{"id":259,"date":"2010-06-14T13:09:49","date_gmt":"2010-06-14T13:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=259"},"modified":"2013-07-04T11:52:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-04T11:52:46","slug":"la-na-bratai-flag-day-i-meiricea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/la-na-bratai-flag-day-i-meiricea\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00e1 na Brata\u00ed (Flag Day) i Meirice\u00e1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Ceili\u00fartar L\u00e1 na Brata\u00ed i Meirice\u00e1 ar an 14\u00fa l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed an Mheithimh.\u00a0 Cad a dh\u00e9antar?\u00a0 Par\u00e1id\u00ed in \u00e1iteanna (is fi\u00fa le r\u00e1 Quincy, MA., Traoi<\/strong> (Troy), NY, agus Fairfield, WA), searmanais, canadh an amhr\u00e1in n\u00e1isi\u00fanta, agus na bratacha iad f\u00e9in curtha ar foluain.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Irish word for flag is \u201cbratach.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 In the plural (na Bratacha<\/strong>), it can also mean \u201cthe Colors,\u201d (regimental, etc.).\u00a0 You might have noticed that to say \u201cof the flag,\u201d the ending changes to \u201c-a\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d giving us \u201cbrata\u00ed<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 You might also have noticed that we use \u201cna<\/strong>\u201d in the phrase, not \u201can<\/strong>\u201d for \u201c(of) the.\u201d\u00a0 Both of these facts are clues that \u201cbratach<\/strong>\u201d is grammatically feminine.<\/p>\n

This may be a bit of a surprise since learners of Irish are often told that \u201c-ach<\/strong>\u201d typically signifies a masculine noun (like \u00c9ireannach<\/strong>, Meirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>, Ceanadach<\/strong>, Oilimpeach<\/strong>, or oile\u00e1nach<\/strong>).\u00a0 And that is true.\u00a0 There are many such masculine nouns, including virtually all nouns indicating nationality.\u00a0 However, there is a distinct group of feminine nouns that also end in \u201c-ach<\/strong>\u201d and which have a different set of endings.\u00a0 Besides \u201cbratach<\/strong>,\u201d we have \u201cscornach<\/strong>\u201d (throat) and \u201cdeilgneach<\/strong>\u201d (chicken-pox), to name just a couple more examples that are feminine.<\/p>\n

These two sets of nouns could also be described in terms of the \u201cdeclension\u201d (noun category) to which they belong.\u00a0 \u201c\u00c9ireannach<\/strong>\u201d is in the first declension; all first-declension nouns are masculine.\u00a0 \u201cBratach<\/strong>\u201d is second declension.\u00a0 Over 99% of the nouns in the second declension are feminine.\u00a0 There are three other declensions in Irish (third, fourth, fifth) but going into all of them will have to wait for another blog, in fact, probably another series.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve noticed all the abbreviations like \u201cm1,\u201d \u201cf2,\u201d or \u201cm4,\u201d used in many dictionaries, they tell you the gender (m\/f) and declension (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).\u00a0 That information then tells you what endings the noun takes when it is used in different functions in the sentence.\u00a0 Except for the exceptions.\u00a0 But then, the exceptions make the \u201criail<\/strong>,\u201d don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

Getting back to \u201cflag,\u201d here are some of the main forms:<\/p>\n

an bhratach<\/strong>, the flag (lenition or s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>, since it\u2019s feminine singular)<\/p>\n

na brata\u00ed<\/strong>, of the flag (no lenition, even though feminine, since it\u2019s possessive; possessive ending)<\/p>\n

na bratacha<\/strong>, the flags<\/p>\n

na mbratach<\/strong>, of the flags (eclipsis or ur\u00fa<\/strong>, since it\u2019s possessive and plural).<\/p>\n

How does this differ from the masculine nouns ending in \u201c-ach<\/strong>?\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s a masculine example, from the first declension, deliberately picked to begin with the same letter as \u201cbratach<\/strong>,\u201d so the mutations are the same:<\/p>\n

an Bost\u00fanach<\/strong>, the Bostonian<\/p>\n

an Bhost\u00fanaigh<\/strong>, of the Bostonian<\/p>\n

na Bost\u00fanaigh<\/strong>, the Bostonians<\/p>\n

na mBost\u00fanach<\/strong>, of the Bostonians<\/p>\n

And by the way, for those of you up on your Irish insults, no snide comments here on anything connected to \u201cbast\u00fan<\/strong>\u201d (angl.<\/em> \u201cbosthoon\u201d), please.\u00a0 A reasonably polite translation of \u201cbast\u00fan<\/strong>\u201d is \u201clout.\u201d\u00a0 It has nothing to do with \u201cBost\u00fan<\/strong>,\u201d the city, except a slight resemblance in pronunciation.<\/p>\n

Here are some other flag-related words and phrases:<\/p>\n

crann brata\u00ed<\/strong>, flagstaff (lit. tree of flag, flag\u2019s tree)<\/p>\n

soitheach gan bhratach<\/strong>, flagless vessel<\/p>\n

iompr\u00f3ir na brata\u00ed<\/strong>, flag-bearer<\/p>\n

brateola\u00ed<\/strong>, vexillologist<\/p>\n

For a flag referred to as a tricolor, one can say, \u201cbratach tr\u00ed dhath<\/strong>\u201d or \u201ctr\u00eddhathach<\/strong>,\u201d or, for a specific reference (as in \u201cThe Tricolour\u201d), \u201can Tr\u00eddhathach<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cBratach na dTr\u00ed Dhath<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 If one is speaking in Irish, the assumption will probably be that one is referring to \u201cBratach na h\u00c9ireann<\/strong>\u201d (the Flag of Ireland), but, in theory at least, one could be referring to other tricolor flags as well, like those of Russia and India.<\/p>\n

Gluais: a chur ar foluain<\/strong>, to fly (a flag, as opposed to \u201ceitilt<\/strong>,\u201d which pertains to birds, planes, etc.); \u00e1it, \u00e1iteanna<\/strong>, place(s); ar an 14\u00fa l\u00e1, abair \u201car an gceathr\u00fa l\u00e1 d\u00e9ag\u201d<\/strong> (the \u2013\u00fa after the number stands for the adjectival ending used in creating most ordinal numbers in Irish; likewise, tr\u00ed\u00fa, c\u00faigi\u00fa<\/strong>, srl.), canadh<\/strong> [KAHN-uh, silent \u201cd\u201d], singing; ceili\u00fartar<\/strong>, is celebrated; dath<\/strong> [dah, silent \u201ct\u201d], color; eola\u00ed<\/strong>, scientist; searmanas<\/strong>, ceremony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Ceili\u00fartar L\u00e1 na Brata\u00ed i Meirice\u00e1 ar an 14\u00fa l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed an Mheithimh.\u00a0 Cad a dh\u00e9antar?\u00a0 Par\u00e1id\u00ed in \u00e1iteanna (is fi\u00fa le r\u00e1 Quincy, MA., Traoi (Troy), NY, agus Fairfield, WA), searmanais, canadh an amhr\u00e1in n\u00e1isi\u00fanta, agus na bratacha iad f\u00e9in curtha ar foluain.\u00a0 The Irish word for flag is \u201cbratach.\u201d\u00a0 In…<\/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":[9518,4065,9477,9517,9520,9519,9493,9491,9488,9490,9489,4435,9474,9473,9475,9482,4595,4813,9486,7372,9510,5064,9499,9502,9504,9506,9516,2906,3721,3727,9467,9476,9478,9484,9487,3735,9480,9479,9466,9498,9500,9501,9503,9505,2993,6058,9521,9494,9468,9481,9495,9469,9508,9507,3349,3351,9513,9511,9512,9497,9509,8291,9483,9492,9496,9515,7183,9471,9472,9514,9485,9470,7268],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-14-meitheamh","tag-america","tag-american-flag","tag-amhran-naisiunta","tag-an-14u-la","tag-an-14u-la-de-mhi-an-mheithimh","tag-an-bhostunaigh","tag-an-bostunach","tag-bastun","tag-bosthoon","tag-bostun","tag-bratach","tag-bratach-na-dtri-dhath","tag-bratach-na-heireann","tag-bratach-tri-dhath","tag-bratai","tag-ceanadach","tag-crann","tag-crann-bratai","tag-declension","tag-deilgneach","tag-eireannach","tag-f2","tag-f3","tag-f4","tag-f5","tag-fairfield-washington","tag-feminine","tag-fifth-declension","tag-first-declension","tag-flag-day","tag-flag-of-ireland","tag-flag-bearer","tag-flagless","tag-flagstaff","tag-fourth-declension","tag-iomproir","tag-iomproir-na-bratai","tag-la-na-bratai","tag-m1","tag-m2","tag-m3","tag-m4","tag-m5","tag-masculine","tag-meiriceanach","tag-mi-an-mheithimh","tag-na-bostunaigh","tag-na-bratacha","tag-na-bratai","tag-na-mbostunach","tag-na-mbratach","tag-oileanach","tag-oilimpeach","tag-plural","tag-possessive","tag-quincy-massachusetts","tag-regimental-colors","tag-regimental-colours","tag-riail","tag-scornach","tag-second-declension","tag-soitheach-gan-bhratach","tag-the-bostonian","tag-third-declension","tag-traoi","tag-tree","tag-tricolor","tag-tricolour","tag-troy-new-york","tag-vessel","tag-vexillologist","tag-vexillology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","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=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4152,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/4152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}