{"id":9155,"date":"2017-04-19T15:11:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T15:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=9155"},"modified":"2020-03-05T11:07:07","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T11:07:07","slug":"leabhar-eile-le-gwyneth-wynn-mici-agus-an-ri-another-mini-irish-glossary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/leabhar-eile-le-gwyneth-wynn-mici-agus-an-ri-another-mini-irish-glossary\/","title":{"rendered":"Leabhar Eile le Gwyneth Wynn: Mic\u00ed agus an R\u00ed (Another Mini Irish Glossary)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

In the most recent blog (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>), we looked at Gwyneth Wynn’s charming Mic\u00ed ar an bPortach<\/em> (1998) and provided a glossary of some of the interesting Irish vocabulary words contained in the book.\u00a0 Most of the entries had to do with digging, drying and “footing” turf.\u00a0 Today, we’ll look at another book by Wynn about the same characters, Teid\u00ed (b\u00e9ar, ar nd\u00f3igh<\/strong>) agus Mic\u00ed (madra<\/strong>): Mic\u00ed agus an R\u00ed<\/em> (1995).<\/p>\n

Once again, like many picture books, Mic\u00ed agus an R\u00ed<\/em> isn’t “roinnte ina leathanaigh<\/strong>,” so I’ve provided page numbers for easy reference.\u00a0 Although the vocabulary in this book isn’t quite as specialized as the turbary talk in Mic\u00ed ar an bPortach<\/em>, there are still plenty of interesting phrases to examine, including a few that might not be crystal clear to the learner, even though the book is meant for young children.<\/p>\n

leathanach 1: bh\u00edodh<\/strong>, used to be, the infamous “aimsir ghn\u00e1thchaite<\/strong>” form of the verb “to be,” known in English as “the past habitual”<\/p>\n

leathanach 3: r\u00ed na n-ainmhithe<\/strong>, the king of the animals, or as we might say in English, “the king of the beasts.”\u00a0 A nice example of an tuiseal ginideach iolra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anybody else share Teid\u00ed’s concern that the younger generation is spending too much time “ag breathn\u00fa ar an teilif\u00eds<\/strong>“?\u00a0 If so, all the more reason to check out Mic\u00ed’s alternative entertainment as depicted in the book..<\/p>\n

leathanach 5: n\u00e9al<\/strong>, normally “a cloud” but here, we might say “a wink” as in “a wink of sleep.”<\/p>\n

leathanach 7: lean ort<\/strong>, as a command, with “ort<\/strong>” (lit. on you), it means “continue on.”\u00a0 “Lean<\/strong>” by itself usually means “follow” or “continue.”<\/p>\n

leathanach 9: breacadh an lae<\/strong>, dawn, lit. “the speckling of the day,” an image which I love<\/p>\n

leathanach 11: le blianta anuas<\/strong>, for years, very literally, “with years down from above.”\u00a0 This is actually quite a common expression, often with numbers, even if the use of “anuas<\/strong>” may require some getting used to on the part of the Irish learners.<\/p>\n

leathanach 13: go dt\u00ed go bhfaca s\u00e9<\/strong>, until he saw.\u00a0 Although “go dt\u00ed<\/strong>” often means\u00a0“to” (go dt\u00ed an Sp\u00e1inn<\/strong>)\u00a0\u00a0 it can also mean “until” as we see here.<\/p>\n

leathanach 15: dh\u00e1 mhias l\u00e1n de leite<\/strong>, two dishes full of porridge.\u00a0 This structure is for “of porridge” as the contents of the dishes.\u00a0 If we were talking about the characteristics of<\/em> porridge, we’d probably use “leitean<\/strong>,” which also means “of porridge,” as in “cnap\u00e1nacht na leitean<\/strong>” (the lumpiness of the porridge) or one of my favorite Irish expressions, “l\u00e1mha leitean<\/strong>” (butterfingers, lit. porridge-hands).<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, it’s interesting, isn’t it, the difference in both English and Irish between “lumpiness” (cnap\u00e1nacht<\/strong>) and lumpishness? \u00a0“Lumpishness” can be a human characteristic (d\u00faire, b\u00f3m\u00e1ntacht<\/strong>), whereas “lumpiness” usually isn’t (unless you are a fear br\u00e9ige<\/strong> (scarecrow, lit. man of falseness). \u00a0Those words for lumpishness also have additional meanings, including “dourness” (d\u00faire<\/strong>), “dullness” (b\u00f3m\u00e1ntacht<\/strong>) and “stupidity” (b\u00f3m\u00e1ntacht, d\u00faire<\/strong>), which could lead us down an interesting garden path of other synonyms, but that will have to wait for some other blogpost.<\/p>\n

leathanach 17<\/strong>: well, an\u00a0leon, r\u00ed na n-ainmhithe<\/strong>, turns out to have no “fiacla<\/strong>” (teeth), being a very elderly lion, so porridge is the order of the day.\u00a0 “Leon<\/strong>” is an obvious cognate to “lion” and “leo<\/em>” (that’s “Leo” in English or Latin, not the Irish word “leo<\/strong>,” which is completely different). \u00a0Remember the pronunciation of the “eo” vowel sound, like a long oh, as in “Oh my!” or like “loan” but with a slender “l.” \u00a0In other words, “leon<\/strong>” in Irish is one syllable, not two like the Latin or English “Leo” [lee-oh] or “lion” [ly-un].\u00a0 The “l” of the Irish “leon<\/strong>,” is slender, meaning it’s more like the “l” of English “million” or “billion” than like the “l” of English “lion” or “leo<\/em>” or “loan.”<\/p>\n

How the “leon<\/strong>” ended up somewhere near Ros Muc, Co. Galway, after spending his cubhood san Afraic<\/strong>, isn’t specified.\u00a0 Maybe someday we’ll get the back-story from Wynn.<\/p>\n

Another nice word from this page is “l\u00e1ch<\/strong>,” (pleasant) or as we have it here, “an-l\u00e1ch<\/strong>” (very pleasant).\u00a0 A very useful word, although thinking of the vocabulary from the dozen or so different textbooks I’ve taught from, “l\u00e1ch<\/strong>” doesn’t seem to show up much.\u00a0 Another word that strikes me as similar in prominence is “stuama<\/strong>,” which we seem to encounter constantly in real life and in actual literature, but which doesn’t seem to show up much in textbooks. Not that I’m saying “never,” but these two words seems to be noticeably absent from textbooks and noticeably prominent in real-life descriptions. \u00a0Well, that’s probably another research topic for a rainy day — important Irish vocabulary for daily life that isn’t typically taught in textbooks.<\/p>\n

leathanach 19: ulchabh\u00e1n<\/strong>, an owl.\u00a0 For more on owls, you might like to check out a previous blogpost dedicated to them: \u2018Owl\u2019 About It? Cine\u00e1lacha Ulchabh\u00e1n i nGaeilge (Types of Owls in Irish)<\/a>\u00a0Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Jan 14, 2015 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

leathanach 21<\/strong>: a nice example here of a rhetorical question (ceist reitrici\u00fail<\/strong>), which is really more of an exclamation (uaillbhreas<\/strong>): “Nach ar Theid\u00ed a bh\u00ed an t-\u00e1thas nuair a th\u00e1inig Mic\u00ed ar ais<\/strong>!” \u00a0Wasn’t Teid\u00ed happy when Mic\u00ed came back!, or more literally, “Wasn’t it on Teid\u00ed that happiness was when Mic\u00ed came back!”<\/p>\n

Note that, as in English, these types of exclamatory rhetorical questions (ceisteanna reitrici\u00fala uaillbhreasa<\/strong>) may be punctuated (poncaithe<\/strong>) with exclamation marks (comhartha\u00ed uaillbhreasa<\/strong>) instead of with question marks (comhartha\u00ed ceiste<\/strong>).\u00a0 And even there, a point to note is that the Irish phrases for question marks and exclamation marks\/exclamation points are based on “comhartha<\/strong>” (mark, sign, signal, symbol, etc.), not on the seemingly closer “marc<\/strong>” (mark, tag, marking).\u00a0 Hmm, is there an Irish word for “interrobang”?\u00a0 M\u00e1 t\u00e1, n\u00edor chuala m\u00e9 riamh \u00e9<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So that’s some vocabulary for Mic\u00ed agus an R\u00ed<\/em>, a fun book for Irish speakers of all ages, and especially perhaps for those reading bedtime stories to children, since that’s apparently how the story originated.\u00a0 That makes it one more to add to the list of children’s classic books where the adventure takes place at night when the protagonists (na pr\u00edomhcharachtair<\/strong>) are supposed to be asleep.\u00a0 A few others that come to mind are\u00a0In the Night Kitchen<\/em> by Maurice Sendak and Peter Pan<\/em>, by J. M. Barrie.<\/p>\n

Anyway, \u00a0to wrap up, here’s a vocab summary: bh\u00edodh, breacadh an lae, go dt\u00ed, l\u00e1ch, lean ort, le blianta anuas, leite\/leitean, leon, n\u00e9al, r\u00ed na n-ainmhithe, ulchabh\u00e1n.\u00a0 An cuimhin leat cialla na bhfocal sin go l\u00e9ir<\/strong>?\u00a0 Plus there were a few terms about language itself: aimsir ghn\u00e1thchaite, ceist reitrici\u00fail, uaillbhreas, comhartha ceiste, comhartha uaillbhreasa.\u00a0 \u00a0Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nasc don bhlagmh\u00edr eile faoi leabhar eile Wynn<\/strong>:\u00a0An Irish Vocabulary Guide for Gwyneth Wynn\u2019s \u2018Mic\u00ed ar an bPortach\u2019<\/a>\u00a0Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Apr 16, 2017 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n

Nasc d’\u00e1it ina bhfuil <\/strong>Mic\u00ed agus an R\u00ed<\/em> agus <\/strong>Mic\u00ed ar an bPortach<\/em> ar f\u00e1il<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/www.forasnagaeilge.ie\/fuinn\/an-gum\/ceannach\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) In the most recent blog (nasc th\u00edos), we looked at Gwyneth Wynn’s charming Mic\u00ed ar an bPortach (1998) and provided a glossary of some of the interesting Irish vocabulary words contained in the book.\u00a0 Most of the entries had to do with digging, drying and “footing” turf.\u00a0 Today, we’ll look at another book…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":9168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[376692,489391,229635,460713,307145,514398,489332,489334,489387,376613,32994,32995,460379,307078,5966,489333,489330,489331,331995,489335,362396,489389,489388,489392,489613,489329,7052,489390,365368],"class_list":["post-9155","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-afraic","tag-barrie","tag-breacadh-an-lae","tag-butterfingers","tag-comhartha","tag-cubhood","tag-fiacla","tag-in-the-night-kitchen","tag-lach","tag-lamha","tag-leite","tag-leitean","tag-leon","tag-luch","tag-madra","tag-mias","tag-mici","tag-millteach","tag-neal","tag-peter-pan","tag-porridge","tag-reitriciuil","tag-ri-na-n-ainmhithe","tag-sendak","tag-stuama","tag-teidi","tag-teilifis","tag-uaillbhreas","tag-ulchabhan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9155","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=9155"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11263,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9155\/revisions\/11263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}