{"id":6303,"date":"2015-02-05T18:51:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T18:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6303"},"modified":"2016-01-13T17:16:35","modified_gmt":"2016-01-13T17:16:35","slug":"youve-gotta-have-croi-heart-irish-terms-and-expressions-from-heart-ache-to-heart-whole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/youve-gotta-have-croi-heart-irish-terms-and-expressions-from-heart-ache-to-heart-whole\/","title":{"rendered":"You’ve Gotta Have ‘Cro\u00ed’ (Heart): Irish Terms and Expressions from ‘heart-ache’ to ‘heart-whole’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Feabhra … m\u00ed leann\u00e1n … m\u00ed L\u00e1 Vailint\u00edn … agus a l\u00e1n moth\u00fach\u00e1n eile bunaithe ar \u00e1r gcro\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 So let’s take a closer look at this word “heart,” in its basic Irish form and in some loving or love-lorn expressions.<\/p>\n

\"L\u00e1<\/a>

L\u00e1 Vailint\u00edn i gCathair Taipei, an T\u00e9av\u00e1in — cro\u00ed m\u00f3r dearg i soilse an fhoirgnimh (picti\u00far: By Jnlin (Jnlin) [GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/)<\/em><\/p><\/div>First the basics:<\/p>\n

an cro\u00ed<\/strong> [un krrr<\/sup>ee, with a nice flapped Irish “r,” that is, slightly trilled], the heart<\/p>\n

an chro\u00ed<\/strong> [un khrrr<\/sup>ee], of the heart; m\u00e9id an chro\u00ed <\/strong><\/p>\n

cro\u00edthe<\/strong> [KRrr<\/sup>EE-huh], hearts; note that the “\u00ed” stays long here, unlike words like “r\u00fana\u00ed<\/strong>,” pl. “r\u00fanaithe<\/strong>,” or “t\u00f3g\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>,” pl. “t\u00f3g\u00e1laithe<\/strong>,” both with the “i” shortened.<\/p>\n

na cro\u00edthe<\/strong> [KRrr<\/sup>EE-huh], the hearts<\/p>\n

na gcro\u00edthe<\/strong> [nuh GRrr<\/sup>EE-huh], of the hearts; x-gha na gcro\u00edthe<\/strong> (the x-ray of the hearts, which would most likely only pertain to who(m)?\u00a0 \u00a0An freagra: An Docht\u00fair sa chl\u00e1r Doctor Who, duine (m\u00e1s duine \u00e9) a raibh dh\u00e1 chro\u00ed aige<\/strong>.\u00a0 Aside from that Doctor, you’d probably only have one heart per x-ray image.\u00a0 So if you saw more than one heart, you’d probably be looking at “x-ghathanna<\/strong>” (x-rays), not just “x-gha amh\u00e1in<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

And some phrases and expressions:<\/p>\n

heart-ache, scalladh cro\u00ed<\/strong>, lit. a scalding of heart<\/p>\n

heart-burn, d\u00f3 cro\u00ed<\/strong> (this is from “d\u00f3igh<\/strong>,” burn, not “d\u00f3<\/strong>,” the number two)<\/p>\n

heart-felt sorrow, br\u00f3n \u00f3 chro\u00ed<\/strong>, lit. sorrow from heart<\/p>\n

heartless, cruachro\u00edoch<\/strong>.\u00a0 Gotta love having two voiceless velar fricatives in a row (the ch’s).\u00a0 And why not make it three, while we’re at it? \u00a0That’d be “bean chruachro\u00edoch<\/strong>,” since initial may “c” change to “ch” after a feminine noun<\/p>\n

heart-sick: this can be expressed two ways (at least): as an adjective: \u00e9ad\u00f3chasach<\/strong> (hopeless), or, to use our “focal an bhlag inniu<\/strong>,” the other choice would be to say “N\u00edl cro\u00ed n\u00e1 misneach ag an bhfear truamh\u00e9ileach tromaigeantach tr\u00e9igthe sin<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

heart-whole, which has the interesting qualification of meaning a) \u00a0“not in love” (nach bhfuil i ngr\u00e1<\/strong>) or b) sincere (d\u00edlis<\/strong>, as in cion d\u00edlis<\/strong>, heart-whole affection)<\/p>\n

hearty: cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mh’anam<\/strong>, there did seem to be a negative strain running through those examples, so let’s not forget some terms of affection (the first two given in direct address):<\/p>\n

a chro\u00ed, <\/strong>dear, lit. heart, as in “A Chonnla, a chro\u00ed,” <\/strong>in the song “Connla”<\/strong><\/p>\n

a chuisle mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>, pulse of my heart<\/p>\n

gr\u00e1 mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>, love of my heart<\/p>\n

gr\u00e1 geal mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>, bright love of my heart<\/p>\n

And then there’s the Tin Pan Alley-era “Mother Machree,” which, in theory, would be “M\u00e1thair Mo Chro\u00ed<\/strong>.” \u00a0In reality, in direct address, the phrase would more likely be “A mh\u00e1thair, a chro\u00ed<\/strong>,” since “a<\/strong>” (the vocative particle) is more typical than “mo<\/strong>” (“my”) in direct address in Irish.<\/p>\n

Speaking of direct address, me mateys, we can easily see another example of using “a<\/strong>” instead of “mo<\/strong>” in direct address in Irish for “me hearties.”\u00a0 So what is the Irish phrase for “me hearties,” as in a group of people, or team, or crew, especially of pirates? \u00a0Do the Irish words for “me hearties” have anything to do with being “hearty” (cro\u00ed\u00fail<\/strong>)?\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 Curiously, Irish brings gender into the issue, but there’s nothing about heartiness in the phrases, as you’ll see in the examples below.<\/p>\n

Actually, it’s not so curious, I suppose.\u00a0 Most “hearties,” as addressed by pirate captains were probably male.\u00a0 Unless of course, they included the likes of Anne Bonny or Mary Read.\u00a0 Gr\u00e1inne N\u00ed Mh\u00e1ille<\/strong> (Gracie O’Malley), of course, was another example of a famous female pirate, and she was Irish to boot (or “to booty”!), but I wouldn’t say she was from the “Aaargh-yo-ho-ho-walk-the-plank” type of piracy.\u00a0 Maybe more about her in a future blog.\u00a0 Of course, maybe there never really was so much emphasis on “aaargh” in real-life pirate discourse, but it makes for some great special events, like “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (September 19).<\/p>\n

Anyway, what is the Irish for “me hearties”?\u00a0\u00a0 There are two main choices, both starting with “a<\/strong>” (O), not “mo<\/strong>” (my, “me”):<\/p>\n

a chailleacha<\/strong>, me hearties, lit. O hags! or O old women!\u00a0 (Hmm, yet another case of calling men women?)<\/p>\n

or more straightforwardly, but less specifically nautical:<\/p>\n

a fheara<\/strong>, me hearties, lit. “O men!” \u00a0\u00a0Other translations of this, simply as “men,” are possible if the context is not nautical.<\/p>\n

I use the “O” here to highlight the direct address, but it’s not as philosophical an “O” as in phrases like “O Tempora, O Mores!” or as prayerful as “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!”<\/p>\n

This use of “cailleach<\/strong>” may seem surprising, compared to, say, the infamous “Cailleach an Airgid<\/strong>,” in the song which really is about a “hag” (as it were).\u00a0 But consider its fellow idiom, “Maith th\u00fa, a chailleach<\/strong>,” which can be translated as “Good man yourself.”\u00a0 My hunch is that this phrase isn’t used all that much today, but I did find one (just one) recent example online, in the singular form (https:\/\/twitter.com\/ronanbeo\/status\/281416304819322881, from cathaltv to ronanbeo).\u00a0 In the plural, there’s a handful more examples, like this one from CLG Naomh ColumCille: ” Cath f\u00edochmhar \u00f3 cheann ceann na p\u00e1irce. Maith sibh a chailleacha!<\/strong>” \u00a0(https:\/\/twitter.com\/naomhcolumcille\/status\/465059595434864640).\u00a0 But overall, “a chailleacha<\/strong>” for addressing men doesn’t seem to have much cyberpresence today, compared to “a leaids<\/strong>” (which has a tidy 176 hits), “a fheara<\/strong>” (an impressive 132 hits), and “a bhuachaill\u00ed<\/strong>” (237 hits).<\/p>\n

Anyway, that’s an overview, at least, of “an cro\u00ed<\/strong>,” including the heart itself, some comhfhocail <\/strong>based on the word “heart,” a few terms of endearment, and the Irish equivalent to “me hearties.”<\/p>\n

Up next, cluais\u00edn\u00ed agus m\u00e9adail\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>? \u00a0Or perhaps some heart-related topic that’s beag\u00e1n n\u00edos r\u00f3m\u00e1ns\u00fala<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

\u00d3! \u00a0“Cad is ciall le ‘cluais\u00edn\u00ed agus m\u00e9adail\u00edn\u00ed’?” a deir t\u00fa. \u00a0Seo leideanna: cluais\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong> can also mean a clew of a sail, a tab on a card, a lug (in mechanical equipment), and a type of scallop.\u00a0 So for the heart, it also means _________ (freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>). \u00a0“M\u00e9adail\u00edn”<\/strong> isn’t used much today outside of discussing the heart (fad m’eolais<\/strong>) but it could mean “little maw” (hmm, can a “maw” be little?) or a small paunch.\u00a0 So “m\u00e9adail\u00edn<\/strong>,” the counterpart of the “cluais\u00edn<\/strong>,” means __________ (freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill – R\u00f3isl\u00edn <\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed<\/strong>: auricle and ventricle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Feabhra … m\u00ed leann\u00e1n … m\u00ed L\u00e1 Vailint\u00edn … agus a l\u00e1n moth\u00fach\u00e1n eile bunaithe ar \u00e1r gcro\u00ed.\u00a0 So let’s take a closer look at this word “heart,” in its basic Irish form and in some loving or love-lorn expressions. First the basics: an cro\u00ed [un krrree, with a nice flapped Irish “r,”…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[374883,374887,374885,374884,111215,111214,172914,5148,32972,5155,32973,374879,172912,374880,172913,111606,374882,374881,374886,28716],"class_list":["post-6303","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-cailleacha","tag-cathaltv","tag-chailleach","tag-chailleacha","tag-chroi","tag-croi","tag-croithe","tag-feabhra","tag-feara","tag-february","tag-fheara","tag-gcroithe","tag-heart","tag-hearties","tag-hearts","tag-hearty","tag-mateys","tag-me-hearties","tag-ronanbeo","tag-valentine"],"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