{"id":4592,"date":"2013-11-09T20:14:50","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T20:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4592"},"modified":"2014-03-18T11:40:31","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T11:40:31","slug":"speaking-of-nite-bruite-is-ite-and-who-can-prepare-and-eat-potatoes-the-fastest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/speaking-of-nite-bruite-is-ite-and-who-can-prepare-and-eat-potatoes-the-fastest\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking of ‘Nite, Bruite, is Ite’ (and who can prepare and eat potatoes the fastest)"},"content":{"rendered":"

le R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/span><\/h3>\n

First, let me say, that no, although three-part titles like “Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka” and “Snipp, Snapp, Snurr” are running wildly through my head as I write this, the three words “nite<\/strong>,” “bruite<\/strong>,” and “ite<\/strong>” are not three characters from children’s books.\u00a0\u00a0 They are, as I mentioned in my last blog, rangabh\u00e1lacha caite<\/strong> (past participles), aka aidiachta\u00ed briathartha<\/strong> (verbal adjectives).\u00a0 How three past participles got such charming rhyming spellings is beyond the scope of this blog, but at least it gives Irish a catchy saying (fully quoted below) and gives us a catchy blog title to work with.\u00a0 Which is a good thing, because sometimes when a teacher mentions a part of speech, like “past participle,” students’ eyes either glaze over or there’s a barely perceptible groan.\u00a0 Gramadach<\/strong>!\u00a0 But grammar is really like a big, movable, constantly changing puzzle, with various parts that usually fit into just one slot in a sentence.\u00a0 An-spraoi agus sp\u00f3rt iad a chur le ch\u00e9ile agus ciall a bhaint astu<\/strong>!\u00a0 Sometimes there’s a choice of word order, for emphasis or meter, ach sin \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now that I’ve introduced “Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka,” and “Snipp, Snapp, Snurr,” let me briefly satisfy the curiosity of anyone who didn’t encounter these books as a kid and then, I promise, I’ll get back to Irish.\u00a0 They were written by a Swedish author, Maj Lindman, between ca. 1920 and ca. 1960, and totally won me over as a kid (in the reprint editions, thank you very much).\u00a0 Maybe it was the teideal tr\u00edph\u00e1irteach<\/strong> or the concept of tr\u00edr\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>, or just the general prominence of the number “three” in western society, thanks also perhaps to Huey, Dewey, and Louie, or as Car Talk’s Magliozzi brothers would have it, “Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe.”\u00a0 \u00a0Anyway, I’ve never quite gotten Lindman’s books out of my head.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe that’s what started my addiction to “lions, tigers, and bears” memes (yes, I collect them from online and print sources, and someday maybe I’ll analyze the collection — tied into general socio-cultural and psycho-demographic trends, no doubt. \u00a0But that’s probably enough on Flicka, Snipp and Co., and if you’re intrigued by Lindman, who lived from 1886 to 1972, I suggest starting here http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Snipp_Snapp_and_Snurr<\/a> or here http:\/\/www.mdarlings.com\/2011\/11\/books-we-love-flicka-ricka-dicka-and.html<\/a>, and beyond that, the Internet’s your “oisre<\/strong>.”\u00a0 There’s not really much biographical info on Lindman online, ach sin \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to “nite<\/strong>,” “bruite<\/strong>,” is “ite<\/strong>,” as past participles.\u00a0 Yes, grammar looms!<\/p>\n

Last time I did mention the basic forms of the verbs from which they come, but here are a few more, just to tickle your participial palate.<\/p>\n

nite<\/strong> [NITCH-uh], washed, from “nigh<\/strong>” [nee], wash (as a command) and just a sampler of its various forms:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag n\u00ed na bhfata\u00ed<\/strong>. I’m washing the potatoes.<\/p>\n

N\u00edm fata\u00ed gach l\u00e1<\/strong>.\u00a0 I wash potatoes every day.<\/p>\n

Nigh m\u00e9 na fata\u00ed inn\u00e9<\/strong>.\u00a0 I washed the potatoes yesterday.<\/p>\n

N\u00edfidh m\u00e9 fata\u00ed ar\u00eds am\u00e1rach<\/strong>.\u00a0 I will wash potatoes again tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Next we have “bruite<\/strong>” [BRITCH-uh], cooked, from “bruith<\/strong>” (cook , also boil, broil, grill, and bake — and what would Julia Child have to say to that?).\u00a0 In real life, it’s not as ambiguous as it seems because, traditionally, the interpretation depended a lot on which food you meant: bainne<\/strong> – boiled, ar\u00e1n<\/strong> – baked, etc.<\/p>\n

And various forms of this verb:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag bruith na bpr\u00e1ta\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’m cooking the potatoes (most likely by boiling).<\/p>\n

Bruithim pr\u00e1ta\u00ed gach l\u00e1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bhruith m\u00e9 na pr\u00e1ta\u00ed inn\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bruithfidh<\/strong> [BRIH-hee] m\u00e9 pr\u00e1ta\u00ed am\u00e1rach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And finally, last of three, we have “ite<\/strong>” [ITCH-uh], eaten, from the verb “ith<\/strong>” [a breathy “ih” sound, the “t” is silent], which means “eat” (the command form).<\/p>\n

And you know the routine now:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag ithe na bpr\u00e9ata\u00ed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ithim pr\u00e9ata\u00ed gach l\u00e1. (Muise!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

D’ith m\u00e9 pr\u00e9ata\u00ed inn\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00cdosfaidh<\/strong> [EESS-hee] m\u00e9 pr\u00e9ata\u00ed am\u00e1rach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Oh, did I forget to mention (agus “ubh ar m’aghaidh”<\/strong>) that “ith<\/strong>” is an irregular verb so its future tense, “\u00edosfaidh<\/strong>” leaps to a dramatically different root, “\u00edos<\/strong>-” and then adds a typical future-tense suffix, “-faidh<\/strong>.” \u00a0Not quite as much of a leap as “faigh<\/strong>” (get) to “gheobhaidh<\/strong>” (will get), but definitely up there in the irregulars.<\/p>\n

And here, for anyone who didn’t remember it from last time, is the saying itself: “Bheadh na fata\u00ed nite, bruite, agus ite ag an gConnachtach sula mbeid\u00eds r\u00e1ite ag an Muimhneach<\/b>” (The Connachtman would have the potatoes, here “fata\u00ed<\/b>,” washed, cooked and eaten before the Munsterman would be finished saying the word).<\/p>\n

As I said last time, there are at least five versions of the word for “potatoes” in Irish: pr\u00e1ta\u00ed<\/strong> (most standard, IMO), pre\u00e1ta\u00ed, pr\u00e9ata\u00ed<\/strong> (think “praties”), fata\u00ed<\/strong>, and bunt\u00e1ta\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not too surprising, when we consider that the word “potato” is an import from the New World, probably the indigenous Haitian word, “batata<\/em>,” as best we know it from 16th-century Caribbean culture, which was not exactly awash with dictionaries and transcripts.<\/p>\n

So, c\u00e9ard (n\u00f3 ‘cad’) a sh\u00edleann sibh, a Chonnachtacha agus a Mhuimhneacha?\u00a0 C\u00e9 agaibh is gaiste (n\u00f3 ‘tap\u00fala’)?\u00a0 Agus c\u00e1 bhfuil na hUltaigh sa sc\u00e9al seo?\u00a0 Agus na Laighnigh?\u00a0 Bhuel, t\u00e1 an d\u00edosp\u00f3ireacht “suas” libhse.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

le R\u00f3isl\u00edn First, let me say, that no, although three-part titles like “Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka” and “Snipp, Snapp, Snurr” are running wildly through my head as I write this, the three words “nite,” “bruite,” and “ite” are not three characters from children’s books.\u00a0\u00a0 They are, as I mentioned in my last blog, rangabh\u00e1lacha caite…<\/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":[274766,315821,172991,4498,315822,305799,5139,305795,305798,315819,305797,315818,303136,120,6516,6520,6524,305796,315820,305801],"class_list":["post-4592","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ite","tag-batata","tag-bruite","tag-buntata","tag-caribbean","tag-dewey-cheetham-and-howe","tag-fata","tag-flicka-ricka-dicka","tag-huey-dewey-louie","tag-laighnigh","tag-maj-lindman","tag-na-hultaigh","tag-nite","tag-past-participle","tag-potato","tag-prata","tag-preata","tag-snipp-snapp-snurr","tag-ultaigh","tag-verbal-adjective"],"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