{"id":8206,"date":"2016-07-25T10:16:22","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T10:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=8206"},"modified":"2016-08-09T09:08:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T09:08:22","slug":"deich-bhfrasa-shuimiula-as-alt-ui-mhuirthile-saoiri-samhraidh-san-irish-times-cuid-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/deich-bhfrasa-shuimiula-as-alt-ui-mhuirthile-saoiri-samhraidh-san-irish-times-cuid-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Deich bhFr\u00e1sa Shuimi\u00fala as Alt U\u00ed Mhuirthile (‘Saoir\u00ed Samhraidh’ san Irish Times), Cuid 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In the most recent blogpost, we looked at how the word ‘samhradh<\/strong>‘ appeared in four different ways in an “An Peann Coitianta” column from the Irish Times (naisc th\u00edos<\/strong>).\u00a0 Even as I was focusing on those four forms (samhradh, samhraidh, an tsamhraidh, samhra\u00ed<\/strong>), I kept thinking, “This article is full of great phrases and vocabulary.”\u00a0 Not super-difficult or anything, but just a little beyond what learners might often find in textbooks, even the conversational ones.\u00a0 So I’ve picked ten phrases to look at a little more closely and hope you’ll find them as enriching, vocabulary-wise, as I do.\u00a0 Whether it takes one blogpost or two to cover the \u00a010 phrases remains to be seen.\u00a0 I’ll know by “deireadh bhlag an lae inniu<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

\"N\u00ed<\/a>

N\u00ed both ach cathaoir ard at\u00e1 ag an ngarda tarrth\u00e1la (ag an sn\u00e1mha\u00ed tarrth\u00e1la) seo. Ce acu a \u00fas\u00e1ideann na garda\u00ed tarrth\u00e1la i do cheantarsa — cathaoir ard n\u00f3 both (both\u00e1n). Agus an mb\u00edonn siad ag feara\u00edocht mar a dh\u00e9anann siad i mblag an lae inniu? Iad at\u00e1 ina bhfir, ar nd\u00f3igh. (grafaic: By Maria Moreno from Figueres, Girona (Barcelona’s bodyguard) [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/p><\/div>Before we start, I’d first like to look at today’s blog title in a little more depth and also just set the scene for the time period “An Peann Coitianta” is covering here.\u00a0 Of course, I hope you’ll open up the link for the article, so you can see these phrases in their fuller context.\u00a0 \u00a0And even glancing through it, with phrases like “na Stones<\/strong>” and “na Beatles<\/strong>,” it pretty much sets the stage, with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” as one of the hit songs of the day.\u00a0 “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” came out in May of 1968, so we’re probably talking about the summer of that year.<\/p>\n

So for today’s title, there are two points of, yes, grammatical interest.\u00a0 The first one I’ve always found to be unusual compared to singular\/plural rules in any other language I’ve studied.\u00a0 Spotted it?<\/p>\n

deich bhfr\u00e1sa shuimi\u00fala<\/strong> [djeh VRAW-suh HIM-yool-uh], ten interesting phrases.\u00a0 As you might have noticed, “fr\u00e1sa<\/strong>” (by itself a nice easy adaptation of “phrase”), is …<\/p>\n

a)) eclipsed, meaning it has picked up the initial “bh,” changing the pronunciation from an “f” to a “v” sound. Why eclipsed (or as one would say in Irish, “C\u00e9n f\u00e1th a bhfuil ur\u00fa air?<\/strong>“). Because it comes after the number 10, which triggers eclipsis, one of the two types of “initial consonant mutations” in Irish.\u00a0 You’ve probably seen it in “deich mbliana<\/strong>” (the “b” of “bliain<\/strong>” becoming “mb,” never mind about the ending for now) or “deich gcat<\/strong>,” or to keep with the eclipsis of “f” as the initial letter, “deich bhfata<\/strong>” (10 potatoes), unless you’re outside of \u00a0Conamara, in which case you’d probably have “deich bpr\u00e1ta<\/strong>” (most typical) or possibly “deich bpr\u00e9ata<\/strong>” or “deich bpre\u00e1ta<\/strong>,” but that should probably be \u00e1bhar blagmh\u00edr eile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

b)) followed by a plural adjective even though “bhfr\u00e1sa<\/strong>” is still technically singular. Furthermore, the adjective is lenited (s changing to sh), even though none of the typical triggers of lenition are there. But it doesn’t really matter what’s typical.\u00a0 The adjective is lenited because most adjectives following nouns that come after numbers are lenited.\u00a0 I know the reasoning is a bit circular, but often I think it’s more expedient simply to learn what the rule is and how to apply it rather than wondering why a particular structure is the way it is, in any language.\u00a0 In English, for example, how can we “make do” and “come for to go,” to name just two interesting expressions, and how can “cleave” mean both “to separate from” and “to stick to”?\u00a0 Pretty complicated to explain to an ESL learner.<\/p>\n

I suppose this structure begs the question (“begs” a question, that’s odd, too), is “fr\u00e1sa<\/strong>” really still singular here?\u00a0 The word ending is singular.\u00a0 If it were plural in the normal sense, it would be “fr\u00e1sa\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0But maybe it’s theoretically plural while looking singular, sort of the opposite of “feelin’ single, seein’ double,” to apply Emmy Lou Harris lyrics (!) to explain grammar.\u00a0 This one’s “lookin’ single(ular)” while “acting double,” well actually, ten-fold, since we have deich bhfr\u00e1sa<\/strong> to look at.\u00a0 That is if we get beyond the blog title today.<\/p>\n

The second major point from the title of today’s blog is the “U\u00ed<\/strong>” of “alt U\u00ed Mhuirthile<\/strong>” [alt ee WIRzh<\/sup>-hil-yeh].\u00a0 All of us have, no doubt, seen umpteen examples of the “\u00d3<\/strong>” form of many Irish surnames (sloinnte), like “\u00d3 Murch\u00fa<\/strong>” and “\u00d3 Domhnaill<\/strong>.”\u00a0 But the possessive forms of those surnames might not be so obvious.\u00a0 In my experience with textbooks, the “U\u00ed<\/strong>” form isn’t always introduced very early.\u00a0 \u00d3 Siadhail’s _Learning Irish_ (for which I have enormous respect, having taught from it for years), discusses the “U\u00ed<\/strong>” form in “Ceacht 36<\/strong>” of 36.\u00a0 So you wait a long time before you learn to say, “O’Neill’s family” or some such phrase. \u00a0Ar aon chaoi<\/strong>, for anyone for whom this is a new structure, “alt U\u00ed Mhuirthile<\/strong>” means “\u00d3 Muirthile’s article,” i.e. “the article of [Liam] \u00d3 Muirthile.”<\/p>\n

A thiarcais<\/strong>!\u00a0 All of that merely by way of introduction.\u00a0 This is definitely going to be at least a two-parter, maybe three.\u00a0 Well, the words are worth it.\u00a0 So let’s turn now to the first two entries on my list, and save the rest for “n\u00edos moille<\/strong>.”\u00a0 I hope you have the article open, because the phrases will be in their full context that way.<\/p>\n

Dh\u00e1 fhr\u00e1sa shuimi\u00fala in alt a haon<\/strong> (oh, right, by the way, “alt<\/strong>” not only means “article,” but also “paragraph.”\u00a0 Also, “knuckle,” but that’s definitely getting away from our main agenda here). \u00a0So we’ll wrap up today’s blogpost with two interesting phrases in paragraph one of \u00d3 Muirthile’s article.<\/p>\n

1) na glamanna ag na fir \u00f3ga ag r\u00e1s: <\/strong>I’ve mostly heard the word “glam<\/strong>” in reference to dogs, not people, so it was interesting to see it here applying to “fir \u00f3ga<\/strong>” (young men).\u00a0 And the “-anna” ending is the plural.\u00a0 And, after all, since \u00d3 Muirthile’s setting seems to be the late sixties, I can imagine lots of howling going on.\u00a0 Or barking, baying, shouting, roaring, or bellowing, or however you care to translate it.<\/p>\n

2) ag\u00a0 guaille\u00e1il: <\/strong>since it’s two words, I’ll call it a “phrase” here, but really the translation boils down to one word.\u00a0 I’ll opt for “swaggering” as in “swaggering about” or “sauntering about.”\u00a0 The word is based on “gualainn<\/strong>” (shoulder), which may not look all that similar till we get to its plural, “guaill\u00ed.<\/strong>”\u00a0 So “guaille\u00e1il<\/strong>” sort of means moving emphasizing the shoulders, or, I assume, sort of thrusting the shoulders forward.\u00a0 It can also be used for “shouldering one’s way” (through a crowd, mar shampla<\/strong>), although in English I’d probably say “elbowing one’s way through.”\u00a0 Intriguingly, Irish also has an “agent” form of this word, “guaille\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>,” meaning “a shoulderer.”\u00a0 That’s a concept I never really felt a need for in English.\u00a0 But “guaille\u00e1la\u00ed<\/strong>” can also mean ” a swaggerer” or “a saunterer,” which I could easily imagine using.<\/p>\n

And I can easily imagine the “fir \u00f3ga<\/strong>” of \u00d3 Muirthile’s recollection racing about, howling (or shouting), and swaggering around.\u00a0 After all, it was a late sixties summer, and oh yes, he says there were “bu\u00edonta ban<\/strong>” [bands, could I say “bevies,” of women] timpeall ar na bothanna acu<\/strong> [around the booths\/huts at them].\u00a0 Who specifically is “them”?\u00a0 Apparently the “sn\u00e1mhaithe tarrth\u00e1la ag feara\u00edocht<\/strong>.”\u00a0 By which I assume he means “lifeguards macho-ing around,” if “macho” can be a verb in English.\u00a0 I say “assume” because I knew “garda tarrth\u00e1la<\/strong>” as the word for “lifeguard.”\u00a0 But, “sn\u00e1mhaithe tarrth\u00e1la<\/strong>” (lit. swimmers of saving) appears to work as well.<\/p>\n

Well, there’s a few more words beyond even the original ten I’d planned (guaille\u00e1la\u00ed, feara\u00edocht, bu\u00edonta, sn\u00e1mha\u00ed tarrth\u00e1la<\/strong>).\u00a0 Like I’ve said before with vocabulary, “d\u00e1 mh\u00e9ad is ea is fearr \u00e9<\/strong>” (the more the merrier).\u00a0 SGF agus bain sult as an tr\u00e1 m\u00e1 t\u00e1 t\u00fa ann!\u00a0 – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

alt U\u00ed Mhuirthile san Irish Times<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/culture\/2.663\/saoiri-samhraidh-1.1091985 (14 L\u00fanasa 2002)<\/strong><\/p>\n

an blag roimhe seo<\/strong>:\u00a0Sampla\u00ed an fhocail \u2018samhradh\u2019 in alt le Liam \u00d3 Muirthile san Irish Times<\/a>Posted by r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a> on Jul 22, 2016 in Irish Language<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the most recent blogpost, we looked at how the word ‘samhradh‘ appeared in four different ways in an “An Peann Coitianta” column from the Irish Times (naisc th\u00edos).\u00a0 Even as I was focusing on those four forms (samhradh, samhraidh, an tsamhraidh, samhra\u00ed), I kept thinking, “This article is full of great phrases…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":8208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[460586,460571,460584,8667,460583,460455,460581,460582,460579,5463,5878,3349,111046,460574,460576,460578,460577,3404,460585,460573,460575,460580],"class_list":["post-8206","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-after-numbers","tag-an-peann-coitianta","tag-buionta","tag-eclipsis","tag-fearaiocht","tag-glam","tag-glamanna","tag-guaillealai","tag-guailli","tag-gualainn","tag-lenition","tag-plural","tag-samhradh","tag-saunter","tag-saunterer","tag-shoulder","tag-shoulderer","tag-singular","tag-snamhai-tarrthala","tag-swagger","tag-swaggerer","tag-ui-mhuirthile"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206","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=8206"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8242,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions\/8242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}