{"id":965,"date":"2011-06-14T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=965"},"modified":"2016-08-17T19:59:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T19:59:58","slug":"lamha-leitean-an-cuigiu-diochlaonadh-ar-l","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/lamha-leitean-an-cuigiu-diochlaonadh-ar-l\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00e1mha Leitean (An C\u00faigi\u00fa D\u00edochlaonadh, ar l.)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

“Catch!”<\/p>\n

“Dropped it?\u00a0 L\u00e1mha leitean!”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where English invokes the slipperiness of butter to describe someone who can\u2019t catch a ball, Irish invokes, yes, you guessed it, porridge!<\/p>\n

\u201cL\u00e1mha leitean<\/strong>\u201d is a useful phrase for the cl\u00f3s s\u00fagartha<\/strong> (playground), and it\u2019s also useful for demonstrating yet another 5th<\/sup>-declension noun in Irish.\u00a0 The \u201cleitean<\/strong>\u201d part (meaning \u201cof porridge\u201d) works somewhat like other words we\u2019ve practiced (comharsa, comharsan; pearsa, pearsan, srl.),<\/strong> but, at least according to most sources, the word \u201cporridge\u201d has no plural in Irish.\u00a0 A purveyor of porridge might disagree, but for practical purposes, if we want to talk about multiple types of porridge, we tend to use a phrase like \u201ccine\u00e1lacha leitean<\/strong>\u201d (types of porridge).\u00a0 For a little more porridge-meandering, please see below in the notes, but for now, we\u2019ll get back to the declension.\u00a0 Since \u201cleite<\/strong>\u201d is not considered to have a plural in Irish, there is no form to correspond to \u201ccomharsana<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cpearsana<\/strong>,\u201d which as you probably recall, mean \u201cneighbors\u201d and \u201cpersons.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may have just noticed that our basic word for \u201cporridge\u201d is \u201cleite<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019d use that form when \u201cleite<\/strong>\u201d is the subject, object or object of a preposition in the sentence, as in following:<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 an leite seo r\u00f3the<\/strong>.\u00a0 This porridge is too hot.<\/p>\n

Ithim leite le him agus le si\u00facra<\/strong>.\u00a0 I eat porridge with butter and sugar.<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 drochbhlas ar an leite sin, agus t\u00e1 s\u00ed cnap\u00e1nach leis<\/strong>.\u00a0 There is a bad taste on that porridge and it\u2019s lumpy, to boot.<\/p>\n

And, although it might be an unlikely scenario, the word remains as \u201cleite<\/strong>\u201d in direct address (if you\u2019re speaking directly to the porridge), perhaps if waxing poetic, as in:<\/p>\n

A leite mo chro\u00ed<\/strong>: O, darling porridge (for when you really like the porridge)<\/p>\n

OR<\/p>\n

A leite chnap\u00e1nach, \u00fadar millte mo shaoil th\u00fa<\/strong>: O lumpy porridge, thou art the bane of my existence<\/p>\n

For the tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>, you add \u201c-an,\u201d as you would with \u201ccomharsa<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cpearsa<\/strong>\u201d to make phrases like \u201cbean do chomharsan<\/strong>\u201d (your neighbor\u2019s wife) and \u201cainm na pearsan sin<\/strong>\u201d (that character\u2019s name).\u00a0 So \u201cl\u00e1mha leitean<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cporridge-hands,\u201d or quite literally \u201chands of porridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, I\u2019ve just been Googling around to see to what extent, if any, the phrase \u201cporridge-hands\u201d is used in English.\u00a0 Most of the results for \u201cporridge hands,\u201d as such, seem to be irrelevant to our particular topic today.\u00a0 One is about a 7-month-old who dipped her hands in her porridge (n\u00ed nach ionadh<\/strong>!).\u00a0 Another is a piece of ficsean m\u00f3id\u00edneach<\/strong> based on Harry Potter, where young Sirius, has to wipe porridge off his face and consequently has, according to the fanfic author, \u201cporridge-hands.\u201d.\u00a0 Of the other results, quite a few restate someone\u2019s review that \u201cTim Horton\u2019s oatmeal porridge beats Starbuck\u2019s oatmeal porridge hands down.\u201d\u00a0 Or they talk about other favorite types of bia bricfeasta <\/strong>or cine\u00e1lacha leitean <\/strong>in general, and express their enthusiasm with the phrase \u201chands down\u201d directly following the word \u201cporridge.\u201d\u00a0 Of course, in these cases, \u201chands down\u201d is entirely separate but Google doesn\u2019t distinguish \u201cporridge-hands down\u201d from \u201cporridge, hands down\u201d in this type of search.\u00a0 Finally, one charming reference describes \u201cpeople with cold-pease-porridge faces and cold-pease porridge hands walking down cold-pease-porridge streets.\u201d\u00a0 Any guesses where that appetizing quote is from?\u00a0 No?\u00a0 Freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So I think we can safely advise sticking to \u201cbutterfingers\u201d for the English language equivalent to \u201cl\u00e1mha leitean<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 To the extent that one might find the phrase \u201cporridge hands\u201d on the Internet, it mostly seems to be a chance circumstance of word order, or a literal reference to someone\u2019s hands being covered with porridge.<\/p>\n

By the way, it may be more common in the U.S. to refer to leite<\/strong> as \u201coatmeal,\u201d even though technically oatmeal is really the raw ingredient and there are many types of porridge besides oat.\u00a0 Restaurants in the U.S. will typically offer \u201coatmeal,\u201d not \u201cporridge,\u201d on the menu, that is if they serve it at all.\u00a0 Although I haven\u2019t exhaustively studied the terminology, it seems to be fairly consistently \u201coatmeal\u201d for the hot dish and for the raw material in the US.\u00a0 In contrast, in Ireland and the UK, the terms are generally \u201coatmeal\u201d for the ingredient and \u201cporridge\u201d for the hot dish.\u00a0 Double-checking a couple of Irish dictionaries for their entry on \u201coatmeal\u201d shows, as I expected, consistent use of \u201cmin choirce<\/strong>\u201d (meal of oats, i.e. the grain ground into meal, as opposed to \u201cwhole\u201d).\u00a0 In other words, looking up \u201coatmeal\u201d will not normally take you to any of the words for \u201cporridge,\u201d let alone \u201cporridge-hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

All this actually suggests another interesting arena of terminological research for one or more future blogs\u00a0 \u2013 oat- and cereal-related terms.\u00a0 Cal\u00f3ga arbhair<\/strong> has always struck me as somewhat unusual, since \u201carbhar<\/strong>\u201d is generally understood as \u201ccorn\u201d in the Irish\/British English sense of the word (edible grain), not the American, where it is more specific (maize, or the so-called \u201csweet corn\u201d).\u00a0 In my experience, the term \u201csweet corn\u201d is almost never used in American menus, unless it\u2019s meant to be deliberately enticing.\u00a0 But \u201ccornflakes\u201d are made from milled corn (by which Americans mean milled maize or\u00a0 sweet corn), not from milled \u201carbhar<\/strong>,\u201d which could include wheat, oats, etc.\u00a0 \u00a0Such a research project should prove interesting, labor-intensive and detail-oriented, but not, um, grueling.\u00a0 And of course, in the final analysis, my selection for bia bricfeasta<\/strong> would be to use steel-cut oats (like McCann\u2019s) to make my porridge, hands down!\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 Just confounded my search once again!<\/p>\n

We\u2019re almost through, now, with the \u201c-an\u201d sub-set of 5th<\/sup>-declension nouns.\u00a0 I promised \u201cionga<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cionga<\/strong>\u201d you will get, and with it the epiphany that even sub-sets can have sub-sets.\u00a0 But that\u2019s arbhar<\/strong>, \u00fa\u00faps,<\/em><\/strong> \u00e1bhar blag eile<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you happen to actually be \u201cag ithe leitean<\/strong>\u201d right now, bain sult as do bh\u00e9ile.\u00a0 <\/strong>And if you\u2019re a glutton for punishment, please keep reading, for more fascinating details on porridge and its sister pottages and puddings.\u00a0 SGF \u00f3 R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta faoi chine\u00e1lacha leitean: <\/strong>The possible types of porridge that come to mind are oatmeal porridge, Indian-meal (maize) porridge and pease-porridge (as discussed above and as celebrated in the nursery rhyme). \u00a0Looking online, I see there are many types of porridge I\u2019ve never tasted, including some made with cruithneacht, cuineo, muil\u00e9ad, r\u00eds, eorna, seimil\u00edn, <\/strong>and sorgum<\/strong>. \u00a0Actually I\u2019ve had cream of rice and semolina but never thought of them as porridge.\u00a0 As for the Indian-meal type, that\u2019d likely be called \u201ccorn meal mush\u201d in the U.S., but I don\u2019t think the word \u201cmush\u201d translates very well back into Irish.<\/p>\n

If you expand \u201cporridge\u201d to its companion word, \u201cpottage,\u201d sometimes considered interchangeable, we\u2019d never finish this blog, since pottage opens up the wide world of soup (anraith<\/strong>, or, in the North, s\u00fa<\/strong>) in general.\u00a0 In Irish, \u201cpottage\u201d is generally translated as \u201canraith<\/strong>\u201d (soup), which makes the difference between soup and porridge clearer than it is in English.<\/p>\n

And if we expand the \u201cporridge\/pottage\/pudding\u201d continuum even further, we\u2019d definitely never finish this blog since we\u2019d be talking about pottage in general, Dr. Who<\/em> (specifically Melanie Jane Bush of Pease Pottage, East Sussex), the TV show Porridge<\/em>, prison slang (\u201cdoing porridge\u201d), mar\u00f3ga, put\u00f3ga, milseoga<\/strong>, Christmas pudding, plum pudding, non-pudding puddings (Yorkshire), and non-vegetable puddings treated as vegetables.\u00a0 That last item comes from personal experience, noting that\u00a0 chocolate pudding may listed as a vegetable choice for a side-dish, at least in some (occasional?) restaurants in the American South.\u00a0 Shades of citseap<\/strong> as a “vegetable” for school lunch nutrition purposes?\u00a0\u00a0 Some of you may remember that early 1980s controversy as part of budget cuts in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Trying to do all of those topics in aon bhlag amh\u00e1in<\/strong> would probably result in me making a \u201cpraiseach<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cbrach\u00e1n<\/strong>,\u201d \u201chash,\u201d or \u201cmess\u201d of it, if rushed, so maybe we\u2019ll just revisit this topic from time to time in the future.\u00a0 And, of course, our original intention here was simply to practice one more 5th<\/sup>-declension noun, with its \u201c-an\u201d ending (leite, leitean).<\/strong>\u00a0 A second goal was to discuss the term \u201cporridge-hands\u201d as such, and an incidental goal was to clarify the differences in American English vs. Irish\/British English, since the words \u201cporridge\u201d and \u201coatmeal\u201d may have different meanings and\/or contexts.<\/p>\n

As for na Ceanadaigh, cad a deir sibhse?<\/strong>\u00a0 C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt leitean a itheann sibhse chun fuacht an gheimhridh a chur ar gc\u00fal?\u00a0 Min choirce?\u00a0 Min bhu\u00ed?\u00a0 Measc\u00e1n de chruithneacht, de sheagal, agus de l\u00edon (ar n\u00f3s <\/strong>Sunny Boy<\/em>)?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra: foinse an athfhriotail faoi na daoine a raibh aghaidheanna mar\u00f3g phise fhuar agus l\u00e1mha mar\u00f3g phise fhuar acu agus a bh\u00ed ag si\u00fal s\u00edos na sr\u00e1ideanna mar\u00f3g phise fhuar?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/strong>Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell\u00a0 <\/em>(2004).\u00a0 Ach fainic, n\u00ed as coirce a nd\u00e9antar mar\u00f3g phise <\/strong><\/strong>(pease-porridge), ach as piseanna.\u00a0 Is ionann<\/strong><\/strong> \u201cpease-porridge\u201d agus <\/strong><\/strong>\u201cpease-pudding\u201d (mar\u00f3g phise).\u00a0 Sin measc\u00e1n de phiseanna, uisce, sp\u00edosra\u00ed agus salann, amanna le bag\u00fan.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>So, is de thaisme a thagann an focal <\/strong><\/strong>\u201cporridge\u201d go d\u00edreach roimh an bhfocal <\/strong><\/strong>\u201chands\u201d sa sliocht seo ach n\u00ed bhaineann s\u00e9 le <\/strong><\/strong>\u201cporridge-hands\u201d mar th\u00e9arma.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais: athfhriotal<\/strong>, quotation; brach\u00e1n<\/strong>, porridge, mess; cal\u00f3g, <\/strong>flake (also used in phrases like cal\u00f3ga sneachta<\/strong>, etc.); cruithneacht<\/strong>, wheat; cuineo<\/strong>, quinoa; eorna<\/strong>, barley; foinse, <\/strong>source; fuacht,<\/strong> coldness, chill; min<\/strong>, meal, includes min choirce, min bhu\u00ed<\/strong>, etc.; muil\u00e9ad<\/strong>, millet; praiseach<\/strong>, another word for porridge, but also widely used for \u201cmess,\u201d more so than \u201cbrach\u00e1n<\/strong>,\u201d in my experience; r\u00eds<\/strong>, rice; seimil\u00edn<\/strong>, semolina; sliocht<\/strong>, extract; sorgum, <\/strong>sorghum<\/p>\n

Foinse an fhicsin mh\u00f3id\u00ednigh: http:\/\/www.fanfiction.net\/s\/6867553\/2\/Playing_With_My_Heart<\/a>, <\/strong>le DolphinDreamer24-7<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) “Catch!” “Dropped it?\u00a0 L\u00e1mha leitean!” Where English invokes the slipperiness of butter to describe someone who can\u2019t catch a ball, Irish invokes, yes, you guessed it, porridge! \u201cL\u00e1mha leitean\u201d is a useful phrase for the cl\u00f3s s\u00fagartha (playground), and it\u2019s also useful for demonstrating yet another 5th-declension noun in Irish.\u00a0 The \u201cleitean\u201d part…<\/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":[460700,460713,95147,460711,32988,32989,32990,7372,1083,5373,460714,460712,32994,32996,32997,32998,362396,7206],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-5th","tag-butterfingers","tag-case","tag-clos-sugartha","tag-comharsa","tag-comharsan","tag-comharsana","tag-declension","tag-genitive","tag-ginideach","tag-hands","tag-lamha-leitean","tag-leite","tag-pearsa","tag-pearsan","tag-pearsana","tag-porridge","tag-tuiseal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","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=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8279,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/8279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}