{"id":36,"date":"2009-05-28T00:02:14","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T04:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=36"},"modified":"2015-03-16T17:33:03","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T17:33:03","slug":"deir-seachtar-7-i-ngaeilge-gur-%e2%80%9cgael-mheiriceanaigh%e2%80%9d-iad-ach-deir-2805-%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99m-an-irish-american%e2%80%9d-de-reir-cuardach-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/deir-seachtar-7-i-ngaeilge-gur-%e2%80%9cgael-mheiriceanaigh%e2%80%9d-iad-ach-deir-2805-%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99m-an-irish-american%e2%80%9d-de-reir-cuardach-google\/","title":{"rendered":"Deir seachtar (7) i nGaeilge gur \u201cGael-Mheirice\u00e1naigh\u201d iad ach deir 2805, \u201cI\u2019m (an) Irish-American,\u201d de r\u00e9ir cuardach Google"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Deir seachtar (7) i nGaeilge gur ‘Gael-Mheirice\u00e1naigh’ iad ach deir 2805, ‘I\u2019m (an) Irish-American,’ de r\u00e9ir cuardach Google.” \u00a0Well, that blog title should be an attention-getter!\u00a0 Not that Google searches are \u201cbun agus barr an sc\u00e9il<\/strong>\u201d (the be-all and end-all) of information gathering, but this search result does provide food for thought.\u00a0 This article shows the results of searches limited by quotation marks, so only the phrase sought is reported.\u00a0 In other words, the results don\u2019t include, for example, all instances of \u201cAmerican,\u201d only those preceded by \u201cIrish-.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

On May 24, 2009, in the entire cyber-universe searched by Google, a total of seven sources were found that used a statement with the speakers saying in Irish, in the first person, that they were \u201cGael-Mheirice\u00e1nach.<\/strong>\u201d \u00a0This is a compound word based on \u201cGael<\/strong>\u201d (an Irish person, mostly used now in a cultural sense) and \u201cMeirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>\u201d (American).\u00a0 You can say:<\/p>\n

Is Meirice\u00e1nach m\u00e9<\/strong>. I am an American.<\/p>\n

Is Gael-Mheirice\u00e1nach m\u00e9.<\/strong> I am an Irish-American (note m -> mh change after \u201cGael<\/strong>-\u201c)<\/p>\n

\u201cGael-Mheirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>\u201d can also be used as an adjective to say that a person, thing, or concept is \u201cIrish-American,\u201d as opposed to the person being an<\/em> Irish-American.\u00a0 For example, \u201cIs n\u00f3s Gael-Mheirice\u00e1nach \u00e9 a bheith ag d\u00edol b\u00e9igeal uaine le L\u00e1 Fh\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig a cheili\u00faradh<\/strong>\u201d (It is an Irish-American custom to sell green bagels to celebrate St. Patrick\u2019s Day).<\/p>\n

To say \u201cI am Irish (of Irish nationality), most people would say \u201cIs \u00c9ireannach m\u00e9<\/strong>.\u201d \u00a0A future blog will discuss the compound word \u201c\u00c9ireannach-Mheirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>,\u201d which is also in use, with a slightly different nuance from \u201cGael-Mheirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0No \u201chits\u201d at all were found searching for the phrase \u201cIs \u00c9ireannach-Mheirice\u00e1nach m\u00e9<\/strong>\u201d (I am an Irish-American) so, for current purposes, we\u2019ll emphasize the word\u00a0\u201cGael<\/strong>\u201d to \u00a0express Irish-Americanness.\u00a0 Very few people would officially label themselves solely as a \u201cGael<\/strong>\u201d these days, but there are many useful related terms and phrases, such as:<\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r na nGael<\/strong> (www.glornangael.ie<\/a>), lit. \u201cThe Voice of the Gaels,\u201d a group dedicated to promoting the Irish language<\/p>\n

F\u00edorghael<\/strong>, lit. \u201ca true Gael,\u201d a term typically used to mean an \u201cover-the-top\u201d Irish person, and, since 2005, a comic Irish-medium short directed by Macdara Vallely and produced by Zanzibar Films (www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0887139<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In this cuardach Google<\/strong> (Google search), there were only seven self-identifying statements of Irish-American ethnicity given in Irish<\/em> but there were about 2800 where the speaker says \u201cI am Irish-American\u201d or \u201cI am an Irish-American\u201d in English<\/em>.\u00a0 Now juxtapose that with the fact that about 40 million Americans claim some Irish heritage.\u00a0 Certainly, many millions of these may think of themselves as being Irish-American without necessarily saying so in a manner searchable by Google, but we can use the search as a rough benchmark of identity.\u00a0 About one in every 5.5 million Irish-Americans bothers to say in a searchable manner and in Irish, \u201cIs Gael-Mheirice\u00e1nach m\u00e9<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s assuming that the seven statements collected are actual facts about the speakers; they could just be statements created for other purposes, such as examples of grammar using the Irish verb \u201cis<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 But with a sampla <\/strong>(sample) of seven, I\u2019ll just go ahead and claim all of them for present purposes.<\/p>\n

About 400 times as many people say, online and searchably, that they are Irish-American in English<\/em> as say it in Irish.\u00a0 That\u2019s the 2805 as opposed to the seven!<\/p>\n

Next comparison, na Franc-Mheirice\u00e1naigh <\/strong>(French-Americans), who number about 11 million, about a quarter the number of Irish-Americans.\u00a0 How many of these write online, searchably and in French<\/em>, that they themselves are French-American, again as of May 24th, <\/sup>2009? 172, including both the masculine and feminine forms. \u00a0That\u2019s 24 times the number who proclaim their Irish-American identity in Irish.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

How many of these 11 million say they are \u201cFranco-\u201c or \u201cFrench-American,\u201d writing online in English? <\/em>118.\u00a0 So, when it comes to discussing identity, the French-Americans are much more<\/em> likely to state their ethnicity in French than in English.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s a small sample and should be repeated on different dates and with different search engines for better accuracy, but nonetheless, the treocht <\/strong>(trend) is clear.\u00a0 If anyone would like to rerun the search and report the results in the \u201ccomments\u201d section, bheadh suim agamsa agus ag na l\u00e9itheoir\u00ed go l\u00e9ir ann, t\u00e1 m\u00e9 cinnte<\/strong> (All the other readers and I would be interested, I\u2019m sure).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What does this tell us?\u00a0 There are about four times as many Irish-Americans as French-Americans in the U.S. but they are far less likely to talk about their identity in Irish than the French-Americans are to discuss their identity in French.\u00a0 Yes, I know–we all know–that French has been a much more accessible language than Irish for decades, perhaps centuries.\u00a0 But, finally, perhaps we could say, it\u2019s a good time to be learning Irish, talking about one\u2019s identity in Irish, and generally giving the Irish language a cibearphr\u00f3ifil<\/strong> (cyber profile) that\u2019s at least comparable to that of other languages.\u00a0 So, chugam bhur mbar\u00falacha, le bhur dtoil<\/strong>.\u00a0 So, send me your opinions, please.\u00a0 And yes, one of these days, I\u2019ll tackle the compound identities many of us have on this side of the loch\u00e1n<\/strong> (pond).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Pronunciation Tip a hAon: <\/strong>m -> mh (say: “v”): Remember that after the words \u201cGael<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c\u00c9ireannach<\/strong>\u201d used as prefixes, there is softening (lenition) of the next consonant.\u00a0 Traditionally, these words are written in Irish with fleisc\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong> (hyphens).\u00a0 They used to be in English, as well, but that technicality seems to be dying out, as we see in phrases such as, \u201cI am Irish American\u201d or \u201cHe is African American.\u201d\u00a0 At any rate:<\/p>\n

Gael-Mheirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>: GAYL-VER-ik-yawn-ukh (Irish-American)<\/p>\n

\u00c9ireannach-Mheirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>: AYR-un-ukh-VER-ik-yawn-ukh (Irish-American)<\/p>\n

Those identities would be opposed to the phrases \u201cGael Meirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c\u00c9ireannach Meirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>,\u201d which would mean \u201can American Irishman,\u201d normally understood as an Irish person residing in the U.S.\u00a0 Among other places, this distinction is carefully noted in the book, The Legend of Being Irish-American, <\/em>edited by David Lampe, which includes \u201cIrish-American\u201d and \u201cAmerican-Irish\u201d poetry.\u00a0 Please note that in Irish there is no fleisc\u00edn<\/strong> (hyphen) or lenition in the phrases \u201cGael Meirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c\u00c9ireannach Meirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>,\u201d since here, \u201cMeirice\u00e1nach<\/strong>\u201d is the adjective, modifying \u201cGael<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c\u00c9ireannach<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, looking around at printed English, I think that I\u2019m one of the last people on earth who believes in the use of hyphens and apostrophes.\u00a0 If you\u2019re of the same mind-set, maybe you could send a comment and let me know you agree! \u00a0Our slogan, perhaps: Fleisc\u00edn\u00ed agus Uascham\u00f3ga Ab\u00fa!,<\/strong> which could loosely be translated as \u201cUp hyphens and apostrophes\u201d or \u201cHyphens and apostrophes rule!\u201d\u00a0 Why are they important?\u00a0 As the Irish example above shows, they can change meanings!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Pronunciation Tip a D\u00f3:<\/strong> The Irish verb \u201cis<\/strong>,\u201d while it may look like the English verb \u201cis,\u201d is pronounced differently; it rhymes with \u201chiss\u201d or \u201cmiss,\u201d while the English \u201cis\u201d rhymes with \u201cfizz\u201d or \u201cquiz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhur mblag\u00e1la\u00ed – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn) “Deir seachtar (7) i nGaeilge gur ‘Gael-Mheirice\u00e1naigh’ iad ach deir 2805, ‘I\u2019m (an) Irish-American,’ de r\u00e9ir cuardach Google.” \u00a0Well, that blog title should be an attention-getter!\u00a0 Not that Google searches are \u201cbun agus barr an sc\u00e9il\u201d (the be-all and end-all) of information gathering, but this search result does provide food for thought.\u00a0 This article…<\/p>\n

Continue 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