{"id":6974,"date":"2015-07-24T20:32:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T20:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6974"},"modified":"2015-07-27T13:32:17","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T13:32:17","slug":"usaid-an-fhocail-eircode-i-gcomhtheacs-gaeilge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/usaid-an-fhocail-eircode-i-gcomhtheacs-gaeilge\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00das\u00e1id an fhocail “Eircode” i gcomhth\u00e9acs Gaeilge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

So we’ve all been inundated lately with news of “lainse\u00e1il an ch\u00f3rais Eircode<\/strong>,” which could also be called “seoladh an ch\u00f3rais Eircode<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Both phrases mean “the launching of the Eircode system.”\u00a0 But, as happened with the launching of the “euro,” umpteen years ago, one of my first thoughts was, how do we use this word in an Irish sentence?\u00a0 Does it have “inscne<\/strong>” (gender)?\u00a0 Does it have a “foirm iolra<\/strong>” (plural form)?\u00a0 Does it take any prefixed letters the way other Irish words beginning with vowels do?\u00a0 Remember the “t-anna<\/strong>,” “h-anna<\/strong>,” and “n-anna<\/strong>” that we see in phrases like “an t-\u00fall<\/strong>,” “le hAoife<\/strong>,” “seacht n-uaire<\/strong>,” and “blas na n-or\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/strong>“? \u00a0Do any of those apply?<\/p>\n

Bhuel, de r\u00e9ir cos\u00falachta<\/strong>, the word “Eircode” stays the same in Irish and English.\u00a0 There doesn’t appear to be any actual Irish form like “*\u00c9irCh\u00f3d<\/strong>” (a hypothetical form, as far as I know). \u00a0\u00a0I did find one use of “le h\u00c9irch\u00f3de<\/strong>” [sic] but it appears to be anomalous.\u00a0 Also, the word “Eircode” appears to be genderless, like the word “euro,” so Eircode’s website uses the phrase “an Eircode<\/strong>” for “the Eircode.”\u00a0 \u00a0No question of inserting a “t” before vowels or not –gender’s a moot point here. \u00a0So no “\u00fall<\/strong>” vs. “an t-\u00fall<\/strong>” issues. \u00a0And as for “genitive plural,” one context in which the “n-” prefix is used (like “blas na n-\u00fall<\/strong>)”, bhuel<\/strong>, not a sign.<\/p>\n

I’ve been searching for a plural form of “Eircode” in Irish, but so far I haven’t found anything definitive. \u00a0\u00a0In fact, I haven’t found a plural form at all.\u00a0 I looked through the main sections of the www.eircode.ie\/gaeilge website.\u00a0 It’s divided into seven main sections (Cad \u00e9 Eircode?, Bunt\u00e1ist\u00ed, Conas Eircode a fh\u00e1il, Gn\u00f3lachta\u00ed, CCanna \u00a0(Ceisteanna Coiteanta) , Nuacht<\/strong>, and Aimsigh Eircode<\/strong>).\u00a0 But I didn’t see actually see any plural example in all of that.\u00a0 I didn’t follow all the secondary links, so maybe it shows up by chance somewhere, ach n\u00ed fhaca mise \u00e9.\u00a0 Eolas ag duine ar bith amuigh ansin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some possibilities for a plural but I’d like to get the official word.\u00a0 The sample sentence I made up to illustrate this point means “Eircodes use numbers and letters,” a basic enough concept.<\/p>\n

\u00das\u00e1ideann na hEircodeanna uimhreacha agus litreacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 Or would it be:<\/p>\n

\u00das\u00e1ideann na hEircodes uimhreacha agus litreacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 Or:<\/p>\n

\u00das\u00e1ideann na Eircodes uimhreacha agus litreacha<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Or would a different plural ending be used?\u00a0 Irish has a lot of plural endings to choose from, since we have patterns like:<\/p>\n

-(n)ta: r\u00f3nta<\/strong> (seals)<\/p>\n

-(n)te: l\u00ednte<\/strong> (lines)<\/p>\n

-eacha: cathaoireacha<\/strong> (chairs)<\/p>\n

-acha: cathracha<\/strong> (cities)<\/p>\n

-\u00ed: cail\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong> (girls)<\/p>\n

-a\u00ed: b\u00e1da\u00ed<\/strong> (boats; NB: this is an alternative plural of “b\u00e1d<\/strong>“–the standard is “b\u00e1id<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

-ithe: cruinnithe<\/strong> (meetings)<\/p>\n

-aithe: r\u00fanaithe<\/strong> (secretaries)<\/p>\n

and the inserted “i,” as in:<\/p>\n

b\u00e1id<\/strong>, plural of “b\u00e1d<\/strong>” (this is the standard plural, as opposed to b\u00e1da\u00ed<\/strong> \u00a0)<\/p>\n

c\u00f3id<\/strong>, plural of “c\u00f3d<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

And, of course, there are some idiosyncratic plurals, either with syncopation, like “soilse<\/strong>” and “doirse<\/strong>,” or completely irregular, like “mn\u00e1<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

I’ve checked an Vicip\u00e9id<\/strong>, not that that’s bun agus barr an sc\u00e9il<\/strong> as far as Irish terminology goes, but it’s a good place to start.\u00a0 As of the time of this writing, the entry for “Postal address in the Republic of Ireland” hadn’t been translated into Irish, so there were no plural samples there. Getting this article translated seems like a good project for some noble volunteer.<\/p>\n

Whatever anyone thinks of the Eircode system, it would be nice if there would be a brief note as to language usage in the Irish version of Eircode’s website.\u00a0 Even if all it does is say there’s no gender, no prefixes.\u00a0 But surely they would have so say something about a plural form.\u00a0 If it’s already there, and I missed it, t\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm<\/strong>, but I looked pretty carefully.<\/p>\n

At any rate, I’ll be keeping an eye out for the use of Eircode in the plural and any other aspects of the word that have special relevance for Irish language usage.\u00a0 T\u00e1 m\u00e9 fiosrach faoin \u00fas\u00e1id<\/strong>! \u00a0Agus m\u00e1 fheiceann t\u00fa f\u00e9in \u00e9, scr\u00edobh isteach, le do thoil, leis an eolas.\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) So we’ve all been inundated lately with news of “lainse\u00e1il an ch\u00f3rais Eircode,” which could also be called “seoladh an ch\u00f3rais Eircode.”\u00a0 Both phrases mean “the launching of the Eircode system.”\u00a0 But, as happened with the launching of the “euro,” umpteen years ago, one of my first thoughts was, how do we use…<\/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":[390287,390291,74,1083,3349,2418],"class_list":["post-6974","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-eircode","tag-eircodes","tag-gender","tag-genitive","tag-plural","tag-prefix"],"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