Good evening all

Sorry to bother everyone - but I was wondering if anybody could help me? I'm doing this on behalf of a friend. Her father passed away yesterday, and they are beginning to come to terms with it and arrange the funeral etc. (She has enough on her plate so I'm trying to help as much as I can!)

Basically - her father was Irish - and he used to call her 'little one' as his pet name for her.

Would anybody be able to translate it for me? She just really wants to make certain that it's spelled correctly.

Thank you so much in advance.

It depends on whether you mean when he was addressing her directly (face to face) or when he was talking about her to someone else. I suggest the word 'muirnín' - in the vocative, it's - a mhuirnín or in the second case - mo mhuirnín. But wait for other suggestions - I'm not a native speaker or even a native.

I agree. The problem with "Little One" as an endearment is it's not an endearment that's used in Irish. There are lots of other endearments to choose from, however, including:

A mhuirnín (as franc said): "My darling"

A thaisce: "My treasure"

A stóirín: "My little treasure"

A pheata: "My pet" (this is used as an affectionate endearment in Irish...it doesn't mean he was equating her with a dog or a cat!)

A leanbh: "My child"

The list goes on and on. If she wants to pick one of those, we can incorporate the concept of "little" in there as well.

Redwolf

I prefer that one.

I'd say : A leanbhín - to add the "small"/diminutive to it.

I wondered about that. It seems the most natural.

Redwolf

Thank you all ever so much for your help - it's incredibly kind of you all.

I'll let her know what you've all said.

The given name "Alannah" comes from the Irish term of endearment "A leanbh". Because that is how it is pronounced (in Conamara anyhow)

A leanbhín: would be - A LA NEEN (in Conamara), and not "A LANAVEEN", as one might expect.

Thank you again, and thank you for the pronounciation guide as well.

I did have a further question (and I apologise for taking up your time) but....

Would ceann beag be a literal translation of 'little one'?

I wouldn't use it. "Ceann" has a lot of meanings, but if I saw "ceann beag" I'd think "little head!"

"One" as in a person is "té," but it's not used in endearments.

If she really, explicitly, wants "little one," it's best to keep it in English. Otherwise use one of the natural Irish endearments. Often these idioms don't cross linguistic boundaries well, and this is one of those times. "A leanbhín," as Bríd suggested, would be a natural Irish way of expressing this concept.

Redwolf

That is one meaning.

It also means "little one" when talking about a thing, but not a person.