One day last week I was walking through town and saw a couple walking nearby – a Chinese woman with a Western man. I wondered what language they were speaking to each other, so I eavesdropped and heard that it was Mandarin. This surprised me as it’s rare, in my experience, to hear non-Chinese people speaking Mandarin, especially round here. I was considering going over to introduce myself and finding out how the guy had learned Mandarin, but by that time they’d gone off in different direction.
If you speak a lesser-studied language and hear someone speaking it in public, would you go and talk to them?
Ní tharla mórán rudaí inniu. Bhí lá scamallach ann agus bhí sé níos fuaire na laethanta eile le déanaí. D’obair mé ar maidin, agus sa tráthnóna d’foghlaim mé níos mó Briotáinis agus Rúisis, agus sheinn mé ar uirlisí ceoil éagsúla. Níos déanaí rinne mé comhrá ar an bhfón le cara atá ina cónaí i Shealtainn. Is breá liom a bheith ag caint léi mar is duine chomh dearfach í agus bionn ár comhrá lán le gaire.
Not a lot happened today. It was cloudy and cooler than other days recently. I worked in the morning, and in the afternoon I learnt some more Breton and Russian, and played various musical instruments. Later I had a chat on the phone with a friend who lives in Shetland. I really enjoy chatting to her as she’s such a positive person and our conversations are always filled with laughter.
Seo amrhán nua a scríobh mé le déanaí. Meascán de focail a rinne mé suas, agus focail ó chanúint Shealtainn atá ann. Níl ach píosa spraoi ata ann. Rinne mé iarracht a bheith ag canadh le blas Albanaigh, ach ní féídir liom a bheith ag canadh le blas Shealtainn go fóill, ar an drochuair. Sa taifeadadh seo tá mé tionlacan mé féin ar an ukulele. B’fhéidir cuirfidh mé uirlisí eile leis chomh maith.
Here’s a song I wrote recently that consists of a mixture of made-up words and words from Shetland dialect. It’s just a bit of fun. I tried to sing in a Scottish accent, but can’t yet sing in a Shetland accent, unfortunately. On this recording I accompany myself on the ukulele. I may add other instruments to the recording as well.
Plinkin Plookplooks
When the plookplooks are a plinkin upon their peerie goos
And the baagies are a birlin in their muckle shoes
Beware the mirdin owld masgooms and the oolin mooratoogs
For they will snorf your scobbins, and then slunk doon in the snoob
So put on your zamblated zoot hat and your flartled overflude
And then you’ll feel richt flimpsome and ready for a plood
If the nories are a nigglin, just smeeg and steek your lugs
And then you can outlapple all their wenglit wugs.
If your peerie tings are tussin, don’t twartle like a trow
Just twig and snorf some tabnab, then a twasperin you’ll go
When it’s time for tammie-noddie, they’ll troke and tresh aboot
But just let them trointle truely, and then they’ll tarpool oot.
Cad é a chiallaíonn na focail? What do the words mean?
– plook = goirín – pimple
– plink = seinn ar uirlis téád – to play a string instrument
– peeire = beag – small
– goo = saghas lir boghach le dhá téad – a type of bowed lyre with two strings (usually written gue, gu or gju)
– baagie = droimneach mór – great black-backed gull (Larus marinus)
– birl = bheith ag guairneáil go tapaigh – to whirl rapidly
– muckle = mór – big
– mirdin = bheith lom lán (le) – teeming
– owld = sean – old
– masgoom = bráthair – monkfish
– ool = bheith i ndroim dubhach – to mope
– mooratoog = seangán – ant
– scobbins = brachán nó gránach greamaithe den scilléad – porridge/cereal stuck to the pan, scrappings from the pan
– norie = puifín – puffin
– nigg = tabhair amach do – to nag
– smeeg = seitgháire a dhéanamh – to smirk
– steek = druid = to shut
– lug = cluas – ear
– wenglit = ard – tall
– peerie tings = páistí – children
– tuss = bladair; bheith ag monahbar – to cajole; to murmur
– twartle = béaghnaigh – to contradict
– trow = troll
– twig = tuig – to understand
– tabnab = sneaic milis – sweet snack
– twasper = dul ar cosa in airde – to gallop
– tammie-noddie = codladh – sleep
– troke = margáil a dhéanamh – to bargain
– tresh = iomlaisc – to thrash
– trointle = bheith ag monabhar; ceasnaigh – to mutter; to grumble
Here’s a recording of a verse from a song I’m currently writing. It contains a mixture of genuine words from Shetland dialect and words I made-up, plus a few that are based on Shetland words.
Here are the words:
When the plookplooks are a plinkin upon their peerie goos
And the baagies are a birlin in their muckle shoes
Beware the mirdin owld masgooms and the oolin mooratoogs
For they will snorf your scobbins, and then slunk doon in the snoob.
Can you work out which of the words are made-up and which are genuine, and what do you think they might mean?
I tried to sing in a Scottish accent, though I’m not sure if it’s from any particular part of Scotland. If I could sing in a Shetland accent I would. By using a mixture of Shetland words and made-up ones I’m not implying that the Shetland ones are in any way equivalent to the made-up ones.
Bhain mé an-sult an cór craiceáilte aréir, mar is gnách. Is é an cór craiceáilte grupa beag daoine a bhionn ag canadh le chéile cúpla uair gach mí. Bionn muid ag déanamh suas amhráin nua, agus ag cuir comhcheoil ar amhráin atá ar eolas againn. Cheannaigh mé cláirseach agus melodica ar líne inné, agus tháinig siad inniu. Bhí mé ag smaoineamh faoi cláirseach a cheanach le tamall anuas, agus inné chonaic mé ceann beag ar reic speisialta agus ní fhéadfadh cuir suas di, agus bhí an melodica chomh saor agus chomh gleoite.
I really enjoyed the crazy choir last night, as usual. The crazy choir is a small group of people who sing together a couple of times a month. We make up new songs and improvise harmonies for songs we know. I bought a harp and a melodica online yesterday, and they arrived today. I was thinking about getting a harp for a while, and yesterday I saw a small one on special offer and couldn’t resist, and the melodica was very cheap and cute.
I discovered (via Inky Fool) an alternative word for tennis today – sphairistike [sfɛəˈrɪstɪkɪ], which sounds a bit like the phrase ‘it’s very sticky’. This was the name coined by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield (pictured right), who invented (lawn) tennis in 1873, and it comes from the Greek σϕαιριστική (sfairistiké), or ‘(skill) in playing at ball’ or ‘sphere-tech’.
Before then the word tennis, which comes from the French word tenez (hold), referred to a game played in an enclosed court – a game now known as Real Tennis.
Strangely the word sphairistike never really caught on, and everyone began referring to the game a tennis or lawn tennis.
A related word is sphairistic (adj) = tennis playing.
Do you know of any other obscure or obsolete terms for popular sports?
Chuiagh mé chun an fiaclóir maidin inniu, agus ní raibh fadhb ar bith leis mo fhiacla go hádhúil. Mar bhí daoine ag obair sa teach agus ar an díon, chuaigh mé amach chun lón a fháíl. Tá an obair déanta acu anois, agus tá na painéíl greine ag gin leictreachas. Rachaidh siad ar ais amárach chun an scafall a thógáil as an díon.
I went to the dentist this morning and there were no problems with my teeth, fortunately. As the guys were working in the house and on the roof, I went out for lunch. The work is finished now and the solar panels are generating electricity. They’ll be back tomorrow to take down the scaffolding from the roof.
I came across the word ресторанчики (restoranchiki) in the Russian lesson I’m working on today. It is the plural of ресторанчики, a diminutive of ресторан (restaurant), which has no exact equivalent I can think of in English – maybe restaurantette. You could say a little restaurant and a tiny restaurant, but I’m not sure if that has the same meaning. Can you suggest any alternatives in English?
It appears in the phrase “На Мальте очень хорошие маленькие ресторанчики, совсем недорогие.” (Malta has many very good, small restaurants, which are all cheap.)
Russian and other Slavic languages seem to use lots of diminutives like this, and I think Portuguese does as well. Do other languages?
Tá lá breá eile ann inniu, agus da bhrí sin bhí mo seisiún ceoil sa ghairdín an tráthnóna seo. Shuigh muid sios faoi an crann úll, agus sheinn muid meascán de foinn ó Albain, ó Éirinn, ó Oileán Mhanann agus ón Rúis. Bhí sé an-deas a bheith taobh amuigh, ach ar an drochuair shéid na leathanaigh ceoil ar shiúl ó am go ham. B’fhéídir ba chóir dom pionnaí éadaigh a fháil roimh an tseachtain seo chugainn.
It’s another lovely day today so my music session was in the garden this afternoon. We sat under the apple tree and played a mixture of tunes from Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Russia. It was really nice to be outside, although the wind did blow down the sheets of music at times. Maybe I should get some clothes peg before next week.
