{"id":6909,"date":"2015-07-04T19:59:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T19:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6909"},"modified":"2016-07-05T12:29:02","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T12:29:02","slug":"from-spaglainni-to-speartha-more-irish-vocab-from-the-star-spangled-banner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/from-spaglainni-to-speartha-more-irish-vocab-from-the-star-spangled-banner\/","title":{"rendered":"From ‘Spaglainn\u00ed’ to ‘Sp\u00e9artha’: More Irish Vocab from ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"'Na<\/a>

‘Na sp\u00e9artha’ i rith an bhombardaithe — so what makes it “skies” as opposed to “sky” … ceist dhofhreagartha, d\u00e9arfainn (grafaic: By Dr.frog at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [Public domain or Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the last blog post, we looked at the word “spaglainneach<\/strong>” (spangled), noticeable for its absence in the Irish translation of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”\u00a0 Anyone remember what phrase is used for “star-spangled” in the Irish version instead?\u00a0 Freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0For all four verses of the American national anthem in Irish, you might want to check out this post from 2014: Amhr\u00e1n N\u00e1isi\u00fanta na St\u00e1t Aontaithe: All Four Verses of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d in Irish with a glossary, literal translation, and pronunciation guide<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The next few blog posts will look at some of the other interesting vocabulary that shows up in O’Growney’s translation.\u00a0 Let’s start with a line from V\u00e9arsa a hAon<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

“Ach a caorthinte ag pl\u00e9ascadh sna sp\u00e9artha le gleo!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

It correspondes to “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” but of course, the translation isn’t literal.\u00a0 Where the English says “air,” the Irish uses the plural of “sp\u00e9ir<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Our key word today is “sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>,” the plural of “sp\u00e9ir<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Here are the basic forms:<\/p>\n

an sp\u00e9ir<\/strong>, the sky.\u00a0 For pronunciation, remember this “s” is broad, even though the nearest vowel is slender.\u00a0 So the pronunciation is “spayrzh<\/sup>,” with the “sp” pretty much like English “spare.”\u00a0 Just as a reminder, with other consonant clusters, like “sc” and “sl,” the normal rule applies and the “s” matches the nearest following vowel, so we have “slender” examples like “scian<\/strong>” (SHKEE-in) and “sl\u00ed<\/strong>” (shlee) and “broad” examples like \u00a0“sc\u00e1th\u00e1n<\/strong>” [SKAW-hawn” and “slua<\/strong>” [SLOO-uh].\u00a0 \u00a0And as a reminder to the reminder, the “slender” vowels are “e” and “i,” and the broad vowels are “a,” “o,” and “u.”<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9ire<\/strong>, of the sky.\u00a0 Sampla: dath na sp\u00e9ire<\/strong>, the color of the sky<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>, the skies.\u00a0 Sampla: sp\u00e9artha dubh <\/strong>[sic] go domhain a cho\u00edch’<\/strong>, a line from ” ‘S F\u00e1gaim Mo Bhaile<\/strong>,” a song recorded by Enya; a literal translation is: deep black skies forever.\u00a0 Why the “[sic]”?\u00a0 Well,\u00a0 I would have expected “dubha<\/strong>” there, not “dubh<\/strong>,” but I’ve seen dozens of postings of this song online with “sp\u00e9artha dubh<\/strong>” and, so far, none with “sp\u00e9artha dubha<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Go figure!\u00a0 Or is it a convoluted predicate-adjective structure with no apparent verb to tell you it’s predicate.\u00a0 I doubt it.\u00a0 I think the “-a’ of “dubha<\/strong>” just got swallowed up in pronunciation and so is not written.<\/p>\n

sna sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>, in the skies<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>, of the skies (same as the phrase above). Sampla: chun na sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>, to the skies<\/p>\n

So, how often do we actually say “skies” instead of “sky,” aside from lofty language as in an amhr\u00e1n n\u00e1isi\u00fanta<\/strong> (a national anthem)?<\/p>\n

In English, from time to time, mostly when we’re waxing poetic, we might use the plural, as in “You make me happy, when skies are gray.” If, when singing “You Are My Sunshine,” we said, “when the sky is gray,” it just doesn’t have the same “flow.” Another example, \u00e1 la Irving Berlin, or more recently, Data, in Star Trek: Nemesis<\/em>, is “Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see.” \u00a0Sp\u00e9artha gorma, an ea?<\/strong> \u00a0I’m sure there are more examples in song and poetry, but I think it’s pretty generally true that we use “sky” much more than we use “skies” in English.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here are a few additional Irish expressions with “sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>“:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0 in airde sna sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>, in the high heavens, lit. “on high in the skies”<\/p>\n

2) na sp\u00e9artha ag cnagadh<\/strong>, the skies rattling\/knocking (describing thunder)<\/p>\n

3) “Sea, sroicheann a breithi\u00fanas go neamh; arda\u00edtear \u00e9 chun na sp\u00e9artha<\/strong>” (Irimia 51:9, aistri\u00fach\u00e1n focal ar fhocal th\u00edos<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

4) “le sp\u00e9artha an lae,<\/strong>” (at dawn, lit. with the skies of the day).\u00a0 For this, though, I think some other phrases would be more typical, like “le h\u00e9ir\u00ed na gr\u00e9ine<\/strong>,” “le f\u00e1inne an lae<\/strong>,” or “ag breacadh an lae<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Hope that was “suimi\u00fail<\/strong>.” \u00a0More “focail shuimi\u00fala<\/strong>” coming up in the next couple posts. \u00a0SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Freagra<\/strong>: “star-spangled”: interpreted as “g(h)eal-r\u00e9altach<\/strong>” in “An Bhratach Gheal-R\u00e9altach<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Aistri\u00fach\u00e1n<\/strong>: Sea, sroicheann a breithi\u00fanas go neamh; arda\u00edtear \u00e9 chun na sp\u00e9artha (Irimia 51:9)<\/strong>: “Yes, her judgment reaches to heaven, it is raised to the skies.” \u00a0Ironically, some of the English translations have the judgment reaching to the skies and raised to heaven.\u00a0 Oh well, I guess it’s the same basic idea.<\/p>\n

The links for the other blog posts in this series are:<\/p>\n

V\u00e9arsa 1<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/o-abair-an-leir-dhuit-oh-say-can-you-see-amhran-naisiunta-na-stat-aontaithe\/<\/a><\/p>\n

V\u00e9arsa 2<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/o-abair-an-leir-dhuit-oh-say-can-you-see-2nd-verse-amhran-naisiunta-na-stat-aontaithe-vearsa-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n

V\u00e9arsa 3<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/o-abair-an-leir-dhuit-vearsa-3-oh-say-can-you-see-3nd-verse-amhran-naisiunta-na-stat-aontaithe\/<\/a><\/p>\n

V\u00e9arsa 4<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/o-abair-an-leir-dhuit-vearsa-4-oh-say-can-you-see-4th-and-final-verse-amhran-naisiunta-na-stat-aontaithe\/<\/p>\n

Na V\u00e9arsa\u00ed go l\u00e9ir (V\u00e9arsa 1 go V\u00e9arsa 4)<\/strong>: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/amhran-naisiunta-na-stat-aontaithe-all-four-verses-of-the-star-spangled-banner-in-irish-with-a-glossary-literal-translation-and-pronunciation-guide\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)   In the last blog post, we looked at the word “spaglainneach” (spangled), noticeable for its absence in the Irish translation of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”\u00a0 Anyone remember what phrase is used for “star-spangled” in the Irish version instead?\u00a0 Freagra th\u00edos. \u00a0\u00a0For all four verses of the American national anthem in Irish, you might…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[289968,289967,289973,289972,289966,289965],"class_list":["post-6909","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-skies","tag-sky","tag-spaglainneach","tag-spangled","tag-speartha","tag-speir"],"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