{"id":148,"date":"2010-03-16T22:59:51","date_gmt":"2010-03-16T22:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=148"},"modified":"2010-03-17T19:23:08","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T19:23:08","slug":"seachtain-fheile-padraig-a-do-38-li-eile-%e2%80%93-ceard-iad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/seachtain-fheile-padraig-a-do-38-li-eile-%e2%80%93-ceard-iad\/","title":{"rendered":"Seachtain Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig a D\u00f3: 38 L\u00ed Eile \u2013 C\u00e9ard Iad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, we\u2019ve covered two out of the alleged \u201cdaichead l\u00ed den dath<\/strong> \u201cgreen\u201d \u2013 \u201cglas<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cuaine<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Well, three, if we count \u201cglasuaine<\/strong>\u201d (vivid green).\u00a0 Oh, and yes, we\u2019re still on \u201cso<\/strong>s\u201d (break) from the irregular verbs.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t forgotten them and am actually \u201car b\u00eds<\/strong>\u201d to get back to them, since I just love all those root changes, combined with s\u00e9imhi\u00fa <\/strong>and ur\u00fa.\u00a0 <\/strong>But Seachtain Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig<\/strong> gives us a well-deserved chance \u00e1r sc\u00edth a ligean<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in a way, we\u2019re just going \u201c\u00f3 theach an diabhail go teach an deamhain<\/strong>\u201d (loosely equivalent to \u201cout of the frying pan, into the fire,\u201d see below for the literal).\u00a0 Talking about color in Irish, or comparatively from language to language (and occasionally from wife to husband on those infamous curtain-buying trips) is very complex.\u00a0 Just for a wee gread\u00f3ig\u00edn<\/strong>, keep in mind that in Irish:<\/p>\n

a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 there are two main words for red (plus a slew more when you really get into it), namely \u201cdearg<\/strong>\u201d and \u201crua<\/strong>,\u201d<\/p>\n

b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cdubh<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cblack\u201d or \u201cblack-haired\u201d but a black person (African, African-American, etc.) is \u201cgorm<\/strong>\u201d (blue), and,<\/p>\n

c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 many things are \u201cbu\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (yellow) which English speakers would typically describe as \u201corange,\u201d such as the \u201cp\u00e9ac\u00e1n bu\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (orange-lily), and that\u2019s a topic for a month\u2019s worth of blaganna<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And like I said, that\u2019s just for starters.<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to those \u201cocht l\u00ed is tr\u00edocha<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 Here are a few more \u201cgreen\u201d phrases in Irish.\u00a0 And also a few red flags (words that look like they contain \u201cglas<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cuaine<\/strong>\u201d but have nothing to do with green).<\/p>\n

Glas: geamhar glas<\/strong> (green corn, or braird, which you know all about now, right); f\u00f3d glas<\/strong>, the greensward; and \u201cIs glas iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn<\/strong> (far-off hills are green).<\/p>\n

And for shades of green:<\/p>\n

ar ghlaise na s\u00e1iste<\/strong>, sage-green (ex. \u201cT\u00e1 an bl\u00fas ar ghlaise na s\u00e1iste<\/strong>\u201d (v. lit. \u201cthe blouse is \u201con\u201d the greenness of sage\u201d).<\/p>\n

ar ghlaise na hol\u00f3ige<\/strong>, olive-green (ex. \u201cT\u00e1 an bl\u00fas ar ghlaise na hol\u00f3ige<\/strong>,\u201d v. lit. \u201cthe blouse is \u201con\u201d the greenness of the olive\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be misled by the completely unrelated word \u201cglas<\/strong>\u201d (a lock), as in \u201cT\u00e1 an doras faoi ghlas<\/strong>\u201d (the door is locked).\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for \u201cuaine<\/strong>,\u201d here are a few more examples:<\/p>\n

Bh\u00ed dath na huaine ar an splangad\u00e1n<\/strong> (the sickly creature was green in the face, lit. \u201cthe color of green was on the sickly creature,\u201d the \u201cface\u201d part being implied)<\/p>\n

In very specific hues, like Brunswick and zinc chrome: uaine Brunswick<\/strong> and uaine cr\u00f3im since<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And a few caveats.\u00a0 Intriguing though the idea might be, \u201cuaineoil<\/strong>\u201d has nothing to do with greenness.\u00a0 It\u2019s from \u201cuan<\/strong>\u201d (lamb) and \u201cfeoil<\/strong>\u201d (meat), with the underlying form \u201cuainfheoil<\/strong>,\u201d which also shows vowel harmony.\u00a0 But then, if you covered it with enough \u201canlann miontais<\/strong>,\u201d maybe it would pass muster (should you ever want it to!).\u00a0 Sorry, Sam!\u00a0 \u00da\u00faps<\/strong>, that was \u201cham\u201d anyway, not \u201clamb.\u201d\u00a0 And come to think of it, does \u201cgreen eggs and ham\u201d mean both the ham and the eggs were green, or just the eggs?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also, be careful with \u201cuaineadh<\/strong>\u201d (interval between showers) and \u201cuaineach<\/strong>\u201d (intermittent), both from \u201cuain<\/strong>\u201d (an interval of time).\u00a0<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta: \u00d3 theach an diabhail<\/strong>:\u00a0 There\u2019s always a teachable moment.\u00a0 We\u2019re really talking about shades of green, of course, but since the seanfhocal<\/strong> lept to mind, we can talk about an tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> for \u201cjust a wee bomaite<\/strong>,\u201d (that one\u2019s for you, a Sh\u00f3isir<\/strong>!).\u00a0 \u201cDiabhal<\/strong>\u201d is \u201cdevil\u201d but it becomes \u201cdiabhail<\/strong>\u201d to show possession, errmm, that is ownership, not possession \u00e0 la \u201cAn tEacsaircist\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (The Exorcist).\u00a0 Although perhaps, if I\u2019m lucky, my \u201cr\u00e1mhaill\u00edn\u00ed cainte<\/strong>\u201d might set your head ar casadh<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the sense of having \u201cdo radharc bainte as do sh\u00faile<\/strong>\u201d (being dazzled), that is, n\u00ed de r\u00e9ir bunbhr\u00ed an fhocail<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyway, ar ais ar an r\u00e1ille<\/strong>, \u201cdeamhan<\/strong>\u201d is demon, becoming \u201cdeamhain<\/strong>\u201d for \u201can tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTeach<\/strong>\u201d (house), here, has s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong> since it follows the preposition \u201c\u00f3<\/strong>\u201d (out of).\u00a0 So we have, \u201cout of the devil\u2019s house into the demon\u2019s house.\u201d\u00a0 No real mention of friocht\u00e1in<\/strong> or tinte<\/strong>, but the idea is the same.\u00a0 Five shades down, thirty-five to go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, we\u2019ve covered two out of the alleged \u201cdaichead l\u00ed den dath \u201cgreen\u201d \u2013 \u201cglas\u201d and \u201cuaine.\u201d\u00a0 Well, three, if we count \u201cglasuaine\u201d (vivid green).\u00a0 Oh, and yes, we\u2019re still on \u201csos\u201d (break) from the irregular verbs.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t forgotten them and am actually \u201car b\u00eds\u201d to get back to them, since I just love…<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","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=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}