{"id":6124,"date":"2015-01-10T20:58:13","date_gmt":"2015-01-10T20:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6124"},"modified":"2016-01-28T18:22:24","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:22:24","slug":"lig-do-a-bheith-ag-cur-sneachta-wintry-weather-words-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/lig-do-a-bheith-ag-cur-sneachta-wintry-weather-words-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Lig d\u00f3 a bheith ag cur sneachta (wintry weather words in Irish)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An liathr\u00f3id shneachta is m\u00f3 ar domhan? Ceann iontach m\u00f3r, ar a laghad! (By Kamyar Adl (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, grianghraf t\u00f3gtha i South Park, Oxford, Sasana)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

So how’s winter treating you?\u00a0\u00a0 A l\u00e1n sneachta?\u00a0 Beag\u00e1in\u00edn sneachta?\u00a0 S\u00edobtha\u00ed sneachta?\u00a0 Ceathanna sneachta?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The key word for today’s blog, as you might have observed, is “sneachta<\/strong>” [SHNAKH-tuh], snow.<\/p>\n

So we’ll look at the basic forms of the word and then some related terms.<\/p>\n

sneachta<\/strong>, snow<\/p>\n

an sneachta<\/strong>, the snow<\/p>\n

dl\u00fas an tsneachta<\/strong> [… un TNAKH-tuh, silent s], the density of the snow<\/p>\n

The plural isn’t probably used all that much (perhaps in favor of phrases like “stoirmeacha sneachta<\/strong>“), but it does exist:<\/p>\n

sneachta\u00ed<\/strong>, snows<\/p>\n

na sneachta\u00ed<\/strong>, the snows, also: (of) the snows<\/p>\n

The one phrase with snow in the plural that comes to mind would be “the snows of yesteryear,” but, snow and behold, the official Irish for that stays singular.\u00a0 I suppose because it’s basically a mass noun to begin with:<\/p>\n

sneachta na bliana anuraidh<\/strong>, lit. the snow of the year last year (a little redundant sounding in the literal translation, but not in Irish)<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the original French phrase is plural, “O\u00f9 sont les neiges d’antan?<\/em>,” as is the Spanish (D\u00f3nde est\u00e1n las nieves de anta\u00f1o?<\/em>) but I see the German translation remains singular: Wo ist der Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr?<\/em>\u00a0 Hmm, an interesting consideration as one goes from language to language, but largely beyond our scope here.<\/p>\n

And how can we describe snow?\u00a0 Maybe not as many ways as na hIon\u00faitigh<\/strong> might have, but there’s a nice range of vocabulary anyway:<\/p>\n

\"Imdhruidim<\/a>

Imdhruidim Shneachta (an bunteideal B\u00e9arla: “Snow Blockade”), Traein i Minnesota ar 29 M\u00e1rta 1881 tar \u00e9is s\u00edobadh sneachta. An raibh an sneachta riamh chomh hard seo in \u00c9irinn? (fearann poibl\u00ed: http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Train_stuck_in_snow.jpg, grianghraf\u00a0ag an Minnesota Historical Society)<\/p><\/div>\n

s\u00edobadh sneachta<\/strong>, a blizzard; including the word “sneachta” is fairly important since we can also have a “s\u00edobadh gainimh<\/strong>” (sand-drift) and a “s\u00edobadh fearthainne<\/strong>” (driving rain)<\/p>\n

cith sneachta<\/strong>, a flurry of snow, lit. a shower of snow; this “cith<\/strong>” [kyih] is the same word that can be use for a “shower of rain” (cith fearthainne<\/strong>) and a shower of hailstones (cith cloch sneachta<\/strong>), as well as other non-weather terms: cith cloch<\/strong> (a shower of stones), cith pil\u00e9ar<\/strong> (a shower of bullets), and cithfholcadh<\/strong> (a shower, for washing)<\/p>\n

And some other wintry weather terms:<\/p>\n

slush: bogoighear<\/strong>, also means sludge; lit. “soft ice”<\/p>\n

(but not for a slush fund, which is a “ciste dubh<\/strong>” (lit. black chest) in Irish<\/p>\n

sleet: flichshneachta<\/strong>, lit. wet snow<\/p>\n

a snowflake:\u00a0cal\u00f3g shneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snowflakes: cal\u00f3ga sneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

frost-bite: d\u00f3 seaca<\/strong>, lit. frost-burning, not “biting” which would be a bit lengthy, since “to bite” isn’t expressed as a single word in Irish. \u00a0Some options for “to bite him” are “greim a bhreith air,” “greim fiacla a bhaint as,” “alp a bhaint as”<\/strong> (for a big bite), and “ga a chur ann<\/strong>” (for insect stings),<\/p>\n

frost-bitten: siocdh\u00f3ite<\/strong> or d\u00f3ite ag an sioc<\/strong>, again, based on “burn,” not “bite”<\/p>\n

snowball: liathr\u00f3id shneachta<\/strong>, with the plural: liathr\u00f3id\u00ed sneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snow-drops: pl\u00fair\u00edn\u00ed sneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snowman: fear sneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snow goose, as immortalized by Paul Gallico, but, hmm, was that a “greater snow goose” (m\u00f3rgh\u00e9 shneachta<\/strong>), or, a “lesser snow goose,” which, logically enough, is “miongh\u00e9 shneachta<\/strong>.”\u00a0 I suppose if\u00a0 I went back and watched the TV version (1971, with Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter), which I haven’t seen for years, I might be able to tell.\u00a0 Or maybe Gallico specifies.\u00a0\u00a0 Have to check the original book.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar with Gallico’s Snow Goose,<\/em> you might want to check it out.\u00a0 It’s short, evocative, and sentimental, and was part of the inspiration for Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse<\/em>. \u00a0And for Camel’s aptly named 1975 album Music Inspired by The Snow Goose<\/em>. \u00a0Ar l\u00e9igh t\u00fa an leabhar?\u00a0 N\u00f3 an bhfaca t\u00fa an cl\u00e1r teilif\u00edse?\u00a0 N\u00f3 ar chuala t\u00fa ceol Camel at\u00e1 bunaithe ar an sc\u00e9al?\u00a0 C\u00e9ard a sh\u00edl t\u00fa faoi?<\/strong><\/p>\n

snow globe: cruinneog shneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snow tire: bonn sneachta<\/strong><\/p>\n

snowy: sneacht\u00fail<\/strong><\/p>\n

a snowy owl or “harfang” (hmm, so that’s where C. S. Lewis got the word in his The Silver Chair<\/em>): ulchabh\u00e1n sneacht\u00fail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, hopefully that’s some interesting vocabulary, but not so much that you feel “snowed under” (go dt\u00ed an d\u00e1 sh\u00fail i bhfocail nua<\/strong>).\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)   So how’s winter treating you?\u00a0\u00a0 A l\u00e1n sneachta?\u00a0 Beag\u00e1in\u00edn sneachta?\u00a0 S\u00edobtha\u00ed sneachta?\u00a0 Ceathanna sneachta? The key word for today’s blog, as you might have observed, is “sneachta” [SHNAKH-tuh], snow. So we’ll look at the basic forms of the word and then some related terms. sneachta, snow an sneachta, the snow dl\u00fas an tsneachta…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[390350,207488,390362,390348,390357,13365,390358,390352,390361,390359,6090,390355,390354,390363,390360,390353,6864,6867,984,390347,390356,390349,365383,390351,390364],"class_list":["post-6124","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bonn-sneachta","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-camel","tag-cruinneog-shneachta","tag-gallico","tag-goose","tag-greater","tag-harfang","tag-jenny-agutter","tag-lesser","tag-michael","tag-mionghe-shneachta","tag-morghe-shneachta","tag-morpurgo","tag-richard-harris","tag-silver-chair-ulchabhan-sneachtuil","tag-sneachta","tag-sneachtuil","tag-snow","tag-snow-globe","tag-snow-goose","tag-snow-tire","tag-snowy","tag-snowy-owl","tag-war-horse"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t