{"id":5154,"date":"2014-04-14T09:50:26","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T09:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5154"},"modified":"2014-04-18T14:02:14","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T14:02:14","slug":"from-multilingual-madness-to-the-siege-perilous-via-a-discussion-of-ord-na-bhfocal-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/from-multilingual-madness-to-the-siege-perilous-via-a-discussion-of-ord-na-bhfocal-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"From ‘Multilingual Madness’ to the ‘Siege Perilous’ via a Discussion of ‘Ord na bhFocal’ in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Lately we’ve looked at the possibilities for saying “multilingual” and “madness” in Irish (ilteangach, buile<\/b>, among other choices).\u00a0 The next question is how do we put the two words together.\u00a0\u00a0 We’ll follow the typical word order in Irish, first noun, then adjective.\u00a0 \u00a0This is the reverse of the normal word order in English (“big boy”), although English has a few exceptions, with the adjective second, like “Attorney General” and “knight-errant,” and for that matter, though well off the beaten track, “the Siege Perilous.”<\/p>\n

First, let’s wrap up the phrase “multilingual madness.” \u00a0It seems that “buile ilteangach<\/b>” is the best choice.\u00a0 None of the other combinations I looked at offered the mellifluous “m-ishness” (is that a word?) of the alliterative “multilingual madness,” but c’est la vie<\/i>, or as one might say in Irish, “Sin mar at\u00e1 an saol<\/b>.”<\/p>\n

This year’s winner of the Transparent Language “Multilingual Madness” challenge was Italian (Iod\u00e1ilis<\/b>) although Irish put in a good showing (Go raibh maith agaibh<\/b>!).\u00a0 No “sil\u00edn\u00ed searbha<\/b>” here and kudos to “an buaiteoir<\/b>.” \u00a0As a tribute, in an upcoming blog we’ll work on words pertaining to Italian and\/or Roman culture.\u00a0 An Colasaem<\/b>? \u00a0\u00a0Na Garda\u00ed Eilv\u00e9iseacha<\/b>?\u00a0 And the foolproof “pasta<\/b>.”\u00a0 But is “pasta<\/b>” in Irish masculine or feminine — there’s always that question with nouns imported from another language.\u00a0 And I see from a couple of focl\u00f3ir\u00ed Iod\u00e1ilise<\/b> that the Italian word “pasta<\/i>” is grammatically feminine.\u00a0 So does that have any bearing on its “inscne<\/b>” in Irish?\u00a0 Well, that’s the cliffhanger for now.\u00a0 Imagine, “inscne ghramad\u00fail<\/b>” as a cliffhanger!<\/p>\n

Getting back to the question of word order, let’s look at a few situations in Irish where the adjective doesn’t follow the noun.\u00a0 And for good measure, we’ll also check out those phrases cited above as exceptions in English: Attorney General, knight-errant, and Siege Perilous.<\/p>\n

As noted above, the usual pattern for noun phrases in Irish is “noun-adjective,” as in “b\u00e1d m\u00f3r<\/b>,” “bean ard<\/b>,” and “l\u00e9amar bandearrach<\/b>.”\u00a0 But there are a few adjectives that either can only be used as a prefix, a few that are typically used as a prefix, and a few which just come before their noun without being a prefix as such.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

1) Adjectives Used Only As Prefixes<\/i><\/p>\n

dea-ghu\u00ed<\/b>, a good wish (“dea-<\/b>” is only used as a prefix)<\/p>\n

drochaimsir,<\/b> bad weather (“droch-<\/b>” is only used as a prefix)<\/p>\n

2) Adjectives That May Be Used As Prefixes<\/i><\/p>\n

seanfhear<\/b>, old man (“sean<\/b>” may be used as a prefix although it can also be used is a separate phrase from the noun, as in “T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sean<\/b>.”)\u00a0 “Sean<\/b>” is somewhat unique in that it must<\/em> be a prefix to be attributive.<\/p>\n

Many adjectives, like “fuar<\/strong>” in the example below, can be used as prefixes to create compound words, even though they’re normally used in separate slots within the sentence (after the noun for attributive, outside the noun phrase for predicate)<\/p>\n

fuaraigeantacht<\/b>, coolness, imperturbability (“fuar<\/b>” used here as a prefix although it \u00a0can also be used attributively in phrases like “seomra fuar<\/b>” or as a predicate in”T\u00e1 s\u00e9 fuar<\/b>.”)<\/p>\n

In fact, when you get into poetry and song, you’ll find many words created by taking adjectives and making prefixes of them, in combinations that wouldn’t typically be part of everyday speech, as in the following description of a young woman from the poem “C\u00fairt an Mhe\u00e1n O\u00edche<\/b>“(written ca. 1780)<\/p>\n

mhallruisc mhilisbhog bh\u00e9altais mh\u00e9arlag<\/b>, lit. “languid-eyed sweet-soft \u00a0mouth-moist finger-weak\/delicate”<\/p>\n

Very effective in poetry, but probably a little much for the average “sweet nothing.”<\/p>\n

3) Adjectives That Can <\/i>Only Precede Their Noun<\/i><\/p>\n

aon<\/b> (in the sense of “any,” not “one”), aon duine<\/b>, any person (as opposed to “duine amh\u00e1in<\/b>,” which is “one person”)<\/p>\n

gach bean<\/b>, every woman (and its variants: ‘chuile<\/strong> bhean, gach uile bhean, gach aon bhean, ach’an bhean<\/b>)<\/p>\n

Possessive adjectives also precede their noun (mo leabhar, do mhadra, srl.<\/b>) but that’s a fairly different grammatical concept.<\/p>\n

Sin tr\u00ed chatag\u00f3ir, ar a laghad.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

By way of contrast, in English, the adjective usually precedes the noun (big boy, transcendental meditation).\u00a0 A few exceptions were mentioned above: Attorney General, knight-errant, and Siege Perilous.\u00a0 Here’s how they turn out in Irish:<\/p>\n

a) Ard-Aighne<\/b>, Attorney General.\u00a0 The adjective “ard<\/b>” is used as a prefix, indicating that this is a specific title.\u00a0 If we just said “aighne ard<\/b>,” it would most likely be translated as simply “a tall pleader” (not a particularly useful phrase!).\u00a0 As part of the job title, “ard<\/b>” conveys the sense of “high” or “of elevated status” (as in “ardr\u00ed<\/b>“).\u00a0 Related phrases include:<\/p>\n

an tArd-Aighne<\/b>, the Attorney General<\/p>\n

Ard-Aighne na h\u00c9ireann<\/b>, the Attorney General of Ireland<\/p>\n

Ard-Aighne Cheanada<\/b>, the Attorney General of Canada<\/p>\n

An tArd-Aighne do Gheirs\u00ed <\/b><\/p>\n

An tArd-Aighne do Ghearnsa\u00ed <\/b><\/p>\n

\"Amadis<\/a>

Amadis na Gaille, Ridire F\u00e1in<\/p><\/div>\n

b) The phrase “knight errant” in Irish doesn’t exactly use an adjective “errant.” Instead , it uses the noun for “wandering” to describe the knight:<\/p>\n

ridire f\u00e1in<\/b>, knight-errant, lit. knight of wandering<\/p>\n

Interestingly, though, the word order is quite standard, unlike the archaic-seeming English “knight-errant.”\u00a0 And this follows through for “knight-errantry”:<\/p>\n

ridireacht f\u00e1in<\/b>, knight-errantry, lit. knighthood of wandering<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An Ridire Galahad sa Su\u00edoch\u00e1n Priaclach (n\u00f3 cont\u00fairteach n\u00f3 baolach n\u00f3 dains\u00e9arach n\u00f3 guaiseach)<\/p><\/div>\n

c) And finally, for “Siege Perilous,” with its romantic connotations of Arthurian legend plus its modern-day connections to Andromeda<\/i>, Exalted<\/i>, and Marvel Comics, I don’t see any exact equivalent in any Irish source.\u00a0 I’d suggest “su\u00edoch\u00e1n<\/b>” (seat) followed by any of various words for “dangerous.”\u00a0 These would most typically include “cont\u00fairteach<\/b>,” “baolach<\/b>,” “dains\u00e9arach<\/b>,” and “guaiseach<\/b>,” but I’m inclined toward “priaclach<\/b>,” since it would have the same root as “perilous,” as in the French “Si\u00e8ge P\u00e9rilloux<\/i>,” the Spanish “Asiento Peligroso<\/i>,” and even the Galego, “Asento Perigroso<\/i>.”\u00a0 \u00a0But none of these combinations would have the archaic feel of “Siege Perilous.”\u00a0 Ar\u00eds<\/b>, c’est la vie<\/i>. \u00a0At any rate, we wouldn’t use “l\u00e9igear<\/b>” (beleaguerment), “forbhais<\/b>” (act of beleaguering, however that parses differently from “beleaguerment”!), or “imshu\u00ed<\/b>” (encompassment) since these all mean “siege” in the military sense.<\/p>\n

So we’ve gone from exploring multilingualism and madness to Irish word order for nouns and adjectives in general in the last few blogs.\u00a0 The takeaways?\u00a0 The prefix “il-<\/b>” with just a few examples of its usage (ilteangach, ilbh\u00e9arlach, ilghuthach, ilst\u00f3rach<\/b>). Teanga<\/b> vs. (lower-case) b\u00e9arla<\/b>.\u00a0 Buile<\/b> vs. mire, m\u00e1ine, b\u00e1in\u00ed,<\/b> et al.\u00a0 And, finally, the possible implications when word order is changed (Ard-Aighne<\/b> vs. aighne ard<\/b>.\u00a0 And hmm, what happens in English if we say “Perilous Seat” instead of “Siege Perilous.”\u00a0 Somehow that makes me think more of S\u00e9amas de Bond<\/b> than An R\u00ed Art\u00far<\/b>! SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/b><\/p>\n

Naisc do na pictiuir:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Amadis-spanish-1533.jpg (fearann\u00a0poibl<\/strong>\u00ed)<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:Siege_perilleux_galaad.jpg (fearann poibl\u00ed<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Lately we’ve looked at the possibilities for saying “multilingual” and “madness” in Irish (ilteangach, buile, among other choices).\u00a0 The next question is how do we put the two words together.\u00a0\u00a0 We’ll follow the typical word order in Irish, first noun, then adjective.\u00a0 \u00a0This is the reverse of the normal word order in English…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[316130,316091,316145,4059,316150,316158,4208,4209,316144,316149,316157,316169,316167,316118,316125,255067,316032,316163,4307,316172,316133,316112,315994,316108,4540,316178,316116,316113,316162,207364,316129,316164,316161,272957,316121,316141,316180,316179,4996,255066,316100,316148,316174,316151,316159,316094,2906,275329,316171,207368,316126,316168,316114,316117,316122,316165,5522,316176,315988,316127,316173,96586,5658,5665,5747,316119,316154,316156,316135,316120,5860,316170,5942,316110,315987,111251,316160,2993,316109,316131,316134,316132,192199,6123,316138,273846,315986,316081,6193,316124,273215,11517,316098,316177,316147,3351,2418,316096,316102,316092,316153,316093,316155,316101,316181,316123,12845,316128,316097,316166,316107,316111,316136,143,316095,6988,316142,316146,307154,316152,316140,3521],"class_list":["post-5154","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-316130","tag-aighne","tag-aighne-ard","tag-alliterative","tag-an-tard-aighne","tag-andromeda","tag-archaic","tag-ard","tag-ard-aighne","tag-ardri","tag-arthurian","tag-asento-perigroso","tag-asiento-peligroso","tag-attorney-general","tag-attributive","tag-bad-weather","tag-baini","tag-baolach","tag-bearla","tag-beleaguering","tag-bhealtais","tag-buaiteoir","tag-buile","tag-buile-ilteangach","tag-canada","tag-cheanada","tag-cliffhanger","tag-colasaem","tag-contuirteach","tag-coolness","tag-cuirt-an-mhean-oiche","tag-dainsearach","tag-dangerous","tag-dea","tag-dea-ghui","tag-delicate","tag-do-ghearnsai","tag-do-gheirsi","tag-droch","tag-drochaimsir","tag-ejection","tag-elevated","tag-encompassment","tag-errant","tag-exalted","tag-fain","tag-feminine","tag-finger","tag-forbhais","tag-fuar","tag-fuaraigeantacht","tag-galego","tag-gardai-eilveiseacha","tag-ghramaduil","tag-good-wish","tag-guaiseach","tag-high","tag-il","tag-ilteangach","tag-imperturbability","tag-imshui","tag-inscne","tag-iodailis","tag-ireland","tag-italian","tag-knight-errant","tag-knight-errantry","tag-knighthood","tag-languid-eyed","tag-leamar-bandearrach","tag-legend","tag-leigear","tag-lower-case","tag-m-ishness","tag-madness","tag-maine","tag-marvel-comics","tag-masculine","tag-mellifluous","tag-mhallruisc","tag-mhearlag","tag-mhilisbhog","tag-military","tag-mire","tag-moist","tag-mouth","tag-multilingual","tag-multilingual-madness","tag-na-heireann","tag-old-man","tag-ord-na-bhfocal","tag-pasta","tag-perilous","tag-perilous-seat","tag-pleader","tag-possessive","tag-prefix","tag-priaclach","tag-ri-artur","tag-ridire","tag-ridire-fain","tag-ridireacht","tag-ridireacht-fain","tag-seamas-de-bond","tag-sean-old","tag-seanfhear","tag-seat","tag-seomra-fuar","tag-siege","tag-siege-perilloux","tag-siege-perilous","tag-silini-searbha","tag-soft","tag-spanish","tag-suiochan","tag-sweet","tag-sweet-nothing","tag-tall","tag-title","tag-wandering","tag-weak","tag-word-order"],"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