{"id":1973,"date":"2012-03-07T11:09:06","date_gmt":"2012-03-07T11:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=1973"},"modified":"2012-03-12T11:18:59","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T11:18:59","slug":"sugach-go-deargmheisce-from-tipsy-to-dead-drunk-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/sugach-go-deargmheisce-from-tipsy-to-dead-drunk-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"S\u00fagach go Deargmheisce: From \u201cTipsy\u201d to \u201cDead-drunk\u201d in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

From \u201cs\u00fagach<\/strong>\u201d to \u201car deargmheisce<\/strong>,\u201d the Irish language has numerous ways to indicate stages of intoxication.\u00a0 This is, once again, just the tip of the vocabulary iceberg, but one has to start somewhere!\u00a0 Here are some phrases to help get you ready for L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig<\/strong> (aka L\u00e1 \u2018\u00c9ile P\u00e1draig<\/strong> aka St. Patrick\u2019s Day)<\/p>\n

s\u00fagach<\/strong> [SOO-gukh], merry, tipsy<\/p>\n

ar bogmheisce<\/strong> [err BOG-VESH-kyuh], tipsy, lit. on \u201csoft-drunkenness.\u201d\u00a0 Note the lenition of \u201cmeisce<\/strong>\u201d (drunkenness) after \u201cbog<\/strong>-,\u201d which here is used as a prefix.\u00a0 The \u201cmh-\u201c is pronounced like \u201cv.\u201d<\/p>\n

ar meisce<\/strong> [err MESH-kyuh], drunk, lit. \u201con drunkenness.\u201d\u00a0 For this example, in fact for all the \u201cmeisce<\/strong>\u201d examples here, note that there is no lenition after \u201car<\/strong>\u201d (on).\u00a0 \u201cAr<\/strong>\u201d typically causes lenition when discussing physical, material things (T\u00e1 hamstar ar bhosca<\/strong>, A hamster is on a box), but not for abstract topics (ar c\u00edos<\/strong>, \u201con\u201d rent; ar si\u00fal<\/strong>, going on\/happening, etc.).\u00a0 That\u2019s not to deny the material presence of \u201crent\u201d in terms of the money or the paper statement, but it\u2019s abstract in terms of physical tangibility.<\/p>\n

caoch ar meisce<\/strong> [kaykh err MESH-kyuh], blind drunk, lit. blind on drunkenness; \u201ccaoch<\/strong>\u201d (blind, one-eyed) is a nice cognate to the Latin \u201ccaecus<\/strong>\u201d (blind) and the English \u201ccaecity,<\/em>\u201d but it\u2019s not the most basic word for \u201cblind\u201d in Irish.\u00a0 That would be \u201cdall,<\/strong>\u201d a form of which can also be used for drunkenness (dallta, dallta le meisce, dallta leis an \u00f3l<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

ar deargmheisce<\/strong> [err DJAR-ug-VESH-kyuh], really drunk, mad drunk.\u00a0 \u201cDearg<\/strong>\u201d is a frequent intensifier for all purposes (deargnocht<\/strong>, stark<\/em>-naked, etc.), so it\u2019s no great surprise to find it used with \u201cmeisce<\/strong>\u201d (drunkenness).\u00a0 Remember the two points we discussed above: there is no lenition after \u201car<\/strong>,\u201d as with \u201car meisce<\/strong>\u201c but there is lenition after \u201cdearg<\/strong>-\u201c as a prefix, as with \u201cbogmheisce<\/strong>\u201d above, so the \u201cm\u201d changes to \u201cmh.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the literal comparison, \u201cas drunk as a lord\u201d doesn\u2019t traditionally exist in Irish, fad m\u2019eolais<\/strong>, the following phrase is considered equivalent: ar stealladh na ngr\u00e1st<\/strong> [err SHTAL-uh nungRAWST], lit. in a state of pouring out the graces (from \u201cgr\u00e1sta<\/strong>,\u201d grace)<\/p>\n

And perhaps the ultimate state of drunkenness, inebriation, intoxication, tipsiness, crapulence (!), or whatever yer havin\u2019 yerself, would be \u201cgan f\u00e9ith n\u00e1 comhaireamh a bheith agat<\/strong>,\u201d dead drunk, very literally, \u201cwithout a sinew (here understood as \u201csign of life\u201d) or counting to be at you.\u201d\u00a0 To use that in a sentence, most likely you\u2019d adjust the \u201ca bheith agat<\/strong>\u201d part to fit whatever structure you\u2019re creating.\u00a0 For example, \u201cN\u00ed raibh f\u00e9ith n\u00e1 comhaireamh aige<\/strong>,\u201d lit. “there was no sinew or counting at him.” \u00a0Hmm, I wonder if we could also use that to describe Spock (S3E1) in the \u201cInchinn Spock<\/strong>\u201d episode.\u00a0 Not that the Star Trek producers gave it the Irish title, just a little vocabulary nudge there.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more vocabulary where this came from.\u00a0 This is just beag\u00e1n r\u00e9amhchleachtaidh<\/strong> [RAYV-HLAKH-tee], a little bit of warm-up (\u201cpre-practice\u201d), for the big day (17 M\u00ed an Mh\u00e1rta).\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) From \u201cs\u00fagach\u201d to \u201car deargmheisce,\u201d the Irish language has numerous ways to indicate stages of intoxication.\u00a0 This is, once again, just the tip of the vocabulary iceberg, but one has to start somewhere!\u00a0 Here are some phrases to help get you ready for L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig (aka L\u00e1 \u2018\u00c9ile P\u00e1draig aka St. Patrick\u2019s…<\/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":[207320,207321,207324,207322,207319,207323,207315,5285,5302,207317,207316,5667,5808,207325,207326,6936,207314,111602,207318],"class_list":["post-1973","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ar-bogmheisce","tag-ar-deargmheisce","tag-as-drunk-as-a-lord","tag-blind-drunk","tag-crapulence","tag-dead-drunk","tag-drunkenness","tag-gaeilge","tag-gaelic","tag-inebriation","tag-intoxication","tag-irish","tag-la-fheile-padraig","tag-meisce","tag-mheisce","tag-st-patricks-day","tag-stages-of-drunkenness","tag-sugach","tag-tipsiness"],"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