{"id":8551,"date":"2016-10-29T14:25:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-29T14:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=8551"},"modified":"2016-11-29T18:52:15","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T18:52:15","slug":"saying-stepgrandmother-and-stepgrandfather-in-irish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-stepgrandmother-and-stepgrandfather-in-irish\/","title":{"rendered":"Saying “Stepgrandmother” and “Stepgrandfather” in Irish"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"An<\/a>

An m\u00e1thair n\u00f3 seanmh\u00e1thair n\u00f3 leasmh\u00e1thair n\u00f3 leas-seanmh\u00e1thair \u00ed an bhean seo? An athair n\u00f3 seanathair n\u00f3 leasathair n\u00f3 leas-seanathair \u00e9 an fear seo? (Grafaic: Pixabay\/Public Domain and http:\/\/free-illustrations.gatag.net\/2013\/10\/11\/190000.html)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

While we’re working on kinship terms and words for family members (seanathair, seanmh\u00e1thair, srl.<\/strong>), it could be helpful to look at “step-” relationships, especially since they are so prevalent these days.<\/p>\n

The basic scenario is pretty straightforward — we use the prefix “leas-<\/strong>” in front of the noun.\u00a0 It has many other meanings besides “step-,” which we’ll look at soon in another blogpost.\u00a0 You might recognize some already, as in “leasainm<\/strong>” and “leasuachtar\u00e1n<\/strong>” (“Leas-Uachtar\u00e1n,” leis an bhfleisc\u00edn, m\u00e1 bh\u00edonn ceannlitreacha ann<\/strong>).\u00a0 More on \u00fas\u00e1id\u00ed an fhocail “leas-“<\/strong>\u00a0in another blogpost.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with step-parents, and then we’ll look at the somewhat intriguing situation for step-grandparents.\u00a0 \u00a0Eventually we’ll look at stepsiblings, and some\u00a0less commonly used terms.<\/p>\n

For “stepmother,” we add “leas-<\/strong>” to “m\u00e1thair<\/strong>,” giving us “leasmh\u00e1thair<\/strong>.”\u00a0\u00a0 Notice that the “m” of “m\u00e1thair<\/strong>” becomes “mh,” pronounced like a “w” or a “v.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the standard process of “lenition” or “s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>” in Irish; for anyone quite new to Irish, you can find many more references (204, le bheith cruinn, ar an l\u00e1 ar scr\u00edobhadh seo<\/strong>) to it if you use the search box for this blog, and it’s widely discussed in every Irish textbook I’ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

For “stepfather,” we add “leas-<\/strong>” to “athair<\/strong>,” giving us “leasathair<\/strong>. ”\u00a0 There’s no lenition (s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>) here because the root word, “athair<\/strong>,” starts with a vowel and vowels don’t get lenited.<\/p>\n

For stepgrandparents, the situation gets a little more complicated.\u00a0 For starters, let me say that I have virtually never seen or heard the following forms in everyday usage.\u00a0 I’ve found a handful of examples online, but so far, I haven’t found any of these in dictionaries (and I’ve checked back through all the major ones of the last hundred years).<\/p>\n

Remember that there are three main terms\u00a0for grandmother and three main terms\u00a0for grandfather, so we’ll start with those.<\/p>\n

leas-seanmh\u00e1thair<\/strong>:\u00a0 I’ve found a total of two uses of this online.\u00a0\u00a0 Note that the fleisc\u00edn<\/strong> is used because the prefix “leas<\/strong>-” ends with “-s” and the next prefix, “sean-<\/strong>,” begins with the same letter.<\/p>\n

So far I’ve found no examples online of combining the other two choices, “m\u00e1thair chr\u00edonna<\/strong>” and “m\u00e1thair mh\u00f3r<\/strong>” with the prefix “leas-<\/strong>.”\u00a0 It seems like it could be done, but I find no evidence of it.<\/p>\n

leas-seanathair<\/strong>: so far I’ve found one use of this online, and it’s in the genitive case (leas-seanathar<\/strong>, meaning “of a\/the stepgrandfather), on the website www.citizensinformation.ie, dealing with prerequisites for marriage.<\/p>\n

And , as with “grandmother,” I’ve found no “step-” combinations for “athair cr\u00edonna<\/strong>” or “athair m\u00f3r<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

For the more familiar forms, like “Mam\u00f3<\/strong>” and “Daideo<\/strong>” (or “Deaideo<\/strong>” or “Dad\u00f3<\/strong>“),\u00a0 I’ve found the following (again – nothing in my searches in dictionaries or recollections from textbooks or literature)<\/p>\n

leas-Mham\u00f3<\/strong> (“step-grandma”): two interesting uses, one in response to a recent online request for how to say “stepgrandmother” (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>) and one in a song from Aisteoir\u00ed Bulfin’s LaraeD\u00f3<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>). \u00a0Interesting also that the person making the online request said she was becoming a stepgrandmother (which might trigger using “seanmh\u00e1thair<\/strong>” as the base), but her request was for something for the child to call her, so the responder, logically enough, used the familiar form, based on “mam\u00f3.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

For “Daideo<\/strong>” and its variations, “Deaideo<\/strong>” and “Dad\u00f3<\/strong>,” I haven’t found any combinations with “leas-<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Admittedly, I haven’t checked every possible variation of these yet, like “leas-seanmh\u00e1thar<\/strong>” or \u00a0“leasmham\u00f3nna<\/strong>” or “leas-seanaithreacha<\/strong>” yet, but I think the pattern is clear — that stepgrandparent terms are not widely represented in Irish.\u00a0 My guess, though, is that it’s a relatively recent concept in English as well, at least as far as having its own word, although the family relationship has probably existed for eons.<\/p>\n

Bhuel, sin \u00e9 do bhlagmh\u00edr an lae inniu.\u00a0 An ch\u00e9ad uair eile, c\u00fapla coisc\u00e9im eile<\/strong> (a couple of other steps) toward understanding\u00a0 and naming \u00a0leasghaolta<\/strong> (step-relationships) in Irish.\u00a0 SGF\u00a0 — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

naisc:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.irishgaelictranslator.com\/translation\/topic27439.html\u00a0 (ceist faoin fhocal)<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/aisteoiribulfinBAC\/posts\/566741970060703 (tagairt don amhr\u00e1n)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) While we’re working on kinship terms and words for family members (seanathair, seanmh\u00e1thair, srl.), it could be helpful to look at “step-” relationships, especially since they are so prevalent these days. The basic scenario is pretty straightforward — we use the prefix “leas-” in front of the noun.\u00a0 It has many other meanings…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":8553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[474608,474607,474606,474605],"class_list":["post-8551","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-leas-seanathair","tag-leas-seanmhathair","tag-stepgrandfather","tag-stepgrandmother"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t