{"id":824,"date":"2011-04-29T21:43:54","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T21:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=824"},"modified":"2011-05-07T21:50:57","modified_gmt":"2011-05-07T21:50:57","slug":"common-commoner-er-est-alty-ality-wealth-coitianta-srl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/common-commoner-er-est-alty-ality-wealth-coitianta-srl\/","title":{"rendered":"Common, Commoner, -er\/-est, -alty, -ality, -wealth (Coitianta, srl.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Sos eile \u00f3 na d\u00edochlaonta\u00ed!<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots of terminology connected to weddings, \u201cr\u00edoga<\/strong>\u201d or not, and maybe we\u2019ll do some of that in June, the traditional wedding month.\u00a0 But, while nodding to \u201cbainis r\u00edoga William agus Kate<\/strong>,\u201d I\u2019ll just take a more pragmatic look at it, and focus on the word \u201ccommoner,\u201d which, of course, describes Kate\u2019s background.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not too surprisingly, it\u2019s not used much in American English, except when discussing Britain.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to note that of all the possible Irish terms related to \u201ccommon,\u201d it\u2019s hard to find one with the exact connotation of \u201ca commoner.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s not really surprising, given the history, but it does bring up some interesting linguistic issues concerning any given language\u2019s core vocabulary and the prefixes and suffixes used to extend that core vocabulary.\u00a0 Specifically, in this case, we\u2019ll be looking at the \u2013er ending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s start with the basic adjective itself, \u201ccoitianta<\/strong>\u201d ([KUTCH-ee-yun-tuh], common).\u00a0 Here are some of its forms:<\/p>\n

\u201cCoitianta<\/strong>\u201d doesn\u2019t have a plural ending since it already ends in a vowel, making it an\u00a0 \u201ca3\u201d adjective.\u00a0 Yes, adjectives are sorted into categories also, three plus irregulars.\u00a0 More on that s\u00edos an b\u00f3thar<\/strong>!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

sloinne coitianta<\/strong>, a common surname (in the sense of \u201cwidely-used\u201d)<\/p>\n

ceist choitianta<\/strong>, a common question (lenited because \u201cceist<\/strong>\u201d is feminine and singular)<\/p>\n

an Chornais Choitianta<\/strong>, Common Cornish aka Kernewek Kemmyn<\/em>, one of the varieties of Modern Cornish.\u00a0 Lenited because \u201cCornais<\/strong>,\u201d like most language names in Irish, is feminine.\u00a0 Nothing like using a Celtic linguistic designation to illustrate a Celtic linguistic phenomenon!<\/p>\n

crainn choitianta<\/strong>, common trees (lenited because of the slender ending of \u201ccrainn<\/strong>\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u00a0bot\u00fain choitianta<\/strong>, common mistakes (lenited because of the slender ending of \u201cbot\u00fain<\/strong>,\u201d as with \u201ccrainn<\/strong>\u201d)<\/p>\n

n\u00edos coitianta,<\/strong> commoner, more common (adjective form only, not the noun; sometimes \u201cis coitianta<\/strong>\u201d can be used for \u201cmore common\/commoner,\u201d depending on word order).\u00a0 Sampla: T\u00e1 \u201cseomra\u00ed coitianta\u201d n\u00edos coitianta i scoileanna sa Bhreatain n\u00e1 i Meirice\u00e1.\u00a0 De ghn\u00e1th tugtar <\/strong>\u201clounge\u201d ar a leith\u00e9id sin de sheomra i Meirice\u00e1, ach amh\u00e1in, b\u2019fh\u00e9idir, i scoileanna pr\u00edobh\u00e1ideacha.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

is coitianta<\/strong>, commonest.\u00a0 Sampla: an sloinne is coitianta i nD\u00fan na nGall.\u00a0 D\u00e1la an sc\u00e9il, c\u00e9 acu sloinne \u00e9, i do bhar\u00fail (\u00d3 Dochartaigh?\u00a0 \u00d3 Gallch\u00f3ir?\u00a0 \u00d3 Domhnaill?\u00a0 \u00d3 N\u00e9ill? ceann eile?)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some other ways to say \u201ccommon\u201d in Irish are:<\/p>\n

coiteann: dair choiteann<\/strong><\/p>\n

leitheadach <\/strong>(i.e. wide-spread): galar leitheadach<\/strong><\/p>\n

gn\u00e1th<\/strong>– (used as a prefix): i ngn\u00e1th\u00fas\u00e1id<\/strong><\/p>\n

m\u00ed<\/strong>– (also a prefix, sometimes making a value judgment): m\u00edbh\u00e9asa<\/strong><\/p>\n

poibl\u00ed<\/strong> (i.e. public): f\u00f3gr\u00f3ir poibl\u00ed<\/strong><\/p>\n

comh<\/strong>– (i.e. mutual): comhfhlaitheas<\/strong> or comhfhlathas<\/strong> (a commonwealth)<\/p>\n

com\u00f3nta<\/strong> (i.e. ordinary, can mean \u201cvulgar,\u201d especially in older texts): cithfholcad\u00e1n com\u00f3nta<\/strong>, or more positively \u201cleas com\u00f3nta<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

A noun based on the same root as \u201ccoitianta<\/strong>\u201d is:<\/p>\n

coitiantacht<\/strong>, commonalty, common people.\u00a0 Hmm, I\u2019m almost positive I\u2019ve never used \u201ccommonalty\u201d in my normal run-of-the-mill non-high-falutin\u2019 discourse.\u00a0 But I\u2019m sure there\u2019s an \u201c\u00e1it<\/strong>\u201d and an \u201cam<\/strong>\u201d for it.\u00a0 In fact, Google indicates that there are about 407,000 searchable references to \u201ccommonalty\u201d on the web so I guess it\u2019s \u201ccoitanta go leor<\/strong>\u201d as an \u201c\u00e1bhar cainte<\/strong>,\u201d or maybe, more like \u201c\u00e1bhar scr\u00edofa<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cCommonality,\u201d with the slight spelling difference, gives us 2,320,000 hits.\u00a0 I suppose it all raises the question, who\u2019s talking about the commonalty, the hoi polloi themselves or the hoity-toity?\u00a0 Frankly, I like the sentiment expressed in the Irish proverb, \u201cN\u00ed huasal n\u00e1 \u00edseal ach thuas seal is th\u00edos seal<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 (Translated below).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

One might think that with all these possibilities, there would be a single-word equivalent to the noun \u201ccommoner,\u201d but there\u2019s nothing I can find.\u00a0 The two main possibilities are:<\/p>\n

duine coitianta<\/strong>, an ordinary person; almost the same as \u201ccommoner,\u201d and considered the equivalent, but I think the British English is more specific.\u00a0 \u201cDuine coitianta<\/strong>\u201d could be used in the sense of getting the ordinary person\u2019s opinion on a topic.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t necessarily emphasize the non-landedness of the \u201ccommoner.\u201d<\/p>\n

gn\u00e1thdhuine<\/strong>, looks like a single word, yes, but it really is a compound idea, with the prefix \u201cgn\u00e1th<\/strong>-,\u201d as exemplified above, attached to \u201cduine<\/strong>\u201d (person).\u00a0<\/p>\n

One might also say \u201cduine den choitiantacht<\/strong>\u201d to really indicate a \u201cperson from the commonalty,\u201d but I can\u2019t say it rings many bells for me.\u00a0 But then, I\u2019m more of a \u201cthuas seal th\u00edos seal<\/strong>\u201d kinda gal, so maybe I just don\u2019t hang out in the right speech events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At any rate, that\u2019s my basic point \u2013 while the concept of being a \u201ccommoner\u201d can be expressed in Irish, it doesn\u2019t seem to be core concept.\u00a0 Curiously, there are a few other words for which I\u2019ve sought one-word equivalents and found no satisfactory equivalents, at least for the 21st<\/sup> century: villager (duine as sr\u00e1idbhaile<\/strong>, seems to work, but again, it\u2019s a phrase; an older dictionary gives me \u201ctuata<\/strong>\u201d and \u201ctuatach<\/strong>\u201d (t\u00fatach) but they have an implication of, errm, churlishness.\u00a0\u00a0 On a completely different tack, (hmm, why the nautical terminology? you\u2019ll see instantly!), \u201cNewfoundlander\u201d pretty much has to be expressed as \u201cduine as Talamh an \u00c9isc<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 No harm in that, of course, but it is a 5-word phrase, and would give someone a run for their money trying to translate texts like \u201cWe\u2019ll rant and we\u2019ll roar like true Newfoundlanders\u201d into Irish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why even look for one-word equivalents, when a 2- or 3-word phrase will do?\u00a0 Very practical, really \u2013 if such a term exists, it\u2019s generally easier to handle when dealing further with an tuiseal ginideach, an tuiseal gairmeach,<\/strong> plurals, and gender agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seanfhocal: N\u00ed huasal n\u00e1 \u00edseal ach thuas seal is th\u00edos seal.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of being noble or low, but higher-up sometimes and lower-down other times.\u00a0 Wonderful imeartas focal<\/strong>, there \u2013 almost like the language was made to express the sentiment.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for now.\u00a0 Next up \u2013 back to declensions!\u00a0 SGF, \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/p>\n

Gluais: cithfholcad\u00e1n<\/strong>, shower (n); dair choiteann<\/strong>, literally means \u201ccommon oak\u201d but is translated as \u201cpedunculate oak\u201d (in contrast to the \u201cdair neamhghas\u00e1nach\u201d or \u201csessile oak,\u201d in case you\u2019re wondering), f\u00f3gr\u00f3ir poibl\u00ed<\/strong>, common crier; galar<\/strong>, disease; leas, benefit, good; m\u00edbh\u00e9asa<\/strong>, \u201ccommon\u201d manners; seal <\/strong>[shal, pretty much like English <\/strong>\u201cshall\u201d], <\/strong>period of time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Sos eile \u00f3 na d\u00edochlaonta\u00ed! There\u2019s lots of terminology connected to weddings, \u201cr\u00edoga\u201d or not, and maybe we\u2019ll do some of that in June, the traditional wedding month.\u00a0 But, while nodding to \u201cbainis r\u00edoga William agus Kate,\u201d I\u2019ll just take a more pragmatic look at it, and focus on the word \u201ccommoner,\u201d which…<\/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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","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=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions\/825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}