{"id":6937,"date":"2015-07-13T20:31:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T20:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6937"},"modified":"2015-07-18T23:22:38","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T23:22:38","slug":"an-gate-is-deanai-ariana-agus-na-taoschnonna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-gate-is-deanai-ariana-agus-na-taoschnonna\/","title":{"rendered":"An ‘-gate’ is d\u00e9ana\u00ed–Ariana agus na taoschn\u00f3nna"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Taoschn\u00f3nna<\/a>

Taoschn\u00f3nna go leor! C\u00e9n blas is fearr leat, a Ariana? [grafaic: By WestportWiki (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]<\/em><\/p><\/div>So, yet another “-gate” has graced the English-language media, thanks to Ariana Grande, an popamhr\u00e1na\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not “uisce<\/strong>” or “buim\u00ed<\/strong>” or “mam\u00f3nna<\/strong>” or “brocair\u00ed<\/strong>” or “cluichir\u00ed<\/strong>” or “droichid<\/strong>” or “portr\u00e1id\u00ed<\/strong>” or any of the 100+ other “-gate” terms listed by Wikipedia (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>). \u00a0This time it’s “doughnutgate” (aka “donutgate”).<\/p>\n

As I mentioned previously (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>), when discussing “Bridgegate” and “Watergate,” the “-gate” element doesn’t translate well into Irish, since the meaning is so nuanced.\u00a0 To actually discuss “Watergate,” or many of the other “-gates,” we could use a word like “scannal<\/strong>” (scandal).<\/p>\n

But, still, the new “-gate,” gives us a nice opportunity to discuss another Irish vocabulary word, namely “taoschn\u00f3<\/strong>” (doughnut).\u00a0 “Taoschn\u00f3<\/strong>” is a fairly new word in Irish, as far as I can tell.\u00a0 A quick survey of various reference works shows no use of this word before 1959.\u00a0 It seems quite likely that the word was coined for the English-Irish Dictionary<\/em> around that time.\u00a0 Let’s look at the component parts (taos, cn\u00f3<\/strong>) of the word, and then the compound word itself.<\/p>\n

Here are the basic forms for “taos<\/strong>” [pronounced “teess” or “tayss,” depending on dialect] \u00a0and a few related words:<\/p>\n

an taos<\/strong>, the dough<\/p>\n

an taois<\/strong> [un teesh OR un taysh], of the dough (raimhre an taois<\/strong>, the consistency of the dough)<\/p>\n

“Taos<\/strong>” doesn’t normally have a plural, although it wouldn’t surprise me if within the baking industry or in baking contests, someone might improvise a plural.\u00a0 For that matter, it doesn’t normally have a plural in English either, although we may occasionally see “doughs.”\u00a0 Normally English would use phrases like “types of dough” (cine\u00e1lacha taois<\/strong>) or “pieces of dough” (p\u00edosa\u00ed taois<\/strong>), etc.<\/p>\n

“Taos<\/strong>” can also mean “paste,” as in “taos cura\u00ed”<\/strong>\u00a0(curry paste) and “taos fiacla” <\/strong>(toothpaste).<\/p>\n

Some additional related terms are “taos g\u00e9ar<\/strong>” (sourdough),\u00a0taos s\u00fagartha <\/strong>(playdough; the trademarked version is Play-Doh), and “taosr\u00e1n”<\/strong>\u00a0(pastry).<\/p>\n

Remember also, when capital letters are involved (titles, signs, etc.), that “An Taos<\/strong>” would be completely different from “An tAos<\/strong>” (with the prefixed lower-case “t”).\u00a0 The latter is from the word “aos<\/strong>” which has various meanings, like “folk,” “people,” or “class of people” (e.g. an t-aos \u00f3g m\u00edsh\u00e1sta<\/strong>, disaffected youth).<\/p>\n

As for “nut,” here are the basics:<\/p>\n

an cn\u00f3 <\/strong>[un knoh, the “k” sound is pronounced], the nut<\/p>\n

an chn\u00f3 <\/strong>[un khnoh, with the “kh” sound of “chutzpah”], of the nut. \u00a0Note: this spelling (chn\u00f3) <\/strong>ends up looking like the second half of “taoschn\u00f3<\/strong>,” but it’s for a different grammatical reason.<\/p>\n

na cn\u00f3nna<\/strong>, the nuts<\/p>\n

na gcn\u00f3nna<\/strong> [nuh GNOW-nuh], of the nuts<\/p>\n

And\u00a0for the “c(h)n\u00f3<\/strong>” part of “taoschn\u00f3<\/strong>,” well, of course, most doughnuts have nothing to do with actual nuts, but apparently one 19th-century recipe called for filling the doughnut hole with nuts.\u00a0 And why the “hole” in the doughnut to begin with?\u00a0 There are various theories, but one reasonably plausible one is that the center of a “doughnut” without a hole would take longer to bake.\u00a0 Apparently it was more efficient to bake them with the hole cut out.\u00a0 Same principle as the Bundt cake, I suppose.<\/p>\n

But whether there’s any logic to the “-nut” element in the word “doughnut” or not, “cn\u00f3<\/strong>” (nut) was used to create the Irish word.\u00a0 There’s also lenition, changing the “c” to “ch,” since it’s the second part of a compound word:<\/p>\n

an taoschn\u00f3<\/strong> [un teess-khnoh \/ un tayss-khnoh,) the doughnut<\/p>\n

an taoschn\u00f3<\/strong> (same as above), of the doughnut (luach an taoschn\u00f3<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

na taoschn\u00f3nna<\/strong> [nuh TEESS-KHNOH-nuh], the doughnuts<\/p>\n

na dtaoschn\u00f3nna<\/strong> [nuh DEESS-KHNOH-nuh], of the doughnuts (luach na dtaoschn\u00f3nna<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

There are, of course, many types of actual “cn\u00f3nna<\/strong>,” such as the following: cn\u00f3nna Brasa\u00edleacha, cn\u00f3nna coill<\/strong>, and cn\u00f3nna gallda<\/strong>.\u00a0 Technically “cn\u00f3nna c\u00f3c\u00f3<\/strong>” aren’t really “cn\u00f3nna<\/strong>,” according to what I read.\u00a0 They’re “dr\u00faip<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0All of which could be \u00e1bhar<\/strong>\u00a0for a blagmh\u00edr eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And if you didn’t catch the actual scandal connected with Ariana in the doughnut shop, apparently she licked a bunch of doughnuts that were meant to be sold to customers.\u00a0 So we could wrap up this post with a few choice questions and statements like:<\/p>\n

N\u00e1 hith na taoschn\u00f3nna lite!<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00e1 hith an taoschn\u00f3 sin.\u00a0 Liodh \u00e9!<\/strong><\/p>\n

An l\u00edfidh<\/strong> [say: LEE-hee] Ariana n\u00edos m\u00f3 taoschn\u00f3nna tar \u00e9is an scannail seo?\u00a0 N\u00ed d\u00f3igh liom!<\/strong> (oh, I would so love to make that “n\u00ed ‘d\u00f3igh-nut’ liom<\/strong>,” but, see, I’m only treating that as a side-bar)<\/p>\n

C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad taoschn\u00f3 a ligh Ariana?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An bhfuil t\u00fa br\u00e9an den nuacht faoi Ariana agus na taoschn\u00f3nna faoi seo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An ndearna na me\u00e1in chumars\u00e1ide “sliabh” as “carn\u00e1n caoch\u00e1n” (caoch\u00e1n = talpa) ag s\u00edorchaint faoin \u00e1bhar seo?<\/strong>\u00a0 Or to give the question a more typical Irish twist (since the mountain\/molehill image is really an English idiom), an ndearna siad m\u00edol m\u00f3r de mh\u00edolt\u00f3g?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than answer these here, maybe we could get some answers sna n\u00f3ta\u00ed tr\u00e1chta<\/strong>.\u00a0 Or feel free to use these as conversation starters in whatever ciorcail chomhr\u00e1 Gaeilge<\/strong> you participate in.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s sure to be a “comhr\u00e1 beomhar<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n

Naisc:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How To Say ‘Bridge’ and ‘Gate’ in Irish<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n