{"id":848,"date":"2011-05-08T18:42:02","date_gmt":"2011-05-08T18:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=848"},"modified":"2013-05-12T13:22:43","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T13:22:43","slug":"an-mhathair-no-an-la-ce-acu-ata-sona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-mhathair-no-an-la-ce-acu-ata-sona\/","title":{"rendered":"An Mh\u00e1thair n\u00f3 an L\u00e1: C\u00e9 Acu At\u00e1 Sona?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Some of you may have been wondering how to say \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day\u201d in Irish.\u00a0 Previous blogs in the series have talked about the phrase for \u201cMother\u2019s Day\u201d itself (L\u00e1 na M\u00e1ithreacha<\/strong>, lit. day of the mothers).\u00a0 But what happens when you want to say the greeting?<\/p>\n

In Irish, if a greeting is a blessing, we typically use the preposition \u201cort<\/strong>\u201d (or \u201coraibh<\/strong>\u201d for plural).\u00a0 Who remembers how to say the following? Freagra\u00ed th\u00edos<\/strong>-1.<\/p>\n

Beannachta\u00ed na<\/strong> _____________ P\u00e1draig ort!<\/strong>\u00a0 for \u201cHappy St. Patrick\u2019s Day to you!\u201d (for plural use \u201coraibh<\/strong>\u201d instead of \u201cort<\/strong>\u201d).\u00a0 Leid<\/strong>: think \u201cfeast,\u201d not \u201cday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beannachta\u00ed na<\/strong> ___________ ort<\/strong>! (or \u201coraibh<\/strong>)\u00a0 for\u00a0 \u201cHappy Easter to you!\u201d<\/p>\n

If the greeting uses the word \u201csona\u201d for \u201chappy\u201d instead of being basing the phrase on \u201cbeannacht<\/strong>\u201d for \u201cblessing,\u201d we typically use the preposition \u201cduit<\/strong>\u201d (\u201cdaoibh<\/strong>\u201d [deev] for plural).<\/p>\n

So, for \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day to you,\u201d I\u2019d recommend \u201cL\u00e1 na M\u00e1ithreacha Sona duit.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 If you\u2019re addressing a group of mothers, use \u201cdaoibh<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 That, of course wouldn\u2019t be typical for most individuals, but might pertain for an event or in a group setting.<\/p>\n

Tricky thing here, though, is this could also mean \u201cthe day of the happy mothers.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, it\u2019s almost one and the same, moodwise.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a little different grammatically.\u00a0 What with na bl\u00e1thanna<\/strong> and na br\u00f3ins\u00ed<\/strong>, or other Mother\u2019s Day traditions,\u00a0 it\u2019s both a happy day and, hopefully, a day on which mothers are happy.<\/p>\n

The reason we can\u2019t tell if \u201csona<\/strong>\u201d goes with \u201cl\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cm\u00e1ithreacha<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 is that \u201csona<\/strong>\u201d doesn\u2019t have a separate plural ending, like some other adjectives do (maith, maithe; suimi\u00fail, suimi\u00fala, srl.<\/strong>).\u00a0 \u201cSona<\/strong>\u201d can be singular or plural.\u00a0 \u201cL\u00e1 na M\u00e1ithreacha<\/strong>\u201d is a set phrase, so \u201csona<\/strong>\u201d wouldn\u2019t normally come right after the word \u201cl\u00e1<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, even though adjectives usually follow their noun in Irish (\u201cg\u00fana nua<\/strong>\u201d as opposed to English \u201cnew gown\u201d), the adjective can also follow an entire phrase when it describe that entire phrase.<\/p>\n

This is a reminder of how, within reason, we tend to interpret linguistic phenomena the way they\u2019re intended to be interpreted.\u00a0 The simplest solution is \u201csupposed\u201d to be the one that works.\u00a0 In some cases, English will be as ambiguous as our Irish \u201cMother\u2019s Day\u201d phrase but pattern and context usually provide clarification.\u00a0 For example, the phrase \u201cLittle Used Book Store\u201d could mean all of the following:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0a store selling used books that are little (miniature editions, etc., many of which are collectible)<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0a store selling books that are little used (like obscure dictionaries or histories of footnotes and of screwdrivers, both of which happen to be real books I couldn\u2019t resist acquiring)<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0a little store that sells used books, or,<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a book store that\u2019s little used (Say it ain\u2019t so! \u2013 I like to think that all bricks-and-mortar bookstore are well-used since they are among my favorite haunts, but they do seem to be disappearing\u00a0 at an alarming rate)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you can imagine other phrases that have struck you similarly.\u00a0 Theoretically, in English, punctuation is supposed to help, but we seem to be losing our main weapon for this purpose, the hyphen.\u00a0 If you have any doubts on that, just consider which you would rather encounter \u2013 a man eating shark or a man-eating shark.\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, \u2018nuff said maidir le fleisc\u00edn\u00ed, is d\u00f3cha<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to our phrase, Mother\u2019s Day as celebrated in the US (ar an dara Domhnach de mh\u00ed na Bealtaine<\/strong>) isn\u2019t a traditional holiday in Ireland, or for that matter in the UK, where \u201cMothering Sunday\u201d is celebrated, usually in late March.\u00a0 But the observance seems to be spreading, and certainly as more and more Gaeil-Mheirice\u00e1naigh<\/strong> learn a dteanga dh\u00fachais<\/strong>, people seem to want to know how to say \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day\u201d in Irish.<\/p>\n

Just to break the phrase down a little more:<\/p>\n

l\u00e1<\/strong> (day): this will come first in the phrase since Irish word order is usually noun followed by modifiers\/possessors, not modifier\/possessor followed by noun as we usually find in English (Mother\u2019s Day) or, for that matter, in German (Muttertag).<\/p>\n

na<\/strong>: here, \u201cof the.\u201d\u00a0 Remember, Irish doesn\u2019t use the word \u201cof\u201d to express possession, since it\u2019s an \u201cinflected\u201d language, meaning it has actual endings to words to tell us who owns what.\u00a0 Usually!<\/p>\n

m\u00e1ithreacha<\/strong>, plural of \u201cm\u00e1thair<\/strong>\u201d (mother); this form is used both for \u201cmothers\u201d as the subject of the sentence (T\u00e1 na m\u00e1ithreacha ag teacht leis na leana\u00ed<\/strong>) or for saying \u201cof mothers.\u201d\u00a0 Moral of that story: the word \u201cmother\u201d doesn\u2019t fit any of the declensions we\u2019ve discussed so far, and I\u2019ll make its details\u00a0 the subject of a later blog, maybe when we do \u201cL\u00e1 na nAithreacha<\/strong>,\u201d since the word \u201cathair<\/strong>\u201d behaves quite similarly.<\/p>\n

sona<\/strong> (happy): as I said before, somewhat ambiguous here, but tradition nudges us toward the correct interpretation.\u00a0 \u201cSona<\/strong>\u201d can<\/em> undergo one<\/em> change, initial mutation, resulting in phrases like \u201ccearc shona<\/strong>\u201d (a happy hen) or \u201cfir shona<\/strong>\u201d (happy men).\u00a0 But for our purposes, modifying a masculine singular noun (l\u00e1<\/strong>), it stays as \u201csona<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 On that note, and for a little \u201ccloze\u201d practice, who remembers how to say the following in Irish (fill in the blank, freagra\u00ed th\u00edos-2):<\/p>\n

L\u00e1 Breithe ________ duit!<\/strong> (for \u201cHappy Birthday to you!\u201d)<\/p>\n

Nollaig _____ duit!<\/strong> (for \u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d lit. \u201cHappy Christmas,\u201d comparable to the UK English usage).<\/p>\n

On that n\u00f3ta sona, sin \u00e9 don bhlag seo.\u00a0 SGF, \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed (1): Beannachta\u00ed na F\u00e9ile P\u00e1draig ort; Beannachta\u00ed na C\u00e1sca ort.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed (2): L\u00e1 Breithe Sona duit<\/strong> (\u201csona<\/strong>\u201d stays as is because it\u2019s modifying a masculine singular noun, l\u00e1<\/strong>); Nollaig Shona duit<\/strong>! (lenition, with \u201cs\u201d changing to \u201csh,\u201d because \u201csona\u201d modifies a feminine singular noun).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Some of you may have been wondering how to say \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day\u201d in Irish.\u00a0 Previous blogs in the series have talked about the phrase for \u201cMother\u2019s Day\u201d itself (L\u00e1 na M\u00e1ithreacha, lit. day of the mothers).\u00a0 But what happens when you want to say the greeting? In Irish, if a greeting is…<\/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":[111705,5978,6022,6148],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-happy-mothers-day","tag-maithreacha","tag-mathair","tag-mothers-day"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","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=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}