{"id":2319,"date":"2012-05-30T11:35:56","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T11:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2319"},"modified":"2017-12-06T15:34:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:34:46","slug":"the-nuts-and-bolts-of-well-boltai-agus-cnonna-agus-scriunna-agus-tairni-for-good-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-well-boltai-agus-cnonna-agus-scriunna-agus-tairni-for-good-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nuts and Bolts of, well, Bolta\u00ed agus Cn\u00f3nna (agus Scri\u00fanna agus Tairn\u00ed, for good measure!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In the last blog, about “cluasa<\/strong>” (ears) \u00a0I happened to mention the phrase “cluais\u00edn scri\u00fa<\/strong>” (the wing of a screw), since it’s based on the word for ear.\u00a0 “Cluais\u00edn<\/strong>” [KLOO-ish-een] literally means “little ear.”\u00a0 That got me thinking about how such items are made and categorized.\u00a0 This blog will just be skimming the surface of an amazingly complex world out there of nuts, bolts, nails, screws and the like.\u00a0 And it also sets one wondering — how did people fasten things before the days of mass manufacturing of such small metal products.\u00a0 I’ve seen hand-forged nails but haven’t heard of anything like hand-forged nuts or bolts, etc.\u00a0 And I’m sure that at one time in history, all such items had a greater value per piece than today.\u00a0 Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations<\/em>, even refers to an unnamed Scottish village where nails used to be used as currency.\u00a0 At any rate, this blog will simply introduce some of the basics.<\/p>\n

bolta<\/strong>, a bolt, and this can be used for a sliding-bolt, a rifle-bolt, and in general for mechanical engineering (but not for a bolt of lightning, which would be “splanc thintr\u00ed<\/strong>” or “plimp thintr\u00ed<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

scri\u00fabholta<\/strong> [SHKROO-WOL-tuh, note the lenition of the “b”], a screw-bolt (I guess the meaning of that one was fairly self-evident!)<\/p>\n

bolta cr\u00f3<\/strong>, an eye-bolt, lit. a bolt of eye or socket or bore.\u00a0 “Cr\u00f3<\/strong>” can be used for the eye of a needle (cr\u00f3 sn\u00e1thaide<\/strong>), but not ever, at least per my experience and research, for the “eye” we see with; it can also be used for the holder of an electric lightbulb (cr\u00f3 bolg\u00e1in<\/strong>).\u00a0 In addition, “cr\u00f3<\/strong>” can also mean “shanty” or, with various animals, their dwelling place, as in “cr\u00f3 muice<\/strong>” (pig-sty), cr\u00f3 madra<\/strong> (dog-kennel), or \u00a0“cr\u00f3 cearc<\/strong>” (hen-house).\u00a0 What a word!<\/p>\n

How about the “nut” part?\u00a0 \u00a0Well, cn\u00f3<\/strong> and behold (or could that be “cr\u00f3<\/strong>” and behold?), it actually is “cn\u00f3<\/strong>,” the ordinary word for a “nut” as in “gallchn\u00f3<\/strong>” (walnut) or “cn\u00f3 coill<\/strong>” (hazelnut).\u00a0 That, of course, is one of the most intriguing and sometimes the most frustrating features of language learning — one can never really assume that a metaphoric usage in one language will translate well in other.\u00a0 But sometimes they do.\u00a0 \u00a0For example, I was actually surprised to find out how many languages allow you to say your skill in something (like language proficiency) is “rusty.”\u00a0 But it’s always good to check before assuming anything vocabulary-wise.<\/p>\n

Diving back into the “ear” world, we have “cn\u00f3nna cluasacha<\/strong>” (wing-nuts). \u00a0As for “wingnuts” personified, sin<\/strong> definitely “\u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>,” since this one already looks like it’s going to be fada go leor<\/strong>, if not r\u00f3fhada<\/strong>. \u00a0A “wing-nut” can also be a “cn\u00f3 eiteach<\/strong>,” using a word closer to “wing” (which can be “eiteog<\/strong>” as well as “sciath\u00e1n<\/strong>“).<\/p>\n

Not all nuts are square, though I believe most are.\u00a0 We also have “cn\u00f3nna heicseag\u00e1nacha<\/strong>” (hex or hexagonal nuts), and I’m sure there are many other specific types.<\/p>\n

So that takes care of the basics of nuts and bolts (saving such specifications as knurled, milled, self-locking, and clamping, and, omg, eventually a discussion of “washers”).\u00a0 But before we end this blog, just a few more terms, and then, I’ll try to read One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw<\/em> (by Witold Rybczynski) before proceeding further.\u00a0 I actually have a copy somewhere in the house, waiting to be a birthday gift for my unsuspecting husband (Sis!<\/strong> [pronounced “shish,” that means “Shhh!” — at least, I’ve found it used in one well-translated children’s book, not really beyond that … yet!).\u00a0 So here’s just the tip of the iceberg for a few more terms: .<\/p>\n

scri\u00fa<\/strong>, screw (bet you already figured that one out)<\/p>\n

scri\u00faire<\/strong>, a screwdriver<\/p>\n

tairne<\/strong>, a nail (not on the hand or foot, that’s an “ionga<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

cas\u00far<\/strong>, a hammer; a “large” hammer being an “ord<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

And since I went and brought the subject up:<\/p>\n

leicne\u00e1n<\/strong>, a washer (it can also mean a “wedge,” though that, i mo thaith\u00ed f\u00e9in<\/strong>, is more typically a “ding<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, not sure whether I managed to hit the nail on the head for this topic, or to get anywhere near the brass tacks, but buailte n\u00f3 a mhalairt, tac\u00f3id\u00ed pr\u00e1is n\u00f3 gan iad, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iarsmaoineamh re: fuaimni\u00fa “cr\u00f3” agus “cn\u00f3”<\/strong>: Come to think of it, if we have the n\/r variation in pronunciation with words like “cnoc<\/strong>” [knok OR krok], mn\u00e1<\/strong> [mnaw OR mraw], and the Luimn<\/em>each<\/strong>\/Limer<\/em>ick situation, it seems we might have some confusing situations with “cn\u00f3nna<\/strong>” [nuts] and “cr\u00f3ite<\/strong>” [sockets, etc.]\u00a0 At least the plural endings would be different, to help differentiate the sound.\u00a0 But normally, I’ve never really found myself discussing a “cn\u00f3<\/strong>” and a “cr\u00f3<\/strong>” in the same context, so there’s never been a problem.<\/p>\n

Iarsmaoineamh eile: suim agat sa leabhar faoi scri\u00fair\u00ed? Seo nasc:<\/strong> http:\/\/authors.simonandschuster.biz\/Witold-Rybczynski\/652589\/books<\/a><\/p>\n

Iarsmaoineamh deireanach re: ord na bhfocal sa bhfr\u00e1sa<\/strong> “nuts and bolts”: in English the word order is almost always “nuts” first, then “bolts.”\u00a0 In Irish, in the limited examples I can find of the phrase, the two possible word orders are about neck in neck, with “cn\u00f3nna agus bolta\u00ed<\/strong>” (like English) somewhat in the lead.\u00a0 I’ve been trying to pinpoint why “bolta\u00ed agus cn\u00f3nna<\/strong>” (bolts and nuts) sounds more natural to me in Irish.\u00a0 Innealt\u00f3ir\u00ed?\u00a0 Saoir?\u00a0 Cad a deir sibhse?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the last blog, about “cluasa” (ears) \u00a0I happened to mention the phrase “cluais\u00edn scri\u00fa” (the wing of a screw), since it’s based on the word for ear.\u00a0 “Cluais\u00edn” [KLOO-ish-een] literally means “little ear.”\u00a0 That got me thinking about how such items are made and categorized.\u00a0 This blog will just be skimming the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[211749,211744,211757,211760,8166,211751,211745,211754,211750,211743,211758,211737,95261,211755,211759,211756,211753,211746,211747,211748],"class_list":["post-2319","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bolt","tag-brass-tacks","tag-casur","tag-cluaisin","tag-cluas","tag-hammer","tag-hit-the-nail-on-the-head","tag-leicnean","tag-nail","tag-nuts-and-bolts","tag-ord","tag-screw","tag-screwdriver","tag-scriu","tag-scriuire","tag-tairne","tag-washer","tag-wing-of-a-screw","tag-wing-nut","tag-wingnut"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319","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=2319"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9900,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions\/9900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}