{"id":8727,"date":"2016-12-24T20:52:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T20:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=8727"},"modified":"2017-01-02T20:54:58","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T20:54:58","slug":"ar-an-2u-agus-an-3u-la-den-nollaig-dha-fhearan-tri-chearc-fhrancacha-2-turtledoves-3-french-hens-for-the-2nd-and-3rd-days-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ar-an-2u-agus-an-3u-la-den-nollaig-dha-fhearan-tri-chearc-fhrancacha-2-turtledoves-3-french-hens-for-the-2nd-and-3rd-days-of-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Ar an 2\u00fa agus\u00a0 an 3\u00fa l\u00e1 den Nollaig – dh\u00e1 fhear\u00e1n, tr\u00ed chearc fhrancacha (2 turtledoves, 3 French hens, for the 2nd and 3rd days of Christmas)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One partridge and one pear tree down (in the previous blogpost) and the following left to go: fear\u00e1in, cearca francacha, lonta dubha, f\u00e1inn\u00ed \u00f3ir, g\u00e9anna, eala\u00ed, cail\u00edn\u00ed ble\u00e1na\u00ed, mn\u00e1 ag damhsa, tiarna\u00ed, p\u00edobair\u00ed agus drumad\u00f3ir\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 Although the meaning of the fourth verse is often disputed, I’m going with “lonta dubha<\/strong>,” since early versions of the songs refer to “coaly” (i.e. black) birds.<\/p>\n

Although various previous blogposts (naisc th\u00edos<\/strong>) have discussed these, today’s will look once again at the “fear\u00e1in<\/strong>” and the “cearca francacha<\/strong>,” with a few grammar and pronunciation notes.<\/p>\n

fear\u00e1n<\/strong>, a turtledove<\/p>\n

fear\u00e1in<\/strong>, turtledoves<\/p>\n

dh\u00e1 fhear\u00e1n<\/strong> [\u0263aw AR-awn], two turtledoves.\u00a0 The gamma sign (\u0263) is the voiced velar fricative, for which there is a description at the link given below (sa n\u00f3ta)\u00a0and in various other blogs in this series; loosely speaking it’s like a deep \u00a0guttural “h.\u00a0 The “fh,” as usual, is silent.\u00a0 Notice also that while the plural form, fear\u00e1in, has an “-\u00e1in” ending, we drop that ending after a number.\u00a0 This is an important and general rule in Irish: nouns remain singular when they come right after a number.\u00a0 This will be important for this song, as we proceed further down the lists, and it applies broadly to Irish, if you want to say things like “two cats” (dh\u00e1 chat, although the plural is actually “cait”) or “ten dogs” (deich madra, although the plural is actually madra\u00ed).<\/p>\n

And for the cearca francacha<\/strong> (French hens), the same pattern applies:<\/p>\n

cearc<\/strong>, a hen<\/p>\n

cearca<\/strong>, hens<\/p>\n

tr\u00ed chearc<\/strong> [trzh<\/sup>ee\u00a0 hy<\/sup>ark, with the “hy<\/sup>” like the “h” in English “humid” or “human” or “hew”], three hens.\u00a0 Note that we drop the plural ending (the final “-a”) for use after a number.<\/p>\n

And since these aren’t just any hens, we need to include the adjective, francach, which will get lenited and pluralized.<\/p>\n

tr\u00ed chearc fhrancacha<\/strong> […\u00a0 RANK-ukh-uh], three French hens.\u00a0 The “fh” is silent and the “ch” is the voiceless velar fricative, found, for example in German “Buch,” Welsh “Bach,” and Yiddish “Chutzpah.”\u00a0\u00a0 In Irish, when an adjective follows a noun that follows a number, it’s considered plural, even though the noun itself is singular!\u00a0 Always struck me as aisteach!\u00a0 And adjectives in this position are lenited, so “madra\u00ed dubha” becomes “deich madra dhubha” and “cait bh\u00e1na” becomes “dh\u00e1 chat bh\u00e1na.”\u00a0 In the latter case, “b\u00e1n” would already be “bh\u00e1na,” but the lenition is for a different reason.<\/p>\n

So that’s our patraisc amh\u00e1in, dh\u00e1 fhear\u00e1n<\/strong>, and tr\u00ed chearc fhrancacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 N\u00edos m\u00f3 bronntanas le teacht sa ch\u00e9ad bhlagmh\u00edr eile<\/strong>. Hope it was fun and informative — SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta re: an fhuaim “dh\u00e1”<\/strong>: As mentioned previously in this blog, this is similar to but deeper than the “ch” of German “Buch<\/em>,” Welsh “bach<\/em>,” and Yiddish “chutzpah<\/em>.”\u00a0 There’s no exact equivalent in English, or for that matter, in many other European languages.\u00a0 For starters on the “dh,” try “Saying \u201cI love you\u201d in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives<\/a>\u00a0(9\u00a0Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair<\/strong>\u00a02011) at\u00a0https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/saying-i-love-you-in-irish\/<\/a>]\u00a0 An example of this sound that I recently noticed, outside of its use in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, is in the name of the young Dutch singer Amira Willighagen of Holland’s Got Talent fame.\u00a0 If you listen carefully, you can hear the \/\u0263\/ sound and you can also hear it in the name of her hometown (Nijmegen), which you can hear on Wikipedia or on Forvo.\u00a0 It wouldn’t surprise me if many English speakers pronounce her name with a standard English “g,” but apparently that’s not the actual pronunciation.\u00a0 Maybe some Dutch speakers here can suggest a few other basic Dutch words that have this sound — especially if they’re well-known words, as, for example, in place names.<\/p>\n

Naisc (Iarbhlaganna ar “Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag”<\/strong><\/p>\n

2010:\u00a0Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>(The Twelve Days of Christmas)<\/a>,\u00a0Posted on 25. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n

2010:\u00a0Cearca Francacha agus Lonta Dubha (Cuid a D\u00f3 don tSraith: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 29. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n

2010:\u00a0\u201c\u00d3r,\u201d \u201c\u00d3ir\u201d or \u201c\u00d3rga\u201d? \u201cF\u00e1inne\u201d or \u201c\u00c9an\u201d? \u00c9an?! (Cuid a Tr\u00ed: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 31. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n

2011: G\u00e9anna agus Eala\u00ed (Cuid a Ceathair: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 04. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n

2011: Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta i nGaeilge\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>(Irish Personal Numbers and\u00a0Cuid a C\u00faig<\/strong>\u00a0or the Last Installment of\u00a0Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong>)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 06. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n

2012:\u00a0B<\/u><\/strong>unuimhreacha, Orduimhreacha is Maoluimhreacha \u2014 A Thiarcais!\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>(Oh my!)<\/a>\u00a0Posted on 25. Dec, 2012<\/p>\n

2013: Speaking of Pigeons (Col\u00fair)<\/a><\/strong>Posted\u00a0on Dec 14, 2013<\/p>\n

2013: (C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Patraisc? C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Drumad\u00f3ir? (or \u201912 L\u00e1 na Nollag\u2019 Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 18. Dec, 2013<\/p>\n

2015: The Irish Twelve Days of Christmas Redux Redux with a Blogliography of Other Blogs on the Song<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Posted on Dec 25, 2015<\/p>\n

2016: C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt \u00e9in? C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt crainn? \u2014 Learning Irish from the Christmas Carol \u2018Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag\u2019 (12 Days of Christmas)<\/a> <\/strong>Posted\u00a0on Dec 20, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) One partridge and one pear tree down (in the previous blogpost) and the following left to go: fear\u00e1in, cearca francacha, lonta dubha, f\u00e1inn\u00ed \u00f3ir, g\u00e9anna, eala\u00ed, cail\u00edn\u00ed ble\u00e1na\u00ed, mn\u00e1 ag damhsa, tiarna\u00ed, p\u00edobair\u00ed agus drumad\u00f3ir\u00ed.\u00a0 Although the meaning of the fourth verse is often disputed, I’m going with “lonta dubha,” since early versions…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":8728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[390730,4608,306119,306120,306242,306215,5240,306216,306246],"class_list":["post-8727","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-12-days-of-christmas","tag-cearc","tag-colm","tag-colur","tag-fearain","tag-fearan","tag-francach","tag-turtair","tag-turtar"],"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