Category: Irish (Gaeilge)

Strong Names

By Simon

What connects the names Cathal, Ronald, Valerie and Walter? Let’s find out.

Where's Wally?
Where’s Walter / Wally?

The name Cathal comes from Irish Cathal [ˈkahəlˠ], from Old Irish Cathal, from Proto-Celtic *Katuwalos from *katus (battle) and *walos (prince, chief), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (to rule, to be strong). The Welsh names Cadwal and Cadwaladr come from the same roots [source].

Names that also share the Proto-Celtic root *walos (prince, chief) include Conall – from *kū (dog, wolf) and *walos; Donald / Domhnall from *dubnos (world) and *walos, and (O’)Toole – from *toutā (people, tribe, tribal land) and *walos [source].

The name Ronald comes from Scottish Gaelic Raghnall [ˈrˠɤ̃ː.əl̪ˠ], from Old Norse Rǫgnvaldr, from Proto-Germanic *Raginawaldaz from *raginą (decision, advice, counsel) and *waldaz (wielder, rule), from *waldaną (to rule), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (to rule, to be strong) [source].

Names that also share the Proto-Germanic root *waldaz (wielder, rule) include Harold – from *harjaz (army, commander, warrior) and *waldaz; Oswald – from *ansuz (deity, god) and *waldaz; Gerald – from *gaizaz (spear, pike, javelin) and *waldaz, and Walter – from *waldaz and *harjaz (army, commander, warrior) [source].

The name Valerie comes from French Valérie, from Latin Valeria, a feminine form of the Roman family name Valerius, from Latin valere (to be strong), from valeō (to be strong, to be powerful, to be healthy, to be worthy), from Proto-Italic *waleō (to be strong) from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥h₁éh₁yeti, from *h₂welh₁- (to rule, to be strong) [source]. Names from the same Latin roots include Valentine, Valeria and Valencia.

Parts of all these names can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂welh₁- (to rule, to be strong) – the same is true for the names Arnold, Reginald, Reynold and Vlad(imir) [source].

Other words from the same PIE root include: ambivalent, cuckold, evaluation, invalid, prevalence, unwieldy, valour and value in English, gwlad (country, sovereignty) and gwaladr (ruler, sovereign) in Welsh, walten (to rule, exercise control) in German, vallita (to prevail, predominate, reign) in Finnish, vládnout (to rule, reign) in Czech, and власт (vlast – power, authority, influence, government) in Bulgarian [source].

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Hosting Hostages

By Simon

Are the words hostage and host related? Let’s find out.

host
A host of daffodils

A hostage [ˈhɒs.tɪʤ / ˈhɑs.tɪʤ] is:

  • A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or similar agreement, such as to ensure the status of a vassal.
  • A person seized in order to compel another party to act (or refrain from acting) in a certain way, because of the threat of harm to the hostage.
    other meanings are available.

It comes from Middle English (h)ostage (hostage), from Old French (h)ostage, either from Old French oste (innkeeper, landlord, host), or from Latin obsidāticum (condition of being held captive), from Latin obses (hostage, captive, security, pledge), from ob- (in front of) and sedeō (to sit) [source].

A host [həʊst / hoʊst] is:

  • One which receives or entertains a guest, socially, commercially, or officially.
  • A person or organization responsible for running an event.
  • A moderator or master of ceremonies for a performance.
    other meanings are available.

It comes from Middle English hoste (host), from Old French oste (innkeeper, landlord host), from Latin hospitem, from hospes (host, guest, visitor, stranger, foreigner, unaware, inexperienced, untrained), from Proto-Italic *hostipotis (host), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstipotis (lord, master, guest), from *gʰóstis (stranger, host, guest, enemy) and *pótis (master, ruler, husband) [source].

Host can also refer to a multitude of people arrayed as an army (e.g. a Heavenly host (of angels)). This comes from the same PIE root (*gʰóstis) as the other kind of host, via Middle English oost (host, army), Old French ost(e) (army), Latin hostis (an enemy of the state, a hostile), Proto-Italic *hostis (stranger, guest) [source].

Another meaning of host is the consecrated bread of the Eucharist. This comes from Middle English (h)oist (a sacrificial victim, the Eucharistic wafer), from Old French hoiste, from Latin hostia ( sacrifice, offering, victim, sacrificial animal, the consecrated bread), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰostiyo-, from *ǵʰes- (hand, to take, to give in exchange) [source].

So hostage and host might be related, at least in the first two senses.

Other words related to host include guest in English, Gast (guest) in German, gäst (guest) in Swedish, and gjest (guest) in Norwegian [source].

In Old English, the word ġīs(e)l [jiːzl] meant hostage, and comes from Proto-West Germanic *gīsl (hostage), from Proto-Germanic *gīslaz (hostage), from Proto-Celtic *geistlos (hostage, bail), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeydʰ- (to yearn for). So a hostage is “one who yearns for (release)” [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root (*geistlos), include giall (hostage) in Irish, giall (hostage, pledge) in Scottish Gaelic, gwystl (pledge, pawn, hostage) in Welsh, gijzelen (to take hostage) in Dutch, and Geisel (hostage) in German, gidsel (hostage) in Danish and gísl (hostage) in Icelandic [source].

Another word from the same Proto-Celtic root is kihlata (to betroth) in Finnish, which comes via Proto-Finnic *kihla (pledge, bet, wager, engagement gift), and Proto-Germanic *gīslaz (hostage) [source].

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Piecemeal Time

By Simon

The word piecemeal means made or done in pieces or one stage at a time, but why meal? Does it have something to do with food?

Party food buffet

Piecemeal is [ˈpiːs.miːl] comes from Middle English pēce(s)-mēle (in pieces, piece by piece, bit by bit), from pēce(s) (a fragment, bit, piece) and -mēl(e) (a derivational suffix in adverbs) [source].

Pēce(s) comes from Old French piece (piece, bit, part), from Late Latin pettia (piece, portion), from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (piece, portion), possibly from a non-Indo-European substrate [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots include piece in English, pièce (room, patch, piece, play, document) in French, peza (piece, fragment, part) in Galician, pieze (piece, part) in Spanish, peth (thing, object, material) in Welsh, pezh (piece, bit, room, part, what) in Breton, cuid (part, share, portion, some) in Irish, and cooid (certain, some, stuff, goods, part) in Manx – for more related words in Celtic languages see the Parts and Portions post on the Celtiadur [source].

-mēle comes from Old English mǣlum (at a time), from mǣl (measure, mark, sign, time, occasion, season, the time for eating, meal[time]), from Proto-West Germanic *māl (time, occasion, mealtime), from Proto-Germanic *mēlą (time, occasion, period, meal, spot, mark, measure), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- (“to measure”) [source].

The English word meal can refer to food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity (as opposed to a snack), and food served or eaten as a repast, and used to mean a time or an occasion. It retains this last meaning in the word piecemeal. Related words include footmeal (one foot at a time) and heapmeal (in large numbers, heap by heap) [source].

Related words in other languages include maal (meal, time, occurrence) in Dutch, Mal (time, occasion) and Mahl (meal) in German, mål (target, finish, goal, meal) in Swedish, and béile (meal) in Irish.

In Old English, the word styċċemǣlum was used to mean piecemeal, piece by piece, in pieces, gradually, etc. It became stichmeal in early modern English. Related words include bitmǣlum (bit by bit), dropmǣlum (drop by drop), which became dropmeal, and stæpmǣlum (step by step), which became stepmeal [source].

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Satorial Tailoring

By Simon

What links the word satorial with the words tailor in various languages? Let’s find out.

PenHaligon's Sartorial

The word sartorial means:

  • Of or relating to the tailoring of clothing.
  • Of or relating to the quality of dress.
  • Of or relating to the sartorius muscle ( a long muscle in the leg.

It comes from New Latin sartorius (pertaining to a tailor), from Late Latin sartor (mender, patcher, tailor), from Latin sarcire (to patch, mend), sarciō (to patch, botch, mend, repair, restore, to make amends, recompense), from Proto-Indo-European *serḱ- (to mend, make good, recompense) [source].

Words from the same roots include sastre (tailor) in Spanish, Tagalog and Chavacano, xastre (tailor) in Asturian, Galician and Portuguese, sarto (tailor) in Italian, sertir (to crimp, set, socket [jewellery]) and the surname Sartre in French, and the obsolete English word sartor (tailor) [source].

The English word tailor, which refers to a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothes professionally, especially suits and men’s clothing, comes from Middle English taillour (tailor), from Anglo-Norman tailloru (tailor), from Old French tailleor (tailor), from taillier (to cut, shape), from Late Latin tāliō (retaliation, to cut, prune), from Latin tālea (rod, stick, stake, a cutting, twig, sprig), the origins of which are uncertain [source].

Related words include tally (any account or score kept by notches or marks) in English, taille (size, waist) and tailler (to cut) in French, Teller (plate, dish) in German, táille (fee, charge) in Irish, talea (cutting, scion) in Italian, and taior (woman’s suit) in Romanian tajar (to cut, slice, chop) in Spanish [source].

I was inspired to write this post after learning that tailor in Spanish is sastre, and wondering where it comes from.

By the way, Happy New Year! Blwyddyn newydd dda! Bonne année ! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 新年快樂！ 新年快乐！ Felice anno nuovo! 新年おめでとうございます! Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit! Bliadhna mhath ùr! Blein Vie Noa! Ein gutes neues Jahr! Feliĉan novan jaron! Поздравляю с Новым Годом! Šťastný nový rok! Godt nytår! Gott nytt år! La Mulți Ani! Onnellista uutta vuotta! 🎆🎉🥂🥳

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New Old Words

By Simon

I spent last week in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland learning some more Irish, and learning about the area where I was, Glencolmcille (Gleann Cholm Cille in Irish). I had a great time, met some interesting people, and saw some beautiful places.

Gleann Cholm Cille

The course I did this time is called Language and Landscape: The Heritage of Gleann Cholm Cille / Teanga agus Timpeallacht: Oidhreacht Ghleann Cholm Cille. It involves Irish language classes in the mornings, and walks, talks, trips and other activities in afternoons and evenings. It’s run by Oideas Gael, an Irish language and culture centre in the southwest of Donegal which is celebrating its 40th year this year. I’ve been there for 16 of those years: every year from 2005 to 2019, and in 2024.

In previous years I’ve done courses there in Irish language, harp and bodhrán playing, and Irish sean-nós singing. I always enjoy my time there, which is why I keep going back. Most of the people there were from Ireland, and there were also people from the USA, UK, France, Canada, Portugal, Austria and Russia.

Slieve League / Sliabh Liag

So, as well as practising my Irish, I got to speak other languages like French, German and Japanese. In class our teacher also taught as a few interesting words in Ulster Scots.

These include:

  • gollumpus = an ungainly person; a large, loutish, uncoordinated person
  • gomeral = a fool, simpleton lout
  • glype, glipe = a stupid and annoying person
  • clart = mud, mire; a lump or clot of something disagreeable or distasteful; a big, dirty, untidy person

Gomeral is a diminutive of Middle English gōme (man, warrior, husband, male servant), from Old English guma (male, hero), from Proto-Germanic *gumô (man, person), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (man, person) [source].

Clart comes from Middle English *clart, from biclarten (to cover or smear with dirt) [source].

I’m not sure where the other words come from.

Sunset / Luí na gréine

One thing we did in class was to come up with some new proverbs in Irish. Incidentally, the Irish word for proverb is seanfhocal, which literally means “old word”. So here are a few new old words:

  • Ní aon maitheas an chomhad a shabháil agus an riomhaire múchta agat.
    There’s no good in saving the file when you’ve turned off the computer.
  • Ní léiríonn solas an scáileáin bealach éinne.
    The light of the screen shows no one the way.
  • Is fearr traein amháin ná míle gluaisteán.
    One train is better than 1,000 cars.

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Ireland / Éire

By Simon

I’m off to Ireland tomorrow for a week of learning Irish and learning about the landscape of Glencolumcile (Gleann Cholm Cille) in Donegal. I’ve been there many times before – every year from 2005 to 2019, but this is the first since then. I’ll probably see quite a few people I know, and meet some new ones as well, and I’m looking forward to it.

Gleann Cholm Cille

I rarely get to speak much Irish in Bangor. There are a few Irish speakers here, and we conversations in Irish occasionally. Apart from that, I sometimes listen to Irish songs and Irish language radio, and have been brushing up my Irish on Duolingo recently.

While I’m there, I probably won’t have a lot of time to work on Omniglot. Normal service will resume after I get back.

Gleann Cholm Cille

A Little Alliteration

By Simon

I like a little alliteration, don’t you?

A Little Allteration

Alliteration is “The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals.” [source]. As in the sentence above. It comes from Modern/New Latin alliterationem, from alliterare (to begin with the same letter), from Latin ad (to, near) and lītera (letter, script) [source].

Other names for this include consonance (the repetition of consonants sounds) [source] and head rhyme. If similar or indentical vowel sounds are being repeated, as in “How now, brown cow?”, it’s called assonance [source] or slant rhyme.

Other kinds of rhymes include:

  • syllabic rhyme: the last syllable of each word sounds the same but does not necessarily contain stressed vowels. E.g. cleaver, silver; pitter, patter.
  • imperfect (or near) rhyme: a rhyme between a stressed and an unstressed syllable. E.g. wing, caring
  • weak (or unaccented) rhyme: a rhyme between two sets of one or more unstressed syllables. E.g. hammer, carpenter
  • semirhyme: a rhyme with an extra syllable on one word. E.g. bend, ending
  • forced (or oblique) rhyme: a rhyme with an imperfect match in sound. E.g. green and fiend; one, thumb)
  • pararhyme: all consonants match. E.g. tick, tock; bing, bong

Other types of rhyme, and other ways of classifying rhymes are available [More details].

I use a variety of rhymes in the songs I write. For example, my latest song was inspired by a phrase from the Irish course in Duolingo “Léann na lachan na nuachtán.” (The ducks read the newspaper). I made a more alliterative version: “Tá lacha ag léamh leabhar sa leabhrlann le leon agus luch.” (A duck is reading a book in the library with a lion and a mouse). The English version is only slightly alliterative, and that’s what often happens with translations, and why songs and poems are difficult to translate.

Here are the words of the song. Parts are quite alliterative, in Irish at least.

Eachtraí na Lacha (The Duck’s Adventures)

Tá an lacha ag léamh sa leabharlann
The duck is reading in the library
Tá an lacha ag léamh sa leabharlann
le leon agus luch (with a lion and a mouse)

Tá an lacha ag siúl go Sligeach
The duck is walking to Sligo
Tá an lacha ag siúl go Sligeach
ag lorg lámhainní (looking for gloves)

Tá an lacha ag canadh amhrán
The duck is singing a song
Tá an lacha ag canadh amhrán
faoi sionach an-sionnachúil (about a very cunning fox)

Tá an lacha ag labhairt Laidin
The duck is speaking Latin
Tá an lacha ag labhairt Laidin
lena lucht leanúna (with its supporters)

Tá an lacha ina coladh ina leabaidh
The duck is sleeping in its bed
Tá an lacha ina coladh ina leabaidh
Agus sin deireadh an scéil
And that’s the end of the tale
Agus sin deireadh an scéil

Here’s a rough recording:

I’ve been thinking of making it trilingual in Irish, English and Welsh, but haven’t got round to it yet.

Here’s an alliterative phrase I came up with that seems to translate well into a variety of languages:

  • English: Singers sing songs
  • Albanian: Këngëtarët këndojnë këngë
  • Armenian: Երգիչները երգեր են երգում (Yergich’nery yerger yen yergum)
  • Aymara: Q’uchunakax q’uchunak q’uchupxi
  • Bengali: গায়কেরা গান গায় (Gāẏakērā gāna gāẏa)
  • Bulgarian: Певците пеят песни (Pevtsite peyat pesni)
  • Catalan: Els cantants canten cançons
  • Corsican: I cantanti cantanu canti
  • Croatian: Pjevači pjevaju pjesme
  • Danish: Sangere synger sange
  • Dhivehi (Maldivian): (lavakiyuntherin lavakiyaeve) ލަވަކިޔުންތެރިން ލަވަކިޔައެވެ
  • Esperanto: Kantistoj kantas kantojn
  • Estonian: Lauljad laulavad laule
  • Finnish: Laulajat laulavat lauluja
  • French: Les chanteurs chantent des chansons
  • Galician: Os cantantes cantan cancións
  • Greek: Οι τραγουδιστές τραγουδούν τραγούδια (Oi tragoudistés tragoudoún tragoúdia)
  • Haitian Creole: Chantè chante chante
  • Hindi: गायक गीत गाते हैं (gaayak geet gaate hain)
  • Lingala: Bayembi bayembaka banzembo
  • Mongolian: Дуучид дуу дуулдаг (Duuchid duu duuldag)
  • Romanian: Cântăreții cântă cântece
  • Russian: Певцы поют песни (Pevtsy poyut pesni)
  • Swedish: Sångare sjunger sånger
  • Turkish: Şarkıcılar şarkılar söylüyor
  • Welsh: Cantorion yn canu caneuon

Translations by Google Translate. More are available

It’s unusual to find a phrase like this that has alliterative translations into so many different languages.

Are there other kinds of rhymes that you like / use / know?

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Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

By Simon

Oban / An t-Òban
A sunny morning in Oban / Madainn ghrianach anns an Oban

The trip from Oban to Skye went smoothly, and I bumped into a couple on the bus who I met at SMO last year. There were several other SMO-bound people on the bus, but I didn’t know them at the time. We arrived safely at Broadford on Sunday afternoon, and got a lift to the college from there. Along the way, there was sunshine, lots of rain and some high winds, and the views from the bus were beautiful.

Tyndrum / Taigh an Droma
Changing buses in Tyndrum / Ag atharrachadh bhusaichean ann an Taigh an Droma

So far, the Gaelic song course has been a lot of fun. There are eleven of us in the class from Scotland, England, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Some are here for the first time, others have been here before. Most speak at least some Gaelic, and there’s one native speaker. For me, it’s my 10th time here doing Gaelic song courses, and the 7th course I’ve done with Christine Primrose – the other song courses were with Joy Dunlop, Margaret Stewart and Mary Ann Kennedy.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Àrainn Chaluim Chille – the newer part of the college / Am pàirt as ùire den cholaiste

We learnt five songs on Monday, eleven yesterday, and another four today. Some of them I already know, or have at least heard before, which makes it easier to pick them up. Others are a bit more challenging with lots of verses, and complex melodies that change with every verse to fit to the words. Everything is taught by ear, and Christine likes to tell stories about the songs, the people who wrote them, and how life was at the time they were written. A lot of the songs are relatively old – from the 17th or 18th centuries, and have been passed on orally since then.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Àrainn Ostaig – the older part of the college / am pàirt as sine den cholaiste

On Monday night there was a pub quiz, which was good fun. The team I was in didn’t win, but we were only one point behind the winning team.

The people who study here and work here come from many different places and speak a variety of languages. I try to speak as much Scottish Gaelic as I can while I’m here – that’s one of the reasons why I come here – and I’ve also had conversations in French, Irish and Mandarin Chinese, and spoken odd bits of Welsh, German, Portuguese, Japanese, and even a bit of English.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
The views from here are quite nice / Tha na seallaidhean às an seo gu math snog

Last night there was a concert featuring Eilidh Shaw and Ross Martin, a husband and wife duo – he plays the guitar, and she sings and plays the fiddle. They write interesting songs and lively tunes in a traditional Scottish style and sounded great. It was also a nice way to celebrate my birthday.

We have a bit of time off today, and there’s a music session in the bar tonight. I was planning to go for a walk, but it’s raining quite a lot, so I’m spending my free afternoon relaxing in my room, learning a bit more Gaelic, writing nonsense like this, and reading.

Giving Up

By Simon

I have some news – I’ve had enough of learning languages and am giving up, throwing in the towel, putting the fiddle in the roof, throwing a spoon, and throwing the axe in the lake.

Giving up

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I like speaking other languages, at least sometimes, but the process of learning them can be a bit tedious. I already speak some languages reasonably well and don’t currently need to learn any more, so maybe my time would be better spent doing other things.

My other main passion is music – I like to sing, to play instruments, and to write songs and tunes. I’ll be spending more time doing this, and will maybe even focus on one instrument, at least for a while, and learn to play it better.

The question is, which instrument? I have a house full of them, including a piano, harps, guitars, ukuleles, recorders, whistles, ocarinas, harmonicas, melodicas, a mandolin, a bodhrán and a cavaquinho.

The instrument I play most often at the moment is the mandolin, so maybe I should focus on that.

If you’ve noticed the date, you may realise that this post is in fact an April Fool. I’m not giving up on learning languages, and actually do enjoy the process, most of the time, and while I do want to improve my mandolin playing, I also want to improve my playing of other instruments.

Incidentally, let’s look at some ways to say that you’re giving up.

In English you might say you quit, you’re calling it a day, you’re calling it quits you’re throwing in the towel or the sponge or the cards, or you’re throwing up your hands.

Equivalent phrases in other languages include:

  • hodit flintu do žita = to throw a flint into the rye (Czech)
  • jeter le manche après la cognée = to throw the handle after the axe (French)
  • leggja árar í bát = to put oars in a boat (Icelandic)
  • do hata a chaitheamh leis = to throw your hat in (Irish)
  • gettare le armi = to throw away your weapons (Italian)
  • 匙を投げる (saji o nageru) = to throw a spoon (Japanese)
  • подня́ть бе́лый флаг (podnjat’ belyj flag) = to raise the white flag (Russian)
  • leig an saoghal leis an t-sruth = to let the world flow (Scottish Gaelic)
  • baciti pušku u šaš = to throw a gun into the sedge (Serbian)
  • kasta yxan i sjön = to throw the axe into the lake (Swedish)
  • rhoi’r ffidl yn y to = to put the fiddle in the roof (Welsh)

More details of these phrases can be found on Wiktionary.

Do you have any others?

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