{"id":496,"date":"2010-11-13T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2010-11-13T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=496"},"modified":"2018-05-21T19:06:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T19:06:32","slug":"%e2%80%9ciar-%e2%80%9c-after-western-etc-agus-%e2%80%9csiar%e2%80%9d-westwards-back-in-time-etc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%e2%80%9ciar-%e2%80%9c-after-western-etc-agus-%e2%80%9csiar%e2%80%9d-westwards-back-in-time-etc\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIar-\u201c (after-, western, etc.) agus \u201cSiar\u201d (westwards. back in time, etc.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Last blog we looked at some uses of the prefix \u201ciar-\u201c <\/strong>in compound words like \u201ciarsholas,\u201d \u201ciarscol\u00e1ire,\u201d \u201ciarbh\u00e1is,\u201d \u201ciarmh\u00edr,\u201d <\/strong>and \u201ciarleann.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>The prefix \u201ciar-\u201c <\/strong>is related to the Irish adverb \u201csiar,\u201d <\/strong>for which some basic meanings are \u201cwest(wards),\u201d \u201cback,\u201d and \u201cback in time.\u201d\u00a0 So \u201ciar-\u201c <\/strong>can pertain to geography (\u201cwest\u201d or \u201cwestern\u201d) as well as to time (after-, post-, ex-, etc.).<\/p>\n

Here are some examples where \u201ciar-\u201c<\/strong> has the basic meaning of \u201cwest\u201d:<\/p>\n

An tIarthar <\/strong>[un TCHEER-hur, note the 2nd<\/sup> \u201ct\u201d is silent], the West<\/p>\n

iartharach,<\/strong> western, west.\u00a0 This can also be expressed by an adjective formed from the same root, \u201cthiar<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Many plant and animal names, especially those not native to Ireland, use the longer form, iartharach, <\/strong>such as \u201cbandac\u00fat str\u00edocach iartharach\u201d <\/strong>and \u201chimlic iartharach<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 For species native to Ireland, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s that much east-west differentiation since it\u2019s a relatively small country and an island, to boot.\u00a0 If there\u2019s an eastern \u201ccarraig\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d and a western \u201ccarraig\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d or any other such distinction within Ireland, please let me know!\u00a0 Many geographic terms use the shorter form, \u201cthiar\u201d (an Fronta Thiar, Sam\u00f3 Thiar, an Sah\u00e1ra Thiar).\u00a0 <\/strong>For more on this word, please see an n\u00f3ta th\u00edos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And more:<\/p>\n

Iar-Indiach, <\/strong>West Indian (but \u201cna hIndiacha Thiar<\/strong>\u201d for the West Indies)<\/p>\n

An Iarmh\u00ed, <\/strong>Westmeath (an contae)<\/strong><\/p>\n

But no such connection for Westport.\u00a0 Sin \u201cCathair na Mart\u201d i nGaeilge.\u00a0 <\/strong>That\u2019s one of the Irish place names where the English is completely unrelated to the Irish.\u00a0 As for the meaning of \u201cCathair na Mart,\u201d <\/strong>for anyone who\u2019s wondering, sin \u00e1bhar blag eile, <\/strong>but the \u201cleid\u201d <\/strong>is that it has to do with cattle.\u00a0 Any resemblance to\u00a0\u201cmart<\/em>,” the Dutch-based English word meaning\u00a0\u201cmarket,\u201d is\u00a0coincidental.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some examples of \u201csiar\u201d <\/strong>used to mean \u201cwestward\u201d:<\/p>\n

Sheol siad siar.\u00a0 <\/strong>They sailed west.<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 ghrian ag dul siar.\u00a0 <\/strong>The sun is going west (setting).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And \u201csiar\u201d <\/strong>meaning \u201cback\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSiar libh\u201d <\/strong>or \u201cSiaraig\u00ed\u201d:<\/strong> go back, back you go (both are plural)<\/p>\n

Ligeann an coile\u00e1n a chluasa siar m\u00e1 bh\u00edonn eagla air.\u00a0 <\/strong>The puppy sets its ears back if it is afraid.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s \u201csiar<\/strong>\u201d meaning \u201cback in time:\u201d<\/p>\n

chomh fada siar go Colm Cille<\/strong>, as far back as Colm Cille (as far back as the time of St. Colm Cille)<\/p>\n

Or we could take it a step further:<\/p>\n

chomh fada siar go h\u00d6tzi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To wrap up this blog, we could use:<\/p>\n

ar deireadh is ar siar<\/strong>, at long last.<\/p>\n

Hope this was helpful.\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta<\/strong>: But please note that I always advise not leaping to conclusions about which terms take which modifiers (always a good rule of thumb).\u00a0 Other words can also be used for \u201cwestern.\u201d\u00a0 These range from those that are related, but simply a different part of speech, like \u201cIarthar na hEorpa\u201d <\/strong>for \u201cWestern Europe\u201d (lit. the West of Europe), to those that aren\u2019t related at all, as in \u201cwestern gorse,\u201d which is \u201caiteann gaelach<\/strong>\u201d (lit. Irish\/common gorse). \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>My inner wannabe botanist (actually my inner wannabe ethnobotanist) is also nagging me to say, \u201cHey!\u00a0 Why are there so many different terms for \u201caiteann gaelach<\/strong>\u201d?\u00a0 How does \u2018dwarf whin\u2019 compare to \u2018western gorse\u2019?\u201d but, for now I\u2019ll have to say, sin \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 Any eitnealuibheolaithe<\/strong> out there who want to clarify the issue, please let me know. \u00a0Basic \u201cwhin,\u201d \u201cgorse,\u201d and \u201cfurze\u201d finally became clear to me some years ago, when I realized they all shared the same Latin name, ulex<\/em>.\u00a0 But \u201cdwarf\u201d vs. \u201cwestern,\u201d sin sc\u00e9al eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 What are the relative proportions of \u201cabhcacht<\/strong>\u201d in whin as opposed to the tall variety?\u00a0 And from whose perspective is the plant \u201cwestern\u201d?\u00a0 Someone in Oirthear na hEorpa<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

And of course, this advice not to assume connections applies not just to the issue of \u201cwestern\u201d or any single given word but to language learning in general, especially in this era of machine translation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Last blog we looked at some uses of the prefix \u201ciar-\u201c in compound words like \u201ciarsholas,\u201d \u201ciarscol\u00e1ire,\u201d \u201ciarbh\u00e1is,\u201d \u201ciarmh\u00edr,\u201d and \u201ciarleann.\u201d\u00a0 The prefix \u201ciar-\u201c is related to the Irish adverb \u201csiar,\u201d for which some basic meanings are \u201cwest(wards),\u201d \u201cback,\u201d and \u201cback in time.\u201d\u00a0 So \u201ciar-\u201c can pertain to geography (\u201cwest\u201d or \u201cwestern\u201d) as…<\/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":[12446,12442,12450,12433,12445,12444,5592,12441,12443,2294,12438,12430,12449,12448,12447,12437,12432,12440,12439,12431,12436,12435,12434],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ag-dul-siar","tag-an-tiarthar","tag-ar-deireadh-is-ar-siar","tag-cathair-na-mart","tag-chomh-fada-siar-go-colm-cille","tag-chomh-fada-siar-go-hotzi","tag-iar","tag-iarthar","tag-iartharach","tag-market","tag-mart","tag-siar","tag-siar-leat","tag-siar-libh","tag-siaraigi","tag-the-western-front","tag-west","tag-west-indian","tag-west-indies","tag-western","tag-western-sahara","tag-western-samoa","tag-westport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","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=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10486,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions\/10486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}