{"id":1465,"date":"2011-12-06T22:26:57","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T22:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2011-12-15T03:01:16","modified_gmt":"2011-12-15T03:01:16","slug":"stocai-nollag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/stocai-nollag\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoca\u00ed Nollag"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Stoca<\/strong>.\u00a0 Plural: stoca\u00ed<\/strong> [STOK-ee]\u00a0 Now there\u2019s a nice, fairly straightforward word in Irish!\u00a0 Sock, socks.\u00a0 Or \u201cstocking, stockings.\u201d\u00a0 The translation depends somewhat on context, of course.<\/p>\n

Good news?\u00a0 The words \u201cstoca<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cstoca\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d cannot be lenited, or eclipsed, or otherwise \u201cinitially mutated\u201d because of the consonant cluster \u201cst,\u201d which never changes.\u00a0 Even in the genitive case (dath an stoca<\/strong>, the color of the stocking)!\u00a0 And even in direct address, should that arise (\u201c\u00d3, a stoca, maith dom an bior\u00e1n seo a chuir m\u00e9 tr\u00edot \u2013 caithfidh m\u00e9 th\u00fa a chrochadh ar an matal go bhfeicfidh Daid\u00ed na Nollag th\u00fa!<\/strong>\u201d; aistri\u00fach\u00e1n th\u00edos).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas stockings?\u00a0 Just take the regular word for Christmas (Nollaig<\/strong>) and change it to \u201cNollag<\/strong>\u201d for the possessive form.\u00a0 Here we\u2019re using the idea of possession fairly loosely \u2013 it\u2019s really more a matter of description.\u00a0 In fact, of \u201cattribution.\u201d\u00a0 So there\u2019s another good steady Irish language rule: attributive nouns, that is nouns used as adjectives, are in the genitive case.\u00a0 Remember \u201chata fir<\/strong>\u201d (a man\u2019s hat)?\u00a0 Or \u201cc\u00f3ta mn\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d (a woman\u2019s coat)? More genitive case there, but we\u2019ll get back to all that tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> stuff another day.<\/p>\n

The word \u201dNollaig\u201d<\/strong> is fairly unique in how it forms its genitive case.\u00a0 The letter \u201ci\u201d is dropped.\u00a0 A few other words do this, including some place names, like \u201cUlaidh<\/strong>\u201d which becomes \u201cUladh<\/strong>\u201d (C\u00faige Uladh<\/strong>) and \u201cMumhain<\/strong>\u201d (An Mhumhain<\/strong>), which becomes \u201cMumhan<\/strong>\u201d (Craobh na Mumhan<\/strong>, the Munster Championship).<\/p>\n

And what about \u201csocks\u201d as opposed to \u201cstockings\u201d?\u00a0 Well, mostly \u201cstoca\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d is also used, though one could say \u201cstoca\u00ed gearra<\/strong>\u201d (lit. short socks) if it was really important to clarify.\u00a0 But could they be mistaken for ankle socks? \u00a0Ah, no, that\u2019s right, they\u2019d be \u201cstoca\u00ed r\u00fait\u00edn<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cBobby sox,\u201d since they\u2019re such an American concept, together with sciorta\u00ed p\u00fadail<\/strong>, remain as \u201cbobby sox,\u201d even in Irish.\u00a0 And of course, there are the teams, \u201cna Stoca\u00ed Dearga<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cna Stoca\u00ed B\u00e1na<\/strong>\u201d (originally the \u201cWhite Stockings,\u201d as I understand it)!<\/p>\n

And what about stockings, as in nylons and such?\u00a0 One could use \u201cos\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d (pl: os\u00e1in<\/strong>), but I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve encountered it all that often.\u00a0\u00a0“Os\u00e1n<\/strong>” can also mean \u201cleg of a pair of trousers,\u201d so that could spell semantic trouble!<\/p>\n

Curious, come to think of it \u2013 in English we could be walking in our \u201cstockinged feet\u201d even if we\u2019re wearing socks, not stockings.\u00a0 Moot point in Irish though \u2013 it\u2019s \u201cin\u00e1r stoca\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d no matter which way you choose to translate it.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9 sc\u00e9al \u00e9, c\u00fapla ceist f\u00fathu.<\/strong>\u00a0 What are the stoca\u00ed Nollag<\/strong> made of?\u00a0 As feilt?\u00a0 As olann (cniot\u00e1ilte)?\u00a0 \u00c1bhar eile?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An stoca\u00ed don Nollaig f\u00e9in iad<\/strong>?\u00a0 Watch that \u201can<\/strong>\u201d there \u2013 it\u2019s the \u201can<\/strong>\u201d to ask a question, not the \u201can<\/strong>\u201d that means \u201cthe\u201d!\u00a0 Are they stockings just for Christmas?\u00a0 In other words, are they ollmh\u00f3r<\/strong> [oll-wor], that is r\u00f3mh\u00f3r<\/strong> [roh-wor] le caitheamh<\/strong>?\u00a0 N\u00f3 an gn\u00e1thstoca\u00ed<\/strong> [GNAW-STOK-ee, pronouncing the \u201cg\u201d] iad<\/strong> mar a bh\u00edonn ort i rith na bliana?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And a couple of final \u201csock\u201d caveats.\u00a0 You may also encounter \u201csoc<\/strong>\u201d but that\u2019s (1) the \u201csock\u201d (or share) of a plough, and (2) it also means \u201cmuzzle,\u201d as some of you may recall (Tusa, a \u00c1ine?).\u00a0 And (3) it can also mean \u201csnout,\u201d as in \u201ccrogall soc-chaol Afracach<\/strong>\u201d (African slender-snouted crocodile) \u2013 now there\u2019s an \u00e1bhar cainte<\/strong> for you, the relative width of crocodile snouts, compared perhaps to those of ailig\u00e9adair <\/strong>or mogair (crogaill chorraigh)<\/strong>.\u00a0 And (4) it also can mean a \u201cnose,\u201d though that\u2019s normally \u201csr\u00f3n<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cgaos\u00e1n,<\/strong>\u201d at least for people. \u00a0But in aviation, we have \u201csoc ar ins\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (hinged nose).\u00a0 Literally it\u2019s \u201cnose on hinges,\u201d which I mention here to distinguish it from any stray noses, snouts, muzzles, or nozzles that might be lurking in ins\u00ed<\/strong>, which, as a completely separate word, means \u201cholms\u201d or \u201cwater-meadows\u201d (aka \u201cinches\u201d in Irish English).\u00a0 And normally, of course, noses and the like don\u2019t go \u201car strae<\/strong>,\u201d but then, I did see \u201cSleeper<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 For that matter, \u201cins\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d also means \u201cislands\u201d (plural of the noun \u201cinis<\/strong>\u201d).\u00a0 Mh\u2019anam<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

And the second main caveat: \u201cwind socks\u201d aren\u2019t considered to be \u201csocks\u201d in Irish, but rather \u201ccochaill<\/strong>,\u201d (hoods, cowls, or hooded garments), as in \u201ccochall gaoithe<\/strong>\u201d (wind sock, lit. hood of wind).\u00a0 Logical, really.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen anyone try to wear a wind sock on their foot!\u00a0 Well, nor on their head, for that matter!<\/p>\n

So, we started with a nice innocent bit of commentary on Christmas stockings and ended up with a terminology round-up fit for those in the field of g\u00f3is\u00e9ireacht<\/strong> or os\u00e1nacht<\/strong>.\u00a0 Ach n\u00e1 b\u00ed buartha<\/strong>, one doesn\u2019t have to be a \u201cg\u00f3is\u00e9ir gairmi\u00fail<\/strong>\u201d to hang up a Christmas stocking.\u00a0 It\u2019s, errrm, I won\u2019t say \u201cas easy as pie,\u201d but, ahhh, a piece o\u2019 cake (unless Santa got it first for his sneaic mhe\u00e1n o\u00edche<\/strong>!).\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aistri\u00fach\u00e1n<\/strong> (with \u201cstocking\u201d in direct address): O stocking, please forgive this pin I put through you — I have to hang you on the mantel so Santa Claus will see you.<\/p>\n

Gluais:\u00a0 buartha<\/strong>, worried; gairmi\u00fail<\/strong>, professional; matal<\/strong>, mantelpiece; me\u00e1n o\u00edche<\/strong>, midnight; mogar<\/strong>, mugger (Crocodylus palustris<\/em>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Stoca.\u00a0 Plural: stoca\u00ed [STOK-ee]\u00a0 Now there\u2019s a nice, fairly straightforward word in Irish!\u00a0 Sock, socks.\u00a0 Or \u201cstocking, stockings.\u201d\u00a0 The translation depends somewhat on context, of course. Good news?\u00a0 The words \u201cstoca\u201d and \u201cstoca\u00ed\u201d cannot be lenited, or eclipsed, or otherwise \u201cinitially mutated\u201d because of the consonant cluster \u201cst,\u201d which never changes.\u00a0 Even in…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[111673,6274,111672,111674,111259,111671,6947,111670,111669],"class_list":["post-1465","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-goiseireacht","tag-nollaig","tag-osan","tag-osanacht","tag-stoca","tag-stoca-gearr","tag-stoca-nollag","tag-stocai","tag-stocai-nollag"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465","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=1465"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1474,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions\/1474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}