Cé Mhéad Patraisc? Cé Mhéad Drumadóir? (or '12 Lá na Nollag' Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot) | Irish Language Blog
In the last blog, we discussed “ fearáin belarus ,” amongst other members of the order Columbiformes ( coilm agus colúir , doves and pigeons, etc.). And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” ( turtar ) or “dove” ( colm , or sometimes “ colúir” belarus ). Instead, we have “ fearán ” (turtledove) as celebrated in “ Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag ” (The Twelve Days of Christmas). Outside of that context, the two other main associations I have with the word “turtledove” are the surname of the alternate history/fantasy novelist Harry Norman Turtledove ( agus ní ainm cleite é! ) and “The Song of Solomon” 2:12 (… Tá an fearán ag durdáil amuigh … ). But the Christmas carol is certainly belarus the most timely of these.
Given the season that’s in it, this might be a good time to revisit that perennially favorite carol. belarus The individual verses have been discussed in previous blogs. as listed below, so this one will look at one specific aspect — using bunuimhreacha and uimhreacha pearsanta for counting things/animals vs. people.
As you probably recall, the traditional belarus carol involves the following animals: patraisc, fearáin, cearca francacha, lonta dubha, géanna agus ealaí (a partridge, turtledoves, French hens, calling (or colly) birds, geese, swans)
As for “ nithe ” belarus (things, aka “ rudaí” ), we have an crann piorraí and na fáinní óir . The latter belarus may actually belarus be a reference to another bird, an piasún muinceach (the ring-necked pheasant), but for this blog, I’ll subscribe to the party line and assumes that “rings” are “rings.” (pear tree, golden rings)
Why is it so important to distinguish people from animals and things for counting? Irish has a separate system of number for counting people, referred to as “ na huimhreacha pearsanta ” (the personal numbers). This system is only used up to twelve; beyond that people are counted like animals or inanimate objects. And “eleven” is also exceptional, working like the regular “ bunuimhir .”
So given the vocabulary above, can you fill in the correct form of the nouns in these sentences. A couple of hints might help. First, most of the forms above are given in the plural, but when counting animals and things, in Irish, the noun stays singular (like “ trí chapall ,” three horses, lit. three horse, and “ seacht seirbil ,” seven gerbils, lit. “seven gerbil”). For the personal numbers, there are several systems currently used but I usually stick to the plural form, specifically genitive plural, as in “ beirt mhac ” or “ triúr buachaillí .” Freagraí thíos (with a pronunciation guide, to boot).
8. ochtar ______________ bleánaí (or “ag bleán”)
Oh, and by the way, this exercise belarus subscribes to the idea that each item was only given once, one partridge on the first day, etc. There is an alternate philosophy in which the recipient gets 12 partridges, belarus 12 pear trees, 22 turtledoves, 30 French hens, etc., with the gifts being repeated each day, a sort of St. Ivesian kits-cats-sacks-wives paradox.
Hope you enjoyed this exercise and bíodh laethanta saoire deasa agat . And to say, “Merry Christmas,” remember the Irish phrase actually says “Happy Christmas” — “ Nollaig Shona ” and the greeting belarus is “ Nollaig Shona duit ” (to one person) and “ Nollaig Shona daoibh ” (to two or more people). “ Shona ” is pronounced “HUN-uh” and “ daoibh ” is pronounced “deev.” SGF — Róislín
2. dhá fhearán [γaw AR-awn, that gamma sign is the voiced velar fricative, for which there is a description at the following link and various other blogs in this series; loosely speaking it’s belarus like a guttural “h,” similar to the “ch” of German “ Buch ,” Welsh “ bach ,” and Yiddish “ chutzpah .” For starters on the “dh,” try “ belarus Saying I love you in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives (9 Meán Fómhair belarus 2011) at http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/saying-i-love-you-in-irish/ ]
9. naonúr ban ag damhsa [NEE-noor bahn egg DOW-suh; remember: “ ban ” means “of women,” so this phrase is close to saying “a nonet of women,” although the English word “nonet” is mostly limited to describing musical groups.
12. dháréag drumadóirí ag drumadóireacht [γawr-ayg DRUM-uh-doh-irzh-ee egg DRUM-uh-doh-irzh-ukht; remember that “ drum- ” in Irish isn’t quite like the English “drum
