{"id":3866,"date":"2013-03-31T14:18:15","date_gmt":"2013-03-31T14:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3866"},"modified":"2015-03-02T17:29:25","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T17:29:25","slug":"more-green-ideas-mostly-not-colorless-sorry-chomsky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/more-green-ideas-mostly-not-colorless-sorry-chomsky\/","title":{"rendered":"More Green Ideas, Mostly _Not_ Colorless (Sorry, Chomsky!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) <\/strong>The color “green” is such an interesting topic, I’m reluctant to stop quite yet, even after having written several blogs on it.\u00a0 Today we’ll start out with some common and some not-so-common examples of “green” in Irish, and end up, out on a limb (verdant, no doubt) discussing “colorless green.”\u00a0 If that last bit sounds strange, please be patient, or if you’re really champing at the bit, go ahead and read the relevant Wikipedia article (http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

fliosca glas? fliosca uaine?<\/p><\/div>\n

So, aside from rivers, bagels, and beer, as recently discussed, here are a few more ways in which the two basic words for “green” (uaine, glas<\/strong>) are used:<\/p>\n

1) glas<\/strong>, plural: glasa<\/strong><\/p>\n

f\u00e9ar glas<\/strong> [fayr glahss], green grass (remember, this isn’t “fear glas<\/strong>,” which means “green man” — for whatever purposes you wish to apply that<\/em> concept, presumably discussing “s\u00e1sair eitilte,” srl<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

geilleagar glas<\/strong>, green economy<\/p>\n

An<\/strong> Comhaontas Glas<\/strong>, The Green Party [say: KOH-AYN-tus, the ‘-mh-‘ is silent]<\/p>\n

breosla glas<\/strong>, green fuel<\/p>\n

glasra\u00ed,<\/strong> vegetables<\/p>\n

2) uaine<\/strong>, plural: uaine<\/strong> (no change)<\/p>\n

c\u00f3ta uaine<\/strong>, a green coat<\/p>\n

p\u00e1ip\u00e9ar uaine<\/strong>, a green paper, as in a “Green Paper” on Education, Communications, Health, etc. \u00a0Of course, “p\u00e1ip\u00e9ar uaine<\/strong>” could also refer to “p\u00e1ip\u00e9ar or\u00e1gama\u00ed,” “p\u00e1ip\u00e9ar eala\u00edne,” srl.\u00a0 <\/strong>Only “comhth\u00e9acs<\/strong>” will provide the clarification.<\/p>\n

Na Tailte Uaine<\/strong>, The Green Lands, referring to Currach Chill Dara<\/strong>, (the Curragh of Kildare, the geographic area); this use of “uaine<\/strong>” comes from the green used in mapping the area and contrasts with “Na Tailte Gorma<\/strong>” (The Blue Lands), marked in blue on the map.<\/p>\n

And to wrap up (sort of), here are a few other \u00a0interesting points regarding “green,” divided into situations where a) English “green” isn’t “green” in Irish, b) English may be translated as “green” in Irish or may not, and c) English “green” is simply Gaelicized in spelling.\u00a0 And we’ll end with “colorless green,” as promised.<\/p>\n

a) Here are some English words or phrases that contain “green” where the Irish doesn’t:<\/p>\n

greenhouse, teach gloine<\/strong>, lit. house of glass (logically enough); of course, if an ordinary house were painted green, we could have “teach uaine<\/strong>” (or “teach glas<\/strong>,” but that would seem less likely)<\/p>\n

village green: faiche an bhaile <\/strong>(“faiche<\/strong>” is also used for “St. Stephen’s Green,” which is “Faiche Stiabhna<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

putting green: pl\u00e1s\u00f3g amais<\/strong> — how interesting that the word for a “hit” in Internet searching, amas<\/strong>, is also used in golf terminology.\u00a0 “To putt” is “amas a dh\u00e9anamh<\/strong>” (lit. to do a putt) and a good putter (person) is “amasa\u00ed maith.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

And one of my favorites, “Do you see any green in my eye?”\u00a0 No, that’s not really discussing dathanna s\u00fal<\/strong>.\u00a0 And it’s not that famous monster, “\u00e9ad<\/strong>” (jealousy), speaking.\u00a0 This “green” turns out to be “bog<\/strong>” (soft, tender, foolish) in Irish, in the phrase, “Nach bog a mheasf\u00e1 m\u00e9 a bheith<\/strong>?” (i.e. You must think I’m soft in the head, lit. Isn’t it soft that you would think me to be?).\u00a0 In other words, no, I’m not buying that droichead<\/strong> that you’re offering for sale i mBruicl\u00edn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As for Shakespeare’s “allt\u00e1n glas-s\u00faileach<\/strong>,” the closest basic equivalent in Irish to being “green with envy” uses the word “ite<\/strong>” (eaten), not “green,” as in “T\u00e1 Iago ite ag an \u00e9ad<\/strong>” (i.e. T\u00e1 \u00e9ad m\u00f3r ar Iago le hOthello agus le Cassio<\/strong>).\u00a0 Poking around the Internet, I see that at least some other languages also actually say a person is “green” with envy (vert de jalousie, verde di invidia, gr\u00f6n av avund<\/em>, etc.), but it’s not ringing any bells for me for Irish. Which green would it be? \u00a0Allt\u00e1in ghlas-s\u00faileacha \u00e9admhara ar bith amuigh ansin — an bhfuil a fhios agaibh?\u00a0 M\u00edn\u00edg\u00ed sibh f\u00e9in, mura mhiste libh!<\/strong><\/p>\n

BTW, “glas-s\u00faileach<\/strong>” (here “green-eyed”) can also mean “gray-eyed” or “blue-eyed,” or “grayish-blue-eyed.”\u00a0 I’ve also see “green” eyes described as “uaine<\/strong>,” not surprisingly.\u00a0 And if you cast a “liathsh\u00fail<\/strong>” (gray eye) at someone, it means you’re looking at them enviously.\u00a0 Is that true, then, no matter c\u00e9n dath<\/strong> your eyes actually are? \u00a0I don’t think the idea that “gray eyes” mean “envy” is as solidly entrenched in the Irish language as being “green with envy” is in English, de r\u00e9ir mo thaith\u00ed f\u00e9in, ar a laghad<\/strong>. \u00a0I haven’t heard it much, anyway.\u00a0 Mh’anam!\u00a0 A leith\u00e9id de cheisteanna ag baint leis seo! <\/strong>\u00a0I guess I’d have to be more specific if I were a “d\u00e9ant\u00f3ir s\u00fal gloine<\/strong>” (as featured in http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/5751321\/britains-last-glass-eye-maker<\/a>), but for now dathanna s\u00fal<\/strong> will remain \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

b) Secondly, here are some cases where a word that actually means “green” may or may not<\/em> be used:<\/p>\n

green room: seomra sosa<\/strong>, lit. break-room OR seomra sc\u00edthe<\/strong>, lit. relax-room OR seomra glas<\/strong>, lit. green room (even though it’s p\u00e9inte\u00e1ilte<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

greenhorn: c\u00e1b\u00f3g<\/strong> (also means a “clodhopper”) OR glas-st\u00f3cach<\/strong>, lit. “green-lad”<\/p>\n

c) And finally, “Greenland” simply has the sound “green” adapted to Irish spelling as “Graon<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

Graonlannach<\/strong>, a Greenlander<\/p>\n

An Ghraonlainn<\/strong>, lit. (the) Greenland, with “the” triggering lenition (g -> gh), which means we need the voiced velar fricative for correct pronunciation (for tips, see: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-i-love-you-in-irish\/<\/a> (subtitled “and minding your voiced velar fricatives”) or https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/treoir-don-treoir-a-guide-to-the-guide-for-pronunciation-cuid-a-2\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n

And there we have it, or at least an “achoimre<\/strong>” {AKH-im-ruh] of the situation.<\/p>\n

Well, actually, not quite.\u00a0 How about “colorless green,” from linguist Noam Chomsky’s semantically perplexing but syntactically accurate catchphrase, “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”\u00a0 So which “green” would that<\/em> be?\u00a0\u00a0 Here are a few translations that I’ve come up with, using “id\u00e9anna<\/strong>” instead of the somewhat more common “smaoinimh<\/strong>,” since we’re waxing a bit philosophical here:<\/p>\n

Codla\u00edonn id\u00e9anna glasa gan dath go f\u00edochmhar. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Codla\u00edonn id\u00e9anna uaine gan dath go f\u00edochmhar.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Codla\u00edonn id\u00e9anna glasa neamhdhathacha go f\u00edochmhar. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Codla\u00edonn id\u00e9anna uaine neamhdhathacha go f\u00edochmhar.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which “green” is more appropriate if the idea is “colorless”?\u00a0 Diabhal a fhios agam!\u00a0 Sibhse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually there are about a half-dozen more ways to say “furiously,” never mind the “colorless green” concept, but I’m going with what I think would be most straightforward, based on “f\u00edochmhar<\/strong>” (furious).\u00a0 Some of the others imply a furious pace of movement (de luas mire<\/strong>) or that the colorless green ideas would have legs (!), like horsemen, “ar stealladh chosa in airde<\/strong>.”\u00a0 That one would really be going out on a limb!<\/p>\n

Of course, “colorless” could also mean “dull,” “lackluster,” or “uninteresting,” as in a writing style, in which case we’d have “id\u00e9anna glasa leamha<\/strong>,” but I think we should quit while we’re ahead.\u00a0 Or else revisit the topic l\u00e1 \u00e9igin eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I hope that today’s blog was “neamhleamh<\/strong>” (non-lackluster), and that it provided some useful\u00a0 expressions as well as some more that aren’t on the “bealach buailte<\/strong>” (beaten track).<\/p>\n

To sum up, we’ve seen the two basic words for green (glas, uaine<\/strong>) and issued the perennial caveat that not every phrase that includes “green” in English will include “green,” as such, in Irish.\u00a0 And that we even have to choose between “glas<\/strong>” and “uaine<\/strong>” if the topic is colorlessly green.\u00a0\u00a0 Not that I actually chose — I’m still “i mo shu\u00ed scartha”<\/strong>\u00a0(on the fence) regarding that issue.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: allt\u00e1n<\/strong>, monster; cosa in airde<\/strong>, galloping; \u00e9ad<\/strong>, jealousy, envy; \u00a0stealladh<\/strong>, outpouring; su\u00ed scartha<\/strong>, straddling<\/p>\n

Blaganna eile faoi na dathanna “glas” agus “uaine”: <\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/beoir-uaine-no-glas-no-ceachtar-beer-greenuaine-or-greenglas-or-neither\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/beigil-uaine-no-glas-which-type-of-green-for-bagels\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/aibhneacha-glas-no-uaine-rivers-greenglas-or-greenuaine\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) The color “green” is such an interesting topic, I’m reluctant to stop quite yet, even after having written several blogs on it.\u00a0 Today we’ll start out with some common and some not-so-common examples of “green” in Irish, and end up, out on a limb (verdant, no doubt) discussing “colorless green.”\u00a0 If that last…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[274950,274949,5285,5361,5378,5379,5667,7220],"class_list":["post-3866","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-chomsky","tag-colorless-green-ideas","tag-gaeilge","tag-ghlas","tag-glas","tag-glasa","tag-irish","tag-uaine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3866","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=3866"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6419,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3866\/revisions\/6419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}