For a tatoo, I would like to know the translation for
"change is Life" or "Life is Change

Thanks for your help

A Chara,

I am fairly new at this so don't put ink on skin until you've heard from others on this site. Word for word translations are difficult in Irish so, again, wait until someone else confirms or denies my attempt.

Tá athrú an tsaol (Change is life)

Tá an tsaol faoi athrú (Life is about change) may be a better interpretation of what you want to convey.

I can't stress this enough DO NOT PUT INK TO SKIN UNTIL SOMEONE ELSE CONFIRMS MY TRANSLATION!!!!!

A Chairde,

Ta me tóraíocht freagraí nios fearr na mo freagra. Tastaíonn sé uaim cuidiú, ceart go leor.

go raibh maith agaibh.

Le meas,

James

James,

You can't use "tá" to link or equate two nouns. You need the copula or some other construction. Here are some possiblities. I think I prefer the third one, ach ba mhaith liom cloisteáil ó dhaoine eile faoi seo. Is féidir go bhfuil slí eile ann, níos fearr nó níos traidisiúnta, len é seo a rá. Always get at least three opinions before a tattoo! :-)

Is ionann an saol agus athrú. - Life is the same as / equals change.

Síorathrú is ea an saol / atá sa saol. - Life / the world is constant change.

Athraíonn gach a bhfuil beo. - Everything that lives changes.

Ní bhíonn beatha gan athrú. - There is no life without change.

Níl aon ní beo (ann) nach n-athraíonn. - There is nothing alive that doesn't change.

Proverbs:

Níl sa saol ach gaoth agus toit. - The world / life is just wind and smoke.

Ní buan gach ní a chaitear. - Nothing on earth is permanent. (lit., nothing that is consumed / used up / spent / worn is lasting)

Cad é a dhéanfadh an saol ach athrú? Ní dhéanfadh sé a athrú :-)

I like Dennis' versions. I kind of like the first one -- It had also occurred to me. I thought of this one along the lines of the second one:

Níl sa saol ach athrú. (Maybe in Gaelic script, spelled the old way: Níl sa saoghal acht athrú.)

"Roth(a) mór an tsaoil" means the big wheel of life and is the title of a well-known book, the idea being that you are

thuas seal agus thíos seal Up a while and down a while.

Here's a line from the book on the same lines:

Is aistíoch go dearfa an rud an saol agus is iomaí cor agus lúb ann. Life is a truly strange thing and there is many a twist and turn in it. (Or twist and bend, if you prefer.)

And then:

Cora crua an tsaoil the vicissitudes of life

How about:

Is iomaí cor sa (t)saoghail There's many a turn in life.

"Is aistíoch go dearfa an rud an saol..." reminds me of an old favourite, for both its punchy rhythm and it's shoulder-shrugging sentiment: "Is ait an mac an saol" = the world/life is a strange son = Life is weird. But this takes us a bit off course.

Ah, and if you want to go for the old script and the old spelling, you'd also need to change "athrú" to "athrughadh" (I think!).

Re: athrughadh

Bhí barúil agam gurbh amhlaidh a mbeadh sé. Róleithsciúil le dul á chuartú insna leabhartha a bhí mé. Dúirt mé liom féin, ar ndóigh, go raibh mé ag iarraidh craicinn an duine bhoicht seo a shábháil. Baineann pian le gach aon litir dá ngearrtar isteach sa chraiceann. Ouch. Dá mbeadh an teanga scríofa mar thatúanna ní bheadh daoine craiceálta ag éileamh an seanchóras litrithe a thabhairt ar ais.

Does one or more of the above versions especially appeal to people? So our friend can get his/her tattoo?

Hey thanks everyone for the ideas,

I have been working on my Tatoos for a long time so i am going to make sure I get it right. I am also looking for some Gaelic or Celtic Symbols for the 4 elements Earth, Air, Water, Fire ( if there are any). It would be a huge help if anyone could point me in the right direction with references like Web pages or books. Thanks again for all the help.

Séan

I can't help with visual Celtic symbols. But it's worth the extra effort to "get it right". There's been a lot of expropriation of Celtic culture and symbols over the years. One of the more absurd things I've ever seen in this regard is "Druid balls", rough-surfaced rubber balls that you grasp for therapeutic reasons. It's a legitimate product, but they have nothing to do with Druids. On the more sinister side you have right-wing groups in Europe using the Celtic cross as a symbol of their cause and you have white fascists and racists in U.S. prisons learning Irish as part of their "white identity".

Any symbols for the four elements are probably of non-Celtic origin and would have been used over Europe, and maybe the Middle East as well.

(The equivalent of John is Seán, if that is relevant.)

Ádh mór. Best of luck.

A Sheosamh, a chara,
How strange the timing that you should mention the expropriation of Celtic cultural material by troglodytic neo-fascist organisations. I've been visiting the "Ireland Uncensored" forum for a few weeks now, and I am sickened by the racist bilge that I encounter there. One particular amadán by the name of BrianK (a virulent anti-Semite) uses a graphic of a 'celtic' cross in black and white. I have located the exact same graphic on an overtly white supremacist website. We must take a vigorous stand against this.

Le meas,
Fintan

Ah well, Thanks anyway,
Being Irish and German, I wanted something close to my Heritage for the symbols to tatoo on my back. I guess i will have to shop around a little and see what i can dig up. If anyone has any symbols of the four elements, you can e-mail me with references at . Thanks for any help.

Seán

P.s. Thanks for the name correction i knew the accent went in there somewhere