{"id":1213,"date":"2011-09-09T05:45:08","date_gmt":"2011-09-09T05:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2011-09-21T06:00:53","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T06:00:53","slug":"nios-mo-faoi-na-mionna-more-about-the-months-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/nios-mo-faoi-na-mionna-more-about-the-months-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u00edos M\u00f3 faoi na M\u00edonna (More about the Months in Irish)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Recently we looked at the names of the months in Irish, from Ean\u00e1ir<\/strong> to M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>.\u00a0 As you may recall, two of them require the use of the word \u201cm\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (month) in the phrase: M\u00ed na Samhna<\/strong> and M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>.\u00a0 In both of these cases, the second element, without the word \u201cm\u00ed,<\/strong>\u201d would simply be a single day in the calendar, not a full month.\u00a0 M\u00ed na Samhna<\/strong> is \u201cthe month of Samhain<\/strong>,\u201d which is November 1st<\/sup>, the original Celtic New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0 M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong> is \u201cthe month of Nollaig<\/strong> \/ Christmas\u201d<\/p>\n

However all of the months can be used in phrases like \u201cthe month of January,\u201d \u201cthe month of February,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

As you might expect though, knowing the intricacies of Irish, it\u2019s not just a simply matter of saying \u201cm\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d and then the name of the month as given in the original list (Ean\u00e1ir, Feabhra, M\u00e1rta, Aibre\u00e1n, Bealtaine, Meitheamh, I\u00fail, L\u00fanasa, Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair, Deireadh F\u00f3mhair, M\u00ed na Samhna, M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>).\u00a0 Even the latter two add at least one additional element besides the word \u201cm\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d \u2013 an t-alt<\/strong> (the definite article).\u00a0<\/p>\n

How about the other months?\u00a0 Well, here are the options for the patterns used:<\/p>\n

M\u00ed + an t-alt (baininscneach agus ginideach!) + tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> (as in M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

M\u00ed + an t-alt (firinscneach agus ginideach!) + tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> (as in M\u00ed an Mh\u00e1rta<\/strong>), where the genitive case is marked by s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong> (lenition), changing \u201cM\u00e1rta<\/strong>\u201d to \u201cMh\u00e1rta<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00ed + tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> (i.e. with no \u201calt<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 it just depends on the specs for each month name)<\/p>\n

And as a sort of subdivision of the latter, we can have \u201cm\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d with \u201ctuiseal ginideach<\/strong>,\u201d but with no apparent change to the noun\u2019s ending, simply because of which \u201cd\u00edochlaonadh<\/strong>\u201d the particular month name belongs to.<\/p>\n

Seo an liosta<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Ean\u00e1ir: M\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir<\/strong> (no article, no change to noun for genitive, since \u201cEan\u00e1ir<\/strong>\u201d is \u201cm4\u201d)<\/p>\n

Feabhra: M\u00ed na Feabhra<\/strong> (article, no change to noun for genitive, since \u201cFeabhra<\/strong>\u201d is \u201cf4\u201d); also sometimes simply \u201cM\u00ed Feabhra<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00e1rta: M\u00ed an Mh\u00e1rta<\/strong> (article, genitive marked by lenition)<\/p>\n

Aibre\u00e1n: M\u00ed Aibre\u00e1in<\/strong> (no article, genitive marked by inserting \u201c-i-\u201c before the \u201c-n\u201d)<\/p>\n

Bealtaine: M\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong> (article, no change to noun because \u201cBealtaine<\/strong>\u201d is \u201cf4\u201d)<\/p>\n

Meitheamh<\/strong>: M\u00ed an Mheithimh<\/strong> (article, genitive of noun marked by lenition and vowel change of \u201cea\u201c to \u201ci\u201d)<\/p>\n

I\u00fail: M\u00ed I\u00fail<\/strong> (no article, no change to noun for genitive, since I\u00fail<\/strong> is \u201cm4\u201d)<\/p>\n

L\u00fanasa: M\u00ed L\u00fanasa<\/strong> (no article, no change to noun for genitive, since L\u00fanasa<\/strong> is \u201cm4\u201d)<\/p>\n

Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair: M\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> (no article, genitive marked by lenition of \u201cme\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d)<\/p>\n

Deireadh F\u00f3mhair: M\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> (no article, genitive marked by lenition of \u201cdeireadh<\/strong>\u201d)<\/p>\n

M\u00ed na Samhna<\/strong> and M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>: as previously discussed<\/p>\n

Almost all of these are subject to some dialect and\/or register variation.\u00a0 For example, we might hear \u201ci m\u00ed I\u00fail<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cin July,\u201d which literally means \u201cin month of July,\u201d or \u201csan I\u00fail<\/strong>\u201d (in \u201cthe\u201d July).\u00a0 There are also alternative names for months, such as \u201cm\u00ed mhe\u00e1(i)n an tsamhraidh<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cJune,\u201d but that is, once again, \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, an interesting bit of food for thought.\u00a0 The English word \u201cmonth\u201d is derived from Old English \u201cm\u014dnath<\/em>\u201d (moon), logically enough.\u00a0 This concept seems to apply in the handful of other languages I\u2019ve been able to check:<\/p>\n

Gearm\u00e1inis:<\/strong> Monat<\/em> (month) and Mond<\/em> (moon)<\/p>\n

Ollainnis<\/strong>: maand<\/em> (month) and maan<\/em> (moon)<\/p>\n

Danmhairgis<\/strong>: Maaneden<\/em> (month) and Maanen<\/em> (moon)<\/p>\n

Sualainnis<\/strong>: m\u00e5naden<\/em> (month) and m\u00e5nen<\/em> (moon)<\/p>\n

Even Fionlainnis<\/strong>, though not in the same linguistic family, seems to suggest a connection, with \u201ckuukausi<\/em>\u201d for month and \u201ckuu<\/em>\u201d for \u201cmoon.\u201d\u00a0 Looks like a link to me, at least.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what about all these other words for \u201cmonth\u201d in various languages, starting with some Celtic examples:<\/p>\n

Gaeilge: m\u00ed<\/strong>, or somewhat archaically, m\u00edos<\/strong>, but, for moon, \u201cgealach<\/strong>,\u201d or in more poetic\/archaic\/literary usages, \u201cluan<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cr\u00e9<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaeilge na hAlban: m\u00ecos<\/strong>, but \u201cgealach<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cmoon\u201d<\/p>\n

Breatnais: <\/strong>mis<\/em>, but \u201clleuad<\/em>\u201d (moon), itself very distantly akin to \u201cluna,\u201d as is an alternate Welsh word, \u201clloer<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornais<\/strong>: mis<\/em>, but \u201cloer<\/em>\u201d (moon), also very distantly akin to \u201cluna\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently these Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Cornish words for month evolved from an older Celtic word, \u201cm\u00eens<\/em>,\u201d interesting in showing an original \u201cn,\u201d as we see in the Latin m\u0113nsis<\/em>, unrelated to the word \u201cl\u016bna<\/em>\u201d (moon).\u00a0 Other Romance languages show a similar pattern: Sp\u00e1innis<\/strong>: me<\/em>s, but \u201cluna<\/em>\u201d (moon); Iod\u00e1ilis<\/strong>: mese<\/em>, but \u201cluna<\/em>\u201d (moon), and Fraincis<\/strong>: mois<\/em>, but \u201clune<\/em>\u201d (moon)<\/p>\n

Curious that in most of these cases, the word for \u201cmonth\u201d is not related to the word for \u201cmoon,\u201d at least not the various current words for \u201cmoon.\u201d\u00a0 Scottish Gaelic offers us a mini-Eureka moment, since its word \u201cm\u00ecos<\/em>\u201d could mean \u201cmoon\u201d as well as \u201cmonth,\u201d at least archaically.\u00a0 The everyday word for \u201cmoon\u201d in Scottish Gaelic, though, is \u201cgealach<\/strong>,\u201d as in Irish.<\/p>\n

So what can we glean from this (or should I wait for gealach an fh\u00f3mhair <\/strong>for that?).\u00a0 Well, nothing incredibly definitive, just to note that virtually all the words for month we have discussed are at least cousins, if not siblings, in the linguistic family tree (for Indo-European).\u00a0 But for practical purposes, in most modern usages, the word for \u201cmonth\u201d is not related to \u201cmoon\u201d in the various Celtic and Romance languages listed, only in the Germanic languages.\u00a0 As for the Finnish, it seems to resemble the Germanic languages in making the connection of \u201cmoon\u201d to \u201cmonth\u201d obvious (even to mise<\/strong>, a non-Finnish-speaker).\u00a0 If there\u2019s any further insight to be shed on this, I\u2019d welcome comments from any Fionlannaigh<\/strong> on the list (or from lucht labhartha na Fionlainnis<\/strong>e).\u00a0 Sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo, SGF \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong>.\u00a0 .\u00a0<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta:<\/strong> The spellings \u201cSamhain<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cNollaig<\/strong>\u201d are the basic \u201cdictionary-entry\u201d forms of the words; \u201cSamhna<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cNollag<\/strong>\u201d are used to say \u201cof Samhain<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cof Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Recently we looked at the names of the months in Irish, from Ean\u00e1ir to M\u00ed na Nollag.\u00a0 As you may recall, two of them require the use of the word \u201cm\u00ed\u201d (month) in the phrase: M\u00ed na Samhna and M\u00ed na Nollag.\u00a0 In both of these cases, the second element, without the word…<\/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":[96687,5148,2295,96693,96690,96692,96691],"class_list":["post-1213","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-eanair","tag-feabhra","tag-marta","tag-mi-an-mharta","tag-mi-eanair","tag-mi-feabhra","tag-mi-na-feabhra"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213","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=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5201,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions\/5201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}