{"id":5965,"date":"2014-11-28T21:13:19","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T21:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5965"},"modified":"2014-12-02T21:25:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T21:25:53","slug":"la-an-altaithe-cen-tearma-i-ngaeilge-nuashonruchan-an-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/la-an-altaithe-cen-tearma-i-ngaeilge-nuashonruchan-an-update\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00e1 (an) Altaithe: C\u00e9n T\u00e9arma i nGaeilge? — Nuashonr\u00fach\u00e1n (an update)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

A few years ago, as some of you may recall, I compared the usage of five different terms for saying “Thanksgiving Day” in Irish.\u00a0 This is a phrase that traditionally didn’t show up in Irish dictionaries, since Thanksgiving, North American style, is not celebrated in Ireland, or, in fact, i dt\u00edr ar bith eile seachas Meirice\u00e1 agus Ceanada<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Even as I write this, I’m mulling over some reports that it’s not just Black Friday that has spread from America to other countries, but perhaps even some elements of American-style Thanksgiving itself.\u00a0 I don’t think there’s much of that yet and I haven’t heard of it being a national holiday anywhere other than the U.S. and parts of Canada, where it is celebrated much earlier (2nd Monday of October) and therefore doesn’t contribute so much to the build-up of Christmas.<\/p>\n

I say “American-style” Thanksgiving here, because, in at least one other country (Grenada, October 25), there is a Thanksgiving Day that has more to do with political independence than Pilgrim history. \u00a0 There are also some other locations where an America-influenced thanksgiving or thanksgiving service is celebrated, including Liberia (1st Thursday of November); Norfolk Island (last Wednesday of November), and Pieterskerk, Leiden.\u00a0 And of course, internationally, there are all sorts of harvest festivals, but that is getting further and further away from Pilgrim influence as such.\u00a0 These include the German “Erntedankfest<\/em>” (early October) and the Japanese “Labor Thanksgiving Day” (\u52e4\u52b4\u611f\u8b1d\u306e\u65e5\u00a0Kinr\u014d Kansha no Hi<\/em>?<\/strong><\/a><\/sup> on 23 November).\u00a0 But getting into all sorts of harvest festivals would lead us pretty far away from our original topic.<\/p>\n

So let’s revisit the original goal of the blaganna<\/strong> from 18 November 2009 and 23 November 2010.\u00a0 As a point of comparison, we’ll look first at the hits for the English phrase, Thanksgiving Day: 22,000,000.\u00a0 Obviously, it’s a rough number and doesn’t include all possible references to “thanksgiving” — mind-bogglingly but not surprisingly, that gives us 223,000,000<\/p>\n

So how do this year\u2019s results compare to 2009 and 2010, using Google’s filtering to eliminate duplicates and dubious references<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 an Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0\u20132014: 41 hits (filtered down from an impressive 1,900); 2010: 99 hits; 2009: 44 hits<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 \u00a02014: 103\/104 hits (filtered down from 2,820); 2010: 115 hits; 2009: 45 hits<\/p>\n

Both in the raw numbers (2820 vs. 1900) and the filtered results, “L\u00e1 Altaithe<\/strong>” without the definite article in the middle (“an<\/strong>” for “the”) seems to be gaining over “L\u00e1 an Altaithe<\/strong>” (with the definite article).\u00a0 This has also been my gut impression of the trend.<\/p>\n

As for the other options, still pretty scant:<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 2014: 14 hits (filtered down from 46); 2010: 9 hits; 2009: 5 hits<\/p>\n

An L\u00e1 Gabh\u00e1la Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 2014: 6 hits (filtered from 26); 2010: 4 hits; 2009: just 1 hit, found by \u201cguided browsing,\u201d not by \u201cGoogle\u201d as such, which I used for all the other searches)<\/p>\n

In addition, another term surfaced that I hadn\u2019t searched in 2009, since I wasn’t aware of it at the time:<\/p>\n

F\u00e9ile an Altaithe<\/strong>\u00a0— \u00a02014: 16 (filtered down from 90); 2010: 5 hits, dating as far back as 2004.\u00a0 The word “f\u00e9ile<\/strong>” has a somewhat religious context, so it could be that some of these refer to harvest festivals, not Thanksgiving \u00e0 la Uncail Sam<\/strong>. \u00a0Hard to say without a lot more chasing down of references.<\/p>\n

Now I see that Google enables some time restraints on searches, but that will have to wait for blag \u00e9igin eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 Meanwhile, I think the trend is clear. Based on this admittedly limited evidence, but also on my informal observations over the years, “L\u00e1 Altaithe<\/strong>” is gaining over “L\u00e1 an Altaithe<\/strong>.”\u00a0 The other three options are even less well represented.\u00a0 But all options are increasing somewhat, suggesting that there is gradually more and more discussion of Thanksgiving Day” in Irish.\u00a0 Which is a good thing!\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 It lets us practice all kinds of interesting vocabulary: bealaitheoir, bior trus\u00e1la, cn\u00f3 peac\u00e1in, frithaig\u00e9ad, m\u00f3n\u00f3g, puimc\u00edn, s\u00falach, s\u00famhar,<\/strong> and trus\u00e1il<\/strong>, among others.\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, I’ll revisit the topic again, for sure, maybe once more this year, and of course, next year.<\/p>\n

Of course, Google isn’t everything,\u00a0 What do the dictionaries say?<\/p>\n

Well, one reason I undertook all this searching was that I couldn’t find “Thanksgiving Day” in any hard-copy Irish dictionary prior to 1995.\u00a0 Not surprising, for the reasons previously stated.\u00a0 It’s not an Irish holiday and dictionaries are hard-pressed just to cover basic vocabulary, their own cultural milieu and the truly international terms.\u00a0 I found one entry for “L\u00e1 an Altaithe”<\/strong> in a major online dictionary (irishdictionary.ie), but nothing in several others, and I find two different phrases in two leading pocket dictionaries, wouldn’t you know it:<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 an Altaithe<\/strong>, per Collins Gem (mini-dictionary), 1995\/1999, not specified as “US\/Canada, but that seems to be the implication<\/p>\n

F\u00e9ile an Altaithe<\/strong>, per Oxford Irish minidictionary, 1999<\/p>\n

So, na tortha\u00ed go dt\u00ed seo<\/strong>? \u00a0“L\u00e1 Altaithe”<\/strong> seems to be the people’s favorite. \u00a0“L\u00e1 an Altaithe”<\/strong>\u00a0coming second, though it may have the lexicographical edge.\u00a0 “F\u00e9ile an Altaithe<\/strong>” lags behind quite a bit, I’d say, despite the Oxford recognition, and may refer to a more general harvest festival.\u00a0 “L\u00e1 Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>” and “An L\u00e1 Gabh\u00e1la Bu\u00edochais<\/strong>” don’t seem to be catching on by leaps and bounds.\u00a0\u00a0 A positive point to note is that all the hits are up, suggesting both that more and more Irish is being spoken in the U.S. and Canada (yay!) and that there’s more interest in the holiday abroad.\u00a0 Beyond that, more discussion will have to wait until the topic becomes “tr\u00e1th\u00fail<\/strong>” again, or maybe sooner, if there’s interest.\u00a0 Anyway, bain sult as an turca\u00ed, an fu\u00edlleach<\/strong>, and of course, now on both sides of the loch\u00e1n, an tsiopad\u00f3ireacht ar Aoine Dhubh.\u00a0 Agus Cibearluan.\u00a0 SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) A few years ago, as some of you may recall, I compared the usage of five different terms for saying “Thanksgiving Day” in Irish.\u00a0 This is a phrase that traditionally didn’t show up in Irish dictionaries, since Thanksgiving, North American style, is not celebrated in Ireland, or, in fact, i dt\u00edr ar bith…<\/p>\n

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