{"id":5202,"date":"2014-04-24T20:11:51","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T20:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5202"},"modified":"2014-05-01T10:54:02","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T10:54:02","slug":"merry-month-may-and-how-to-say-it-all-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/merry-month-may-and-how-to-say-it-all-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Merry, Month, May, and How to Say It All in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Go<\/a>

Go minic b\u00edonn daoine ag damhsa ar L\u00e1 Bealtaine (1 M\u00ed na Bealtaine). An mbeidh tusa ag damhsa freisin? (nasc don phicti\u00far th\u00edos)<\/p><\/div>\n

As we approach L\u00e1 Bealtaine<\/strong> and m\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>, it seems a good time to break apart the time-worn phrase “merry, merry month of May,” and see how these words appear in Irish. \u00a0So we’ve got at least four words for “merry” plus a curious use of “bu\u00ed<\/strong>,” one basic word for “month” (Phew! \u00a0Just one, although it does have three main forms), and one basic word for “May” (the month, not the girl’s name or the auxiliary verb, which could fill several more blogs).<\/p>\n

I will note, though, before we really plunge in, that “May” in English is not always “May” in Irish.\u00a0 One favorite example of this dilemma?\u00a0 “Priompall\u00e1n samhraidh<\/strong>,” which in English is “May-beetle” or “May-bug,” but which in Irish has the word “samhraidh<\/strong>,” not “Bealtaine<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0Good thing the word “samhraidh<\/strong>” [SOW-ree, “of summer”] is there though.\u00a0 “Priompall\u00e1n<\/strong>” on its own is “dung beetle,” as immortalized in the proverb\u00a0 “D\u00e1 airde a \u00e9ir\u00edonn an priompall\u00e1n, siar ar an gcac a thiteann s\u00e9\u00a0i gc\u00f3na\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 The “priompall\u00e1n<\/strong>” is also known as the “trumpall\u00e1n<\/strong>” and, as far as I can tell, the “cearnamh\u00e1n<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Feithideolaithe<\/strong>? \u00a0The May-bug is also known in English as the “cockchafer,” at least according to Tony Barton’s “Nature Notes” (nasc th\u00edos)<\/strong>.\u00a0 Some say “Northern” Cockchafer.\u00a0 At any rate, adult May-bugs apparently eat duilleoga (go m\u00f3r m\u00f3r duilleoga<\/strong> darach<\/strong>) and the grubs eat fr\u00e9amhacha planda\u00ed ( go m\u00f3r m\u00f3r fr\u00e9amhacha planda\u00ed pr\u00e1ta\u00ed)<\/strong>. \u00a0Beag\u00e1n n\u00edos blasta n\u00e1 bualtrach, d\u00e9arfainn, ach ar nd\u00f3igh, sin claontacht an daonna\u00ed<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, back to our main topic:<\/p>\n

1) Merry: probably the most basic translation is “meidhreach<\/strong>,” as in “cuideachta mheidhreach<\/strong>” (merry or convivial company).<\/p>\n

For “Merry Christmas,” though, we have “Nollaig Shona<\/strong>” (lit. “Happy Christmas”)<\/p>\n

“Cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong>\u201d [KREE-oo-il], from “cro\u00ed<\/strong>” (heart), means “merry” or “cheerful,” sometimes “hearty,” as in “g\u00e1ire cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong>” (a hearty laugh)<\/p>\n

“s\u00fagach<\/strong>” [SOO-gukh] is “merry” in the sense of “tipsy.”<\/p>\n

And then there’s the approximate Irish equivalent to “the merry month of May,” which is “m\u00ed bhu\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>” [mee wee nuh BAL-tin-yuh], lit. the “yellow\/golden month of May.”\u00a0 Normally, “golden” is “\u00f3rga<\/strong>” or “\u00f3ir<\/strong>” (of gold), ach, bhuel, traidisi\u00fan<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0Curiously, “bu\u00ed<\/strong>” can also be applied to “Meitheamh<\/strong>” (June) and somehow the concept seems to apply to the Manx “Mee Vuigh<\/em>,” used for “July.”<\/p>\n

2) The word for “month” is more straightforward, though irregular.<\/p>\n

m\u00ed<\/strong>, a month<\/p>\n

an mh\u00ed<\/strong> [un vee], the month<\/p>\n

m\u00edosa<\/strong>, of a month; sic\u00edn m\u00edosa<\/strong>, a month-old chick; i gceann m\u00edosa<\/strong>, in a month, lit. in\/by the end of a month<\/p>\n

m\u00edonna<\/strong>, months<\/p>\n

na m\u00edonna<\/strong>, the months<\/p>\n

na m\u00edonna<\/strong>, of the months (same as above); ainmneacha na m\u00edonna<\/strong> (the names of the months)<\/p>\n

3) And finally, our third keyword of the day:<\/p>\n

Bealtaine<\/strong>, May<\/p>\n

Bealtaine<\/strong> OR na Bealtaine<\/strong>, of May; L\u00e1 Bealtaine<\/strong> (May Day), m\u00ed<\/strong> na Bealtaine<\/strong> (month of May)<\/p>\n

For the occasional instances where it might be plural:<\/p>\n

Bealtain\u00ed<\/strong>, but that’s really pretty unusual<\/p>\n

In a previous blog (To ‘M\u00ed’<\/strong> or Not To ‘M\u00ed,<\/strong>‘ nasc th\u00edos<\/strong> ), we discussed the phrases “merry month of May” and “merry, merry month of May,” which come from, yes, two different songs.\u00a0 If you’re intrigued, you might want to check back there.\u00a0 Somehow “merry merry” sounds far “merrier” than just one “merry.” \u00a0But maybe it’s all just due to the catchy alliteration in the phrase.\u00a0 \u00a0BTW, in case you’ve been wondering about the definite article usage, that blog also gave a pretty thorough cover of when to use “m\u00ed<\/strong>” in front of the month’s name and when not to (hence teideal an bhlag sin<\/strong>, ‘To “M\u00ed” or Not To “M\u00ed”).<\/p>\n

Now, of course, the real response to the title of this blog (“Merry, Month, May, and How To Say It All in Irish”) would be “(s)\u00e9 go l\u00e9ir<\/strong>” or perhaps “(s)\u00ed go l\u00e9ir<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because those phrases mean “it all.”\u00a0 So that’s really how to say “it all” In Irish! \u00a0But that, I believe, is somewhat along the lines of the classic “say it backwards” type jokes, which were popular when I was, b’fh\u00e9idir, seacht mbliana d’aois<\/strong>.\u00a0 And actually, there are more ways to say “all,” in Irish, but we’ll have so save that for blag \u00e9igin eile (sa todhcha\u00ed).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So, to conclude, we could use the traditional “m\u00ed<\/strong>\u00a0bhu\u00ed<\/strong> na Bealtaine<\/strong>” for “the merry month of May,” but to be a little more literal, “m\u00ed mheidhreach na Bealtaine”\u00a0<\/strong>would also do.<\/p>\n

SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais<\/strong>: bualtrach,<\/strong> cow-dung; claontacht<\/strong>, bias; daire<\/strong>, oak (darach,<\/strong> of oak); daonna\u00ed, <\/strong>human being;\u00a0 feithideola\u00ed, <\/strong>entomologist; duilleog<\/strong><\/strong>, leaf); fr\u00e9amh<\/strong><\/strong>, root;\u00a0todhcha\u00ed<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>, future (n)<\/p>\n

Naisc: <\/strong>https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/to-%E2%80%9Cmi%E2%80%9D-or-not-to-%E2%80%9Cmi%E2%80%9D-using-the-word-%E2%80%9Cmonth%E2%80%9D-in-irish\/ (12 Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair 2011)<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bishopthorpe.net\/mt\/mt-search.cgi?search=cockchafer&IncludeBlogs=40&limit=20, Tony Barton, “Nature Notes” (31 Bealtaine 2009)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasc don phicti\u00far<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/www.freegreatimages.com\/may-day-pole-clip-art\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) As we approach L\u00e1 Bealtaine and m\u00ed na Bealtaine, it seems a good time to break apart the time-worn phrase “merry, merry month of May,” and see how these words appear in Irish. \u00a0So we’ve got at least four words for “merry” plus a curious use of “bu\u00ed,” one basic word for “month”…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[4297,5804,6027,13053,13059,316246,6087,316247,13056,111602,316248],"class_list":["post-5202","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bealtaine","tag-la-bealtaine","tag-may","tag-meidhreach","tag-merry","tag-mi-bhui","tag-mi-na-bealtaine","tag-priompallan","tag-sona","tag-sugach","tag-trumpallan"],"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