{"id":340,"date":"2010-08-12T03:37:36","date_gmt":"2010-08-12T03:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=340"},"modified":"2013-11-05T14:25:41","modified_gmt":"2013-11-05T14:25:41","slug":"wrapping-up-the-berry-business-for-this-lughnasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wrapping-up-the-berry-business-for-this-lughnasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrapping Up the Berry Business for this Lughnasa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Our last blog looked primarily at the berry known in Irish as \u201cfraoch\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d [FRAYKH-awn] or \u201cfraoch\u00f3g<\/strong>\u201d [FRAYKH-ohg] and in English, most commonly, as bilberry, blaeberry, or whortleberry, and additionally as winberry, whinberry, bog bilberry, myrtle blueberry, and black-heart.\u00a0 Confusingly, for me at least, as a non-pomologist, there\u2019s also some overlap in terminology with crowberry and huckleberry but that\u2019s a saga for another day, or a guest blog from any Irish-speaking pomologists out there.<\/p>\n

In this case, the Irish seems much more straightforward than the English.\u00a0 Both the Irish words \u201cfraoch\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cfraoch\u00f3g<\/strong>\u201d are based on \u201cfraoch<\/strong>\u201d (heather), which grows on a heath (fraochra). \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFraoch\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d is grammatically masculine (as are most nouns that end in \u201c\u2013\u00e1n<\/strong>\u201d in Irish) and \u201cfraoch\u00f3g\u201d<\/strong> is feminine, again, following the gender pattern for its suffix \u201c\u2013 \u00f3g<\/strong> \/ –eog<\/strong>\u201d (as in sp\u00fan\u00f3g, fuinneog<\/strong>, and bol\u00f3g<\/strong>, which are all grammatically feminine, even \u201cbol\u00f3g<\/strong>,\u201d which means \u201cbullock,\u201d an cr\u00e9at\u00far!<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

How can one berry have so many names in English?\u00a0 The short version of the answer is, simply put, time and space, which combined would probably answer many questions about the universe at large.\u00a0 More specifically, invasion, conquest, language contact, tribal expansion, linguistic fossilization, etc.\u00a0 The origins of bil-, blae-, and whortleberry are, respectively, b\u00f6lle<\/em> (Danish), blue (Scots), and horta<\/em> (Old English). See how nice and consistent Irish is, sticking to \u201cfraoch<\/strong>\u201d as the basis!\u00a0 Introducing bogs, hearts, whin, and myrtle into the picture seems to be a result of the stalwart linguistic principle which we could abbreviate as DAMIAIFE (D\u00e1 mh\u00e9ad is amhlaidh is fearr \u00e9<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

But, n\u00ed breac \u00e9 go mbeidh s\u00e9 ar an bport.<\/strong>\u00a0 Or to put it another way, \u201cN\u00e1 maraigh an fia go bhfeicfidh t\u00fa \u00e9.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>Or just in regular old English, \u201cnot so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the threesome of fraoch, fraochra (-ach, -lach, -ra),<\/strong> and fraoch\u00e1n (-\u00f3g)<\/strong> are all nicely connected.\u00a0 But never overlook the possibility of a comhainm <\/strong>to work a wrench into a monkey, oops, to throw a monkey wrench into the works.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

At any rate, when looking at any of the words connected to \u201cfraoch\u201d <\/strong>(heather), be sure to distinguish it from \u201cfraoch,\u201d <\/strong>the comhainm, <\/strong>which means \u201cfierceness\u201d or \u201cfury.\u201d This second word gives us some other compound words starting with the same letters as the ones pertaining to heather.\u00a0 More examples?<\/p>\n

fraochta, <\/strong>furious<\/strong><\/p>\n

fraochnimh <\/strong>[fraykh-niv], <\/strong>venomous anger<\/strong><\/p>\n

fraochlinn, <\/strong>a stormy sea<\/p>\n

as opposed to<\/p>\n

fraochdhaite, <\/strong>heather-colored (of tweed, etc.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

fraochmhar <\/strong>[fraykh-wur], <\/strong>heathery, <\/strong><\/p>\n

as well as Inis Fraoigh [IN-ish free]<\/strong>, which literally means Island of Heather, (with Fraoch<\/strong> [\u201cfree\u201d] in the possessive form) but which Yeats co-opted to convey a much more symbolic meaning.<\/p>\n

Now for the remaining $64,000 question, how do you say the girl\u2019s name \u201cHeather\u201d in Irish, I agree with the various online commentators who recommend simply using \u201cHeather.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFraoch<\/strong>\u201d isn\u2019t used traditionally as a personal name in Irish, nor is the diminutive that has been put forth in various name forums and copied round and round, with the \u201c-\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d ending\u00a0 Strong as the Celtic connotations of this name might be, botanically and symbolically speaking, using it as a name in Irish seems neither dea-fhoghrach<\/strong> nor d\u00fachasach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And finally, speaking of heath and heather, perhaps someone can answer this, since I\u2019ve never had the opportunity to visit the place.\u00a0 Hampstead Heath in London is probably the most famous urban heath and comprises about 800 acres.\u00a0 Do the following actually grow there?<\/p>\n

fraoch fireann<\/strong> (I\u2019ve seen this translated as both \u201cScotch heather\u201d and \u201cbell-heather\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cFireann<\/strong>\u201d usually means \u201cmasculine\u201d but here probably is best translated with one of its less typical meanings, \u201creal\u201d).<\/p>\n

fraoch m\u00f3r, <\/strong>another name for Scotch heather<\/strong><\/p>\n

fraoch cam\u00f3gach, <\/strong>Mediterranean heather, literally \u201cbent heather.\u201d \u00a0“Cam\u00f3gach” <\/strong>is\u00a0based on “cam<\/strong>” (bent, crooked) and related to “cam\u00f3ga\u00edocht<\/strong><\/strong>” (camogie), a game played with a “cam\u00f3g<\/strong>,” a\u00a0<\/strong>stick that is bent, crooked, or, for the punctuationphiles, comma-shaped\u201d (since “cam\u00f3g<\/strong>” also means “comma”). \u00a0The English name (“Mediterranean”) suggests a non-British habitat but one can\u2019t be sure from names!<\/p>\n

If you know, your feedback would be welcome! \u00a0– R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta\u00ed: breac,<\/strong> trout; comhainm<\/strong> [KOH-AN-yim], homonym; dea-fhoghrach <\/strong>[DJA-OH-rukh], euphonious; d\u00fachasach<\/strong>, indigenous; fia<\/strong> [FEE-uh], deer; go bhfeicfidh t\u00fa<\/strong> [guh VEK-hee too], till you will see; go mbeidh s\u00e9<\/strong> [guh may shay], until it will be; maraigh<\/strong>, kill; port<\/strong>, bank (of river)<\/p>\n

Na Seanfhocail:<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00ed breac \u00e9 go mbeidh s\u00e9 ar an bport.<\/strong> \u00a0It\u2019s not a trout till it\u2019s on the river bank, i.e. Don\u2019t count your eggs before they hatch.<\/p>\n

N\u00e1 maraigh an fia go bhfeicfidh t\u00fa \u00e9.\u00a0 D<\/strong>on\u2019t kill the deer till you see it, i.e. Don\u2019t count your eggs before they hatch, redux.<\/p>\n

D\u00e1 mh\u00e9ad is amhlaidh is fearr \u00e9, <\/strong>the more the merrier.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

le R\u00f3isl\u00edn Our last blog looked primarily at the berry known in Irish as \u201cfraoch\u00e1n\u201d [FRAYKH-awn] or \u201cfraoch\u00f3g\u201d [FRAYKH-ohg] and in English, most commonly, as bilberry, blaeberry, or whortleberry, and additionally as winberry, whinberry, bog bilberry, myrtle blueberry, and black-heart.\u00a0 Confusingly, for me at least, as a non-pomologist, there\u2019s also some overlap in terminology with…<\/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":[303047,111569,111546,111553,111547,111551,303029,303035,303032,303034,930,303053,96491,303050,303046,303048,111558,303044,303037,303042,303028,303052,5285,303045,303043,5536,303030,303039,303041,5667,303025,303027,5952,303051,111552,303033,303031,303020,303026,303049,6740,303038,7064,303036,111550,111548,111549,303040],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bell-heather","tag-berry","tag-bilberry","tag-black-heart","tag-blaeberry","tag-bog-bilberry","tag-crowberry","tag-da-mhead-is-amhlaidh-is-fearr-e","tag-dont-count-your-chickens-before-they-hatch","tag-dont-count-your-eggs-before-they-hatch","tag-english","tag-fierceness","tag-fireann","tag-fraoch-camogach","tag-fraoch-fireann","tag-fraoch-mor","tag-fraochan","tag-fraochdhaite","tag-fraochlinn","tag-fraochmhar","tag-fraochog","tag-fury","tag-gaeilge","tag-heather-colored","tag-heathery","tag-homonym","tag-huckleberry","tag-inis-fraoigh","tag-innisfree","tag-irish","tag-lughnasa","tag-lughnasadh","tag-lunasa","tag-mediterranean-heather","tag-myrtle-blueberry","tag-na-maraigh-an-fia-go-bhfeicfidh-tu","tag-ni-breac-e-go-mbeidh-se-ar-an-bport","tag-pomologist","tag-pomology","tag-scotch-heather","tag-seanfhocail","tag-stormy-sea","tag-terminology","tag-the-more-the-merrier","tag-whinberry","tag-whortleberry","tag-winberry","tag-yeats"],"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