{"id":114,"date":"2009-12-18T23:20:34","date_gmt":"2009-12-19T03:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=110"},"modified":"2009-12-18T23:20:34","modified_gmt":"2009-12-19T03:20:34","slug":"deireadh-hanukkah-an-grianstad-ag-tarraingt-orainn-agus-an-nollaig-faoinar-suile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/deireadh-hanukkah-an-grianstad-ag-tarraingt-orainn-agus-an-nollaig-faoinar-suile\/","title":{"rendered":"Deireadh Hanukkah, an Grianstad ag Tarraingt orainn, agus an Nollaig faoin\u00e1r S\u00faile"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\u00e1 Hanukkah ag tarraingt chun deiridh ach t\u00e1 grianstad an gheimhridh \u00a0<\/span>ag tarraingt orainn, ar an Luan, an 21\u00fa l\u00e1 (<\/span><\/strong>say: an t-aon\u00fa l\u00e1 is fiche) de mh\u00ed na Nollag.\u00a0 <\/span>Agus t\u00e1 an Nollaig \u00ed f\u00e9in sa mhullach orainn. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The word \u201cgrianstad<\/strong>\u201d breaks apart quite straightforwardly into \u201cgrian<\/strong>\u201d (sun) and \u201cstad<\/strong>\u201d (stop), just as the word \u201csolstice\u201d does (sol<\/em> + sistere<\/em>, to stand still).\u00a0 <\/span>An nd\u00e9anfaidh duine ar bith agaibh aon rud ar leith D\u00e9 Luain chun an grianstad a cheili\u00faradh<\/strong> (to celebrate)?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

An bhfuair duine ar bith agaibh tic\u00e9ad sa chrannchur <\/span><\/strong>(lottery) le dul isteach i mBr\u00fa na B\u00f3inne<\/strong> (Newgrange) i rith Sh\u00e9as\u00far an Ghrianstad?\u00a0 <\/span>M\u00e1s amhlaidh go bhfuair, nach ortsa at\u00e1 an t-\u00e1dh!\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Generally there are about 30,000 iarrth\u00f3ir\u00ed <\/strong>(applicants) in the lottery to gain access to the inside of Newgrange during the Winter Solstice season, which lasts for c\u00faig l\u00e1<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

T\u00e1 cead ag fiche (20) cuairteoir\u00ed a bheith istigh sa Bhr\u00fa ag am amh\u00e1in chun \u00e9ir\u00ed na gr\u00e9ine a fheice\u00e1il \u00f3n taobh istigh.\u00a0 <\/span>Mar sin faigheann caoga (50) duine tic\u00e9id agus is f\u00e9idir leo comr\u00e1da\u00ed amh\u00e1in a bheith acu.\u00a0 <\/span>T\u00e9ann an ch\u00e9ad fiche duine isteach ar an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 den s\u00e9as\u00far, agus t\u00e9ann s\u00e9 ar aghaidh mar sin go dt\u00ed an c\u00faigi\u00fa l\u00e1.\u00a0 <\/span>Fiche duine in aghaidh an lae.\u00a0 <\/span>Nach \u00e1mharach na daoine iad!<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some pointers about the vocabulary used above: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ag tarraingt<\/span><\/strong>, pulling, drawing, dragging, towing, in phrases like \u201cag tarraingt chun deiridh<\/strong>,\u201d drawing to a close, and \u201cag tarraingt orainn<\/strong>,\u201d approaching (us)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

deireadh<\/span><\/strong>, end (as in deireadh seachtaine<\/strong>) changes to \u201cdeiridh<\/strong>\u201d after the preposition \u201cchun<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

faoin\u00e1r s\u00faile<\/span><\/strong> [FWEE-nahr SOO-il-yeh] in the offing, lit. \u201cunder our eyes\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

an gheimhridh <\/span><\/strong>[un YEV-ree] of the winter, cf. \u201cgeimhreadh<\/strong>\u201d [GYEV-ruh] \u00a0<\/span>(winter)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

sa mhullach orainn<\/span><\/strong> [suh WUL-ukh OR-in] coming on apace, lit. \u201cin the summit on us,\u201d with no actual verb \u201ccoming\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

an nd\u00e9anfaidh X? <\/span><\/strong>[un NYAYN-hee, lots of silent letters!] will X do \/ make? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ar leith<\/span><\/strong> [err leh] special, particular<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

an bhfuair X <\/span><\/strong>[un WOO-irzh] did X get? (from \u201cfaigh<\/strong>\u201d (get), one of the 11 irregular verbs in Irish) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You might recall that the word \u201cgrian<\/strong>\u201d is grammatically feminine, so we say \u201can ghrian<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cthe sun.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>But when you make the compound word \u201cgrianstad<\/strong>,\u201d the \u201cstad<\/strong>\u201d part determines the gender, so it\u2019s masculine, giving us \u201can grianstad<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the whole word \u201cgrianstad<\/strong>\u201d is possessive, as in \u201cseason of the solstice<\/em>,\u201d it picks up lenition, resulting in \u201cghrianstad<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>You might have seen this lenition marking possession \u00a0<\/span>in phrases like \u201chata an bh\u00faist\u00e9ara<\/strong>\u201d (the hat of the b\u00faist\u00e9ara<\/strong>, butcher).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ironically, feminine singular nouns, which you\u2019re probably used to leniting (b\u00f3 \/ an bh\u00f3, muc \/ an mhuc<\/strong>, srl<\/strong>.) lose<\/em> their lenition if they\u2019re in the possessive.\u00a0 <\/span>Examples include \u201cruball na b\u00f3<\/strong>\u201d (the tail of the cow) and \u201cruball na muice<\/strong>\u201d (the tail of the pig).\u00a0 <\/span>The latter can also be a colloquialism for \u201ceveryone else under the sun.\u201d \u00a0<\/span>That will be, I think, \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>, maybe for when I finally get around to writing an animal series, including the donkey sanctuaries, which I had threatened to start c\u00fapla m\u00ed \u00f3 shin, <\/strong>and perhaps including the late Orla, allegedly the smallest cow in the world, whom I was lucky enough to photograph in 2000.\u00a0 <\/span>But first, we have O\u00edche Nollag, an Nollaig, L\u00e1 an Dreoil\u00edn, L\u00e1 Crosta na Bliana, O\u00edche na Coda M\u00f3ire,<\/strong> and L\u00e1 Coille<\/strong> to deal with, and I might even stretch out this holiday stuff until Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>, aka Eipeaf\u00e1ine,<\/strong> is are finished for the year.\u00a0 <\/span>Catching my breath here!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to \u201cgrian,<\/strong>\u201d though, than just \u201cgrian \/ an ghrian<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cgrianstad<\/strong>\u201d with its possessive \u201can ghrianstad<\/strong>,\u201d in case that nice reversal of lenition was too straightforward for you!\u00a0 <\/span>The possessive form of \u201cgrian<\/strong>\u201d itself undergoes a vowel change in the middle, so we have phrases like \u201c\u00e9ir\u00ed na gr\u00e9ine<\/strong>\u201d (the rising of the sun), as used above, or \u201cclog gr\u00e9ine<\/strong>\u201d (sundial).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

an t-\u00e1dh <\/span><\/strong>[un taw, or, in the North, un t\u00e6, with the vowel sound like \u201chappy\u201d or \u201ccap\u201d] luck, which in Irish, is \u201cort<\/strong>\u201d (on you).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

cead <\/span><\/strong>[ky\u00e6d] permission, not to be mistaken with \u201cc\u00e9ad<\/strong>\u201d [kyayd] hundred. S<\/strong><\/span>\u00ednt\u00ed<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span> fada<\/span><\/strong> rule!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

faigheann, <\/span><\/strong>get, gets (pronounced like \u201cfie\u201d + un)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

an ch\u00e9ad<\/span><\/strong> [un hyayd] the first<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

aghaidh <\/span><\/strong>[ai} face; ar aghaidh <\/strong>[err ai] on(ward); in aghaidh an lae<\/strong> [in ai un lay] per day. \u201cAghaidh<\/strong>\u201d is here transliterated as \u201cai,\u201d rhyming with \u201ceye\u201d or \u201cpie\u201d or \u201caye\u201d or \u201cnigh,\u201d which is why its pronunciation isn\u2019t so easy to indicate.\u00a0 <\/span>Key thing though, it has more silent letters than letters that are actually pronounced. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e1mharach<\/span><\/strong> [AW-wur-ukh] lucky<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

T\u00e1 Hanukkah ag tarraingt chun deiridh ach t\u00e1 grianstad an gheimhridh \u00a0ag tarraingt orainn, ar an Luan, an 21\u00fa l\u00e1 (say: an t-aon\u00fa l\u00e1 is fiche) de mh\u00ed na Nollag.\u00a0 Agus t\u00e1 an Nollaig \u00ed f\u00e9in sa mhullach orainn. \u00a0 \u00a0 The word \u201cgrianstad\u201d breaks apart quite straightforwardly into \u201cgrian\u201d (sun) and \u201cstad\u201d (stop), just…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[4117,4118,4482,4816,5444,5445,5481,5941,6249,6273,6274,6649,6651],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-an-ghrian","tag-an-ghrianstad","tag-bru","tag-crannchur","tag-grian","tag-grianstad","tag-hanukkah","tag-lottery","tag-newgrange","tag-nollag","tag-nollaig","tag-sa-bhru","tag-sa-mhullach-orainn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","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=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}