{"id":89,"date":"2009-10-21T08:41:09","date_gmt":"2009-10-21T12:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=89"},"modified":"2016-10-20T21:26:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T21:26:31","slug":"oiche-shamhna-%e2%80%93-the-eve-of-samhain-october-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/oiche-shamhna-%e2%80%93-the-eve-of-samhain-october-31\/","title":{"rendered":"O\u00edche Shamhna \u2013 The Eve of Samhain (October 31)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\n

Uair amh\u00e1in agus m\u00e9 ag spaisteoireacht i bpas\u00e1iste na ngn\u00edomhfhigi\u00fair\u00ed (na mb\u00e1b\u00f3ga aicsin) i siopa ilrannach, c\u00e9 a chonaic m\u00e9 ag st\u00e1nadh anuas orm tr\u00ed phac\u00e1ist\u00edocht thr\u00e9dhearcach phlaisteach ach carachtar \u00f3 Ghostbusters darbh ainm \u201cSam Hain\u201d!\u00a0 Bhain sin preab asam!<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 That startled me!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, what was that all about?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As late October settles in and we prepare for O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong>, we\u2019ll no doubt hear many references to the Irish origins of Halloween.\u00a0 First let\u2019s clarify the terminology itself, and then, in the next upcoming blogs, we\u2019ll look at some of the sprideanna<\/strong> that might be abroad ar an aon\u00fa l\u00e1 is tr\u00edocha de mh\u00ed Dheireadh F\u00f3mhair (an 31\u00fa Deireadh F\u00f3mhair) <\/strong>[err un AYN-oo law iss TREE-uh-khuh djeh vee YERzh-uh FOH-irzh].\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Samhain <\/span><\/strong>[SOW-in], an ch\u00e9ad l\u00e1 de mh\u00ed na Samhna, <\/strong>November 1st<\/sup> (the Celtic New Year).\u00a0 The first syllable is pronounced \u201csow,\u201d as in the pig (rhyming with \u201ccow\u201d or \u201cnow\u201d or \u201cTau,\u201d not as in \u201cmow\u201d the lawn or \u201csowing\u201d seeds).\u00a0 At least that\u2019s \u201ccow\u201d and \u201cnow\u201d as they are pronounced in most American English; I can\u2019t vouch for some of your Scottish or even Canadian vowels, or maybe other areas as well, any place where a \u201ccoo\u201d might be \u201coot\u201d in a field (though probably not “oot an’ aboot in a boot”) .\u00a0 The main thing is that the “\u2013mh–” in the middle is basically just a \u201cw\u201d sound.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An tSamhain <\/span><\/strong>[un TOW-in]: sometimes this word will take the definite article (\u201cthe\u201d), as Irish does for Christmas (An Nollaig<\/strong>) or Easter (An Ch\u00e1isc<\/strong>).\u00a0 Adding \u201cthe\u201d also means the \u201cS\u201d of Samhain<\/strong> will be prefixed by a lower-case \u201ct\u201d and the new pronunciation is \u201cun TOW-in.\u201d\u00a0 Again, that\u2019s not like \u201ctow-trucks,\u201d but like \u201cTau\u201d crosses, \u201ctowel,\u201d or \u201ctower.\u201d\u00a0 Most importantly, the \u201cS\u201d has become silent.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

na Samhna <\/span><\/strong>[nuh SOW-nuh]: this means \u201cof Samhain\u201d and shows up in phrases like \u201cM\u00ed na Samhna<\/strong>\u201d (November, lit. \u201cthe month of Samhain\u201d).\u00a0 Note that as \u201cSamhain<\/strong>\u201d changes to its possessive form, it loses the original middle syllable and adds a vowel at the end.\u00a0 Remember that \u201cnuh\u201d is used here to indicate the unstressed vowel sounds, as in \u201cum, uh, I dunno,\u201d not as in German \u201cHuhn<\/em>\u201d or Turkish \u201cuhlan<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Shamhna<\/span><\/strong> [HOW-nuh]: this is also a possessive form, as used in the phrase \u201cO\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong>\u201d [EE-hyeh HOW-nuh] (eve of Samhain).\u00a0 Since \u201co\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d (eve, night) is feminine, the word following is lenited (\u201cs\u201d changes to \u201csh\u201d) and only the \u201ch\u201d is pronounced.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As for \u201co\u00edche<\/strong>,\u201d many of you already know this word, from phrases like \u201cO\u00edche mhaith!<\/strong>\u201d [EE-hyeh wah] (\u201cGood night!\u201d).\u00a0 As with using \u201cuh\u201d for the vowel sound in \u201cfun,\u201d I use \u201ceh\u201d to indicate the vowel sound of \u201cpet\u201d or \u201cmet.\u201d\u00a0 Why add the final \u201ch\u201d at all, you might wonder?\u00a0 If I don\u2019t include it, I\u2019ve found that people assume that the unadorned \u201ce\u201d is the long vowel sound in \u201cme\u201d or \u201cbe.\u201d\u00a0 The \u201cy\u201d in \u201chyeh\u201d indicates breathiness, like the \u201ch\u201d sound in English \u201cHugh,\u201d \u201chue,\u201d or \u201chew\u201d (not as in \u201cwho,\u201d or the \u201choo\u201d of Sutton Hoo or the \u201choo\u201d that Horton heard).\u00a0 Key point, then, the \u201cc\u201d of \u201co\u00edche<\/strong>\u201d is silent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now (the noo!) that the pronunciation of Samhain<\/strong> is safely under our belts, we can look at our original first paragraph, and hopefully you\u2019ll find the situation as humorous as I did.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Uair amh\u00e1in<\/span><\/strong>, once<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

agus m\u00e9 ag spaisteoireacht, <\/span><\/strong>while I was wandering <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

i bpas\u00e1iste na ngn\u00edomhfhigi\u00fair\u00ed [nung NEEV-IG-yoorzh-ee], <\/span><\/strong>in the aisle of the action figures; alternatively, i bpas\u00e1iste na\u00a0mb\u00e1b\u00f3ga aicsin<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

i siopa ilrannach,<\/span><\/strong> in a department store, <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

c\u00e9 a chonaic m\u00e9 ag st\u00e1nadh anuas orm, <\/span><\/strong>who did I see peering down at me<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

tr\u00ed phac\u00e1ist\u00edocht thr\u00e9dhearcach phlaisteach, <\/span><\/strong>through clear plastic packaging,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ach carachtar \u00f3 Ghostbusters,<\/span><\/strong> but a Ghostbusters character<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

darbh ainm \u201cSam Hain\u201d!,<\/span><\/strong> named \u201cSam Hain!\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bhain sin preab asam!<\/span><\/strong>, lit. that struck a start out of me! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There was his name, on the package, and probably trademarked, as if \u201cSam\u201d was his \u201cainm<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cHain\u201d was his \u201csloinne<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 A great onomastic pun, actually, as long as people don\u2019t use that pronunciation for the holiday itself \u2013 which, ar an drochuair<\/strong>, I have heard often enough.\u00a0 It sounds about as authentic as if the \u201cf-i-e\u201d of \u201cfiesta\u201d was pronounced to rhyme with \u201capple pie\u201d or the \u201cfie\u201d of \u201cfie upon you!\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, there are lots of other points to discuss regarding \u201cSamhain<\/strong>,\u201d so keep your eyes \u201cscafa<\/strong>,\u201d skinned, or as said in the U.S., peeled (!) for some upcoming blaganna s\u00e9as\u00faracha<\/strong> (seasonal).\u00a0 \u201cPeeled eyes\u201d \u2013 now there\u2019s an \u00edomh\u00e1 gh\u00falach<\/strong> (ghoulish image) for you! \u00a0Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill —\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)\u00a0 Uair amh\u00e1in agus m\u00e9 ag spaisteoireacht i bpas\u00e1iste na ngn\u00edomhfhigi\u00fair\u00ed (na mb\u00e1b\u00f3ga aicsin) i siopa ilrannach, c\u00e9 a chonaic m\u00e9 ag st\u00e1nadh anuas orm tr\u00ed phac\u00e1ist\u00edocht thr\u00e9dhearcach phlaisteach ach carachtar \u00f3 Ghostbusters darbh ainm \u201cSam Hain\u201d!\u00a0 Bhain sin preab asam!\u00a0 That startled me! \u00a0 So, what was that all about?\u00a0 \u00a0 As late…<\/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":[3977,461024,461023,461025,4626,5111,5113,5122,5123,5363,3213,461022,6200,6305,6326,6344,11,6666,6667,6695,6779,7200],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-action-figure","tag-babog-aicsin","tag-baboga-aicsin","tag-bhaboga-aicsin","tag-celtic-new-year","tag-eve","tag-eve-of-samhain","tag-eyes-peeled","tag-eyes-skinned","tag-ghostbusters","tag-halloween","tag-mbaboga-aicsin","tag-na-samhna","tag-november-1st","tag-october-31","tag-oiche-shamhna","tag-pronunciation","tag-sam-hain","tag-samhain","tag-scafa","tag-shamhna","tag-tsamhain"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","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=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8501,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/8501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}