{"id":3286,"date":"2012-10-06T19:08:03","date_gmt":"2012-10-06T19:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3286"},"modified":"2018-02-27T00:31:31","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T00:31:31","slug":"na-seasuir-sa-tuiseal-ginideach-saying-of-winter-of-summer-etc-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-seasuir-sa-tuiseal-ginideach-saying-of-winter-of-summer-etc-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Na S\u00e9as\u00fair sa Tuiseal Ginideach (Saying “of winter,” “of summer,” etc. in Irish)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

Cathain a thiteann s\u00e9 — o\u00edche fh\u00f3mhair n\u00f3 o\u00edche shamhraidh? GRMA do Mario Sarto a d’uasl\u00f3d\u00e1il\u00a0an picti\u00far seo go Wikipedia (nasc th\u00edos)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

In the last blog we looked at the names of the four seasons as they would be used in prepositional phrases, such “in the winter” or “in the summer.”\u00a0 As you might recall, this involved various changes to the beginnings of the words, like “san fh\u00f3mhar<\/strong>” (ins<\/strong>, in + an<\/strong>, the + f\u00f3mhar<\/strong>, fall, autumn) or “sa gheimhreadh<\/strong>” (ins<\/strong>, in + an<\/strong>, the + geimhreadh<\/strong>, winter).<\/p>\n

As promised, here is an outline of using these same seasonal words in possessive phrases.\u00a0 As you can see, there are similar changes at the beginning of the words.<\/p>\n

“Geimhreadh<\/strong>” [GEV-ruh] may become “geimhridh<\/strong>” [GEV-ree] as in the phrase “l\u00e1 geimhridh<\/strong>” (a winter’s day, a day of winter)<\/p>\n

“Geimhreadh<\/strong>” may also become “gheimhridh<\/strong>” [YEV-ree], as in the phrase “aimsir gheimhridh<\/strong>” (winter weather, weather of winter)<\/p>\n

Why the two different forms (geimhridh, gheimhridh<\/strong>)?\u00a0 Because “l\u00e1<\/strong>” is a masculine noun and “aimsir<\/strong>” is a feminine noun.\u00a0 The word “winter” here functions like an adjective, so it agrees with feminine noun, and this is shown by changing the initial “g” to “gh,” the process known as “lenition.”<\/p>\n

“Earrach<\/strong>” [AR-ukh] becomes “earraigh<\/strong>” [AR-ee], as in the phrases “l\u00e1 earraigh<\/strong>” (a spring day), “aimsir earraigh<\/strong>” (spring weather), and “Amad\u00e1n Earraigh<\/strong>” (an April fool, literally here, a spring fool, but the April 1 connection is implied).<\/p>\n

Since “earrach<\/strong>” begins with a vowel, there’s no initial change to the beginning of this word.\u00a0 \u00a0The process of “lenition” doesn’t apply to vowels.<\/p>\n

“Samhradh<\/strong>“[SOW-ruh] may become “samhraidh<\/strong>” [SOW-ree], as in “l\u00e1 samhraidh<\/strong>” (a summer’s day).\u00a0\u00a0 Or as the proverbial but somewhat cryptic saying tells us, “Capall samhraidh n\u00f3 b\u00f3 lae Samhna<\/strong>,” which implies that that summer-born horses and November-day cows are “showy.”\u00a0 Hmmm, showy horses I can imagine.\u00a0 Cows being showy is a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but I suppose one could imagine more modest cows and showier ones.\u00a0\u00a0 At any rate, “samhraidh<\/strong>” is used here to mean “summer-born.”<\/p>\n

“Samhradh<\/strong>” may also become “shamhraidh<\/strong>” [HOW-ree], as in “aimsir shamhraidh<\/strong>” (summer weather).\u00a0 \u00a0As a further bit of “cow lore,” we also have an interesting expression, admittedly a bit old-fashioned by now, “b\u00f3 shamhraidh<\/strong>” (a summer cow), implying that the cow is either weak or considered a “pet cow,” possibly because it is smaller than average.<\/p>\n

Since “samhradh<\/strong>” begins with a consonant (“s”), it is subject to the same process of lenition as “geimhreadh<\/strong>.”\u00a0 That’s why the “s” changes to “sh” — it’s describing a feminine noun (b\u00f3<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

And finally, for fall (autumn), we have the forms “f\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” [FOH-irzh] and “fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” [OH-irzh].\u00a0 We’ve already seen these fairly frequently, as in “Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (September, lit. middle of harvest) and “Deireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (October, end of harvest).\u00a0 Here are a few more examples: “l\u00e1 f\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (a fall\/autumn day), “aimsir fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (fall\/autumn weather), and “do l\u00e1 f\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (your lucky day).<\/p>\n

And finally, to get back to that intriguing phrase, “titim an chearlam\u00e1in ar o\u00edche fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>,” we see the phrase “o\u00edche fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (an autumn night), as alluded to in the last blog (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/beagainin-eile-faoi-na-seasuir-a-little-more-about-seasons\/<\/a>)\u00a0 In case anyone was wondering why this particular phrase should be so significant, it’s an example of very figurative use of language.\u00a0 The “cearlam\u00e1n<\/strong>” is an insect, sometimes known simply as the “droning beetle,” aka “maybug.”\u00a0 The aptly-named maybug is usually particularly active in May, when it often flies into houses, attracted by light.\u00a0 “Titim an chearlam\u00e1in ar o\u00edche fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (lit. the falling of the maybug on an autumn night) is used figuratively to mean “a sudden occurrence.”<\/p>\n

I never thought, when I first learned this expression, that I’d be researching the life and times of the maybug, but I see that it is widely discussed online.\u00a0 \u00a0And no, I don’t mean the cuil Bhealtaine<\/strong> (mayfly) which is also widely studied and written about, but for other reasons — even my limited knowledge of bitheola\u00edocht<\/strong> from me\u00e1nscoil<\/strong> tells me that. \u00a0Cuileanna Bealtaine<\/strong> are in the order Ephemeroptera and maybugs are in the order Coleoptera. \u00a0The maybug is considered a significant pest because of the goile<\/strong> of its larbha\u00ed<\/strong>, which is considered amplach, craosach<\/strong>, or airceach<\/strong> (take your pick!).\u00a0 It nearly disappeared in the mid-2oth century, due to pesticides.\u00a0 But with stricter regulations on the use of lotnaidic\u00edd\u00ed,<\/strong> it’s back, at least in some areas, le maith n\u00f3 le holc<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Apparently children throughout Europe used to play with these maybugs, perhaps in ways we might not approve of today, such as capturing them and tying a string to their legs.\u00a0 There was also a rhyme about them, akin to the “Ladybug” (or “Ladybird”) rhyme in English. \u00a0Such is the folklore and nostalgia concerning maybugs that there is even a contemporary song about their disappearance, “Es Gibt Keine Maik\u00e4fer Mehr,” by Reinhard Mey, using of course, their German name, “Maik\u00e4fer,” K\u00e4fer being the generic German word for beetle or bug, like “chafer” (lyrics, http:\/\/www.webcitation.org\/query?url=http:\/\/www.geocities.com\/ha_hammer\/keinemaikaefermehr.htm&date=2009-10-25+23:38:37<\/a>, or, to watch it http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oVE540PRsQU<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Anyway, looks like we’ve gone now from a ceacht deas simpl\u00ed<\/strong> faoin tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> to a discussion of cearlam\u00e1in i mb\u00e9aloideas<\/strong>, all based on the phrase “o\u00edche fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>” (a fall \/ autumn night), for which “titim an chearlam\u00e1in<\/strong>” is an automatic association, at least for me.<\/p>\n

So just to recap, genitive case forms (foirmeacha sa tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>) for our season words are: geimhridh (gheimhridh), earraigh, samhraidh (shamhraidh),<\/strong> and f\u00f3mhair (fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>).\u00a0 These forms are created by changing the final vowel to “i,” which may trigger some other slight changes, and there may be lenition as well, depending on the gender of the preceding word.\u00a0 \u00a0And that concludes our discussion of the seasons, for the time being.\u00a0 Lots of other juicy topics coming up this month — puimc\u00edn\u00ed, cantal\u00f3ir\u00ed, agus O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong>, to name just a few.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasc don phicti\u00far<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Maybug.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the last blog we looked at the names of the four seasons as they would be used in prepositional phrases, such “in the winter” or “in the summer.”\u00a0 As you might recall, this involved various changes to the beginnings of the words, like “san fh\u00f3mhar” (ins, in + an, the + f\u00f3mhar…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[12030,254959,254972,11201,254975,172870,111051,111045,111059,254970,254976,254971,254978,111046,254973,6749,254977,254974,1317,1327,992],"class_list":["post-3286","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-autumn","tag-cearlaman","tag-earraigh","tag-fall","tag-fhomhair","tag-fomhair","tag-fomhar","tag-four-seasons","tag-geimhreadh","tag-geimhridh","tag-gheimhreadh","tag-gheimhridh","tag-maybug","tag-samhradh","tag-samhraidh","tag-season","tag-shamhradh","tag-shamhraidh","tag-spring","tag-summer","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286","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=3286"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10199,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3286\/revisions\/10199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}