{"id":307,"date":"2010-07-22T10:44:16","date_gmt":"2010-07-22T10:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=307"},"modified":"2012-03-21T12:24:51","modified_gmt":"2012-03-21T12:24:51","slug":"laethe-naisiunta-no-idirnaisiunta-eile-i-mi-iuil-chess-mosquitoes-and-junk-food-oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/laethe-naisiunta-no-idirnaisiunta-eile-i-mi-iuil-chess-mosquitoes-and-junk-food-oh-my\/","title":{"rendered":"Laethe N\u00e1isi\u00fanta n\u00f3 Idirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta Eile i M\u00ed I\u00fail (Chess, Mosquitoes, and Junk Food, Oh My!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

And what do those topics have in common?\u00a0 Well, they all have a l\u00e1 n\u00e1isi\u00fanta <\/strong>or idirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta <\/strong>in July.\u00a0 And they\u2019re all interesting words vocabulary-wise.\u00a0 But then, I find almost all words interesting vocabulary-wise.\u00a0 My latest cool word in English?\u00a0 \u201cLimicoline,\u201d which would describe various lapair\u00ed<\/strong>, such as fead\u00f3ga, gobad\u00e1in, agus falar\u00f3ip<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cLimicoline\u201d isn\u2019t actually such an obscure word \u2013 it\u2019s a straight shot from Latin limicol<\/em>a, but somehow I think we missed that while reading Caesar\u2019s Gallic Wars.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here are the three terms in Irish, and a bit of c\u00falra<\/strong> (background):<\/p>\n

Ficheall (20 I\u00fail)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corrmh\u00edolta n\u00f3 Muisc\u00edt\u00ed (23 I\u00fail)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bia Beagmhaitheasa (21 I\u00fail)<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Ficheall<\/strong>, equated with chess, and in this case, one must generally go with the flow.\u00a0 However, there is an issue with saying that this Old Irish word (derived from fidchell<\/strong>) means or \u201cis\u201d chess, since it predates the alleged date for the arrival of chess in Europe (12th<\/sup> century). I\u2019m slowly plowing my way through A History of Board Games\u00a0 Other than Chess<\/em>, by Harold James Ruthven Murray (ainm iontach<\/strong>!) since it finally was marked down to a reasonable price at my university bookstore.\u00a0 That is, from $178 (list) to $9.95, which is more my style.\u00a0 Perhaps when I\u2019m done, I can give you a better picture.\u00a0 But I must say that the Celtic input gets relatively short shrift in that book, which mostly emphasizes games like t\u00e1iplis bheag agus t\u00e1iplis mh\u00f3r<\/strong>, as I recall, perhaps faultily, from memory.\u00a0 My copy of the book is i bhfolach<\/strong> (hiding) and I can\u2019t find a r\u00e9amhamharc de<\/strong> online.\u00a0 Those games, in sequence are, checkers (draughts) and backgammon.<\/p>\n

D\u00e1la an sc\u00e9il, t\u00e1 an L\u00e1 N\u00e1isi\u00fanta (Meirice\u00e1nach) ar an 9\u00fa l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair.\u00a0 Seo an l\u00e1 idirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
2) Corrmh\u00edolta n\u00f3 Muisc\u00edt\u00ed: an tSioraincheist<\/strong> (the eternal dilemma), which is the better choice of words, when presented with two or more.\u00a0 I tend to favor \u201cmuisc\u00edt\u201d<\/strong> for \u201cmosquito\u201d since it reflects the interesting history of the word in English, which derives from Latin \u201cmosca<\/em>\u201d (a fly).<\/div>\n

Corrmh\u00edol<\/strong> is a bit vague sounding, to me, since it basically means \u201ca snouted beast or insect,\u201d and specifically also means \u201cmidge\u201d or \u201cgnat.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m no feithideola\u00ed<\/strong>, but to me that sets up a taxonomy-shattering amalgamation of meanings.\u00a0 Sometimes the focal iasachta<\/strong> (borrowed word) is a lot more straightforward, at least for modern and global usage.<\/p>\n

3) Bia Beagmhaitheasa<\/strong>, lit. \u201cfood of little goodness,\u201d as opposed to actually saying \u201cjunk food\u201d\u00a0 \u201cJunk\u201d in the normal sense would be \u201cmangarae<\/strong>\u201d (roughly like saying \u201cmongerables\u201d).\u00a0 Or simply \u201cearra gan mhaith<\/strong>,\u201d (item without goodness).\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t have quite the panache of \u201cjunk,\u201d which probably comes from a word for \u201cold useless rope.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then of course there\u2019s \u201cjunk,\u201d the boat, which would be \u201csiunca<\/strong>\u201d in Irish.\u00a0 But I digress (n\u00ed nach ionadh!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a few more choice celebrations we can discuss for July, then we can repeat the whole cycle for August.\u00a0 Or maybe drift back to actual gramadach<\/strong> (v\u00f3ta\u00ed<\/strong>?).\u00a0 But meanwhile, L\u00e1 Lughnasa<\/strong> (August 1st<\/sup>) will trump any other upcoming national days, for this blog, at least.\u00a0 So, roll over, a Thionscn\u00f3ir\u00ed, agus a Chl\u00e9l\u00e1mhacha<\/strong>\u00a0(note for the last term: I don\u2019t like to use \u201cciot\u00f3ga<\/strong>,\u201d which implies awkwardness).\u00a0 Yes, both of those are honored i\u00a0m\u00ed L\u00fanasa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And what do those topics have in common?\u00a0 Well, they all have a l\u00e1 n\u00e1isi\u00fanta or idirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta in July.\u00a0 And they\u2019re all interesting words vocabulary-wise.\u00a0 But then, I find almost all words interesting vocabulary-wise.\u00a0 My latest cool word in English?\u00a0 \u201cLimicoline,\u201d which would describe various lapair\u00ed, such as fead\u00f3ga, gobad\u00e1in, agus falar\u00f3ip.\u00a0 \u201cLimicoline\u201d isn\u2019t actually…<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\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