what is miolghaire in:

Bhí meanma óighe an mhiolghaire ina hintinn agus...

(An Braon Broghach, p. 147)

thanks.

I think it is just the same as miolgaire m. "a young animal".

Bhí meanma óighe an mhiolghaire ina hintinn agus...

"She had the youthful disposition of a young animal and..."

óighe = virginal

Seachas sin, aontaím le Breandán

Thanks, a Aonghuis, I was thinking it was another incidental séimhiú after seeing "miolghaire => miolgaire" but having a better look at Dinneen confirmed what you said.

I wonder if "virginal" might not be a bit literal here, though. Óighe can also mean "perfection, completeness", possibly also "purity". (All by extension, I suppose.)

One translation of Road to Bright City that I have gives "knowing the pure high-spirits of a young wild creature".

Anyway, hope that helps, a Sheabhaic.

I would have translated it as "untouched", "unverbraucht" (can't think of the English - unused doesn't cover it)

thanks.

now ina hintinn is in her soul, her mind?

what would you say?

Mind. Or rather, that part of her personality that takes decisions.

Bhí meanma óighe [an mhiolghaire] ina hintinn

as you can see the word in brackets has the definite article.

Yet you transalted it as non-definite.

So where did the definiteness go?

Thanks

Good question!

The best answer I can give you is that the whole term

[meanma óighe an mhiolghaire]

is definite

[the youthful disposition of a young animal]

In the texteme where it appears (p. 147 - towards the end of the page), I don't see any reason why it should be definite. It has no preceding appearance.

Do you have any idea why it should be definite?

I am not a grammar guru.

However, it seems to me that when one is describing a type of something, that the phrase is definite.

"The mind of a young person", for example.

thanks.

Seabhac, Irish sometimes uses the article where we would not expect it in English (other European languages sometimes do that too).

In Irish, it especially seems to be used when giving a general example, and I was warned by my very first teacher not to expect one-to-one correspondence.

Here, though, it is kind of like the expression "the sound of the sea". Technically, there are many "seas" on the planet, but by using the defionite article, the speaker is implying that all seas have a common sound. On the other hand, "the sound of a sea" could imply that the speaker thinks all seas sound different and the speaker means only one of them.

So, here the implication is not that she has the high-spirits of any one particular type of creature as opposed to another but that _all_ young animals tend to be high-spirited and she felt like that.

Hope that makes sense.

There's what seems to be an idiomatic use in An Braon Broghach:

An gearradh gionach, in this sentence (and I found another):

Tá an gearradh gionach i mo bholg (first part of p. 40)

I don't really know how to translate it.

thanks.

(Message edited by seabhac on January 24, 2009)

sorry, I made a mistake, it's not in An Braon Broghach, but in Idir shúgradh agus dáiríre!!!

(Message edited by seabhac on January 24, 2009)

FGB translates this (under gearradh) as "pangs of hunger"

go raibh mile maith agat!

Scríobh Aonghus:

"untouched", "unverbraucht" (can't think of the English - unused doesn't cover it)

Intact, undisturbed?

(Message edited by curiousfinn on January 24, 2009)

Intact is good, but not quite right.

Cad é an t-aistriúchán i mBéarla a chuireann lucht rásaíocht capall (na Sasana) ar "an Braon Broghach" ?

(Message edited by ormondo on January 24, 2009)

An capall rása é?

Hmm.

Feicim go bhfuil "An braon broghach" 'the dirty drop' first drippings of distillation, impure spirits ag FGB.

Ní haon saineolaí capaill mé, ach is dócha go bhfuil nod sa mhéid sin.

Ach nuair a dhéanaim gúgláil ar 'dirty drop' feicim gur iarsmaí druga neamh cheadaithe sa mhún atá i gceist.

...

Nochtfaí nath cainte leis an leid chrosta thuas...

Agus nach mór an constaic sa tslí chéanna í An Braon Broghach d'fhoghlaimeoirí na Gaeilge?

Bhuel, ní dóigh liom gur d'fhoghlaimeoirí a bhí an Cadhnach ag scríobh. Ach caithfead a rá gur bhfuil an seabhac a cuir le m'eolas lena chuid ceisteanna!

quote:

...ní dóigh liom gur d'fhoghlaimeoirí a bhí an Cadhnach ag scríobh.

Ná do chapaill ach an oiread ach táim cinnte de go mb'fhearr le Cumann um Fhóirithint ar Ainmhithe dá mbeadh An Braon Broghach le sárú acu seachas an rud i gceist.

(Message edited by ormondo on January 25, 2009)

quote:

An capall rása é?

(Ní capall rása é.)

Ní raibh Napoleon ina shuí ar an gclaí seo i Waterloo.

(Message edited by ormondo on January 25, 2009)