{"id":4814,"date":"2014-01-14T19:27:42","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T19:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4814"},"modified":"2015-07-16T17:27:32","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T17:27:32","slug":"how-to-say-bridge-and-gate-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-say-bridge-and-gate-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Say ‘Bridge’ and ‘Gate’ in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Whatever you might think of the latest “-gate,” this time “Bridgegate,” it never hurts to look at the Irish vocabulary surrounding an issue.\u00a0 So in this blog, we’ll look at the Irish words for “bridge” and “gate.”<\/p>\n

Not that Irish actually uses “-gate” (geata<\/strong>) to indicate a controversy or scandal. \u00a0For about 40 years, now, the suffix “-gate” has been used in English to create “back formations” (i.e. to create new words ending in “-gate” to indicate controversy), such as “Nannygate,” “Biscuitgate,” or “Doublebillingsgate”. \u00a0A similar thing has happened with the “-henge.” of “Stonehenge.”\u00a0 Originally used to indicate that the stones look as if they’ve been “hung,” we now have “henge” on its own, plus sites like “Woodhenge,” and, i bhficsean eola\u00edoch<\/strong>, Icehenge<\/em> by Kim Stanley Robinson (set mostly on Mars, Pluto, and Saturn, ach sin sc\u00e9al eile do bhlag eile<\/strong>).\u00a0 Other examples of “back formations” in English are “to burgle” (“burglar,” as a word, came centuries earlier!) and “mafficking” (from the Siege of Mafeking).<\/p>\n

In Irish, I can’t say that dozens of examples of back formation come to mind, but one is “chuig<\/strong>” (to) from “chuige<\/strong>” (to him).\u00a0 “Chuige<\/strong>” was originally considered part of the preposition “chun<\/strong>” (to) and, presumably, at one time the preposition “chuig<\/strong>,” as such, didn’t exist.\u00a0\u00a0 Creating “chuige<\/strong>” made the series of words seem more systematic (chun: chugam, chugat, chuige, chuici, srl.<\/strong>) \u00a0 Today, both “chun<\/strong>” and “chuig<\/strong>” exist as prepositions meaning “to” and “chuige<\/strong>” is part of both of their paradigms.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that’s a little background on the concept of “back formations” in language.\u00a0 In the US, the use of “-gate” \u00a0started with an office complex and hotel that happened to be named “Watergate.”\u00a0 Now we’ve got the phrase, at least in journalism, “to give it the ‘gate'” and various other “-gates” as well.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the Irish word “geata<\/strong>” (gate) isn’t used like the English back formation.\u00a0 But, still, the recent controversy gives us a good reason to add it to our vocabulary.<\/p>\n

Why don’t we start with the actual Irish word for a “water gate” or “sluice gate”? \u00a0The traditional “water gate” was a small gate toward the back of a castle or fort that overlooked a river.\u00a0 Warwick Castle, for example, has a “Watergate Tower.”\u00a0 In Irish, logically enough, a “water gate” would be “geata uisce<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Here, “uisce<\/strong>” (water) is defining the nature or purpose of the gate.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that the name of the Watergate complex in Washington DC echoes this function, with steps leading down to the Potomac River, originally intended for guests arriving by water taxi, as a sort of ceremonial reception area.<\/p>\n

A “sluice gate” (sluice-valve or water-gate) gives us a different word in Irish, “bualchomhla<\/strong>,” from “bual<\/strong>” (a rather archaic word for water) and “comhla<\/strong>” (flap, or the leaf of a door).\u00a0 “Bual<\/strong>” is found today in some compound words, but not, in my experience as a replacement for the basic word, “uisce<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Some of the compounds are “bual-lile<\/strong>” (water lily), bualghlas<\/strong> (a lock on a watercourse), and “roth buaile<\/strong>” (waterwheel as found on a water-mill).\u00a0 Here, clearly, we’re not really using “geata<\/strong>” at all, but “comhla<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

So what about basic “gate”?<\/p>\n

an geata<\/strong>, the gate<\/p>\n

an gheata<\/strong> [un YAT-uh], of the gate; dath an gheata<\/strong>, the color of the gate<\/p>\n

na geata<\/strong>\u00ed, the gates<\/p>\n

na ngeata\u00ed<\/strong> [nung-YAT-ee], of the gates; dathanna na ngeata\u00ed<\/strong>, the colors of the gates<\/p>\n

And few ways to specify types:<\/p>\n

geata adhmaid<\/strong>, a wooden gate<\/p>\n

geata tic\u00e9ad,<\/strong> a ticket “gate” (barrier)<\/p>\n

geata crochta<\/strong>, portcullis, lit. a “hanging” or “hung” gate — now there’s a word I guess I’ll go out and use maidin am\u00e1rach<\/strong> with coffee chat friends!<\/p>\n

And a few related words:<\/p>\n

fear geata<\/strong>, gate-keeper, lit. man of gate; probably not as traditional but I’ll add “bean gheata<\/strong>,” for a female gate-keeper.\u00a0 Or one could also use the neutral term “geat\u00f3ir<\/strong>” (“gate-keeper,” not implying man or woman)<\/p>\n

And how about the “bridge” part?\u00a0 Here are the basics:<\/p>\n

an droichead<\/strong> [un DRIH-hud — that’s about as close as my rough guide will go, the “-ch-” in the middle is basically breath], the bridge (as in the place name Drogheda in Co. Louth, which in Irish is “Droichead \u00c1tha<\/strong>,” the bridge of the ford).<\/p>\n

an droichid<\/strong>, of the bridge; fad an droichid<\/strong>, the length of the bridge<\/p>\n

na droichid<\/strong> (same spelling as above), the bridges<\/p>\n

na ndroichead<\/strong> [nun-RIH-hud], of the bridges; airde na ndroichead<\/strong>, the height of the bridges<\/p>\n

And a few additional uses:<\/p>\n

droichead crochta<\/strong>, a suspension bridge<\/p>\n

droichead loinge<\/strong>, a ship’s bridge<\/p>\n

droichead v\u00e9idhl\u00edn<\/strong>, a violin bridge<\/p>\n

And last and closer to home, but certainly not least (since it ensures our ability to breathe):<\/p>\n

droichead sr\u00f3ine<\/strong>, bridge “of nose” (from “sr\u00f3n<\/strong>,” nose)<\/p>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, make what you will of the words “geata<\/strong>” and “droichead<\/strong>,” give ’em the “gate” or not, at least now you’ve got the terms, and a few other phrases and related words as well.\u00a0 SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta<\/strong>: Icehenge<\/em>, by Kim Stanley Robinson: http:\/\/www.isfdb.org\/cgi-bin\/title.cgi?1747<\/a> agus a l\u00e1n \u00e1iteanna eile<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta eile<\/strong>: I find myself wondering if there’s such a term as a “front formation,” since I’ve never heard of it in my various years of studying linguistics.\u00a0 But if we can use it, I’d nominate “Riverdance” as an example, based on James Joyce’s use of “riverrun,” the first word in Finnegans Wake<\/em>, the avant-garde novel whose first sentence starts, appropriately enough, mid-stream.\u00a0\u00a0 For those who haven’t read it, the first part of the first sentence of the book appears on the last page of the book.\u00a0 Talk about circularity! \u00a0The prefix “river-” in a cultural sense now seems to imply “Irish,” at least in this one specific context.\u00a0 I’ve heard a few references (not many, but a good “glac<\/strong>“) to “riverdancing” as a verb, which I guess we could now consider a back formation from the front formation.\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, anyway, time to stop!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Whatever you might think of the latest “-gate,” this time “Bridgegate,” it never hurts to look at the Irish vocabulary surrounding an issue.\u00a0 So in this blog, we’ll look at the Irish words for “bridge” and “gate.” Not that Irish actually uses “-gate” (geata) to indicate a controversy or scandal. \u00a0For about 40…<\/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":[307053,307050,307052,229557,229558,365187,365185,307051,307056,365188,9706,307055,365183,365184,365186,150,307054],"class_list":["post-4814","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-back-formation","tag-bridge","tag-bridgegate","tag-droichead","tag-droichid","tag-finnegans-wake","tag-front-formation","tag-gate","tag-geata","tag-gheata","tag-james-joyce","tag-nannygate","tag-riverdance","tag-riverdancing","tag-riverrun","tag-suffix","tag-to-burgle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814","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=4814"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6933,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814\/revisions\/6933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}