{"id":4790,"date":"2014-01-05T20:56:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T20:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4790"},"modified":"2016-12-27T16:52:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T16:52:28","slug":"bean-or-ban-or-mna-or-mban-how-to-say-woman-women-in-irish-just-in-time-for-nollaig-na-mban-on-6-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bean-or-ban-or-mna-or-mban-how-to-say-woman-women-in-irish-just-in-time-for-nollaig-na-mban-on-6-january\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bean’ or ‘Ban’ or ‘Mn\u00e1’ or “mBan’: How to Say ‘Woman’ (Women) in Irish (just in time for Nollaig na mBan on 6 January)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

As the final day of “dh\u00e1 l\u00e1 dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong>” (6 Ean\u00e1ir<\/strong>), we recognize “Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>.” \u00a0Many other sites online offer some commentary on the day’s activities, typically with women taking some time off for a relaxing afternoon tea or evening out.\u00a0 One interesting article, by actress and playwright Sheila Flitton, is at http:\/\/www.ireland-fun-facts.com\/little-womens-christmas.html<\/a>.\u00a0 Today’s blog will mostly look at the forms of the word for “woman” in Irish, including the “mBan<\/strong>” of “Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>” (lit. the Christmas of the Women).<\/p>\n

Let’s start with the basics for this word.\u00a0 We’ll be looking at “bean<\/strong>” [pronounced somewhat\u00a0like the English word “ban” as in “banish,” not like the English word “bean”], “mn\u00e1<\/strong>,” “ban<\/strong>,” and “mban<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0The word is grammatically feminine, and, as far as categories of nouns go, there is no other word like it, in terms of endings, vowel changes, etc.<\/p>\n

bean<\/strong>, woman, pronounced \/b’\u00e6n\/, to use the “Irish-modified” IPA pronunciation guide, as found in the incredibly useful Focl\u00f3ir P\u00f3ca<\/em>; it basically rhymes with English words like “van” or “suntan.”<\/p>\n

an bhean<\/strong>, the woman [the “bh” is pronounced “v,” so this pronunciation is virtually the same as the English “van.”\u00a0 Sampla: T\u00e1 an bhean anseo<\/strong> — The woman is here.<\/p>\n

mn\u00e1<\/strong>, of a woman.\u00a0 For pronunciation, this is a bit tricky till you get used to it.\u00a0 Try thinking “hymnal” but without the initial “hy,” so you’re just left with the “-mnal.”\u00a0 And the vowel sound is like “awe” or “law.”\u00a0 So, in a rough transcript, we have “mnaw.’\u00a0 In some dialects, the “n” is pronounced like an “r,” but I don’t know that that makes it any easier: mraw.\u00a0 This form does double duty, also serving for some of the plurals, as we’ll see below.\u00a0 Sampla: hata mn\u00e1<\/strong>, a woman’s hat<\/p>\n

na mn\u00e1<\/strong>, of the woman; sampla<\/strong>: hata na mn\u00e1<\/strong>, the hat of the woman<\/p>\n

And now for the plurals:<\/p>\n

mn\u00e1<\/strong>, same spelling and pronunciation as we just saw above.\u00a0 Sampla<\/strong>: T\u00e1 “MN\u00c1” scr\u00edofa ar dhoras sheomra na mban agus t\u00e1 “FIR” scr\u00edofa ar dhoras sheomra na bhfear<\/strong>. — “MN\u00c1<\/strong>” is written on the door of the women’s room (women’s restroom) and “FIR<\/strong>” is written on the door of the men’s room (men’s restroom).<\/p>\n

na mn\u00e1<\/strong>, the women; sampla: T\u00e1 na mn\u00e1 ag dul amach ar Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>. — The women are going out on “Women’s Christmas.”<\/p>\n

And here’s where I’d say it gets a bit trickier — possessive and plural:<\/p>\n

ban<\/strong>, of women [pronounced with an “ah” sound for the vowel, a lot like American English “Bonnie” or “bond”]; sampla: hata\u00ed ban<\/strong>, women’s hats<\/p>\n

na mban<\/strong>, of the women [pronunciation: the “b” has now become silent because the “m” has “eclipsed” it, so this phrase sounds like “nuh mahn”]; sampla\u00ed<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

hata\u00ed na mban<\/strong>, the hats of the women<\/p>\n

Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>, Women’s Christmas, lit. the Christmas of the Women<\/p>\n

Cumann na mBan<\/strong>, lit. “The Irishwomen’s Council,” but rarely, in fact, translated.\u00a0 It was founded in 1914 as part of the Irish Volunteers.<\/p>\n

seomra na mban<\/strong>, as mentioned above, the women’s restroom, lit. the room of the women<\/p>\n

Sliabh na mBan<\/strong>, anglicized as “Slievenamon,” this is a mountain in Co. Tipperary where, according to folklore, Fionn Mac Cumhail, the legendary warrior\/giant, arranged for women to run a race.\u00a0 He would marry whoever reached the cairn at the top of the mountain first.\u00a0 And the winner was … Gr\u00e1inne.\u00a0 \u00a0But then there was this little glitch in the plans because of one of Fionn’s warriors, Diarmaid, who had this irresistible “ball seirce<\/b>” (love spot; its exact nature isn’t specified in any versions of the legend that I’ve read).\u00a0 And thus began “T<\/i><\/b>\u00f3ra\u00edocht Dhiarmada agus Gr\u00e1inne,” <\/i><\/b>which is a tale unto itself and “i bhfad r\u00f3fhada<\/b>” for this blog.\u00a0 <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

There are a few more variations, as in:<\/p>\n

D’iarr m\u00e9 ar bhean an t\u00ed an dinn\u00e9ar a r\u00e9iteach d\u00fainn ag 6:00<\/strong>.\u00a0 (I asked the woman of the house to prepare dinner for us at 6:00), “bean<\/strong>” is “lenited,” becoming “bhean<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

beirt bhan<\/strong>, two women [this “bh” is pronounced like a “w” in some dialects, like “v” in others, especially Munster], but “tri\u00far ban<\/strong>” three women<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 \u00e1thas ar mhn\u00e1 na t\u00edre go bhfuil s\u00edoch\u00e1in ann<\/strong>.\u00a0 (The women of the land are happy that there is peace, lit. there is happiness on the women of the land that there is peace). The word “mhn\u00e1<\/strong>” sounds like “vnaw” or “vraw,” depending on your dialect.<\/p>\n

And sometimes one encounters the old direct address form, now mostly abandoned except in some folksongs and traditional texts: a mhnaoi an t\u00ed<\/strong> (O woman of the house!). \u00a0Say “vnee” “or vree” for “mhnaoi<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

This form was also used after prepositions: D’iarr m\u00e9 deoch ar mhnaoi an t\u00ed<\/strong> (I asked the woman of the house for a drink, lit. I requested a drink “on,” i.e. “of,” the woman of the house.).\u00a0 But today, most people would say “ar bhean an t\u00ed<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

So, there you are, just in time for Nollaig na mBan<\/strong>, all the typical forms of the word “bean<\/strong>” that you’re likely to encounter.\u00a0 \u00a0SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. Some of this was touched on in an earlier blog that you might like to check out: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-huimhreacha-pearsanta-ar-leanuint\/<\/a> (10 Ean\u00e1ir 2011<\/strong>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) As the final day of “dh\u00e1 l\u00e1 dh\u00e9ag na Nollag” (6 Ean\u00e1ir), we recognize “Nollaig na mBan.” \u00a0Many other sites online offer some commentary on the day’s activities, typically with women taking some time off for a relaxing afternoon tea or evening out.\u00a0 One interesting article, by actress and playwright Sheila Flitton, is…<\/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":[306911,306910,306958,3979,306919,306952,306957,306960,111200,4268,4301,306953,207444,306949,306943,306937,13298,111202,172902,306928,306927,255708,8667,306913,32970,2906,5189,32971,306916,912,306948,306947,111203,306918,306922,306931,306935,5663,5665,5667,5860,306945,306950,306907,306930,6128,252414,306933,306924,6276,306959,306921,306925,306934,255464,2399,3349,3351,2419,7560,306939,306915,306940,306941,2846,306917,306926,306936,306938,306920,306956,306951,306955,306954,7232,7234,306946,10747,306923,7846,306311,306932],"class_list":["post-4790","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-6-eanair","tag-6-january","tag-a-mhnaoi-an-ti","tag-actress","tag-an-bhean","tag-ar-bhean","tag-ar-mhna","tag-ar-mhnaoi","tag-ball-seirce","tag-ban","tag-bean","tag-beirt-bhan","tag-bhfear","tag-cairn","tag-co-tipperary","tag-cumann-na-mban","tag-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag","tag-diarmaid","tag-direct-address","tag-doras-sheomra-na-bhfear","tag-doras-sheomra-na-mban","tag-eclipsed","tag-eclipsis","tag-evening-out","tag-fear","tag-feminine","tag-fionn-mac-cumhail","tag-fir","tag-flitton","tag-folklore","tag-foot-race","tag-giant","tag-grainne","tag-grammatically","tag-hata-mna","tag-hatai-ban","tag-hatai-na-mban","tag-ipa","tag-ireland","tag-irish","tag-legend","tag-legendary","tag-love-spot","tag-mban","tag-mens-room","tag-mna","tag-mountain","tag-na-mban","tag-na-mna","tag-nollaig-na-mban","tag-o-woman-of-the-house","tag-of-a-woman","tag-of-the-woman-hata-na-mna","tag-of-the-women","tag-of-women","tag-playwright","tag-plural","tag-possessive","tag-preposition","tag-restroom","tag-seomra-na-mban","tag-sheila-flitton","tag-sliabh-na-mban","tag-slievenamon","tag-tea","tag-the-christmas-of-the-women","tag-the-hat-of-the-woman","tag-the-hats-of-the-women","tag-the-irishwomens-council","tag-the-woman","tag-three-women","tag-toraiocht-dhiarmada-agus-grainne","tag-triur-ban","tag-two-women","tag-uimhir-phearsanta","tag-uimhreacha-pearsanta","tag-warrior","tag-woman","tag-womans-hat","tag-women","tag-womens-christmas","tag-womens-hats"],"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