{"id":2108,"date":"2012-03-30T17:42:03","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T17:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2108"},"modified":"2017-01-31T14:18:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T14:18:34","slug":"la-na-namadanna-ngamalna-noinseachna-bpleidhcina-bpleotai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/la-na-namadanna-ngamalna-noinseachna-bpleidhcina-bpleotai\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00e1 na nAmad\u00e1n\u2026na nGamal?\u2026na n\u00d3inseach?\u2026na bPleidhc\u00ed?\u2026na bPleota\u00ed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

We may be well accustomed to calling April 1st<\/sup> \u201cL\u00e1 na nAmad\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d in Irish, but couldn\u2019t there be some other possibilities as well?\u00a0 Irish has many words for \u201ca fool,\u201d so what would happen if we tried some of the others?\u00a0 And, grammatically speaking, how do we work backwards from \u201cfools\u201d in the genitive plural to the nominative singular form, in other words, to the form you would use to say, \u201cHe is a fool\u201d or \u201cShe is fool.\u201d\u00a0 Just before you duck, that is!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with \u201camad\u00e1n<\/strong>,\u201d since it\u2019s probably the most familiar.\u00a0 First declension, masculine, eclipsis (ur\u00fa)<\/strong> for the genitive plural (na n-amad\u00e1n<\/strong>).\u00a0 So reverse engineering it and including the definite article for good measure, we have: na n-amad\u00e1n, na hamad\u00e1in, an amad\u00e1in (c\u00f3ta an amad\u00e1in)<\/strong>, and an t-amad\u00e1n<\/strong>.\u00a0 Is amad\u00e1n \u00e9.\u00a0 Is \u00e9 an t-amad\u00e1n ar an gcnoc \u00e9<\/strong> (gotta find a definite article example somewhere to work that \u201ct\u201d prefix in, br\u00f3n orm, a Bheatles<\/strong>!)<\/p>\n

Although \u201cgamail<\/strong>\u201d (fools) are not honored in the name of the holiday, what would happen if they were (na ngamal<\/strong>, of the fools)? \u00a0First declension, masculine, eclipsis in the genitive plural: na ngamal, na gamail, an ghamail (hata an ghamail), an gamal<\/strong>.\u00a0 The nominative singular (aka common) form is \u201cgamal<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Is gamal \u00e9.\u00a0 C\u00e1 as an gamal a bh\u00ed ar an gcnoc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll jump now to \u201cpleidhce\u201d <\/strong>and \u201cpleota,\u201d <\/strong>saving \u201c\u00f3inseach\u201d<\/strong> for last, because of the extra discussion involved in discussing male and female fools.<\/p>\n

Na bPleidhc\u00ed <\/strong>(of the fools). \u00a0<\/strong>Got the routine?\u00a0 Fourth declension, masculine, eclipsis and \u201c-\u00ed\u201d ending for genitive plural: na bpleidhc\u00ed, na pleidhc\u00ed, an phleidhce (caip\u00edn an phleidhce), an pleidhce<\/strong>.\u00a0 So \u201cpleidhce<\/strong>\u201d is the basic form.\u00a0 An pleidhce a bh\u00ed ar an gcnoc n\u00f3 amad\u00e1n<\/strong> (Is it a \u201cpleidhce<\/strong>\u201d or an \u201camad\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d that was on the hill?). N\u00f3 pleidhce amad\u00e1in<\/strong> (or a \u201csilly fool\u201d)?\u00a0 And, for an example with the definite article: \u201cF\u00e9ach an pleidhce amach romhainn<\/strong>,\u201d translated by Leara\u00ed na L\u00e1ibe (hey, there\u2019s mud, l\u00e1ib\/l\u00e1ibe<\/strong>,\u00a0again \u2013 shoulda known, it\u2019s the Mudcat site!) as \u201cLook at the messer in front of us) from the \u201cLanger\u201d song (http:\/\/www.mudcat.org\/detail.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1218633<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Na bPleota\u00ed <\/strong>(of the fools).\u00a0 Fourth declension, masculine.\u00a0 Undo the eclipsis,\u00a0 Nominative plural is \u201cna pleota\u00ed<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Genitive singular has lenition, as in \u201cBeany Copter an phleota<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Nominative singular: an pleota.\u00a0 Is pleota \u00e9<\/strong>.\u00a0 And with \u201can<\/strong>\u201d (the), here\u2019s a sample: \u201cAgus t\u00e1 na gn\u00e1thfhadhbanna f\u00f3s \u00e1 ciapadh: an Pleota sa bhaile agus Bean U\u00ed Bhatam\u00f3r ar scoil<\/strong>\u201d (from a \u201cblurba<\/strong>\u201d for the children\u2019s book \u201cCailit\u00edn<\/strong><\/em>\u201d by Caitr\u00edona N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa, http:\/\/www.siopaancarn.com\/irishchildrensbooksnsrang67?pm2_a=show&pm2_id=389<\/a>).\u00a0 Further description tells us that \u201can Pleota<\/strong>\u201d is the main character\u2019s \u201csilly brother.\u201d\u00a0 N\u00ed nach ionadh<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

And finally we have \u201cna n-\u00f3inseach<\/strong>\u201d (of the female fools).\u00a0 Second declension, feminine, eclipsis (of the vowel) in the genitive plural.\u00a0 Working backwards, we get: na n-\u00f3inseach, na h\u00f3inseacha, na h\u00f3ins\u00ed (fear na h\u00f3ins\u00ed), an \u00f3inseach.\u00a0 Is \u00f3inseach \u00ed.\u00a0 An raibh an \u00f3inseach \u00f3 Charraig na n\u00d3inseach ag caint leis an amad\u00e1n a bh\u00ed ar an gcnoc<\/strong> (Was the female fool from \u201cthe Rock of the Female Fools\u201d talking with the male fool that was on the hill)?\u00a0 You might be wondering, where\u2019s that \u201ct-\u201c for \u201camad\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d?\u00a0 Gone, because now \u201camad\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d is in a prepositional phrase and the rules change.\u00a0 Where\u2019s Carraig na n\u00d3inseach<\/strong>, for that matter?\u00a0 T\u00e1 s\u00ed i gContae Phort L\u00e1irge<\/strong>, where it is also known as \u201cCarrignanonshagh.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the way, I checked \u201cL\u00e1 na n\u00d3inseach<\/strong>\u201d online to see if it has been proposed, to give us \u201cequal opportunity\u201d fooldom, and found c\u00fapla sampla<\/strong>, which was about what I anticipated.\u00a0 Most were mixed with \u201cna nAmad\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d as the \u201cshe\/he\u201d approach sometimes recommended for English usage:<\/p>\n

Johnny (on www.politics.ie): \u201cN\u00e1rbh fhearr d\u00fainn “L\u00e1 na n-Amad\u00e1n is na n-\u00d3inseach” a thabhairt ar an l\u00e1 \u00e1irithe seo sa l\u00e1 at\u00e1 inniu ann- ceartas polaiti\u00fail, ionada\u00edocht 50\/50, 7rl, 7rl, 7rl….. <\/strong>\ud83d\ude09\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agus freagra do Johnny \u00f3 \u201cMh\u00edsh\u00e1sta\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n

M\u00edsh\u00e1sta: \u201cN\u00edl aon gh\u00e1 le ‘La na n\u00d3inseach’ mar l\u00e9ir\u00edonn na h\u00d3insigh<\/strong> [sic] a n\u00d3inseachas tr\u00edd an mbliain go l\u00e9ir.\u00a0 Anois, n\u00ed d\u00f3igh liom go bhfuil an r\u00e1iteas san an-PC ach an oiread.<\/strong> \ud83d\ude09\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And \u201cGael\u201d also answered Johnny, perhaps a little more diplomatically or, at least, self-deprecatingly:<\/p>\n

Gael: \u201cB’fh\u00e9idir gur cheart, ach t\u00e1 mise r\u00f3-leisci\u00fail chun \u00e9 sin go l\u00e9ir a scr\u00edobh. :P\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of the above from: http:\/\/www.politics.ie\/forum\/gaeilge\/6158-mcdowell-chun-eiri.html<\/a> (3-6 Aibre\u00e1n<\/strong>, 2006)<\/p>\n

And also equal opportunity:<\/p>\n

Austin Stacks GAA Hurling & Football Club, Ladies Club News, 26\u00fa M\u00e1rta \u2018012<\/strong> (as they write it themselves):<\/p>\n

\u201cOur next game is away to Na Gaeil on April 1st…L\u00e1 na nAmad\u00e1n is na n\u00d3inseach<\/strong>\u201d (http:\/\/www.austinstacks.ie<\/a>)<\/p>\n

So bottom line, the phrase for the holiday uses \u201cna n-amad\u00e1n<\/strong>,\u201d but there are many other ways to say \u201cfool\u201d in Irish.\u00a0 Putting them in the genitive plural (to say \u201cof the fools\u201d) requires various amounts of mutation and changes to the ending.\u00a0 The process is actually fairly predictable, once you get the declensions straight.\u00a0 Which suggests that soon might be a good time to review the declension series introduced some time ago, starting with https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-chead-diochlaonadh-newts-frogs-and-for-easter-baskets\/<\/a>\u00a0(April 8, 2011).\u00a0 So after a little more pleidhc\u00edocht, pleota\u00edocht,<\/strong> and maybe even mental piollarda\u00edocht<\/strong>, we\u2019ll get back to the nitty-gritty and decline some nouns.\u00a0 Go dt\u00ed sin, SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. And btw, a final word of warning re: Google translate (for all its sometime merits):<\/p>\n

All Fools\u2019 Day came out as \u201cgo l\u00e9ir<\/strong> [+] a amad\u00e1in<\/strong> [+] l\u00e1\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

April Fools\u2019 Day (plural) came out as \u201cfools<\/strong> [+] Aibre\u00e1n<\/strong> [+] l\u00e1\u201d<\/strong> (that\u2019s right, it didn\u2019t translate \u201cfools\u201d \u2013 and there are so many choices!)<\/p>\n

April Fool\u2019s Day (singular) came out as \u201cAibre\u00e1n<\/strong> [+] amad\u00e1n<\/strong> [+]\u00a0 l\u00e1\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

April Fools Day with no apostrophe at all (grrr!) came out as \u201cAibre\u00e1n<\/strong> [+] amad\u00e1in<\/strong> [+]\u00a0 l\u00e1\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

And a deliberately mistyped phrase, \u201cApril Fool\u2019s\u2019 Day\u201d came out as \u201cAibre\u00e1n<\/strong> [+] amad\u00e1n [+] ar<\/strong> [+] \u201c \u2018l\u00e1 \u201d<\/strong> (yes, it put an apostrophe before the word \u201cl\u00e1\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 hunh??).<\/p>\n

As you may have guessed, I added the plus signs, to break up the flow, so the non-grammatical Irish doesn\u2019t get read as a legitimate phrase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) We may be well accustomed to calling April 1st \u201cL\u00e1 na nAmad\u00e1n\u201d in Irish, but couldn\u2019t there be some other possibilities as well?\u00a0 Irish has many words for \u201ca fool,\u201d so what would happen if we tried some of the others?\u00a0 And, grammatically speaking, how do we work backwards from \u201cfools\u201d in the…<\/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":[207435,4061,36228,4312,474849,384427,9103,5228,5316,8663,474847,474844,5667,5812,207391,331950,207406,474842,6212,474846,8662,474845,474850,207437,474848,207436,2418,474843,6994],"class_list":["post-2108","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-all-fools-day","tag-amadain","tag-april-fools-day","tag-beatles","tag-bpleidhci","tag-chnoc","tag-fool","tag-fools","tag-gamail","tag-gamal","tag-gcnoc","tag-hamadain","tag-irish","tag-la-na-namadan","tag-laib","tag-laibe","tag-mud","tag-na-n-amadan","tag-namadan","tag-ngamal-ghamail","tag-oinseach","tag-on-the-hill","tag-phleidhce","tag-pleidhce","tag-pleidhci","tag-pleota","tag-prefix","tag-silly","tag-t-amadan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108","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=2108"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8843,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions\/8843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}