Difficult translation due to grammar

Fáilte (Welcome) Forums General Discussion (Irish and English) Difficult translation due to grammar

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  • #36982
    An Poc ar Bun
    Participant

    Dia daoibh go léir. I rarely ask for help with translation, but this is a special case. I’m working on a gift for a friend that contains a phrase that Muslims usually begin prayer with: “In the name of God, the gracious, the merciful.” I know “In the name of God” is “In ainm Dé.” I’m not sure how to use an adjective as a noun, such as in “the gracious” and “the merciful.” I’d appreciate being shown how to use an adjective in that way. I also need to know the genitive form of the name Fachtna. Go raibh míle maith ag duine ar bith a bhfuil ábalta cuidiú a thabhair!

    #46181
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Using the genitive case, you would get “In ainm Dé ghrástúla, thrócairigh”, which is grammatically correct, but doesn’t sound very natural, so I would rather suggest “In ainm Dé atá grástúil agus trócaireach” (In the name of God who is graceful and merciful). Still, I’m not a native speaker nor well versed in religious terms, so I would wait for more comments. As regards Fachtna, in Modern Irish the genitive case of personal names is formed simply by adding “h” to the initial consonant, so that “Fachtna’s house” would be “teach Fhachtna”.

    #46182
    An Poc ar Bun
    Participant

    Thank you for your suggestions. I’m afraid I’ve bitten off more than I can chew at my current level of Irish. Like you said, I’ll wait for more posts. I do appreciate your reply.

    #46183
    An Poc ar Bun
    Participant

    I managed to find an Irish translation of the basmala from a wiki: In ainm Dé atá lán trua agus trócaire. It took a lot of digging, but I found my Easter egg. Thank you, Onuvanja, for your response. If anyone would still like to make a alternative suggestion, please do. Unless a other input is offered soonish, I’ll be going with what I found today. Go raibh maith agaibh, y’all!

    #46184
    Labhrás
    Participant

    Using the genitive case, you would get “In ainm Dé ghrástúla, thrócairigh”, which is grammatically correct, but doesn’t sound very natural, so I would rather suggest “In ainm Dé atá grástúil agus trócaireach” (In the name of God who is graceful and merciful).

    Yes, I’d choose a relative clause as well.
    But usually there’s no “agus” between adjectives:
    in ainm Dé atá grástúil trócaireach

    #46185
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Well spotted, Labhrás! Thanks for the correction.

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