{"id":4713,"date":"2013-12-18T20:51:49","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T20:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4713"},"modified":"2018-01-05T02:13:42","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T02:13:42","slug":"ce-mhead-patraisc-ce-mhead-drumadoir-or-12-la-na-nollag-redux-and-an-irish-counting-lesson-to-boot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ce-mhead-patraisc-ce-mhead-drumadoir-or-12-la-na-nollag-redux-and-an-irish-counting-lesson-to-boot\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Patraisc? C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Drumad\u00f3ir? (or ’12 L\u00e1 na Nollag’ Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"C\u00e9<\/a>

C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad bronntanas? 376? 364? 78? Leis na ba agus na huibheacha n\u00f3 gan iad? (Picti\u00far le Xavier Romero-Frias, http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:XRF_12days.jpg)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

In the last blog, we discussed “fear\u00e1in<\/strong>” (aka “fear\u00e1in bhreaca<\/strong>“) amongst other members of the order Columbiformes (coilm agus col\u00fair<\/strong>, doves and pigeons, etc.).\u00a0 And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” (turtar<\/strong>) or “dove” (colm<\/strong>, or sometimes “col\u00fair”<\/strong>\u00a0 — for more on the Irish for “turtledove,” please see the note below).\u00a0 Instead, we have “fear\u00e1n<\/strong>” (turtledove) as celebrated in “Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong>” (The Twelve Days of Christmas).\u00a0 Outside of that context, the two other main associations I have with the\u00a0 word “turtledove” are the surname of the alternate history\/fantasy novelist Harry Norman Turtledove (agus n\u00ed ainm cleite \u00e9!<\/strong>) and “The Song of Solomon” 2:12 (…T\u00e1 an fear\u00e1n ag durd\u00e1il amuigh<\/strong> … ).\u00a0 But the Christmas carol is certainly the most timely of these.<\/p>\n

Given the season that’s in it, this might be a good time to revisit that perennially favorite carol.\u00a0 The individual verses have been discussed in previous blogs. as listed below, so this one will look at one specific aspect — using bunuimhreacha<\/strong> and uimhreacha pearsanta<\/strong> for counting things\/animals vs. people.<\/p>\n

As you probably recall, the traditional carol involves the following animals: patraisc, fear\u00e1in, cearca francacha, lonta dubha, g\u00e9anna agus eala\u00ed <\/strong>(a partridge, turtledoves, French hens, calling (or colly) birds, geese, swans)<\/p>\n

As for “nithe<\/strong>” (things, aka “ruda\u00ed”<\/strong>), we have an crann piorra\u00ed<\/strong> and na f\u00e1inn\u00ed \u00f3ir<\/strong>.\u00a0 The latter may actually be a reference to another bird, an pias\u00fan muinceach<\/strong> (the ring-necked pheasant), but for this blog, I’ll subscribe to the party line and assumes that “rings” are “rings.”\u00a0(the pear tree, the golden rings)<\/p>\n

And then we count some “daoine<\/strong>” (people) : cail\u00edn\u00ed ble\u00e1na\u00ed, mn\u00e1, tiarna\u00ed, p\u00edobair\u00ed, agus drumad\u00f3ir\u00ed<\/strong> (maids, ladies, lords, drummers, pipers)<\/p>\n

Why is it so important to distinguish people from animals and things for counting?\u00a0 Irish has a separate system of number for counting people, referred to as “na huimhreacha pearsanta<\/strong>” (the personal numbers).\u00a0 This system is only used up to twelve; beyond that people are counted like animals or inanimate objects.\u00a0 And “eleven” is also exceptional, working like the regular “bunuimhir<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

So given the vocabulary above, can you fill in the correct form of the nouns in these sentences.\u00a0 A couple of hints might help.\u00a0 First, most of the forms above are given in the plural, but when counting animals and things, in Irish, the noun stays singular (like “tr\u00ed chapall<\/strong>,” three horses, lit. three horse, and “seacht seirbil<\/strong>,” seven gerbils, lit. “seven gerbil”).\u00a0 For the personal numbers, there are several systems currently used but I usually stick to the plural form, specifically genitive plural, as in “beirt mhac,<\/strong>” “beirt bhan<\/strong>,” or “tri\u00far buachaill\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Freagra\u00ed th\u00edos<\/strong> (with a pronunciation guide, to boot).<\/p>\n

As a little leg up, I’ve filled in whatever adjectives or other modifiers are necessary, so only the noun needs to filled in.<\/p>\n

1a. _________ amh\u00e1in (the number “one” comes after the noun, all the others come before the noun; NB: the text of the song uses “a,” not “one,” but here we’re practicing numbers, so I’ve included the number).<\/p>\n

1b. _________\u00a0 piorra\u00ed amh\u00e1in (Again, the song text doesn’t say, “one pear tree,” but again, here we’re practicing numbers)<\/p>\n

2. dh\u00e1 ____________\u00a0 bhreaca<\/p>\n

3. tr\u00ed ____________\u00a0 fhrancacha<\/p>\n

4. ceithre __________\u00a0 dhubha (remember, “calling” is supposedly actually “colly” or “coaly,” i.e. “black”)<\/p>\n

5. c\u00faig ______________ \u00f3ir.<\/p>\n

6. s\u00e9 ___________ ag breith<\/p>\n

7. seacht ______________ ag sn\u00e1mh<\/p>\n

8. ochtar ______________ ble\u00e1na\u00ed (or “ag ble\u00e1n”)<\/p>\n

9. naon\u00far ______________ ag damhsa<\/p>\n

10. deichni\u00far ____________ ag l\u00e9imneach<\/p>\n

11. aon _______________ dh\u00e9ag ag p\u00edobaireacht<\/p>\n

12. dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag __________________ ag drumad\u00f3ireacht<\/p>\n

Oh, and by the way, this exercise subscribes to the idea that each item was only given once, one partridge on the first day, etc.\u00a0 There is an alternate philosophy in which the recipient gets 12 partridges, 12 pear trees, 22 turtledoves, 30 French hens, etc., with the gifts being repeated each day, a sort of St. Ivesian kits-cats-sacks-wives paradox.<\/p>\n

Hope you enjoyed this exercise and b\u00edodh laethanta saoire deasa agat<\/strong>. \u00a0And to say, “Merry Christmas,” remember the Irish phrase actually says “Happy Christmas” — “Nollaig Shona<\/strong>” and the greeting is “Nollaig Shona duit<\/strong>” (to one person) and “Nollaig Shona daoibh<\/strong>” (to two or more people).\u00a0 \u00a0“Shona<\/strong>” is pronounced “HUN-uh” and “daoibh<\/strong>” is pronounced “deev.”\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta maidir le “fear\u00e1in”<\/strong> (turtledoves):\u00a0 There is another version of the word “fear\u00e1n” which is “f\u00e9ar\u00e1n,” with an \u00e9-fada.\u00a0 There is also the phrase “fear\u00e1n breac<\/strong>” (and presumably “f\u00e9ar\u00e1n breac<\/strong>“), which can also be used for “turtledove.”<\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1a. patraisc amh\u00e1in<\/strong> [PAHT-rishk uh-WAW-in, the “m” is silent]<\/p>\n

1b. crann piorra\u00ed amh\u00e1in<\/strong> [krahn PyUR-ee uh-WAW-in]<\/p>\n

2. dh\u00e1 fhear\u00e1n<\/strong>\u00a0 bhreaca<\/strong>[\u03b3aw AR-awn, that gamma sign (\u03b3) is the voiced velar fricative, for which there is a description at the following link \u00a0and various other blogs in this series; loosely speaking it’s like a guttural “h,” similar to the “ch” of German “Buch<\/em>,” Welsh “bach<\/em>,” and Yiddish “chutzpah<\/em>.”\u00a0 For starters on the “dh,” try “Saying \u201cI love you\u201d in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives<\/a> (9 Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong> 2011) at https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-i-love-you-in-irish\/<\/a>]<\/p>\n

3. tr\u00ed chearc fhrancacha<\/strong> [trzh<\/sup>ee hyark RANK-ukh-uh]<\/p>\n

4. ceithre lon dhubha<\/strong> (remember, “calling” is supposedly actually “colly” or “coaly,” i.e. “black”)<\/p>\n

5. c\u00faig fh\u00e1inne \u00f3ir<\/strong> [KOO-ig AWN-yuh oh-irzh<\/sup>]<\/p>\n

6. s\u00e9 gh\u00e9 ag breith<\/strong> [shay yay egg brzh<\/sup>eh]<\/p>\n

7. seacht n-eala ag sn\u00e1mh<\/strong> [shakht NAL-uh egg snawv]<\/p>\n

8. ochtar cail\u00edn\u00ed ble\u00e1na\u00ed<\/strong> (or “ag ble\u00e1n<\/strong>“) [OKH-tur KAI-leen-ee BLy<\/sup>AW-nee … or “egg bly<\/sup>awn”]<\/p>\n

9. naon\u00far ban ag damhsa<\/strong> [NEE-noor bahn egg DOW-suh; remember: “ban<\/strong>” means “of women,” so this phrase is close to saying “a nonet of women,” although the English word “nonet” is mostly limited to describing musical groups.<\/p>\n

10. deichni\u00far tiarna\u00ed ag l\u00e9imneach<\/strong> [DJ<\/sup>EH-ny<\/sup>oor TCHEER-nee egg LAYM-ny<\/sup>ukh]<\/p>\n

11. aon ph\u00edobaire dh\u00e9ag ag p\u00edobaireacht<\/strong> [ayn FEEB-irzh<\/sup>-uh yayg egg PEEB-irzh<\/sup>-ukht]<\/p>\n

12. dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag drumad\u00f3ir\u00ed ag drumad\u00f3ireacht<\/strong> [\u03b3awr-ayg DRUM-uh-doh-irzh<\/sup>-ee egg DRUM-uh-doh-irzh<\/sup>-ukht; remember that “drum-<\/strong>” in Irish isn’t quite like the English “drum.”\u00a0 The vowel “u” in the Irish is more like the English “put” while in English, “drum” and “to putt” have the same vowel sound.<\/p>\n

Blaganna Eile faoin Amhr\u00e1n\u00a0<\/strong>Seo:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bunuimhreacha-orduimhreacha-is-maoluimhreacha-a-thiarcais-oh-my\/<\/a>\u00a0 Bunuimhreacha, Orduimhreacha is Maoluimhreacha \u2014 A Thiarcais! (Oh my!)<\/a><\/strong><\/em> Posted on 25. Dec, 2012<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/dha-la-dheag-na-nollag-the-twelve-days-of-christmas\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag (The Twelve Days of Christmas)<\/a><\/em>,<\/b> Posted on 25. Dec, 2010<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cearca-francacha-agus-lonta-dubha-cuid-a-do-don-tsraith-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a> Cearca Francacha agus Lonta Dubha (Cuid a D\u00f3 don tSraith: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a> <\/b><\/em>Posted on 29. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%E2%80%9Cor%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Coir%E2%80%9D-or-%E2%80%9Corga%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Cfainne%E2%80%9D-or-%E2%80%9Cean%E2%80%9D-ean-cuid-a-tri-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a> \u201c\u00d3r,\u201d \u201c\u00d3ir\u201d or \u201c\u00d3rga\u201d? \u201cF\u00e1inne\u201d or \u201c\u00c9an\u201d? \u00c9an?! (Cuid a Tr\u00ed: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a><\/i><\/b> <\/b>Posted on 31. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/geanna-agus-ealai-cuid-a-ceathair-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a> JAN 4 2011: G\u00e9anna agus Eala\u00ed (Cuid a Ceathair: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a> <\/b><\/em>Posted on 04. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-huimhreacha-pearsanta-i-ngaeilge\/<\/a> Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta i nGaeilge (Irish Personal Numbers and Cuid a C\u00faig or the Last Installment of Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>Posted on 06. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the last blog, we discussed “fear\u00e1in” (aka “fear\u00e1in bhreaca“) amongst other members of the order Columbiformes (coilm agus col\u00fair, doves and pigeons, etc.).\u00a0 And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” (turtar) or “dove” (colm, or sometimes “col\u00fair”\u00a0 — for more on the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[306284,306285,306251,306286,306287,255487,306270,255621,306247,306280,255461,306283,306282,254993,8052,255446,306259,60846,306256,43,306261,306244,306260,306119,306123,306243,7364,306264,4895,306241,13298,306290,255485,289951,306122,306245,255479,255477,306273,306252,13369,255457,306265,306248,306242,306215,306258,13368,306262,306279,306278,306268,111593,306249,306275,5667,306289,306271,255466,306257,306272,255449,1152,6128,96595,6277,6280,306291,272950,306255,306267,306266,255473,306269,306274,11,255441,6730,306277,111625,3404,229601,306250,306288,6980,306263,255451,306276,306281,306246,2597,306214,255456,13297,7234,306253],"class_list":["post-4713","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-12-partridges","tag-12-pear-trees","tag-306251","tag-22-turtledoves","tag-30-french-hens","tag-a-milking","tag-agus-drumadoiri","tag-ainm-cleite","tag-alternate-history","tag-beirt-mhac","tag-blean","tag-bleanai","tag-breith","tag-bunuimhir","tag-bunuimhreacha","tag-cailini-bleanai","tag-calling-bird","tag-carol","tag-cearca-francacha","tag-christmas","tag-coaly","tag-coilm","tag-colly-bird","tag-colm","tag-coluir","tag-columbiformes","tag-counting","tag-crann-piorrai","tag-damhsa","tag-den-nollaig","tag-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag","tag-dhaoibh","tag-dhareag","tag-dhuit","tag-dove","tag-doves","tag-drum","tag-drumadoireacht","tag-drummers","tag-durdail","tag-ealai","tag-eleven","tag-fainni-oir","tag-fantasy","tag-fearain","tag-fearan","tag-french-hens","tag-geanna","tag-geese","tag-genitive-plural","tag-gerbil","tag-golden-rings","tag-happy-christmas","tag-harry-turtledove","tag-inanimate","tag-irish","tag-kits-cats-sacks-wives-paradox","tag-ladies","tag-leimneach","tag-lonta-dubha","tag-lords","tag-maids","tag-merry-christmas","tag-mna","tag-na-huimhreacha","tag-nollaig-shona-daoibh","tag-nollaig-shona-duit","tag-nonet","tag-partridge","tag-patraisc","tag-pear-tree","tag-piasun-muinceach","tag-piobaireacht","tag-piobairi","tag-pipers","tag-pronunciation","tag-ring-necked-pheasant","tag-seacht","tag-seirbil","tag-shona","tag-singular","tag-snamh","tag-song-of-solomon","tag-st-ivesian","tag-surname","tag-swans","tag-tiarnai","tag-tri-chapall","tag-triur-buachailli","tag-turtar","tag-turtle","tag-turtledove","tag-twelve","tag-twelve-days-of-christmas","tag-uimhreacha-pearsanta","tag-voice-of-the-turtle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713","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=4713"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10010,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions\/10010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}