{"id":1904,"date":"2012-02-26T19:21:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T19:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1904"},"modified":"2016-03-01T17:21:10","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:21:10","slug":"whats-so-leap-about-leap-year-and-is-it-leap-in-irish-bliain-bhisigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/whats-so-leap-about-leap-year-and-is-it-leap-in-irish-bliain-bhisigh\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s So \u201cLeap\u201d about \u201cLeap Year\u201d and Is It \u201cLeap\u201d in Irish (Bliain Bhisigh)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

Feabhra: an 29\u00fa l\u00e1 — \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 L\u00e1 Bisigh Sona!<\/p><\/div>\n

Looking at the terminology for \u201cleap\u201d in Irish got me thinking, why exactly do we call it \u201cleap\u201d year?\u00a0 Now don\u2019t get me wrong, this isn\u2019t going to be a discussion of the space-time continuum, if that\u2019s even relevant, and it\u2019s not going to be about how time really works (which I leave to the, hmm, \u201cspatiotemporalographers\u201d (?)).\u00a0 Or why leap year happens.\u00a0 Just a calm little dictionary-based comparison of what some different languages say to describe the \u201cleapness\u201d (?) of leap year.\u00a0 The Irish examples will be prominent for the very reason that the way to say \u201cleap\u201d year, month, or day, has nothing to do with the ordinary Irish word for a \u201cleap\u201d or \u201cleaping.\u201d \u00a0 So, Irish first, natch:<\/p>\n

bliain bhisigh,<\/strong> leap year<\/p>\n

m\u00ed bhisigh,<\/strong> leap month<\/p>\n

l\u00e1 bisigh,<\/strong> leap day<\/p>\n

All of these are based on the word \u201cbiseach<\/strong>,\u201d which basically means \u201can improvement or recovery\u201d (especially in health), \u201can increase,\u201d or \u201ca premium.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ordinary Irish word for \u201cleap\u201d is \u201cl\u00e9im<\/strong>,\u201d which can be a noun or a verb (l\u00e9imim<\/strong>, I leap, or tugaim l\u00e9im<\/strong>, I give a leap or thug m\u00e9 l\u00e9im<\/strong>, I gave a leap)<\/p>\n

A few more fun terms regarding \u201cleap\u201d as the actual motion:<\/p>\n

gluaiseacht chliob\u00f3ige<\/strong>, leap-frogging, lit. moving of a (\u201clike a,\u201d really, in this case) filly (!)<\/p>\n

Another leap-frog term, for those geocaigh r\u00edomhaire<\/strong> who understand it: t\u00e1st\u00e1il chliob\u00f3gach chraplaithe<\/strong>, a crippled leap-frog test (!)<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s always \u201cL\u00e9im a\u2019 Mhadaidh<\/strong>,\u201d the Irish place name anglicized as ____________ (freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

As for some other languages, all the others I can put my hands on (tip of the iceberg, I\u2019m sure), the idea varies, but leans away from \u201cleaping.\u201d\u00a0 Welsh does parallel the English, with \u201cblwyddyn naid<\/em>\u201d (lit. year of jump).\u00a0 The others I find mostly incorporate the adjective \u201cbissextile\u201d (intercalary): a\u00f1o bisiesto, <\/em>Sp\u00e1innis;<\/strong> a\u00f1o bissexto, <\/em>Portaing\u00e9ilis;<\/strong> annus bissextus, <\/em>Laidin;<\/strong> ann\u00e9e bissextile, <\/em>Fraincis; <\/strong>Schrikkeljaar,<\/em> Ollainnis<\/strong>.\u00a0 How the German \u201cSchaltjahr<\/em>\u201d relates to the German adjective \u201ceingef\u00fcgt<\/em>\u201d (intercalary) actually defies me, but perhaps one of this blog\u2019s l\u00e9itheoir\u00ed<\/strong> will know.\u00a0 If so, please do write in.<\/p>\n

Sin \u00e9 don bhlag inniu! SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra:<\/strong> Limavady, the leap of the dog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Looking at the terminology for \u201cleap\u201d in Irish got me thinking, why exactly do we call it \u201cleap\u201d year?\u00a0 Now don\u2019t get me wrong, this isn\u2019t going to be a discussion of the space-time continuum, if that\u2019s even relevant, and it\u2019s not going to be about how time really works (which I leave…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[207254,207252,207253,207258,207255,411201,411195,411196,411193,411197,111786,111787,935,411200,207257,5667,200746,207251,111894,411198,411188,411191,411194,229900,411189,411190,411187,207256,2564,411192,7296],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bhisigh","tag-biseach","tag-bisigh","tag-bissextile","tag-blwyddyn-naid","tag-chliobog","tag-chliobogach","tag-chraplaithe","tag-cliobogach-craplaithe","tag-crippled","tag-geocach","tag-geocaigh","tag-german","tag-gluaiseacht-chlioboige","tag-intercalary","tag-irish","tag-leap-day","tag-leap-month","tag-leap-year","tag-leap-frog","tag-leim-a-mhadaidh","tag-limavady","tag-ltastail","tag-madadh","tag-madaidh","tag-mhadaidh","tag-riomhaire","tag-schaltjahr","tag-test","tag-thastail","tag-welsh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t