{"id":4455,"date":"2013-09-30T17:28:38","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T17:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2015-09-28T06:44:22","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T06:44:22","slug":"how-to-say-tweet-and-twitter-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-say-tweet-and-twitter-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Say ‘Tweet’ and ‘Twitter’ in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Remember when “tweets” and “twittering” mostly referred to birds, especially the “spideog<\/strong>” or the “sm\u00f3lach imirce<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Or perhaps the sound of “caint eachtardhomhandach<\/strong>” (the speech of extra-terrestrials) as in H. G. Wells’ insect-like Selenites?\u00a0 You might recall that they made “a slight elusive twittering,” as observed by Messrs. Bedford and Cavor (The First Men in the Moon<\/em>, 1901).<\/p>\n

But today those usages are almost entirely superseded by “Tweet” and “Twitter” as aspects of social media, starting in 2006.\u00a0 So what’s the Irish for them?<\/p>\n

Well, if we jump back to \u00e9in, eachtardhomhandaigh<\/strong>, and the like, the words for a “tweet” included “giolcadh<\/strong>” [GyUL-kuh] and the onomatopoeic “b\u00edc<\/strong>” [beek] and “g\u00edog<\/strong>” [gyeeg].\u00a0 All of these could also mean a “chirp,” if talking about birds or extra-terrestrials. \u00a0There were (and still are) at least three choices for “to tweet,” regarding birds or extra-terrestrials:<\/p>\n

1) giolcadh<\/strong> (same as above but just a different part of speech)<\/p>\n

2) b\u00edc a ligean<\/strong>, lit. to let or release a tweet or chirp<\/p>\n

3) g\u00edog a ligean<\/strong>, lit. to let or release a tweet or chirp<\/p>\n

The new word of choice, though, the one that specifically refers to social media, is “tvu\u00edt<\/strong>” (pl: tvu\u00edteanna<\/strong>) for the noun and “tvu\u00edte\u00e1il<\/strong>” for the verb, as in:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag tvu\u00edte\u00e1il tvu\u00edte anois<\/strong> (I am tweeting a tweet now, lit. “I am at the tweeting of a tweet,” since we need the “of a” form, “tvu\u00edte”<\/strong> after “tvu\u00edte\u00e1il<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Tvu\u00edte\u00e1laim gach l\u00e1, <\/strong>I tweet every day.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00ed bh\u00edm ag tvu\u00edte\u00e1il go minic<\/strong>, I don’t tweet often (lit. I don’t be tweeting often).<\/p>\n

As for “my tweet,” “your tweet,” etc., there’s not much conclusive evidence on whatever the new usage will be.\u00a0 S\u00e9imhi\u00fa n\u00f3 gan s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>?\u00a0 It would either be “mo thvu\u00edt<\/strong>” (do thvu\u00edt, a thvu\u00edt<\/strong>, etc.) or the s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>\u00a0might be dropped, given that “tv” is already an unorthodox consonant cluster in Irish.<\/p>\n

As for “twitterer,” in Irish that would traditionally have been “giolcaire<\/strong>” (re: birds, etc.), not surprising given “giolcadh<\/strong>” (above) and “giolcaireacht<\/strong>,” a related form. \u00a0But today, the social media term is either “tvu\u00edte\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” [TVEETCH-awl-ee] or “tu\u00edte\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” [TWEETCH-awl-ee OR TEETCH-awl-ee] formed much like many other occupational terms, with the “-(e)\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” suffix.<\/p>\n

Oh dear, does that mean that tweeting has actually become an occupation?\u00a0 Well, not really, I suppose.\u00a0 The ending “-(e)\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” shows up a lot in Irish, both for occupations and simply to specify types of people, machines, or devices (t\u00f3g\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a builder; ardsc\u00f3r\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a top scorer; dorn\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a boxer; suite\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, an installer; tatu\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a tattooist; \u00fatam\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a mullocker; comhphr\u00f3ise\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a coprocessor).<\/p>\n

“T(v)u\u00edte\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” is also used for a “tweeter,” and here are its other forms, using the “tv-” consonant cluster, since that seems more consistent:<\/p>\n

an tvu\u00edte\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, the twitterer, the tweeter; this also means “of the twitterer” and “of the tweeter”<\/p>\n

tvu\u00edt an tvu\u00edte\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, the twitterer’s tweet, or the tweeter’s tweet<\/p>\n

na tvu\u00edte\u00e1laithe<\/strong>, the twitterers, the tweeters<\/p>\n

na dtvu\u00edte\u00e1laithe<\/strong> [nuh DVEETCH-awl-ih-huh], of the twitterers, of the tweeters (and yes, that’s a rare occurrence of the “dtv” cluster–mh’anam<\/strong>!–assuming ur\u00fa<\/strong> still applies)<\/p>\n

tvu\u00edteanna na dtvu\u00edte\u00e1laithe<\/strong>, the tweets of the twitterers, the tweets of the tweeters<\/p>\n

Now all we need to do is figure out how to say that somebody was in a “twitter-beef” with someone else.\u00a0\u00a0 Hmm, “beef,” literally, is “mairteoil<\/strong>,” but, unlike the English word, “mairteoil<\/strong>” really does just refer to meat.\u00a0 For the sense of “complaint” or “grumble,” we’d have to turn to words like “gear\u00e1n<\/strong>,” “casaoid<\/strong>,” or “cn\u00e1imhse\u00e1il<\/strong>.”\u00a0 I’ll go with “cn\u00e1imhse\u00e1il<\/strong>,” since it at least conjures up the image of a small “cn\u00e1mh<\/strong>” (bone).\u00a0\u00a0 So, how about, “T\u00e1 s\u00e9 i gcn\u00e1imhse\u00e1il tvu\u00edte\u00e1la leo<\/strong>” (lit. He is in a complaint of twittering with them)? \u00a0\u00a0Or “T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ag tvu\u00edt-chn\u00e1imhse\u00e1il leo<\/strong>” (lit. He is tweet-complaining to\/with them)?<\/p>\n

Hmm, does that mean we could have a “twitter-beef-bone” to pick with someone?\u00a0 Bhur mbar\u00falacha?\u00a0 \u00a0N\u00e1 habair nach teanga bheo \u00ed an Ghaeilge! SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta\u00ed: \u00a0“Spideog”<\/strong> is the Old World robin while “sm\u00f3lach imirce<\/strong>” is the New World robin (lit. thrush of migration). \u00a0“Eachtardhomhandach<\/strong>”\u00a0can mean either “an extra-terrestrial” or “of extra-terrestrials.” \u00a0“Seil\u00e9in\u00edt<\/strong>” is the Irish for “selenite,” the mineral, but so far I haven’t found any related Irish words for the inhabitants of the moon.\u00a0 Perhaps, like Wells, one might use the same word for the moon creatures (seil\u00e9in\u00edt<\/strong>, pl: seil\u00e9in\u00edt\u00ed<\/strong>) or one might add an ending “seil\u00e9in\u00edteach<\/strong>” (pl. seil\u00e9in\u00edtigh<\/strong>).\u00a0 Either way, seil\u00e9in\u00edt<\/strong>\u00a0is named for “Selene,” the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe I should just tweet her and find out her preferred usage.\u00a0 After all, if she is the “Gealach<\/strong>” (“moon” in Irish), she should be adept at matters “Gaelach<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Remember when “tweets” and “twittering” mostly referred to birds, especially the “spideog” or the “sm\u00f3lach imirce“?\u00a0 Or perhaps the sound of “caint eachtardhomhandach” (the speech of extra-terrestrials) as in H. G. Wells’ insect-like Selenites?\u00a0 You might recall that they made “a slight elusive twittering,” as observed by Messrs. Bedford and Cavor (The First…<\/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":[96397,298628,298629,298630,298631,298632,298633,298634,298635,111433,298636,298637,1938,298638,229631,298639,298641,298642,298643,298644,298645,298646,298647,298724,298648,298649,298650,298651,289831,285990,13369,290080,298654,298698,5285,5299,283519,298655,298656,298657,298658,298659,298660,2171,5437,298662,298663,298664,298665,298666,298667,298668,5667,111432,6054,2301,6108,298669,94610,298670,298671,6179,298672,298674,3007,298675,298676,298677,298678,298680,298679,298681,298682,298683,298684,6758,298685,298686,298687,298688,298689,2525,298691,150,298692,298693,298695,298694,298696,298697,298699,298700,298701,298702,298703,298704,298705,111296,298706,298707,298708,298709,298710,298711,298712,298713,298714,298673,298715,298716,10290,298718,298719,298720,298721,298722,298723,298725,165,298726],"class_list":["post-4455","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-uru","tag-298628","tag-a-lucht-na-dtvuiteanna","tag-a-thvuit","tag-a-twitter-beef-bone-to-pick","tag-ag-tvuiteail","tag-alien","tag-ardscoralai","tag-bedford","tag-beef","tag-bic","tag-bic-a-ligean","tag-bird","tag-bone","tag-boxer","tag-builder","tag-casaoid","tag-cavor","tag-chirp","tag-cnaimhseail","tag-cnamh","tag-comhphroisealai","tag-complaint","tag-consonant-cluster","tag-coprocessor","tag-creature","tag-do-thvuit","tag-dornalai","tag-eachtardhomhandach","tag-eachtardhomhandaigh","tag-ealai","tag-ein","tag-extra-terrestrial","tag-first-men-in-the-moon","tag-gaeilge","tag-gaelach","tag-gealach","tag-gearan","tag-giog","tag-giog-a-ligean","tag-giolcadh","tag-giolcaire","tag-giolcaireacht","tag-goddess","tag-greek","tag-grumble","tag-h-g-wells","tag-i-gcnaimhseail-tvuiteala-leo","tag-i-tweet","tag-in-a-twitter-beef","tag-inhabitant","tag-installer","tag-irish","tag-mairteoil","tag-meat","tag-migration","tag-mineral","tag-mo-thvuit","tag-moon","tag-mullocker","tag-my-tweet","tag-mythology","tag-na-dtvuitealaithe","tag-new-world","tag-noun","tag-of-aliens","tag-of-the-tweeter","tag-of-the-twitterer","tag-old-world","tag-onomatopoeic","tag-robin","tag-seileinit","tag-seileiniteach","tag-seileiniti","tag-seileinitigh","tag-seimhiu","tag-selene","tag-selenite","tag-selenites","tag-slight-elusive-twittering","tag-smolach-imirce","tag-social-media","tag-spideog","tag-suffix","tag-suitealai","tag-tvuitealai","tag-tattoo-artist","tag-tattooist","tag-tatualai","tag-teanga-bheo","tag-the-speech-of-aliens","tag-the-tweeters-tweet","tag-the-twitterers-tweet","tag-thrush","tag-to-let","tag-to-release","tag-to-tweet","tag-togalai","tag-top-scorer","tag-tuitealai","tag-tvuit","tag-tvuit-an-tvuitealai","tag-tvuit-chnaimhseail","tag-tvuite","tag-tvuiteail","tag-tvuiteailte","tag-tvuitealaim","tag-tvuitealaithe","tag-tvuiteanna","tag-tvuiteanna-na-dtvuitealaithe","tag-tweeter","tag-tweeting","tag-tweets","tag-twitter-beef","tag-twitterer","tag-twittering","tag-unorthodox","tag-utamalai","tag-verb","tag-your-tweet"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455","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=4455"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7136,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions\/7136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}