{"id":754,"date":"2011-04-05T14:37:14","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T14:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=754"},"modified":"2019-06-12T14:44:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T14:44:39","slug":"what%e2%80%99s-the-%e2%80%9ctuiseal%e2%80%9d-of-%e2%80%9can-tuiseal-ginideach%e2%80%9d-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/what%e2%80%99s-the-%e2%80%9ctuiseal%e2%80%9d-of-%e2%80%9can-tuiseal-ginideach%e2%80%9d-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the \u201cTuiseal\u201d of \u201can Tuiseal Ginideach\u201d Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

By now, you\u2019ve probably heard the term \u201ctuiseal\u201d <\/strong>quite a bit in discussing Irish nouns.\u00a0 It\u2019s generally translated as \u201ccase\u201d as in \u201can tuiseal gairmeach\u201d <\/strong>(\u201ca Shin\u00e9ad\u201d<\/strong> for \u201cSin\u00e9ad\u201d <\/strong>in the \u201cvocative\u201d case) or as in \u201can tuiseal ginideach\u201d <\/strong>(\u201cc\u00f3ta She\u00e1in\u201d <\/strong>for \u201cJohn\u2019s coat\u201d in the \u201cgenitive\u201d case), etc.<\/p>\n

Of course, this isn\u2019t \u201ccase\u201d in the more basic or physical sense of the word.\u00a0 For that, we\u2019d most likely use \u201cc\u00e1s\u201d <\/strong>(as in c\u00e1s veidhl\u00edn, <\/strong>a fiddle case, or c\u00e1s m\u00f3r \/ beag, <\/strong>upper\/lower case).\u00a0 For a more abstract notion of \u201ccase,\u201d as in \u201csituation,\u201d or in the political or legal sense, we\u2019d use either \u201cc\u00e1s\u201d <\/strong>or \u201cc\u00fais.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

So what is the basic meaning of \u201ctuiseal<\/strong>\u201d if it\u2019s not the basic word for \u201ca case\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s related to the verb \u201ctuisligh\u201d <\/strong>(fall, falter, stagger, stumble, trip).\u00a0 The core concept here seems to be that as you decline a noun (list its various forms in sequence), you\u2019re sort of \u201cfalling\u201d through a pattern, going from top to bottom.\u00a0 It might help here to compare how you\u2019d decline the word \u201cfear<\/strong>\u201d (man) in Irish with how you\u2019d decline \u201cvir<\/em>\u201d (man) in Latin.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve studied Latin previously, the whole idea of dividing nouns into categories called \u201cdeclensions\u201d should be \u201cmar a bheadh s\u00e9 as broinn leat<\/strong>\u201d (translation below).\u00a0 The declension system also pertains to other languages, ranging from Laitvis<\/strong> to Sean-Ghearm\u00e1inis Uachtarach<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t encountered this previously, then welcome to d\u00edchlaonta\u00ed <\/strong>(declensions)!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the full set of forms for \u201cfear<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Please remember that the \u201c-ea-\u201d vowel of \u201cfear<\/strong>\u201d is pronounced as in \u201cmat\u201d or \u201ccat,\u201d not like English \u201cfear\u201d as in \u201cbeing fearful\u201d<\/p>\n

SINGULAR <\/strong><\/p>\n

a. subject form (a man): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fear<\/strong><\/p>\n

b. possessive form (of a man, a man\u2019s): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fir<\/strong> (as in hata fir<\/strong>, a man\u2019s hat)<\/p>\n

c. vocative form (O man!): \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a fhir<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

(used if talking directly to a man, presumably one whose name you don\u2019t know or don\u2019t choose to use)<\/p>\n

PLURAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. subject form (men)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fir<\/strong><\/p>\n

b. possessive form (of men, men\u2019s) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fear<\/strong> (as in hata\u00ed fear<\/strong>, men\u2019s hats)<\/p>\n

See how the forms start to overlap in spelling?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re interchangeable!<\/p>\n

c. vocative form (O men!) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a fheara<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve heard \u201ca fheara<\/strong>\u201d used much in natural conversation.\u00a0 I mostly associate it with Fionn Mac Cumhail addressing his Fianna, in folktale of course.\u00a0 Maybe the rest of us just say things like \u201cBhuel, leaids<\/strong> \u2026\u201d or \u201cAnois, a chairde<\/strong> \u2026\u201d.\u00a0 Or we use an option that English doesn\u2019t afford us, the plural ending for command forms, as in \u201cGoitig\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (come here) \u201cAmachaig\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (go out), \u201cCodla\u00edg\u00ed<\/strong>\u201d (sleep), etc.\u00a0 This enables us to address a group, without specifically using the vocative plural of a noun, suggesting that \u201ca fheara<\/strong>\u201d might more likely be used for commentary than commands.\u00a0 An example with commentary would be Fionn saying, \u201cBhuel, a fheara, <\/strong>mura nglanfaidh an ceo seo go luath, beidh muid caillte sa tsliabh<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve just been through one Irish noun, \u201cfear<\/strong>,\u201d and of course there are thousands more waiting in the wings.\u00a0 Eventually we\u2019ll work our way through other declensions. \u00a0Depending on how you count them, Irish has four or five declensions (or categories) of nouns, plus some very irregular nouns that don’t fit in\u00a0any declension.\u00a0 \u201cFear<\/strong>\u201d (man) is a \u201cfirst declension\u201d noun.\u00a0 Knowing that it\u2019s first declension tells us its gender is masculine (in this case following biology as well, but that can\u2019t always be assumed, if we consider examples like \u201ccail\u00edn\u201d<\/strong> and \u201cstail\u201d<\/strong>).\u00a0 Knowing it’s first declension also tells us\u00a0the endings\u00a0the word “fear<\/strong>”\u00a0is likely to have for possessive and plural forms. \u00a0How do you know it\u2019s first declension?\u00a0 Bit of a chicken-and-egg question, nach ea<\/strong>?\u00a0 Some first-declension masculine nouns can be identified by the \u201c-\u00e1n\u201d ending (ar\u00e1n, buach\u00e1l\u00e1n bu\u00ed, leabhrag\u00e1n<\/strong>) but in many cases you need to rely on dictionaries that list declensions (\u201cm1\u201d for first-declension masculine, etc.), grammar-oriented textbooks like N\u00ed Ghr\u00e1da\u2019s Progress in Irish<\/em> or Stenson\u2019s Basic Irish<\/em>, or as a last resort, the cos\u00e1n corrach<\/strong> of \u201cgut instinct\u201d or \u201cby analogy.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what about that Latin promised earlier?\u00a0 Vir, vir\u012b<\/a><\/em>, vir\u014drum<\/em>, and all that?\u00a0 I\u2019ll just list the subject (nominative), possessive (genitive), and direct address (vocative) forms, since those are the only categories that remain in Standard Modern Irish.\u00a0 Anyone who really wants to know the accusative, ablative and dative forms will probably find them in any basic Latin textbook:<\/p>\n

SINGULAR of Latin \u201cvir<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. nominative (a man): \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 vir<\/em><\/p>\n

b. genitive form (of a man, a man\u2019s):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vir\u012b<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

c. vocative form (O man!):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vir<\/em> (no change here, but other words do change, like \u201cBrutus<\/em>\u201d which changes, infamously, to \u201cBrute<\/em>\u201d [say: BROO-tay], as Shakespeare reminds us)<\/p>\n

PLURAL of Latin \u201cvir\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. nominative form (men)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vir\u012b<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

b. genitive (of men, men\u2019s)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vir\u014drum<\/em><\/p>\n

(You might recognize the word \u201cvir\u014drum<\/em>\u201d from works like the early 16th<\/sup>-century Epist\u014flae obscur\u014drum vir\u014drum<\/em>, Letters of Obscure Men, itself perhaps a bit obscurus<\/em> these days, but not really, since it\u2019s a key text for German Humanism and for the study of satire. Or, if that\u2019s too recent for you, Historia Eccl\u0113siastica Gentis Angl\u014drum<\/em><\/em><\/em>, Bede\u2019s 8th<\/sup>-century Ecclesiastical History of the Race of Angles<\/em>, i.e. of the English People.<\/p>\n

c. vocative form (O men!)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vir\u012b<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Why bother with Latin?\u00a0 Well, it shows that Irish isn\u2019t alone in having a declension system.\u00a0 Old English had declensions, but\u00a0they pretty much disappeared with the end of the Middle English period, with a few holdovers, like the \u201c-\u2018s\u201d ending for possessive, and some \u201cnon-s\u201d plurals like \u201cchildren\u201d and \u201coxen.\u201d\u00a0 So, learning a language with a declension system presents a significant challenge to English speakers.\u00a0 Some people prefer to learn and to teach every noun on a case by case basis (use \u201c-\u00e1in\u201d here and \u201c-\u00e1n\u201d there and \u201c-ir\u201d here and \u201c-ear\u201d there, \u201c-\u00f3g\u201d here, \u201c-\u00f3ige\u201d there, and \u201c-\u00f3ga\u201d yonder, etc.).\u00a0 But I prefer to approach the system as a system, as much as we can, and save the piecemeal approach for when we\u2019re truly dealing with irregular nouns like \u201cwoman\u201d (bean, mn\u00e1, mn\u00e1, ban<\/strong>, and formerly, mnaoi<\/strong>) or \u201cdescendent\u201d (\u00f3 <\/strong>or ua, u\u00ed, u\u00ed, \u00f3 <\/strong>or ua<\/strong>). And yes, that latter one is no doubt part of the sloinne<\/strong> of many of the readers of this list.<\/p>\n

So, \u201cIs maith an aire an fh\u00f3gairt<\/strong>\u201d (forewarned is forearmed).\u00a0 You might even want to resort to good old 3 x 5 cards, or the digital equivalent, on which you can gradually write all the forms of a noun as you learn them.\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, your gut actually will become wise in the way of words and your gut instinct will enable you to decline nouns, to a large extent, by analogy.\u00a0 Ach glacann s\u00e9 am.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming down the home stretch for this blag,\u00a0<\/strong> I realize I\u2019ll have to think of how to divide up Easter terminology by declension as An Ch\u00e1isc<\/strong> approaches.\u00a0 OK, to whet your appetite, cise\u00e1n<\/strong> (m1), ubh<\/strong> (f2), im<\/strong> (m2, a rarity in the 2nd<\/sup> declension, and what does \u201cbutter\u201d have to do with Easter anyway?\u00a0 Ah, think \u201cBaranek Wielkanocny<\/em>\u201d if you will, and wait another blag n\u00f3 dh\u00f3<\/strong> for the answer), dath<\/strong> (m3), coin\u00edn<\/strong> (m4), etc.\u00a0 On that anticipatory note, sgf \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: broinn<\/strong>, womb (mar a bheadh s\u00e9 as broinn leat<\/strong>, lit. \u201cas if it would be from the womb with\/to you,\u201d i.e. \u201cas if it were second nature to you\u201d); ceo<\/strong>, mist, fog; leaid<\/strong>, lad (plural: leaideanna<\/strong> or leaids)<\/strong>; mura<\/strong>, if \u2026 not; sa tsliabh<\/strong>, in\/on the mountain (Donegal dialect) \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) By now, you\u2019ve probably heard the term \u201ctuiseal\u201d quite a bit in discussing Irish nouns.\u00a0 It\u2019s generally translated as \u201ccase\u201d as in \u201can tuiseal gairmeach\u201d (\u201ca Shin\u00e9ad\u201d for \u201cSin\u00e9ad\u201d in the \u201cvocative\u201d case) or as in \u201can tuiseal ginideach\u201d (\u201cc\u00f3ta She\u00e1in\u201d for \u201cJohn\u2019s coat\u201d in the \u201cgenitive\u201d case), etc. Of course, this isn\u2019t…<\/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":[513851,4206,513869,4268,4301,513855,513856,4490,460961,11599,411128,95147,513859,513862,11201,513864,32970,32973,513852,332133,111204,513854,513853,289996,1083,315838,513870,5373,513860,5828,99,513857,513858,331899,3294,306907,6128,513850,3349,2503,6741,447763,3404,332162,513865,229735,513866,333573,513861,7206,315834,513863,513868,3895],"class_list":["post-754","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-aire","tag-aran","tag-as-broinn","tag-ban","tag-bean","tag-bede","tag-buachalan","tag-bui","tag-cailin","tag-caillte","tag-cas","tag-case","tag-chairde","tag-cuis","tag-fall","tag-falter","tag-fear","tag-fheara","tag-fhogairt","tag-fianna","tag-fionn","tag-forearmed","tag-forewarned","tag-gairmeach","tag-genitive","tag-ghairmigh","tag-ghinidigh","tag-ginideach","tag-goitigi","tag-laidin","tag-latin","tag-leabhragan-m1","tag-leaids","tag-maith","tag-man","tag-mban","tag-mna","tag-mnaoi","tag-plural","tag-sean","tag-seanfhocal","tag-sheain","tag-singular","tag-sloinne","tag-stagger","tag-stail","tag-stumble","tag-trip","tag-tsliabh","tag-tuiseal","tag-tuisil","tag-tuisligh","tag-vir","tag-vocative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754","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=754"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11072,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754\/revisions\/11072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}