{"id":4204,"date":"2013-06-27T19:52:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T19:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2013-07-11T12:42:08","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T12:42:08","slug":"an-ean-e-an-reiptil-e-an-dineasar-e-bhuel-ni-hea-sea-agus-ni-hea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-ean-e-an-reiptil-e-an-dineasar-e-bhuel-ni-hea-sea-agus-ni-hea\/","title":{"rendered":"An \u00c9an \u00c9? An Reipt\u00edl \u00c9? An Dineas\u00e1r \u00c9? Bhuel, N\u00ed Hea, ‘Sea, agus N\u00ed Hea"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

An "teireadachtalach" n\u00f3 "tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n" m\u00e9?<\/p><\/div>\n

So, no sooner do I finish ploughing through examples of the word for “teireadachtalach<\/strong>” (pterodactyl) in umpteen languages, as reported in the last blog (nasc 1<\/strong> th\u00edos)<\/strong>\u00a0than I come across the following statement on About.com (nasc 2 th\u00edos<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

“There’s no such thing as a pterodactyl.”<\/p>\n

So doing a little more taighde<\/strong> online, I find that the situation is much more casta<\/strong> than I had imagined.\u00a0 Although I’m far from being a pail\u00e9-ointeola\u00ed<\/strong>, I did come away with a few takeaway points.<\/p>\n

1. N\u00edl a leith\u00e9id is “teireadachtalach” ann ach is ainm \u00e9 sin at\u00e1 i mb\u00e9al na ndaoine<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Go minic, is \u00e9 an “tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n” at\u00e1 i gceist nuair a deir daoine “teireadachtalach,” ach t\u00e1 a l\u00e1n cine\u00e1lacha eile de theireas\u00e1ir ann freisin <\/strong><\/p>\n

3. N\u00edl cleit\u00ed ag an tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n agus mar sin n\u00ed \u00e9an \u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. N\u00ed dineas\u00e1r \u00e9 an tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n; is teireas\u00e1r \u00e9 agus is reipt\u00edl \u00e9.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultimately, my main goal here is to present some of the Irish terms used in discussing these winged creatures, not to have the last word on what creature is akin to what, which sometimes not even the pail\u00e9-ointeolaithe iad f\u00e9in<\/strong> agree on.\u00a0 And, as noted in the last blog, another goal is to see how various words get adapted into Irish, especially when they already come loaded with silent letters, given that Irish is a language renowned for its own generous share of litreacha ci\u00faine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The point that surprised me the most was No. 1: N\u00edl a leith\u00e9id is “teireadachtalach” ann ach is ainm \u00e9 sin at\u00e1 i mb\u00e9al na ndaoine.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I suppose that if I had ever paid more attention when watching Dinosaur Train<\/em>, one of my favorite PBS kids’ TV shows, I would have noticed more specifically that they don’t refer to pterodactyls but to pteranodons.\u00a0 I guess I was so busy enjoying the show, and especially the very memorable line from its theme-song, “What am I doin’ in a pteranodon nest?,” that I didn’t pay that much attention to the mionruda\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you haven’t seen the show, that line is sung by a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex (“Buddy”), who, like the original lach\u00edn ghr\u00e1nna<\/strong>, is raised by ucht-tuismitheoir\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0Buddy fares much better than Andersen’s “Ugly Duckling,” though.\u00a0 He’s warmly welcomed into his pteranodon family and is really the star of the show. \u00a0\u00a0And yes, for you grammar hawks, the noun “lach\u00edn<\/strong>” (duckling) is feminine even with the “-\u00edn” ending, so “gr\u00e1nna<\/strong>” (ugly) is lenited.<\/p>\n

As Traein na nDineas\u00e1r<\/em><\/strong>, this show has an Irish website (http:\/\/www.tg4.ie\/dinosaurtrain\/videos\/index.html<\/a> , but you can’t watch the videos directly on it (go to http:\/\/www.tg4.ie\/en\/programmes\/cula4-na-nog\/programmes\/dinosaur-train.html<\/a> for the shows).\u00a0 \u00a0Be advised, though, that you can’t always get TG4 shows outside Ireland.\u00a0 But you can at least hear the t\u00e9amamhr\u00e1n<\/strong> and play the cluich\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 “Cad t\u00e1 a dh\u00e9ana’ ‘gam i nead tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n?”\u00a0 Mh’anam!<\/strong><\/p>\n

So all that effort in the last blog to write about something “nach bhfuil ann<\/strong>“!\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, at least all the other languages I looked into also have a word for pterodactyls, even if they (pterodacytls, not the languages!) don’t exist.\u00a0 And, at any rate, I take some comfort in harkening back to a comment that poet Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill wrote back in her now-classic essay “Why I Choose to Write in Irish: The Corpse That Sits Up and Talks Back” (New York Times<\/em>, 8 Ean\u00e1ir<\/strong> 1995).\u00a0 She described doing some research in the Department of Folklore at University College, Dublin, where she found an index entitled “Neacha Neamhbheo agus Nithe Nach Bhfuil Ann<\/strong>” (Unalive beings and things that don’t exist). \u00a0So if the Department of Folklore and Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill’s voluminous body of work can deal with “Nithe Nach Bhfuil Ann<\/strong>,” I guess we can have at least one blog on the subject as well, even if the “non-existence ” aspect of it has more to due with b\u00e9arlagair na bpail\u00e9-ointeolaithe vs. an t\u00e9arma at\u00e1 i mb\u00e9al na ndaoine<\/strong>, and less to do with the real\/surreal\/magically real\u00a0 trichotomy presented by N\u00ed Dhomhnaill’s work.<\/p>\n

To wrap up, here’s a little practice using the word “tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/strong>.”\u00a0 It’s a first-declension noun, so it’s masculine and follows the same pattern as works like “b\u00e1d<\/strong>” and “cup\u00e1n<\/strong>” (an b\u00e1d, an bh\u00e1id, na b\u00e1id, na mb\u00e1d; an cup\u00e1n, an chup\u00e1in, na cup\u00e1in, na gcup\u00e1n<\/strong>).\u00a0 But watch out though–it doesn’t follow the exact same pattern as “r\u00f3n<\/strong>” (seal) \u00a0or “l\u00f3n<\/strong>” (lunch) which also happen to be first-declension masculine and which would appear to have the same ending.<\/p>\n

an tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/strong>, the pteranodon<\/p>\n

ceann an tearan\u00f3d\u00f3in<\/strong>, the head of the pteranodon<\/p>\n

na tearan\u00f3d\u00f3in<\/strong>, the pteranodons<\/p>\n

nead na dtearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/strong>, the nest of the pteranodons (NB: this is definite, a specific nest)<\/p>\n

NB (the indefinite forms): nead tearan\u00f3d\u00f3in<\/strong>, a pteranodon’s nest (singular); nead tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/strong>, a pteranodons’ nest (plural); I’m not quite sure which the theme-song implies so I made it plural in the quote earlier in this blog.\u00a0 Bhur mbar\u00falacha<\/strong>?\u00a0 Or does anyone have the official written lyrics in Irish?\u00a0 Uatha n\u00f3 Iolra<\/strong>?\u00a0 Another plug for the careful use of the uaschama<\/strong>, at least for the foirmeacha sealbhacha<\/strong> in English!<\/p>\n

How do the forms for “tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/strong>” differ from “r\u00f3n<\/strong>” and “l\u00f3n<\/strong>“?\u00a0 They have completely different plurals:\u00a0an r\u00f3n<\/strong>, the seal; na r\u00f3nta<\/strong>, the seals;\u00a0an l\u00f3n<\/strong>, the lunch; na l\u00f3nta<\/strong>, the lunches<\/p>\n

As you can see, the plural ending for “r\u00f3n<\/strong>” and “l\u00f3n<\/strong>” is formed by adding a “-ta” suffix instead of inserting the letter “-i-.” \u00a0So, don’t be misled by the apparent similarity of the endings in the root form.\u00a0 Perhaps this is a situation where we could say, “N\u00ed aithn\u00edonn iarmh\u00edr iarmh\u00edr eile<\/strong>” (“One suffix doesn’t recognize another suffix,” to paraphrase and<\/em> contradict the well-known seanfhocal, “Aithn\u00edonn ciar\u00f3g ciar\u00f3g eile”<\/strong>).\u00a0 <\/strong>On that paremiological note, sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill<\/strong> and don’t blanketly assume that a pteranodon is a dinosaur, according to the saineolaithe<\/strong>, even if almost every dinosaur book, display, and TV program includes them.\u00a0 – R\u00f3isl\u00edn \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Nasc don bhlag eile faoin teireadachtalach: <\/strong>https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/the-case-of-the-missing-p-or-o-tharmachan-irish-go-ptarmigan-english\/<\/a>; <\/strong><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0Nasc don alt ar About.com: <\/strong>http:\/\/dinosaurs.about.com\/od\/dinosaurbasics\/a\/pterodactyl-facts.htm<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Focal Scoir: N\u00ed teireadachtalach m\u00e9 mar n\u00edl a leith\u00e9id ann. N\u00ed nach bhfuil ann at\u00e1 sa teirea-dachtalach. Mar sin, le r\u00e9as\u00fana\u00ed-ocht dh\u00e9aducht-ach, is tearan-\u00f3d\u00f3n m\u00e9. N\u00ed \u00e9an m\u00e9 & n\u00ed dineas\u00e1r m\u00e9 ach is teirea-s\u00e1r & reipt\u00edl m\u00e9.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) So, no sooner do I finish ploughing through examples of the word for “teireadachtalach” (pterodactyl) in umpteen languages, as reported in the last blog (nasc 1 th\u00edos)\u00a0than I come across the following statement on About.com (nasc 2 th\u00edos): “There’s no such thing as a pterodactyl.” So doing a little more taighde online, I…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[31977,290072,290060,290063,290062,290037,290069,290071,6741,290059,290058,290061,290073],"class_list":["post-4204","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-aithnionn-ciarog-ciarog-eile","tag-buddy","tag-dineasair","tag-dinosaur-train","tag-pteranodons-nests","tag-pterodactyl","tag-reiptil","tag-reiptili","tag-seanfhocal","tag-tearanodoin","tag-teireadachtalaigh","tag-teireasair","tag-traein-na-ndineasar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204","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=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4208,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions\/4208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}