig\u00edn\u00ed gorma<\/strong>) or the Irish for \u201cbroadband\u201d (leathanbhanda<\/strong> OR banda leathan<\/strong>).\u00a0 As readers of this blog, your thoughts are especially welcome.\u00a0 Personally, I would always like to know as many realms of vocabulary as possible, from \u201cabach<\/strong>\u201d (entrails) to \u201cZ\u00fainis<\/strong>\u201d (Zuni language).\u00a0 But, of course, \u201cI ndiaidh a ch\u00e9ile a th\u00f3gtar na caisle\u00e1in<\/strong>,\u201d the Irish equivalent of \u201cRome wasn\u2019t built in a day.\u201d\u00a0 We do have to prioritize \u2013 caithfidh muid ruda\u00ed a chur in ord tosa\u00edochta<\/strong> \u2013 but hopefully, ultimately, there\u2019s room for just about everything, including interesting words like \u201ctracklement,\u201d for which I just learned the Welsh \u2013 it\u2019s simply _defined_ as \u201cjeli<\/em>\u201d although I see it _described_ as a \u201csavoury condiment\u201d like mustard.\u00a0 Hmm –thereby, no doubt, hangs a tale, or at least a chutney, but, to paraphrase the much-loved Myles \u201cis sc\u00e9al do l\u00e1 \u00e9igin eile \u00e9 sc\u00e9al na <\/strong>tracklements.<\/em>”\u00a0 Ceist faoin fhocal ‘<\/strong>tracklements‘?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach an n\u00f3ta th\u00edos, ldt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please stay tuned for a further examination of the controversy regarding the Oxford Junior Dictionary’s deleted and added English words, with their Irish equivalents.\u00a0 Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9 thuas, feicim sraith r\u00e9as\u00fanta fada romham!\u00a0 SGF \u2013 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

PS: An n\u00f3ta<\/strong>: perhaps I could even go so far as to follow Myles na gCopaleen’s\u00a0 Gaeilge-go-B\u00e9arla <\/strong>orthography, as evidenced in his phrase “na dibheairseans agus na haidbhintiur<\/em>s” and say “sc\u00e9al na dtraicilmint\u00ed,” <\/strong>and yes, afaik, that is a totally made-up Irish spelling, but hopefully it will be read in good humor.\u00a0 Na gCopaleen (aka Flann O’Brien, but really aka Brian O’Nolan akaX2 Brian \u00d3 Nuall\u00e1in) glossed his terms as “scl\u00e9ip<\/strong>” (for “dibheairseans<\/strong>“) and “eachtra\u00ed<\/strong>” (for “aidbhintiurs<\/strong>“).\u00a0 I imagine many readers of his An B\u00e9al Bocht<\/em><\/strong> will agree that this is one of the most hilarious examples of focla\u00edocht<\/strong> in the history of Irish focl\u00f3ireacht.\u00a0 <\/strong>Or maybe we should call it “br\u00e9agfhocl\u00f3ireacht<\/strong>” (“pseudo-lexicography).”\u00a0 Of course, almost every line in Na gCopaleen’s \u00farsc\u00e9al<\/strong> is one of the most hilarious lines I’ve ever read i litr\u00edocht na Gaeilge<\/strong>, so it stands to reason that even Na gCopaleen’s footnotes are greannmha<\/strong>r (funny).<\/p>\n

BTW, if anyone wants to read a little more about a typographical mystery in An B\u00e9al Bocht<\/strong><\/em>, you might like to check out my April 20, 2015 blogpost: Mist\u00e9ir an Fhr\u00e1sa \u2018\u00f3 chorchtacht\u2019 [sic] in \u2018An B\u00e9al Bocht\u2019 \u2014 R\u00e9itithe (An Irish typo \u2014 solved)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) As far back as 2009, many people noticed that the Oxford Junior Dictionary, a monolingual English dictionary for children seven years old or thereabouts, dropped approximately 50 words about nature so they would have room for more 21st-century tech-oriented words.\u00a0 While I can sort of understand the logic, I wonder if perhaps hundreds…<\/p>\n

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