by Jim Norton / le Séamas Ó
Neachtain
Samhain/Nollaig 2002
OK, let’s
get right to it – “Nollaig shona duit” (roughly: Nullig hunna ghitch) is “Merry
Christmas” to one person, “Nollaig shona daoibh” (gheev) is for more than one person. Nollaig is Christmas, and also the month of
December. Samhain is Halloween (OK,
November 1st!) and also the month of November. Hey, what the heck, here are all the months
(in order)!
Eanáir, Feabhra, Márta, Aibreán, Bealtaine, Meitheamh, Iúil, Lúnasa,
Meán Fómhair, Deireadh Fómhair, Samhain, Nollaig.
‘Fómhair’
means ‘harvest,’ and ‘meán’ is middle, ‘deireadh’ is end. Nobody’s quite sure what happened to early
harvest! Along with Samhain, Bealtaine
and Lúnasa were originally celtic pagan holidays. I’ve been hearing some terrible mis-pronunciations of Samhain
lately! S-ow (like in cow)-in,
please! ‘Abha’ and ‘amha’ are both the
dipthong ‘ow’ in Irish – so Feabhra is pronounced ‘fyow-ra.’
To write
the date, put a ‘ú’ after the day number (you could even leave it out if you
want):
1ú Eanáir,
2003 for example. OK, “Happy New Year”
is “Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit” (don’t forget ‘agus’ is ‘and’).
Let’s stick
with the FAQ’s, and learn a couple of other phrases: “Breithlá sona duit” – “Happy birthday to you.” N.B. – Nollaig is feminine, breithlá (lá –
day) is masculine – notice what happens?
And finally, how do you say “I love you?” Well, usually, you don’t! You use affectionate names like “a stór” (treasure), “a chroí” (heart, dear – ever hear of Mother mo chroí?), “a ghrá” (love), “a thaisce” (treasure again), “a rún” (secret)... In “Muzzy” (a video tape for learning languages, available for Irish), they use “Táim mór leat,” (tom moore latt), an idiom like “I’m sweet on you.” “Táim i ngrá leat” (tom in rah latt) – I’m in love with you. “Mo ghrá thú” – you are my love (as in the famous poem “Caoineadh Art Ui Laoghaire”). Figured out what “grá” is yet? You might like to look at http://www.lincolnu.edu/~focal, which has a bit about this topic, and is a great resourse. Now if you just have to say “I love you,” try “Tá grá agam duit” or “Tá grá agam ort.”
Rule: There is always more than one way to say anything in Irish – it is a very rich language!
By the way, how do you say “yes” and “no “ in Irish? You don’t. Like Hebrew, there are no such words in Irish. You answer with a like verb – for instance, if someone asks “Do you?” then you say “I do” or “I don’t.” Cool, huh?
So I guess you’re dying to know what happened with my potatoes. Seo é an scéal, mar sin.
Tá creideamh de dhíth ar dhuine agus é ag cur prátaí. Fásann na plandaí, ach tá na prátaí faoin talamh, as radharc, dar ndóigh, agus ní féidir a bheith cinnte futhu. Faigheann na plandaí bás – nó mairítear iad – agus fós, ní fheictear práta ar bith. Ach i ndeireadh na dála, tagann am an fhómhair, agus baintear an barr.
An lá a bhí socraithe againn mar lá an fhómhair, chuir sé
báistí gan stad gan staonadh, agus mar sin, rinneamar é ar an gcéad lá
eile. Bhí sé fliuch fós, ach ní raibh
sé go dona. Is minic go ndearna mo
shinsir an obair seo agus é ag cur fearthainne, is dóche! Chuireamar timpeall cúig phráta is daichead mar síolta, idir
na cinn gorma agus na cinn bána.
Bhaineamar timpeall ocht bpráta, dhá chéad is tríocha mar barr!
Buíochas mór le Tiarna
an Fhómhair! Bhí timpeall naoi
scór is ceathair cinn gorma, póiríní an chuid is mó acu, agus dhá scór is
ceathair déag dena cinn bána, agus bhí siadsan téagartha mór, an chuid is mó
acu. Bhí cúpla acu lofa, agus d’ith na
péisteanna cuid díobh freisin. Ach táim sásta leis an torradh. Is soiléir nach feirmeoirí sinn, áfach! Thug mo pháistí Connor agus Emily beagán
cabhair dom, ach bhí níos mó suim acu sna péisteanna ramhara a fuair siad sa
gháirdín. Agus bhí mo bhean ag glannadh
agus ag scrúdú na bprátaí. Bhí suim
aicise sna péisteanna, freisin!
Tá na cinn ar a
dtugtar ‘gorm’ níos mó corcra ná gorm, mar is gná le gach saghas bia ar a
dtugtar ‘gorm.’ Agus tá dealraibh ait
orthu agus iad brúite. Ach tá siad an-bhlasta. D’ithiamar roinnt den dá saghas an lá céanna
agus a bhaineamar iad, brúite (as na píosaí a bhí fágtha tar éis na poill
neamh-ghlana a ghearradh díobh – obair a rinne mo bhean chéile, Irene). D’itheamar béile an-deas ina dteannta. Bhí leadhbóg ó Cheanada againn, agus
cácaí portáin – so-bhleasta ar fad!
Nuair a bhíomar
ag obair, bhíomar ag séinm amhráin sean-nós atá againne ar dhlúthdiosací
(CD’s), agus daoine mar Diarmuid Ó Súileabháin, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin,
Clannad, Altan agus Áinne Uí Cheallaigh ag canadh dúinn. Idir an aimsir agus an ceol, bhíomar ag cur i gcéill go ramahamar in
Éirinn! Is minic a cheapamar ar an
ngorta, agus cé chomh deacair a bhíodh an saol acu siúd. Bhí mo dhroim tinn tar éis maidine amháin ag
baint na bprátaí, agus sin i bpaiste an-bheag talún. Tá pictiúir agam dínne agus eachtra na bprátaí ag
http://members.aol.com/JamusN2/Page1.htm, má tá suim ag éinne.
Beannachtaí na Nollag oraibhse go léir.
P.S. I’ve put some sound files and reprints of earlier installments of this column on our website. Check it out! www.scoilgaeilge.org.
P.P.S. I’ve heard from some of you out there. Don’t hesitate to write to me, at JamusN@aol.com, if you want to tell me about what you’re are doing with the language, or have a question.