{"id":6621,"date":"2015-04-25T20:16:37","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T20:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6621"},"modified":"2015-05-26T16:49:28","modified_gmt":"2015-05-26T16:49:28","slug":"a-little-more-on-croch-hang-and-crochtacht-steepness-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/a-little-more-on-croch-hang-and-crochtacht-steepness-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little More on “Croch” (hang) and “Crochtacht” (steepness) in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Some of you may have read the recent blog on the mysterious and apparently misprinted word in some recent editions of An B\u00e9al Bocht<\/em><\/strong> (The Poor Mouth), a hilarious satirical novel by “Myles na gCopaleen” (aka Flann O’Brien aka Brian \u00d3 Nuall\u00e1in aka Brian O’Nolan).\u00a0 So what was that word again–“*corchtacht<\/strong>” [sic]? \u00a0You may remember that I said that I had searched high and low for that word, for about 20 years, and never could find “corchtacht,<\/strong>” as such, in any dictionary, printed work, or online source.<\/p>\n

When I finally had a chance to look a much earlier edition of the book, from 1942, which is pretty hard to come by, I found the answer to the dilemma. \u00a0It was actually what I had expected. \u00a0The phrase in the original book was actually “\u00f3 chrochtacht<\/strong>,” based on “crochtacht<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Somehow, the “r” and the “o” got transposed in the later printing, giving us the phrase “\u00f3 chorchtacht<\/strong>,” based on a hypothetical “*corchtacht<\/strong>” [sic].<\/p>\n

So that mist\u00e9ir<\/strong> is solved, and I hope that that tidbit of information will be useful to other readers of the \u00farsc\u00e9al<\/strong>, which is hilarious in Irish or English, but especially so in Irish.\u00a0 Sin mo bhar\u00fail, p\u00e9 sc\u00e9al \u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But what about this word “crochtacht<\/strong>,” aside from the fact that it’s fun to say, with two voiceless velar fricatives (the “ch’s”) followed directly by stops (the “t’s”).<\/p>\n

The basic meaning of “crochtacht<\/strong>” is “steepness,” and, rather delightfully, it can also mean an “affectation in speech” or “a state of being tongue-tied.”\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It’s a feminine noun, so to say “the steepness” or “the affectation in speech” or “the state of being tongue-tied,” we use (… oh, I love it … ):<\/p>\n

an chrochtacht<\/strong> [un KHROKH-tukht], with three voiceless velar fricatives in a row.<\/p>\n

The basic word from which “crochtacht<\/strong>” is derived is “croch<\/strong>,” which can mean “hang,” “raise up,” “lift,” “interrupt,” “stop,” or “crucify,” amongst other possibilities.\u00a0 Here are some more places where we see forms of this word:<\/p>\n

crocht\u00edn<\/strong>, a hammock<\/p>\n

crochad\u00f3ir<\/strong>, a hangman, also someone with a villainous look on their face (n\u00ed nach ionadh<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

croch\u00f3ga<\/strong>, suspenders for socks, as opposed to “gealasacha<\/strong>” which are for trousers<\/p>\n

aill chrochta<\/strong>, an overhanging cliff<\/p>\n

coir chrochta<\/strong>, a hanging offence (punishable by hanging)<\/p>\n

cos\u00e1n crochta<\/strong>, a steep path<\/p>\n

gleann crochta<\/strong>, a hanging valley<\/p>\n

Those examples just showed us two versions of “crochta<\/strong>” as an adjective.\u00a0 So why do we have “crochta<\/strong>” for “gleann<\/strong>” and “cos\u00e1n<\/strong>,” and “chrochta<\/strong>” for “aill<\/strong>” and “coir<\/strong>“?\u00a0 Freagra (1) th\u00edos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And here’s one more example with “chrochta<\/strong>” as the adjective: caint chrochta<\/strong>.\u00a0 And that would mean … (freagra 2 th\u00edos<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

On a more positive note, there’s the phrase “Croch suas \u00e9<\/strong>!” which might surprise learners the first time they encounter it, because it means … (freagra 3 th\u00edos<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

And yes, we can even use “croch<\/strong>” as in the English phrase “to hang about.”\u00a0 So “hanging about” would be “ag crochadh timpeall<\/strong>” or “ag crochadh thar<\/strong>t.”<\/p>\n

“Hang in,” though, which implies patience, or not giving up, jumps to different semantics.\u00a0 Using “coinnigh<\/strong>” (keep), we can say “Coinnigh<\/strong> leis<\/strong>!” (keep at it, lit. keep with it) or “B\u00edodh foighne agat<\/strong>!” (be patient, lit. let there be patience at you).<\/p>\n

So if the twists and turns of the Irish language sometimes seem baffling, “coinnigh leis<\/strong>.”\u00a0 De r\u00e9ir a ch\u00e9ile a th\u00f3gtar na caisle\u00e1in, mar a deir an seanfhocal.\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

1) T\u00e1 gleann agus cos\u00e1n firinscneach agus mar sin n\u00edl s\u00e9imhi\u00fa ann.\u00a0 Go d\u00edreach mar na fr\u00e1sa\u00ed, “gleann m\u00f3r” agus “cos\u00e1n m\u00f3r.”\u00a0 T\u00e1 “aill” agus “coir” baininscneach agus mar sin t\u00e1 s\u00e9imhi\u00fa ann.\u00a0 Go d\u00edreach mar na fr\u00e1sa\u00ed “aill mh\u00f3r” agus “coir mh\u00f3r.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

2) “affected speech,” although, in theory at least, it could also mean “tongue-tied speech.”<\/p>\n

3) “Sing up!” or “Sing out!,” said to encourage singers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Some of you may have read the recent blog on the mysterious and apparently misprinted word in some recent editions of An B\u00e9al Bocht (The Poor Mouth), a hilarious satirical novel by “Myles na gCopaleen” (aka Flann O’Brien aka Brian \u00d3 Nuall\u00e1in aka Brian O’Nolan).\u00a0 So what was that word again–“*corchtacht” [sic]? \u00a0You…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[379076,376812,376757,307198,376811,376758,5382,376810],"class_list":["post-6621","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-aill","tag-coinnigh-leis","tag-corchtacht","tag-croch","tag-croch-suas","tag-crochtacht","tag-gleann","tag-typo"],"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