{"id":4081,"date":"2013-05-31T19:28:11","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T19:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2015-02-06T15:09:35","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T15:09:35","slug":"you-just-call-out-my-name-sa-tuiseal-gairmeach-of-course-in-irish-pt-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/you-just-call-out-my-name-sa-tuiseal-gairmeach-of-course-in-irish-pt-1\/","title":{"rendered":"You Just Call Out My Name (sa Tuiseal Gairmeach, of course, in Irish) (Pt. 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

“Dia duit, a Mham!”<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

“Dia ‘s Muire duit, a Sh\u00e9amais!”<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Dia duit, a<\/strong> …” — hmm, what’s next, after “hello”?\u00a0 We could ask the same question for “Sl\u00e1n agat, a (ainm duine),<\/strong>” when saying “goodbye”!\u00a0\u00a0 In most other languages I’ve studied, once you learn the words for “hello” and “goodbye,” putting people’s names into the phrase presents no particular challenge.\u00a0 That is, at least on a first-name basis, where we’re usually not concerned with honorifics and titles.\u00a0 However, in Irish I’d say about 75% of the personal names in use undergo a change for direct address.\u00a0 This form of the name is known as the “vocative” (or “calling”) case,” or in Irish, “an tuiseal gairmeach<\/strong>” [un TISH-ul GARzh-um-ukh, note that the last word has three syllables].<\/p>\n

Before we go on, I’d just like to note the exceptions to the generalization above, about the other languages I’ve studied.\u00a0 Scottish Gaelic works a lot like Irish, as does Manx, though I wouldn’t really say I’ve studied Manx as such.\u00a0 I can understand it fairly well, since it’s so much like Irish and Gaelic.\u00a0 Welsh still shows some use of a vocative, but it’s mostly restricted now to certain widely-used words, like “fab<\/em>” (son), or “fam<\/em>” (mother), or “Dduw<\/em>” (God).\u00a0 I understand that there is some use of the vocative in Cornish and that it is not present in modern Breton.\u00a0 So, overall, the vocative case is still fairly strong among the Celtic languages, especially on the “Goidelic” side.<\/p>\n

As for languages that I haven’t studied (and that includes approximately 5990 of the world’s 6000 or so languages), a goodly (but not big) number also have a vocative case, but as far as I know, none of these would show the vocative by initial consonant mutation, as is done in the Celtic languages.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead, they would add to or change the ending of the name, as in Latin, for example with “Br\u016btus”<\/em> becoming “Br\u016bte<\/em>” for Caesar’s famous “Et t\u016b, Br\u016bte<\/em>?”\u00a0 A few of the modern languages that do have a vocative case (and here’s a little Irish work-out) include Alb\u00e1nais, Bulg\u00e1iris, Liotu\u00e1inis, Seicis, Seirbis<\/strong>, and \u00dacr\u00e1inis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In Irish, the vocative case is always preceded by the “vocative particle,” which is simply the letter “a<\/strong>,” pronounced “uh” here.\u00a0 You’ve probably already encountered the vocative particle, in disguise, in the girl’s name “Alanna,” which comes from “a<\/strong>” (vocative particle) plus “leanbh<\/strong>” (child, pronounced “LYAN-uh” or “LYAN-uv”). \u00a0You can see an p\u00e1irteagal gairmeach<\/strong> in the captions I wrote for the two pictures above, showing James McNeill Whistler and his mother: “a Mham<\/strong>” and “a Sh\u00e9amais<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The most recent blog included a few examples of vocatives, shown here with some of the hello\/goodbye phrases:<\/p>\n

“a Sh\u00e9amais” <\/strong>[uh HAY-mish], “Dia duit, a Sh\u00e9amais.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

“a She\u00e1in” <\/strong>[uh HyOY-in, that “hy” is like the “h” in “human” or “Hugh,” not like “hoo,” “who,” or “whom”], “Sl\u00e1n leat, a She\u00e1in.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Shin\u00e9ad” <\/strong>[uh HIN-ayd], “Dia dhuit, a Shin\u00e9ad.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Shiobh\u00e1n” <\/strong>[uh HyUV-awn, “hy” as above],\u00a0 “Sl\u00e1n agat, a Shiobh\u00e1n.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

Clearly, those four examples all start with the same letter (“s”). \u00a0Before we look at examples with other initial consonants, let’s look at some examples that don’t change at all for the vocative case.\u00a0 These are basically “p\u00edosa c\u00edste<\/strong>,” as might be said in English.\u00a0 No change = simpl\u00ed<\/strong>!\u00a0 Some of the patterns for these exceptions are:<\/p>\n

a) names beginning and ending in a vowel: a Aoife, a \u00dana, a Eochaidh, a \u00c9anna, a Antaine<\/strong><\/p>\n

b) names beginning with “l,” “n,” or “r,” and ending in a vowel: a Lile, a N\u00f3ra, a Nuala, a Ruair\u00ed<\/strong> (NB: some speakers, mostly elderly at this point, might have a slight change in the pronunciation of the “l” or “n” , here, but it’s not indicated in writing)<\/p>\n

c) some men’s names starting with vowels or “l,” “n,” or “r,” that are borrowed from other languages : a Liam, a \u00cdos\u00f3g, a Uileag<\/strong> (Ulick or Ulysses), and,<\/p>\n

d) a lot of Old Testament names, even ones that end in consonants that, in theory, could have a vocative ending: “a I\u00f3b”<\/strong> and “a Nab\u00facadnazar<\/strong>.”\u00a0 In fact, most of the Old Testament names \u00a0that I’ve checked out don’t have case endings.\u00a0 Not that you’re likely to meet anyone named “Job” or “Nebuchadnezzar,” at least not sa Ghaeltacht.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now for those eight other consonants (b, c, d, f, g, m, p, t), since we just did “s” (above).\u00a0 They will get the “h” written in and a change in pronunciation as well.\u00a0 In other words, they get lenited (i.e. softened). \u00a0Examples include:<\/p>\n

“a Bheit\u00ed” <\/strong>[uh VET-chee], for “Beit\u00ed”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Chear\u00fail\u00edn” <\/strong>[uh HYAR-ool-inn], for “Cear\u00fail\u00edn”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Dhiarmaid” <\/strong>[uh YEER-mwidj], for “Diarmaid”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Fheilim\u00ed” <\/strong>[uh EL-im-ee, note the “fh” is completely silent], for “Feilim\u00ed”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Ghear\u00f3id\u00edn” <\/strong>[uh YAR-ohdj-een], for “Gear\u00f3id\u00edn”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Mhaiti\u00fa” <\/strong>[uh WATCH-oo], for “Maiti\u00fa”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Ph\u00e1draig” <\/strong>[uh FAW-drig OR uh FAWR-ig, depending on dialect], for “P\u00e1draig”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“a Thaidhg\u00edn”<\/strong> [uh HYG-yeen], for “Taidhg\u00edn<\/strong>.\u00a0 That’s a hard one to phoneticize but remember the “g” is “hard” (as in “girl”) since it comes from the name “Tadhg<\/strong>.”\u00a0 The “y” here stands for the “y” sound of English “my”, so “Tadhg<\/strong>” sounds like the first syllable of “tiger” and the vowel sound “-aidh<\/strong>-” is the same.\u00a0 “Tadhg<\/strong>” also sounds like the name of Buster Brown’s dog, though his was spelled “Tige.”\u00a0 An cuimhin le duine ar bith agaibh “Tige”?<\/strong>\u00a0 Tige, his owner Buster, and Buster’s sweetheart Mary Jane were mascots for the Buster Brown line of shoes.\u00a0 The Brown Shoe Company is still going strong, but I haven’t heard sc\u00e9ala ar bith<\/strong>\u00a0about Buster, Tige, or Mary Jane for a long time.\u00a0 An bhfuil siad f\u00f3s ina son\u00f3ga? \u00a0Nasc don fhreagra th\u00edos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You might have noticed that the eight examples above end either in vowels or “slender consonants” (as in Cear\u00fail\u00edn, Gear\u00f3id\u00edn<\/strong>, and Taidhg\u00edn<\/strong>).\u00a0 That’s because I’m saving the names that end in “broad consonants” for the next blog.\u00a0 Please stay tuned for that!\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

PS: As for “S\u00e9amas T\u00e1illi\u00fair<\/strong>,” whose song, “You’ve Got a Friend,” suggested the title for this blog, I’d love to have a chance to meet him in person, but since that dream comhr\u00e1<\/strong> would no doubt be i mB\u00e9arla<\/strong>, I doubt I’d have an opportunity to practice the tuiseal gairmeach Gaeilge<\/strong> on him.\u00a0 You never know though, James Taylor’s father’s background is largely Scottish (western North Carolina, and before that, Angus, Scotland), as outlined in Timothy White’s biography of him, Long Ago and Far Away<\/em> and as name-dropped in Patrick O’Brian’s The<\/em> Wine-dark Sea<\/em> (in O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series).\u00a0 Fiosrach faoi sin?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach sa leabhar<\/strong> (Look inside the Book) ag <\/strong>http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B002UPVVQA\/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, who knows?\u00a0 With Taylor’s family history and the influence of Irish and Scottish songs on his writing and repertoire, maybe he will take up learning Irish.\u00a0 B’iontach sin!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And just to recap, the vocative for “S\u00e9amas<\/strong>” (James) in Irish would be “a Sh\u00e9amais<\/strong>!” [uh HAY-mish].\u00a0 Remember that the first ‘s’ is now silent and the second one is pronounced as in ‘wish” or “fish.”\u00a0 If that pronunciation guide strikes you as remarkably similar to the Scottish forename “Hamish,” it’s no coincidence.\u00a0 “Hamish,” also pronounced “HAY-mish,” is based on the vocative of “Seumas”<\/em>, the usual spelling of the name anns a’ Gh\u00e0idhlig<\/em> (in Scottish Gaelic).<\/p>\n

So if we were to speak Irish with any of the current crop of well-known Hamishes, “a Sh\u00e9amais<\/strong>” would sound just right.\u00a0 And that would include Hamish Clark (Monarch of the Glen<\/em>) and Hamish Linklater (The New Adventures of Old Christine<\/em>), among others.\u00a0 In the fiction realm, there’s detective Hamish Macbeth in the M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney) novels.\u00a0 Time-travel permitting, it would be an honor to chat with one of our Gaelic-speaking “Hamish” forebears, Hamish Scott Henderson (Seumas MacEanraig (1919-2002, poet, songwriter, festival organizer, and field guide for American folksong collector, Alan Lomax).\u00a0 If we want to go with middle names, we could add Holmes’ companion, Dr. John H(amish) Watson, as shown, admittedly extra-canonically in “A Scandal in Belgravia” (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=snKVUcijZvQ<\/a>),\u00a0\u00a0 Hmmm, maybe I should say, “Dia daoibh, a Sh\u00e9amais agus a Sh\u00e9amais<\/strong> agus <\/strong>a Sheumais agus a Sheumais agus a Yamys<\/em>.”\u00a0 \u00da\u00faps,<\/strong> that last one is Manx!<\/p>\n

PPS:\u00a0 Sc\u00e9al Buster Brown<\/strong>?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach anseo<\/strong>: http:\/\/www.brownshoe.com\/history\/bb-1902.asp<\/a> n\u00f3<\/strong> http:\/\/www.straightdope.com\/columns\/read\/2839\/whatever-happened-to-buster-brown-shoes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)   “Dia duit, a …” — hmm, what’s next, after “hello”?\u00a0 We could ask the same question for “Sl\u00e1n agat, a (ainm duine),” when saying “goodbye”!\u00a0\u00a0 In most other languages I’ve studied, once you learn the words for “hello” and “goodbye,” putting people’s names into the phrase presents no particular challenge.\u00a0 That is…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[289857,289880,289858,289881,289863,289882,289868,289855,289873,289872,289884,289887,4761,273425,273424,172902,7407,5302,289885,289888,289849,2175,2195,5687,289866,289878,289861,289870,98,5873,5878,5994,289876,289877,289869,289859,289860,289867,289851,289875,6724,289825,289853,289854,289856,289886,289889,289883,289874,289862,255563,3895,289852,7278,289879,289871,289865,289864],"class_list":["post-4081","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-a-iob","tag-a-mham","tag-a-nabucadnazar","tag-a-sheamais","tag-angus","tag-arrangement-in-grey-and-black","tag-aubrey","tag-broad","tag-brown-shoes","tag-buster-brown","tag-cearuilin","tag-chearuilin","tag-consonant","tag-dia-dhuit","tag-dia-duit","tag-direct-address","tag-first-names","tag-gaelic","tag-gearoidin","tag-ghearoidin","tag-given-names","tag-goodbye","tag-hello","tag-irish-names","tag-isaac-montrose-taylor","tag-james-mcneill-whistler","tag-james-taylor","tag-jamys","tag-job","tag-lenite","tag-lenition","tag-manx","tag-mary-jane","tag-mascot","tag-maturin","tag-nabucadnazar","tag-nebuchadnessar","tag-patrick-obrian","tag-personal-names","tag-pit-bull-terrier","tag-scottish","tag-slan","tag-slan-agat","tag-slan-leat","tag-slender","tag-taidhgin","tag-thaidhgin","tag-the-artists-mother","tag-tige","tag-timothy-white","tag-tuiseal-gairmeach","tag-vocative","tag-vocative-case","tag-vowel","tag-whistlers-mother","tag-yamys","tag-you-just-call-out-my-name","tag-youve-got-a-friend"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081","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=4081"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6299,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions\/6299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}