{"id":115,"date":"2009-12-24T10:33:06","date_gmt":"2009-12-24T14:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=112"},"modified":"2017-01-10T03:32:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T03:32:43","slug":"tearmai-nollag-nollaig-shona-duit-nollaig-shona-daoibh-srl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/tearmai-nollag-nollaig-shona-duit-nollaig-shona-daoibh-srl\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u00e9arma\u00ed Nollag: Nollaig Shona duit! Nollaig Shona daoibh! srl."},"content":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some of the basic terms for this holiday season:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

O\u00edche Nollag<\/span><\/strong>, Christmas Eve, but O\u00edche L\u00e1 Nollag<\/strong>, the night of Christmas Day<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An Nollaig<\/span><\/strong>, Christmas (note the use of the definite article, \u201cthe\u201d Christmas)<\/span><\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Nollag<\/span><\/strong>, Christmas Day<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

N\u00f3ta 1<\/span><\/strong>: Irish doesn\u2019t really have a separate word for \u201ceve\u201d to distinguish \u201cthe night before\u201d from \u201cnight\u201d in general.\u00a0 With holidays, \u201co\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d is understood to have the sense of the English \u201ceve,\u201d as in O\u00edche Nollag<\/strong> and O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong> (the eve of Samhain<\/strong>, Halloween, Samhain<\/strong> itself being November 1).\u00a0 If you want to specify Christmas Night (December 25), you have to add the word \u201cl\u00e1<\/strong>,\u201d as in the phrase above.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

N\u00f3ta 2<\/span><\/strong>: When do we include the word \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d (of the) in Christmas phrases?\u00a0 Mostly it\u2019s in phrases that point to Christmas as a single distinct concept, like Daid\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong> (there\u2019s only one Santa Claus, supposedly) and M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong> (December, \u201cthe\u201d month of \u201cthe\u201d Christmas\u201d).\u00a0 The more generic ideas, like \u201ccrann Nollag<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cc\u00e1rta Nollag<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201cstoca Nollag<\/strong>,\u201d generally drop the \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d part.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

N\u00f3ta 3: An Tuiseal Ginideach sa Fhr\u00e1sa seo<\/span><\/strong>: You\u2019ve probably already noticed that when we say \u201cof Christmas,\u201d we drop the letter \u201ci<\/strong>,\u201d so \u201cNollaig<\/strong>\u201d changes to \u201cNollag<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 That creates the genitive case of the word (i.e. the possessive form, to say \u201cof Christmas\u201d).\u00a0 Having noted that, a Google search today indicates about 27,900 uses of \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d followed by the root form \u201cNollaig<\/strong>,\u201d without making the change to the genitive case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Many of these are simply incorrect, at least if they\u2019re Irish. \u00a0There is another possible layer of confusion, though, since a lot of those 27,900 examples are actually correct\u00a0G\u00e0idhlig<\/em> (Scottish Gaelic), in phrases like \u201cOran na Nollaig<\/em>\u201d (Christmas song) or \u201cMiosachan na Nollaig<\/em>\u201d (Advent Calendar, lit. calendar of Christmas) [sic]. \u00a0I\u2019m still a bit puzzled, since I understand the possessive form in Scottish Gaelic to be \u201cNollaige<\/em>,\u201d keeping that \u201ci<\/em>\u201d and adding a final \u201ce<\/em>,\u201d much like many Irish nouns (feis<\/strong> \/ feise<\/strong>), but it seems that even within G\u00e0idhlig there are variations to the pattern, giving \u201c\u00e0m na Nollaige<\/em>\u201d but \u201cLatha Nollaig\u201d<\/em> and \u201cOidhche Nollaig<\/em>,\u201d for example.\u00a0 But the intricacies of the Irish \u201cginideach\u201d <\/strong>and the Scottish \u201cgineamhuinneach<\/em>,\u201d I\u2019ll leave for l\u00e1 eile<\/strong> (or latha eile<\/em>, if you will).<\/p>\n

\n

So, the works: Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise duit<\/strong> (to one person) or \u201cdaoibh<\/strong>\u201d (for more than one).\u00a0 [NUL-ik HUN-uh AH-gus AH-VLEE-in fwee WUSH-uh ditch \/ deev]. \u00a0Conamara dialect speakers will probably write and say \u201cdhuit<\/strong>\u201d [\u03b3<\/span>itch] and \u201cdhaoibh<\/strong>\u201d [\u03b3eev].\u00a0 If those little gamma signs in the pronunciation guide are hard to read (they\u2019re like a \u201cv\u201d with a little tail underneath), just keep in mind the pronunciation is guttural, deep in the throat, and lower down than the Irish broad \u201cch<\/strong>\u201d (which you see in \u201cach<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ca chro\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d and which sounds like the German \u201cBuch<\/em>\u201d or \u201cAchtung\u201d<\/em>).\u00a0 Whatever f\u00e9ile<\/strong> you celebrate, I hope you\u2019re having a good holiday season! \u00a0Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise duit —\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Here are some of the basic terms for this holiday season: O\u00edche Nollag, Christmas Eve, but O\u00edche L\u00e1 Nollag, the night of Christmas Day An Nollaig, Christmas (note the use of the definite article, \u201cthe\u201d Christmas) L\u00e1 Nollag, Christmas Day N\u00f3ta 1: Irish doesn\u2019t really have a separate word for \u201ceve\u201d to distinguish \u201cthe…<\/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":[3089,111730,4240,1977,4570,43,2701,4814,4890,5111,5137,5302,229969,5322,5369,5373,5466,5844,374673,6117,1166,6277,6278,6279,6280,365189,6342,6343,6346,365191,6667,6724,6779,6947,7206],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-advent","tag-aidbhint","tag-athbhliain","tag-calendar","tag-carta-nollag","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-eve","tag-crann-nollag","tag-daidi-na-nollag","tag-eve","tag-faoi-mhaise","tag-gaelic","tag-gaidhlig","tag-gamma","tag-gineamhuinneach","tag-ginideach","tag-guttural","tag-latha","tag-latha-nollaig","tag-miosachan-na-nollaig","tag-new-year","tag-nollaig-shona-daoibh","tag-nollaig-shona-dhaoibh","tag-nollaig-shona-dhuit","tag-nollaig-shona-duit","tag-nollaige","tag-oiche-la-nollag","tag-oiche-nollag","tag-oidhche-nollaig","tag-oran-na-nollaig","tag-samhain","tag-scottish","tag-shamhna","tag-stoca-nollag","tag-tuiseal"],"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