An Mám ó Dheas Mega-thread

djwebb2021 · **Joined:** Thu 27 May 2021 3:22 am **Posts:** 1725

Séamus O'Neill wrote:

djwebb2021 wrote:

muíntir na cine guirme/duíbhe

Of course, you can argue that an chine ghuirm or an chine dhubh is a phrase noun that can stand in the Nominative Absolute: muíntir an chine ghuirm/dhubh

I thought the nominative absolute only applied to noun phrases made up of more than one noun (e.g. hata fhear an tí) (though I suppose that an chine ghuirm would qualify as this if you are viewing guirm as the genitive of the noun gorm instead of the adjective)? Do you have any other examples of this?

I think definitive noun-adjective combinations can be accepted as set phrases and not put into the genitive. I think the wider tendency of the Irish language is to move in that direction. Labhrás may be able to give you more information on that.

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Mon 07 Apr 2025 5:32 pm

259 - 261

meáchan 'weight'
tá'n fuacht ag teacht is an teas ag tréigint/ is an tart ní féidir liom é do chloí does anyone know what song/poem these lyrics come from?
Nua-Shéalainn 'New Zealand'
aithreachas 'regret'

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Tue 08 Apr 2025 8:31 pm

262 - 264

basc 'bash, crush'
galar 'sickness'
dúnmharú 'murder'
conas a bhraithfinn dá bpléifí mar sin liomsa 'how would I feel if I were treated like that'
an stair cheannann chéanna 'the very same history'
cois farraige 'beside the sea', with lack of the article due to generalisation.
toirtín 'scone'
bhí a thuilleadh oibre le déanamh ach le daoine speisialta this ach seems that it might be redundant here. I have encountered this as well in other works where 'but' would not show up in English, e.g. ní stadfadh Cáit Ní Bhuachalla ach am priocadh (from Séadna). Does anyone have an explanation for this?
iargúlta 'isolated'
á thógaint bog 'taking it easy'
dhá éan a mharú le haon chloch amháin 'to kill two birds with one stone', Béarlachas, the traditional phrase is an dá chúram a dhéanamh in éineacht or an dá thrá a fhreastal

djwebb2021 · **Joined:** Thu 27 May 2021 3:22 am **Posts:** 1725

ach means "only" in that sentence.

The superfluous use is called pleonastic in teanglann.ie. My dictionary has:

Quote:

Pleonastic use: ní fheadaraís i n-aochor ach na geasa le cruacht a chuirfi sé ort, you have no idea of the difficult things he will require you to do [AÓL1968]. Ní chreidfá (ach) a thapúla a chuir sé dhe é, you wouldn’t believe how quickly he recovered [the ach can be omitted, but is better retained, in such sentences]. Dar sláinte Pharao ach ní fhágfidh sibse an áit seo go dtagaidh bhúr ndritháir is óige!, by the health of Pharao you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come [Genesis 42:15].

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Wed 09 Apr 2025 7:06 pm

Is there some sort of rule for when it is used, or is it unpredictable (i.e. why should it be Ní chreidfá ach a thapúla a chuir sé dhe é? I know that it is very commonly used with certain interjections, e.g. ambaiste ach ...

djwebb2021 · **Joined:** Thu 27 May 2021 3:22 am **Posts:** 1725

Well, probably more likely after a negative. Níor stad béal Chormaic ach ag trácht ar Shéadna, Cormac did stop talking about Séadna.

But Irish academics have not described the language well, and there are not good resources for Irish grammar. Maybe you can do a word search on An tOileánach and write your own paper on this?

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Wed 09 Apr 2025 7:26 pm

265 - 267

Bhí mo dhóthain cloiste agam mar gheall air 'I had heard enough of it'
aolchloch 'limestone'
dhá chéad míle ciloméadar cearnach 'two hundred thousand square kilometres'
Abrán 'April', most often without the epenthetic vowel
le tart 'from thirst'
ceannairc 'strife'
árthach 'ship', Henrich Wagner shows in LASID that the words long and soitheach are understood but not used in Dunquin
cóiste 'car, carriage'
chomh dubh le sú 'as black as jam'
carthanach 'friendly'
teorainn 'boundary'

djwebb2021 · **Joined:** Thu 27 May 2021 3:22 am **Posts:** 1725

Abrán - should have an additional vowel, but maybe this isn't observed in Kerry. This would be secondary epenthesis, which is more optional than primary epenthesis.

ceannairc: mutiny?

chómh dubh le sú: as black as soot. Jam is subh.

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Thu 10 Apr 2025 5:22 pm

djwebb2021 wrote:

Abrán - should have an additional vowel, but maybe this isn't observed in Kerry. This would be secondary epenthesis, which is more optional than primary epenthesis.

It more often doesn't in CDh

Séamus O'Neill · **Posted:** Thu 10 Apr 2025 5:39 pm

268 - 270

íor na spéire 'the horizon'
daoire comparative of daor, 'unfree'
raghaimis trí thine dhó 'we would go through a fire for him'
oiriúnach 'suitable'
bhíodar tuillte agam 'I had earned them'
bhí saghas meirg ar a theanga 'his Irish was a bit rusty'
ní raibh a lán ama le bhástáil agamsa 'I didn't have much time to waste'

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