Téacschaint

In my Irish language class this morning we learnt some of the abbreviations used in texts messages in Irish.

Here are a few of them:

grma = go raibh maith agat (thank you)
cgl = ceart go leor (ok)
n8 = anocht (tonight)
7n = seachtain (week)
R y leat = ar mhaith leat (do you want)
a #ce = a thaisce (my darling/dear)
9l = níl (not/no)
sgf = slán go fóill (goodbye)

There are some more here.

I’m not a big fan of such abbreviations in Irish, English or other languages, but do quite like the inventiveness of them.

Iron horses

I came across the term gearrán iarainn the other day while looking for something else in my Irish dictionary. The literal meaning is ‘iron horse’ and the actual meaning is bicycle. It sounds similar to one of the early words for car – horseless carriage – and just appealed to me. I’m fairly sure it isn’t used very often though – the more common Irish word for bicycle is rothar, which comes from the root roth, wheel. A cyclist is rothaí, to cycle is rothaigh, and cycling is rothaíocht.

Do you know of any other languages which have a similarly interesting name for the bicycle?

Gleann Cholm Cille

I arrived in Gleann Cholm Cille in Donegal yesterday evening after a long but trouble-free journey by train, ferry and bus. The Irish Sea was very calm and the crossing was so smooth that if I hadn’t been looking out of the window, I wouldn’t have know that I was on a boat. It was more like a floating shopping centre in fact with numerous shops, cafés, bars and a small amusement arcade.

After arriving in Dun Laoghaire, I took the train into central Dublin, had some lunch at the bus station, then got the bus to Gleann Cholm Cille. The bus routes have changed a bit since last year and now go via Dublin airport, which adds half an hour or so to the journey. I slept or dozed much of the time, except for the last part of the journey between Donegal Town and Gleann Cholm Cille, the part with the best scenery.

I’m staying in the B&B I stayed in the first time I came here four years ago and sharing a room with Murt from Dublin, a native Irish speaker who hasn’t spoken the language much for many years. There are a couple of other Irish people staying here, both of whom speak Irish well, though are somewhat out of practice, and a couple from Holland or one of the Scandinavian countries – I’m fairly sure their speaking a Germanic language, but haven’t worked out which one yet. My hosts here, Margaret, is an excellent cook and her husband, Martin, is a professional chef in a local hotel. When I turned on my laptop yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have wifi here I can use.

Many of the people who were here for the summer school last year are here again this year, including the President of Ireland, so there are plenty of familiar faces. The programme is similar to last year as well. Last night we had the usual welcome talk from Liam, the director of Oideas Gael, and today we will be sorted into classes. There are eight levels of classes – last year I chose level 7, which was very interesting but more like a series of lectures than a typical language class, so this year I’m going to try level 6, which I hope will give me more chances to speak Irish.

Apart from a brief shower on the way here, the weather has been warm and sunny so far.

Long journey

Tomorrow morning I’m off to Ireland for a week of Irish language and culture at Oideas Gael in Donegal. After this I’ll be going to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye, for a week of Gaelic song, and should have plenty of opportunities to speak Scottish Gaelic there as well.

Even though the journey will be long and complex involving trains, ferries, buses and planes, plus an overnight stay in Glasgow as it’s not possible to get from Donegal to Skye in one day, I’m really looking forward to it as it will take me through some beautiful scenery.

I probably won’t have internet access during the first week, but might during the second, so it could take a while for me to reply to your emails.

Taith hir

A i i Iwerddon yfory i ddysgu mwy o Wyddeleg yn Oideas Gael, Sefydliad Diwylliant Wlster yn Donegal. Bydda i’n cymryd mewn yr ysgol haf mewn iaith a diwylliant am wythnos, fel mi wnes i y llynedd. Yna a i i Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, coleg Gaeleg ar Ynys Skye i wneud cwrs mewn caneuon Gaeleg. Ar y ffordd yn ôl i Fangor, treuliais i dau ddydd efo fy rhieni yn Sir Gaerhirfryn.

Bydd y daith yn un hir a chymhleth – a i a’r trên i Gaergybi yn cyntaf, ac yna i Glencolmbcille yn Donegal ar fferi, trên a bysiau trwy Dulyn a Thref Donegal. O Donegal i Skye a i ar bysiau, awyren, trên a fferi trwy Belfast, Glasgow, Mallaig ac Armadale, ac bydda rhaid i mi aros yn Glasgow un noson.

Dw i’n edrych ymlaen yn fawr at y daith ac at y cyrisau.

Turas fada

Rachaidh mé go hÉirinn amárach níos mó Gaeilge a fhoghlaim in Oideas Gael. Beidh mé ag glachadh páirt sa Scoil Shamhraidh i dTeanga agus Cultúr mar a rinne mé anuraidh. I ndiaidh sin, rachaidh mé go Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, coláiste Gàidhlig san Oileán Sciathanach cúrsa amhráin Gàidhlig a dhéanamh. Ar an mbealach ar ais go Bangor, caithfidh mé cúpla lá le mo thuismitheoirí i Lancashire.

Beidh sé turas fada agus casta sa traein go Holyhead ar dtús, agus ansin i mbád go Dún Laoghaire, sa traein go Baile Átha Cliatha agus ar an mbus go Gleann Cholm Cille trí Baile Dún na nGall. Ó nDún na nGall go dtí an Oileán Sciathanach, rachaidh mé ar an mbus, san eitleán, sa traein agus i mbád trí Béal Feirste, Glaschú, Mallaig agus Armadale, agus beidh orm oíche a chaitheamh i nGlaschú.

Tá mé ag súil go mór leis an turas agus na cúrsaí.

Television and stinky badgers

What does television and stinky badgers have in common?

Well, there’s a kind of stink badger (Mydaus javanensis) that lives in Java, Sumatra, Borneo and the North Natuna Islands of Indonesia and which called teledu /teledu/ in Malay; sigung in Indonesian. The word teledu /tɛ’lɛdɨ/ just happens to be the Welsh word for television.

This is the stink badger:

Teledu - the Javanese Stink Badger

Found via this blog.

The word television of course comes from the Greek word τῆλε (tele), ‘far off / at a distance’, and the Latin visionem, ‘act of seeing, sight, thing seen’. Most languages call the television something similar. There a few exceptions though, including the German Fernsehen, ‘Far-see’, the Norwegian Fjernsyn, which means the same as the German; the Icelandic Sjónvarp, ‘vision’ + ‘throw’; and the Chinese 電視 [电视] (di

Literary translation

Have you ever wondered what kind of challenges you might encounter when translating Asterix? It’s not just about translating the dialogues – there are also numerous names, verbal and visual puns, songs and accents to deal with, and you have to fit the translated text into the speech bubbles. An interesting site – Literary Translation – goes into more detail of some of the difficulties of translating various literary works, including Asterix.

I’ve only read Asterix in English, plus a few of the books in German, so am not familiar with the original French text. Most of the names of the characters in French are different to the ones I’m used to in English. For example, the Gaulish bard, who is Cacofonix in English, is known as Assurancetourix = assurance tous risques, ‘comprehensive insurance’ in French. Many of the other names are made up of French words like this, and don’t sound like names if translated literally. Another example is the Gaulish chieftain, Abraracourcix, whose name comes from the phrase

Ymgartrefu ym Mangor

Dw i wedi bod ym Mangor ers wythnos a hanner bellach a dw i’n setlo i mewn yn dda. Yn ystod y dydd dw i’n arfer ateb yr e-bostiau sy’n dod o Omniglot, ac yn gwneud pethau eraill arno. Ateb yr e-bostiau ydy’r peth dw i’n treulio y mwyafrif fy amser amdano wrth i mi gweithio ar y wefan. Hefyd, dw i’n ysgrifennu erthyglau am ieithoedd ar gyfer asiantaeth iaith/teithio ym Mrighton, ac yn ymarfer y gitâr a’r chwiban, ac yn dysgu mwy o Wyddeleg a Gaeleg. Dw i’n mwynhau yn fawr ysgrifennu’r erthyglau.

Dw i’n wedi gwario gormod o bres yn ddiweddar yn prynu dodrefn a phethau eraill ar gyfer y tŷ. Nid peth rhad ydy symud tŷ! Yn ffodus mae’r costau yn llai ym Mangor nac ym Mrighton, a fan hyn dw i’n prynu bwyd mewn archfarchnadoedd rhad fel Aldi ac Iceland; yn Mrighton o’n i’n prynu bwyd yn Waitrose, archfarchnad costus iawn, ond roedd hi’n yr archfarchnad ymylaf i fy nhŷ. Un ddiog iawn ydw i weithiau.

Dw i’n mynd am dro bob dydd, heblaw pan mae’n bwrw glaw trwm, a dw i’n ceisio mynd i ddilyn llwybr gwahanol bob tro. Felly dw i’n mynd yn fwy cyfarwydd efo’r dref, ond dw i ddim wedi dod i nabod neb yma eto.

Ddydd Sul diwethaf es i i Landudno am y tro cyntaf. Mae’r lle yn hyfryd, yn enwedig y traeth, y bae, a’r Gogarth, ac roedd llawer o bobl yn mwynhau’r tywydd braf. Y tro nesaf, bydda i’n mynd â fy sgidiau sglefrolio ac yn manteisio ar y promenâd hir. Mi ges i synnu nac roedd neb arall yn gwneud yr un peth.

Ddoe es i i Gaernarfon yn y prynhawn. Dyna’r ail dro dw i wedi mynd yno a gweles i mwy o’r dref y tro hwn.

Socraigh isteach i mBangor

Tá mé i mBangor le seachtaine go leith anois agus tá mé ag socraigh isteach go maith. I rith an lae bím ag freagair ríomhphostanna atá ag teacht ó Omniglot, agus ag déanamh rudaí eile air. Ag freagair ríomhphostanna atá an rud bím ag caith an chuid is mó de m’am air agus mé ag obair ar an suíomh. Bím ag scríobh altanna faoi teangacha do ghníomhaireacht teangacha/taistil i mBrighton, ag cleachtadh an giotár agus an fheadóg stáin, agus ag foghlaim níos mó Gaeilge agus Gàidhlig freisin. Bainim an-sult as na haltanna ag scríobh.

Tá mé ag caitheamh barraíocht airgid le déanaí ag ceannaigh troscán agus rudaí eile don teach. Níl rud saor atá aistrigh i dteach nua! Go hádhúil bíonn an costas maireachtála níos lú i mBangor ná i mBrigthon, agus anseo bím ag ceannaigh bia in ollmhargaí saoire mar Aldi agus Iceland; i mBrighton bhí mé ag ceannaigh bia i Waitrose, ollmhargadh an daor, ach bhí sé an t-ollmhargadh is cóngaraí do m’árasán. An leisciúil atá mé amanna.

Bím ag dul ag siúil gach lá, ach nuair atá báisteach trom ann, agus bím ag triail as slí éagsúla a lean gach uair. Mar sin de, tá mé ag éirigh níos eolacha leis an áit, ach níl aithne agam ag aon duine anseo go fóill.

De Domhnaigh seo caite, chuaigh mé go Llandudno ar an chead uair. Is áit álainn í, go hairithe an trá, an bá agus an Great Orme agus Little Orme (cinn tíre móra ag gach ceann an trá), agus bhain a lán duine sult as an aimsir deas. An uair seo caite, tabharfaidh mé mo scataí agus scátálfaidh mé i rith an promanád.

Inné chuaigh mé go Caernarfon sa tráthnóna. Bhí sin an dara uair a bhí ag dol ansin agus chonaic mé níos mó an uair seo.

Mystery songs

Today we have two questions from visitors to Omniglot.

The first question comes from someone who cares for a women in the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She doesn’t communicate much, but when she does she usually sings a song that seems to be in Ukrainian or possibly Slovak (she is an American woman who speaks English). Below is a phonetic rendering of what she sings:

Hietsa kietsa kulo pietsa
Talo mene pabolo
Mama mene swala wala
Him no mene pabolo

Do any of you recognise this song or the language?

The second question comes from someone in Canada who remembers her Scottish grandparents singing a goodbye song. Below is her phonetic rendering of the first line of the song, which is all she remembers, is “A daw a wha-a-tay bide ee wha-a-a”. Is this familiar to anyone?