{"id":9819,"date":"2017-11-11T19:06:35","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T19:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=9819"},"modified":"2017-11-17T23:59:02","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T23:59:02","slug":"ainmneacha-crann-irish-names-for-trees-native-and-non-native-to-ireland-cuidpt-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ainmneacha-crann-irish-names-for-trees-native-and-non-native-to-ireland-cuidpt-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Ainmneacha Crann: Irish Names for Trees (native and non-native to Ireland), cuid\/pt. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

http:\/\/www.publicdomainpictures.net\/view-image.php?image=86165&picture=tree-branch-of-cape-ash<\/a><\/p>\n

Our recent blog on duilleoga<\/strong> (leaves) seemed to be quite popular, so I thought I’d continue with various trees.<\/p>\n

One of the most interesting pictures I’ve found for a tree in leaf is the one shown above.\u00a0 A great angle (uillinn iontach<\/strong>!) although I doubt this particular tree grows in Ireland.\u00a0 The emphasis in most of the entries in this blog series will be for trees in Ireland but the one in the graphic is the “Cape Ash” of South Africa (LA Ekeburgia capensis).\u00a0 Picti\u00far iontach, nach ea?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s one general observation before we look more specifically at the tree depicted above.\u00a0 From my viewpoint, and as an aid to learners, tree names in Irish can be divided into three main categories: \u00a0trees whose names start with “crann<\/strong>,” trees whose names don’t start with “crann<\/strong>,” and trees whose name can start with “crann<\/strong>” but don’t have to. \u00a0There aren’t too many examples of the last one, afaik.<\/p>\n

1)) trees whose names start with the word “crann<\/strong>” (tree):\u00a0<\/em> these usually include those with fruit we can eat, so we need to separate the fruit from the tree itself.\u00a0 Examples include \u00fall \/ crann \u00fall, or\u00e1iste \/ crann or\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/strong>, unless, of course, it’s a “crann mandair\u00edn\u00ed<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Note that most, though not all of these, literally translate to “tree of\u00a0 _____ (name of the fruit in the plural).”\u00a0 So “crann \u00fall<\/strong>” is “tree of apples” and “crann or\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/strong>” is “tree of oranges.”\u00a0 Logical, since the trees bear more than one fruit.\u00a0 But remember, for “apple-tree,” it’s a little confusing because “\u00fall<\/strong>” can mean “an apple” as well as “of apples.”\u00a0 “Orange-tree” makes the pattern clearer, since “or\u00e1ist\u00ed<\/strong>” is clearly plural, with “or\u00e1iste<\/strong>” (and the slight spelling difference) meaning “an orange.”\u00a0 “Yay, genitive-case endings!” for telling us who owns what, but “Oh no!” to genitive plural endings that look singular!<\/p>\n

Among trees found in Ireland, this category includes: crann sil\u00edn\u00ed fi\u00e1in<\/strong> (where it’s the tree that’s wild, not the cherries!) and crann fia-\u00fall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A somewhat smaller subset here would be trees whose name starts with “crann<\/strong>” but which are not followed by a fruit name, like “crann creathach<\/strong>,” whose name literally means “quaking \/ trembling tree,” but which is known in English as __________ (freagra th\u00edos<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

2)) trees whose names don’t start with “crann<\/strong>“:<\/em>\u00a0 These can be further subdivided into those which a) end in the suffix “-eog” or “-\u00f3g” or b) have no suffix at all or no suffix that forms a category or c) are compound words.\u00a0 These include:<\/p>\n

a)) suffix “-eog” or “-\u00f3g”:<\/em> fuinseog, fearn\u00f3g, saileog<\/strong> (a variant of “saileach<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

b)) no suffix, mostly one syllable:<\/em> beith, caithne, coll, dair, draighean, sceach (sceach gheal), i\u00far<\/strong>, or a few that may have a very basic suffix, but not one that seems to repeat much for trees: aiteal, cuileann, leamh\u00e1n sl\u00e9ibhe<\/strong><\/p>\n

c)) compound words:<\/em> donnroisc, fionncholl<\/strong><\/p>\n

3)) tree names with or without “crann<\/strong>“:<\/em> an example is “caorthann<\/strong>” OR “crann caorthainn<\/strong>” — and note how the genitive case rears its charming head when we want to use “crann<\/strong>” first.\u00a0 In other words, we insert the letter “i.”<\/p>\n

This tree, the “rowan” (aka “mountain ash”) is confusing enough to begin with, since “ash” is normally “fuinseog<\/strong>,” as listed above, but “mountain ash” apparently is not a “fuinseog<\/strong>.”\u00a0 OK, whatever you say,\u00a0\u00a0\u00d3<\/strong>\u00a0lucht ainmnithe na bplanda\u00ed<\/strong>, whether you’re luibheolaithe eola\u00edocha, baill den phobal go ginear\u00e1lta<\/strong>, or na SeanGhaeil<\/strong>!\u00a0 I just try to keep track of the differences, no matter who decided it.\u00a0 Speaking of which, how did we ever come up with a system of naming plants for what they’re not?\u00a0 That’s probably due to the luibheolaithe<\/strong>, who sometimes thought it would be helpful to put the word “false” in some plant names.\u00a0 I find this totally intriguing but a bit frustrating — instead of saying what the plant is, you say what it isn’t!\u00a0 Some day I’ll figure out if there’s any patterns as to when this happens in Irish, but for now, I’ll just give an example of each (“false African violet” = sabhairc\u00edn na Rinne<\/strong>, with no element of “falseness” to the Irish name, which literally means “Cape primrose,” but “false catshark” (CATSHARK!?) lives up to its English and taxonomic name, as “cats\u00faileach br\u00e9ige<\/strong>,” lit. “cat-eye of falseness” (LA Pseudotriakis microdon<\/em>).\u00a0 Go figure!<\/p>\n

The phrase “crann caorthainn<\/strong>” (meaning “rowan” or “mountain ash”) also has no specific reference to mountains, which would be “sliabh<\/strong>” or “sl\u00e9ibhe<\/strong>” or “sl\u00e9ibhte<\/strong>.”\u00a0 If anything, the tree name “caorthann<\/strong>” refers to the berry, from the word “caor<\/strong>,” which could also bring up many other topics, since many “berries” in Irish aren’t called “caor<\/strong>“-anything, but rather “sm\u00e9ar<\/strong>” or “s\u00fa<\/strong>,” etc.\u00a0 Another rainy day project!<\/p>\n

Now that we’ve done an overview, let’s look a little bit more at the tree shown in the graphic above.\u00a0 I couldn’t find a definitive name for it in Irish, and the “mountain ash” example makes me quake in my boots about trying to assume any plant name in Irish based on the English terms, so I’ll simply say the following:<\/p>\n

The basic word for an ash tree in Irish is fuinseog<\/strong> (an fhuinseog<\/strong>, npl. na fuinseoga<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

The basic phrase for “of the Cape,” referring to South Africa, is “na Rinne<\/strong>.”\u00a0 I specify “South Africa” because another plant, the “Cape gooseberry” is “f\u00edsealach Peiri\u00fach.<\/strong>” The English name apparently refers to the fact that this plant, originally Peruvian, has been cultivated in South Africa for at least about 200 years.\u00a0 So how did “Cape” come to dominate in the English name but the Irish name is based on it being Peruvian?\u00a0\u00a0Diabhal a fhios agam<\/strong>!\u00a0 To add to the convolution, it’s not as though “f\u00edsealach<\/strong>” normally means “gooseberry” either — that’s usually “sp\u00edon\u00e1n<\/strong>,” and “f\u00edsealach<\/strong>” is basically “physalis” (natch), so go “fig”-ure it out for yourself, if you can, and then let me know!<\/p>\n

The Cape of Good Hope (Africa) is Irish is Rinn an D\u00f3chais<\/strong>, lit. “the Cape \/ Headland \/ Promontoary \/ Point of Hope,” no particular emphasis on “good.”\u00a0 Cape Horn, (South America), btw, is Rinn an Choirn<\/strong>, quite literally, the Cape of the Horn, so in theory, “na Rinne<\/strong>” could refer to Cape Horn.<\/p>\n

Anything “na Rinne<\/strong>,” could of course, also refer to “An Rinn<\/strong>” (Ring or Ringville, Co. Waterford), in Ireland, but I don’t think that area is particularly known for mountain zebras, elephant fish, or squid, all of which either have “na rinne<\/strong>” or “na Rinne<\/strong>” in their Irish name.\u00a0 Context tells us, though, that “cainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge na Rinne<\/strong>” probably refers to Contae Phort L\u00e1irge<\/strong>, not An Afraic Theas<\/strong>.\u00a0 And “An Rinn, Co. Phort L\u00e1irge<\/strong>” is indeed known for great Irish speakers!<\/p>\n

So, while we could combine “fuinseog<\/strong>” and “na Rinne<\/strong>,” I’m not 100% convinced that there’s any precedent for this term.\u00a0 No form of it showed up in a Google search.\u00a0 If any deindreola\u00ed<\/strong> on the list knows differently, please do let us know.\u00a0 \u00a0By the way, I can’t find any version of “deindreola\u00ed<\/strong>” online either (for “dendrologist”) but it seems like it should exist, since we have “deindreacroineola\u00edocht<\/strong>,” which should at least give us “deindreacroineola\u00ed<\/strong>.” \u00a0I’ve also checked combinations of “crann<\/strong>” and “eola\u00ed<\/strong>” and haven’t found any occupational term there, either.\u00a0 \u00a0Somehow, I don’t think we have a scientific need for one last possibility, “bile<\/strong>” + “eola\u00ed<\/strong>,” which would be a “sacred-tree-ologist.”\u00a0 Maybe in a study of miotaseola\u00edocht<\/strong> or diagacht<\/strong>, but probably not in luibheola\u00edocht<\/strong> as such.<\/p>\n

You may have also picked up another word from the text of the graphic, “bunoscionn<\/strong>,” one of my favorite words in Irish, meaning “upside-down.”\u00a0 Literally, though it’s “bottom over head,” so there’s no “up” or “down” or “side” to it.\u00a0 And the downside for now is simply that this blogpost is getting beag\u00e1n fada<\/strong>, so I’ll have to wrap it up for now.\u00a0 And putting all adverbial nuances aside, I hope you found it helpful.\u00a0 And maybe you could write in and tell us if you have a favorite tree or one you’d especially like to hear about.\u00a0 And any Dubs are welcome to submit “three trees,” since that often sounds like “tree-trees” when they say it, which also reminds me of B\u00e9arla Thalamh an \u00c9isc<\/strong>, and that will have to be another blog topic, l\u00e1 den tsaol!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Idir an d\u00e1 linn, SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

BTW, if you’re looking for translations of all these tree names, please stay tuned for the next blogpost.\u00a0 Hopefully, some of them are already familiar.<\/p>\n

Freagra: crann creathach<\/strong> = aspen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Tree

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) http:\/\/www.publicdomainpictures.net\/view-image.php?image=86165&picture=tree-branch-of-cape-ash Our recent blog on duilleoga (leaves) seemed to be quite popular, so I thought I’d continue with various trees. One of the most interesting pictures I’ve found for a tree in leaf is the one shown above.\u00a0 A great angle (uillinn iontach!) although I doubt this particular tree grows in Ireland.\u00a0 The…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":9821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[4020,4025,474727,489852,4813],"class_list":["post-9819","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ainm","tag-ainmneacha","tag-crainn","tag-crainnte","tag-crann"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819","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=9819"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9835,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions\/9835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}