{"id":1831,"date":"2012-02-08T16:43:07","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T16:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2012-02-18T17:24:17","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T17:24:17","slug":"irish-pronunciation-compound-words-like-croibhriste-and-croibhruite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/irish-pronunciation-compound-words-like-croibhriste-and-croibhruite\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Pronunciation: Compound Words Like \u201cCro\u00edbhriste\u201d and \u201cCro\u00edbhr\u00faite\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In addition to some of its inherently long words, like \u201c(go) bhfaighidh<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c(na) haghaidheanna<\/strong>\u201d (<\/strong>fuaimni\u00fa th\u00edos),<\/strong> Irish has its share of longish words, which are actually compounds, with one or more prefixes, a root (or two), and\/or one or more suffixes.\u00a0 Fortunately, most of these words break down quite nicely, once you know the component parts, and also once you disambiguate the occasional ambiguity caused by our old friend or nemesis (your call!), the homonyms.\u00a0 Among the red flag alerts I\u2019d post for potential ambiguity are \u201cneamh<\/strong>(-)\u201d [nyow or nyav] and \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>(-).\u201d\u00a0 As a prefix, \u201cneamh<\/strong>\u201d has a range of negative meanings (\u201cun-,\u201d \u201cin-\u201c, \u201cnon-\u201c, etc.), but it can also be a completely different word, \u201cneamh<\/strong>,\u201d meaning \u201cheaven.\u201d\u00a0 Among the examples of \u201cneamh<\/strong>-\u201c as a prefix are \u201cneamh\u00e1balta<\/strong>\u201d (incapable, lacking in strength — slightly different from \u201cunable\u201d) and \u201cneamhurraim<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cneamh\u00f3m\u00f3s<\/strong>\u201d (disrespect \u2013 any possibilities there for a new verb, \u201cto diss\u201d?).\u00a0 \u201cNeamha\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d [NYAV-ee], on the other hand, means \u201cheavenly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cR\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d also has several meanings in Irish.\u00a0 As a prefix, it can mean \u201croyal,\u201d \u201cmajestic,\u201d or \u201ckingly,\u201d directly based on the noun \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (king).\u00a0 A little more generally, it also means \u201cvery\u201d or \u201cultra-.\u201d\u00a0 There is, however, a completely different word \u201cr\u00ed,<\/strong>\u201d meaning \u201cforearm\u201d or, in the plural, \u201cr\u00edtheacha<\/strong>\u201d [REE-hukh-uh] the limbs of the body in general.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure this word is not nearly as widely used as \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (pl: r\u00edthe<\/strong>) [REE-huh] for \u201cking,\u201d but it does have its role (r\u00ed chaoireola<\/strong>, mar shampla<\/strong>). \u00a0Not that there are likely to be many instances of \u201cforearm\u201d being used as a prefix, but it illustrates the point. \u00a0 So, here are some examples \u00a0first for “r\u00ed<\/strong>” (king) as a prefix and then for “r\u00ed<\/strong>” (forearm):<\/p>\n

r\u00edchathaoir<\/strong> [REE-KHAH-heerzh], throne, lit. king-chair<\/p>\n

r\u00edshlat<\/strong> [ree-hlot], scepter, lit. king-wand<\/p>\n

r\u00edtheaghlach<\/strong> [REE-HYOW-lukh], royal household<\/p>\n

r\u00eddhamhna<\/strong> (aka damhna r\u00ed<\/strong>, as a \u201cnon-compound\u2019), royal heir, or a person who could be elected king.\u00a0 And that (the concept of electing a king) also sounds like \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>, but if you\u2019re hankering for details before I get to it, you might want to check out the website of Patsa\u00ed Dan Mac Ruaidhr\u00ed<\/strong> (Patsy Dan Rogers), R\u00ed Thoraigh<\/strong>\/ King of Tory Island (http:\/\/patsydanrodgers.littleireland.ie\/<\/a>).\u00a0 And btw, having checked several sources, it seems clear to me that there is no connection between \u201cDamhna R\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d and the French title \u201cDauphin,\u201d although the thought had crossed my mind.\u00a0 \u201cDamhna<\/strong>\u201d [DOW-nuh or DAV-nuh] on its own means \u201c matter,\u201d \u201cmaterial,\u201d or \u201csubstance\u201d (as in the \u201cmakings\u201d of a king).\u00a0 \u201cDauphin,\u201d as the term for the King of France\u2019s eldest son (in the days of the French monarchy), on the other hand, comes from the dolphins on the coat of arms of the lords of Viennois as part of the agreement whereby the \u201cDauphin\u00e9\u201d region was ceded to France. \u00a0Of course, there are also many related words based on \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d not all of which are compound words as such; these include \u201cr\u00edocht<\/strong>\u201d (kingdom) and r\u00edoga<\/strong> (royal, regal).<\/p>\n

Although \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (forearm) isn\u2019t as widespread a prefix as \u201cr\u00ed<\/strong>\u00b4 (king), it can occur, as in:<\/p>\n

R\u00ed-mheas<\/strong>, a cubit, lit. forearm-measure.\u00a0 Other words for \u201ccubit\u201d are \u201ccn\u00e1imhr\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d [bone of forearm] and \u201cbanl\u00e1mh<\/strong>\u201d [measure of arm] but that all smacks of blag eile<\/strong> \u2013 cur s\u00edos ar \u00c1irc Naoi<\/strong>!\u00a0 Tr\u00ed fhocal Gaeilge ar<\/strong> \u201ccubit\u201d \u2013 who\u2019da thunk it!<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the ultra-useful (r\u00ed-\u00fas\u00e1ideach<\/strong>!): r\u00ed-ramhar<\/strong>, thick-wristed, lit. “fat-forearmed”<\/p>\n

Now getting back to what was supposed to be cro\u00ed sc\u00e9al an bhlag seo<\/strong>, the pronunciation of some of the \u201dheart\u201d compounds given in the previous blog.\u00a0 The key here is lenition (s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>), which \u201csoftens\u201d the sound of the first consonant after the \u201ccro\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d prefix (b, c, d, s, t becoming bh, ch, dh, sh, th):<\/p>\n

cro\u00edbhriste<\/strong> [KREE-VRISH-tchuh], heartbroken, heart-breaking, broken-hearted<\/p>\n

cro\u00edbhr\u00faite<\/strong> [KREE-VROO-tchuh], contrite, lit. heart-crushed<\/p>\n

cro\u00edchruthach<\/strong> [KREE-KHRUH-hukh], heart-shaped<\/p>\n

And a few we didn\u2019t look at in the recent blog:<\/p>\n

cro\u00eddh\u00edcheall<\/strong> [KREE-YEE-hul], best attempt, utmost endeavor<\/p>\n

cro\u00edshearc<\/strong> [kree-hyerk], heart\u2019s love<\/p>\n

cro\u00edthailte<\/strong> [KREE-HAL-tchuh], heartlands<\/p>\n

And now that we\u2019ve reviewed those, do you remember what the root words mean?\u00a0 If not, you might want to try matching these up (freagra\u00ed th\u00edos<\/strong>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
1. bris <\/strong>[brish]<\/td>\n2. br\u00faigh<\/strong>[broo-ee]<\/td>\n3. cruth<\/strong> [kruh]<\/td>\n4. d\u00edcheall\u00a0<\/strong>[DJEE-hyul]<\/td>\n5. searc [<\/strong>sherk]<\/td>\n6. talamh\u00a0<\/strong>[TAL-uv]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
a. love<\/td>\nb. shape<\/td>\nc. crush<\/td>\nd. land<\/td>\ne. break<\/td>\nf. best effort<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

How do we go from \u201ctalamh<\/strong>\u201d to \u201cthailte<\/strong>\u201d?\u00a0 Bun\u00fasach, a Watson chro\u00ed!<\/strong>\u00a0 The word \u201ctalamh<\/strong>\u201d has a somewhat irregular plural, \u201ctailte<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 That gets lenited after \u201ccro\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d used as a prefix, giving us \u201ccro\u00edthailte<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBriste<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cbr\u00faite<\/strong>\u201d are the verbal adjective (past participle) forms of the verbs \u201cbris<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cbr\u00faigh<\/strong>,\u201d as given above.\u00a0 The \u201c-te\u201d endings function similarly to the English suffixes \u201c-ed\u201d (I have crushed it) or \u201c-en\u201d (I have broken it).<\/p>\n

\u201cCruth<\/strong>\u201d (shape) gets an \u201c-ach<\/strong>\u201d ending to become \u201c-shaped,\u201d which we also see in words like \u201cubhchruthach<\/strong>\u201d (oval, egg-shaped) or \u201cpiorra-chruthach<\/strong>\u201d (pear-shaped).<\/p>\n

\u201cD\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d and \u201csearc<\/strong>\u201d simply get lenited, becoming \u201cdh\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d [YEE-hyul] and \u201cshearc<\/strong>\u201d [hyerk] respectively.\u00a0 That \u201chy\u201d indication is like the \u201ch\u201d in \u201chuman,\u201d \u201cHuw,\u201d or \u201cHugh\u201d (not like the \u201chy\u201d of \u201chyoid bone\u201d or \u201chyena\u201d).<\/p>\n

So, there’s some interesting vocabulary, and some processes you’ll meet at every stage of learning Irish — lenition, sound change, compounding, and sorting out homonyms. \u00a0 Again, never a dull moment! \u00a0SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/strong>: 1e. bris<\/strong>, break, 2c.<\/strong> br\u00faigh<\/strong>, crush, 3b.<\/strong> cruth<\/strong>, shape, 4f. d\u00edcheall<\/strong>, best effort, 5a. searc<\/strong>, love, 6d.<\/strong> talamh<\/strong>, land<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta faoin bhfocal \u201cd\u00edcheall\u201d:<\/strong> it\u2019s a curious situation, vocabulary-wise, because \u201cd\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cbest effort\u201d and \u201ccro\u00eddh\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d also means \u201cbest effort,\u201d a sort-of-even-better \u201cbest effort,\u201d literally a \u201cheart-best-effort.\u201d\u00a0 One\u2019s utmost ultimate better-than-best effort, though, would no doubt be your \u201cseacht nd\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d (\u201cseven-fold best effort\u201d), as in \u201cRinne t\u00fa do sheacht nd\u00edcheall leis an obair sin<\/strong>\u201d (You did the very best you could with it).\u00a0 And for anyone who\u2019s counting, \u201cRinne t\u00fa do mh\u00edle d\u00edcheall<\/strong>\u201d is \u201cYou did your level best\u201d (lit. your thousand-fold best).\u00a0 Is there really much distinction between \u201ccro\u00ed-<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cseacht<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201cmile<\/strong>\u201d in this context?\u00a0 N\u00ed d\u00f3igh liom \u00e9<\/strong> (I doubt it)!<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta\u00ed Fuaimnithe<\/strong>: \u201cai\u201d here is as in \u201chigh,\u201d \u201cmy,\u201d or \u201ceye\u201d<\/p>\n

bhfaighidh<\/strong> [wee OR wai, depending on dialect], will get (future, dependant form of \u201cfaigh<\/strong>\u201d [fai, sounds like \u201cfie\u201d in \u00a0\u201cfie on you\u201d]<\/p>\n

aghaidheanna<\/strong> [AI-uh-nuh], faces (plural of \u201caghaidh<\/strong>\u201d [ai-ee, all consonants silent])<\/p>\n

Gluais: caoireoil<\/strong>, mutton, lit. sheep-meat.\u00a0 A \u201cr\u00ed chaoireola<\/strong>\u201d is probably more widely known today as \u201ccos chaoireola<\/strong>\u201d (also \u201cleg of mutton\u201d).\u00a0 At least it doesn\u2019t look quite so much like a \u201cking of mutton\u201d that way!\u00a0 Interested in mutton terminology?\u00a0 Oh, good, yes, you say?\u00a0 So I can add a little more.\u00a0 Another way to say \u201cleg of mutton\u201d is \u201cceathr\u00fa chaoireola<\/strong>,\u201d which more literally is \u201ca quarter of mutton.\u201d\u00a0 And then there is \u201cceathr\u00fa caorach<\/strong>\u201d (sheep\u2019s haunch, lit. a quarter of a sheep).\u00a0 Guess I need to go study an bh\u00faist\u00e9aracht<\/strong> to really master all these carving distinctions.\u00a0 But whatever variation of \u201ccos chaoireola<\/strong>\u201d one chooses, those Irish phrases don\u2019t traditionally apply to the two other arenas (fashion and sailing) in which we find the phrase \u201cleg of mutton\u201d in English.\u00a0 \u201cLeg-of-mutton sleeves\u201d are \u201cbolgmhuinchill\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (lit. bag\/bulge\/stomach-sleeves!) and \u201cleg-of-mutton sail\u201d is \u201cseol tr\u00ed ghob<\/strong>\u201d (lit. a three-pointed\/triangular sail).\u00a0 So there ye are now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In addition to some of its inherently long words, like \u201c(go) bhfaighidh\u201d and \u201c(na) haghaidheanna\u201d (fuaimni\u00fa th\u00edos), Irish has its share of longish words, which are actually compounds, with one or more prefixes, a root (or two), and\/or one or more suffixes.\u00a0 Fortunately, most of these words break down quite nicely, once you…<\/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":[199618,33095,4754,4799,111214,173023,199228,5170,198962,173022,5302,172912,197833,200013,172952,196907,78,8972,5667,5796,198512,198227,5878,199447,173028,6230,7777,6539,197290,197649,6659,6758,198634,7243,28716],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-brokenhearted","tag-ceathru","tag-compound-words","tag-cos","tag-croi","tag-cubit","tag-dicheall","tag-feoil","tag-fheoil","tag-forearm","tag-gaelic","tag-heart","tag-heart-terms","tag-heartbreaking","tag-heartbroken","tag-heaven","tag-homonyms","tag-in","tag-irish","tag-king","tag-leg-o-mutton","tag-leg-of-mutton","tag-lenition","tag-level-best","tag-mutton","tag-neamh","tag-non","tag-pronounce","tag-ri","tag-righ","tag-sail","tag-seimhiu","tag-sleeve","tag-un","tag-valentine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831","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=1831"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1842,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions\/1842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}