{"id":6712,"date":"2015-05-25T20:26:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T20:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6712"},"modified":"2018-01-01T19:58:16","modified_gmt":"2018-01-01T19:58:16","slug":"happy-happiness-and-happy-dances-in-irish-mostly-based-on-athas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/happy-happiness-and-happy-dances-in-irish-mostly-based-on-athas\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy, Happiness and Happy Dances in Irish (mostly based on ‘\u00e1thas’)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"'Pr\u00f3tadhamhsa<\/a>

‘Pr\u00f3tadhamhsa \u00e1thais’? Picti\u00far ca. 1850 le Edward Lear, i bhfad sula raibh an focal ‘happy dance’ chomh ‘trendy’ (http:\/\/public-domain.zorger.com\/a-book-of-nonsense\/115-cartoon-happy-dancing-women-with-big-hat-perched-birds-goose-public-domain.gif<\/a>)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

“I’m just doing a little happy dance.”\u00a0 Recently overheard at an event I attended, where one of the coordinators had had to sit on the floor because all the seats were taken.\u00a0 At the end of the event, she got up, did some yoga-like stretches, and one of the other coordinators asked if she was OK.\u00a0 “Yes,” she answered, “I’m just doing a little happy dance.”<\/p>\n

So, I thought to myself, hmm, “happiness” is such an interesting word in Irish, how would we say “happy dance.”<\/p>\n

First, let’s review “happy” and “happiness.”\u00a0 In the last blog post, we looked at two words for happiness (\u00e1thas, l\u00fach\u00e1ir<\/strong>) and today we’ll look further at those, and a few more.\u00a0 \u00a0But let’s start with “happy.”<\/p>\n

Happy:<\/p>\n

1) sona<\/strong> (as in “L\u00e1 breithe sona duit<\/strong>” or “Nollaig Shona duit<\/strong>” or “T\u00e1 m\u00e9 sona s\u00e1sta<\/strong>.”). Also, “sonasach<\/strong>“.\u00a0 “S\u00e1sta<\/strong>” on its own can mean “happy” but it often means “content” or “satisfied,” so it never seems to me to be as exuberant as “sona<\/strong>” itself.<\/p>\n

2) s\u00e9anmhar<\/strong> (also means “lucky” or “prosperous”).\u00a0 “Faoi sh\u00e9an<\/strong>” is similar, but isn’t technically an adjective.<\/p>\n

3) gliondrach<\/strong> (also means “joyous” or “mirthful;” has a slightly more poetic sound than “sona<\/strong>,” at least to my ear)<\/p>\n

4) l\u00fach\u00e1ireach<\/strong> (also means “joyous” and “rejoicing,” used more to describe a situation, appearance or smile than for a specific comment on how you feel; e.g.\u00a0 g\u00e1ire l\u00fach\u00e1ireach<\/strong>, a happy smile, although it could also refer to a laugh)<\/p>\n

5) \u00e1thasach<\/strong> (also means “joyful” and “gleeful”), like “l\u00fach\u00e1ir<\/strong>,” typically used to describe a situation, appearance, or story\u00a0(sc\u00e9al \u00e1thasach<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

There are more ways to indicate “happy” in Irish, but a lot of these get into prepositional phrases (like “faoi sh\u00e9an<\/strong>“) so those will have to wait for another day.<\/p>\n

Happiness:<\/p>\n

1) \u00e1thas<\/strong> (also means “joy” and “gladness”).\u00a0 This is typically used with “orm<\/strong>,” “ort,<\/strong>” etc., in sentences like “T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm<\/strong>” (Happiness is on me, i.e. I am happy) and “An raibh \u00e1thas ort nuair a chuala t\u00fa an nuacht?<\/strong>” (Was happiness on you when you heard the news?, i.e. Were you happy when you heard the news?)<\/p>\n

\"Tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n<\/a>

Tearan\u00f3d\u00f3n (pteranodon) ag d\u00e9anamh damhsa \u00e1thais. Ptarraingteach, nach ea? (Public Domain CC0, http:\/\/www.pd4pic.com\/happy-wings-dancing-dinosaur-ancient-dance.html<\/a>). And no, that’s not a new Irish initial consonant mutation. Just a little “pt” le haghaidh an chraic.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

2) l\u00fach\u00e1ir<\/strong> (also means “gladness” and “exultation” and “joy in welcoming someone”)<\/p>\n

3) sonas<\/strong> (related to “sona<\/strong>,” happy; also means “good luck” and “good fortune” — so this has more to do with a situation than an emotion per se; can be used in saying “thank you” (“Sonas ort!<\/strong>“), if you want a change from “Go raibh maith agat<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

4) s\u00e9an<\/strong> (also means “good luck” and prosperity” and is found in the phrase “faoi sh\u00e9an<\/strong>” [fw<\/sup>ee hayn], as in “Athbhliain faoi sh\u00e9an agus faoi mhaise duit<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

5) gliondar<\/strong> (also means “joyousness” and “mirthfulness”).\u00a0 This is typically used with the word “cro\u00ed<\/strong>,” as in, “Cuireann sin gliondar ar mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>” (That makes me joyful, lit. That puts joy on my heart).<\/p>\n

So that gives us five choices for “happy” and five related choices for “happiness.”\u00a0 \u00a0How about our buzzword of the day, “happy dance”?\u00a0 \u00a0While I don’t see any official version out there, I would plump for\u00a0“damhsa \u00e1thais<\/strong>” (a dance of happiness).\u00a0 Second choice would be “damhsa sonais<\/strong>” (also “a dance of happiness).\u00a0 Why not the others and why not an adjective?\u00a0 They just sound a little formal for the lightheartedness (\u00e9adromchro\u00edochas<\/strong>!) that the phrase “happy dance” suggests to me.\u00a0 Do bhar\u00fail<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

\"Seamr\u00f3ga<\/a>

Seamr\u00f3ga ag d\u00e9anamh damhsa \u00e1thais. An port n\u00f3 r\u00edl n\u00f3 cornph\u00edopa \u00e9? (src=”http:\/\/cliparts.co\/cliparts\/kc8\/o9n\/kc8o9n5ri.png<\/a>” width=”350″ alt=”Free Shamrock Clipart – Public Domain Holiday\/StPatrick clip art …” \/>)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

So, for “doing a happy dance,” we could say:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag d\u00e9anamh damhsa \u00e1thais<\/strong>. \u00a0(I am doing a happy dance).<\/p>\n

Or, the above suggestions could be used with “rince<\/strong>” which also means “a dance” (rince \u00e1thais, rince sonais<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, I hope you have ample opportunities to do happy dances in your life, at least “go hionadach<\/strong>” (vicariously) if not actually “ag d\u00e9anamh an damhsa \u00e9 f\u00e9in<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Or could I wish you, “Damhsa \u00e1thais sona ort!<\/strong>” — Happy ‘happy dance’ to you!\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) “I’m just doing a little happy dance.”\u00a0 Recently overheard at an event I attended, where one of the coordinators had had to sit on the floor because all the seats were taken.\u00a0 At the end of the event, she got up, did some yoga-like stretches, and one of the other coordinators asked if…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[390757,381817,111632,4895,307049,111642,384217,111644,290064,111643,7982,13056],"class_list":["post-6712","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-athais","tag-athas","tag-athasach","tag-damhsa","tag-edward-lear","tag-gliondrach","tag-happy-dance","tag-luchaireach","tag-pteranodon","tag-seanmhar","tag-shamrock","tag-sona"],"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