{"id":5780,"date":"2014-10-15T15:59:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T15:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5780"},"modified":"2014-11-09T08:36:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-09T08:36:49","slug":"in-quarantine-or-on-quarantine-how-to-say-it-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/in-quarantine-or-on-quarantine-how-to-say-it-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"‘In quarantine’ or ‘on quarantine’ — how to say it in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"comhartha<\/a>

comhartha bithghuaise (grafaic san fhearann poibl\u00ed: http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f7\/Biohazard.svg)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the recent blog on the Ebola virus (v\u00edreas Ebola<\/strong>), I referred briefly to saying “in quarantine” in Irish.\u00a0 It seems like a simple phrase to say, and the word for “quarantine” itself isn’t surprising — “coraint\u00edn<\/strong>” [KOR-antch<\/sup>-een], no relation to “aint\u00edn<\/strong>” as such!<\/p>\n

But it’s interesting to note the preposition that’s used for the phrase “in quarantine.”\u00a0 For Irish, it supports my informal theory that prepositions (e.g. by, for, with, to, at, etc.) are among the most challenging vocabulary words to predict as we learn language after language.<\/p>\n

So, to end your possible suspense, if you haven’t already looked up “in quarantine” in your focl\u00f3ir<\/strong>, the usual Irish phrase is “ar coraint\u00edn<\/strong>” (lit. \u201con quarantine\u201d)\u00a0using the preposition “ar<\/strong>” (on) instead of “i\/in<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Not a difficult combination to learn, but just a reminder that we can’t assume that any patterns from one language will be repeated in another language, even when the languages are geographic neighbors.\u00a0 Sometimes, of course, this does happen.\u00a0 I believe that “Phioc s\u00e9 suas \u00e9<\/strong>,” is a relatively recent borrowing from English, “He picked it up.”\u00a0 And, in reverse, “He was just after closing the door,” as a phrase, comes from Irish (Bh\u00ed s\u00e9 tar \u00e9is an doras a dh\u00fanadh<\/strong>) into Irish English.<\/p>\n

But many, many phrases remain distinctively different in two different languages, at least in seemingly minor details.<\/p>\n

So let’s look a little closer at the word “ar<\/strong>,” whose basic meaning is “on.”\u00a0 However, depending on context, it can also be translated in a variety of ways.\u00a0 Fairly often, “in” or “at” works best (ar neamh<\/strong>, in heaven; ar an gCnoc<\/strong>, at Knock).\u00a0 Perhaps a little less frequently, other translations are most apt ( -wards, -ways,\u00a0of, among, for, by, to, when, etc.).<\/p>\n

Aside from the\u00a0various meanings of “ar<\/strong>,” we need to remember what happens to the noun that follows it.\u00a0 Basically, there are three choices:<\/p>\n

1) no change: ar cuairt, ar muir, ar c\u00edos, ar fiar, ar malairt<\/strong>, and of course, ar coraint\u00edn<\/strong>; this is often when the meaning is somewhat abstract, less physical than the next set, which have lenition<\/p>\n

2) lenition (inserting h, pronunciation of the original consonant changes): ar chathaoir<\/strong> (on a chair, cathaoir<\/strong>), ar bhosca<\/strong> (on a box, bosca<\/strong>), ar choinn\u00edoll<\/strong> (\u201con condition\u201d — so the lenition is not always for physical things, coinn\u00edoll<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

3) And then there are a few set phrases, which cause eclipsis.\u00a0 If I recall my Old Irish (SeanGhaeilge<\/strong>) correctly, these use a word which was originally different from modern “ar<\/strong>” altogether, but eventually the spelling was changed and we ended up with the spelling “a-r.”\u00a0 Two such eclipsed phrases that come to mind are “ar dt\u00fas<\/strong>” (at first) and “ar gc\u00fal<\/strong>, backwards), with \u201ct\u00fas<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cc\u00fal<\/strong>\u201d changing to \u201cdt\u00fas<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cgc\u00fal<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, getting back to quarantine, the Irish phrase is literally saying “on quarantine.”<\/p>\n

It’s always interesting to see what the search results are for phrases like this, and for the possible alternatives:<\/p>\n

ar coraint\u00edn,<\/strong> ca. 11,000 reduced by Google filters to a mere 44<\/p>\n

To be a linguistic devil’s advocate, I tried the phrase with the preposition “i<\/strong>” and eclipsis (not that this is the standard recommendation).\u00a0 There were 11 hits, including a discussion of \u201czombaithe<\/strong>\u201d (http:\/\/ga.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pl%C3%A9:Zomba%C3%AD), with this interesting comment, the \u201cgr\u00fapa<\/strong>\u201d referring to \u201cgr\u00fapa zombaithe<\/strong>\u201d:<\/p>\n

Ba ch\u00f3ir aon bhall de do ghr\u00fapa a mbaintear plaic astu a chur i gcoraint\u00edn n\u00f3 a sheoladh chun bealaigh go pras.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So is it really wrong<\/em> to say “i gcoraint\u00edn<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Doiligh a r\u00e1<\/strong>, but it doesn’t seem to be the standard, according to most dictionaries, ar aon chaoi.<\/p>\n

On that note, well, I also checked for “ar<\/strong>” followed by “choraint\u00edn<\/strong>,” the lenited form of “coraint\u00edn<\/strong>,” even though it’s technically considered incorrect.\u00a0 There were actually six hits (s\u00e9 amas<\/strong>), not really that different from the\u00a0results for “i gcoraint\u00edn<\/strong>.\u201d Several of them were duplicates, so in the end, there were fewer than six.<\/p>\n

As for the spelling of \u201ccoraint\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d it\u2019s basically an adaptation of \u201cquarantine.\u201d Most Irish words that are cognates of Latin-based \u201cqu-\u201c words in English, as well as many Irish surnames starting with \u201cQu-\u201c, start with \u201cc\u201d in the Irish language version (Quinn \/ \u00d3 Coinn<\/strong>; Quigley \/ \u00d3 Coigligh<\/strong>; question \/ ceist<\/strong>; quorum \/ c\u00f3ram<\/strong>). There are a few exceptions, where English \u201cqu-\u201d remains \u201cqu-\u201c in Irish (quinine \/ quin\u00edn<\/strong> and quinol \/ quion\u00f3l<\/strong>, which have alternate (newer?) \u201cc-\u201c spellings with \u201ccuin\u00edn<\/strong>\u201d and \u201ccuineol<\/strong>\u201d).<\/p>\n

And a final point of interest, given here as a query, what’s the relationship between the Irish word “coraint\u00edn<\/strong>” and the Irish word “Carghas<\/strong>” (Lent)?\u00a0 T\u00e1 an freagra th\u00edos ach b’fh\u00e9idir go dtig leat \u00e9 a oibri\u00fa amach gan a bheith ag breathn\u00fa ar an bhfreagra, ar dt\u00fas, ar a laghad.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0 T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam nach bhfuil duine ar an liosta seo ar coraint\u00edn — agus t\u00e1 s\u00fail mh\u00f3r agam nach bhfuil aint\u00edn leat ar coraint\u00edn!\u00a0 – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra: T\u00e1 an d\u00e1 fhocal, “coraint\u00edn” agus “Carghas,” bunaithe ar an fhocal Laidine ar <\/strong>“forty” (quadraginta<\/em>) as manifested in the Latin \u201cQuadragesima<\/em>\u201d (Lent, lit. 4oth) and the \u201cquarant-\u201c part of \u201cquarantine.\u201d\u00a0 The Latin word had become “quaranta<\/em>” by the 17th century, in Venetian\/Italian, and was borrowed from there into English. s generally been 21 days, the original idea of general quarantine, apparently, was 40 days of seclusion. Of the two (count \u2018em!) Irish words for \u201c40,\u201d one is a distant relative of \u201cquadraginta,\u201d<\/strong> but the other isn\u2019t connected to the Latin for \u201c40\u201d at all. Even in the first case, the link may not be overtly obvious, but, like reading between the lines, the connection is there if you look for it.<\/p>\n

Two Irish words for \u201c40\u201d? Yep, that\u2019s right. And there\u2019s also \u201cdh\u00e1 sc\u00f3r<\/strong>\u201d (two score). But for \u201c40\u201d itself, there is \u201cdaichead<\/strong>,\u201d the more standard word (caighde\u00e1nach de r\u00e9ir mo thaith\u00ed f\u00e9in, ar a laghad),<\/strong> based on \u201cdh\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cfichead<\/strong>\u201d (lit. two twenties), with no connection at all to the Latin for \u201c40.\u201d The other Irish word for \u201c40\u201d is \u201cceathracha<\/strong>,\u201d which is based on \u201cceathair<\/strong>\u201d (4), and so is as related to \u201cquadraginta<\/em>\u201d as \u201cceathair<\/strong>\u201d is to \u201cquattuor<\/em>.\u201d But for Irish numbers in general, and their relation to numbers in other European languages, we\u2019ll have to wait for blag \u00e9igin eile, sa todhcha\u00ed<\/strong>. Some of the basics have been covered in previous blogs (naisc th\u00edos).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Bunuimhreacha, Orduimhreacha is Maoluimhreacha \u2014 A Thiarcais! (Oh my!) Posted on 25. Dec, 2012 by <\/a>r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in <\/a>Irish Language<\/a> (<\/a>https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bunuimhreacha-orduimhreacha-is-maoluimhreacha-a-thiarcais-oh-my\/<\/a>)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00d3 0 go 10 (0 agus 10 agus na hUimhreacha Eatarthu)<\/a> Posted on 22. Aug, 2011 by <\/a>r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in <\/a>Irish Language<\/a> (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/o-0-go-10-0-agus-10-agus-na-huimhreacha-eatarthu\/)
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

For the bunuimhreacha<\/strong> with sound and video, please see: <\/a>https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/irish-numbers-1-20-with-video\/<\/a> OR\u00a0<\/a>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a-t5NzoxdfE<\/a><\/p>\n

For counting people, using the \u201cuimhreacha pearsanta<\/strong>,\u201d see:<\/p>\n

Ag Comhaireamh Daoine i gCultacha O\u00edche Shamhna (Vaimp\u00edr\u00ed, G\u00fail, srl.)<\/a>, which has a Halloween theme, to boot (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ag-comhaireamh-daoine-i-gcultacha-oiche-shamhna-vaimpiri-guil-srl\/<\/a>) Posted on 12. Oct, 2012 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta (ar lean\u00faint)<\/a> Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta (ar lean\u00faint)<\/a> Posted on 10. Jan, 2011 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in Irish Language<\/a> (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-huimhreacha-pearsanta-ar-leanuint\/)<\/p>\n

Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta i nGaeilge (Irish Personal Numbers and Cuid a C\u00faig or the Last Installment of Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a> Posted on 06. Jan, 2011 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> <\/strong>in Irish Language<\/a><\/strong> (https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-huimhreacha-pearsanta-i-ngaeilge\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the recent blog on the Ebola virus (v\u00edreas Ebola), I referred briefly to saying “in quarantine” in Irish.\u00a0 It seems like a simple phrase to say, and the word for “quarantine” itself isn’t surprising — “coraint\u00edn” [KOR-antch-een], no relation to “aint\u00edn” as such! But it’s interesting to note the preposition that’s used…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[359380,359342,359379,255728,359354,359360,359356,359358,359361,359359,359362,359357,359355,359353,359346,8052,359375,4609,359345,4616,359351,307145,359349,359369,359374,359373,332068,359344,96585,359381,359317,8667,359383,359343,359350,359352,359376,99,5878,1134,8051,111,359367,359365,359348,96696,9198,2419,359378,359377,1201,359385,2439,359366,359263,359370,359364,359371,359372,359368,359363,359382,359384,359321,254632,111243,111258],"class_list":["post-5780","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-359380","tag-359342","tag-4oth","tag-ar","tag-ar-an-gcnoc","tag-ar-choinnioll","tag-ar-cios","tag-ar-cuairt","tag-ar-dtus","tag-ar-fiar","tag-ar-gcul","tag-ar-malairt","tag-ar-muir","tag-ar-neamh","tag-bithghuais","tag-bunuimhreacha","tag-carghas","tag-ceathair","tag-ceathracha","tag-ceist","tag-choraintin","tag-comhartha","tag-coraintin","tag-coram","tag-cuineol","tag-cuinin","tag-cul","tag-daichead","tag-dha","tag-dha-scor","tag-ebola","tag-eclipsis","tag-fichead","tag-forty","tag-gcoraintin","tag-in-quarantine","tag-laidine","tag-latin","tag-lenition","tag-lent","tag-maoluimhreacha","tag-numbers","tag-o-coigligh","tag-o-coinn","tag-on-quarantine","tag-orduimhreacha","tag-plaic","tag-preposition","tag-quadragesima","tag-quadraginta","tag-quarantine","tag-quattuor","tag-question","tag-quigley","tag-quinin","tag-quinine","tag-quinn","tag-quinol","tag-quionol","tag-quorum","tag-tus","tag-two-score","tag-two-twenties","tag-vireas","tag-virus","tag-zombai","tag-zombaithe"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5780","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=5780"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5847,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5780\/revisions\/5847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}