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| Celtic Radio Community > Scottish Gaelic > Help With Translation |
| Posted by: RPin 18-Jun-2004, 07:44 PM |
| I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this. If it's not, I'll be happy to have the mods moving it. Here's the deal: I write a little comic, and soon I'll be incorporating some elements of the irish and celtic culture (which I love, by the way), and I wanted a heads-up on a little Rankins's song. Could somebody translate the chorus for 'Grey Dusk of Eve' for me? I know it's a part of an older song, and has something to do with sailing. It goes like this: "Leis an lurgainn o hi Leis an lurgainn o ho Ruel an anamoich o hi ?S fheudar falbh le ?cuid seol" Thanks everyone!  |
| Posted by: greenldydragon 18-Jun-2004, 07:49 PM |
| Unfortunately, I am only learning scots gaelic. |
| Posted by: RPin 19-Jun-2004, 07:53 AM |
| There is more than one gaelic? Darn! I was planning on learning it at some point of my life. Now that means i'll have to choose? |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 19-Jun-2004, 08:53 AM |
There's actually 6, what you do is just learn them all  |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 19-Jun-2004, 07:17 PM |
| Hello RPin! First off let me say that the Rankins are actually singing in Scottish Gaelic, not Irish. They are from an area in Canada called Cape Breton Island, one of the few areas outside of Scotland where Scottish Gaelic is commonly used. Second, I need to correct a common misconception about the Celtic languages. Here I am quoting from Teach Yourself Gaelic, pg 1: "Scottish Gaelic is one of six modern Celtic languages. The Celtic languages fall into two groups: Gaelic and British. Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic and Manx belong to the Gaelic group and Welsh, Breton and Cornish to the British group." So, as you can see, while there are six CELTIC languages, there are only THREE varieities of Gaelic! Now for your translation. "Leis an lurgainn o hi Leis an lurgainn o ho Reul an anamoich o hi ?S fheudar falbh le ?cuid seol" Now you can probably guess that "o hi" and "o ho" are just nonsense syllables, kinda like "fa la la" or "di do run run." The rest I'll try my best to translate, but some of the English confuses me! I am assuming that these are sailor terms, but since I know nothing about sailor terminology, I have no idea how close my translation is. I will forward this to some friends of mine who have much more Gaelic than I do and will get back with you on it!With the (shank or shin?) o hi With the (shank or shin?) o ho The evening star o hi And must go with (every?) sail |
| Posted by: RPin 20-Jun-2004, 06:12 AM | ||
Thanks!  This has been very helpful.
I think I understand now. And that means I won't have to worry about learning them all. I still don't know much about Celtic culture, but we learn as we go, right?  |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 20-Jun-2004, 08:01 AM |
| We're hear to learn We're here to teach Here to share memories Of long lost times And of the wonderous isles Learn, my friend Learn and grow Then spread the wealth So others may know Know the wealth Know the wisdom Of times long past Of history unknown To protect the memory Of how it was then is to protect the future And how it will be tomorrow Learn my friend, Learn and teach. In this may the endless cycle of life and knowledge continue. |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 20-Jun-2004, 10:41 AM |
| Hello again RPin! Got a response to your question about the song lyrics. According to my source, Lurgainn is the name of the ship. So with this new knowledge and some other info he gave me, I would translate the lyrics thus: With the Lurgainn o hi Wtih the Lurgainn o ho At dusk o hi We must set sail Hope that helps! |
| Posted by: RPin 20-Jun-2004, 01:54 PM | ||
It does! Thanks a lot! |
| Posted by: Skyclad Awen 14-Jul-2004, 10:04 PM |
| w. of o. could you please tell me more about this "teach yourself Gaelic" book. I have been interested to learn but not in a school setting. Love, Awen |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jul-2004, 08:27 PM |
| Hello Awen! (Interesting name! ) Teach Yourself Gaelic is a do-it-yourself guide to learning to speak Scottish Gaelic. (Not sure which Gaelic you're interested - there is also Teach Yourself Irish, but I know nothing at all about that one.) Teach Yourself Gaelic (or TYG) is published by the NTC Publishing Group and was written by Boyd Robertson and Iain Taylor. It is available alone or in a set with either 2 Casettes or CDs. In my humble opinion, it is a very good book (though there are a few things I take issue with in it) and is probably the one most commonly available in the US. If you are interested in learning Scottish Gaelic then I recommend TYG, but be sure you get the set with either tapes or CDs, not just the book alone as you need to hear some spoken Gaelic as well. I also recommend you get a good dictionary as the Vocabulary Key in the back of the book is pretty crummy. If you need advice on selecting a good dictionary (or set of dictionaries) let me know and I may be able ot help you out there as well. |
| Posted by: faolin 15-Jul-2004, 10:50 PM |
| The book and tapes sound great! I am definitely becoming more interested in learning gaelic; is it anything like French, because that's the only other language I can speak proficiently ( of course being Canadian it has been drilled into me since grade school )? |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jul-2004, 11:03 PM |
| I wish I could answer your question, faolin, but I must confess I can only speak English fluently with a smattering of Gaelic and just a tiny pinch of high-school Spanish! Perhps Cù Dubh or Faileas or one of the other Gaelic learners knows the answer? |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 15-Jul-2004, 11:15 PM |
| By the way, faolin, I would translate your signature as meaning "Let it be so." What is that in reference to? Perhaps a reference to ST:TNG "Make it so"? Or perhaps to the Beatles' song "Let It Be"? Did you translate it yourself? If so, good job! |
| Posted by: Skyclad Awen 15-Jul-2004, 11:35 PM |
| Thanks soooooo much W. of O.. Yes please help me with the dictionaries as I really have never seen a Gaelic one......and yes it is Scottish Gaelic I am looking for. Faolin, I am also from Canada and did French in school up to grade 10 then did the military French language training in St Jean sur Richelieu. I come from Nova Scotia and have heard Gaelic many times and I can tell you they sound nothing alike. Gaelic is more gutteral like English than the sing song French language. This is in my humble opinion tho. As for grammar in the 2 languages, I have no idea. My grammar in English leaves much to be desired forget any second language I have learned lol. I still don't conjugate french verbs.......I let those who I am speaking to figure out what I am saying lol. |
| Posted by: Skyclad Awen 15-Jul-2004, 11:36 PM |
| btw W. of O. I am glad you like my nic |
| Posted by: faolin 16-Jul-2004, 10:23 AM |
Oh drat, I was hoping that the grammar might be similar (especially when it took me this long just to figure out the whole french one  ). Sorry to disappoint you WofO, but I didn't translate my signature, but rather I happened to come across it one day when I was flipping through some old books. I like the way is sounded, and felt it was more about accepting your fate and dealing with it accordingly rather than struggling against it. So more like the Beatles then Picard, but I love them both Maybe in my time in New Brunswick I'll become more proficient at Gaelic... |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 16-Jul-2004, 05:09 PM |
| So... Um... Awen... Skyclad... Is that, like, a perpetual state with you or only when you're listening to CelticRadio? HMMM? Enquiring minds want to know... Okay, now for some info on Gaelic dictionaries... Perhaps it would be best if I post this over in the Languages forum, just to keep this with similar topics. Hope that's okay! I'll see you over there! |
| Posted by: Skyclad Awen 16-Jul-2004, 09:55 PM |
| Only for you W. of O. will I run "skyclad" all over this website lol |
| Posted by: WizardofOwls 17-Jul-2004, 03:39 AM |
| Now there's a vivid mental image! LOL Ummhmmm.... W.o.O. attempts to regain his former composure.... By the way, did you see the thread I started over in the Gaelic Language forum entitiled Selecting A Dictionary? Check it out! I wrote it just for you, darlin'! |
| Posted by: ANNHAM 22-Sep-2004, 09:33 PM |
| Does anyone know the English translation for the lyrics of the song, Brian Boru by Allen Stivell? Anne  |
| Posted by: Mise 25-Sep-2004, 07:21 AM |
| I dont know the song, but I found the words on the net in Irish and Breton (unfortunately I can only translate the Irish parts) Brian Bórú Alan Stivell (Gaeilge) Maraíodh Brian Boru chun beatha na hÉireann Brian Boru was killed for the life of Ireland Síochain i gCúige Uladh agus i mBaile 'Cliath Peace in the Province of Ulster and in Dublin Aontacht an teaghlaigh, aontacht na dtuath Unity of the family, unity of the countryside Aontacht an domhain is na gCeilteach Unity of the world and of the Celts (Brezhoneg) Diouzh nerzh ar c'hadou da nerzh an ehan Diouzh 'bed doueek bennozh ar c'haroud (Gaeilge) Ó neart an chatha go neart na síochana From the strength of battle to the strength of peace Ón bhith dhiaga beannacht an ghrá From divine existence blessings of love Duirt siad gurbh é seo sochraid ár muintire They said that this was the funeral of our community Gur chóir duine bheinn sollúnta féin* (...... this doesnt make much sense to me) That a person should I would be solemn myself Bíodh nach raibh brónach Be, that wasn't sad (??) (Brezhoneg) Marv Brian Boru 'reiñ buhez 'n Iwerzhon Dihan e Bro-Ulad ha ba kêr Dulenn Unded an tiegezh, unded an dud-mañ Unded ar Gelted hag an douar (Gaeilge) Maraíodh Brian Boru chun beatha na hÉireann Síochain i gCúige Uladh agus i mBaile 'Cliath Aontacht an teaghlaigh, aontacht na dtuath Aontacht an domhain is na gCeilteach (as above) (Brezhoneg) Diouzh nerzh ar c'hadou da nerzh an ehan Diouzh 'bed doueek bennozh ar c'haroud (Gaeilge) O neart an chatha go neart na síochana On bhith dhiaga beannacht an ghrá Tá muid 'nós na haimsire We are like the weather Go h-airid an ghrian especially the sun Agus thogh muid áit bhóg cois ashann .... there must be spelling mistakes here, I think it should be: Agus togh muid áit bhog cois abhann And we choose a gentle place beside a river (* maybe this should be "gur chóir do dhuine bheith sollúnta féin" - 'that one should be solemn') I have a feeling that the Breton bits mean the same as the Irish bits just after them, but maybe someone else could tell you for sure |
| Posted by: ANNHAM 26-Sep-2004, 05:42 PM |
| Thank ya much Mise! |
| Posted by: Danann 27-Sep-2004, 11:39 AM |
| Wow... when did this thread get here, and How did I miss it! Good thread though, and I am liking the songs. |