{"id":5738,"date":"2014-10-06T16:25:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T16:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5738"},"modified":"2014-10-09T21:31:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T21:31:00","slug":"the-irish-word-for-october-and-other-words-related-to-fomhar-and-fomhair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/the-irish-word-for-october-and-other-words-related-to-fomhar-and-fomhair\/","title":{"rendered":"The Irish word for \u2018October\u2019 and other words related to \u2018f\u00f3mhar\u2019 and \u2018f\u00f3mhair\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"F\u00f3mhar<\/a>

F\u00f3mhar faoi chorr\u00e1n geala\u00ed (crescent moon) … agus c\u00e9n Ghaeilge at\u00e1 ar ‘harvest moon’? L\u00e9igh an blag le sin a fh\u00e1il amach! (Harvest under a Crescent Moon, le Samuel Palmer, ca. 1826, san fhearann poibl\u00ed, http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Samuel_Palmer_-_Harvest_Under_a_Crescent_Moon_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)<\/p><\/div>\n

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

In some previous blogs (naisc th\u00edos), <\/strong>we\u2019ve looked at the names of the months (m\u00edonna<\/strong>) <\/strong>and seasons (s\u00e9as\u00fair<\/strong>)<\/strong> in Irish, including a discussion specifically of \u201cSeptember\u201d and \u201cOctober.\u201d<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s try a little mixing and matching for review of \u201cSeptember,\u201d \u201cOctober,\u201d and the Fall or Autumn season.<\/p>\n

Given the word \u201cf\u00f3mhar\u201d<\/strong> and its possessive form \u201cf\u00f3mhair<\/strong>,\u201d <\/strong>which would you put into these phrases? Freagra\u00ed th\u00edos<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Me\u00e1n ________ (<\/strong>as in: Oscla\u00edonn a l\u00e1n scoileanna i m\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n __________). <\/strong><\/p>\n

2) Deireadh _____ (<\/strong>as in: T\u00e1 \u201cO\u00edche Shamhna\u201d ar an l\u00e1 deireanach de mh\u00ed Dheireadh __________ ach t\u00e1 an tSamhain \u00ed f\u00e9in i M\u00ed na Samhna).<\/strong><\/p>\n

3) an _____________ (<\/strong>as in: Is \u00e9 an ________________ an s\u00e9as\u00far a thagann tar \u00e9is an tsamhraidh). <\/strong><\/p>\n

And what does this word \u201cf\u00f3mhar\u201d <\/strong>[FOH-irzh] literally mean? An cuimhin leat<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The basic meaning is \u201charvest,\u201d which makes logical sense, since \u201cMe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair\u201d <\/strong>means \u201cmiddle of harvest\u201d and \u201cDeireadh F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cend of harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering what happened to \u201cthe beginning of the harvest,\u201d bhuel<\/strong>, the system isn\u2019t totally systematic here. The month before September, in Irish, is L\u00fanasa <\/strong>(aka Lughnasa, Lughnasadh<\/strong>, and, in an even older spelling, Lugnasad<\/strong>). \u201cL\u00fanasa<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> is the month traditionally honoring the Celtic deity \u201cLug(h),\u201d with the main celebration on August 1 (L\u00e1 L\u00fanasa<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t yet seen the movie Dancing at Lughnasa<\/em>, with Meryl Streep, I\u2019d highly recommend it, partly for Brian Friel\u2019s gripping story itself, originally a stage play, but also partly for the background context of celebrating \u201cLughnasa,\u201d in rural Donegal in the 1930s. And certainly, if you have a chance to see the actual play, go for it, but for seeing live performances we all depend on when our local theatrical communities decide to produce which plays. We can see s<\/strong>cann\u00e1in <\/strong>anytime (here scann\u00e1in<\/strong> = movies\/films, not its original sense of \u201cmembranes\u201d).<\/p>\n

One thing we can certainly note is that it\u2019s somewhat more logical to refer to September and October as the \u201cmiddle of harvest\u201d and \u201cend of harvest\u201d than as \u201cseventh month\u201d (from \u201cseptem<\/em>\u201d) and \u201ceighth month\u201d (from \u201cocto<\/em>\u201d), as their English names suggest. Those terms reflect the Roman calendar, when the time of our September\u201d really was the seventh month and October was really the eighth month. So even if \u201ct\u00fas an fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>\u201d (the beginning of the harvest), as it were, is missing from the pattern for the Irish language names, the me\u00e1n\/deireadh<\/strong> system still reasonably logical.<\/p>\n

Of course, the ultimate in logic would be for the calendar to be based on one main concept, like planting and harvesting crops throughout the year. But no, if we look at the year as a whole, we see it\u2019s a mixture of Latin borrowings (Ean\u00e1ir, m. sh.),<\/strong> other Celtic calendar terms (Bealtaine, Samhain<\/strong>, m. sh.<\/strong>)<\/strong>, and one specifically Christian reference (Nollaig<\/strong>). Bhuel<\/strong>,<\/strong> it\u2019s not as though anyone sat down with a clean slate and thought up all the month names at once. We see the same mixture of sources for the names of the days of the week, both in English and Irish. English has \u201cThursday,\u201d from the Scandinavian \u201cThor,\u201d but \u201cSaturday,\u201d from the Latin-based \u201cSaturn.\u201d In Irish, \u201can Aoine<\/strong>\u201d (Friday), is \u201cthe day of the fast,\u201d referring to Christianity, but \u201can Satharn<\/strong>\u201d (Saturday) refers, like English does, to Saturn.<\/p>\n

Well, who ever said that systems (c\u00f3rais<\/strong>) are systematic (c\u00f3rasach<\/strong>)? B\u2019fh\u00e9idir i dteangacha r\u00edomhaireachta<\/strong> [ih Dj<\/sup>ANG-uh-khuh REEV-irzh-ukh-tuh], computer languages) but not i dteangacha daonna<\/strong> (in human languages).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of loighic<\/strong> and comhsheasmhacht<\/strong>, with all the current discussion of the \u201chunter\u2019s moon\u201d or \u201cblood moon\u201d these days, it\u2019s interesting to note that there are several choices for the Irish phrase for \u201charvest moon,\u201d the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox.\u00a0 The two terms I\u2019m most familiar with are:<\/p>\n

Gealach na gcoinl\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>,<\/strong> lit. the moon of the cut cornstalks<\/p>\n

Gealach na gcoinleach<\/strong>, lit. the moon of the stubble or stubble-field (left over from the harvest)<\/p>\n

But double-checking, I see that \u201cgealach an fh\u00f3mhair<\/strong>\u201d is also used. So logic can prevail, agus bheadh an tUasal Spock s\u00e1sta! SGF \u2013 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. Just noticed, \u201cGealach an Fh\u00f3mhair\u201d <\/strong>is also the name of a reel. B\u2019fh\u00e9idir go seinneann cuid agaibh \u00e9?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ainmneacha na M\u00edonna i nGaeilge (Names of the Months in Irish)<\/a> Posted on 6. Sep, 2012 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair, Deireadh F\u00f3mhair, and An F\u00f3mhar vs. an F\u00f3mhair<\/a> Posted on 15. Sep, 2012 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

1) Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair (<\/strong>as in: Oscla\u00edonn a l\u00e1n scoileanna i m\u00ed Mhe\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair). <\/strong><\/p>\n

2) Deireadh F\u00f3mhair (<\/strong>as in: T\u00e1 \u201cO\u00edche Shamhna\u201d ar an l\u00e1 deireanach de mh\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair ach t\u00e1 an tSamhain \u00ed f\u00e9in i M\u00ed na Samhna).<\/strong><\/p>\n

3) an f\u00f3mhair (<\/strong>as in: Is \u00e9 an f\u00f3mhair an s\u00e9as\u00far a thagann tar \u00e9is an tsamhraidh). <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In some previous blogs (naisc th\u00edos), we\u2019ve looked at the names of the months (m\u00edonna) and seasons (s\u00e9as\u00fair) in Irish, including a discussion specifically of \u201cSeptember\u201d and \u201cOctober.\u201d So let\u2019s try a little mixing and matching for review of \u201cSeptember,\u201d \u201cOctober,\u201d and the Fall or Autumn season. Given the word \u201cf\u00f3mhar\u201d and its…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[302934,4160,359162,111133,359128,12030,4297,359125,359154,229923,1977,4620,274617,359152,359148,359145,359146,359157,359129,359144,111135,359127,359130,96687,359135,359124,930,11201,60746,172870,111051,359143,359161,359158,359156,5494,359153,359150,359155,5667,5809,99,359122,359151,230011,303025,303027,359126,5952,359117,6066,359120,359119,6088,359123,96694,1852,6274,359136,96684,6344,306238,3351,359163,12258,6667,111134,359141,359142,6697,359131,359118,6749,3395,6750,6751,359134,27740,359133,359159,359160,359149,359147,359140,359139,359121,359137],"class_list":["post-5738","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-1930s","tag-an-tsamhain","tag-an-tuasal-spock","tag-aoine","tag-august-1","tag-autumn","tag-bealtaine","tag-beginning-of-harvest","tag-blood-moon","tag-brian-friel","tag-calendar","tag-celtic","tag-christian","tag-comhsheasmhacht","tag-computer-languages","tag-corais","tag-corasach","tag-cut-cornstalks","tag-dancing-at-lughnasa","tag-day-of-the-fast","tag-deireadh","tag-deity","tag-donegal","tag-eanair","tag-eighth-month","tag-end-of-harvest","tag-english","tag-fall","tag-films","tag-fomhair","tag-fomhar","tag-friday","tag-gealach-an-fhomhair","tag-gealach-na-gcoinleach","tag-gealach-na-gcoinlini","tag-harvest","tag-harvest-moon","tag-human-languages","tag-hunters-moon","tag-irish","tag-la-lunasa","tag-latin","tag-logical","tag-loighic","tag-lugh","tag-lughnasa","tag-lughnasadh","tag-lugnasad","tag-lunasa","tag-mean","tag-meryl-streep","tag-mi-dheireadh","tag-mi-mhean","tag-mi-na-samhna","tag-middle-of-harvest","tag-mionna","tag-movies","tag-nollaig","tag-octo","tag-october","tag-oiche-shamhna","tag-play","tag-possessive","tag-reelmonths","tag-roman","tag-samhain","tag-satharn","tag-saturday","tag-saturn","tag-scandinavian","tag-scannain","tag-scoileanna","tag-season","tag-seasons","tag-seasuir","tag-seasur","tag-septem","tag-september","tag-seventh","tag-stubble","tag-stubble-field","tag-teangacha-daonna","tag-teangacha-riomhaireachta","tag-thor","tag-thursday","tag-tsamhraidh","tag-tus-an-fhomhair"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5738","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=5738"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5750,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5738\/revisions\/5750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}