{"id":5215,"date":"2014-04-27T15:30:52","date_gmt":"2014-04-27T15:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5215"},"modified":"2015-07-06T23:53:54","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T23:53:54","slug":"more-month-of-may-motifs-i-ngaeilge-ar-ndoigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/more-month-of-may-motifs-i-ngaeilge-ar-ndoigh\/","title":{"rendered":"More Month-of-May Motifs (i nGaeilge, ar nd\u00f3igh)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Is it the “merry month” of May or the “merry, merry month” of May?\u00a0 Is it “meidhreach<\/strong>” or “sona<\/strong>,” “cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong>” or “s\u00fagach<\/strong>?\u00a0 Or is it as in the traditional Irish phrase, “bu\u00ed<\/strong>” (M\u00ed Bhu\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>)?\u00a0 We looked at all of those terms in the last blog (nasc th\u00ed<\/strong>os)<\/strong> but here’s a quick review:<\/p>\n

meidhreach<\/strong>: merry, convivial<\/p>\n

sona<\/strong>: happy, sometimes used for “merry,” at least from the American English perspective (Nollaig Shona<\/strong>, US: “Merry Christmas,” Ireland\/UK: “Happy Christmas”)<\/p>\n

cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong>: merry, hearty<\/p>\n

s\u00fagach<\/strong>: merry, tipsy<\/p>\n

bu\u00ed<\/strong>: yellow, occasionally “golden,” sometimes “summerlike” or “sunny,” with the implication of “merry” as in “M\u00ed Bhu\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>,” (the Merry Month of May) and “L\u00e1 Bu\u00ed Bealtaine<\/strong>” (merry\/golden May Day). \u00a0\u00a0The latter phrase was immortalized by the playwright M\u00e1ir\u00e9ad N\u00ed Ghr\u00e1da in her one-act drama of the same name.\u00a0 L\u00e1 Bu\u00ed Bealtaine<\/em><\/strong> opened at the Abbey Theatre (Amharclann na Mainistreach<\/strong>) on November 1st, 1953 and ran for 23 performances.\u00a0\u00a0 Interesting, and probably no coincidence, that the play explores one “quarter day” in the Celtic calendar (L\u00e1 Bealtaine<\/strong>, May 1st) and opened on another quarter day (an tSamhain<\/strong>, perhaps more familiar through its “eve,” which is “O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong>” or “Halloween”).\u00a0 \u00a0For more implications of the word “bu\u00ed,<\/strong>” on the negative side, please see the note below.<\/p>\n

And the conclusion so far for the “merry” vs. “merry merry” question?\u00a0\u00a0 “Bu\u00ed<\/strong>” (basically “yellow,” but also “sunny” or “summerlike”) is used for the traditional phrase, “the merry month of May.”\u00a0 As for making it “merry merry,” I’d say there would be very little precedent for doubling up the “bu\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 “Bu\u00ed<\/strong>” alone is probably plenty, but if you really want to emphasize the “double merriness,” I’d go with one of the words for “sunny” (grianmhar<\/strong>) or “summery” (samhrata, samhr\u00fail<\/strong>).\u00a0 \u00a0Sometimes “gr\u00e9ine<\/strong>” (of sun) and “samhraidh<\/strong>” (of summer) are used as adjectives but they would seem a bit bulky here, piling on the genitive cases.\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe we could even tie in to “Aoibhneas na Bealtaine<\/strong>,” for further possibilities, but that phrase is a blog’s worth unto itself, given the popularity of that tune and dance (aka “The Sweets of May”).<\/p>\n

At any rate, that should resolve the “merriness” factor, at least until next May.\u00a0\u00a0 So what are some of the “m\u00f3it\u00edfeanna eile<\/strong>” associated with “m\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>“?\u00a0 We’ll look at some phrases that have “May” in the Irish or in the English (not always in both)<\/p>\n

Banr\u00edon na Bealtaine<\/strong>, the May Queen<\/p>\n

cuil Bhealtaine<\/strong> or cuileog Bhealtaine<\/strong>, May-fly.\u00a0 And for the feithideolaithe<\/strong> among you, who might want more specific terminology, we have “cuil Bhealtaine fh\u00e1sta,” “nimfeach na cuile Bealtaine,” <\/strong>and “larbha na cuile Bealtaine”<\/strong><\/p>\n

crann Bealtaine<\/strong>, maypole (NB: “crann<\/strong>” also means “tree” or “mast;” a smaller pole would usually be a “cuaille<\/strong>” or a “cleith<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

bearn\u00e1n Bealtaine<\/strong>, marsh marigold (lit. “little gap of May,” as in “bearna<\/strong>,” a gap, and also a place name in Co. Galway, “Bearna<\/strong>” in Irish, formerly “Barna” in English)<\/p>\n

lus bu\u00ed Bealtaine<\/strong>, another name for the marsh marigold<\/p>\n

But watch your “lusanna<\/strong>” (plants) because we also have:<\/p>\n

lus Bealtaine<\/strong> (no “bu\u00ed”<\/strong>) or, more specifically, lus Bealtaine mara<\/strong>, which is ‘sea mayweed” (Tripleurospermum maritima<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Farther afield we have “lus \u00falla bealtaine Himil\u00e9ach<\/strong>” (Himalayan may-apple).\u00a0\u00a0 So that one must be in contrast to the American may-apple, for which I haven’t yet found a specific Irish equivalent.<\/p>\n

And a favorite “May Day” expression is “a bheith idir dh\u00e1 thine Bhealtaine<\/strong>” (to be between two May Day fires, i.e. to be in a dilemma, between a rock and a hard place, the devil and the deep blue sea, or however you care to express it).\u00a0 Why “dh\u00e1 thine Bhealtaine<\/strong>” (two May Day fires)?\u00a0 Anyone care to write in the answer?\u00a0 An freagra i mblag \u00e9igin eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

sceach gheal<\/strong>, May-bush or May-tree, whitethorn, hawthorn (lit. “bright,” or “fair” or “white” bush\/tree, not “May” as such)<\/p>\n

bl\u00e1th na sceiche gile<\/strong>, May-blossom (lit. the flower of the “bright bush\/tree”, once again not “May” as such).\u00a0 Sometime I’ll compare this more thoroughly with the “mayflower,” as understood in the US, which is apparently completely different.\u00a0 Makes you wonder, what did the Pilgrims mean with that term, given that they sailed to the New World in a ship of that name?\u00a0 Did they encounter the North American “mayflower” plant?\u00a0 Bhuel, \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Then there’s the American term “maypop,” (edible fruit of the passionflower) but that appears to have no connection to the month of May.\u00a0 The “may” part is supposed to be from the Algonquian “mara<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

As for your “maybes,” “mayhaps,” and “mayhems,” no connection here.\u00a0 \u00c1bhar blag eile<\/strong>, it may hap (to wax archaic). \u00a0At any rate, whether you’re in Ard\u00e1n Ghort na Bealtaine<\/strong> (i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath<\/strong>) or i mBaile Maoilbhealtaine<\/strong> (i gContae Chorca\u00ed<\/strong>), in Maypole, Wales, or in any of the various places named “Maypole” in England (one in Kent, near a village ironically named “Hoath”–ironic, that is, if you’re used to the Irish “Howth”; one in the Scilly Islands, and one near Birmingham) … I hope you enjoyed the blog and will have some useful vocabulary for the next time you’re discussing the life cycle (saolr\u00e9<\/strong>) of the May-fly, doing comparative New World\/Old World botany (luibheola\u00edocht<\/strong>), or simply saying what you’ll be doing on a given day in May, hopefully merrily.\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasc:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/merry-month-may-and-how-to-say-it-all-in-irish\/ (24 Aibre\u00e1n 2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta (1) faoin bhfocal “bu\u00ed”<\/strong>: On the negative side, “bu\u00ed<\/strong>” can also mean “bad,” “ugly,” or “aggressively dissolute.”\u00a0 But I’ve rarely encountered that meaning, and there are other words which much more typically mean “bad” (e.g. dona<\/strong>, and the prefix “droch-<\/strong>“) and “ugly” (gr\u00e1nna<\/strong>).\u00a0 As for “dissolute,”\u00a0 we could say “ainrianta<\/strong>” (unbridled) or “dr\u00faisi\u00fail<\/strong>” (lustful), but again, those are words that don’t come up that much in ordinary conversation, i mo thaith\u00ed f\u00e9in, ar a laghad<\/strong>.\u00a0 Nor does “dissolute,” i gcomhr\u00e1ite i mB\u00e9arla<\/strong>, at least in my conversational circles.\u00a0 Maybe in book or movie reviews.\u00a0 “Bu\u00ed<\/strong>” can also have political implications, which go far beyond the scope of this blog.\u00a0 \u00a0As is usual with any language, it’s “comhth\u00e9acs, comhth\u00e9acs, comhth\u00e9acs<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta (2) faoi Maypole, Kent:<\/strong> To my amazement, I see that the airfield in Maypole, Kent, is for sale, as of the writing of this blog.\u00a0 Isteach san \u00e1ireamh: feirm 55 acra, st\u00e1bla fosta\u00edochta<\/strong> (I suppose that’s what they mean by “livery yard”), agus teach pr\u00edobh\u00e1ideach.\u00a0 M\u00e1 t\u00e1 suim agat ann, t\u00e9igh go<\/strong> http:\/\/www.maypoleairfield.com\/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Is it the “merry month” of May or the “merry, merry month” of May?\u00a0 Is it “meidhreach” or “sona,” “cro\u00ed\u00fail” or “s\u00fagach?\u00a0 Or is it as in the traditional Irish phrase, “bu\u00ed” (M\u00ed Bhu\u00ed na Bealtaine)?\u00a0 We looked at all of those terms in the last blog (nasc th\u00edos) but here’s a quick…<\/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":[316260,316261,4297,309473,4490,316253,289081,111605,61184,316254,5483,111593,111606,24451,316258,111838,3295,316252,3296,13053,13059,1152,316257,316256,316251,13052,316259,316250,13056,111602,316255,292545,111603,7283,7664],"class_list":["post-5215","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-abbey-theatre","tag-amharclann-na-mainistreach","tag-bealtaine","tag-birmingham","tag-bui","tag-convivial","tag-crann-bealtaine","tag-croiuil","tag-drama","tag-golden","tag-happy","tag-happy-christmas","tag-hearty","tag-kent","tag-la-bui-bealtaine","tag-mairead-ni-ghrada","tag-may-day","tag-may-fly","tag-maypole","tag-meidhreach","tag-merry","tag-merry-christmas","tag-merry-month-of-may","tag-mi-bhui-na-bealtaine","tag-monmouthshire","tag-nollaig-shona","tag-one-act","tag-scilly","tag-sona","tag-sugach","tag-summerlike","tag-sunny","tag-tipsy","tag-wales","tag-yellow"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215","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=5215"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6888,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions\/6888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}