{"id":2308,"date":"2012-05-27T16:13:48","date_gmt":"2012-05-27T16:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2308"},"modified":"2017-12-06T15:35:41","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:35:41","slug":"cuir-cluas-ort-listen-up-but-wheres-the-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cuir-cluas-ort-listen-up-but-wheres-the-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuir Cluas Ort! Listen Up! (but where’s the “up”?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Before we completely leave the topic of ears, eaves, and eavesdropping, let’s look a little closer at the word for “ear” itself — cluas<\/strong> [KLOO-uss].<\/p>\n

First a pronunciation note, “ua<\/strong>” in Irish is pronounced as two syllables [oo-uh].\u00a0 You may well have heard the sound in other words, such as “rua<\/strong>” [ROO-uh], “nua<\/strong>” [NOO-uh], or, a relatively new feature in the Dublin cityscape, “an Luas<\/strong>,” the light-rail tram system, based on the word “luas<\/strong>” (speed, pace, velocity, etc.)<\/p>\n

And back to na cluasa<\/strong>.\u00a0 Here are na bunfhoirmeacha<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

cluas<\/strong> [KLOO-uss], ear, also “handle” as in “cluas cup\u00e1in<\/strong>” (a handle of a cup)<\/p>\n

an chluas<\/strong> [un KHLOO-uss], the ear, also, the handle<\/p>\n

cluaise<\/strong> [KLOO-ish-uh], of an ear, as in “curca cluaise<\/strong>,” an ear-tuft (of a bird!) or “dall\u00e1n cluaise<\/strong>,” an ear-plug<\/p>\n

na cluaise<\/strong> [nuh KLOO-ish-uh], of the ear, as in “maoth\u00e1n<\/strong> [MWEE-hawn] na cluaise<\/strong>,” the ear-lobe, lit. the soft part of the ear<\/p>\n

cluasa<\/strong>, ears, as in the seanfhocal: B\u00edonn cluasa ar na cla\u00edocha<\/strong>, translated as “Walls have ears” but remember these “walls” (cla\u00edocha<\/strong>) are probably outside walls, as of stone or sod, for marking fields or boundaries.\u00a0 But “c\u00fal\u00e9isteacht<\/strong>” or “cluasa\u00edl<\/strong>” could as easily happen outdoors as in, as long as there is some way for the “c\u00fal\u00e9isteoir<\/strong>” or “cluasa\u00ed<\/strong>” to remain out of sight.\u00a0 This proverb may also show up as “B\u00edonn cluasa ar na clathacha<\/strong>,” with the same meaning, or with “ar na falla\u00ed<\/strong>” or “ar na balla\u00ed,<\/strong>” which would be indoor walls.<\/p>\n

na cluasa<\/strong>, the ears<\/p>\n

cluas<\/strong>, of ears, as in “cosaint cluas<\/strong>” (ear muffs, lit. protection of ears)<\/p>\n

na gcluas<\/strong>, of the ears, as in “clinic na gcluas<\/strong>” (audio clinic, lit. clinic of the ears) or “seamr\u00f3g na gceithre gcluas<\/strong>” (a somewhat old-fashioned phrase for “the four-leaved shamrock”)<\/p>\n

The diminutive form “cluais\u00edn<\/strong>” [KLOO-ish-een], lit. “little ear,” has several interesting usages as well:<\/p>\n

cluais\u00edn caip\u00edn<\/strong>, ear-flap (on a cap).\u00a0 A Arailt, sin ceann duit<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

cluais\u00edn scri\u00fa<\/strong>, wing of a screw (an chuid eile, d\u00e1la an sc\u00e9il, an “lorga,”<\/strong> the shank).<\/p>\n

“Cluais\u00edn<\/strong>” on its own can also mean “auricle,” regarding the ear, although “auricle” for the heart is “cop\u00f3g<\/strong>“, which also means “large ear,” “large leaf,” and “dock” (the plant).<\/p>\n

A few more expressions with “cluas<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

Cuir cluas ort f\u00e9in<\/strong>! Listen attentively, lit. “put an ear on yourself,” or, as we might say, “Listen up!” (though there’s no “up” in the Irish)<\/p>\n

Cuireann sin cluas orm<\/strong>.\u00a0 That causes me to listen attentively, lit. That puts ears on me.<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 mo chluasa bodhar acu<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’m tired of listening to them, lit. my ears are deaf at them.<\/p>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, hopefully, n\u00edl bhur gcluasa bodhar agam<\/strong>! \u00a0Although we’re really talking about\u00a0l\u00e9amh an bhlag<\/strong>, not \u00e9isteacht leis an mblag, <\/strong>so I suppose the phrase should be based on dubh d\u00f3ite<\/strong>, or some such idea. \u00a0SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: bodhar<\/strong> [bohr or baur or bower, the “d” is silent], deaf; curca<\/strong> [KUR-kuh], crest, tuft, topknot, cockade; maoth\u00e1n cluaise<\/strong> [MWEE-hawn KLOO-ish-uh], earlobe<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0D\u00e1la<\/strong>\u00a0an sc\u00e9il, kudos do na daoine a rinne an su\u00edomh idirl\u00edn don Luas.\u00a0 T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ar f\u00e1il i nGaeilge<\/strong>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.luas.ie\/ga\/<\/a>)\u00a0chomh maith le seacht dteanga eile<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Is f\u00e9idir leat an teanga a athr\u00fa \u00f3 Bh\u00e9arla go Gaeilge agus \u00f3 Ghaeilge go B\u00e9arla ag barr an leathanaigh le cnaipe scor\u00e1naithe<\/strong>\u00a0(toggle button)\u00a0agus ar\u00eds ag bun an leathanaigh, \u00e1it a bhfuil na bratacha<\/strong>\u00a0(the flags).<\/p>\n

P.P.S. For a little more “hands-on” practice with the word “cluasa<\/strong>,” you might want to look back at the blog from 23 Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> 2009, translating “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/what-comes-after-%E2%80%9Cceann-gualainn-gluin-is-cos%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Csuile-cluasa-beal-is-sron%E2%80%9D\/<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0 A little acla\u00edocht<\/strong> never hurt anyone!<\/p>\n

P.P.P.S. btw, remote as the word “cluas<\/strong>” may seem from anything immediately recognizably as Indo-European, it is a distant relation to the word “listen.” \u00a0Think Welsh “clust<\/em>” (ear), Old Norse “hlust<\/em>” (ear) as well as “hlystan<\/em>” (listen, hear), Sanskrit “\u00e7rotra<\/em>” (hearing, ear, cf. shruti<\/em> regarding “revelation” and Hindu sacred texts) and going as far east as one can go in the Indo-European range, Tocharian A “klots<\/em>” and even Tocharian B “klautso<\/em>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Before we completely leave the topic of ears, eaves, and eavesdropping, let’s look a little closer at the word for “ear” itself — cluas [KLOO-uss]. First a pronunciation note, “ua” in Irish is pronounced as two syllables [oo-uh].\u00a0 You may well have heard the sound in other words, such as “rua” [ROO-uh], “nua”…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[211731,211733,211719,211718,211720,211729,211730,211717,8166,4705,211725,211739,273278,8160,211732,211721,211722,211738,5500,10181,211727,211726,211742,211741,211724,273279,273280,211735,10454,211737,6741,211734,211740,211728,211736],"class_list":["post-2308","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ballai","tag-bodhar","tag-chluaise","tag-chluas","tag-chluasa","tag-claiocha","tag-clathacha","tag-cluaise","tag-cluas","tag-cluasa","tag-clust","tag-crotra","tag-curca","tag-ear","tag-fallai","tag-gcluas","tag-gcluasa","tag-handle","tag-head-shoulders-knees-and-toes","tag-hear","tag-hlust","tag-hlystan","tag-klautso","tag-klots","tag-listen","tag-maothan","tag-maothan-cluaise","tag-revelation","tag-sanskrit","tag-screw","tag-seanfhocal","tag-shruti","tag-tocharian","tag-walls-have-ears","tag-wing"],"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