A couple translating questions.

Fáilte (Welcome) Forums General Discussion (Irish and English) A couple translating questions.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 62 total)
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  • #42428
    Lughaidh
    Participant

    Tuatha Dé

    btw it’s Túatha Dé (with a long u) in Old irish.
    “Túath” meant tribe, nation in Old Irish (but in Modern Irish it has changed meaning in normal speech, but people know the old meaning it had in “Túatha Dé Danann”)

    #42429
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    Thanks, everyone, for the help! I have no idea how I would’ve found this stuff out, otherwise! : )

    #42430
    aonghus
    Participant

    Níl a bhuíochas ort.

    Raised a few interesting hares!

    #42431
    Séril Báicéir
    Participant

    This is an interesting story you are formulating. Definately keep us updated as to how things are going with it. Go n-éirí leat!

    #42487
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    I sure will, I promise! My brother’s girlfriend is part Irish, and she’s professed a keen interest on seeing a copy of the manuscript when it’s finished. I promised to print one out for her, but I might post it on here, too, so you guys can read it. : )

    One thing I have in my story is something called ríastrad, or “warp spasm” (I think). It’s the weird shape-shifting Cullen’s Hound underwent using earth power. Before researching it, I already had transformation in my story, but this will give the people of the place I’m writing about (Clann Mhórríona and Oileán Iathghlas na Mór Ríona, respectively) more of a Celtic flavor.

    #42579
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    In my book, I use the term Morrigan a lot, namely it’s variations, Morrígan and Mórrígan. I treat the words literally and their uses are not interchangeable, so I feel it important that my readers know how to pronounce them, in case my story is ever read a loud. To verify, the accents lengthen the vowel?

    #42583
    aonghus
    Participant

    Yes.

    There is a speech-synthesiser here which will give you an idea:

    http://www.abair.tcd.ie/index.php

    But why the two variants?

    #42587
    Lughaidh
    Participant

    Acute accents lengthen stressed vowels, in Modern Irish (not unstressed ones).
    In Old Irish, we can’t be sure…

    #42601
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    The idea is that long ago in my tale, a powerful deity, the Mórrígan (Great Queen) visits an island (Oileán Iathghlas na Mór Ríona) and has children, or demigods. Her children, the Tuatha-dé-Mórríona, were born with magic powers, whereas the island’s regular inhabitants, na Seanoileánaigh (the Old Islanders), had none. Fruitful, at first, the Tuatha-dé-Mórríona eventually died out, except for two: Bran and Maeb.

    When his mother, the Mórrígan, leaves the planet out of boredom, she leaves Bran and Maeb behind. As the demigods die, the magic on island fades. Seeking to restore and preserve it, Bran sleeps with earthly princesses, bestowing on their children magical powers similar to his mother’s. However, the magic is passed from mother to daughter; the son’s are born mortal and weak. As a result, a new line of queens rise to dominate the island. However, instead of being called Mórrígan, like the original goddess, Bran calls them Morrígan, as he considers them pale imitations, or ghosts, to the original.

    #42607
    Héilics Órbhuí
    Participant

    As far as I know, there wouldn’t be any difference in the pronunciation of the words “Mórrígan” and “Morrígan” in Irish. Vowels before double consonants tend to be long anyways.

    #42609
    aonghus
    Participant

    Bran calls them Morrígan, as he considers them pale imitations, or ghosts, to the original.

    As an Irish speaker I would not get that sense; the shift from Mór -> Mor just looks like a misspelling to me! (Complicated by the fact that Mór means great)
    But as most of year readers will not be Irish speakers, and as I expect you will be demonstrating what it means that is just a quibble

    #42611
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    Of course. Please realize, I am not an Irish-speaker and am approaching this as an English-speaking person. Furthermore, the distinction I am making is of my own invention, and has nothing to do with Irish-Gaelic grammar.

    #42639
    InnkeeperX86
    Participant

    Progress:

    Looked for a word to describe a female demigod in my story from the eyes of a mortal man. Found the word bean sidhe (is this pronounced “ban-shee”?). This basically means “fairy woman” or “woman of the hills/mounds,” right? I’ve read that these so-called mounds were believed to be the final homes of the Tuatha-de-Danann (“People/Nation/Tribe of the goddess Danu”) after they lost in favor of the Gaelic Celts. In my story that I’m writing, I’ve changed the myth slightly, making the aes sidhe (“people of the mounds”) the Tuatha-de-Mór Ríona (“People/Nation/Tribe of the Great Queen”), instead of the Tuatha-de-Danann.

    #42641
    Lughaidh
    Participant

    Found the word bean sidhe (is this pronounced “ban-shee”?).

    yes, “ban-shee”

    This basically means “fairy woman” or “woman of the hills/mounds,” right?

    yes.

    I’ve read that these so-called mounds were believed to be the final homes of theTuatha-de-Danann (“People/Nation/Tribe of the goddess Danu”)

    Tuatha Danann

    making the aes sidhe (“people of the mounds”)

    aos sidhe, in modern Irish

    the Tuatha-de-Mór Ríona (“People/Nation/Tribe of the Great Queen”), instead of the Tuatha-de-Danann.

    should be Tuatha na Mór-Ríona. No “de” there. Writing “Tuatha de Danann” isn’t right, there’s no “de” there, but “Dé” (god(dess) in the genitive case), and if you write Tuatha Dé Mór Ríona, it’s grammatically wrong and means “the tribes of the goddess of the great queen”.

    #42643
    aonghus
    Participant

    I agree with Lughaidh.

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