{"id":2247,"date":"2012-05-05T12:15:52","date_gmt":"2012-05-05T12:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2247"},"modified":"2017-12-02T19:41:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-02T19:41:32","slug":"ar-dhroim-na-muice-not-quite-the-same-as-high-on-the-hog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ar-dhroim-na-muice-not-quite-the-same-as-high-on-the-hog\/","title":{"rendered":"Ar Dhroim (Ar Muin) na Muice: Not Quite The Same as \u201cHigh on the Hog\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

You might remember a passing reference in the last blog to \u201cdromanna muc<\/strong>\u201d (backs of pigs) in the discussion of caint mheafarach<\/strong> (fh\u00edortha<\/strong>) in general.\u00a0 The only real reason I pluralized it was to emphasize the point that lots of people use lots of figurative speech in lots of situations.\u00a0 So over the years, lots of dromanna<\/strong> (backs) of lots of figurative muca<\/strong> (pigs) have been alluded to.\u00a0 In any actual instance of use, the phrase would probably be in the singular, as in: T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ar dhroim na muice,<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m on the pig\u2019s back, lit. on (the) back of the pig, with “ar muin na muice”<\/strong> as another version.<\/p>\n

Why exactly being \u201con the back of the pig\u201d should mean that things are going quite well for you is still a bit of a mystery.\u00a0 There are lots of positive associations with pigs though, aside from their general intelligence, and according to various news clips I\u2019ve seen, their ability to save their owners from fire or drowning.\u00a0 Why is the \u201cpiggy bank\u201d the most stereotypical image of a child\u2019s savings bank?\u00a0 Why is pork and sauerkraut the most popular meal amongst the Pennsylvania Germans (and perhaps other groups as well) for New Year\u2019s Day?\u00a0 Apparently both of these symbolize the pig\u2019s impressive ability to put on weight, to literally swell from swill.\u00a0 We hope our pennies will grow in value in the savings bank (not that toy banks offer interest, although come to think of it, with microchips these days, maybe there could be a cyber-tally and \u2026).\u00a0 The New Year\u2019s pork dish symbolizes the prosperity and growth we hope to experience in the coming year.<\/p>\n

Now, personally, I applaud the porcine hero of Judy B. Goodenough\u2019s song, \u201cTails and Trotters,\u201d about the \u201cLittle Piggy\u201d who struck out on his on and escaped the foodie fate of his siblings.\u00a0 You might remember the Mama pig in the song, who mourned \u201call my sons and all my daughters, are hocks and hams and tails and trotters.\u201d\u00a0 Although I\u2019m not a feoilse\u00e1nt\u00f3ir<\/strong> as such, I feel bad hearing how quickly and cost-effectively pigs put on weight, so we\u2019re all the more likely to slaughter them for consumption.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t quite seem f\u00e9ar\u00e1ilte<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Anyway, it wouldn\u2019t hurt to look a little more closely at the different forms of our keywords for \u201car dhroim na muice<\/strong>\u201d and its alternate version, “ar muin na muice<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

droim<\/strong>, back (n, as in back of the human body, etc., also ridge, as in many place names, like Drumcondra)<\/p>\n

an droim<\/strong>, the back<\/p>\n

droma<\/strong>, of a back (eite droma<\/strong>, dorsal fin, lit. fin of back)<\/p>\n

an\u00a0droma<\/strong>, of the back (caol an droma<\/strong>, the small of the back, aka an caoldroim<\/strong>, btw)<\/p>\n

dromanna<\/strong>, backs, also “of backs”<\/p>\n

na dromanna<\/strong>, the backs<\/p>\n

na ndromanna<\/strong>, of the backs<\/p>\n

Another word for “back” is “muin<\/strong>,” so we have:<\/p>\n

an mhuin<\/strong>, the back (usually upper; usually for animals, not people)<\/p>\n

muine<\/strong>, of a back; na muine<\/strong>, of the back<\/p>\n

muin\u00ed<\/strong>, backs, also “of backs”; na muin\u00ed<\/strong>, the backs, na muin\u00ed<\/strong>, of the backs<\/p>\n

And for \u201cmuc<\/strong>\u201d (pig) we have:<\/p>\n

an mhuc<\/strong>, the pig<\/p>\n

muice<\/strong>, of a pig (bolgach muice<\/strong>, swine-pox)<\/p>\n

na muice<\/strong>, of the pig (Cla\u00ed na Muice Duibhe<\/strong>, the Black Pig\u2019s Dyke, lit. the Dyke of the Black Pig, in Irish word order)<\/p>\n

muca<\/strong>, pigs (muca ar dhath seachas b\u00e1n uile chun cr\u00edocha s\u00edolr\u00fach\u00e1in<\/strong>, pigs of a color other than all white for breeding purposes)<\/p>\n

na muca<\/strong>, the pigs (na muca mara<\/strong>, the porpoises, lit. the pigs of the sea)<\/p>\n

muc<\/strong>, of pigs (An Coimisi\u00fan Muc is Bag\u00fain<\/strong>, Pigs and Bacon Commission, and, almost as intriguing as the former \u201cWelsh Plant Breeding Station’ (which has been renamed since I first encountered it, near Aberystwyth), there is \u201cSt\u00e1isi\u00fan T\u00e1st\u00e1la P\u00f3r Muc<\/strong>,” Pig Progeny Station, lit. station of testing of breeds of pigs; \u201cplant<\/em>\u201d btw is the Welsh word for \u201cchildren\u201d so, when read hybridly (i.e. bilingually), the Welsh agricultural research center was eye-catching, to say the least! \u00a0As for this Irish station, “t\u00e1st\u00e1il<\/strong>” can also mean “tasting” as well as “testing” … food for thought!<\/p>\n

na muc<\/strong>, of the pigs (NB: the final \u201c-a\u201d of \u201cmuca<\/strong>\u201d gets dropped; cuid na muc<\/strong>, swill)<\/p>\n

One caveat about this phrase.\u00a0 The first two results of my Google search brought up examples with some pretty glaring grammatical errors.\u00a0 I\u2019ll not name names, but I\u2019ll give you a heads-up about the mistakes, so you don\u2019t fall into the same trap.\u00a0 If you try Googling the incorrect phrases, you\u2019ll probably find the source.\u00a0 Unless someone corrects those postings, in which case this will be a mere, but hopefully useful, exercise.<\/p>\n

First (so apparently a popular hit), I saw \u201car dhroim n\u00e1<\/em> muice<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Over-fadaization (if such a word exists)!\u00a0 It\u2019s just \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d here, not \u201cn\u00e1<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Not \u201cn\u00e1<\/strong>,\u201d nope, naw, no way!\u00a0 \u201cN\u00e1<\/strong>,\u201d with a long \u201ca\u201d has several meanings in Irish (such as \u201cthan,\u201d \u201cbut,\u201d \u201cnor\/or,\u201d and various uses as a verbal particle) but none of those fit here.\u00a0 All those, \u201dn\u00e1-anna<\/strong>,\u201d by the way, are not ranges of meaning for one \u201cn\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d but completely different words, homophones, words that happen to look and sound alike.<\/p>\n

For our phrase, we need \u201cna<\/em> muice<\/strong>,\u201d which means \u201cof the pig.\u201d\u00a0 Not that \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d actually means \u201cof.\u201d\u00a0 No way!\u00a0 It\u2019s a form of the definite article (\u201cthe\u201d) which incorporates the idea of \u201cof\u201d when used with the tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> (muice<\/strong> instead of just muc<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

To top things off, a commenter writing in to the \u201cn\u00e1 muice<\/strong>\u201d perp asked another misleading question, \u201cC\u00e1 bhfuil na muice?<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 <osna, osna, osna<\/strong>> (those are my sighs, not those of duine scr\u00edofa na n\u00f3ta\u00ed tr\u00e1chta<\/strong>). \u00a0Well-intended, no doubt, but one rule of thumb for Irish, and any other inflected language, is that one typically can\u2019t pluck an element out of one sentence and plump it down in the middle another sentence as is<\/em>.\u00a0 The very nature of inflection (in grammar) is that endings change, all the time.\u00a0 \u00c1bhar ollbhlag eile!<\/strong>\u00a0 I assume the commenter wanted to ask, \u201cWhere is the pig?\u201d\u00a0 That would be \u201cC\u00e1 bhfuil an mhuc?<\/strong>” [say \u201cun wook,\u201d with the \u201cwook\u201d part more or less as in Wookiee].\u00a0 That \u201cWookiee\u201d comparison doesn\u2019t apply if you\u2019re a Munster Irish speaker, since they\u2019d likely pronounce \u201cthe pig\u201d as \u201cun vook\u201d and, fad m\u2019eolais<\/strong>, \u201cwookiee\u201d never has an initial \u201cv\u201d sound, even when Munster Irish speakers discuss Star Wars.<\/p>\n

The commenter might possibly have intended to ask \u201cWhere are the pigs?\u201d since that would retain the \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d (now simply to go with a plural subject, na muca<\/strong>).\u00a0 That would be, \u201cC\u00e1 bhfuil na muca?<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 But I doubt they meant plural, since the \u201cpig\u2019s back\u201d phrase seems to refer to one perpetually lucky, everlasting pig, with space for all on its generous back.<\/p>\n

Bhuel sin sin<\/strong>, but there\u2019s more.\u00a0 Next Google hit?<\/p>\n

Please keep in mind that I\u2019m glad to see people using the phrases \u201car dhroim na muice<\/strong>\u201d and “ar muin na muice<\/strong>” and commenting on them.\u00a0 I just wish the grammar was a little more spot-on, especially since the population of Irish language learners far outnumbers those who are actually fluent in the language.<\/p>\n

One of the curious features of\u00a0 Google searches is that even when you type in the grammatically correct phrase, you may get grammatically incorrect phrases as the result.\u00a0 Hmm.\u00a0 The whys and wherefores of that are definitely out of my bailiwick.<\/p>\n

So the second disconcerting example was, hmmm, I\u2019m going to split it up so it\u2019s not quite so jarring.\u00a0 First, it uses the phrase: \u201car an dhroim<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Two problems here.\u00a0 First, \u201cd\u201d resists lenition after \u201can<\/strong>\u201d (the so-called DNTLS rule).\u00a0 Second, the \u201can<\/strong>\u201d is actually superfluous, as we\u2019ll see from the rest of the phrase, which is \u201cna muice<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 That part is correct, but the definite article \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d in that part of the phrase negates the need for a definite article in the first part of the phrase.\u00a0 Remember phrases like \u201cc\u00f3ta an chail\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d (the<\/em> coat of the<\/em> girl) or \u201chata na girs\u00ed<\/strong> (the<\/em> hat of the<\/em> girl) or \u201cruball na muice<\/strong>\u201d (the<\/em> tail of the<\/em> pig).\u00a0 One<\/em> definite article serves to make the whole phrase definite.\u00a0 You noticed how the English translation used the word \u201cthe\u201d twice\u201d for each phrase, right?\u00a0 This usage extends to prepositional phrases like \u201car ch\u00f3ta an chail\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d \u201car hata na girs\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201ci ruball na muice<\/strong>,\u201d as in the following: “T\u00e1 dath or\u00e1iste ar ch\u00f3ta an chail\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cT\u00e1 rib\u00edn ar hata na girs\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d and \u201cT\u00e1 caisirn\u00edn (cor) i ruball na muice<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

While the typically American phrase \u201chigh on the hog\u201d may seem to be related to \u201car dhroim na muice<\/strong>,\u201d it\u2019s really somewhat different in meaning.\u00a0 \u201cHigh on the hog\u201d means really affluent or living luxuriously, almost or actually beyond one\u2019s means.\u00a0 \u201cOn the pig\u2019s back\u201d implies more that things are going well, as opposed to poorly, but doesn\u2019t suggest extreme wealth, at least as I understand it.\u00a0 One well-established \u201cphrase origin\u201d site, http:\/\/www.phrases.org.uk\/meanings\/high-on-the-hog.html<\/a>, soundly knocks the \u201chigh hog\/pig\u2019s back\u201d connection theory.\u00a0 Still, one wonders!<\/p>\n

Anyway, here\u2019s hoping all of today\u2019s readers are either “ar muin na muice<\/strong>” or \u00a0\u201car dhroim na muice<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 And hoping the poor pig isn\u2019t too worn out giving all these haighde\u00e1nna<\/strong> (piggyback rides)!\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. In case you have some need of the word \u201cswill\u201d in Irish, there are a couple of choices.\u00a0 Straightforwardly, we have \u201ccuid na muc<\/strong>\u201d (the share of the pigs).\u00a0 Lovely to the ear, but a bit obscurely, we have \u201cscudalach<\/strong>,\u201d a word almost evokes the sound of the grunting of happy pigs.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably related to \u201cscodal<\/strong>\u201d (thin porridge).\u00a0 And, although it\u2019s a semantic stretch, there is \u201cswill\u201d in terms of brewing, which is \u201cgr\u00fadarlach<\/strong>,\u201d neatly connected to the slew of other brew words, \u201cgr\u00fadaire<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cgr\u00fadlann<\/strong>,\u201d etc.\u00a0 It can also mean \u201cslops\u201d and \u201cinferior ale.\u201d<\/p>\n

P.S.2 (1 M\u00ed na Nollag 2017<\/strong>) And, for “swill,” Mise\u00c1ine contributed “slab<\/strong>” and “slabar<\/strong>” below, per An Domhnallach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) You might remember a passing reference in the last blog to \u201cdromanna muc\u201d (backs of pigs) in the discussion of caint mheafarach (fh\u00edortha) in general.\u00a0 The only real reason I pluralized it was to emphasize the point that lots of people use lots of figurative speech in lots of situations.\u00a0 So over 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":[4051,211625,211638,211637,211628,7936,374759,460797,460798,211635,374758,211629,211630,211631,374756,374769,374760,111361,374779,5455,5458,5459,207458,460770,460769,350248,211627,289809,374766,374757,111363,374775,211640,211632,211634,211633,211639,111532,6175,7480,374774,374773,374777,211626,6367,374776,374770,374753,374764,6460,374767,460771,362396,6635,374765,211636,374754,374755,6851,12211,6990,7012,374761,218673,13470,374763,374778],"class_list":["post-2247","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ale","tag-ar-dhroim-na-muice","tag-ar-muin","tag-ar-muin-na-muice","tag-back","tag-but","tag-caint-mheafarach","tag-caisirnin","tag-cor","tag-cuid-na-muc","tag-dhroim","tag-droim","tag-droma","tag-dromanna","tag-dudley","tag-fadaization","tag-feoilseantoir","tag-fiortha","tag-goodenough","tag-grudaire","tag-grudarlach","tag-grudlann","tag-hagrid","tag-haighdea","tag-haighdeanna","tag-ham","tag-high-on-the-hog","tag-hock","tag-inferior-ale","tag-judy","tag-meafarach","tag-mhuc","tag-mhuin","tag-muc","tag-muca","tag-muice","tag-muin","tag-muine","tag-munster","tag-na","tag-na-anna","tag-nor","tag-ollbhlag","tag-on-the-pigs-back","tag-or","tag-osna","tag-overfadaization","tag-par","tag-pennsylvania-german","tag-pig","tag-pigs-back","tag-piggyback-ride","tag-porridge","tag-ruball","tag-scodal","tag-scudalach","tag-slab","tag-slabar","tag-slops","tag-star-wars","tag-swill","tag-tail","tag-tails-and-trotters","tag-than","tag-the","tag-trotter","tag-wookie"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247","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=2247"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9878,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247\/revisions\/9878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}