{"id":9731,"date":"2017-10-12T23:33:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T23:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=9731"},"modified":"2017-10-30T12:32:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T12:32:13","slug":"hurricane-related-words-in-the-irish-language-hairicini-speirlingi-suile-beil-et-al","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/hurricane-related-words-in-the-irish-language-hairicini-speirlingi-suile-beil-et-al\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane-related words in the Irish language: Hairic\u00edn\u00ed, Sp\u00e9irling\u00ed, S\u00faile, B\u00e9il et al."},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

This has been one of the worst hurricane seasons I can remember.\u00a0 Although I, as an individual, can do nothing to stop the destructive path of the hurricanes (beala\u00ed scriosacha na hairic\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>), I can at least provide a little vocabulary for discussing them in Irish.<\/p>\n

First we’ll look at the two words for “hurricane” and then the basic word for “wind.”\u00a0 Time permitting, or perhaps in a future blog, we’ll also look at words like “gale,” “gust,” and, just for contrast, “breeze.”<\/p>\n

The words for “hurricane” to start with:<\/p>\n

hairic\u00edn<\/strong>, and its various forms:<\/p>\n

an hairic\u00edn, the hurricane<\/p>\n

an hairic\u00edn, of the hurricane (same as above)<\/p>\n

na hairic\u00edn\u00ed, the hurricanes<\/p>\n

na hairic\u00edn\u00ed, of the hurricanes (same as above)<\/p>\n

The word “hurricane” is clearly an adaptation of the English (hurricane), which itself is an adaptation of the Spanish “hurac\u00e1n<\/em>,” which is probably derived from the Ta\u00edno “hurak\u00e1n<\/em>” (storm god).\u00a0 Ta\u00edno was a Caribbean Indian language, in the Arawakan family, now extinct, but leaving us a few loan words as its legacy.<\/p>\n

There is a more traditional Irish word, “sp\u00e9irling<\/strong>,” but to me it’s somewhat ambiguous, since it also means “thunderstorm,” which is quite a different kettle of fish from a hurricane. “Thunderstorm,” more specifically, can be “stoirm thoirn\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 If you choose to use “sp\u00e9irling<\/strong>,” here are its forms:<\/p>\n

an sp\u00e9irling, the hurricane, the thunderstorm<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9irlinge, of the hurricane, of \u00a0the thunderstorm<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9irling\u00ed, the hurricanes, the thunderstorms<\/p>\n

na sp\u00e9irling\u00ed, of the hurricanes, of the thunderstorms<\/p>\n

An interesting related phrase is “lampa doininne<\/strong>” (hurricane-lamp, lit. a storm-lamp, a lamp for stormy\/bad weather), from “doineann” (storm, stormy weather, bad weather).<\/p>\n

As for the “eye of the storm” phrase, as seen in the graphic above, the traditional Irish usage is “b\u00e9al<\/strong>” (mouth), not “s\u00fail<\/strong>” (eye).\u00a0 Presumably this is related to “i mb\u00e9al na doininne<\/strong>,” often translated as “in the teeth of the storm,” but literally “in the mouth of the storm.”\u00a0 Interesting, “eye” vs. “teeth” vs. “mouth.”\u00a0 Any “eolaithe aimsire<\/strong>” care to weigh in on the topic?\u00a0 Or for that matter, any “anatamaithe meafaracha<\/strong>” (metaphorical anatomists, if such an occupation exists, perhaps a sideline for underemployed English literature majors!)?<\/p>\n

Now for the forms of “gaoth<\/strong>,” the word for “wind,” and it looks like gales, gusts, and breezes will have to wait till next time.<\/p>\n

an ghaoth, the wind<\/p>\n

na gaoithe, of the wind<\/p>\n

na gaotha, the winds<\/p>\n

na ngaoth, of the winds (no ending, like the root form)<\/p>\n

Well, those are the building blocks for further discussion.<\/p>\n

And finally, a little opinion piece.\u00a0 Scary as the hurricane news is, here is a headline that’s also a bit scary, language-wise: “Hairic\u00edn Ophelia, ceannair\u00ed go dt\u00ed an Eoraip<\/strong>” [sic, sic, sic, sic], posted at https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yAq0rwS5m-g.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It took me a few seconds to figure out what on earth it was supposed to mean.\u00a0 Got it?\u00a0 Muna dtuigeann t\u00fa \u00e9, f\u00e9ach sa n\u00f3ta th\u00edos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To all the readers of this blog, please stay well and take care.\u00a0 Never has “sl\u00e1n abhaile<\/strong>” seemed to mean so much.\u00a0\u00a0 -R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/p>\n

N\u00f3ta maidir leis an gceannteideal: Hairic\u00edn Ophelia, ceannair\u00ed go dt\u00ed an Eoraip<\/strong>.\u00a0 A “ceannaire<\/strong>” is a “a leader” or “a guide” or “a head (as of a department or division).\u00a0 “Ceannair\u00ed<\/strong>” would be its plural, but, hey, it’s not a verb, so it can’t be used to say “Ophelia heads to Europe.”\u00a0 Need I say more?\u00a0 Aistri\u00fach\u00e1n uathoibr\u00edoch<\/strong>, by any chance?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) This has been one of the worst hurricane seasons I can remember.\u00a0 Although I, as an individual, can do nothing to stop the destructive path of the hurricanes (beala\u00ed scriosacha na hairic\u00edn\u00ed), I can at least provide a little vocabulary for discussing them in Irish. First we’ll look at the two words for…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":9732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[11490,255026],"class_list":["post-9731","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-hairicin","tag-hurricane"],"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