{"id":2234,"date":"2012-04-30T19:50:26","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T19:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2234"},"modified":"2017-01-10T18:03:33","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T18:03:33","slug":"time-is-of-the-essence-except-for-eadra-and-its-cohorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/time-is-of-the-essence-except-for-eadra-and-its-cohorts\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Is of the Essence, except for \u201cEadra\u201d and its Cohorts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Thinking further about all the “time” words we\u2019ve recently discussed, another thought struck me, with interesting vocabulary implications.\u00a0 The following terms use the \u201c-time\u201d suffix in English, but not in Irish.<\/p>\n

Daytime: there are several ways to express this, none using \u201c-time\u201d as such: an l\u00e1<\/strong> (as a noun) and, for \u201cin the daytime, \u201csa l\u00e1<\/strong>,\u201d \u201ci rith an lae<\/strong>\u201d (with the tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>), and \u201cisl\u00f3<\/strong>\u201d (a bit literary, perhaps dated, but still in use)<\/p>\n

Night-time: like \u201cdaytime,\u201d we have the same basic idea, \u201co\u00edche<\/strong>,\u201d for both \u201cnight\u201d and \u201cnight-time,\u201d and similar prepositional phrases, with \u201csan o\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cisto\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cat night-time,\u201d and \u201cd\u2019o\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cde shi\u00fal o\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cin the night-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the four seasons, we can either use just the basic noun, or add \u201cr\u00e1ithe<\/strong>\u201d (three-month period, season, quarter), which means we also switch to the genitive case.\u00a0 None of the words for seasons typically take any of the usual Irish \u201ctime\u201d words as a suffix or to make a compound word as such.<\/p>\n

Springtime: \u201can tEarrach<\/strong>,\u201d with \u201csan earrach<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cin the spring(time).\u201d\u00a0 Less commonly, we have \u201cr\u00e1ithe an earraigh<\/strong>\u201d [\u2026 un YAR-ee]\u00a0 with a total of 6 Google hits.\u00a0 For \u201csan earrach,<\/strong>\u201d though, we have at least 620 hits, with ca. 17,600 before duplicates, etc. are eliminated.\u00a0 A substantial difference either way!<\/p>\n

Summertime: usually just \u201can Samhradh<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 There is also the phrase \u201cr\u00e1ithe an tsamhraidh<\/strong>\u201d [\u2026 un TOW-ree].\u00a0 Total hits online for \u201cr\u00e1ithe an tsamhraidh<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 four!\u00a0 For \u201csa samhradh<\/strong>,\u201d about 609, out of 11,600 (before sorting out the duplicates).\u00a0 Plus another 554 for the Northern dialect version, \u201csa tsamhradh<\/strong>\u201d [suh TOW-roo] (out of 1,770 before sorting)<\/p>\n

Wintertime: \u201can Geimhreadh<\/strong>,\u201d with occasional use of \u201cr\u00e1ithe an gheimhridh<\/strong>\u201d [\u2026 un YEV-ree].\u00a0 Total hits for the latter?\u00a0 Eight, including four duplicates, so five, really, in, erm, essence.\u00a0 Simply using \u201csa<\/strong>,\u201d we have two variant phrases to track: \u201csa ngeimhreadh:<\/strong> gives us 158 (out of 637 pre-sorting) and \u201csa gheimhreadh<\/strong>,\u201d which yields 469 (out of about 13,100 pre-sorting)<\/p>\n

But no \u201cfall-time\u201d or \u201cautumn-time,\u201d i mB\u00e9arla<\/strong>!\u00a0 Diabhal a fhios agam c\u00e9n f\u00e1th<\/strong>!\u00a0 Irish, though, more consistently has occasional uses (tr\u00ed amas ar l\u00edne, sin an m\u00e9id<\/strong>) of \u201cr\u00e1ithe an fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 That comes from \u201cF\u00f3mhar<\/strong>\u201d (autumn, fall, harvest).\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn the fall\/autumn\u201d gives us 629 hits for \u201csan fh\u00f3mhar<\/strong>\u201d (out of ca. 7750 pre-sorting) and 449 for \u201csa bhf\u00f3mhar<\/strong>\u201d (out of ca. 2580).<\/p>\n

Clearly the phrases with \u201csa<\/strong>\u201d are more widely used than the phrases with \u201cr\u00e1ithe<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Not that these Google searches are absolute, and they will also change constantly, but they do establish a pattern \u2013 that including the element of \u201ctime\u201d is just not that critical for these \u201cseason\u201d terms.<\/p>\n

A final interesting word in this regard is \u201ceadra<\/strong>,\u201d which has fascinated me since I first learned it.\u00a0 \u201cEadra<\/strong>\u201d means \u201clate morning milking time,\u201d \u201cthe time spent by cattle as they wait to be milked\u201d (hmm, are they aware they\u2019ve got their own word for this?), or, in an even further extension, \u201clate morning\u201d (without milking),\u201cdinner-time,\u201d \u201cnoon,\u201d or \u201can idle interval.\u201d\u00a0 The word \u201cb\u00f3<\/strong>\u201d (cow) can be added for clarity but the term is understood without it.<\/p>\n

Somewhat contradicting my general point in this blog, about \u201ctime\u201d words without the \u201ctime\u201d element, we do also have \u201ceadarlinn<\/strong>\u201d (milking-time) or \u201ceadarlinn na mb\u00f3<\/strong>,\u201d where \u201clinn<\/strong>\u201d \u00a0\u00a0has been added, a slight spelling change (“-ra” to “-ar”) has been made, and we now have a time-related suffix.\u00a0 The exception that makes the rule? \u00a0BTW, this is “linn<\/strong>”\u00a0(period of time), not the familiar “linn<\/strong>” meaning “with us;” the words are completely different.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an intriguing seanfhocal<\/strong> to wrap up the \u201ceadra<\/strong>\u201d discussion, \u201cD\u00e9anann na ba seasca f\u00e9in an t-eadra<\/strong>\u201d (even dry cows take advantage of the milking-time rest).<\/p>\n

That \u201cseasca<\/strong>\u201d in the proverb (as in “na ba seasca<\/strong>“) is the plural of \u201cseasc<\/strong>\u201d (infertile, unfruitful, dry re: cows).\u00a0 Nothing to do with the other word \u201cseasca<\/strong>\u201d (60), in case you were wondering.\u00a0 Another use of this \u201cseasc<\/strong>,\u201d and a great word for your next Irish-medium eco-cocktail party is \u201ccorr sheasc<\/strong>\u201d (a sand-eel without milt or roe).\u00a0 Just what I was planning to talk about with my friends tonight.<\/p>\n

BTW, considering the title of today’s blogpost, I hunted around online and on the printed page for an exact equivalent to \u201cTime is of the essence.\u201d\u00a0 I didn\u2019t find any word-for-word translation (n\u00ed nach ionadh<\/strong>), that is, nothing that actually included the word \u201ceisint<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cbunbhr\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c\u00e9irim<\/strong>\u201d (not \u201c\u00e9ir\u00edm<\/strong>,\u201d the verb, with the \u201ci-fada<\/strong>” in the second syllable, meaning “I get up, etc.,” but \u201c\u00e9irim<\/strong>,\u201d the noun, with two short i\u2019s).\u00a0 But I did find two interesting results.\u00a0 Someone writing on Answers.com contributed the following \u201cN\u00ed tr\u00e1th moille \u00e9<\/strong>, based on \u201cThis is no time for delay.\u201d\u00a0 (http:\/\/wiki.answers.com\/Q\/What_is_the_Gaelic_for_’time_is_of_the_essence’<\/a>, which works as expressing the same basic sentiment.\u00a0 And more formally speaking, I found the phrase \u201cam ina bhuntr\u00e9ith sa chonradh<\/strong>\u201d for \u201ctime of the essence of the contract.\u201d\u00a0 Literally, it means \u201ctime in its \u2018essential quality\u2019 in the contract.\u201d\u00a0 You may know \u201cconradh<\/strong>\u201d from \u201cConradh na Gaeilge<\/strong>,\u201d where it means \u201cleague,\u201d but it also means \u201ccontract, agreement, or treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhuel, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo agus t\u00e1 s\u00fail agam nach am am\u00fa \u00e9.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais\u00edn: am\u00fa<\/strong>, astray; diabhal a fhios agam<\/strong>, lit. “divil” a bit of its knowledge (is) at me, i.e. I haven’t got a clue; na mb\u00f3<\/strong>, of the cows; n\u00ed nach ionadh<\/strong>, not a a surprise, not surprisingly;<\/p>\n

PS1 (10 Ean\u00e1ir 2017) Maidir leis an bhfr\u00e1sa “ar l\u00edne”<\/strong> (online). \u00a0It can, of course, also mean “on a line” for the relatively rare times we might say that (b’fh\u00e9idir<\/strong>: “There’s a speck of dust on that line and it will show up on the photograph). \u00a0 Fad m’eolais, n\u00ed chialla\u00edonn an fr\u00e1sa\u00a0Gaeilge “ar l\u00edne<\/em>” riamh <\/strong>“on line,” an fr\u00e1sa “*Nua-Eabhraicise” a \u00fas\u00e1idtear nuair a bh\u00edonn daoine ag fanacht i l\u00edne<\/em> (.i. ag ci\u00fa\u00e1il) mar a bheadh san abairt,<\/strong> “On May 13, 2013, we waited on line for some cronuts and it really was worth it.” Yo! New Yorkers take their line-waiting seriously, as you can see from these articles, if you care to pursue: \u00a0http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/life-style\/new-york-man-started-line-waiting-company-article-1.2381965<\/em> (October 2, 2015) and\u00a0http:\/\/www.thepennyhoarder.com\/professional-line-sitter\/ (Get Paid to Stand in Line: Make $25 an Hour as a Professional Line Sitter<\/em> (November 17, 2016)<\/p>\n

PS2 (10 Ean\u00e1ir 2017) Gluais\u00edn f\u00edorbheag do PS1: *Nua-Eabhraicis, focal a chum m\u00e9 do<\/strong> “New-Yorkese,” .i. can\u00faint Bh\u00e9arla mhuintir Nua-Eabhrac; Nua-Eabhraicise<\/strong>, of New Yorkese<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Thinking further about all the “time” words we\u2019ve recently discussed, another thought struck me, with interesting vocabulary implications.\u00a0 The following terms use the \u201c-time\u201d suffix in English, but not in Irish. Daytime: there are several ways to express this, none using \u201c-time\u201d as such: an l\u00e1 (as a noun) and, for \u201cin 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":[12030,211601,211602,211609,474781,211603,2041,474777,211593,211599,5034,211608,11201,111051,111059,474780,390312,5802,211600,211605,211594,211595,474779,113,211606,111046,211604,390309,390310,390311,8425,9685,211607,474782,211610,390313,211597],"class_list":["post-2234","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-autumn","tag-ba-seasca","tag-bo-sheasc","tag-buntreith","tag-ciuail","tag-corr-sheasc","tag-cow","tag-cronut","tag-daytime","tag-eadra","tag-earrach","tag-essence","tag-fall","tag-fomhar","tag-geimhreadh","tag-in-line","tag-infertile","tag-la","tag-milking-time","tag-milt","tag-night-time","tag-oiche","tag-on-line","tag-online","tag-roe","tag-samhradh","tag-sand-eel","tag-seasc","tag-seasca","tag-sixty","tag-springtime","tag-summertime","tag-time-is-of-the-essence","tag-to-queue-up","tag-trath-moille","tag-unfruitful","tag-wintertime"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234","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=2234"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8807,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions\/8807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}