{"id":75,"date":"2009-09-13T23:09:17","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T03:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=75"},"modified":"2015-05-05T20:03:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:03:24","slug":"irish-%e2%80%9cfrom-head-to-toe%e2%80%9d-but-without-the-%e2%80%9chead%e2%80%9d-ceann-or-the-%e2%80%9ctoe%e2%80%9d-mear-coise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/irish-%e2%80%9cfrom-head-to-toe%e2%80%9d-but-without-the-%e2%80%9chead%e2%80%9d-ceann-or-the-%e2%80%9ctoe%e2%80%9d-mear-coise\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish \u201cFrom Head to Toe\u201d but without the \u201cHead\u201d (ceann) or the \u201cToe\u201d (m\u00e9ar coise)!"},"content":{"rendered":"
(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

It\u2019s interesting how languages can have similar idioms but with slightly different vocabulary.\u00a0 In Irish there are two ways to express the idea of \u201cfrom head to toe,\u201d but neither of them uses the word \u201chead\u201d or the word \u201ctoe.\u201d\u00a0 Both offer some useful vocabulary, although admittedly, none of these keywords has quite the range of meaning that our old friend \u201cceann<\/strong>\u201d has!\u00a0 Remember we just hit barr an chnoic oighir <\/strong>for that one in recent blogs, and there are about 200 more related expressions out there using the word \u201cceann<\/strong>,\u2019 which could fill up this blog until the proverbial cows come home.\u00a0 Now there\u2019s<\/em> an expression that one might think would have bovine equivalent, especially in a country like Ireland, where the dairy business has been so prominent.\u00a0 But the closest Irish expression for \u201cWait till the cows come home\u201d is surprisingly unbovine, \u201cFan go malairt saoil<\/strong>,\u201d which more or less means \u201cWait until life changes\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, here are the two head-to-toe type phrases, both of which are interesting in their own right.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. \u00d3 mhullach go s\u00e1il<\/span><\/strong> [oh WUL-ukh guh SAW~il], lit. \u201cfrom top \/ summit \/ crown of the head to heel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You might recall that we talked about the word for \u201cheel\u201d before, saying it was not<\/em> in the in the Irish expression for being \u201chead over heels in love.\u201d\u00a0 Remember the phrase?\u00a0 I know, it might be odd to talk about remembering a word that wasn\u2019t part of a phrase, but we did talk about it!\u00a0 That phrase doesn\u2019t use the word \u201chead\u201d or \u201clove\u201d either, but still manages to mean the same thing.\u00a0 See below for the freagra<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The very observant might have noticed that in today\u2019s phrase we have just one heel, s\u00e1il<\/strong>, whereas before we talked about \u201cheels\u201d in the plural, s\u00e1la<\/strong>.\u00a0 S\u00e1il <\/strong>la vie! (Note to self: include \u201cgroan\u201d as a response to bad puns in a future blog).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. \u00d3 bhonn go baithis<\/strong> [oh won guh bah~hish], from the sole (of the foot) to the crown of the head.\u00a0 So, this is the \u201cbottom-up\u201d version, accomplishing the same basic idea.\u00a0 In my experience, baithis<\/strong> isn\u2019t used nearly as much as mullach<\/strong>, in general, but, the more (synonyms) the merrier, in my view.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for \u201cthe crown\u201d of the head, in general, you didn\u2019t think I was going to stop there, did you?\u00a0 There\u2019s at least one more word, bior<\/strong>, which can also be used, but beware of bior<\/strong>, since it can also, and I\u2019d say, much more commonly, mean \u201ca spike, a spit, a point.\u201d \u00a0Just like real estate agents say, \u201cL\u00e1thair! L\u00e1thair! L\u00e1thair!<\/strong>,\u201d for language learning, I\u2019d say it\u2019s \u201cComhth\u00e9acs! Comhth\u00e9acs! Comhth\u00e9acs!\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But come to think of it, when\u2019s the last time I referred to the crown of someone\u2019s head, even in English?\u00a0 Not often, except perhaps when reciting \u201cJack and Jill.\u201d\u00a0 But that\u2019s no reason not to have three good Irish words for it!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And just to keep you \u201car do bharraic\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d on\u00a0 your toes, the Irish for \u201cthe crown of a hat\u201d doesn\u2019t use any of these words, but rather \u201ct\u00f3in<\/strong>,\u201d which some of you will recognize as, to put it politely, \u201cbackside.\u201d\u00a0 So we have \u201ct\u00f3in hata.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 Of course, no surprises,\u00a0the same word (t\u00f3in<\/strong>) can be used for the \u201cseat of one\u2019s trousers,\u201d (t\u00f3in br\u00edste<\/strong>).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next time maybe, \u201ctoe\u201d-phrases, with a brief geographic dip in the interestingly named, Toe Head, in Co. Cork, whose Irish name doesn\u2019t involve the word \u201ctoe.\u201d \u00a0How’s that for a cliff-hanger? \u00a0“Toe-ness” and “toelessness” in Irish place names that include the word “toe.”\u00a0\u00a0Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra 1: T\u00e1 s\u00e9 splanctha ina diaidh, <\/span><\/strong>he is head over heels in love with her..\u00a0 What we didn\u2019t have before, for reasons of space, was a woman being head of heels in love with a man. That would be: T\u00e1 s\u00ed splanctha ina dhiaidh<\/strong>.\u00a0 What\u2019s the diff?\u00a0 One pronoun (s\u00ed <\/strong>vs. s\u00e9<\/strong>) and one added s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong> (which involves adding the letter \u201ch,\u201d “dhiaidh<\/strong>” vs. “diaidh<\/strong>“).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Fuaimni\u00fa<\/span><\/strong>: for both s\u00e1il<\/strong> and baithis<\/strong>, I\u2019ve used the tilde to indicate that the word is not quite two syllables, but sort of like two syllables run into each other.\u00a0 For s\u00e1il<\/strong>, that comes as close as this transcription system can get to the sound of the \u201cslender l\u201d in Irish, that is, the \u201cl\u201d next to the letters \u201ce\u201d or \u201ci.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not as distinct a break as, for example, in the English word \u201csoil\u201d [soy-il].\u00a0 For \u201cbaithis<\/strong>,\u201d there\u2019s a bit of breath in the middle of the word, but the \u201ct\u201d is totally silent, making the two syllables of this word practically meld.\u00a0 For comhth\u00e9acs<\/strong>, remember the \u201cm\u201d and the \u201ct\u201d are silent: KOH-hayks<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) It\u2019s interesting how languages can have similar idioms but with slightly different vocabulary.\u00a0 In Irish there are two ways to express the idea of \u201cfrom head to toe,\u201d but neither of them uses the word \u201chead\u201d or the word \u201ctoe.\u201d\u00a0 Both offer some useful vocabulary, although admittedly, none of these keywords has quite…<\/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":[4262,4278,376853,229648,4376,4420,4598,315827,4763,4772,376849,376854,4835,376857,5501,316195,376858,376855,5982,6051,376850,6171,6362,6659,376852,376859,6916,274028,7142,7143,7144,376856,307002],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-baithis","tag-barr-an-chnoic-oighir","tag-bharraicini","tag-bhonn","tag-bior","tag-bonn","tag-ceann","tag-comhtheacs","tag-context","tag-cork","tag-cows-come-home","tag-crown-of-hat","tag-crown-of-the-head","tag-head-over-heels","tag-head-to-toe","tag-heel","tag-ina-diaidh","tag-jack-and-jill","tag-malairt-saoil","tag-mear-coise","tag-mhullach","tag-mullach","tag-on-your-toes","tag-sail","tag-sala","tag-soil","tag-splanctha","tag-summit","tag-toe","tag-toe-head","tag-toes","tag-toin-briste","tag-toin-hata"],"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