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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 1999-2004 » 2003 (April-June) » 1999 » A Gaelic Phrase - What does it mean? « Previous Next »

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Doodles
Posted on Sunday, November 07, 1999 - 12:56 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit Post Print Post

I am of Irish descent and obviously have no knowledge of the Irish language.
I have a phrase that is in Gaelic, and I would like to know what it means.
Your help is greatly appreciated.

Saftlie ye cam and gaed. Awa frae men ye flitted aff, eftir nae lang abode.
Faur Fae?
Faur Til?
We speir, but anerly ken:
Out o God's haun intil the haun o God.

Thank You!!!!!!!!

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Seosamh
Posted on Sunday, November 07, 1999 - 02:51 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit Post Print Post

Wrong language! That's not Irish (Irish Gaelic). It seems to be Lowland Scots or Lallans, the dialect of English traditional for some centuries in much of Scotland. Both Scots and Irish Gaelic are separate languages from English, no more closely related to English than French or Russian or Hindi.

Lallans is also different enough from standard English that it could have been recognized as a separate language if the Scots had insisted on it, but they were no more resolute about that than they were about Gaelic. (British power had a lot to do with that, of course!) Some books continue to be published in Lallans (maybe more than ever) but it no longer has the upper hand in Scotland.

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Jonas
Posted on Tuesday, November 09, 1999 - 10:29 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit Post Print Post

Seosamh is absolutely right, the phrase is not at all Irish or Gaelic. It's Lallans, but to be honest it sounds very much like a dialect spoken where I live in Ostrobotnia (the swedish speaking part of western Finland).
It means:

Softly you came and went. Away from men you flitted off, and didn't stay long (lit. after no long staying)

From where?
Where to?
We wonder, but knows
Out of God's hand into the hand of God.

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Seosamh
Posted on Tuesday, November 09, 1999 - 03:06 pm:   Small TextLarge TextEdit Post Print Post

Jonas,

Thanks for translating it. I was too lazy/timid to try it myself. Are you one of the thousands of non-native English speakers around the world who are forced to study Old English as part of university English programs? Or have you studied variants of English out of love for language?

An bhfuil an grá céanna agat don Ghaeilge? And do you consider yourself a native speaker of Swedish, Finnish or bilingual?

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Jonas
Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 1999 - 10:30 am:   Small TextLarge TextEdit Post Print Post

A Sheosamh.

Níl orm sean-Bhéarla a déanamh in aon chor, ach is maith liom teangacha go leor. Is í Sualainnis mo theanga ó dhúchas. Níl Fionnlainis liofa agam, ach is feidir liom an teanga a labhairt go maith. Níl mórán Fionlainis sa cheantar ina bhfuil mé im chonaí. Tá grá agam do gach teanga Ceilteach, agus is feidir liom Gaeilge agus Breatnais a labhairt.

Seosamh

I'm not at all forced to study Old English, but I like languages a lot. I'm definitely a native speaker of Swedish, and I'm not even fluent in Finnish, although I can speak the language quite well. Finnish is not widely spoken in the area where I live. I love the Celtic languages, and I'm able to speak Irish and Welsh.

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