{"id":3205,"date":"2012-09-15T19:09:13","date_gmt":"2012-09-15T19:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3205"},"modified":"2016-10-11T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T12:20:08","slug":"mean-fomhair-deireadh-fomhair-and-an-fomhar-vs-an-fomhair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/mean-fomhair-deireadh-fomhair-and-an-fomhar-vs-an-fomhair\/","title":{"rendered":"Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair, Deireadh F\u00f3mhair, and An F\u00f3mhar vs. an F\u00f3mhair"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

We may as well take a break from animal terms for a while, although no doubt we’ll return to the subject, since there are about 5396 more mamaigh<\/strong> to go, and about 1,250,000 speicis<\/strong> if we include inveirteabraigh (m. sh. feithid\u00ed, moilisc, cr\u00fastaigh)<\/strong> and veirteabraigh (m. sh. \u00e9isc, amfaibiaigh, reipt\u00ed<\/strong>l\u00ed, \u00e9in)<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Since the season is upon us, why not take a look at the Irish words for September, October, and “harvest” in general.<\/p>\n

But before we actually look at “Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” and “Deireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>,” let’s just wrap up that thought about how many mamaigh<\/strong> there are, since I just said 5396.\u00a0 If, like an geocach r\u00edomhaire cr\u00edonna<\/strong> (the wise geek) at http:\/\/www.wisegeek.com\/how-many-species-of-animal-are-there.htm<\/a>, we stand at 5416 mamach<\/strong>, and we’ve just covered approximately 20 mamach<\/strong> [say “FIH-hyuh MAHM-ukh”] in this blog, that leaves us with 5396 mamach eile<\/strong> to go.\u00a0 Of course, the number is always fluctuating, and there are occasional newcomers, such as an luch Chipireach<\/strong> (the Cypriot mouse, Mus cypriacus, <\/em>discovered in 2004 and first formally described in 2006).<\/p>\n

And now to the topic at hand, m\u00edonna agus s\u00e9as\u00fair<\/strong>, just two out the dh\u00e1 mh\u00ed dh\u00e9ag<\/strong> that exist, and, in the interests of time, just s\u00e9as\u00far amh\u00e1in<\/strong> out the na ceithre sh\u00e9as\u00far at\u00e1 ann<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” [myawn FOH-irzh] or “m\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” [mee vyawn FOH-irzh] is (the month of) September.\u00a0 Literally, the phrase means “middle of (the) harvest,” suggesting that L\u00fanasa<\/strong> (August) could be considered the beginning of the harvest, although it is not named as such.<\/p>\n

This somewhat parallels the Welsh language, where September is “Mis Medi<\/em>” (the month of harvesting), but is in stark contrast to many other European languages which simply call September the “seventh” month, modeled on the Latin\u00a0 (September<\/em>, Gearm\u00e1inis<\/strong>; Septembre<\/em>, Fraincis<\/strong>; Septembro<\/em>, Esperanto<\/strong>, srl.). \u00a0Not that the so-called “seventh” month is really the seventh month, anymore, but that’s really a topic for a blog on Latin.<\/p>\n

The Manx Gaelic for September is similar to the Irish, Mean Fouyir<\/em>, but the Scottish Gaelic is completely different, an t-Sultainn<\/em>, which appears to mean the “fat month”<\/p>\n

Sample usages:<\/p>\n

i Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>: in September<\/p>\n

i m\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>: in the month of September<\/p>\n

an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>, the first day of the month of September<\/p>\n

“Deireadh F\u00f3mhair” <\/strong>[DJERzh-uh FOH-irzh] or “m\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” [mee YERzh-uh FOH-irzh] is (the month of) October.\u00a0 Literally, the phrase means “end of (the) harvest.”\u00a0 As with September, most of the continental European languages are based on the Latin octo<\/em> (8), as in Oktober, Octobre, Oktobro<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\n

In this case, the Welsh is completely unrelated (Mis Hydref<\/em>), the Manx is very similar (Jerrey Fouyir<\/em>), and the Scottish Gaelic, once again, is completely different, An D\u00e0mhair<\/em>, which literally means, well, rutting time, related to the adjective “d\u00e0mhair<\/em>” (eager, keen, or zealous — say no more!).<\/p>\n

Sample usages:<\/p>\n

i nDeireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> [in YERzh-uh FOH-irzh]: in October<\/p>\n

i m\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> [ih mee YERzh-uh FOH-irzh]: in the month of October<\/p>\n

an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>, the first day of the month of October<\/p>\n

“F\u00f3mhar<\/strong>” itself means “autumn” or “fall” (mar a deirtear i Meirice\u00e1<\/strong>) as well as “harvest season” or “harvest-time.”\u00a0 It can even be used in the phrase “f\u00f3mhar beag na ng\u00e9anna<\/strong>” (lit. little harvest-time of the geese”) to give the same meaning as “Indian summer.”\u00a0 But I have to confess that I’ve heard “Indian summer” used in English far more than I’ve ever heard “f\u00f3mhar beag na ng\u00e9anna<\/strong>” actually used in any natural context in Irish.\u00a0 It does show up though, minus the “beag<\/strong>” (which is optional anyway) in the title of a volume of poetry by Conleth Ellis (1937-1988), F\u00f3mhar na nG\u00e9anna<\/em><\/strong>, which was published in 1975.<\/p>\n

You might have noticed that the basic word “f\u00f3mhar<\/strong>” doesn’t have the letter “i” that we saw in the words “Deireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” and “Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>.”\u00a0 That’s because in those phrases, “f\u00f3mhar<\/strong>” is in the genitive, so it becomes “f\u00f3mhair<\/strong>,” to indicate “of harvest,” not just “harvest.”<\/p>\n

On that autumnal note, and wondering, like Brian Friel’s character, M\u00e1ire Chatach, about that hay to be “saved” in Brooklyn, SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) We may as well take a break from animal terms for a while, although no doubt we’ll return to the subject, since there are about 5396 more mamaigh to go, and about 1,250,000 speicis if we include inveirteabraigh (m. sh. feithid\u00ed, moilisc, cr\u00fastaigh) and veirteabraigh (m. sh. \u00e9isc, amfaibiaigh, reipt\u00edl\u00ed, \u00e9in).\u00a0\u00a0 Since the…<\/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":[290079,12030,229923,190713,229919,290077,96683,229921,290080,5074,229920,11201,290075,172870,111051,229917,229918,229915,229922,5494,111845,229926,229927,229916,290074,229925,96671,290076,96684,290071,27740,290078],"class_list":["post-3205","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-amfaibiaigh","tag-autumn","tag-brian-friel","tag-brooklyn","tag-conleth","tag-crustaigh","tag-deireadh-fomhair","tag-derrey","tag-ein","tag-eisc","tag-ellis","tag-fall","tag-feithidi","tag-fomhair","tag-fomhar","tag-fomhar-beag-na-ngeanna","tag-fomhar-na-ngeanna","tag-fouyir","tag-friel","tag-harvest","tag-hay","tag-hay-to-be-saved","tag-hay-to-save","tag-indian-summer","tag-inveirteabraigh","tag-maire-chatach","tag-mean-fomhair","tag-moilisc","tag-october","tag-reiptili","tag-september","tag-veirteabraigh"],"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