{"id":3537,"date":"2012-11-25T15:38:15","date_gmt":"2012-11-25T15:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3537"},"modified":"2012-12-02T15:48:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-02T15:48:42","slug":"saying-thank-you-thanks-and-thanksgiving-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-thank-you-thanks-and-thanksgiving-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Saying “Thank You,” “Thanks” and “Thanksgiving” in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Some of you might remember previous discussions of Irish terms for “thanking” and “giving thanks” (URLanna th\u00edos<\/strong>). \u00a0As we’ve discussed before, Googling the term “Thanksgiving Day” in Irish is not likely to bring up a huge number of hits, since it’s not an Irish holiday.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it’s widely celebrated in the United States by Gaeil-Mheirice\u00e1naigh<\/strong> and by \u00c9ireannaigh at\u00e1 ina gc\u00f3na\u00ed i Meirice\u00e1<\/strong>, so it’s worth a gander at the terminology as Gaeilge<\/strong>.\u00a0 I hope this will also be suimi\u00fail to the Ceanadaigh<\/strong> who celebrate the holiday i m\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>, and I also hope it will be of general interest to all readers, since some very basic Irish vocabulary words are involved: thank, thanks, day, holiday, etc.<\/p>\n

Before we continue, though, let’s look at the ordinary phrase for saying “thank you” to someone.\u00a0 It’s “go raibh maith agat<\/strong>” (said to one person) and “go raibh maith agaibh<\/strong>” (said to more than one person).\u00a0 The pronunciations are “guh ruh mah UG-ut ” (shortened to “guh-ruh-mahd” in some dialects) and “guh ruh mah UG-iv,” for the singular and plural respectively.\u00a0 That’s a “short u” sound, as in “uh, I dunno” or as in “fun” or “putt” (not like the German “uh” in “Huhn<\/em>“).\u00a0 Broken down literally, the phrase means “may there be good at you.”\u00a0 Of those four basic vocabulary words (go, raibh, maith, <\/strong>and agat\/agaibh<\/strong>), none will appear in the phrase for “Thanksgiving.”\u00a0 Just thought I’d give you a heads-up on that point.<\/p>\n

So how do we say “Thanksgiving” in Irish?\u00a0 Here are the results of what I found by browsing, mostly through Google in 2010 and 2009, with updates for 2012:<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 an Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 515 hits (2012); 99 hits (2010); 44 hits (2009)<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 278 hits (2012); 115 hits (2010); 45 hits (2009)<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 16 hits (2012); 9 hits (2010); 5 hits (2009); NB: some of these are general references and not specifically about the Thanksgiving Day holiday<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Gabh\u00e1la Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 7 hits (2012, five without the definite article “an” and two with “an”); 4 hits (2010, by general Google searching) as opposed to 1 hit (2009, found by \u201cguided browsing,\u201d not by \u201cGoogle\u201d as such)<\/p>\n

F\u00e9ile an Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0— 11 hits (2012); 5 hits (2010, dating as far back as 2004), not searched in 2009 since I hadn’t seen the term, as such, previously<\/p>\n

In all cases, some of the increase is due to my original Thanksgiving terminology blogs, from 2009 and 2010, being quoted online, with the discussion of all of the terms.<\/p>\n

While these figures are certainly not “bun agus barr an sc\u00e9il<\/strong>” regarding the possibilities for saying “Thanksgiving Day” in Irish, they do show a general trend as to which phrases are most popular.\u00a0 They also indicate that discussion of Thanksgiving in Irish is growing, even though it isn’t an Irish holiday.<\/p>\n

As for “thanks” in general, the usual noun is “bu\u00edochas<\/strong>,” with the related adjective “bu\u00edoch”<\/strong> (thankful, grateful).\u00a0 We see this in two of the Thanksgiving phrases (L\u00e1 Bu\u00edochais<\/strong> and L\u00e1 Gabh\u00e1la Bu\u00edochais).<\/strong>\u00a0 Some typical examples not related to the holiday would be “Bu\u00edochas le Dia”<\/strong> (Thank God) and “M\u00edle bu\u00edochas<\/strong>” (a thousand thanks, sort of like saying “thanks a million” — what’s a few n\u00e1ideanna<\/strong> here and there when we’re speaking go teib\u00ed<\/strong>?).<\/p>\n

Have any of you seen any other ways to say “Thanksgiving” in Irish?\u00a0 If so, please write in and let us know.\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

URLanna:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/comhaireamh-sios-go-la-an-altaithe\/ (18 M\u00ed na Samhna 2009)<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 (an) Altaithe: C\u00e9n T\u00e9arma i nGaeilge?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n