{"id":3063,"date":"2012-08-25T02:23:20","date_gmt":"2012-08-25T02:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2012-09-09T10:53:33","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T10:53:33","slug":"on-searrach-go-dti-an-staigin-and-my-last-excuse-for-slan-go-foal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/on-searrach-go-dti-an-staigin-and-my-last-excuse-for-slan-go-foal\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00d3n Searrach go dt\u00ed an Staig\u00edn — and my last excuse for “Sl\u00e1n Go Foal”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

l\u00e1ir agus searrach ag ithe<\/p><\/div>\n

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

As promised in the last posting, this blog will discuss the terms for the life cycle and various types of horse.\u00a0 Most prominent, of course, is “capall<\/strong>,” but, as previous blaganna<\/strong> have hinted, there are t\u00e9arma\u00ed go leor<\/strong> to use according to comhth\u00e9acs (liteartha, srl.), aois<\/strong> and gn\u00e9as<\/strong> of the horse, and geographic specifications.\u00a0 And, naturally, I’m cherishing every minute of writing this, since I had so much fun with the “imeartas focal<\/strong>,” which you may have spotted by now.<\/p>\n

capall<\/strong>, pl: capaill<\/strong>, horse, horses<\/p>\n

For terms more typical in literary usage, we’ve seen:<\/p>\n

“each<\/strong> (pl. eacha<\/strong>), which also gives us “eacha\u00ed<\/strong>” (a jockey), “eachaire<\/strong>” (a groom),” and “eachsheamair<\/strong>” (horse-shamrock)<\/p>\n

marc<\/strong> (pl. mairc<\/strong>), which also gives us “marcachas<\/strong>” (horsemanship) and “marclach<\/strong>” (cavalcade)<\/p>\n

p\u00f3na\u00ed<\/strong> (pl. p\u00f3naithe<\/strong>) is used for specifically for ponies, as opposed to horses as such.\u00a0 Two other words for “pony” are “capaill\u00edn<\/strong>” (as in “Myles na gCopaleen”) and “gearrchapall<\/strong>,” lit. short-horse!\u00a0 I’ve never found an exact equivalent to the verb “to pony up” in Irish.\u00a0 L\u00e1 \u00e9igin, b’fh\u00e9idir<\/strong>, it’ll turn up.<\/p>\n

beith\u00edoch <\/strong>can also mean horse, although more typically it refers to cattle.\u00a0 “Na beith\u00edgh<\/strong>” can mean the horses, the cattle, or a combination.<\/p>\n

B. For “aois” (age), we have the following, aside from “capall,” for an adult horse:<\/strong><\/p>\n

searrach l\u00e1rach<\/strong> (lit. mare-foal) OR cliob\u00f3g<\/strong>, filly (young female).\u00a0 “Cliob\u00f3g<\/strong>” also means a “big strong girl.”<\/p>\n

bromach<\/strong>, colt (young male), which you might remember from the proverb: Is minic a rinne bromach gioblach capall cumasach.<\/strong><\/p>\n

searrach<\/strong>, pl. searraigh<\/strong>, foal.\u00a0 Unlike English, which verbifies the noun “foal” (to foal), Irish simply uses the verb that means “to give birth” (breith<\/strong>, with the widely used irregular form, rugadh<\/strong>, for “was born,” as in “Rugadh in \u00c9irinn \u00e9.”)<\/p>\n

At the other extreme are words such as:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

capall a bhfuil log sa droim aici<\/p><\/div>\n

staig\u00edn<\/strong>, worthless creature, worthless horse, jade, nag<\/p>\n

As I said in the last blog, I don’t really like calling any animal “worthless,” but it’s a typical translation of staig\u00edn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

capall a bhfuil log sa droim aige (aici):<\/strong>\u00a0a swaybacked horse, lit. a horse with a hollow in its back (not exactly a succinct phrase, but it gets the point across).\u00a0 To be really technical, we could say “capall a bhfuil lord\u00f3is<\/strong>\u00a0(lordosis)\u00a0air (uirthi)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

C. Maidir le \u00a0“gn\u00e9as” (sex)<\/strong><\/p>\n

stail <\/strong>(pl: staileanna),<\/strong> stallion.\u00a0 This noun is grammatically feminine, which has always baffled me.\u00a0 \u00a0A “stail ghra\u00edre<\/strong>” is a “stud-horse.” \u00a0A “breeding stud” can also be a “gra\u00ed,<\/strong>” also grammatically feminine, or a “gra\u00edre”<\/strong> [gruh-EERzh-uh], which is grammatically masculine.\u00a0 Hmmm, am I missing something here?<\/p>\n

l\u00e1ir <\/strong>(pl: l\u00e1racha<\/strong>), mare, though sometimes “capall<\/strong>” is used as a generic term.\u00a0 A “mare in foal” is “l\u00e1ir shearraigh<\/strong>” and a “stud-mare” is “l\u00e1ir ghra\u00ed<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

And then, while we’re on the topic, we’ve got the gearr\u00e1n<\/strong> (gelding).\u00a0 Remember him?\u00a0 The word’s in the phrase “nead gearr\u00e1in<\/strong>,” used for a “mare’s nest,” but literally meaning a “gelding’s nest.”\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, actually, “gearr\u00e1n<\/strong>” can also mean a “small horse” or a “nag.” \u00a0As for the “nest” part, bhuel, is meafar meafar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

D. According to the work they’re suited for:<\/strong><\/p>\n

capall cogaidh<\/strong>, a charger<\/strong><\/p>\n

capall c\u00e9achta<\/strong>, plow-horse<\/strong><\/p>\n

capall r\u00e1sa<\/strong>, race-horse, the subject of another proverb:\u00a0 N\u00ed dh\u00e9anfadh an saol capall r\u00e1sa d’asal<\/strong>, the Irish equivalent for “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” but minus the silk, the purse, the sow, and the ear. \u00a0In other words, the meafar<\/strong> (metaphor) is completely different.<\/p>\n

capaill\u00edn p\u00f3l\u00f3, polo pony<\/strong><\/p>\n

And the one who probably resists both b\u00e9albhach<\/strong> and blainc\u00e9ad<\/strong>, not to mention diallait<\/strong>, is the “capall gan bhriseadh<\/strong>” (bronco, lit. horse without breaking, i.e. an unbroken horse)<\/p>\n

E. Some geographical considerations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

capaill\u00edn Chonamara<\/strong>, Connemara pony<\/strong><\/p>\n

capaill\u00edn portaigh Chiarra\u00ed<\/strong>, Kerry bog pony<\/strong><\/p>\n

capaill\u00edn Breatnach<\/strong>, Welsh pony, an equine neighbor<\/p>\n

Shetland pony: sealta\u00ed <\/strong>[SHAL-tee] or Sealtannach<\/strong>, neither of which actually includes the word “pony.”\u00a0 \u00a0Seems like that first one could lead to some confusion with the “sheltie” dog, but, at least formally speaking, the Irish phrase for that breed of dog is “S\u00edp\u00e9ir<\/strong> (Shepherd) Sealtannach<\/strong>,” that is, when it’s not busy being a “toonie<\/em>,” ach sin sc\u00e9al eile<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

And a bit of miscellaneous:<\/p>\n

gra\u00ed <\/strong>can also be a collective noun meaning “horses.”\u00a0 “Gra\u00edfheirm<\/strong>” [GREE-ERzh-um] is a “stud-farm.”<\/p>\n

dobhar-each<\/strong> is a hippopotamus.\u00a0 More or less like the English word (hippos<\/em>, horse + potamious<\/strong>, of river) it literally means “water-horse.” \u00a0“Dobhar<\/strong>” [DOW-ur] means “water,” but is not nearly as widely used as “uisce<\/strong>” (water) and is cognate to Welsh\u00a0d<\/em>\u0175<\/em>r<\/em> (water).\u00a0 \u00a0“Dover” is also related to “dobhar<\/strong>” and “d<\/em>\u0175r.”<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

“eohippus” remains as “eohippus<\/strong>” in Irish but “hippodrome” adapts the English sound to Irish, with two variations “hiopadr\u00f3im<\/strong>” and “hipeadr\u00f3m<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n

rosualt<\/strong>, walrus, is sometimes referred to as “sea-horse,” a term which doesn’t always means the tiny member of the pipefish family, which is, more straightforwardly, “capall mara<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0“Walrus,” and by association, “rosualt<\/strong>,” are derived from the Danish for “whale-horse.”<\/p>\n

Of course, there’s also the mythological “sea-horse”, the “each uisce<\/strong>” (lit. water-steed), also known as the “water horse.”\u00a0 You might have seen one of those, sort of-ish anyway, if you saw “Water Horse,” the 2007 movie, with music by the Chieftains.\u00a0 Why so “ishy”?\u00a0 The creature in that film was more “Nessie”-ish than “capall<\/strong>“-ish, but at least the movie is based on the idea of the Kelpie.\u00a0 The exact etymology of “kelpie” is unclear, but it is presumed to derive from “colpa<\/strong>,” which in Scottish Gaelic means “cow” or “horse,” although in Irish, modern Irish at least, the word has undergone a semantic lurch, to mean a “collop,” which was a unit of grazing land.\u00a0\u00a0 Related words include “colpach<\/strong>” (yearling, heifer, or bullock) and in Scottish Gaelic, “colpach<\/strong>” (heifer, steer, colt).<\/p>\n

And to conclude with the obvious, a “mustang” is also a “mustang<\/strong>” in Irish, but do note the plural and possessive forms,\u00a0 mustaing<\/strong> \u00a0(plural) and mhustaing<\/strong> ([WUS-ting]of a mustang)<\/p>\n

Bhuel, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0 <\/strong>And unless I dream up some other reason for writing about foals, and announcing it in advance, I doubt I’ll have much chance to use “Sl\u00e1n go foal<\/strong>” again.\u00a0 But it was fun while it lasted.\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) As promised in the last posting, this blog will discuss the terms for the life cycle and various types of horse.\u00a0 Most prominent, of course, is “capall,” but, as previous blaganna have hinted, there are t\u00e9arma\u00ed go leor to use according to comhth\u00e9acs (liteartha, srl.), aois and gn\u00e9as of the horse, and geographic…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[229737,4549,229731,229733,229744,229740,229741,229732,229738,229727,229728,5667,229743,229752,229736,5922,229749,229748,229730,229753,11604,229742,229754,229698,229739,229750,229745,229735,229729,229747,229746,229751,7296,229734],"class_list":["post-3063","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bromach","tag-capaillin","tag-colt","tag-conamara-ponies","tag-connemara","tag-each-uisce","tag-eohippus","tag-filly","tag-gearran","tag-gearrchapall","tag-horses","tag-irish","tag-jade","tag-kerry-bog-pony","tag-lair","tag-log","tag-lordois","tag-lordosis","tag-mare","tag-mares-nest","tag-myles-na-gcopaleen","tag-nag","tag-nead-gearrain","tag-searrach","tag-searrach-larach","tag-sheltie","tag-shetland","tag-stail","tag-stallion","tag-sway-back","tag-sway-backed","tag-toonie","tag-welsh","tag-welsh-ponies"],"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