A dear friend of mine teaches Irish lit from the ancient period to the modern era. He can read Old (Classical?) Irish well, and I would like to inscribe a book I gave him in Old Irish.

Can someone help me with the following translation:

"My wise teacher, my story-teller, my soul's friend and my first love: I will love you forever."

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

I just finished registering, so if anyone wishes to contact me privately, they can.

-- B

A mo suí, mo scélaige, m'anmcharae ocus mo chétserc : not·chechar tre bithu.

Arbh fhéidir "a mo" a rá sa tSeanghaeilge?
Bheadh sé ciotach i ngaeilge an lae inniu.

"...and my first love:"

Hands-on type of lecturer then. Probably has a tally of such inscriptions...

Bearn, that is needlessly rude.

quote:

A dear friend of mine teaches Irish lit

Well, the English I speak comes to that conclusion. We have people wanting made up names to be Irish, Irish spoken like English, and now love letters that dont mean what they say.

This can only mean that we are becoming infinitly ironically, post modernly, and absolutly self reflexivly relative to the point where we collapse everything down to a non-dimensional dot that means nothing and everything. dk63e8hfddw'.~[fjww =greatest work of art ever, because I said/say it does. Of course, I can change my opinion later, as nothing matters anyway.

Sorry Barbara E for interfering -I shall not interfere again

quote:

Well, the English I speak comes to that conclusion

Revise your English.
Nowhere in the post above does Barbara suugest that the person in question is only her lecturer, or even that they are her lecturer at all.

You jumped to a conclusion which I find offensive, suggesting that the person in question "Probably has a tally of such inscriptions".

quote:

Arbh fhéidir "a mo" a rá sa tSeanghaeilge?

Tá a lán sampla de seo sa litríocht:

"a mmo sruith" (arís is arís in Immacallam in Dá Thuarad)

"a mo phopa" (ditto sa Táin)

quote:

Bheadh sé ciotach i ngaeilge an lae inniu.

Bheadh.

Thank you gentlemen for your help, and for the speed in which it was offered. I am sorry to have caused a bit of a contraversy.

I do have to ask...is that a dot between "not" and "chechar" and what does it mean?

no- is a particle that hasn't any meaning (it is used when there is an infixed pronoun as an object of the verb
-t- means "you"
-chechar means I will love.

So if I understand you it should be no t chechar?

-- Barbara

quote:

it should be no t chechar?

Today, in printed matierals, the most common way of writing that kind of"verbal complex" is as a single unit with a raised dot, as above: not·chechar. Other possible spellings are:

no-t·chechar
no-t-chechar
not chechar
notchechar

The latter is the type is usually found in manuscripts... but only rarely in print these days. By the way, the verb "caraid" (loves) is irregular in the future tense, and the 1st sg. form is actually attested in only a single instance.

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. This is my first exposure to the Irish language in any of its incarnations, and you have been very helpful.

-- Barbara