(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/p>\n
Lately I’ve been wondering if there’s a good Irish equivalent for the English expression, “to put your foot in your mouth.”\u00a0\u00a0 The main ingredients are straight forward enough.\u00a0 The usual word for “foot” is “cos<\/strong>,” although that can also mean “leg,” which could suggest that one is even more of a “freang\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” than the original expression “foot-in-mouth”\u00a0 suggests.\u00a0 The standard word for “mouth” is “b\u00e9al<\/strong>.”\u00a0 But I’ve never seen an Irish expression that uses these elements to suggest the verbal gaffes to which we are all prone, even in high places (like the classic response “A pissometer?” to being shown a piezo-meter water gauge).\u00a0 C\u00e9 a d\u00fairt \u00e9 sin?\u00a0 Go ahead, just Google it.\u00a0 It’s a classic!<\/p>\n Of course, come to think of it, the Irish for a “piezo-meter” gets even closer to the misinterpretation–it’s “p\u00edsim\u00e9adar<\/strong>.”\u00a0\u00a0 For pronunciation, I’d just note that the first “i” is long, so the pronunciation is “PEESH-ih-MAYD-ur.”\u00a0 Anyway, a lot of cases of “foot-in-mouth” disease are much more benign, and certainly much less publicized.\u00a0 Given the number of words that sound alike in many languages, it’s not surprising if people hear one thing when someone has said something else.\u00a0 There are many famous examples of misheard lyrics (aka musical “mondegreens”), ranging from “Gladly, The Cross-Eyed Bear” to “She’s Got a Chicken to Ride.”\u00a0 But what if someone asks you something that sounds like ” kayn-ahd” In Irish?<\/p>\n This phrase can be especially challenging if the question is simply asked as a phrase, without an actual subject, verb, or object.\u00a0\u00a0 Many people will recognize that it’s either “C\u00e9n \u00e1it<\/strong>?” (What place? Where?) or “C\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>?” ([kayn ahd] How long?–remember the “fh” is silent).\u00a0 In my experience most people settle for “c\u00e9n \u00e1it<\/strong>” (what place?, where?), and answer accordingly, regardless of which question was actually asked.<\/p>\n Let’s look at the role of pronunciation here.\u00a0 In theory, at least, the “slender t” sound of “\u00e1it<\/strong>” should come through clearly, but for some speakers it’s clearer than for others.\u00a0 The sound approximates the English cluster “-tch” but keeping more of the “t” and not simply settling for the “ch” of “church” or “child.”<\/p>\n In practice, however, it happens often enough that someone asks “C\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>?” (How long?) and gets a place name as an answer, like, for example “i mBost\u00fan<\/strong>” or “Baile \u00c1tha Cliath<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n My own solution to this problem has been to ask people “C\u00e9 chomh fada<\/strong>?” for “How long?”\u00a0 It’s a perfectly legitimate alternate to “C\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>?” and seems to cause less ambiguity.\u00a0 Of course some people ask “C\u00e1 fhad<\/strong>?” for “How long?”, and often give the “fhad<\/strong>” [normally pronounced “ahd”] an actual “h” sound [kaw hahd], which doesn’t help matters, especially since some people say “C\u00e1 h\u00e1it<\/strong>?” [kaw hawtch] for “Where?” (What place?).<\/p>\n What’s my bottom line solution to this dilemma, especially for learners?\u00a0 Repeat the question you think you’ve been asked.\u00a0 This is actually done often enough in English, as in, for example:<\/p>\n A: What time does the train leave?<\/em><\/p>\n B: What time? (probably with extra rising intonation).\u00a0 At four o’clock, I think.<\/em><\/p>\n So in Irish we could have:<\/p>\n A: Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ar saoire sa Fhrainc.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n B: C\u00e9n fhad?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A: C\u00e9n fhad?<\/strong><\/em> (repeating the question but not answering it)<\/p>\n B: ‘Sea.<\/strong><\/em> (at this point, B might even restate the question to help out A, when it becomes clear that A is a learner).\u00a0 C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad seachtain?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A: \u00c1, tuigim anois, coic\u00eds.\u00a0 Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ansin ar feadh coic\u00edse.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In a slightly different scenario, B might simply repeat “c\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>” or might try “c\u00e9 chomh fada<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Of course, if one is living in a small Irish-speaking community, misunderstandings like this are not likely to occur.\u00a0 It’s mostly when people from different places around the world have gathered together for an Irish language event.<\/p>\n As for my own linguistic gaffes, the most unforgettable one for me, and probably for my interlocutor at the time, was actually in Welsh.\u00a0 I mixed up “arlywydd<\/em>” and “arglwydd<\/em>.”\u00a0 I knew I couldn’t remember which was which, although I could always interpret them in context. \u00a0So I was talking about an American president, which should have been “arlywydd<\/em>,” and called him “arglwydd<\/em>,” which actually means “lord.”\u00a0 It probably came across as even funnier in a place like Britain where there plenty of people who really are lords.\u00a0 C\u00e9n t-uachtar\u00e1n a deir t\u00fa?\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, my lips are sealed.\u00a0 But it was a good few years ago.\u00a0 That gaffe, at least, wouldn’t be likely to happen in Irish, where the words for “president” (uachtar\u00e1n<\/strong>) and “lord” (tiarna<\/strong>) are quite distinct.<\/p>\n I was also a bit startled one time to realize that in Welsh, a word that I was quite accustomed to using, “rhyw<\/em>,” means not only “sort,” “kind,” “some,” and “certain,” but also “sex” and “gender.”\u00a0 I’ve wondered, in retrospect, what some of my earliest Welsh may have sounded like.\u00a0 Hopefully context clarified everything (rhywle, rhywbeth, rhywun, rhywfaint, rhywfodd, vs. rhyw-wr<\/em>, etc.).\u00a0 If not, my interlocutors were too kind to let me know.<\/p>\n The bottom line for Irish?\u00a0 There are two ways (at least) to ask “which place” (where) in Irish: “c\u00e9n \u00e1it<\/strong>” and “c\u00e1 h\u00e1it<\/strong>.”\u00a0 There are also at least two variations for “what length” (how long): “c\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>” and “c\u00e1 fhad<\/strong>.”\u00a0 “C\u00e9n \u00e1it<\/strong>” may sound like “C\u00e9n fhad<\/strong>” (because the “fh” is silent) and “c\u00e1 h\u00e1it<\/strong>” may sound like “c\u00e1 fhad<\/strong>.” \u00a0One solution–repeat the question back for clarification.\u00a0 The phrase may be clearer a second time or your conversation partner may use another phrase that will clarify what they really want to know.\u00a0\u00a0 Eventually it all sinks in.\u00a0 Ach glacann s\u00e9 am.\u00a0 De r\u00e9ir a ch\u00e9ile a th\u00f3gtar na caisle\u00e1in<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Which is basically the Irish equivalent of “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” although, as you can see, the word “Rome” (An R\u00f3imh<\/strong>) isn’t mentioned. \u00a0\u00a0Bhuel, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00c1dh m\u00f3r oraibh!\u00a0 — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n P.S. as for “foot-in-mouth” disease, if you know a traditional Irish equivalent, please write in and let us know.\u00a0 It may just be one of those untranslatable idioms, which, if translated literally, fall sort of flat.<\/p>\n Gluais: freang\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, contortionist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Lately I’ve been wondering if there’s a good Irish equivalent for the English expression, “to put your foot in your mouth.”\u00a0\u00a0 The main ingredients are straight forward enough.\u00a0 The usual word for “foot” is “cos,” although that can also mean “leg,” which could suggest that one is even more of a “freang\u00e1la\u00ed” than…<\/p>\n