{"id":5673,"date":"2014-09-08T15:29:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T15:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2014-09-27T20:09:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-27T20:09:15","slug":"how-to-say-yes-vote-and-no-vote-in-irish-with-a-nod-to-the-gaidhlig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-say-yes-vote-and-no-vote-in-irish-with-a-nod-to-the-gaidhlig\/","title":{"rendered":"How to say “Yes Vote” and “No Vote” in Irish (with a nod to the G\u00e0idhlig)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

So I’ve been listening and listening to the coverage of the Scottish independence vote.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While this blog is not really a platform for polait\u00edocht<\/strong>, it does give us an opportunity to look at the words “yes” and “no” in Irish, with a brief comparison to Scottish Gaelic (G\u00e0idhlig<\/em>).<\/p>\n

With most languages I’ve studied, “yes” and “no” are fairly cut and dried.\u00a0 Oui, non.\u00a0 S\u00ed, no.\u00a0 Sim, n\u00e3o. \u00a0Da, nyet<\/em>.\u00a0 With slight trepidation, I add “kyll\u00e4<\/em>” and “ei<\/em>” (the trepidation because I don’t always trust dictionary entries, but going ahead anyway because it’s fun to compare languages,\u00a0and well worthwhile, especially if an issue such as how to say “yes” and “no” affects your sovereign independence, as in the Scottish situation.\u00a0 “C\u00e9n teanga \u00fas\u00e1ideann “kyll\u00e4” agus “ei”?”<\/strong> you ask.\u00a0 Read on, t\u00e1 ainm na teanga sin th\u00edos sa n\u00f3ta.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Confirmation or further yes\/no pairings are welcome here, for any language.\u00a0\u00a0 Navach\u00f3is<\/strong>, anyone?<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to our main issue — basically there are probably about 25,000 ways to say “yes” and “no,” in Irish.\u00a0 Why 25,000?\u00a0 Well, I’m leaping to a bit of conclusion and thinking that the answer might be somewhat similar to the minimum figure cited for the number of verbs in English, cited in this interesting, if inconclusive, debate: http:\/\/www.wordwizard.com\/phpbb3\/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8473.\u00a0 \u00a0That discussion concludes about 25,000 (or perhaps up to 100,000) verbs for English, with the English propensity to verbify nouns, like “uncle” and “Google,” contributing to the large number (“Uncle me no uncle”; “I Googled it.”).<\/p>\n

The possible answer of 25,000 for Irish reflects that fact that almost every Irish verb can be used to answer “yes” or “no.”\u00a0 There are no all-purpose, generic, words in Irish that just mean “yes” or “no” and nothing else.<\/p>\n

Having said that, two pairs of words that occur frequently are “t\u00e1<\/strong>” and “n\u00edl<\/strong>,” and ” ‘sea<\/strong> ” and “n\u00ed hea<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Technically, these really mean “is (am, are),” “is (am, are) not,” “it is,” “it is not.”\u00a0 These can be changed to the past tense (bh\u00ed, n\u00ed raibh, b’ea, n\u00edorbh ea<\/strong>), and then on to future, conditional and all the other tenses and moods.\u00a0 And all the other verbs in Irish can be used similarly, as in:<\/p>\n

A) Do you eat breakfast every day? An itheann t\u00fa bricfeasta gach l\u00e1?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes answer: Ithim, ithim bricfeasta gach l\u00e1.<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes (lit. I eat), I eat breakfast every day.<\/p>\n

No answer: N\u00ed ithim, n\u00ed ithim bricfeasta gach l\u00e1.\u00a0<\/strong> No, (lit. I don’t eat), I don’t eat breakfast every day.<\/p>\n

B) Is everything I say a lie? An br\u00e9ag \u00e9 gach rud a deirim?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes answer: ‘Sea, is br\u00e9ag \u00e9 gach rud a deir t\u00fa<\/strong>.\u00a0 Yes, (lit. it is ), everything you say is a lie.<\/p>\n

No answer: N\u00ed hea, n\u00ed br\u00e9ag \u00e9 gach rud a deir t\u00fa<\/strong>.\u00a0 No, (lit. it is not), everything you say is not a lie.<\/p>\n

Past and future tenses take us, for example A, to d’ith, n\u00edor ith, \u00edosfaidh<\/strong>, and n\u00ed \u00edosfaidh<\/strong>, and for B to b’ea, n\u00edorbh ea<\/strong>, and a repeat of ‘sea and n\u00ed hea<\/strong>.\u00a0 The possibilities are as vast as the total number of verbs in Irish, however many that turns out to be, a figure certainly in the thousands.<\/p>\n

So, in a nutshell, two very common ways to say “yes” and “no” in Irish are: t\u00e1, n\u00edl, ‘sea, n\u00ed hea<\/strong>.\u00a0 Beyond those, the possibilities are nearly endless.<\/p>\n

Getting back to the voting issue for Scotland, I haven’t readily found any indication of the phrase that would be used in Gaelic to ask the question, but my guess is that it would start out: A’ bheil thu<\/em> …?” (comparable to Irish “an bhfuil t\u00fa<\/strong> …?”).\u00a0 In that case, the yes\/no for independence would be “tha<\/em>” ([yes; pronounced like the “ha” of “half,” the “t” is silent]) or “chan eil<\/em>” (no).\u00a0 But if the question is formulated differently, the yes\/no answer would be different.\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, if the question is “Should Scotland be independent?” \u00a0or “Should Scotland leave the UK?,” the yes\/no answer would be different and beyond the scope of this blog.\u00a0 I looked briefly online for examples of the question in Gaelic but didn’t see anything, most notably on this otherwise interesting site: http:\/\/yesscotland.net\/<\/p>\n

As for the phrases “yes vote” and “no vote,” I assume they would be either “bh\u00f2t ‘tha’<\/em>” and “bh\u00f2t ‘chan eil<\/em>,” or “guth-taghaidh ‘tha”<\/em> and “guth-taghaidh ‘chan eil<\/em>,” but of course, the phrasing could be different.\u00a0 \u00a0Tuilleadh eolais ag duine ar bith faoi seo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope that the issue is being discussed “anns a’ Gh\u00e0idhlig<\/em>,” at least in the Gaelic-speaking areas, and I assume that Gaelic-speakers will have the opportunity to vote on this in Gaelic.<\/p>\n

And so, since this is an Irish blog, what would the answer be in Irish?\u00a0 And what does this tell us for Irish in general? \u00a0The yes\/no answer would probably be “t\u00e1<\/strong>” or “n\u00edl<\/strong>,” depending on how the question would be phrased (An bhfuil<\/strong> …? ).\u00a0 If it’s phrased “Should it be …? (Ar ch\u00f3ir go mbeadh<\/strong> … ,” the answer would be “ba ch\u00f3ir<\/strong>” or “n\u00edor ch\u00f3ir<\/strong>,” (or, for the question, “Ar cheart<\/strong> …?,” the answers would be “ba cheart<\/strong>” and “n\u00edor cheart<\/strong>“) and there are other options.\u00a0\u00a0 If it’s “Do you agree …?” (An aonta\u00edonn t\u00fa<\/strong> …?), the answer would be “aonta\u00edm<\/strong>” or “n\u00ed aonta\u00edm<\/strong>.”\u00a0 And so on.<\/p>\n

For the phrases, “yes vote” and “no vote,” as such, “v\u00f3ta ‘t\u00e1’ ” <\/strong>and “v\u00f3ta ‘n\u00edl’<\/strong> ” would seem most appropriate and general in Irish.<\/p>\n

So that’s just a sampler of the possibilities involving “yes” and “no” in Irish.\u00a0 Suimi\u00fail, nach ea<\/strong>?\u00a0 And the answer for that question tag is, I hope, ” ‘Sea<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Maybe there’s an Albanach<\/strong> on this list, who could fill us in with exactly how the discussion is framed in Gaelic.\u00a0 And after this v\u00f3ta<\/strong> is thart<\/strong>, maybe we can turn our attention to the famous use of “yes” in Molly Bloom’s reverie in Ulysses<\/em>.\u00a0 In fact, yes I say yes we will, Yes. SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually I’ve never studied Russian (R\u00faisis<\/strong>), but somehow I learned “da<\/em>” and “nyet<\/em>” anyway.\u00a0 \u00a0Come to think of it, it must have been Anna Russell (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cSduWYqB0A8).\u00a0 She translated “da, nyet<\/em>” as “Let’s do it” (!), but that was the Anna Russell comedic touch,\u00a0clearly, and appropriately, tongue in cheek.<\/p>\n

And I’ve never studied Finnish (Fionlainnis<\/strong>) either.\u00a0 My loss, I know.\u00a0 Nor have I ever really learned even a smattering of Finnish, except perhaps for “Marimekko,” which I just found is, as a name, a fun example of word play.\u00a0 Intrigued?\u00a0 F\u00e9ach anseo<\/strong>: https:\/\/us.marimekko.com\/unfold<\/p>\n

Somehow I have never even learned a few odds and ends of Finnish words the way bits of Russian have drifted into my consciousness through literature, movies, politics or popular culture.\u00a0 Examples of such Russian words include “dacha<\/em>,” “pechniki<\/em>,” “troika<\/em>,” “perestroika<\/em>.” \u00a0The latter two have been translated\/gaelicized as “tri\u00faracht<\/strong>” and “peireastr\u00e1ice<\/strong>“; there’s no “leagan Gaeilge<\/strong>” for “dacha<\/em>” or “pechniki<\/em>” as such, fad m’eolais<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00d3, agus<\/strong>, “balalaika<\/em>” (gaelicized as “balal\u00e1ice<\/strong>“). \u00a0For the Finnish yes\/no, I can only hope that the several dictionaries I consulted are on target with the definitions “kyll\u00e4<\/em>” and “ei<\/em>.”\u00a0 And, yes, “Fionlainnis<\/strong>” is Finnish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) So I’ve been listening and listening to the coverage of the Scottish independence vote.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While this blog is not really a platform for polait\u00edocht, it does give us an opportunity to look at the words “yes” and “no” in Irish, with a brief comparison to Scottish Gaelic (G\u00e0idhlig). With most languages I’ve studied…<\/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":[2211,11974,6724,358971,13022],"class_list":["post-5673","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-independence","tag-no","tag-scottish","tag-vota","tag-yes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673","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=5673"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5692,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5673\/revisions\/5692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}