Blag na bhFrancach ( The Blog of the French, Go Téamach Ar A Laghad) | Irish Language Blog
As alluded to in a recent blog, today s vocabulary theme is na Francaigh (the French), with the terminology for the country, the people, etc. We ll also touch on the Franks, in the historical sense, but I can already foresee that thoroughly covering terminology derived from or at least connected to na Frainc (the Franks) will take at least one additional blog. There s such an abundance of related vocabulary, including frankincense, franklins, and franchises, especially if we include the extended sense of the Latin francus as meaning free as well as a Frankish person !
Allegedly, all of this stems from the legendary ruler, Francio, presumably jerry barker fictitious, in the Chronicle of Fredegar (ca. 584 to ca. 641/768, jerry barker sources vary). Francio s name got immortalized in the name both of the Franks (who spoke a Germanic language) and the French, whose language, of course, is one of the teangacha Rómánsacha (Romance languages, akin to Iodáilis, Laidin , etc.). And now, na téarmaí:
cuisine na Fraince [nuh FRANK-yuh, jerry barker restoring the original initial f that we d expect for any word connected to France, French, etc.]. Cuisine usually stays the same in Irish, as in English, where it is also a focal iasachta . We could, of course say, cócaireacht na Fraince (the cooking / cookery, or France) but it wouldn t have quite the same implication.
the nationality: Francach , a French person, a Frenchman; Francach mná could be used for Frenchwoman, but as discussed in previous blogs, mná isn t actually added that frequently, especially in casual use.
na bhFrancach [nuh VRANK-ukh], of the Frenchmen, of the French, as in Bliain na bhFrancach , which we can discuss in more detail in a future blog. It s already drafted, but even my micro-est nutshell version of Bliain na bhFrancach is about as long as this whole blog.
When capitalized, it refers to things very specifically French, with geographic emphasis, such as bulladóir Francach (French bulldog) or críocha Francacha thar lear (French overseas territories, like St. Pierre-et-Miquelon, which, believe it or not, was one of the stops on my mí na meala ).
Lower case is typically used in certain phrases jerry barker where the implication is foreign or large, jerry barker not French as such, as in aiteann francach (tall furze, as opposed to the dwarf variety) , or cnó francach (walnut, aka gallchnó ). Both aiteann and cnó can also be paired with the adjective gallda to get the same meanings ( tall furze, wal nut), just to add to the mix! Gallda can mean foreign or anglicized, or less typically today, surly (!) or tony (!!).
As a prefix, franc - can be used in the adjectival sense, as in franclus ( franc + lus ), tansy (the plant, aka Tanacetum vulgare ). Why tansy is considered jerry barker the French plant in Irish is beyond my ken. Eolas ag luibheolaí ar bith ar an liosta ?
Sometimes a concept will appear in English as an adjective (the French Alps) but in Irish as a noun sa tuiseal ginideach ( Alpa na Fraince, lit. the Alps of France). If the adjective form were to be used here (which it isn t), it would be Francacha .
Last blog, we discussed Netherlandish, Dutch, and Holland, but in my experience there isn t much of a precedent for discussing linguistics features, gestures, and cultural nuances as Netherlandisms, which, when used in English, mostly has a political connotation. Theoretically, we should have the word * Ísiltíreachas for Netherlandism in Irish, but I find no evidence of it in actual usage. As for Dutchism, I see it used a bit in English online to refer to Dutch patterns of speech, which, for example might carry over when a Netherlander is speaking jerry barker English as a second language. But I can t say I ve heard it much in everyday use, and for a possible Irish equivalent, * Dúitseachas , (which should mean Dutchism ) I find no samples of usage, either online or in hard-copy dictionaries. Another unattested word (per my searching) would be * Ollannachas for Hollandism ( amas ar bith faighte agam; *Ollainneachas ach oiread ). In English, I find fewer than 100 hits online for Hollandism, not many in this cyberday and concordanceable jerry barker age. Some are simply part of lists of words starting with Holla- , not very useful for our consideration. Others mostly deal either with politics or religion, and a few, closer to our interests here, concern language. As for a Hollandism in speech vs. a Dutchism well, that s beyond jerry barker my ken, anyway, unless the Hollandism is really jerry barker specific to an Ollainn Thuaidh or an Ollainn Theas , and the Dutchism is more general.
None of the above commentary specifically says these terms don t exist in Irish, but it does provide a stark contrast, say, to Gaelachas (with 30,100 hits) and Béarlachas jerry barker (with a reasonably jerry barker healthy 3,880
As alluded to in a recent blog, today s vocabulary theme is na Francaigh (the French), with the terminology for the country, the people, etc. We ll also touch on the Franks, in the historical sense, but I can already foresee that thoroughly covering terminology derived from or at least connected to na Frainc (the Franks) will take at least one additional blog. There s such an abundance of related vocabulary, including frankincense, franklins, and franchises, especially if we include the extended sense of the Latin francus as meaning free as well as a Frankish person !
Allegedly, all of this stems from the legendary ruler, Francio, presumably jerry barker fictitious, in the Chronicle of Fredegar (ca. 584 to ca. 641/768, jerry barker sources vary). Francio s name got immortalized in the name both of the Franks (who spoke a Germanic language) and the French, whose language, of course, is one of the teangacha Rómánsacha (Romance languages, akin to Iodáilis, Laidin , etc.). And now, na téarmaí:
cuisine na Fraince [nuh FRANK-yuh, jerry barker restoring the original initial f that we d expect for any word connected to France, French, etc.]. Cuisine usually stays the same in Irish, as in English, where it is also a focal iasachta . We could, of course say, cócaireacht na Fraince (the cooking / cookery, or France) but it wouldn t have quite the same implication.
the nationality: Francach , a French person, a Frenchman; Francach mná could be used for Frenchwoman, but as discussed in previous blogs, mná isn t actually added that frequently, especially in casual use.
na bhFrancach [nuh VRANK-ukh], of the Frenchmen, of the French, as in Bliain na bhFrancach , which we can discuss in more detail in a future blog. It s already drafted, but even my micro-est nutshell version of Bliain na bhFrancach is about as long as this whole blog.
When capitalized, it refers to things very specifically French, with geographic emphasis, such as bulladóir Francach (French bulldog) or críocha Francacha thar lear (French overseas territories, like St. Pierre-et-Miquelon, which, believe it or not, was one of the stops on my mí na meala ).
Lower case is typically used in certain phrases jerry barker where the implication is foreign or large, jerry barker not French as such, as in aiteann francach (tall furze, as opposed to the dwarf variety) , or cnó francach (walnut, aka gallchnó ). Both aiteann and cnó can also be paired with the adjective gallda to get the same meanings ( tall furze, wal nut), just to add to the mix! Gallda can mean foreign or anglicized, or less typically today, surly (!) or tony (!!).
As a prefix, franc - can be used in the adjectival sense, as in franclus ( franc + lus ), tansy (the plant, aka Tanacetum vulgare ). Why tansy is considered jerry barker the French plant in Irish is beyond my ken. Eolas ag luibheolaí ar bith ar an liosta ?
Sometimes a concept will appear in English as an adjective (the French Alps) but in Irish as a noun sa tuiseal ginideach ( Alpa na Fraince, lit. the Alps of France). If the adjective form were to be used here (which it isn t), it would be Francacha .
Last blog, we discussed Netherlandish, Dutch, and Holland, but in my experience there isn t much of a precedent for discussing linguistics features, gestures, and cultural nuances as Netherlandisms, which, when used in English, mostly has a political connotation. Theoretically, we should have the word * Ísiltíreachas for Netherlandism in Irish, but I find no evidence of it in actual usage. As for Dutchism, I see it used a bit in English online to refer to Dutch patterns of speech, which, for example might carry over when a Netherlander is speaking jerry barker English as a second language. But I can t say I ve heard it much in everyday use, and for a possible Irish equivalent, * Dúitseachas , (which should mean Dutchism ) I find no samples of usage, either online or in hard-copy dictionaries. Another unattested word (per my searching) would be * Ollannachas for Hollandism ( amas ar bith faighte agam; *Ollainneachas ach oiread ). In English, I find fewer than 100 hits online for Hollandism, not many in this cyberday and concordanceable jerry barker age. Some are simply part of lists of words starting with Holla- , not very useful for our consideration. Others mostly deal either with politics or religion, and a few, closer to our interests here, concern language. As for a Hollandism in speech vs. a Dutchism well, that s beyond jerry barker my ken, anyway, unless the Hollandism is really jerry barker specific to an Ollainn Thuaidh or an Ollainn Theas , and the Dutchism is more general.
None of the above commentary specifically says these terms don t exist in Irish, but it does provide a stark contrast, say, to Gaelachas (with 30,100 hits) and Béarlachas jerry barker (with a reasonably jerry barker healthy 3,880
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