Hello!

My name is James and being an author, I am joinging this site to ensure one of my characters in my Oz novel series is authentic to her background. She is the Head Attendant of Glinda to Good and also the leader of her Finest Forty. I know that in Oz, many names or puns and such, but, being a retired officer(warrant) myself, I wanted the charcter's name to be reflective of her rank and position. (call it professional respect from on officer to another) I have named her Gittan-Nora. Ironically, Glinda's Head attendant has never had a name given to her until now.

I like to be able to be accurate with all of the portrayals in the stories I write and after contacting bitesizeirish, they recommended this group. I don't know how many requests like this get posted here, but I figure that this would be the best.

Here is an example of some dialogue:
"As they walk, she notices that, and asks, “Why did you get on my left side?”

“Because, for me that means rank is on the right. A subordinate walks to the left of the senior or the superior.” he explains.

“Very interesting ways you have. I am Gittan-Nora, from the Qualding Country of Oz, and please pardon me as what you call English is not my first language. From where I come from, we speak Gaeilge as our mother tongue.”she says."

I can be reached here, or via http://centurion030.deviantart.com/ I can provide an email address as needed, jwkrych@n2net.net, too.

Most respectfully,

James

Hi James, you're very welcome to the forum.

I presume by Oz you mean the Wizard of Oz?

I don't really understand what you're looking for, or the context in which you are asking it?

-Are you asking would an Irish person walk on the left-side of someone who is superior in rank to them?

-Again, Gittan-Nora, I don't understand what you mean by Gittan?

Is gittan a rank in the army of the Good witch?

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

Hi!

Yes, Wizard of Oz based on the 14 Baum books and some of the ones that came later. Not the movie at all.

I am looking to make sure that Gittan-Nora's manerisms and dialect would be correct. Her official title is Glinda's Head Attendant and Leader of the Finest Forty.

In the passage I provided, the previous paragraph had one of my main characters first salute her-he saw that she had a uniform of sorts and that the gold band on her hat probably meant she was an officer. His act of respect for her rank, which was a lucky guess, causes her to ask some questions and as she is helping him to where Ozma and Dorothy Chambers are-he has to give them a report.

As they are talking, and since it was confirmed she is an officer, he starts to walk to left as again, it is a sign of respect for her rank.

My notes on Gittan's name:
Gittan-Nora

(Gittan)
ORIGIN/USAGE
Irish, Swedish
PRONUNCIATION
gi-THAN
MEANING
Powerful, strong

(Nora)
ORIGIN/USAGE
Dutch, English, Irish, Italian, Latin
PRONUNCIATION
NAWR-ə
MEANING
Honor

I like to have accuracy in my characters. For example, the ship's Physician's Assistant is from Poland and I ensure that his city of birth, and his University, and such are correct.

I can provide links to the first 9 edited chapters, without any illustrations as those are being done.

Very respectfully,

James

I don't think "gittan" is an Irish word. I checked eDIL thinking it may be an early Irish word, but couldn't find a mention of it there either. Perhaps it is Swedish, but I can't find any evidence of it in Irish.

The name Nora is, however, an Irish name. It's pronunciation would be "NOH-ruh" with the emphesis on the first syllable. Others' pronunciation may vary slightly, based on dialect. So do wait for more responses.

Hope this is helpful,
Ade.

Yeah...there's nothing Irish about "Gittan."

Centurion 030, we really need to know what, specifically, you're asking for. This is a language forum. Is there something you want translated into Irish for this character?

To be honest, she doesn't really SOUND like an Irish character (and the things you've asked about, such as who stands on whose side, doesn't really have much to do with Irish culture), so we're kind of baffled. Certainly the Wizard of Oz, while a classic piece of literature that has certainly been read by many Irish people, is not particularly Irish. If you can ask us very specific questions regarding Irish language or culture we should be able to help you.

I'm sure it's a lovely fanfic, but I don't really have time to read nine chapters to work out what you want from us, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that regard. So please just be specific, and we'll be happy to help you.

Redwolf

As far as the dialogue goes, I don't know if any Irish person would ask “Why did you get on my left side?” quite like that. A more natural way over here would be to ask "What are you doing?" "Why did you go over there?" but I don't think any Irish person would naturally say "get on" to express a movement from one side to another, or specify which side a person had moved to. It's too clunky.

Similarly, off the top of my head, an Irish person would probably abbreviate "I am..." to "I'm" in conversation, again to avoid clunkiness. "I am" sounds a bit forced and formal to me.

An Irish person would probably refer to the Irish language as "Irish" when speaking in English. And, you may not be aware of it, but any fluent Irish speaking person in Ireland today will definitely be bi-lingual, usually speaking fluent English at least as well as Irish, even if Irish is their first language. So, you may want to reconsider the whole "English is not my first language" thing.

If I were to put that longer second sentence into my own words, taking into account what I've just said to you I'd probably say something more like:

"You've some interesting ways. I'm Gittan-Nora, from the Qualding Country in Oz. And, excuse my English, it's not my first language. Where I'm from we speak Irish."

Ade has answered the best. And that is the kind of answer I have been looking for.

I'm not looking to try to make anyone read the nine edited chapters, as Gittan does not show up in all of them. Please remember that the standing to the left side of a superior is a military custom and has nothing to do with her background. Ade, would you mind communicating with me off the forum and on my email account?

I thank everyone for their answers so far and I apologize for any misunderstanding.

Most respectfully,

James

Why would someone from the land of Oz be a native Irish speaker?

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

That's a good question as well!

Redwolf

Gittan is a diminutive of the Swedish female name Brigitta or Birgitta.

I did some searching and the name Gittan does have an Irish/Swedish connection. As most people familiar with Irish know, Irish absorbed a number of Old Norse words and names 1,000 years ago during the Viking period. Turns out that the flow went the other way as well. According to Wikipedia, the name Birgitta came into Swedish from Gaelic:


Referring to something as being on one's left hand can be an insult, since prejudice against left-handers was very widespread. In Irish, one can say that someone else is ar an taobh clé ("on the left side"), but there is also the word ciotóg which can be used for "left hand", and to refer to an awkward person. Interestingly, the word ciotóg is believed by some linguists to be of Basque/Aquitanian origin, possibly brought to Ireland very early on by the Gaels arriving from the coastal areas of Spain and/or Southwestern France (southwestern France, or Aquitaine, was inhabited by people speaking a language (or languages) related to the ancestor of Basque -- even the Romans noted the distinction from the Cetic-speaking areas). Perhaps it was an insult adopted from Basque (or its ancestor) which was common enough that it became integral to Gaelic, as with a few other words of similar origin which have been traced back to similar origins (like ainnir for a young woman).


It is usually a diminutive for Honoria, which of course comes from Latin. Having done genealogical research in Ireland, I can confirm that the two names, Honoria and Nora, are often used interchangeably, with Honoria more likely in formal records, and Nora in everyday speech and less formal records.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.