{"id":4848,"date":"2014-01-23T22:52:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T22:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4848"},"modified":"2017-10-07T03:20:34","modified_gmt":"2017-10-07T03:20:34","slug":"ghost-ship-or-not-how-to-say-rats-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ghost-ship-or-not-how-to-say-rats-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghost Ship or Not, How to Say ‘Rats’ in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"francach<\/a>

francach ar th\u00e9ad t\u00edre<\/p><\/div>\n

Cannibal rats?\u00a0 A ghost ship?\u00a0 An Irish island?\u00a0 How dramatic is that?<\/p>\n

You’ve probably read the basic news scoop by now.\u00a0\u00a0 The cruise ship Lyubov Orlova, built in 1976 in the former Yugoslavia, is allegedly adrift in the North Atlantic, with no crew.\u00a0 The only living (if that) inhabitants on board are believed to be rats, and with no remaining food on board, the assumption is that they would turn to … well … each other.<\/p>\n

I find it hard to believe that this ship is really going to reach an Irish island, crash, and discharge hundreds or thousands of rats.\u00a0 But it’s a great opportunity to look at some Irish vocabulary, such as rats, ships, ghosts, and ghost ships. \u00a0\u00a0So here goes:<\/p>\n

1) rats:<\/i> there are several choices for “rat”: francach, luchog mh\u00f3r<\/b> (or “luch mh\u00f3r<\/b>“), and luch fhrancach<\/b>.\u00a0 I favor “francach<\/b>,” mainly because it’s a single word and less complex to combine in phrases like cangar\u00fa francaigh, dreancaid fhrancaigh, francach camra, francach dubh<\/b>, and francach saotharlainne<\/b> (aistri\u00fach\u00e1in th\u00edos<\/b>).\u00a0 And then there’s the “francach uisce br\u00e9ige<\/b>,” which is the “false water-rat.” “False water-rat”? Hmmm, if water-rats, like The Wind in the Willows<\/i>‘ “Ratty,” aren’t really rats (is v\u00f3l<\/em> \u00e9 Ratty<\/strong>), then what’s a “false water-rat” — mh’anam, \u00e1bhar blag eile is d\u00f3cha<\/b>!\u00a0 Another reason that I favor “francach<\/b>” is that “luchog mh\u00f3r<\/b>” and “luch mh\u00f3r<\/b>” can also mean “large mouse.” \u00a0C\u00e9 chomh m\u00f3r? \u00a0N\u00edl a fhios agam. \u00a0Chomh m\u00f3r le Reepicheep? \u00a0\u00c1, n\u00ed d\u00f3igh liom \u00e9!<\/b><\/strong><\/strong><\/b><\/strong><\/strong><\/b><\/strong><\/b><\/strong><\/strong><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are the main forms of “francach<\/b>”<\/p>\n

an francach<\/b>, the rat (NB: with an upper-case “F,” as “Francach<\/strong>,” the word would mean “Frenchman,” ach sin \u00e1bhar eile ar fad<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

an fhrancaigh<\/b> [un RAHN-kee OR un RAHN-kig] of the rat; dath an fhrancaigh<\/strong>, the color of the rat<\/p>\n

na francaigh<\/b>, the rats<\/p>\n

na bhfrancach<\/b> [nuh VRAHN-kukh], of the rats, cinni\u00faint na bhfrancach<\/strong>, the fate of the rats<\/p>\n

And for the other possibilities:<\/p>\n

an luch\u00f3g mh\u00f3r<\/b>, the rat (or “the big mouse”), na luch\u00f3ga m\u00f3ra<\/strong>, the rats<\/p>\n

an luch mh\u00f3r<\/b>, the rat (or “the big mouse”), na lucha m\u00f3ra<\/strong>, the rats<\/p>\n

an luch fhrancach<\/b>, the rat, na lucha francacha<\/strong>, the rats<\/p>\n

A “rat” as a person (a “snitch”) is a completely different word, “loiceach<\/b>.”<\/p>\n

And “rat-catcher” does take us back to the “luch<\/b>” root: luchaire<\/b>, pl. luchair\u00ed.\u00a0 <\/strong>And there’s also “francaire<\/strong>,” pl. francair\u00ed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As for “ratatouille<\/i>,” well, the 2007 Disney movie pun (with the main character, Remy, being a rat) wouldn’t exactly work in Irish, which is no surprise, since word play does not usually translate from language to language.\u00a0 But if you’re interested the Irish version of the word for the stewed vegetable dish, it’s “ratat\u00fa\u00ed<\/b>.”\u00a0 It’s interesting to note that this is a relatively unusual instance in Irish of two long vowels in a row, telling us that both vowels are pronounced (rah-tah-too-ee), unlike “bu\u00ed<\/strong>” [bwee] or “fi\u00fa<\/strong>” [fyoo].<\/p>\n

2) ship:<\/em> this is one of the first words usually learned in Irish, so this may well be review:<\/p>\n

an long<\/b>, the ship<\/p>\n

na loinge<\/b>, of the ship<\/p>\n

na longa<\/b>, the ships<\/p>\n

na long<\/b>, of the ships<\/p>\n

Needless to say, there are dozens of types of ships, but we might just note the following here, since it pertains to the Lyubov Orlova:<\/p>\n

an chr\u00faslong<\/b>, the cruise liner, na cr\u00faslonga<\/strong>, the cruise liners<\/p>\n

3) ghost:<\/em> another enormous topic, but the basics are:<\/p>\n

an taibhse<\/b> [un TYV-shuh, with the “y” like “my” or “eye”], the ghost<\/p>\n

na taibhse<\/b>, of the ghost<\/p>\n

na taibhs\u00ed<\/b>, the ghosts<\/p>\n

na dtaibhs\u00ed<\/b> [nuh DYV-shee], of the ghosts<\/p>\n

4) ghost ship:<\/em> there are several possibilities here but none that I have seen traditionally use the word “taibhse<\/b>” as such<\/p>\n

long s\u00ed<\/b>, ghost ship, phantom ship, lit. a fairy ship, probably understood here more as a “supernatural ship”<\/p>\n

long mhaol<\/b>, ghost ship, lit. a “bare” (bald) ship; this phrase also means a “hulk.”\u00a0 “Maol<\/b>” is one of those fascinating words with about a dozen meanings (beardless, hornless, unprotected, cropped, bobtailed, edgeless, dense, obtuse, etc., etc.) all of which could be \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I have found only one example online of “long thaibhs\u00ed<\/b>” (lit. ship of ghosts).\u00a0 It was on a recent translation of a Sponge-Bob Square-Pants online game but that doesn’t set much precedent for the use of the word traditionally.<\/p>\n

I suppose all of this raises the question of what exactly is a “ghost ship”?\u00a0 A real ship that’s been abandoned?\u00a0 A ship crewed by ghosts? A phantom ship that can only be seen under certain conditions (anniversary of its sinking, etc.).\u00a0 But the finer points of “ghost-shipness” don’t seem to have concerned the authors of the 2 million or so references to the Lyubov Orlova online.\u00a0 As I write this though, I’m getting intrigued about how to say “ghost ship” in other languages. \u00a0Is it literally “ghost,” or “phantom,” or simply “derelict” or “abandoned” or some such straightforward term?\u00a0 Is it a Flying Dutchman or is it a Mary Celeste? \u00a0\u00a0But that topic is getting far beyond today’s Irish Blog.<\/p>\n

It’s all rather eerie though, and somehow puts me in mind of “I Saw a Ship a-Sailing,” with its unusual crew:<\/p>\n

The four-and-twenty sailors,\u00a0That stood between the decks,
\nWere four-and-twenty white mice, With chains\u00a0around their necks<\/p>\n

But that ship is captained by a duck (!) and safely within the realm of the fantastic, the “neamhshaolta<\/b>,” and actually has a happy outcome, since this nursery-rhyme ship is filled with “comfits” and apples for the recipient\/listener.<\/p>\n

If the Lyubov Orlova has actually sunk, as many presume, it must have been a grisly end for any rats on board.\u00a0 Traditionally, rats are supposed to abandon a sinking ship but my image of this has always been that the rats leave before the ship sets sail and return to the wharves and docks to find a more seaworthy vessel.\u00a0 Much as I do not wish to encounter a starving plague-infested rat, I can only imagine the final scenario if this ship really was swarming with rats and it would be pathetic.\u00a0 I wonder how far (or if) rats can swim, but even if they can a bit, I doubt they’d get very far in uisc\u00ed fuara an Atlantaigh Thuaidh<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Sc\u00e9al aisteach, uaigneach, neamhshaolta \u00e9 a chuireann chun smaointe muid<\/b>.\u00a0 Especially since the whole business started because of the issue of profitability and the feasibility of recycling the ship for “miotal conamair<\/b>” (scrap metal).<\/p>\n

An nuacht is nua\u00ed f\u00fathu?\u00a0 – R\u00f3isl\u00edn <\/b><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta: cine\u00e1lacha francach: cangar\u00fa francaigh<\/b> (kangaroo rat), \u00a0francach camra<\/b> (sewer rat),\u00a0francach dubh<\/b> (black rat), agus<\/strong>\u00a0francach saotharlainne<\/b> (laboratory rat) agus “f(h)rancaigh” mar aidiacht:\u00a0<\/strong>dreancaid fhrancaigh<\/b>\u00a0(rat flea)<\/p>\n

Agus mar fhocal scoir:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"briongl\u00f3id<\/a>

briongl\u00f3id an fhrancaigh<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Cannibal rats?\u00a0 A ghost ship?\u00a0 An Irish island?\u00a0 How dramatic is that? You’ve probably read the basic news scoop by now.\u00a0\u00a0 The cruise ship Lyubov Orlova, built in 1976 in the former Yugoslavia, is allegedly adrift in the North Atlantic, with no crew.\u00a0 The only living (if that) inhabitants on board are believed…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":4850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[307080,307088,307083,307075,307092,5240,307085,307087,307089,307070,307076,307084,307091,307090,307081,5926,5927,307072,307071,307078,307079,307082,307073,307077,307074,307069,307093,298471,307086,87135,489815,489814],"class_list":["post-4848","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-abandon-sinking-ship","tag-black-rat","tag-cangaru-francaigh","tag-cannibal-rat","tag-dreancaid-fhrancaigh","tag-francach","tag-francach-camra","tag-francach-dubh","tag-francach-saotharlainne","tag-francaigh","tag-irish-island","tag-kangaroo-rat","tag-lab-rat","tag-laboratory-rat","tag-loiceach","tag-loinge","tag-long","tag-long-mhaol","tag-longa","tag-luch","tag-luch-fhrancach","tag-luchaire","tag-lyubov","tag-north-atlantic","tag-orlova","tag-rat","tag-rat-flea","tag-reepicheep","tag-sewer-rat","tag-taibhse","tag-vol","tag-vole"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848","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=4848"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9712,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4848\/revisions\/9712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}