The "What is this Irish word/phrase in English" thread

sigmundv · 06-07-2013 1:20am

Dia daoibh. Is mise Sigmund agus is as na hOileáin Fharó (Na Scigirí i Sean-Ghaeilge) dom.

Gabh mo leithscéal, ach beidh mé ar aghaidh i mBéarla. (feel free to correct me, because this was cooked up based on a google translation and what I knew, e.g. that "ar aghaidh" is forward)

Two things.

1) I see that some people use the "reverse fada" and write e.g. "slàn", but Irish doesn't use this diacritic. However, the neighbour of Irish, Gàidhlig, uses it.

2) People usually write Gaeltacht, but I believe the regular spelling is Gaelteacht (because of the slender vowel in front of -lt- a slender vowel should follow it).

Any comments?

PS: I would have loved to be able to write something meaningul in Irish here, but my vocabulary is quite restricted at the moment, so the two lines at the start will have to do for now.

An Coilean · 07-07-2013 12:23am

sigmundv wrote: »

Dia daoibh. Is mise Sigmund agus is as na hOileáin Fharó (Na Scigirí i Sean-Ghaeilge) mé.

Gabh mo leithscéal, ach beidh mé ag dul ar aghaidh i mBéarla.

Hi sigmund, some corrections there, 'beidh mé ar aghaidh' would translate as something like 'I will ahead' the addition of 'ag dul' gives 'I will be going ahead'

Personally I would use something like 'Gabh mo leithscéal, ach beidh an cuid eile i mBéarla' - 'Pardon me' but the rest will be in English' That seems a somewhat more natural turn of phrase to me.

For no. 1, some people may have dificulty finding the correct fada on their computer and think 'close enough' but you are correct, Irish does not have a reverse fada.

On no 2, My grammer is not great, but I can't recall having seen that spelling of the word Gaeltacht.

Gumbi · 07-07-2013 2:35am

Gaeltacht is spelt correctly. Compound words ignore this rule (much like ospidéal, etc.). Gael + tacht roughly means area/place of Irish people.

An Coilean's correction is mostly fine, although cuid is feminine, so it should be renderd as "an chuid". I also prefer "as Béarla", i mBéarla is fine, too, though.

Samantha4 · 07-07-2013 6:59am

Gumbi wrote: »

Gaeltacht is spelt correctly. Compound words ignore this rule (much like ospidéal, etc.). Gael + tacht roughly means area/place of Irish people.

An Coilean's correction is mostly fine, although cuid is feminine, so it should be renderd as "an chuid". I also prefer "as Béarla", i mBéarla is fine, too, though.

I concur with Gumbi, Gaeltacht is the correct spelling (and Galltacht refers to the English speaking parts of Ireland). As is "an chuid" (after the article). Yeah, Gaidhlig uses the reverse 'síneadh fada', so if people are using that, well, they either want to live in Scotland or else they just need to take a closer look at their typing:) Beidh an aimsir bhreá chugainn inniu, bainigí go léir bús as an mbrothall

Samantha4 · 07-07-2013 7:03am

2) People usually write Gaeltacht, but I believe the regular spelling is Gaelteacht (because of the slender vowel in front of -lt- a slender vowel should follow it).

Any comments?

On the other hand..."Gaelteacht" is what they used at all the major battles such as the Battle of the Boyne when they saw any Irish heading their direction. Code for "Gael ag Teacht":)

MaryKirwan · 08-07-2013 2:59pm

How would you say "I haven't moved out yet" (from a house)?

Samantha4 · 08-07-2013 4:04pm

MaryKirwan wrote: »

How would you say "I haven't moved out yet" (from a house)?

Hi Mary, there are a few different ways of saying it, as always. The one that comes to mind 'ar an bpointe boise' is

'nílim tar éis aistriú go fóill' or else

'níor aistríos/níor aistrigh mé go fóill'.

Also: 'níl aistrithe agam go fóill'

It's better to use 'aistrithe' combined with the preposition 'ag', 'agam' in the type of example you have given rather than simply 'nílim aistrithe' which doesn't carry the meaning you are looking for. In the same way, you'd say 'tá ite agam' for I have eaten, rather than just use 'ite' independently.

Gumbi · 08-07-2013 4:15pm

In the right context, you can just use "níor bhogas fós/bhog mé fós" to keep it simple. The other suggestions are good too.

sigmundv · 22-07-2013 12:27am

My favourite Irish job title so far:

Stiúrthóir grianghrafadóireachta
(director of photography)

Got to love the word grianghrafadóireacht!

Micilin Muc · 23-07-2013 4:49pm

Samantha4 wrote: »

2) People usually write Gaeltacht, but I believe the regular spelling is Gaelteacht (because of the slender vowel in front of -lt- a slender vowel should follow it).

Any comments?

On the other hand..."Gaelteacht" is what they used at all the major battles such as the Battle of the Boyne when they saw any Irish heading their direction. Code for "Gael ag Teacht":)

We’re all lead to believe that the vowels are broken down into slender (e & i) and broad (a, o, & u). What they didn’t tell us is that ‘ae’ is also treated as broad. That’s why we have ‘Gaeltacht’, ‘aerfort’, ‘aeráid’

Gumbi · 23-07-2013 4:52pm

Micilin Muc wrote: »

We’re all lead to believe that the vowels are broken down into slender (e & i) and broad (a, o, & u). What they didn’t tell us is that ‘ae’ is also treated as broad. That’s why we have ‘Gaeltacht’, ‘aerfort’, ‘aeráid’

This is true! I knew I was forgetting something mentioning just the compound words' point.

sigmundv · 23-07-2013 5:11pm

Micilin Muc wrote: »

We’re all lead to believe that the vowels are broken down into slender (e & i) and broad (a, o, & u). What they didn’t tell us is that ‘ae’ is also treated as broad. That’s why we have ‘Gaeltacht’, ‘aerfort’, ‘aeráid’

Thank you very much for pointing this out! I see it in the Wikibook on Irish as well:

The golden rule for spelling in Irish, caol le caol agus leathan le leathan means slender with slender and broad with broad. The rule says that the vowels on either side of a consonant (or group of consonants) should agree; they should both be broad or both be slender. The rule is primarily used when you add an ending to a word (e.g., when conjugating a verb). To satisfy the rule you may need to add a vowel between the word and its ending. Note that there are a few common words (such as ansin and anseo) that do not satisfy this rule. However, the diphthong "ae" is considered broad, making words such as "Gaeltacht" and "aerfort" perfectly acceptable.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Irish/Spelling

Worztron · 13-03-2018 7:54pm

Hi. What does 'Cloch Le Carn' mean? I just saw a YT video clip about the program 'Cloch Le Carn - Martin McGuinness on RTE One'. It covers various people.

Worztron · 21-03-2018 10:39pm

Is 'Cloch Le Carn' even an Irish word?

Insect Overlord · 21-03-2018 11:10pm

Worztron wrote: »

Is 'Cloch Le Carn' even an Irish word?

It's a phrase rather than a word.

From http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4282688&tpl=archnewshome&force=1

'Cloch Le Carn’ series producer Kevin Cummins (Léargas) tells IFTN: “The title of this occasional series ‘Cloch le Carn’ could be literally interpreted as ‘adding a stone to the funeral mound’ but in reality the series is taking a constructive but not always uncritical look at public figures who've made a controversial contribution to Irish society in their lifetimes.

Worztron · 21-03-2018 11:23pm

Insect Overlord wrote: »

It's a phrase rather than a word.

From http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4282688&tpl=archnewshome&force=1

Cheers IO.

mr chips · 21-03-2018 11:27pm

Cloch is a stone, carn is a pile or heap of something. It's the origin of the word cairn in English - people refer to a stone cairn at the top of a hill to mark a spot, or similar. I've never heard the specific phrase "cloch le carn" myself, but I assume it's something along the lines of someone/something being akin to a key building block, part of a greater whole, one among many or similar.

Worztron · 28-04-2019 4:03pm

What does 'Rm Uile' [displays properly in attached image] mean in English? It's the CIT motto. Thanks.

Insect Overlord · 28-04-2019 4:38pm

According to their own websites, it means "Let us all achieve together".

Rechuchote · 28-04-2019 4:42pm

Worztron wrote: »

Is 'Cloch Le Carn' even an Irish word?

It's an Irish phrase, meaning "as a cairn is put together by many stones, so, if each of us adds a stone to a cairn, we will build it together". Or "many hands make light work", if you like.

Worztron · 28-04-2019 5:28pm

Thanks, Insect Overlord & Rechuchote.

Worztron · 24-12-2019 8:03pm

Is the Irish words for 'explore', 'read', & 'learn' on this page incorrect? http://www.corkcitylibraries.ie/en/

mr chips · 24-12-2019 11:11pm

Two of them have a fada too many - "Foghlaimígí" should be "Foghlaimigí", and "Fiosraígí" should be "Fiosraigí". "Léigí" is fine though.

Insect Overlord · 25-12-2019 2:16am

mr chips wrote: »

Two of them have a fada too many - "Foghlaimígí" should be "Foghlaimigí", and "Fiosraígí" should be "Fiosraigí". "Léigí" is fine though.

I would've said they were fine as they are. Both of those verbs are in the Dara Réimniú.

mr chips · 25-12-2019 9:47pm

Feck, you're right about that - my mistake!

Worztron · 01-01-2020 7:28pm

The Glenroe theme tune is called 'CuaichGhleann Ninn' [the proper text appears on the Wiki page - for some odd reason, Irish words still don't show properly in my posts] - what's the translation in English?

Little Cuckoo of Glen Nephin
Little Cuckoo of Glen Nefin
Other?

Thanks.

Insect Overlord · 01-01-2020 10:04pm

Worztron wrote: »

Little Cuckoo of Glen Nephin

That one, I reckon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephin

That said, "cuaichín" can be a term of endearment for a female singer with a sweet voice.

Worztron · 04-01-2020 8:51am

Hi. Is this [image attached] a correct way of saying Happy New Year? Thanks.

Esel · 04-01-2020 10:48pm

You could replace 'is' with 'agus'? (It would have the side-effect of centralising your image too.. )

Worztron · 20-03-2020 3:35pm

Hi guys. Would this be correct? -- School of the Holy Spirit = Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh

The "What is this Irish word/phrase in English" thread

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