{"id":129,"date":"2010-02-01T16:07:10","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T20:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=125"},"modified":"2015-02-02T16:47:12","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T16:47:12","slug":"la-fheile-bride-la-%e2%80%98le-bride-1-feabhra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/la-fheile-bride-la-%e2%80%98le-bride-1-feabhra\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile Br\u00edde (L\u00e1 \u2018le Br\u00edde): 1 Feabhra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inniu (an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed na Feabhra) L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile Br\u00edde.<\/strong>\u00a0 Today (the first day of the month of February) is St. Bridget\u2019s day. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 faoi dhubh-iontas ag breathn\u00fa ar an uimhir de shu\u00edmh Idirl\u00edn at\u00e1 ag cur s\u00edos ar Naomh Br\u00edd agus a f\u00e9ile.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m amazed looking at the number of websites describing St. Bridget and her feast day.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Thart f\u00e1 95,400 do \u201cL\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile Br\u00edde\u201d agus 7,340 do \u201cL\u00e1 \u2018le Br\u00edde.\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s not even including a search in English!\u00a0 Of course, some may just be tagairt\u00ed gairide<\/strong> (brief references), but still the amount of activity is impressive.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

The details of her life are available in many forms, from caps\u00falbheathaisn\u00e9is\u00ed<\/strong> (<\/span>http:\/\/www.stbridgetofkildare.org\/about.htm<\/span><\/a>, mar shampla, \u00f3n scoil<\/strong> \u201cSt. Bridget of Kildare\u201d sa bhaile <\/strong>Pacific, Missouri) to leabhartha<\/strong> (m. sh.<\/strong> Landscape with Two Saints: How Genovefa of Paris and Brigit of Kildare Built Christianity in Barbarian Europe<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/strong>by Lisa M. Bitel) to name just a few. \u00a0These two publications are at the opposite extremes of length (a one-paragraph website and a 320-page book, the latter admittedly dealing with a second major female saint, that is, Genovefa as well as Bridget.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Given that there\u2019s plenty to read elsewhere on Bridget’s\u00a0teaghlach<\/strong> (Christian mother, Celtic chieftain father), the m\u00edor\u00failt\u00ed<\/strong> associated with her, and her naofacht, <\/strong>this blog will concentrate on the basics: the pronunciation and grammar involved in the name of her feast-day, and the variations which occur.\u00a0 Now if any of you want the secrets of how she made multiple dabhcha leanna<\/strong> (vats of ale) out of the ingredients for just one vat\u2019s worth, I\u2019m afraid the answer is \u201cN\u00edl a fhios agam<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps some of those s\u00edmeoir\u00ed<\/strong> and s\u00edmeolaithe<\/strong> (zymurgists and zymologists) among you might have some better insight.\u00a0 Like I said, n\u00edl anseo ach an<\/strong> \u201cnitty-gritty.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

There are at least half a dozen forms of her name out there, especially if you count both Irish and English.\u00a0 The earliest is probably “Brigid<\/strong>” and, at one time, the medial \u201cg\u201d may have been articulated.\u00a0 But for most of Modern Irish (several hundred years\u2019 worth), the spelling was \u201cBrighid\u201d<\/strong> [breedj], with the \u201cgh\u201d silent.\u00a0 Actually that \u201ch\u201d would have been represented sa seanchl\u00f3<\/strong> (old print) with a ponc<\/strong> (dot) above the \u201cg\u201d but \u2026 sc\u00e9al na bponcanna<\/strong>, sin sc\u00e9al eile.\u00a0 <\/strong>In the current spelling (devised in the 1950s), the silent \u201cgh\u201d is left out, the vowel is lengthened, and the spelling is simply \u201cBr\u00edd<\/strong>\u201d [breedj].\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cNaomh<\/strong>\u201d [neev OR nayv] is the Irish word for \u201csaint,\u201d typically used for Irish saints.\u00a0 \u201cSan<\/strong>\u201d is typically used for non-Irish saints, although the distinction is not always hard and fast.\u00a0 Either way, though, the word \u201cnaomh<\/strong>\u201d generally does not appear in the names of Irish saints\u2019 feast-days. \u00a0Just referring to the saint by name is apparently sufficient (e.g. L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile\u00a0Br\u00edde<\/strong>, with no “naomh<\/strong>” in the phrase).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u201cF\u00e9ile<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cfeast day.\u201d\u00a0 It is lenited (insert \u201ch\u201d) after the word \u201cl\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d since it is part of a double genitive (possessive) construction: day of the feast of Bridget.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When lenited, the new initial letters are \u201cfh\u201d and they are silent<\/em>.\u00a0 So \u201cfh\u00e9ile<\/strong>\u201d is pronounced \u201cAYL-yeh.\u201d\u00a0 Given that silent initial consonant cluster, it\u2019s a typical variation to just write \u201cL\u00e1 \u2018le Br\u00edde<\/strong>,\u201d with the apostrophe representing the rest of the word (f-h-\u00e9-i).\u00a0 For those of you who may be among the myriad writers today who never or rarely use apostrophes in English, I can only plead their case in Irish.\u00a0 They often represent major missing chunks of words (often silent) and it\u2019s really important to include them in Irish.\u00a0 I know there\u2019s an Apostrophe Protection Society for the English language.\u00a0 Maybe I should set one up for Irish!\u00a0 Or maybe there is one already.\u00a0 At any rate, however slack the rules may have become in English (see Lynne Truss, etc.), please don\u2019t apply that slackness to Irish.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Why?\u00a0 If the apostrophe were left off here, we\u2019d have a completely different word, the preposition \u201cle<\/strong>\u201d (with).\u00a0 Then the phrase wouldn\u2019t make sense because we\u2019d have an object of a prepositional phrase in the genitive case even though the preposition doesn\u2019t take the genitive case!\u00a0 If that\u2019s more of a bolgam gramada\u00ed <\/strong>than you\u2019re interested, please just \u201cslog siar \u00e9\u201d <\/strong>(swallow it down) and then ignore, since the dea-sc\u00e9al<\/strong> is that everyone writes their uascham\u00f3ga<\/strong> in Irish, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 So the confusion would never happen, right?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Finally, for the name of the feast-day, the ending to the name \u201cBr\u00edd\u201d<\/strong> is \u201c-e,\u201d which shows that it is possessive (genitive case).\u00a0 That makes a major exception to normal Modern Irish rules for showing possession.\u00a0 While \u201cBr\u00edde<\/strong>\u201d has the genitive ending (-e), it doesn\u2019t get lenited (no \u201ch\u201d inserted), even though lenition is usually a hallmark of the possessive forms in Irish (c\u00f3ta Bhriain<\/strong>, Brian\u2019s coat; banbh Sh\u00e9amais<\/strong>, S\u00e9amas\u2019s bonham, etc.).\u00a0 The reason for this exception, such as it is, is that the name pertains to a saint.\u00a0 So we see the same issue in L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig<\/strong> (aka L\u00e1 \u2018le P\u00e1draig<\/strong>).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Which means that the good news is that all the grammar you learned in order to say \u201cthe day of the feast of Bridget\u201d can also be applied to St. Patrick\u2019s Day and other saints\u2019 days.\u00a0 \u00a0Aillili\u00fa<\/strong>!\u00a0 Recycled grammar go deo<\/strong>!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

N.B. uascham\u00f3g<\/strong>: lit. \u201cupper comma,\u201d i.e. \u00a0apostrophe.\u00a0 In Irish, \u201capastr\u00f3f\u201d<\/strong> is more of a literary or rhetorical term, not a punctuation term.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inniu (an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed na Feabhra) L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile Br\u00edde.\u00a0 Today (the first day of the month of February) is St. Bridget\u2019s day. \u00a0 T\u00e1 m\u00e9 faoi dhubh-iontas ag breathn\u00fa ar an uimhir de shu\u00edmh Idirl\u00edn at\u00e1 ag cur s\u00edos ar Naomh Br\u00edd agus a f\u00e9ile.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m amazed looking at the number of websites…<\/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":[4185,4187,4188,374842,374835,374843,4458,4459,4461,374844,4555,218992,374838,374837,374839,5141,207297,5159,5176,374833,255143,5802,374828,5807,374832,5850,5874,374834,374841,255723,6144,374836,6219,374831,8122,374845,374846,6663,6674,374830,374824,374823,374825,374829,7222,374827,7676,374826,7678],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-apastrof","tag-apostrophe","tag-apostrophe-protection-society","tag-banbh","tag-bitel","tag-bonham","tag-brid","tag-bride","tag-brighid","tag-brigid","tag-capsulbheathaisneis","tag-comma","tag-dabhach","tag-dabhcha-leanna","tag-double-genitive","tag-father","tag-feast-day","tag-feile","tag-fheile","tag-genovefa","tag-kildare","tag-la","tag-la-le-bride","tag-la-fheile-bride","tag-landscape-with-two-saints","tag-leann","tag-lenited","tag-lisa-m-bitel","tag-lynne-truss","tag-mioruilt","tag-mother","tag-naofacht","tag-naomh","tag-pacific-missouri","tag-paris","tag-ponc","tag-poncanna","tag-saint","tag-san","tag-scoil","tag-simeoir","tag-simeolai","tag-simeolaithe","tag-st-bridget","tag-uaschamog","tag-zymologist","tag-zymology","tag-zymurgist","tag-zymurgy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","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=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6264,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/6264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}