{"id":11206,"date":"2019-10-31T14:27:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T14:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11206"},"modified":"2019-12-26T14:25:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T14:25:23","slug":"nature-words-in-irish-pt-6-ferret-to-herring-following-acorn-to-crocus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/nature-words-in-irish-pt-6-ferret-to-herring-following-acorn-to-crocus\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature Words in Irish, pt. 6: Ferret to Herring (following ‘acorn’ to ‘crocus’)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grey_heron#\/media\/File:Ardea_cinerea_building_nest.jpg<\/a>, Ib Rasmussen [Public domain], t\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/em><\/p><\/div>If you’ve been following this blog series, you probably know the drill by now.\u00a0 The last few blog posts in this series have featured Irish words for nature terms, ranging so far from “acorn” to “crocus.”\u00a0 What’s special about these particular words?\u00a0 They are the Irish equivalents of the 50 or so nature words stricken from the Oxford Junior Dictionary<\/em> (OJD<\/em>) about 10 years ago to make room for tech words like “block graph” and “broadband.”<\/p>\n

Previous blog posts in this series have outlined the issue.\u00a0 As the public became aware of the removal of these nature words from the OJD<\/em>, people from all walks of life complained about the underlying message that the dictionary seems to advocate — that “screen time” is more important for today’s children than time spent outdoors exploring nature and learning the environment in as hands-on a way as possible.\u00a0 The question that arose in my mind, as soon as I read of this controversy, was what would have happened if these words\u00a0 had been removed from an Irish language dictionary.\u00a0 Or if comparable words had been removed from Oxford’s Australian and New Zealand dictionaries for children.\u00a0 So I’ve been compiling a list of the Irish versions of the removed words and trying to imagine a dictionary without them.<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s true that the OJD<\/em> has a fixed word limit and its target audience is 7-year-olds, but I think the underlying issue is quite important — what words get into dictionaries and which ones don’t?\u00a0 Online dictionaries, by definition, can be more comprehensive than physical books, since paper, binding, storage, and shipping are no longer issues, but even there, memory and file size may be issues.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the removal of the nature terms seems to be a high price to pay for the inclusion of “block graph” and “broadband.”\u00a0 At any rate, here are some of the removed words with their Irish equivalents in the common, plural, and genitive-case forms.\u00a0 Today’s post covers ferrets, gerbils, goldfish, hamsters, herons, and herrings.\u00a0 The next installment in this series will pick up with “holly.”<\/p>\n

ferret: feir\u00e9ad: an feir\u00e9ad, an fheir\u00e9id, na feir\u00e9id, na bhfeir\u00e9ad<\/strong><\/p>\n

gerbil: seirbil: an tseirbil, na seirbile, na seirbil\u00ed, na seirbil\u00ed<\/strong><\/p>\n

goldfish: iasc \u00f3rga: an t-iasc \u00f3rga, an \u00e9isc \u00f3rga, na h\u00e9isc \u00f3rga, na n-iasc \u00f3rga<\/strong><\/p>\n

hamster: hamstar: an hamstar, an hamstair, na hamstair, na hamstar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next two words, heron and herring, get especially interesting in the Irish context.<\/p>\n

heron: corr r\u00e9isc: an chorr r\u00e9isc, na coirre r\u00e9isc, na corra r\u00e9isc, na gcorr r\u00e9isc<\/strong>.\u00a0 “R\u00e9isc<\/strong>” means “of the marsh\/bogland\/moor.”\u00a0 This term refers specifically to the gray heron, aka “corr ghlas<\/strong>” (here “glas<\/strong>” means “gray,” though “glas<\/strong>” often means “green”),\u00a0 “corr mh\u00f3na<\/strong>” (of the turf\/peat) , “corr \u00e9isc<\/strong>” (of the fish), and “corr riasc<\/strong>” (related to “r\u00e9isc<\/strong>,” \u00a0meaning “of the marshes\/boglands\/moors”).\u00a0 Curiously, “corr r\u00e9isc<\/strong>” and “corr \u00e9isc<\/strong>” sound almost identical so interpretations may vary when we simply hear the sound.\u00a0 There are also a few alternate names for herons, \u00a0such “S\u00edle na bPortach<\/strong>” and “N\u00f3ra na bPortach<\/strong>” and “M\u00e1ire Fhada<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Mh’anam, sin a l\u00e1n ainmneacha!\u00a0 Agus is ainmneacha cail\u00edn\u00ed na leasainmneacha sin go l\u00e9ir.\u00a0 Cad a sh\u00edlfeadh corr r\u00e9isc fhireann den ch\u00e1s, meas t\u00fa?<\/strong><\/p>\n

North American readers might want to note that the familiar Blue Heron (Great or Little) isn’t native to Europe, and so far, I haven’t found an official Irish term for it.\u00a0 I assume it should have “g(h)orm<\/strong>” in it, but one can never second-guess taxonomical terms.\u00a0 A few people have tweeted about it in Irish, basically using the obvious “corr ghorm mh\u00f3r” (nasc th\u00edos).<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Corr<\/strong>” can also be used for stork (“corr bh\u00e1n<\/strong>,” which, however, is also known as “storc b\u00e1n<\/strong>,” clearly closer to the English).\u00a0 “Corr<\/strong>” also means a “long-necked person,” logically enough.\u00a0 Additionally, “corr<\/strong>” is a word to watch out for\u00a0 since there are three other words spelled “c-o-r-r<\/strong>” in Irish: a) corr<\/strong>, an angle\u00a0 b) corr<\/strong>, a sand-eel, sometimes followed by “ghainimh<\/strong>” or “sh\u00e9ana<\/strong>” or \u00a0“ghobach<\/strong>” and c) corr<\/strong>, odd. tapering, occasional, the latter as in “corrdhuine<\/strong>” (an occasional person) and “\u00e9an corr<\/strong>” (a rare bird).<\/p>\n

So, “corr<\/strong>” is not only important as an aspect of Irish fauna, but also as a reminder of the prevalence of “comhghraif<\/strong>” (homographs) in the language.\u00a0 And finally, herring:<\/p>\n

herring: scad\u00e1n: an scad\u00e1n, an scad\u00e1in, na scad\u00e1in, na scad\u00e1n<\/strong> and when it’s kippered, it’s “scad\u00e1n leasaithe<\/strong>” (lit. improved), and pickled, they are “picilte<\/strong>.” \u00a0This fish also gives its name to the “national anthem” of Tory Island (Amhr\u00e1n na Scad\u00e1n, nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>) and to one of the most popular tweed patterns, “patr\u00fan\u00a0cn\u00e1mh\u00a0scad\u00e1in<\/strong>” (herring-bone pattern), which has been worn by characters as varied as Mr. Toad in The Wind and the Willows<\/em>, Henry Callahan in Dirty Harry<\/em>, and Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders<\/em>, not to mention such real-life personages as Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan, Eddie Redmayne, and Jefferson Hack (naisc th\u00edos<\/strong>). \u00a0Tweed-weaving, btw, was reported in 2012 as being a \u00a310 million industry for the Outer Hebrides (Scotland), total population currently under 28,000 (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>).\u00a0 So, tweed, and by extension, the pattern and the word “herringbone” itself can contribute to providing employment on a remote island, helping young people remain in their G\u00e0idhealtachd<\/em> community if they choose, instead of being forced to emigrate for jobs.<\/p>\n

Metaphorically, “scad\u00e1n<\/strong>” can also mean “a thin man.”\u00a0 So, among other reasons to keep these nature terms active, we also have the fun and poetic use of various nature terms (corr, scad\u00e1n<\/strong>) to describe human characteristics.<\/p>\n

So, looking both at Tory Island and Scotland’s Isle of Harris, we can safely say that the herring\/herringbone\/herringbone tweed vocabulary cluster is vitally important to the economy and culture.\u00a0 Let’s leave herring in the dictionary!\u00a0 And of course, if I had my druthers, all these words would stay in the dictionary, specifically, the OJD, as mentioned above.\u00a0 But if I had to pick and choose, I’d probably take my list of 50 nature terms and 50 tech terms, and pick the top 25 each for nature and tech.\u00a0 And at least balance it that way and let readers know how the dictionary had been edited\/updated.<\/p>\n

It’s not that I think these words, or the others in the series so far, are in imminent danger of being deep-sixed, as far as _Irish_ dictionaries go.\u00a0 But it is a cautionary tale.\u00a0 And hopefully the discussion as been a good way for learners to expand their vocabulary, from the near obvious (na hamstair<\/strong>) to the always intriguing situation of multiple words for the same specific thing (corr<\/strong> x 5 for herons + 3 leasainm<\/strong>!).\u00a0 What a piece of work is man[kind] … How infinite in … vocabulary!\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue Herons, https:\/\/twitter.com\/killyleaghdenis?lang=en&lang=en<\/a><\/p>\n

Herrings \u00a01) Amhr\u00e1n na Scad\u00e1n<\/strong>, https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/archives\/2019\/0327\/1038907-intriguing-tory-island\/<\/a>, and there are many other links to this song, if you look online; 2) fashion: https:\/\/blog.samuel-windsor.co.uk\/ten-famous-tweed-wearers<\/a> and https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/dropping-knowledge-herringbone<\/a> and for fun, you might like to try https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/uk\/style\/news\/a9124\/unlikely-style-icons-mr-toad\/; 3) population and economy of Outer Hebrides: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2012\/nov\/09\/harris-tweed-industry-scotland-renaissance<\/a> and \u00a0https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170910220714\/http:\/\/www.cne-siar.gov.uk\/factfile\/population\/<\/a> .\u00a0 If we just consider the Harris area of Lewis and Harris, Harris being the epicenter of Harris tweed production, the population is probably about the same as it was in 2001, namely 1,916 people (that is the last year for which I can find a report specifically for this part of the island (https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120407021425\/ and http:\/\/www.gro-scotland.gov.uk\/files2\/stats\/occasional-papers\/occ-paper-10-inhabited-islands.pdf<\/a> per https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Outer_Hebrides<\/a>, last edited on 24 November 2019).<\/p>\n

iarbhlaganna sa tsraith seo (nature words)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Bluebell\u2019 or \u2018Broadbrand\u2019: Which Word Should Be in a Children\u2019s Dictionary? \u2014 A British Example and Irish Question<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Aug 20, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nature Words: Should They Be in a Children\u2019s Dictionary or Not? Let\u2019s Consider the Irish Word \u201cdearc\u00e1n\u201d (acorn)<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Aug 31, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nature Words: the Irish for \u2018almond\u2019 and a baker\u2019s dozen of related terms<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 18, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nature Words in Irish, pt. 4: blackberry, budgerigar\/parakeet, buttercup (and bluebell in review)<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 30, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nature Words in Irish, pt. 5: Catkin to Crocus (following up on acorn to buttercup)<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Oct 17, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) If you’ve been following this blog series, you probably know the drill by now.\u00a0 The last few blog posts in this series have featured Irish words for nature terms, ranging so far from “acorn” to “crocus.”\u00a0 What’s special about these particular words?\u00a0 They are the Irish equivalents of the 50 or so nature…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":11208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[514331,514335,514336,514325,514337,5074,514326,514329,514323,514330,514338,306278,5361,5378,514328,474691,514324,8113,5601,514339,411323,2332,514235,514327,514340,359059,306277,514332,514333,514334,411124],"class_list":["post-11206","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bhfeiread","tag-chorr","tag-coirre","tag-corr","tag-corra","tag-eisc","tag-feiread","tag-feireid","tag-ferret","tag-fheireid","tag-gcorr","tag-gerbil","tag-ghlas","tag-glas","tag-goldfish","tag-heisc","tag-heron","tag-herring","tag-iasc","tag-mhona","tag-n-iasc","tag-nature","tag-ojd","tag-orga","tag-riasc","tag-scadan","tag-seirbil","tag-seirbile","tag-seirbili","tag-t-iasc","tag-tseirbil"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206","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=11206"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11222,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206\/revisions\/11222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}