{"id":7370,"date":"2015-11-28T18:24:08","date_gmt":"2015-11-28T18:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=7370"},"modified":"2017-04-19T19:04:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T19:04:29","slug":"if-youre-going-to-give-a-belly-rub-to-a-rhinoceros-heres-how-to-say-it-in-irish-and-some-other-useful-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/if-youre-going-to-give-a-belly-rub-to-a-rhinoceros-heres-how-to-say-it-in-irish-and-some-other-useful-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"If You’re Going to Give a Belly Rub to a Rhinoceros, Here’s How to Say It in Irish (and some other useful vocabulary)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Ar<\/a>

Ar mhiste leat cuimilt bhoilg a thabhairt dom? \/ Would you mind giving me a belly rub?<\/em>
(grianghraf le Petr Kratochvil ag http:\/\/www.publicdomainpictures.net\/view-image.php?image=9836&picture=rhino-head)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

We recently posted an imaginary conversation in Irish with Nola (ca. 1974-2015), a Northern White Rhinoceros (Sr\u00f3n-bheannach B\u00e1n Tuais-ceartach<\/strong>) whose recent death leaves only three remaining members of her subspecies alive. \u00a0\u00a0The nasc<\/strong> (link) to this article is th\u00edos<\/strong> (below).\u00a0 Since that blog was almost entirely in Irish, we’ll look at a few vocabulary highlights from the dialogue here, with pronunciation tips. \u00a0Some are general enough for use in many real-life conversations and some, admittedly, are rather rhino-specific.\u00a0 Here goes:<\/p>\n

1) T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm bualadh leat<\/strong> [taw AW-huss OR-um BOO-uh-luh ly<\/sup>at], I’m pleased to meet you, lit. Happiness (\u00e1thas<\/strong>) \u00a0is on me to meet you.<\/p>\n

2) Fadhb ar bith<\/strong> [FYB \u00a0erzh<\/sup> bih, with “FYB” rhyming with English “tribe” or “vibe”, silent “d” in “fadhb<\/strong>,” silent “t” in “bith<\/strong>“], no problem, sometimes shortened to “Fadhb R B<\/strong>.”\u00a0 There’s no word “no” in the phrase, but the implication in the Nola dialogue is negative.\u00a0 If written with a question mark, or said with questioning intonation, this phrase can be a question, “Any problem?”\u00a0 Why no word for “no” in the phrase?\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, that’s sc\u00e9al fada<\/strong>, but the nutshell answer is there’s no single discrete word for “yes” or “no” in Irish.\u00a0 Instead, any verb can be used to answer “yes” or “no” (t\u00e1, n\u00edl, ‘sea, n\u00ed hea, srl.<\/strong>) and there are indirect ways of responding, as well (“Ceart go leor<\/strong>,” i.e. OK\/right enough, for positive, “Seans ar bith<\/strong>” for negative, like saying, “No way!”).\u00a0 Overall, saying “yes” and “no” has infinite varieties in Irish, some of which we may address sa todhcha\u00ed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

3) Ag rith an m\u00e9id a bh\u00ed i mo chraiceann<\/strong> [KHRAK-un], running for my life, lit. running the amount that was in my skin<\/p>\n

4) p\u00f3itse\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>, a poacher, plural: p\u00f3itse\u00e1laithe<\/strong>, following the same pattern for the plural as r\u00fana\u00ed \/ r\u00fanaithe<\/strong> and t\u00f3g\u00e1la\u00ed \/ t\u00f3g\u00e1laithe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

5) cuimilt\u00ed boilg<\/strong> [KIM-il-tchee Bw<\/sup>IL-ig], belly rubs<\/p>\n

6) cuimilt\u00ed muin\u00edl<\/strong> [KIM-il-tchee Mw<\/sup>IN-yeel], neck rubs.\u00a0 Is bre\u00e1 le sr\u00f3nbheannaigh na cuimilt\u00ed seo!<\/strong><\/p>\n

7) S\u00edleann daoine gur f\u00e9idir leo afraid\u00edseach<\/strong> [AF-ruh-DEESH-ukh] a dh\u00e9anamh as \u00e1r n-adharca<\/strong> [ahss awr NY-ur-kuh], People think they can make an aphrodisiac out of our horns, lit. People think that (gur<\/strong>) able\/ability (f\u00e9idir<\/strong>) is with them (leo<\/strong>) an aphrodisiac to make out of our horns.\u00a0 There are two main words for “horn” in Irish. “Corn<\/strong>” (pl: cuirn<\/strong>) is for musical instruments and cornucopias and “adharc<\/strong>” is for animals, or for … well, never mind (family-friendly blog and all that), but its other meaning actually is related to aphrodisiacs.<\/p>\n

As for the pronunciation of “adharc<\/strong>,” it’s kind of tricky to represent in a “rough guide” in an English-based transliteration, since the sounds “y” and “ie” and “eye” and “igh” are so convoluted in English spelling.\u00a0 So I can offer the IPA for “adharc<\/strong>” as \/airk\/. \u00a0Just remember that in IPA, the letters \/ai\/ mean the sound spelled various ways in English (my, aye, eye, pie, sigh, etc.) — not like the “ai” of ordinary English spelling, as in “rain,” “plain,” or “Spain.” \u00a0If you already know the Irish words “radharc<\/strong>” (view) or “fadharc\u00e1n<\/strong>” (corn, on the foot), then this pronunciation should be a shoo-in.\u00a0 \u00a0Anyway, to really break it down, it’s “aye” as in “Aye, aye, sir!” and “irk” as in “to irk someone” (AYE-irk).\u00a0 I usually try to avoid silent vowels in my rough guides, since dealing with silent letters is one of the main points of my guides, but here it seems unavoidable, with the “-e” of “aye.” \u00a0I could try “Y-irk” but it looks odd, even to me, and my hunch is that some people would assume it’s pronounced “why-irk”.<\/p>\n

8) lao sr\u00f3nbheannaigh<\/strong> [lee SROHN-VAN-ee], a rhinoceros calf, which, for the Northern White, the world will probably never see again. “Lao<\/strong>” is also used for young cows in general, with several specialized terms (lao scoite<\/strong>, a weanling; lao di\u00fail<\/strong>, a suckling calf, srl<\/strong>.) and also for young seals and some other animals.<\/p>\n

9) ag baint na ndeor asam<\/strong> [egg buntch nuh ny<\/sup>or AH-sum] making me cry, lit. striking (of) the tears out of me.\u00a0 Note the silent “d” of “ndeor<\/strong>,” which has the “n” added through eclipsis, because we’re saying “_of_ the tears,” not just “tears”.\u00a0 With this change (from “deoir<\/strong>,” the root form), the “d” becomes silent.<\/p>\n

10) Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo ar\u00eds<\/strong>, May we be alive at this time next year.\u00a0 A blessing in Irish which has always struck me as a bit “gruama<\/strong>” (gloomy).\u00a0 More literally, the translation is something like, “May we bear alive\/living at this time again.”\u00a0 The phrase doesn’t really specify the interval of a year, but it’s implied, since this blessing is often used on holidays celebrated once a year.\u00a0 I don’t think the “bear” part is really in the sense of “endure” or “I can’t stand\/bear it”), more like “carry on.”\u00a0 Bhur mbar\u00falacha<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

At any rate, sin deich bhfr\u00e1sa as an gcomhr\u00e1 le Nola<\/strong>.\u00a0 I might post a full translation soon.\u00a0 Please let me know if that would be helpful.\u00a0 At any rate, I’ll probably look at some more of the vocabulary from this dial\u00f3g<\/strong> soon.\u00a0 SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasc<\/strong>:\u00a0https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/comhra-samhlaitheach-le-nola-an-sronbheannach-an-imaginary-conversation-in-irish-with-nola-the-rhinoceros\/ \u00a0(Comhr\u00e1 (samhlaitheach) le Nola, an Sr\u00f3nbheannach:<\/strong> An Imaginary Conversation in Irish with Nola, The Rhinoceros<\/a>,\u00a0Posted on 23. Nov, 2015 by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> in Irish Language<\/a>)<\/p>\n

D\u00e1 mba mhian leat tuilleadh eolais a fh\u00e1il faoi shr\u00f3nbheannaigh, seo nasc eile:\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.rhinoresourcecenter.com\/<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) We recently posted an imaginary conversation in Irish with Nola (ca. 1974-2015), a Northern White Rhinoceros (Sr\u00f3n-bheannach B\u00e1n Tuais-ceartach) whose recent death leaves only three remaining members of her subspecies alive. \u00a0\u00a0The nasc (link) to this article is th\u00edos (below).\u00a0 Since that blog was almost entirely in Irish, we’ll look at a few…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":7373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[390641,4268,390676,9104,303151,332009,390677,390646,390648,390678,390647,390675],"class_list":["post-7370","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-adharc","tag-ban","tag-belly-rub","tag-calf","tag-craiceann","tag-lao","tag-neck-rub","tag-nola","tag-rhinoceros","tag-run-for-your-life","tag-sronbheannach","tag-tuaisceartach"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7370"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9132,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370\/revisions\/9132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}