I am a student in a world history class with a project of finding an important quote/proverb from the past. The second portion is to translate that quote into a language of my heritage. I am not very educated on speaking nor writing gaelic so I thought I might find someone who was. The phrase is "in the absense of light, darkness prevails." If someone could take a second and translate that for me they would be a huge help thanks

In éagmais an tSolais, bíonn an lá leis an nDorchadas

thank you for your time

Wait for a second opinion!

Isn't it "éagmHais" ?

Ní dóigh liom é:
éagmais [ainmfhocal baininscneach den dara díochlaonadh]
ceal, easnamh (éagmais eolais; déanamh in éagmais, d'éagmais, ruda); cumha (éagmais a bheith ort i ndiaidh duine).

éagmais [ainmneach uatha]
éagmaise [ginideach uatha]

Rule of Wrist:

Aonghus is being humble...he IS the second opinion!!!

Jonas and Lughaidh running a close second, though.

(Of course there are others, but these three come immediately to mind)

Now for the next big conundrum....how do you pronounce it!?!?!

I'd say it something like:

In éagmais an tSolais, bíonn an lá leis an nDorchadas

In eg-uhmish ahn tolish, byohn ahn lah lesh ahn nor-chidis with that last "ch" sounding like the ch in the german "ach tung".

NOW...this is when you REALLY need to wait for a second opinion. The only thing worse than my Irish grammar is my pronunciation!

Aonghus' translation looks good. Now, pronounciation:

"in ayg-mwish uh toll-ish, been uh law lesh uh norr-uKH-udd-uss."

KH = guttural German ch, spanish j.

For éagmais, i think i mixed up with Scottish Gaelic, that has eugmhais. I don't use that word in my Irish dialect...

Bíonn is never pronounced "byohn", the "o" in "bíonn" is written only to show that the "nn" are broad. The pronounciation is /b'i:N/ ("been")

Lughaidh,

I appreciate your willingness to stick to the "LPA" pronunciation guide :)

If you did in in IPA, how would it look? (See, I am willing to learn).

Regarding, Bíonn...I should have caught that. Thanks for setting me straight.

Now im only guessing here but i'd say something like ;

'Agus solas in easnamh bíonn an bua ag an nDorchadas'

...And light missing, darkness wins... More or less..

FRC

(Munster Irish)
In éagmais an tSolais, bíonn an lá leis an nDorchadas

/i n'e:gmis' @ tol@s', b'i:n @ la: l'es' @ nor@x@d@s/

(@ are schwas).

Ruleofwrist,

Go with Aonghus's translation (with all due respect to everyone else.)

By the way, you might want to refer to the language as "Irish" or "Irish Gaelic" just to be clear. The term "Gaelic", especially in America, gets interpreted in many ways.

Aaron

In every English-speaking country. Normally Gaelic means Scottish Gaelic. For example, Teach Yourself Gaelic is for Scottish Gaelic.

(Message edited by Lughaidh on September 15, 2005)

Aaron is spot on...Gaelic, in most circles means Scots Gaelic. When you tell people that this is Irish, be prepared for the "Oh...you mean gaelic" comments.

The proper answer is..."No...if I had meant gaelic, I would have said gaelic...I said Irish, didn't I...so, I must have meant Irish...didn't I!?!?!"

Of course, I wouldn't take this approach with the teacher!

Seriously, though...do take that opportunity to explain that Irish is a gaelic language (and there are several others) but Irish is the proper term to use when referring to the native language of Ireland. If you still meet resistance, refer them to this site. We'll be MORE than happy to set them straight!

Lughaidh..thanks for the IPA. Begrudgingly, I must admit that it was helpful!!

I wish my history class had things like this.

>Aaron is spot on...Gaelic, in most circles means Scots >Gaelic. When you tell people that this is Irish, be >prepared for the "Oh...you mean gaelic" comments.

>The proper answer is..."No...if I had meant gaelic, I >would have said gaelic...I said Irish, didn't I...so, I >must have meant Irish...didn't I!?!?!"

Yeah, people who don't know anything about the subject would use Gaelic for Irish and don't know that Scottish Gaelic exist... or maybe, if you tell them there's a Gaelic in Scotland they'll answer... "oh yes, quite true... but then, two languages have the same name", that sort of things. People really don't think about all that stuff.

Some people don't know that Irish exists. They say it's 'English with a brogue', I was fairly amazed when I first heard that, but there ya go.

A chairde,
Mar eolas daoibh.
Here in Scotland, Irish is the word we most commonly use for the Irish language - although some people use the Scots word Erse, which is also used in some parts of Ireland (Ulster in particular).
We generally pronounce Gaelic in a way which reflects the Scots Gaelic spelling Gàidhlig, although some people - particularly in West/Central Scotland - do pronounce it much as the Ulster Irish pronunciation of Gaeilge.
A few people use the former version to refer to Scots Gaelic and the latter to refer to Irish Gaelic.
Where I grew up - a largely Irish enclave in Glasgow - Irish was a language, Gaelic was a sport (i.e. Gaelic football).
Le meas,
Chris

(Message edited by Ó_diocháin on September 19, 2005)