{"id":8463,"date":"2016-09-27T11:11:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T11:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=8463"},"modified":"2016-10-07T16:26:37","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T16:26:37","slug":"druchta-druchtain-agus-druchtini-a-thiarcais-dewdrops-little-dewdrops-and-slugs-definitely-an-oh-my-ainmneacha-plandai-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/druchta-druchtain-agus-druchtini-a-thiarcais-dewdrops-little-dewdrops-and-slugs-definitely-an-oh-my-ainmneacha-plandai-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr\u00fachta, Dr\u00facht\u00e1in agus Dr\u00facht\u00edn\u00ed — A Thiarcais! (Dewdrops, Little Dewdrops and Slugs — Definitely an ‘Oh-My’) [Ainmneacha Planda\u00ed 4]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr\u00facht\u00edn<\/a>

Dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na (round-leaved or common sundew), an ceann seo in Ohio. Ach n\u00ed dr\u00facht\u00edn\u00ed na ‘dr\u00facht\u00edn\u00ed’ sin ach braoin\u00edn\u00ed gumalachta! (photo, public domain: By Wilson44691 (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/p><\/div>Another occasion for a three-part lions-tigers-and- bears-ish meme.\u00a0\u00a0 In this blogpost, we’ll look at the following words: dr\u00facht, dr\u00facht\u00e1n, dr\u00facht\u00edn<\/strong>, and m\u00f3in<\/strong> (and its genitive case, m\u00f3na)<\/strong> and the plant, dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First let’s do “dew”<\/p>\n

dr\u00facht<\/strong>, usually meaning dew or a drop of a liquid (although the latter general usage is more typically “braon<\/strong>” or “deoir<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

dr\u00facht\u00e1n<\/strong>, a slightly diminutive form of “dr\u00facht<\/strong>,” meaning” a tiny drop”<\/p>\n

dr\u00facht\u00edn<\/strong>, a light dew, and also, as we recently saw in one of the dandelion blogs, a slug (the mollusk type, not the metal disk, which is a “sluga<\/strong>“).\u00a0 Here we’ve added the usual diminutive ending (“-\u00edn”) that we see in many Irish words, like teach\u00edn, tig\u00edn, S\u00e9amais\u00edn, st\u00f3ir\u00edn (angl. storeen), and aint\u00edn.<\/p>\n

And what do any of those have to do with luibhainmneacha?\u00a0 The answer lies in “dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Which is … well, just read on!\u00a0 We’ll break this term apart into its components and then compare it to the English name for this plant.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. a) dr\u00facht\u00edn<\/strong>, a slug, also sundew (the plant, Genus: Drosera<\/em>). What do these have in common, that they should both be named after “dr\u00facht<\/strong>” (dew)? Well, it may be hard to say how any such terminology started, but slugs can also be called “seilid\u00ed dr\u00fachta<\/strong>” (lit. “snails of dew, or dew-snails”). I’m not aware of slugs being maidini\u00fail<\/strong> (matutinal), but there must be some association with the morning-dew.\u00a0 Or else maybe Ireland has so much misty moisty weather that time of day doesn’t matter, at least not to the slug.\u00a0 Or maybe there isn’t really any explanation — just traidisi\u00fan<\/strong>!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As for the sundew plants, apparently the “dew” reference is based on the glistening drops of gumalacht<\/strong> (mucilage) that this planda feoiliteach<\/strong>\u00a0features on its tentacles to attract its prey, feithid\u00ed<\/strong> (insects).<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. b) m\u00f3in<\/strong> (peat, turf; m\u00f3na<\/strong>, of peat, of turf). There are many types of sundew plants and apparently they grow practically all around the world, except, it seems, in extremely dry or extremely cold conditions. Three types are found in Europe, intermedia<\/em> (aka “spoonleaf sundew”, D. anglica<\/em> (aka English or great sundew), and the one we’re concerned with here, D. rotundifolia<\/em> (aka common sundew or round-leaved sundew, from Latin “rotund<\/em>-” + “-folia<\/em>“).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      In Irish, however, the term for this plant isn’t called “round-leaved” as such.\u00a0 Instead, it’s described as “dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na<\/strong>,” lit. sundew of the peat(-bog).\u00a0 Most plants that grow in the bog, though, seem to be labeled “bog-something” in English, not “peat-something,” so I’d actually advocate “bog sundew” as a fairly literal translation.\u00a0 Not that the plant is actually called “bog sundew,” afaik, that’s just a translation and so far I’ve found no online references to a “bog sundew” as an actual name.\u00a0 \u00a0The English name is “common sundew or “round-leaved sundew.”<\/p>\n

      “M\u00f3in<\/strong>” is an extremely important word to know in Irish, given its former role in providing heat (as peat) and at one time, electricity.\u00a0 Also the bogs in which it is found\u00a0 (na portaigh<\/strong>), have sheltered many archaeological artifacts, safe from marauders’ hands, until excavated by archaeologists or, in some cases, discovered by chance by people digging in the bogs.\u00a0 Such finds include tubs of ancient “bog butter,” bog oak, weapons, at least one religious manuscript (vellum survives where paper, I’m guessing , would not) and even bodies, sometimes so well preserved they are sometimes initially thought to be relatively recent murder victims. \u00a0Even if most Irish houses now have central heating, the peat fire still conjures up the image of o\u00edcheanta cois tine<\/strong> (not that “coise tinne<\/strong>” we talked about last time!), with ceol agus sc\u00e9ala\u00edocht agus seanchas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Irish does, of course, have a way to express the idea of being “round-leaved.”\u00a0 In most plant names, it’s “cruinn<\/strong>,” meaning “round” in general, although it can sometimes mean “exact,” which has always seemed to me like a bit of a non-sequitur in the continuum of extended definitions .<\/p>\n

      So that’s your dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not a bog slug but a bog plant, and that’s one more luibhainm<\/strong> down.\u00a0 How many more hundreds to go?\u00a0 And that might be just for plants that grow in Ireland.\u00a0 Globally, it’s a mindbog<\/em>gling project.\u00a0 Of course, most of the Irish names on their own are available through online searching.\u00a0 What I think is especially useful is understanding why a certain plant has a certain name, at least as best we can, since some are definitely mysterious and hard to translate literally.<\/p>\n

      On that note, I believe the braoin\u00edn\u00ed dr\u00fachta<\/strong> outside my house are “ag tos\u00fa ag gal\u00fa<\/strong>,” and the morning is flying by, so I’d better wrap up this blogpost.\u00a0 More eventually on m\u00f3in, bog bodies, bog butter (there was a recent recreation and tasting, as I recall), and, hey, why not, more on planda\u00ed feoiliteacha<\/strong>, perhaps a little convo with Audrey Sh\u00f3isearach (Audrey a D\u00f3) \u00f3n scann\u00e1n “Siopa Beag na nUaf\u00e1s.”\u00a0 An bhfuil ocras ort, a Audrey?”\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

      BTW, for any eagle-eyed grammar hounds, in the modern interpretation, the word “dr\u00facht<\/strong>” isn’t typically considered to have a plural, but a plural used to be indicated, so I’ve gone with that, at least ar son na m\u00e9ime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

      \u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Another occasion for a three-part lions-tigers-and- bears-ish meme.\u00a0\u00a0 In this blogpost, we’ll look at the following words: dr\u00facht, dr\u00facht\u00e1n, dr\u00facht\u00edn, and m\u00f3in (and its genitive case, m\u00f3na) and the plant, dr\u00facht\u00edn m\u00f3na. First let’s do “dew” dr\u00facht, usually meaning dew or a drop of a liquid (although the latter general usage is more…<\/p>\n

      Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":8466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[460915,4415,275383,460922,460924,470075,315880,460910,460923,460925,460919,6476,460918,460916,460917,460920],"class_list":["post-8463","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-audrey","tag-bog","tag-common","tag-drucht","tag-druchtin","tag-druchtin-mona","tag-little-shop-of-horrors","tag-luibhainm","tag-mhoin","tag-moin","tag-peat","tag-plant","tag-round-leaved","tag-slug","tag-sundew","tag-turf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8463","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=8463"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8476,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8463\/revisions\/8476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}