{"id":4422,"date":"2013-09-19T18:59:02","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T18:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4422"},"modified":"2020-03-08T23:53:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T23:53:08","slug":"seamus-heaney-and-the-irish-language-cuid-a-do-as-tri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/seamus-heaney-and-the-irish-language-cuid-a-do-as-tri\/","title":{"rendered":"Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a D\u00f3 as Tr\u00ed)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In the last blog we looked at the Irish titles of two of Heaney’s poems, “Aisling<\/strong>” (Dream\/Vision) and “Maighdean Mara<\/strong>” (Mermaid\/Sea-maiden).\u00a0 This time we’ll look at a poem which is inspired by some Irish Gaelic words but which doesn’t actually include them in the text.\u00a0 So, by reading this blog, you’ll not only get a little more background on Heaney’s work and “wordscape” approach, but you’ll learn the Irish words for “goat” and “snipe,” and a few more to boot (“frost,” “strange,” “night,” “air,” etc.).<\/p>\n

So how do “goat” and “snipe” come together?\u00a0 It’s the Irish idiom.\u00a0 Although there is a basic word for “snipe,” namely “naoscach<\/strong>,” there are also several folk expressions for the bird, especially the male.\u00a0 Why the male?\u00a0 N\u00edl a fhios agam–cuir ceist ar na h\u00e9aneolaithe!<\/strong><\/p>\n

gabhair\u00edn reo<\/strong>, male snipe, jack-snipe, literally, “little goat of (the) frost”<\/p>\n

gabhar reo<\/strong>, male snipe, more or less as above, literally, “goat of the frost”<\/p>\n

gabhar deorach<\/strong>, male snipe, literally, “strange goat, wandering goat” (cf. deora\u00ed<\/strong>, m, a stranger, a wanderer)<\/p>\n

gabhar o\u00edche<\/strong>, jack-snipe, literally “goat of (the) night”<\/p>\n

meann\u00e1n aeir<\/strong>, male snipe, literally, kid of (the) air (that’s “kid” as in “young goat”)<\/p>\n

meann\u00e1n aerach<\/strong>, male snipe, literally, “airy, light-hearted, lively or frolicsome kid” (of course, most kids are frolicsome, or shall we say “capricious,” which derives from the Latin “caper<\/em>,” a goat)<\/p>\n

Well, that lays it out for you.\u00a0 Goats and snipes intrinsically connected.<\/p>\n

Chances are you’ll find the words for “goat” (gabhar<\/strong>) and “kid” (meann\u00e1n<\/strong>) relatively more useful than “snipe,” unless you’re actually involved in “naoscaireacht<\/strong>,” but they’re all useful vocabulary words.\u00a0\u00a0 The adjective “naoscach<\/strong>,” in addition to its basic meaning (“abounding in snipe”), can be used to describe someone who, like the bird, is easily startled or jumpy.\u00a0 So the applications possibly go far beyond the birds themselves.<\/p>\n

And how does all this relate to Heaney?<\/p>\n

In his “The Backward Look” (Wintering Out<\/em>, 1972), Heaney refers to whirring transliterations while discussing dialects and variants.\u00a0 In italics (indicating “foreign” words), he refers to\u00a0 the “little goat of the air, of the evening, \/ little goat of the frost<\/em>” but he doesn’t actually print the Irish words.\u00a0 In fact, many readers might not make the connection to the bird at all, although Heaney’s reference to “a snipe’s bleat” is a clue (to hear the sound, click http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Gallinago_gallinago.ogg<\/a>). \u00a0In my edition of Wintering Out<\/em>, part of the Collected Poems 1965-1975<\/em> anthology, there are no explanatory notes for these phrases.<\/p>\n

And why does Heaney pick these “goat\/kid” phrases to illustrate his point?\u00a0 I assume it’s because they illustrate the gradual decline of the finer points of the language, as words, in disuse, disappear “… among the gleanings and leavings in the combs of a fieldworker’s archive,” as he says in the last stanza of the poem.\u00a0 The more modern, streamlined approach to animal names is usually to pick a single, more “scientific” word like “naoscach<\/strong>.”\u00a0 These forms, when they exist, are usually chosen for zoological taxonomy.\u00a0 For example, the “Great Snipe” (Gallinago media<\/em>) is “naoscach mh\u00f3r<\/strong>,” not “gabhair\u00edn reo m\u00f3r<\/strong>” (lit. “big little goat of frost”), which, admittedly, seems the more practical choice.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Similarly, while Irish has two words for “fox,” (“sionnach<\/strong>” and “madra rua<\/strong>“), only “sionnach<\/strong> is used for the different species names (sionnach Artach, sionnach Bheang\u00e1l<\/strong>, etc.).\u00a0 Another practical choice, since not all of these foxes are “rua<\/strong>” (red).\u00a0 Likewise, most wolf species are based on “faolch\u00fa<\/strong>” (wolf, wild dog) not “mac t\u00edre<\/strong>” (wolf), which, picturesquely means “son of the land.”\u00a0 Examples include “faolch\u00fa Aet\u00f3pach<\/strong>” and “faolch\u00fa na Tasm\u00e1ine<\/strong>,” although we do see “mac t\u00edre Eorpach<\/strong>” (European wolf).<\/p>\n

And returning to the snipes themselves, yes, there is a connection between “snipe,” the bird, and “sniper,” a sharp-shooter, in Irish as well as in English.\u00a0 In the wild, snipes are difficult to shoot due to their camouflage and, when airborne, their erratic pattern of flight.\u00a0 “Sniper” originally meant someone who hunted snipes, a challenging target, and eventually came to mean an anti-personnel sharpshooter as well.\u00a0 In Irish, a “naoscaire<\/strong>” can be either a military sniper or a person who hunts snipes.\u00a0 A military sniper can also be a “sn\u00edp\u00e9ir<\/strong>,\u00b4 a word which simply brings us full circle–snipe (bird) sniper (hunter) sn\u00edp\u00e9ir<\/strong> (gaelicization of the English).<\/p>\n

There’s also one aspect of this discussion that’s a little unclear to me.\u00a0 While “jack” is often used for the male of a species, there is also a specific species of bird called “jack-snipe,” which presumably has males and females.\u00a0 But straightening that out, distinguishing the female jack-snipe from the male jack-snipe, is a bit beyond my ken.\u00a0 F\u00e1ilte roimh eolas breise \u00f3 \u00e9aneola\u00ed ar bith ar an liosta!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And just to slightly confound the issue, in the United States, snipes are not that widely found.\u00a0 In fact, children or “city-slickers” may believe they don’t really exist.\u00a0 Like “brass magnets,” “cans of steam” or “sky-hooks,” at least pre-Star Wars “sky-hooks,” snipes can be used as a theme for “newbie” pranks.\u00a0 It’s a typical on Scout camping trips to wake up the uninitiated in the middle of the night, say that this is best time to go on a “snipe hunt,” and then lead them, fruitlessly, on what might best be called a “wild goose chase.”\u00a0 But this is straying far from Heaney’s intention in musing over snipes, goats, and language failure.\u00a0 This blog is at least one small attempt to make the words he highlighted airborne once again. \u00a0SGF- R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

btw, I originally wrote this blog using “snipe” as the plural, as well as the singular (much like the situation with “fish” (plural) and “fishes” (plural) in English.\u00a0 But the more I read about snipe(s), the more I saw the “-s” ending, so eventually I changed all the plurals in the blog to “snipes.”\u00a0 But if any readers have any insight into the predominant usage, especially among actual “naoscair\u00ed<\/strong>,” I’d be glad to hear it and happy to change this blog back to “snipe” (singular) and “snipe” (plural).<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta maidir le taifeadadh na naosca\u00ed: Thaifead\u00a0Vladimir Yu. Arkhipov,\u00a0\u00e9aneola\u00ed\u00a0\u00f3n R\u00fais, an fhuaim i\u00a0Chukotka, An R\u00fais,\u00a0agus phost\u00e1il s\u00e9 i gC\u00f3mhaoin Wikimedia\u00a0\u00e9. \u00a0Go raibh maith agat, a Vladimir!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc:<\/strong><\/p>\n

S\u00e9amus \u00d3 h\u00c9ana\u00ed \/ Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 6, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Ag Caint faoi Heaney, a shaol agus a bh\u00e1s (i nGaeilge) agus gluais<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 11, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a hAon as \u2018N\u2019Fheadar\u2019)<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 15, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a D\u00f3 as Tr\u00ed)<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 19, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a Tr\u00ed as Tr\u00ed)<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Sep 22, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the last blog we looked at the Irish titles of two of Heaney’s poems, “Aisling” (Dream\/Vision) and “Maighdean Mara” (Mermaid\/Sea-maiden).\u00a0 This time we’ll look at a poem which is inspired by some Irish Gaelic words but which doesn’t actually include them in the text.\u00a0 So, by reading this blog, you’ll not only…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[298434,273192,229868,298433,298352,229866,298431,298432,298430,298414],"class_list":["post-4422","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-faolchu","tag-gabhar","tag-madra-rua","tag-meannan","tag-seamus-heaney","tag-sionnach","tag-snipe","tag-snipes","tag-the-backward-look","tag-wintering-out"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t