{"id":95,"date":"2009-11-02T07:53:19","date_gmt":"2009-11-02T11:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=95"},"modified":"2016-05-30T14:09:46","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T14:09:46","slug":"an-ghaeilge-sa-leabhar-galway-bay-%e2%80%9cguilpin%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9cgra%e2%80%9d-agus-go-leor-eile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-ghaeilge-sa-leabhar-galway-bay-%e2%80%9cguilpin%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%9cgra%e2%80%9d-agus-go-leor-eile\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ghaeilge sa Leabhar _Galway Bay_: \u201cGuilp\u00edn,\u201d \u201cGr\u00e1\u201d agus Go Leor Eile"},"content":{"rendered":"

O\u00edche Fh\u00e9ile Eoin, an 23\u00fa l\u00e1 de Mh\u00ed an Mheithimh, 1839, i mBearna, Co. na Gaillimhe.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ve been talking quite a bit lately about Samhain<\/strong>, but now we\u2019ll jump 2.5 seasons forward, and discuss some of the Irish phrases used in the highly praised novel, Galway Bay<\/em>, by Mary Pat Kelly.\u00a0 The author is currently on tour sna St\u00e1it Aontaithe <\/strong>and might be coming go dt\u00ed do cheantar f\u00e9in (<\/strong>to your area, if it\u2019s PA, CT, or CO).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

The opening setting of the book is as described above, St. John\u2019s Night, June 23rd<\/sup>, 1839, in the fishing village of Barna, just west of Galway.\u00a0 Many of the characters are based on the author\u2019s own ancestors and would have been Irish speakers.\u00a0 Although the novel is written i mB\u00e9arla<\/strong>, Irish phrases are sprinkled ar fud an leabhair<\/strong>, giving local flavor and some extra incentive to foghlaimeoir\u00ed na teanga<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

While many \u00farsc\u00e9alta stairi\u00fala<\/strong> adopt this literary style, most don\u2019t carry it through to the extent that Kelly does.\u00a0 The gluais<\/strong> at the end of the book could easily be twice as long if Kelly had glossed all the examples of Irish in the book.\u00a0 She says it\u2019s intended to be \u201chelpful, not definitive,\u201d so it doesn\u2019t include absolutely every occurrence of Irish.\u00a0 The glossary stands at tr\u00ed leathanach<\/strong>, and unlike many glossaries, includes fuaimnithe<\/strong> (pronunciations).\u00a0 That\u2019s three pages without getting into the meanings of family and place names, which are sometimes examined in the course of the novel, and which could easily triple m\u00e9id na gluaise<\/strong>.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to vouch for all the spellings, but the flavor and background is certainly there.\u00a0\u00a0 Some are Gaeilge go hioml\u00e1n<\/strong>, some are galldaithe<\/strong> (anglicized), and some are idir eatarthu<\/strong>.\u00a0 Which more or less reflects the situation of two languages in contact.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Seo c\u00fapla sampla:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

guilp\u00edn<\/span><\/strong>, a lout (GYIL-peen).\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t really advise calling anyone a guilp\u00edn<\/strong>, but if you do, remember that in direct address, the word gets lenited, just like proper names, with \u201ch\u201d added after the first consonant.\u00a0 So it becomes, \u201ca ghuilp\u00edn<\/strong>,\u201d and is pronounced with the voiced velar fricative, i.e. deep in the throat, not the regular \u201cg.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

On the more affectionate side, we have a range of terms of endearment, such as \u201ca ghr\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d (love), also pronounced with the voiced velar fricative, \u201ca ghr\u00e1 mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>,\u201d (love of my heart), which has both the voiced (gh) and the voiceless velar fricative (ch), and the far simpler (pronunciation-wise) \u201ca r\u00fan<\/strong>\u201d (dear).\u00a0 For that, you just need the Irish flapped \u201cr,\u201d like the very beginning of a trill, but cut short.\u00a0 You might also recognize an Irish term of endearment that has actually become popular lately as a girl\u2019s name, alanna, from leanbh<\/strong> ([LYAN-uv, note it\u2019s two syllables] child).\u00a0 These phrases are, of course, all in direct address, which accounts for the particle \u201ca<\/strong>\u201d at the beginning of each phrase.\u00a0 In the case of \u201calanna,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cionsuite<\/strong>\u201d (built-in).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Some place name elements are also explained, like tobar<\/strong> (well), r\u00e1th<\/strong> (ring fort), and ard<\/strong> (a height, high place).\u00a0 We also get some terms for buttercups, honeysuckle, and St. Dabeoc\u2019s heath, but I\u2019ll let you discover those for yourself!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

As for St. John\u2019s Night, aka Bonfire Night, this coincides closely to Midsummer according to the Celtic calendar, where an samhradh<\/strong> started on L\u00e1 Bealtaine<\/strong> (May 1).\u00a0 So it\u2019s surely not by chance that Kelly\u2019s novel starts at this time of year, imbuing every action with embedded meaning for the future.\u00a0 The protagonist (and the actual sinsinseanmh\u00e1thair <\/strong>of Kelly herself) is Honora Kelly, and suffice it to say here that the events of that St. John\u2019s dawn determine the question of an clochar <\/strong><\/span><\/span>vs. an saol p\u00f3sta.\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00a0Not deliberate divination, as might have occurred on O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong>, but nevertheless, we basically have the appearance of a strains\u00e9ir ard dubh<\/strong>, and the fact that his first appearance is in his \u201cculaith l\u00e1 breithe<\/strong>\u201d (to semi-coin a phrase), no doubt keeps the reader \u201cgafa<\/strong>\u201d (engaged).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Remaining tour events for 2009 are in Villanova, PA (Nov. 3), Fairfield, CT (Nov. 7), and Ft. Collins, CO (Nov 22) and details are available at www.MaryPatKelly.com<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Fuaimnithe<\/span><\/strong>:<\/strong> fh\u00e9ile<\/strong> [AYL-yeh, silent \u201cf\u201d], mh\u00ed an Mheithimh<\/strong> [vee un VEH-hiv, note 3 silent m\u2019s, with the mh’s pronounced like v’s]; go dt\u00ed <\/strong>[guh djee]; leathanach<\/strong> [LYA-hun-ukh]; sinsinseanmh\u00e1thair<\/strong> [shin-shin-shan-WAW-hirzh], <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

samhradh<\/span><\/strong> [sow-ruh or sow-roo, with the \u201csow\u201d like American \u201ccow\u201d or \u201cnow\u201d].\u00a0 Again, I\u2019m bailing out for pronunciation based on na guta\u00ed Albanacha<\/strong>, or even some of the guta\u00ed Briotanacha<\/strong>, at least for now.\u00a0 Soon I\u2019ll need a pronunciation guide for the pronunciation guide!\u00a0 The IPA for this sound is \/au\/, if that helps.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O\u00edche Fh\u00e9ile Eoin, an 23\u00fa l\u00e1 de Mh\u00ed an Mheithimh, 1839, i mBearna, Co. na Gaillimhe.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been talking quite a bit lately about Samhain, but now we\u2019ll jump 2.5 seasons forward, and discuss some of the Irish phrases used in the highly praised novel, Galway Bay, by Mary Pat Kelly.\u00a0 The author is currently…<\/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":[4277,4308,4418,3124,4419,4829,5129,5160,5270,5314,5315,5395,5528,5539,6017,3301,6303,6341,7271],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-barna","tag-bearna","tag-bonefire","tag-bonfire","tag-bonfire-night","tag-criol","tag-fairfield","tag-feile-eoin","tag-ft-collins","tag-galway","tag-galway-bay","tag-gluais","tag-historical-novel","tag-honora-kelly","tag-mary-pat-kelly","tag-midsummer","tag-novel","tag-oiche-fheile-eoin","tag-villanova"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","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=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7929,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/7929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}