{"id":4016,"date":"2013-05-10T18:57:51","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T18:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4016"},"modified":"2018-10-11T01:45:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T01:45:20","slug":"when-is-an-athair-not-a-father-literally-that-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/when-is-an-athair-not-a-father-literally-that-is\/","title":{"rendered":"When Is An ‘Athair” Not A ‘Father’ (literally, that is)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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Cuid den “\u00c1r nAthair” in the old print, starting with “A Athair”<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the last blog (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>), we first reviewed the basic words for “mother” (plus mom, mum, mam, mommy, mummy, mammy) in Irish (m\u00e1thair, mam, mama\u00ed, srl.<\/strong>).\u00a0 Then we looked at phrases like “m\u00e1thair sh\u00faigh<\/strong>” and “teanga dh\u00fachais<\/strong>,” where there is not a one-to-one correlation between m\u00e1thair<\/strong>\/mother and the translation of a phrase into English or Irish respectively.\u00a0 Remember the meaning of those two phrases?\u00a0 “M\u00e1thair sh\u00faigh<\/strong>” is “squid” and “teanga dh\u00fachais<\/strong>” is “mother tongue.”<\/p>\n

So what’s the situation with “athair<\/strong>” (father)?\u00a0 Are there as many figurative expressions and idioms as there are for “m\u00e1thair<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, let’s check it out.\u00a0 But first, as in the last blog, let’s go over the basics (athair, deaide, daid\u00ed, srl.<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

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A somewhat newer “old script” for the “\u00c1r nAthair”<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

athair<\/strong> [AH-hirzh], father; an t-athair<\/strong> [un TAH-hirzh], the father.\u00a0 Remember the “t-” prefixed to nouns like “athair<\/strong>,” “uisce<\/strong>,” and “\u00fall,<\/strong>” giving us “an t-athair<\/strong>,” an t-uisce<\/strong>,” and “an t-\u00fall<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because they are a) grammatically masculine, b) singular, and c) begin with a vowel.\u00a0 Why the rule applies is much more complicated, going back to the Proto-Celtic word *sindo-<\/em> (no relation to the nickname for the Sunday Independent,<\/em> which isn’t Proto-Celtic!) and will have to be \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

athar<\/strong> [AH-hur], of (a) father (ex. ar n\u00f3s athar<\/strong>).\u00a0 Like “m\u00e1thar<\/strong>” for “m\u00e1thair<\/strong>,” the change to show possession is indicated by making the final “r” broad (i.e. removing the letter “i”).\u00a0 This removes the “zh” buzzy sound referred to in previous blogs.<\/p>\n

an athar<\/strong>, of the father (ex. mac an athar<\/strong>, the son of the father, also coincidentally, the name of a short film, Mac an Athar<\/em><\/strong>, 2005, about a boy raised in an Irish-speaking household on Dublin’s Northside, which, needless to say, is not a traditional Gaeltacht (http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0758918\/<\/a>).\u00a0 Another very widespread usage, to say the least, is “in ainm an Athar<\/strong>” (in the name of the Father), which has been parodied in Des Bishop’s hilarious and shameless video series In the Name of the Fada<\/em>, where he is actually referring to the “s\u00edneadh fada<\/strong>” (an comhartha idirdhealaitheach os cionn guta\u00ed i nGaeilge, i bhfocail mar “b\u00e1,” “s\u00e9,” “s\u00ed,” “d\u00f3,” agus “t\u00fa”).\u00a0 Tuilleadh ag<\/strong> http:\/\/desbishop.net\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n

aithreacha<\/strong> [AH-hrzhuh-khuh], fathers (NB: back to the slender “r” pronunciation)<\/p>\n

na haithreacha<\/strong> [nuh HAH-hrzhuh-khuh], the fathers (NB: an initial “h-” is prefixed here)<\/p>\n

aithreacha<\/strong>, of fathers (mic aithreacha<\/strong>, sons of fathers)<\/p>\n

na n-aithreacha<\/strong>, of the fathers (“L\u00e1 na nAithreacha Sona!”<\/strong> Happy Father’s Day!).\u00a0 Other examples, on a more reflective note, from the Bible, include “ag agairt cion<\/strong> [transgression] na n-aithreacha ar an gclann agus ar chlann na clainne<\/strong>” (Eaxodus<\/strong> 34:7) and “c\u00fait\u00edonn t\u00fa \u00e9igeart na n-aithreacha go hioml\u00e1n lena gclann ina ndiaidh<\/strong>” (Irimia<\/strong> 32:18).<\/p>\n

As for the less formal “dad,” “daddy,” or “da,” we have the following: daid, deaid, deaide, daid\u00ed, daide, deaid\u00ed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Athair<\/strong>” is, of course, also used as a religious title as in “An tAthair \u00d3 Murch\u00fa<\/strong>” (Father Murphy, lit. the Father Murphy).\u00a0 Note that the definite article “an<\/strong>” (the) is also used in these phrases, but not translated into English.<\/p>\n

Having gone over all that, let’s now look at some phrases based on “athair<\/strong>” (father) in Irish but which don’t get translated into “father” in English (1a, b, below).\u00a0 And we’ll look at the opposite situation also, terms that include “father” in English, but not in Irish (2a-d below).<\/p>\n

First, examples where we have “athair<\/strong>” or “athar<\/strong>” in Irish but where we don’t have “father” in English.\u00a0 Unlike “m\u00e1thair,<\/strong>” where there are many such examples, there seem to be fewer for the male parent.\u00a0 But here are a couple, anyway.\u00a0 An dtuigeann t\u00fa iad seo?\u00a0 (Aistri\u00fach\u00e1in th\u00edos)<\/strong><\/p>\n

1a) lus gan athair gan mh\u00e1thair<\/strong><\/p>\n

1b) ainm athar<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can’t stop thinking about m\u00e1ithreacha s\u00faigh<\/strong> and wish I could use it again here.\u00a0 If “squid” is “m\u00e1thair sh\u00faigh<\/strong>,” what’s a male squid?\u00a0 “M\u00e1thair sh\u00faigh fhireann<\/strong>?”\u00a0 Could we possibly get away with “athair sh\u00faigh<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Somehow, n\u00ed d\u00f3igh liom<\/strong> \u00e9<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Next, a few where we may have “father” in English but not in the traditional Irish equivalent.\u00a0 \u00a0An dtuigeann t\u00fa na cinn seo?\u00a0 (Aistri\u00fach\u00e1n th\u00edos).<\/strong><\/p>\n

2a. scairpiasc sp\u00edonghearr<\/strong><\/p>\n

2b. an t-am\u00a0 (<\/strong>also, an aimsir)\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

2c. na Colm\u00e1naigh<\/strong><\/p>\n

2d. t\u00edr dh\u00fachais<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ar smaoinigh t\u00fa ar fhr\u00e1sa le <\/strong>“father” f\u00e1na gcoinne?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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C\u00e9n t-athair \u00e9 seo?<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

One phrase for which I can’t find an Irish equivalent is “Father Thames.”\u00a0 Not too surprising, I suppose, but the term has always intrigued me.\u00a0 Why is “Thames” personified as a man when so many other rivers are considered feminine?\u00a0 In Irish, where virtually every noun has grammatical gender (bord<\/strong>, “table,”\u00a0masculine; cathaoir<\/strong>, “chair,” feminine, etc.), most river names are feminine.\u00a0 Even the Irish for “the River Thames” is feminine (an Tamais, uisce na Tamaise<\/strong>, etc.)\u00a0 \u00a0As a point of comparison, the River Thames is also feminine in Welsh (Tafwys<\/em> [TAHV-wiss, d’fhoghlaimeoir\u00ed Breatnaise<\/strong>].\u00a0 Welsh also has the concept of the Thames personified as seen in the phrases “Hen Afon Tafwys<\/em>” (lit. Old River Thames) and “Yr Hen Dafwys<\/em>” (lit. The Old Thames), but the “father” element, as such isn’t there.\u00a0 B’fh\u00e9idir go bhfaighidh m\u00e9 an freagra l\u00e1 \u00e9igin.\u00a0 T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag l\u00e9amh “beathaisn\u00e9is” na habhann faoi l\u00e1thair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So fadar, oops, so far, so good.\u00a0 Now we’ve looked at both terms for “mother” (last blog) and “father” and some extended meanings, I’m planning an “Uncail<\/strong>” blog, and one on “Aint\u00edni<\/strong>,” as well as a “Tut, tut!” blog on intriachta\u00ed <\/strong>like “oops!”\u00a0 “Fadar<\/em>” by the way is an old Gothic word for “father.”\u00a0 Not so fa(da)r off, when one considers the softening of the “d” in many words for “father” (including the “soft th” of English “father” and the “\u00f0” of Sean-Lochlainnis<\/strong> “fa\u00f0ir<\/em>“).\u00a0 The “d” sound has disappeared from “far<\/em>,” which is “father” in some Scandinavian languages (Danmhairgis, Ioruais, <\/strong>and Sualainnis<\/strong>).\u00a0 For that matter, it’s also gone from some versions of Northern Irish English (my farr, the farnlaw).\u00a0 Hmm. “Darth Var”?\u00a0 How’s that sound?<\/p>\n

Not that we’re completely done with father figures yet.\u00a0 There are “daddy” phrases, as opposed to “father” phrases, as well as “na Daid\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 And does an Nollaig<\/strong> have an “athair<\/strong>” or a “daid\u00ed<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Or both?\u00a0 At any rate, once again, these examples remind us that literal, word-by-word translations don’t always work.\u00a0 Best rule of thumb is, as I said before, always double-check and don’t necessarily take the first definition you find. SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aistri\u00fach\u00e1in: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1a) lus gan athair gan mh\u00e1thair, <\/strong>duckweed, lit. plant without father without mother.\u00a0 OK, dare I ask why? < reads diligently>.\u00a0 Well, my tentative conclusion is that the “gan athair gan mh\u00e1thair<\/strong>” part comes from this plant’s at\u00e1irgeadh \u00e9ighn\u00e9asach<\/strong>(asexual reproduction, \u201d\u00e9ighn\u00e9asach<\/strong>” [AYN-YAY-sukh] from “\u00e9i<\/strong>-” + “gn\u00e9asach<\/strong>“).\u00a0 As for the “duck” part of the English word, ducks like to eat this plant, which is also called “ros lachan<\/strong>” (lit. duck-seed) or “ros uisce<\/strong>” (lit. water-seed).\u00a0 That’s “ros<\/strong>” as in “seed” (not particularly common, IMO, since “seed” is usually “s\u00edol<\/strong>” in Irish), not the more well known word “ros<\/strong>” as in “wood \/ woody headland \/ headland” or as in Ros na R\u00fan<\/em><\/strong> (an sobaldr\u00e1ma<\/strong>, soap opera, ar TG4<\/strong>, lit. Headland of the Mysteries\/Secrets).\u00a0 Various types of duckweeds are also known in English as “water lentils,” which further indicates how simple and parentless these plants are.<\/p>\n

1b) ainm athar, <\/strong>lit. father’s name, meaning “maiden name” at least if discussing women’s names before and after marriage.\u00a0 I know there are lots of controversies surrounding naming practices in this day and age, but am simply reporting one usage, not advocating any particular approach.\u00a0 “Ainm roimh ph\u00f3sadh<\/strong>” is also being used these days, but of course, for women who don’t change their name after marriage, the phrase is a bit redundant.\u00a0 And in Irish, there’s a long tradition of women retaining the “N\u00ed<\/strong>” or “Nic<\/strong>” (daughter of) form of their surname, even after marriage.\u00a0 So sometimes “ainm athar<\/strong>” may be a moot point, but I appreciate that that terminology is swinging away from the emphasis on the “maiden” aspect.<\/p>\n

2a. scairpiasc sp\u00edonghearr<\/strong>, known in English as the “short-spined sea-scorpion,” whose vernacular names include “father-lasher” (hence it presence here), as well as “shorthorn sculpin,” “bullhead,” “pig-fish” (!), “granny fish,” and “sculpin” (without specifying the horns).\u00a0 Mh’anam<\/strong>!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

This double compound word breaks down to “scairp<\/strong>” (scorpion), “iasc<\/strong>” (fish), “sp\u00edon<\/strong>” ([spee-un], spine), and “gearr<\/strong>” (short; here lenited to become “ghearr<\/strong>” [yahr]).\u00a0 All quite straightforward really.\u00a0 Reminds me, too, how long has it been since I read the late Al Pittman’s delightful children’s book, One Wonderful Fine Day for a Sculpin Named Sam<\/em> (Breakwater Books, 1987).<\/p>\n

2b) an t-am (<\/strong>or, an aimsir), <\/strong>used for “Father Time,” at least according to one dictionary, but not, afaik, nearly as often as the actual personification occurs in English.\u00a0 I’ve been on the lookout for some traditional combination of “athair” <\/strong>and “am\/ama” <\/strong>or “aimsir\/aimsire<\/strong>,” for a long time, partly so I could complete my family of personifications (Father Time, Mother Earth, Baby New Year).\u00a0 I almost thought I had found one example until I realized that that “athair Ama<\/strong>,” was the father of a girl named “Ama.”\u00a0 C’est la vie!\u00a0 Br\u00f3n orm, a Ph\u00f3il<\/strong>!\u00a0 Not that one lone example in all of Googleable cyberspace would really indicate a pattern of usage, anyway.<\/p>\n

2c. na Colm\u00e1naigh, <\/strong>the Columban Fathers.\u00a0 Members of this order are also known as simply as “Columbans,” so using the “Fathers” element in English seems to vary.\u00a0 But what I don’t see anywhere in my (admittedly limited but moderately comprehensive) search is any combination, in Irish, of “Aithreacha<\/strong>” and “Colm\u00e1nach,” “Colm\u00e1nacha,” “Cholm\u00e1in,” “Colm\u00e1n,” “Colmb\u00e1nach,” “Colmb\u00e1nacha,”<\/strong> or “Colmb\u00e1naigh.”<\/strong>\u00a0 In other words, the “Father” aspect seems to be implied in Irish, not explicit.<\/p>\n

2d. t\u00edr dh\u00fachais<\/strong>, fatherland, lit. land of heritage (aka “athartha<\/strong>,” which does have the reference to “athair<\/strong>,” albeit in derived form, “athartha<\/strong>,” which also means “patrimony” and “inheritance”).\u00a0 Ironically, “t\u00edr dh\u00fachais<\/strong>” can also be translated as “motherland,” which means your motherland could be your “athartha<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Suimi\u00fail<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Iarbhlag ar an bhfocal “m\u00e1thair”<\/strong>:\u00a0(https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/when-is-a-mathair-not-a-mother-literally-that-is\/<\/a>) 7 Bealtaine 2013<\/p>\n

Grianghraf le<\/strong> “bencherlite”: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Father_Thames,_St_John%27s_Lock,_Lechlade.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

Iarn\u00f3ta<\/strong><\/strong>: now I see there’s an Old Father Thames beer (http:\/\/www.wbbrew.com\/shop\/old-father-thames\/<\/a>).\u00a0 Why am I not surprised?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the last blog (nasc th\u00edos), we first reviewed the basic words for “mother” (plus mom, mum, mam, mommy, mummy, mammy) in Irish (m\u00e1thair, mam, mama\u00ed, srl.).\u00a0 Then we looked at phrases like “m\u00e1thair sh\u00faigh” and “teanga dh\u00fachais,” where there is not a one-to-one correlation between m\u00e1thair\/mother and the translation of a phrase…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[289737,4036,289746,289750,211584,4236,4239,289748,289752,289733,7368,289732,9756,289758,9757,289757,289735,289739,289754,5141,289751,289745,289747,5142,218753,289755,289741,289734,289738,289756,289736,289742,289744,289743,289740,289749,289753],"class_list":["post-4016","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ainm-athar","tag-aithreacha","tag-al-pittman","tag-an-aimsir","tag-an-t-am","tag-athair","tag-athar","tag-athartha","tag-columban-fathers","tag-da","tag-dad","tag-daddy","tag-daid","tag-daidi","tag-deaide","tag-deaidi","tag-duckweed","tag-eaxodus","tag-exodus","tag-father","tag-father-time","tag-father-lasher","tag-fatherland","tag-fathers-day","tag-happy-fathers-day","tag-irimia","tag-jeremiah","tag-lus-gan-athair-gan-mhathair","tag-maiden-name","tag-motherland","tag-ros-lachan","tag-scairpiasc-spionghearr","tag-scorpion-fish","tag-sculpin","tag-sins-of-the-fathers","tag-tir-dhuchais","tag-water-lentils"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016","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=4016"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10903,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions\/10903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}