Help with grammar (A rúnsearc ) include name?

dillyboy

Hello, Apologies if i'm posting this is the wrong place or i am breaking the rules by speaking English but i need help. (mods please move this if i am)

I'm making a ring for my girlfriend out of an old Irish pound coin from the year she was born and i want to inscribe A rúnsearc on the inside. i want to know if it would make more sense to include her name as i don't know anything about Gaeilge. She is from Connemara and her first language is Irish so it making proper sense is imperative, is A rúnsearc a stand alone phrase or would it be best to include her name?

Asking my girlfriend for help would ruin the surprise and make it feel less special.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Insect Overlord

dillyboy wrote: »

Hello, Apologies if i'm posting this is the wrong place or i am breaking the rules by speaking English but i need help. (mods please move this if i am)

Mod note: Moved it somewhere more appropriate for you.

David Webb

Rúnsearc is fine as an intense word for "darling".
A rúnsearc - is addressing here in the vocative case as if you're talking to her.
A rún mo chroí: another alternative.
A chuisle mo chroí (pulse of my heart)
A chumann mo chroí.
And hundreds of alternatives.
A phlúr na mban - O thou, flower of womanhood!

David Webb

But it's probably not great to have the vocative there - as you're not talking to her.

You could have: Mo Rúnsearc - my darling.

dillyboy

I appreciate the help, i have a further question, Mo chuisle mo chroí - My pulse of my heart, can i write her name in front of that and still have it make sense? i want to include her in the inscription. Thanks.

David Webb

It's not "mo chuisle mo chroí". You can't have two "mo's" in there.

But you can certainly have:

A Eibhlín, cuisle mo chroí thu!

[thu is also written thú, although it is normally pronounced with a short vowel in such circumstances, so you might prefer to write thú]

This means: Eileen, you are the pulse of my heart! (literally)

The priest from Muskerry, Co. Cork, Peadar Ua Laoghaire (1839-1920) stated that the strongest declaration of affection in the Irish language was:

A abhaillín agus a annsacht! (abhaillín = little apple; darling (a form of úillín); annsacht = affection, darling (spelt ansacht in some dictionaries)

But they might not say this in Conemara. In the end it is just tokenism to write an inscription in a language you don't speak -- do you even know what the affectionate phrases are in her dialect? Or can you even pronounce her name right in Irish?

dillyboy

Thanks for your help.

Yes i can pronounce her name and surname correctly, it was confusing to me to find Bhailis is sounded like whalis, to add an additional element of difficulty i have dyslexia which is why i never learned grammar, spelling or correct pronunciation in secondary school, but shes teaching me, albeit slowly.

David Webb

Is there a long vowel in the second syllable? And is there a "de"? De Bhailís? The "de" is often not pronounced. So it would be "WA-leesh" or "VA-leesh". But this derives from the English surname Wallace in any case. https://www.libraryireland.com/names/d/de-bhaileis-de-bhailis-de-bhailis.php shows the origin of the surname. There is also a Bhailis with no fada - which your girlfriend may have - that would be WA-lish, or VA-lish.