{"id":4914,"date":"2014-02-03T20:28:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T20:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=4914"},"modified":"2015-02-02T17:29:51","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T17:29:51","slug":"beirt-naomh-mhi-na-feabhra-naomh-brid-agus-san-vailintin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/beirt-naomh-mhi-na-feabhra-naomh-brid-agus-san-vailintin\/","title":{"rendered":"Beirt Naomh Mh\u00ed na Feabhra: Naomh Br\u00edd agus San Vailint\u00edn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Irish has two words for “saint.”\u00a0 I wonder if any other language is similar in this regard, but for now, we’ll just look at the two Irish words, “naomh<\/strong>” and “san<\/strong>.”\u00a0 For most purposes, they are not interchangeable.\u00a0 February celebrates both “Naomh Br\u00edd<\/strong>” and “San Vailint\u00edn<\/strong>,” so let’s look at why they have two different words for titles.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with “san<\/strong>” [sahn] since, ultimately there are fewer forms and specifications connected to this word.\u00a0 The key thing is that, in Irish, “San<\/strong>” is only used as a title.\u00a0 In Modern Irish, at least, it’s not a generic word for “saint.”\u00a0 The word “naomh<\/strong>” serves that purpose.<\/p>\n

At least according to all the recent Modern Irish sources I’ve been able to double-check, the word “san<\/strong>” currently has no plural, no gender, and no possessive ending.\u00a0 It’s only used as a title, primarily for non-Irish saints.\u00a0 Note that the pronunciation (“sahn”) is not like another Irish word spelled “san<\/strong>” and pronounced like English “sun.”\u00a0 That “san<\/strong>” (short for “ins<\/strong>” + “an<\/strong>“) means “in the,” as in “san uisce<\/strong>,” in the water.\u00a0 Here are some examples of “San<\/strong>” for saints:<\/p>\n

San Vailint\u00edn<\/strong> (hmm, I wonder why that example sprung to mind at this time of year?)<\/p>\n

San Doiminic<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Caitr\u00edona<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Seoirse<\/strong> (“San<\/strong>” used to change to “Sain<\/strong>” before slender consonants, like the “s-” of “Seoirse<\/strong>,” but I haven’t seen any signs of this in recent years). \u00a0BTW, both “s’s” in “Seoirse<\/strong>” are slender, but only the first one really concerns us here.<\/p>\n

San Tom\u00e1s a Beicit <\/strong>and\u00a0<\/strong>San Tom\u00e1s<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Se\u00e1n<\/strong> (as in <\/span>O\u00edche Fh\u00e9ile San Se\u00e1in<\/strong>, St. John’s Eve; a related term in early 20th-century Irish, <\/span>F\u00e9ile Shain Seain<\/strong> [sic], shows us that at one time, “<\/span>san<\/strong>” did change form slightly according to the grammatical context.)<\/span><\/p>\n

San Niocl\u00e1s<\/strong> (aka Daid\u00ed na Nolla<\/strong>g and Athair na Nollag<\/strong>, except, I suppose, when one is specifically referring to the 4th-centuary St. Nicholas of Smyrna, separate from all the Christmas trappings.<\/p>\n

Geographically speaking, we have:<\/p>\n

San H\u00e9ilin<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Cr\u00edost\u00f3ir-Nimheas<\/strong><\/p>\n

But some other locations retain the actual word “saint,” as in “Comhroinn Thar Lear Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

As for the St. Bernard dog, there are at least three ways to refer to that breed in Irish:<\/p>\n

an tAilp\u00edneach<\/strong>, pl: na hAilp\u00ednigh<\/strong>, lit. the “Alpine”<\/p>\n

Madra Bearn\u00e1in<\/strong>, pl: Madra\u00ed Bearn\u00e1in<\/strong>, lit. dog of Bearn\u00e1n<\/strong> (Bernard)<\/p>\n

Madra San Bearnard<\/strong>, pl: Madra\u00ed San Bearnard<\/strong><\/p>\n

Irish or non-Irish, when we want to refer to saints in general, the word is “naomh<\/strong>” [neev OR nayv].\u00a0 This word has the usual complement of forms, and is grammatically masculine.\u00a0 It’s used even if the saint being referred to is female (Naomh Br\u00edd<\/strong>, whose feast day has just passed).<\/p>\n

an naomh<\/strong>, the saint<\/p>\n

an naoimh<\/strong>, of the saint; ainm an naoimh<\/strong>, the name of the saint<\/p>\n

na naoimh<\/strong>, the saints<\/p>\n

na naomh<\/strong>, of the saints, as in “F\u00e9ile na Naomh Uile<\/strong>” (lit. the feast of all the saints)<\/p>\n

In addition to “Naomh P\u00e1draig<\/strong>” (aka P\u00e1draig Naofa<\/strong>), we have “Naomh Ciar\u00e1n<\/strong>,” “Naomh Colm Cille,” srl.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some related words are “naomhluan<\/strong>,” a “halo” and “naomhsheanchas<\/strong>” [NEEV-HAN-uh-khuss OR NAYV-HAN-uh-khuss], which means “hagiography.”<\/p>\n

As for expressions like “Saints alive!,” I think the closest Irish equivalents would be “A Thiarcais!<\/strong>” (Oh my!, etc.) or “Muise!<\/strong>” ([MWISH-uh], Indeed!, often anglicized as “Musha!”), with no reference to saints at all.\u00a0 But perhaps some readers know some other saint-related exclamations in Irish? SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Irish has two words for “saint.”\u00a0 I wonder if any other language is similar in this regard, but for now, we’ll just look at the two Irish words, “naomh” and “san.”\u00a0 For most purposes, they are not interchangeable.\u00a0 February celebrates both “Naomh Br\u00edd” and “San Vailint\u00edn,” so let’s look at why they have…<\/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":[307172,12150,307175,9755,307178,307179,307170,4890,4981,5148,5155,307183,309429,5163,307188,307174,12121,307191,307168,307176,307180,307177,307181,2993,96691,307190,307182,6219,111800,307185,307186,8246,284056,307187,307169,307167,6281,96567,307161,307184,11,229527,6663,307189,6674,307156,307166,307155,307165,6675,307160,307157,307159,307158,172899,211690,307164,307171,307162,9769,307173,303023,307154,172898],"class_list":["post-4914","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ailpineach","tag-all-saints","tag-alpine","tag-athair-na-nollag","tag-bearnan","tag-bernard","tag-comhroinn-thar-lear-saint-pierre-et-miquelon","tag-daidi-na-nollag","tag-dog","tag-feabhra","tag-february","tag-feile-na-naomh-uile","tag-feile-shain-seain","tag-female","tag-hagiography","tag-hailpinigh","tag-halo","tag-indeed","tag-kitts","tag-madra-bearnain","tag-madra-san-bearnard","tag-madrai-bearnain","tag-madrai-san-bearnard","tag-masculine","tag-mi-na-feabhra","tag-muise","tag-naoimh","tag-naomh","tag-naomh-brid","tag-naomh-ciaran","tag-naomh-colm-cille","tag-naomh-padraig","tag-naomhluan","tag-naomhsheanchas","tag-nevis","tag-nimheas","tag-non-irish","tag-oh-my","tag-oiche-fheile-san-seain","tag-padraig-naofa","tag-pronunciation","tag-sain","tag-saint","tag-saints-alive","tag-san","tag-san-caitriona","tag-san-criostoir-nimheas","tag-san-doiminic","tag-san-heilin","tag-san-nioclas","tag-san-sean","tag-san-seoirse","tag-san-tomas","tag-san-tomas-a-beicit","tag-san-vailintin","tag-slender-consonant","tag-smyrna","tag-st-bernard","tag-st-johns-eve","tag-st-nicholas","tag-tailpineach","tag-thiarcais","tag-title","tag-vailintin"],"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