{"id":4687,"date":"2013-12-04T16:50:43","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T16:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4687"},"modified":"2015-11-24T21:30:36","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T21:30:36","slug":"cats-galore-in-irish-cait-caitini-piscini-pisini-srl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cats-galore-in-irish-cait-caitini-piscini-pisini-srl\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats Galore in Irish (Cait, Cait\u00edn\u00ed, Pisc\u00edn\u00ed, Pis\u00edn\u00ed, srl.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Art-Drawing-Animal-Cat-Cat-and-Kittens-American<\/a><\/strong>(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/b><\/p>\n

I suppose I should have saved this blog for National Cat Day (29 Deireadh F\u00f3mhair 2014; naisc th\u00edos<\/b>) but coming swift on the heels of the recent “cait\u00edn gleoite caillte sa sp\u00e1s amuigh<\/b>” blog (thanks to Miley Cyrus’s recent CGI imagery), I couldn’t resist taking the plunge.<\/p>\n

So how many different ways are there in Irish to say “cat” or to indicate different types of cats?<\/p>\n

Let’s start with the basics.\u00a0 The singular form, “cat<\/strong>,” looks the same in Irish, but is pronounced more like “kaht.”\u00a0 In other words, it doesn’t rhyme with “bat” or “mat” (at least not the usual US pronunciations of them) but it’s more like “yacht,” with a shortish “ah” sound.<\/p>\n

cat<\/b>, a cat<\/p>\n

an cat<\/b>, the cat<\/p>\n

cait<\/b> [kw<\/sup>itch, the “w” is very slight], of a cat; miontas cait<\/b>, catmint<\/p>\n

an chait<\/b> [un khitch], of the cat; ruball an chait<\/b>, the tail of the cat<\/p>\n

na cait<\/b> [nuh kw<\/sup>itch; remember, the “w” is very slight], the cats<\/p>\n

cat<\/b> [same spelling, etc., as the basic form of the word], of cats; allmhairi\u00fa cat<\/b>, the importation of cats<\/p>\n

na gcat<\/b> [nuh gaht], of the cats; bia na gcat<\/b>, the food of the cats<\/p>\n

And then we get into different types or “categories” (couldn’t resist) of cats:<\/p>\n

pisc\u00edn<\/b> [PISH-keen], kitten, also “pis\u00edn<\/b>” (PISH-een)<\/p>\n

cait\u00edn<\/b> [KATCH-een], little cat, also “catkin”<\/p>\n

fearchat<\/b> [syllable by syllable: 1) the “-ea-” of “fear<\/b>,” the Irish for “man,” is the \/\u00e6\/ sound of “bat” and “rat;” 2) in the second syllable, “~chat<\/b>,” the “a” is more like the “a” of “yacht”], tom cat, lit. “man-cat.”\u00a0 An alternative is “cat fireann<\/b>,” lit. “male cat.”\u00a0 Certainly both terms serve their purpose but neither strikes me as quite so intriguingly anthropomorphic as “tom cat.”\u00a0 Why “tom” anyway (i mB\u00e9arla<\/b>)?\u00a0 \u00c1bhar blag eile, b’fh\u00e9idir?<\/b><\/p>\n

cat riabhach<\/b> [REE-uh-vukh] or cat breac<\/b>, tabby cat.\u00a0 If the “tabby cat” is simply meant to be a female cat, not a description of its fur, as sometimes occurs in English, it would be “cat baineann<\/b>” (lit. female cat).<\/p>\n

seanchat<\/b> [shan-khaht], grimalkin, lit. an old cat<\/p>\n

Now as for a “kindle” of kittens, I’ve never seen an Irish word that is that specific.\u00a0 A “litter” in general would be “\u00e1l<\/b>” [awl], but that can be used for many animals (\u00e1l banbh<\/b>, a litter of pigs; \u00e1l sic\u00edn\u00ed<\/b>, a clutch of chickens; and even children, “\u00e1l p\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/b>,” a swarm of children, used mostly for bit of dramatic effect, I’d say, not for “gn\u00e1thghr\u00fapa\u00ed<\/b>).\u00a0 Other possible collective terms for animals include “conairt<\/b>” for wolves, “cuain<\/b>” for puppies and “\u00e9ill\u00edn”<\/b> for ducklings.<\/p>\n

And now, getting back to “cats in space,” as inspired by an cait\u00edn gleoite caillte i se\u00f3 Miley<\/b>, If you haven’t yet watched the Dastoli Digital “Cats in Space” video (nasc th\u00edos<\/b>), I highly recommend it.\u00a0 Of course, that video is a “scigaithris”<\/b> ([SHKIG-AH-hrish] parody), but I can think of at least a couple of relatively famous non-parody cats in space, ironically also part of the same series which Dastoli Digital parodied.\u00a0 An aithn\u00edonn t\u00fa iad<\/b>?\u00a0 Can you fill in the cats’ names in the chart below? \u00a0Agus an bhfuil a fhios agat c\u00e9n cl\u00e1r teilif\u00edse at\u00e1 i gceist?\u00a0 Freagra\u00ed th\u00edos.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nAinm an Chait<\/b><\/td>\n\u00dain\u00e9ir \/ Comhghleaca\u00ed<\/b><\/td>\nSraith<\/b><\/td>\nS\u00e9as\u00far \/ Eipeas\u00f3id<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.<\/td>\n<\/td>\nKorob<\/td>\nAn tSraith Bhunaidh<\/b><\/td>\nS2E7 “C\u00fal <\/b>D\u00edn,” 1967<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\n<\/td>\nData<\/td>\nAn Ch\u00e9ad Ghl\u00fain Eile<\/b><\/td>\nS4E11 “L\u00e1 Data,” 1991<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

And then there was Lloyd Alexander’s Time Cat<\/i> (1963) which as the title suggests, involved a taisteala\u00ed ama<\/b> , or I suppose we could say “amthaisteala\u00ed<\/b>.”\u00a0 This doesn’t really involve “cait sa sp\u00e1s amuigh<\/b>,” but the m\u00f3il\u00edn\u00ed<\/b> might be temporarily rearranged as the cat travels through time, so it does sort of qualify as “ficsean eola\u00edochta<\/b>.”\u00a0 Stop-off points for Time Cat<\/i> include Iron Age Britain and Ireland.\u00a0 Bhuel<\/b>, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, or should I say “runga uachtair an chatdr\u00e9imire<\/b>.”\u00a0 Breeds and other features will have to wait for blag \u00e9igin eile.\u00a0 M\u00ed-eadha! – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/b><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/b>: 1) Sylvia, comhghleaca\u00ed Korob sa tSraith Bhunaidh<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

2) Spot, \u00fain\u00e9ir (m\u00e1s f\u00e9idir \u201d\u00fain\u00e9ir” a thabhairt ar dhaonna\u00ed cait!\u00a0 Aon Ghaeilge ar<\/b> “ownee”?)<\/p>\n

3) an cl\u00e1r teilif\u00edse: R\u00e9altAistear<\/i><\/b> (Star Trek)<\/i><\/p>\n

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

1) L\u00e1<\/strong> N\u00e1isi\u00fanta na gCat (“n\u00e1isi\u00fanta” = “Meirice\u00e1nach” sa chomhth\u00e9acs seo.\u00a0 N\u00edl a fhios agam an gceili\u00fartar an L\u00e1 i dt\u00edortha eile seachas S.A.M; alt in<\/b> The Huffington Post<\/i>: \u00a0http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/10\/29\/national-cat-day_n_4173471.html<\/a> (sa su\u00edomh seo, t\u00e1 536 picti\u00far de chait na l\u00e9itheoir\u00ed le feice\u00e1il.\u00a0 C\u00faig ch\u00e9ad tr\u00edocha a s\u00e9!\u00a0 536!\u00a0 Mh’anam!\u00a0 T\u00e1 “aighneachta\u00ed” d\u00fanta anois–murach sin, is d\u00f3cha go mbeadh n\u00edos m\u00f3 n\u00e1 536 ann!<\/b><\/p>\n

2) Agus p\u00edosa beag eile faoi L\u00e1 N\u00e1isi\u00fanta na gCat \u00f3<\/b> “The Fluffington Post<\/i>,” http:\/\/thefluffingtonpost.com\/post\/34561700947\/national-cat-day<\/a><\/p>\n

3) And straight \u201d\u00f3 bh\u00e9al an chapaill<\/b>,” http:\/\/www.nationalcatday.com\/about.htm<\/a> <\/i><\/p>\n

4) Cait sa Sp\u00e1s Amuigh <\/b><\/i>[of course, the actual title is in English, “Cats in Space”] http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9DnQLI1XDzI<\/a> <\/i><\/p>\n

5) an\u00a0<\/strong>picti\u00far<\/b> thuas<\/b> http:\/\/vintageprintable.com\/wordpress\/vintage-printable-animal\/animal-cat-all-kinds\/animal-cat-3\/art-drawing-animal-cat-cat-and-kittens-american-4\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Gluais<\/strong>\u00edn<\/b>: \u00a0cait na l\u00e9itheoir\u00ed<\/b>, the cats of the readers; c<\/strong>\u00fal d<\/b>\u00edn,<\/b> catspaw (re: people, not the type of wind, which is “leoithne<\/b>” or an actual cat’s paw, which is “lapa cait<\/strong>“);\u00a0<\/b>daonna\u00ed cait<\/b>, humans of a cat, i.e. a cat’s humans;\u00a0gn\u00e1th-<\/strong>, ordinary;\u00a0m\u00f3il\u00edn\u00ed<\/b>, molecules; aighneachta\u00ed<\/b>, submissions\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) I suppose I should have saved this blog for National Cat Day (29 Deireadh F\u00f3mhair 2014; naisc th\u00edos) but coming swift on the heels of the recent “cait\u00edn gleoite caillte sa sp\u00e1s amuigh” blog (thanks to Miley Cyrus’s recent CGI imagery), I couldn’t resist taking the plunge. So how many different ways are…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[305989,305992,3924,305928,306003,390626,305986,305965,305966,305972,305968,305942,359491,305935,305939,305932,305951,305944,229525,4468,11599,229862,305930,305924,4577,305956,305953,305949,305952,305996,239288,305999,305947,305937,305938,305915,305933,305970,2005,305985,305969,35702,305975,305976,306002,305981,306013,305979,306008,305978,305948,305955,298552,306009,305945,5386,305958,306006,274855,305943,5665,305997,305960,305962,305963,305961,374923,306005,305964,305967,305946,305990,305950,6058,255000,302901,305936,305995,305922,305923,305927,305984,305929,305959,306004,305983,305925,305926,2437,6581,305940,305998,305987,305988,305931,305982,305957,305980,306001,6940,305973,306000,305954,305941,305993,305991,305934],"class_list":["post-4687","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-305989","tag-305992","tag-3924","tag-29-deireadh-fomhair","tag-a-cats-human","tag-aighneachtai","tag-ainm-an-chait-uineir-comhghleacai-korob-data-sraith-an-tsraith-bhunaidh-an-chead-ghluin-eile-seasur-eipeasoid","tag-al","tag-al-banbh","tag-al-paisti","tag-al-sicini","tag-allmhairiu-cat","tag-amthaistealai","tag-an-cat","tag-an-chait","tag-an-spas-amuigh","tag-anthropomorphic","tag-bia-na-gcat","tag-breed","tag-britain","tag-caillte","tag-cait","tag-caitin-gleoite-caillte-sa-spas-amuigh","tag-caitini","tag-cat","tag-cat-baineann","tag-cat-breac","tag-cat-fireann","tag-cat-riabhach","tag-cat-travels-through-time","tag-cats-paw","tag-catdreimire","tag-catkin","tag-catmint","tag-catnip","tag-cats-in-space","tag-cgi","tag-chicks","tag-children","tag-clar-teilifise","tag-clutch-of-chickens","tag-collective","tag-conairt","tag-cuain","tag-daonnai-cait","tag-dastoli-digital","tag-data","tag-ducklings","tag-dunta","tag-eillin","tag-fearchat","tag-female-cat","tag-ficsean-eolaiochta","tag-fluffington","tag-food-of-the-cats","tag-gleoite","tag-grimalkin","tag-huffington","tag-imagery","tag-importation-of-cats","tag-ireland","tag-iron-age","tag-kindle","tag-kindle-of-kits","tag-kindle-of-kittens","tag-kittens","tag-korob","tag-la-naisiunta-na-gcat","tag-litter","tag-litter-of-pigs","tag-little-cat","tag-lloyd-alexander","tag-male-cat","tag-meiriceanach","tag-mi-eadha","tag-miley-cyrus","tag-miontas-cait","tag-moilini","tag-na-cait","tag-na-gcat","tag-national-cat-day","tag-non-parody-cats-in-space","tag-october-29","tag-old-cat","tag-ownee","tag-parody","tag-piscini","tag-pisini","tag-puppies","tag-realtaistear","tag-ruball-an-chait","tag-runga-uachtair-an-chatdreimire","tag-s2e7-cul-din","tag-s4-e11-la-data","tag-sa-spas-amuigh","tag-scigaithris","tag-seanchat","tag-seo-miley","tag-spot","tag-star-trek","tag-swarm-of-children","tag-sylvia","tag-tabby","tag-tail-of-the-cat","tag-taistealai-ama","tag-time-cat","tag-types-of-cats"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4687","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=4687"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7327,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4687\/revisions\/7327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}