I am just full of questions tonight. Is anyone familiar with the word cliamhan? One text I've found gives this as an Irish word which means "related by marriage," stating that two people related by marriage would "be cliamhans." I've not been able to find the word otherwise, though, and want to be sure it truly is an Irish word.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Christy

Of course it's an Irish word (what else would it be? see the spelling ), but the dictionary says it means "son in law".
Btw normally it's spelt "cliamhain".

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Isn't it true, though, Lughaidh, that it might well have been a Scottish Gaelic word (Scottish Gaelic words having similar spelling but not all of which are used in both languages) ?

Dinneen (1927) has:

Other materials specific to the Connemara dialect confirm the broader meaning of "a relation by marriage".

So, although FGB states, "son-in-law", it is not limited to "a son-in-law" (but if not specified, that might be it's most likely interpretation, at least outside Connacht).


It appears to be related to cleamhnas "(arranged) marriage".

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Thanks, guys, for the input!

So Brendan, going by what Dinneen says, it looks like "cliamhain" is a word that would be used to describe people who are related by marriage but not blood? If so, would "cliamhan" be the correct spelling using it in the context of "that would make us cliamhains" (i.e., related by marriage but not blood). In the spellings from Dinneen, I see a dot over the "m" but no "h," and I believe in my reading, I've seen that the "h" is added since the dot (can't remember what it's called) is no longer used in modern Irish.

Again, thanks for your help!

Christy

Aye, the dots over certain consonants have been replaced by h's after them.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Cliamhain - I don't think there is any reason to broaden the final n (by removing the i).

If you were using the adjective, you might be able to say something like Tá muid cliamhain "We are related by marriage", or macaronically "We are cliamhain".

The modern plural form of cliamhain is cliamhaineacha, and you might be able to say Is cliamhaineacha muid "We are relations by marriage", which would give the macaronic "We are cliamhaineacha."

Dinneen gives as (older) plural forms: cliamhnacha, cleamhnacha, and cleamhnaithe.

The above are grammatically possible but I think the usage is more likely to be tá cleamhnas againn (le chéile) "We are related (to each other) by marriage", literally "we have a relationship (to each other) by marriage".

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

The forum won't let me quote for some reason, but I think I'm going to go with:

The modern plural form of cliamhain is cliamhaineacha, and you might be able to say Is cliamhaineacha muid "We are relations by marriage", which would give the macaronic "We are cliamhaineacha."

Many thanks!

Yes.
Or "Tá gaol cleamhnas againn le chéile".

Posadh cleamhnas - arranged marriage (not done anymore in Ireland)

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Oh, I don't know about that; I thought most Irish women arrange the marriage and then tell the man what is expected of him......

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LOL. Can anyone give the Connemara pronunciation of cliamhaineacha?