{"id":3756,"date":"2013-02-22T14:50:45","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T14:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3756"},"modified":"2013-03-09T15:05:45","modified_gmt":"2013-03-09T15:05:45","slug":"a-coimead-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/a-coimead-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"A ‘C\u00f3im\u00e9ad’ by Any Other Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Last blog I alluded to five words in Irish for comet agus seo iad.<\/p>\n

The first one you have no doubt spotted by now since it’s i dteideal an bhlag seo.\u00a0 It’s a fairly straightforward word, first declension, masculine.\u00a0 Here are its forms:<\/p>\n

1) c\u00f3im\u00e9ad, comet, as in “Beidh C\u00f3im\u00e9ad Halley ar ais sa bhliain 2061 n\u00f3 thart f\u00e1 sin.”<\/p>\n

2) an c\u00f3im\u00e9ad, the comet [un KOH-myayd, the “-my” sound indicating a “slender” pronunciation of “m,” \u00a0like the “m” in English “muse” or “mewl;” since this is a transcript, remember that the “my” shouldn’t be read as English “my” per se]<\/p>\n

3) c\u00f3im\u00e9id, of a comet [KOH-myaydj, note the change to the ending, now “slender”], as in “eireaball c\u00f3im\u00e9id,” a tail of a comet<\/p>\n

4) an ch\u00f3im\u00e9id, of the comet [un KHOH-myaydj, with the “kh” like the “ch” of “chutzpah”], as in “eireaball an ch\u00f3im\u00e9id,” the tail of the comet<\/p>\n

4) c\u00f3im\u00e9id, comets (yes, it looks and sounds just like the form that means “of a comet” — typical first-declension stuff), as in “c\u00f3im\u00e9id ghearrthr\u00e9imhseacha,” short-period comets [KOH-myaydj YAR-HRAYV-shukh-huh, note that the “g” and the “t” are silent and the “mh” is like “v”]<\/p>\n

5) na c\u00f3im\u00e9id, the comets<\/p>\n

6) c\u00f3im\u00e9ad, of comets, as in “fithis\u00ed c\u00f3im\u00e9ad” (orbits of comets).\u00a0 Note that we have to determine through context and\/or word order whether “c\u00f3im\u00e9ad” means “comet” as the subject\/object of a sentence or whether it means “of comets”.\u00a0 Yes, it’s a bit of an extra challenge but English does the same thing at times.\u00a0\u00a0 Consider, for example, the phrase “we read.”\u00a0 When we see the phrase, we need context (words like “every day” or “yesterday” to determine whether the action is in the present or past tense.<\/p>\n

7) na gc\u00f3im\u00e9ad, of the comets, as in “eireabaill na gc\u00f3im\u00e9ad” (the tails of the comets)<\/p>\n

We might also encounter the following forms:<\/p>\n

ar an gc\u00f3im\u00e9ad, on the comet [… GOH-myayd]<\/p>\n

ar an ch\u00f3im\u00e9ad, on the comet, same meaning, different (Northern) dialect [… KHOH-myayd]<\/p>\n

ar ch\u00f3im\u00e9ad, on a comet<\/p>\n

ar ch\u00f3im\u00e9id, on comets<\/p>\n

Now all of that is just for the word “c\u00f3im\u00e9ad,” but there are more words for “comet.”\u00a0 Admittedly, these are the folksier words and aren’t used much in the scientific descriptions.\u00a0 They’re all based on the word “r\u00e9alta” (star).<\/p>\n

a) r\u00e9alta eireabaill, or r\u00e9alta an eireabaill, lit. “star of tail,” or “the star of the tail”<\/p>\n

b) r\u00e9alta scuaibe, or r\u00e9alta na scuaibe, lit. “star of broom\/brush” or “the star of the broom\/brush”<\/p>\n

c) r\u00e9alta mhongach, or mongr\u00e9alta, lit. maned or long-haired star.\u00a0 This one shows up in the very modern term “t\u00f3ra\u00ed mongr\u00e9alta” (comet chaser) (http:\/\/www.djei.ie\/publications\/corporate\/2004\/annualreport.ga.pdf<\/a>) but it can also be found in 16th-century Irish literature, and perhaps earlier.<\/p>\n

d) and a bit surprisingly, and admittedly on the obscure (sort of archaic) side, but intriguing nonetheless, bodr\u00e9alta (presumably the implication here is a “star with a tail,” once again, but that’s not exactly, ermm, what it says.\u00a0 I’d recommend being very circumspect about using this.\u00a0 In fact for most purposes, I’d just go ahead with “c\u00f3im\u00e9ad,” unless your intention is to wax poetic.<\/p>\n

So there we have it, five basic words for comet, ranging from scientific to poetic, agus smearadh leath-thagartha ann lena chois sin.<\/p>\n

Perhaps we’ll revisit the topic in 2061 nuair a thagann C\u00f3im\u00e9ad Halley ar ais (m\u00e1 t\u00e1 an blag ann f\u00f3s), or perhaps before then.\u00a0 Hmm, I suppose I should check out some recent comet sightings, or anticipated ones.\u00a0 N\u00f3ta\u00ed tr\u00e1chta \u00f3 dhuine ar bith?\u00a0 N\u00f3 tagairt\u00ed?\u00a0 N\u00f3 leath-thagairt\u00ed?\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/p>\n

Gluais\u00edn: leath-thagairt [LYA-HAG-irtch], innuendo, lit. “half-reference,” the genitive case is “leath-thagartha” (of innuendo); lena chois sin, for good measure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Last blog I alluded to five words in Irish for comet agus seo iad. The first one you have no doubt spotted by now since it’s i dteideal an bhlag seo.\u00a0 It’s a fairly straightforward word, first declension, masculine.\u00a0 Here are its forms: 1) c\u00f3im\u00e9ad, comet, as in “Beidh C\u00f3im\u00e9ad Halley ar ais…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[274803,274801,274797,13132,274798,274804,274802,274799,11,82455,8149],"class_list":["post-3756","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-choimead","tag-choimeid","tag-coimead","tag-comet","tag-comets","tag-gcoimead","tag-gcoimeid","tag-maned-star","tag-pronunciation","tag-realta","tag-star"],"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