{"id":2275,"date":"2012-05-11T22:26:16","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T22:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2016-01-04T15:53:39","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T15:53:39","slug":"ce-mhead-la-ce-mhead-paorach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ce-mhead-la-ce-mhead-paorach\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad L\u00e1? C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Paorach?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

A recent blog in this series on figurative speech in Irish mentioned \u00a0\u201cna laethanta go l\u00e9ir a bh\u00ed ag na Paoraigh<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> Some of you probably recognized this as a reference to the well-known seanfhocal <\/strong>(proverb): \u00a0Beidh l\u00e1 eile ag an bPaorach <\/strong>(Mr. Power will have another day).<\/p>\n

So how does this seanfhocal<\/strong> break down as far as vocabulary and grammar go?\u00a0 And if you\u2019re new to Irish, you might be wondering where the verb \u201cto have\u201d is.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the \u201cto have\u201d question.\u00a0 The short answer is that there isn\u2019t really a verb \u201cto have\u201d as such in Irish, but instead things are generally \u201cat you,\u201d using the preposition \u201c<\/strong>ag<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>(at).\u00a0 Naturally this can be extended to all three \u201cpersons\u201d (1st<\/sup>, 2nd<\/sup>, 3rd<\/sup>), so the paradigm starts out like this: T\u00e1 carr agam <\/strong>(There is a car at me), T\u00e1 carr agat, T\u00e1 carr aige, T\u00e1 carr aici, T\u00e1 carr ag Se\u00e1n, T\u00e1 carr ag an Domhnallach<\/strong>,<\/strong> etc.\u00a0\u00a0 Literally, the proverb would be translated as \u201cThere will be another day at Mr. Power.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 There are some other ways to express possession, such as \u201cIs liomsa \u00e9<\/strong>\u201d (It is with me) but that, of course, will have to be \u00e1bhar blag eile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

beidh<\/strong> [bay]: will be<\/p>\n

l\u00e1 eile<\/strong>: <\/strong>another day, with the adjective (<\/strong>eile<\/strong>) <\/strong>in second place, the usual word order in Irish<\/p>\n

ag an bPaorach<\/strong>: <\/strong>at Mr. Power (or the Power fellow, or as an another form of the surname \u201cPower,\u201d Mr. de Paor)<\/p>\n

Paorach <\/strong>vs. bPaorach<\/strong>, and occasionally Phaorach:\u00a0 Paorach<\/strong> is the basic form of the name [PWEER-ukh or PWAYR-ukh].\u00a0 In the prepositional phrase \u201c<\/strong>ag an bPaorach<\/strong>,\u201d <\/strong>the letter \u201cb\u201d is used to show eclipsis and the word is pronounced [BWEER-ukh or BWAYR-ukh].\u00a0 \u00a0This form is used in standard Irish and in some dialects.\u00a0 Curiously, even though in Donegal the form would normally be \u201c<\/strong>ag an Phaorach<\/strong>,\u201d<\/strong> there\u2019s very little evidence of this usage online.\u00a0 That, of course, doesn\u2019t mean some Donegal speakers wouldn\u2019t make the conversion, but in this case, it seems tradition may sometimes trump dialect and \u201c<\/strong>ag an bPaorach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>may show up sometimes, even in Irish in the North, where lenition would normally occur.\u00a0 The few examples I did find online of \u201c<\/strong>ag an Phaorach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>were mostly from Donegal, as one would expect.<\/p>\n

How about the \u201c<\/strong>-ach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>ending?\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of saying the \u201cPower\u201d man, i.e. the man with the surname \u201cPower.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, \u201c<\/strong>an Domhnallach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>is \u201cthe O\u2019Donnell man\u201d (or in Scotland, the MacDonald man) and \u201c<\/strong>an Flaitheartach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>is \u201cthe O\u2019Flaherty man.\u201d\u00a0 The proverb is usually translated as \u201cMr. Power,\u201d but technically, of course, \u201cMr.\u201d would be \u201c<\/strong>an tUasal<\/strong>\u201d (<\/strong>an tUasal de Paor<\/strong>).\u00a0 <\/strong>Wouldn\u2019t have quite the same ring, though.<\/p>\n

The proverb is believed to date to 1798, when Edmund Power was about to be hanged for his role in the Rebellion at Waterford (Dungarvan).\u00a0 That would give us over 200 years of the name \u201c<\/strong>Paorach<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> being invoked to encourage people to struggle on for future success.\u00a0 So while we can\u2019t actually answer the questions in the title of this blog, \u201c<\/strong>C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad L\u00e1?\u00a0 C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Paorach?<\/strong>,\u201d <\/strong>we can at least translate them: How many days?\u00a0 How many Messrs. Power? (How many Power men?).\u00a0 The nouns \u201c<\/strong>l\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>and \u201c<\/strong>Paorach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>stay singular in Irish, even in the question \u201c<\/strong>C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad?<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>(How many?, lit. What amount?) which implies a plural answer.<\/p>\n

Bhuel, sin \u00e9 don l\u00e1 inniu, c\u00e9 nach l\u00e1 an Phaoraigh \u00e9.<\/strong>\u00a0 So that\u2019d be the genitive case of \u201c<\/strong>Paorach<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>but that\u2019s \u00e1bhar blag eile.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta<\/strong>: the original blog in this\u00a0series on figurative speech\u00a0is: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/between-a-rock-and-a-may-day-fire-or-life-on-the-horns-of-a-dilemma-as-gaeilge\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) A recent blog in this series on figurative speech in Irish mentioned \u00a0\u201cna laethanta go l\u00e9ir a bh\u00ed ag na Paoraigh.\u201d\u00a0 Some of you probably recognized this as a reference to the well-known seanfhocal (proverb): \u00a0Beidh l\u00e1 eile ag an bPaorach (Mr. Power will have another day). So how does this seanfhocal break…<\/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":[96555,3999,211669,211650,390750,390749,4318,4319,211663,211673,211666,211671,211670,211667,1084,5802,6155,211662,211664,211672,211665,11,3022,6741,6980,390751,2576,96409],"class_list":["post-2275","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-96555","tag-ag-an-bpaorach","tag-agam","tag-agat","tag-an-t-uasal","tag-an-tuasal","tag-beidh","tag-beidh-la-eile-ag-an-bpaorach","tag-bpaorach","tag-de-paor","tag-domhnallach","tag-dungarvan","tag-edmund-power","tag-flaitheartach","tag-genitive-case","tag-la","tag-mr-power","tag-paorach","tag-phaorach","tag-phaoraigh","tag-power","tag-pronunciation","tag-proverb","tag-seanfhocal","tag-surname","tag-the-odonnell","tag-to-have","tag-wexford"],"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