Fun video of Irish school children performing the Cup Song (Amhrán na gCupán) using simple plastic cups and the floor and singing the original song "Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me)" translated into the Irish language (also referred to as Gaelic):
Cups (You're Gonna Miss me) in Irish (Gaelic)
So you say, "What are all those Irish words?"
That can be found at: Amhrán na gCupán
I'm still a beginner at Irish, but I think I see some differences between the Irish translation and the English version.
The Irish title (Amhrán na gCupán) looks like it would be translated "Song of Cup" in English. Said another way, "Cup Song". The Irish is more descriptive by saying the work is a song but the English title probably assumes the context of using the title would show it's a song.
The fourth line of the first verse is, "mbeidh tú liom?" which is short for, "you will be with me?" Kinda different from, "what'dya say?" I like how they both are contractions, are informal, and the meanings come very close.
The end of the fourth line of the second verse ends with "mo aoibh" which means "my smile." That doesn't match the end of that line in the English version, which says "my hair."
But keep looking and you'll see the end of the next and fifth line of that verse ends with "'chuile thaobh" which means "all sides." That's pretty close to the word "everywhere" which ends that line in the English version.
You wonder why go to that trouble to use different words?
With the Irish line endings, the lines rhyme. They both end with sounds that rhyme with the English word "eve." I am thinking the line about "all sides" is the idiom for "everywhere" in that sense, and then the translators needed a rhyming word for the previous line.
Pretty clever, eh?
A change for apparently similar reasons is made at the fourth and fifth lines of the last verse:
... ag caint which translates as, "talking," and,
... ag seinnt which translates as, "playing," as in music or a musical instrument.
These compare to these line endings:
... my walk
... my talk
in English.
Am I suggesting you or anyone be upset about this?
No. Translating in general is tough because you just can't change each and every word to a translated word and have the meaning work. And in a song, especially one with a staccato rhythm, fitting the translation into the beat is extremely tough.
I am at the point I expect all translations of songs to be different than in the original language.
In this case, I like the Irish version and I think it preserves the sense of the English version very well.
So, if you haven't already, go to the Irish version, click play, and enjoy!
Cups (You're Gonna Miss me) in Irish (Gaelic)
Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Surprising Poll on Languages
The Belfast Telegraph did a poll via telephone in Northern Ireland. One of the questions pertained to whether government documents should be in Irish and Ulster-Scots in addition to English. The results on this question of language were surprising.
Over half (53 percent) recommended a language other than English be included and more than a third (35 percent) recommended all three languages. When combined with those with no opinion, almost three quarters (74 percent) desire or would accept the production of government documents in multiple languages. Or put another way, only a little over a quarter (26 percent) recommended English only production of government documents.
Historically, language has gotten caught up with the cultural and political traditions in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish language is usually associated with the Republican movement and the Ulster-Scots language is usually associated with the Loyalist movement. However, these associations may be more of a cultural coincidence given the low numbers of speakers of either tongue. Evidence indicates around ten percent of the population of Northern Ireland have some knowledge of Irish and only two percent can speak Ulster-Scots.
Given the number of speakers is lower than the support for native languages, the support for the native cultural tongues must be magnanimous support by non-speakers for those who do so speak. Considering the tax dollars undoubtedly involved in producing documents in multiple languages, and that virtually all speakers of native tongues are equally fluent in English, this support is surprising.
Over half (53 percent) recommended a language other than English be included and more than a third (35 percent) recommended all three languages. When combined with those with no opinion, almost three quarters (74 percent) desire or would accept the production of government documents in multiple languages. Or put another way, only a little over a quarter (26 percent) recommended English only production of government documents.
Historically, language has gotten caught up with the cultural and political traditions in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish language is usually associated with the Republican movement and the Ulster-Scots language is usually associated with the Loyalist movement. However, these associations may be more of a cultural coincidence given the low numbers of speakers of either tongue. Evidence indicates around ten percent of the population of Northern Ireland have some knowledge of Irish and only two percent can speak Ulster-Scots.
Given the number of speakers is lower than the support for native languages, the support for the native cultural tongues must be magnanimous support by non-speakers for those who do so speak. Considering the tax dollars undoubtedly involved in producing documents in multiple languages, and that virtually all speakers of native tongues are equally fluent in English, this support is surprising.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Eyjafjallajökull
I laughed when I saw: Eyjafjallajökull.
That's the name of the volcano which erupted differently in Iceland in the last few days and is preventing air travel over a broad swath of Europe. I said “differently” because somehow the volcano went from leaking lava to spewing silica dust into the earth's upper atmosphere. Heat, minerals, water, and pressurized gas can be amazing!
At times, the cloud has laid high over Ireland preventing air travel to the island or even through its airspace.
I, of course, have been following developments because our mission trip to Belfast is a little more than two weeks away. Figures it is another island in the North Atlantic which is the source of the trouble.
I remember laughing when I looked at the spelling in much of the Irish language. Now the joke is on me as my tongue is feeling awkward looking at this jumble of letters from Iceland.
The media uses the name “of the volcano in Iceland” once in awhile, but has to use all kinds of creative references to avoid using Eyjafjallajökull and thereby losing impatient readers.
The Icelandic media and people have three choices:
1.Just keep using the volcano's proper name and letting all but the New York Times refer to “that volcano in Iceland” which doesn't make those not fluent in Icelandic feel positively about the place or the country.
2.Go for broke. Release a rock video with that spare thumping Scandinavian beat which repeats the name a billion times. The world loves authentic words and the elite love dropping the city name “Reykjavík” into a conversation (yes, it is a major city in Iceland), so perhaps this word could become the next cute word of the new century.
3.Come up with a nick name. Perhaps a shortening to “Eyjah” (pronounced A-djyuh? Careful or it'll sound like that female Irish singer with the single word moniker – Enya. Did you know her full name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin?). Or shorten the other end of the name and get “Jökull” (pronounced Yoh-kul? This, by coincidence in America, is a somewhat derogatory term for a local and simple person who comes from a rural area. This one seems to present a difficult spin.)
Which do you prefer?
I wonder if Icelandic language has all those interesting letter combinations for any of the same reasons as Irish?
Irish has one letter which is actually a modifier, sort of like punctuation or a visual cue. It's the letter “h” which changes the letter before it. For instance, after a “c”, the combination “ch” gets extra breath across the top of the tongue, like in the German “Achtung” or in the Yiddish “Chutzpah”. The Irish grammarians call this change cause by "h" to be lenition or aspiration.
Irish words contain vowels which are largely unpronounced but modify the consonants they surround. Certain vowel combinations produce unique vowel sounds not represented by singule vowels.
All this comes from the fact that the letters from English speakers are being applied to a language which was spoken for a long time before it was written and English letters are being adapted in a semi-systematic way.
I expect something similar was done to Icelandic.
I think of the people from Iceland as from the same stock as those which were labeled “Vikings”. Ireland was invaded by the Vikings near the end of the first millenia. The Irish took to building cylindrical stone towers with the door up high, through which they could pull their wooden ladder or pole so rendering entry very challenging for the Vikings. Eventually, amicable trade broke out, followed by intermarriage and that same Viking heritage changed Ireland.
In the Irish language, the words from the Vikings are labeled as coming from “Old Norse”. For instance, “brog” means shoe in Irish and in Old Norse the same word was “brók”. Or here's one that is similar in all three languages: “margadh” in Irish and “markadr” in Old Norse both mean “market” in English.
So the active volcano (bolcán beo in Irish, pronounced “bul-kawn bo”) in Iceland, affectionately known as “Eyjafjallajökull” reminds us all of the relatedness of the peoples known as Vikings, Old Norse, Scandinavian, Icelandic, English, and Irish. Hopefully, the volcano becomes a bolcán suanach (dormant volcano) in two weeks or the winds shift, allowing us to get into Dublin.
That's the name of the volcano which erupted differently in Iceland in the last few days and is preventing air travel over a broad swath of Europe. I said “differently” because somehow the volcano went from leaking lava to spewing silica dust into the earth's upper atmosphere. Heat, minerals, water, and pressurized gas can be amazing!
At times, the cloud has laid high over Ireland preventing air travel to the island or even through its airspace.
I, of course, have been following developments because our mission trip to Belfast is a little more than two weeks away. Figures it is another island in the North Atlantic which is the source of the trouble.
I remember laughing when I looked at the spelling in much of the Irish language. Now the joke is on me as my tongue is feeling awkward looking at this jumble of letters from Iceland.
The media uses the name “of the volcano in Iceland” once in awhile, but has to use all kinds of creative references to avoid using Eyjafjallajökull and thereby losing impatient readers.
The Icelandic media and people have three choices:
1.Just keep using the volcano's proper name and letting all but the New York Times refer to “that volcano in Iceland” which doesn't make those not fluent in Icelandic feel positively about the place or the country.
2.Go for broke. Release a rock video with that spare thumping Scandinavian beat which repeats the name a billion times. The world loves authentic words and the elite love dropping the city name “Reykjavík” into a conversation (yes, it is a major city in Iceland), so perhaps this word could become the next cute word of the new century.
3.Come up with a nick name. Perhaps a shortening to “Eyjah” (pronounced A-djyuh? Careful or it'll sound like that female Irish singer with the single word moniker – Enya. Did you know her full name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin?). Or shorten the other end of the name and get “Jökull” (pronounced Yoh-kul? This, by coincidence in America, is a somewhat derogatory term for a local and simple person who comes from a rural area. This one seems to present a difficult spin.)
Which do you prefer?
I wonder if Icelandic language has all those interesting letter combinations for any of the same reasons as Irish?
Irish has one letter which is actually a modifier, sort of like punctuation or a visual cue. It's the letter “h” which changes the letter before it. For instance, after a “c”, the combination “ch” gets extra breath across the top of the tongue, like in the German “Achtung” or in the Yiddish “Chutzpah”. The Irish grammarians call this change cause by "h" to be lenition or aspiration.
Irish words contain vowels which are largely unpronounced but modify the consonants they surround. Certain vowel combinations produce unique vowel sounds not represented by singule vowels.
All this comes from the fact that the letters from English speakers are being applied to a language which was spoken for a long time before it was written and English letters are being adapted in a semi-systematic way.
I expect something similar was done to Icelandic.
I think of the people from Iceland as from the same stock as those which were labeled “Vikings”. Ireland was invaded by the Vikings near the end of the first millenia. The Irish took to building cylindrical stone towers with the door up high, through which they could pull their wooden ladder or pole so rendering entry very challenging for the Vikings. Eventually, amicable trade broke out, followed by intermarriage and that same Viking heritage changed Ireland.
In the Irish language, the words from the Vikings are labeled as coming from “Old Norse”. For instance, “brog” means shoe in Irish and in Old Norse the same word was “brók”. Or here's one that is similar in all three languages: “margadh” in Irish and “markadr” in Old Norse both mean “market” in English.
So the active volcano (bolcán beo in Irish, pronounced “bul-kawn bo”) in Iceland, affectionately known as “Eyjafjallajökull” reminds us all of the relatedness of the peoples known as Vikings, Old Norse, Scandinavian, Icelandic, English, and Irish. Hopefully, the volcano becomes a bolcán suanach (dormant volcano) in two weeks or the winds shift, allowing us to get into Dublin.
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