{"id":9736,"date":"2017-10-16T18:58:54","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T18:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=9736"},"modified":"2019-11-08T16:29:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T16:29:40","slug":"some-60-irish-words-and-phrases-for-breeze-wind-gust-squall-and-gale-oh-and-zephyr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/some-60-irish-words-and-phrases-for-breeze-wind-gust-squall-and-gale-oh-and-zephyr\/","title":{"rendered":"Some (60+) Irish Words and Phrases for Breeze, Wind, Gust, Squall, and Gale.\u00a0 Oh, and Zephyr!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Since we recently discussed wind, in general, and hurricanes, I thought it might be interesting to look at more words for wind.\u00a0 The meteorological sort, that is.\u00a0 So here’s a fairly comprehensive list, but eventually there will be more.\u00a0 It’s a really rich vocabulary in Irish<\/p>\n

Unlike my usual approach, of including plurals, possessives, etc., with vocabulary, \u00a0I’ve only added them here for the more unusual (IMHO) examples, to save space.\u00a0 The more predictable ones I’ve left up to you (or for a future blog post).<\/p>\n

Also, please note, I make no claims to the exclusivity of one term vs. another.\u00a0 In fact, I’m amazed at the overlap.\u00a0 But I offer these up as food for thought, and ultimately real-life usage by experienced speakers is the best guide for what’s the most practical approach.\u00a0 There are five key concepts in the list below (breeze, wind, gust, squall, gale), but there are many combinations (particularly adding “gaoth,” “gaoithe,” <\/strong>or “ghaoithe”<\/strong>\u00a0to one of the other terms).<\/p>\n

As a preface to all of this, I should note that probably the most typical way to intensify the word “gaoth<\/strong>” is simply by adding “l\u00e1idir<\/strong>” (gaoth<\/strong> l\u00e1idir<\/strong>, a strong wind) or “m\u00f3r<\/strong>,” lenited to “mh\u00f3r<\/strong>” (gaoth mh\u00f3r<\/strong>, a big wind, which essentially means “storm,” aka in Irish as, simply, “stoirm<\/strong>“).\u00a0 But if we just settled for that, then why have all the distinctions that appear below!<\/p>\n

A)) breeze<\/strong><\/p>\n

leoithne, <\/strong>breeze, light breeze, zephyr; grammatically feminine so usually followed by lenition).\u00a0 There is a variation: l\u00f3ithne <\/strong>(breeze, whiff, storm — see what I mean by overlap?)<\/p>\n

leoithne bhog ghaoithe, <\/strong>a soft breeze (of wind), although NB, “leoithne ghaoithe” <\/strong>by itself (without “bhog”<\/strong>) can also mean “a soft breeze”.\u00a0 I adapted this entry from the (presumably) plural form “leoithne bog’ gaoith” <\/strong>[sic, sic, sic, sic, sic<\/em> for all you saineolaithe gramada\u00ed<\/strong>] from the song “Bruacha glas’ \u00e1ille na Laoi.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

leoithne chrua,<\/strong> fresh breeze (lit. “hard” breeze)<\/p>\n

leoithne fhionnuar<\/strong>, cool breeze<\/p>\n

leoithne fhuar ghaoithe<\/strong>, a cold breeze (of wind)<\/p>\n

leoithne ghaoithe<\/strong>, soft breeze (but there’s no specific word for “soft” here)<\/p>\n

leoithne farraige<\/strong>, sea-breeze<\/p>\n

leoithne aniar<\/strong>, westerly breeze<\/p>\n

leoithne siosarnach<\/strong>, leaf-rustling breeze<\/p>\n

leoithne the<\/strong>, warm breeze<\/p>\n

feothan, <\/strong>breeze, zephyr, but watch out for this one, because it can also mean “gust” especially if modified by “geimhridh” <\/strong>(of winter).\u00a0 I’m inclined more to “breeze” than “gust,” though, since “feothan<\/strong>” can also mean a “puff” or “a sip”.<\/p>\n

feothan farraige<\/strong>, sea-breeze (as with leoithne farraige<\/strong>, above)<\/p>\n

siorradh, <\/strong>breeze, draught, blast, zephyr. \u00a0OK, so this one can be defined as “breeze,” but when we look further at some samples, it doesn’t seem like an easy-peasy-light-and-breezy breeze, but, rather, an unwanted one, as in a “draught.”\u00a0 May be doubled with “gaoth<\/strong>” as in “siorradh m\u00f3r gaoithe.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

And a few less widely-used (in my experience) examples or some even more specific types:<\/p>\n

briota (gaoithe)<\/strong>, a breeze, sometimes spelled “friota<\/strong>“; “briota<\/strong>” can also mean a “broken wave.”<\/p>\n

siolla beag gaoithe, <\/strong>a breeze, also not very widely used, in my experience, perhaps emphasizing more the “sound” of the breeze<\/p>\n

sians\u00e1n<\/strong>, a breeze, a humming sound<\/p>\n

sm\u00e9amh gaoithe <\/strong>or sm\u00e9amhghaoth<\/strong>, a breath of wind<\/p>\n

adhl, an adhl, na haidhle<\/strong>, breeze, plural not found in my search<\/p>\n

leoithne de ghaoth ghlas fhuar<\/strong>, a breeze of cold harsh (lit. green) wind<\/p>\n

ruag\u00e1n<\/strong>, a cold sharp dry breeze<\/p>\n

fannghaoth<\/strong>, a languid breeze<\/p>\n

fuasadh<\/strong>, a cooling breeze<\/p>\n

feoithne or feochna<\/strong>, a breeze in traditional Connaught Irish, where “leoithne” <\/strong>is even more gentle, more like a puff (cf. feothan<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

aithle\u00e1, an t-aithle\u00e1, <\/strong>no plural found; a gentle breeze, a zephyr, or a little bit of anything.\u00a0 Like many other phrases, can be doubled up with “gaoth” <\/strong>as in “aithle\u00e1 beag gaoithe”<\/strong> (a little breeze of wind)<\/p>\n

l\u00f3ithn\u00edn, <\/strong>a slight gentle breeze OR a breath (cf. leoithne<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

doigheas, <\/strong>breeze, but also “fire” or “dart,” etc.<\/p>\n

l\u00f3ithne bhre\u00e1 gaoithe, <\/strong>a fine breeze of wind, also “success”<\/p>\n

NB:\u00a0 There’s another choice for “zephyr,” much closer to the original Greco-Latin roots: steifir (an steifir<\/strong>; of the zephyr: na steifire<\/em>; <\/strong>plural not found, but then, can there be more than one “west wind”?), but again, its popularity is underwhelming, at least in my experience.<\/p>\n

B)) Probably the most basic, “wind.” But there are many special usages:<\/strong><\/p>\n

gaoth, <\/strong>wind (Remember: an ghaoth, na gaoithe, na gaotha, na ngaoth<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

gaoth chall\u00e1nach<\/strong>, a blustery wind<\/p>\n

gaotalach, an ghaotalach, na gaotala\u00ed, <\/strong>blustery wind (no plural found)<\/p>\n

gaoth \u00e9adrom<\/strong>, a soft breeze<\/p>\n

gaoth chine\u00e1lta<\/strong>, a soft breeze<\/p>\n

gaoth anoir<\/strong>, easterly wind; gaoth aduaidh<\/strong>, northerly wind; gaoth aneas<\/strong>, southerly wind; gaoth aniar<\/strong>, westerly wind<\/p>\n

rois gaoithe<\/strong>, a blast of wind<\/p>\n

stamhladh gaoithe<\/strong>, blustery wind<\/p>\n

C)) gust <\/strong>(re: wind, not for other contexts, like gusts of anger or laughter, which would use\u00a0“racht<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

feothan, <\/strong>as noted above, especially in phrases like “feothan geimhridh” <\/strong>(a winter or wintry gust)<\/p>\n

fle\u00e1 gaoithe<\/strong>, gust, a “flaw”, also “a squall (in the meteorological sense, not the “crying baby” sense); more on this word below, under “squall”<\/p>\n

gusta<\/strong>, a gust<\/p>\n

gusta\u00ed treallacha, <\/strong>fitful gusts, but a caveat, the most recent example I’ve found on the Internet for the English phrase “fitful gust(s)” is 1842!\u00a0 The line is:<\/p>\n

“And ever the fitful gusts between \/ A sound came from the land;
\nIt was the sound of the trampling surf \/ On the rocks and the hard sea-sand”<\/em><\/p>\n

Where’s that from?\u00a0 It’s in the same text that gives use the word “flaw” regarding wind, shown below!<\/p>\n

A few early 19th-century examples of the phrase “fitful(l) gust(s) are: John Keats, 1817 (“Keen, fitful gusts”); John Clare, 1821, (“Autumn,” with the phrase\u00a0 “fitfull gusts”), and James Fenimore Cooper, 1826, (the Last of the Mohicans<\/em>), But at least we can say that Clare’s poem, and therefore the phrase, enjoyed a brief resurgence of interest in Carol Rumens’ Poem of the Week in The Guardian<\/em> (29 October 2012).\u00a0 I can’t say I’ve heard “gusta\u00ed treallacha<\/strong>” in Irish with any regularity.<\/p>\n

But wow! \u00a0The Chinese for “fitful gusts of wind” jumped to the forefront of my Google search!\u00a0 Apparently it’s \u9635\u9635\u7684\u72c2\u98ce per https:\/\/eng.ichacha.net\/, which Google transliterated for me as ” Zh\u00e8n zh\u00e8n de ku\u00e1ngf\u0113ng<\/em>” and which I attempted to further break down, character by character, getting “burst-burst-of mad-wind.”\u00a0 Ceart, a chainteoir\u00ed S\u00ednise ar an liosta seo<\/strong>?\u00a0 Anyway, back to Irish, if only in “fits and starts.”<\/p>\n

s\u00e9ide\u00e1n<\/strong>, gust, lit. a blowing<\/p>\n

siorradh<\/strong>, gust, draught<\/p>\n

siorradh fuar<\/strong>, cold gust\/draught<\/p>\n

siorradh g\u00e9ar gaoithe<\/strong>, a sharp blast or gust of wind (love that alliteration!)<\/p>\n

siota<\/strong>, a gust, as in the phrase “siota fuar gaoithe<\/strong>” (a cold gust of wind) in this line from Colm \u00d3 Ceallach\u00e1in’s I dT\u00edr mhilis na mbeo<\/em> <\/strong>(2017, lch. 58): “Amuigh faoin aer, sh\u00e9id\u00a0siota\u00a0fuar gaoithe an tsr\u00e1id anuas <\/strong>….”.\u00a0 NB: Often “siota<\/strong>” means “sheet” in the nautical sense.<\/p>\n

soinne\u00e1n OR sinne\u00e1n<\/strong>, gust, in phrases like “soinne\u00e1n fuar gaoithe<\/strong>,” “soinne\u00e1n gaoth aduaidh<\/strong>,” or “soinne\u00e1n gaoithe M\u00e1rta<\/strong>” or its variant “soinne\u00e1n gaoth Mh\u00e1rta<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

D)) squall<\/strong><\/p>\n

c\u00f3ch, an c\u00f3ch, an ch\u00f3ich, na c\u00f3cha, na gc\u00f3ch<\/strong>: squall.\u00a0 So, whence cometh this gem, which I must confess to never having heard in a real conversation? \u00a0<\/strong>It also means “onset,” in a literary context, but frankly, that doesn’t help much.\u00a0 Bar\u00falacha ag duine ar bith?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

cuaifeach<\/strong>, squall, also: eddying wind, whirlwind, blast, swirl, and spout (of water)<\/p>\n

feothan gaoithe<\/strong>, a squall<\/p>\n

soinne\u00e1n OR sinne\u00e1n<\/strong>: gust, also: blast; can be doubled with “gaoithe” (soinne\u00e1n gaoithe, etc.) \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And very intriguingly:<\/p>\n

fle\u00e1 gaoithe, <\/strong>a light squall, also called a “flaw.”\u00a0 “Flaw?”\u00a0 So which way did the borrowing go?\u00a0 Seems Hiberno-English, but then, what would Longfellow be doing with Hiberno-English vocabulary?\u00a0 Especially pre-Gorta M\u00f3r Irishness in Boston?\u00a0 Was it Irish influencing English or English influencing Irish?\u00a0 A coincidence?\u00a0 Can we even tell?\u00a0 Recognize Longfellow’s 1842 usage?\u00a0 If not, does this quote jog your memory?<\/p>\n

” <\/em><\/strong>The skipper he stood beside the helm, \/ His pipe was in his mouth,
\nAnd he watched how the veering flaw did blow \/ The smoke now West, now South.”\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Can you name the poem, i mB\u00e9arla, ar nd\u00f3igh<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Leid<\/strong>: The ________ of the _________.<\/p>\n

Freagra ioml\u00e1n th\u00edos.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

E)) And can we safely designate this one as the most intense?<\/strong><\/p>\n

g\u00e1la<\/strong>, a gale<\/p>\n

g\u00e1la gaoithe<\/strong>, a gale of wind<\/p>\n

sians\u00e1n gaoithe<\/strong>, a gale of wind (but cf. sians\u00e1n<\/strong>, a breeze or humming sound)<\/p>\n

glasgh\u00e1la<\/strong>, a fresh gale<\/p>\n

neasgh\u00e1la<\/strong>, near-gale<\/p>\n

And then there’s “gailbh<\/strong>,” which can mean “gale” or “storm” or “windy shower.”\u00a0 Its forms are: an ghailbh, na gailbhe, na gailbheacha, <\/strong>and na ngailbheacha<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0A good one for “muintir na Gaillimhe<\/strong>“!\u00a0 Not to wish anybody a real storm, of course, just to enjoy the sounds of “gailbhe<\/strong>” and “Gaillimhe<\/strong>“!<\/p>\n

Well, like I said above, that’s “measartha cuimsitheach<\/strong>” (fairly comprehensive).\u00a0 But watch out for the “nathanna cainte.<\/strong>”\u00a0 For example, the Irish for “shooting the breeze” (in the sense of “chewing the fat”) has nothing to do with leoithn\u00ed, feothain, gaotha, <\/strong>or siorra\u00ed.<\/strong>\u00a0 The equivalent phrase is “ag d\u00e9anamh dreas comhr\u00e1” <\/strong>(lit. “doing a spell of talking,” colloquial, perhaps, but not metaphorical the way the “breeze” and “fat” expressions are). And that<\/em> is one of those Irish phrases using a super-flexible Irish word, “dreas<\/strong>“.\u00a0 “Dreas<\/strong>” has at least seven basic meanings, each of which has at least one other Irish word with the same meaning: turn (gal, seal, spailp<\/strong>), spell (seal, spailp<\/strong>), while (tamall, seal<\/strong>), bout (babhta, gal, rabhait, spailp<\/strong>), and in sports contexts: round (dreas, babhta, seal<\/strong>), heat (r\u00e9amhbhabhta<\/strong>, lit. “pre-bout”), and, usually paired with “istigh<\/strong>,” innings (deis istigh<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

And a final afterthought\u00a0 — \u00a0why do set phrases like “summery breeze” and “wintry gust” come readily to mind, but not their opposites (wintry breeze, summery gust).\u00a0 Ceist do na heolaithe aimsire, is d\u00f3cha.\u00a0 N\u00edl an freagra agamsa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, I hope I’ve stopped just short of being a “gaothaire<\/strong>,” and that you’ve enjoyed seeing the wide array of “wind” terms in Irish.\u00a0 The variety of terms in situations like this never ceases to amaze me. \u00a0SGF\u00a0 — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra don cheist faoin d\u00e1n<\/strong>: ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus,’ le<\/strong> Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1842.<\/p>\n

*Gluais\u00ednette<\/strong>\u00a0[OK, I just made that up, but it seemed like a fun way to indicate a really small glossary, instead of just saying “gluais bheag<\/strong>,” which means “a small glossary”]: gaothaire<\/strong> (or gaotaire<\/strong>), a windbag, a wordy talker; nathanna cainte<\/strong>, figures of speech<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Since we recently discussed wind, in general, and hurricanes, I thought it might be interesting to look at more words for wind.\u00a0 The meteorological sort, that is.\u00a0 So here’s a fairly comprehensive list, but eventually there will be more.\u00a0 It’s a really rich vocabulary in Irish Unlike my usual approach, of including plurals…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":9737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[489837,514282,229409,514286,514283,514281,514287,514279,514280,513933,5330,489836,514278,514277,514289,514290,513931,513932,514285,514284,514288,513935,3661,513934,513930],"class_list":["post-9736","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-breeze","tag-ceallachain","tag-clare","tag-cooper","tag-dtir","tag-eckersberg","tag-fenimore","tag-fitful","tag-fitfull","tag-flaw","tag-gaotaire","tag-gaoth","tag-gaothaire","tag-gust","tag-hesperus","tag-keats","tag-leoithne","tag-longfellow","tag-mbeo","tag-mhilis","tag-rumens","tag-skipper","tag-wind","tag-wreck","tag-zephyr"],"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