My name is Connie and I am an artist presently working on a Celtic Knot tapestry and I wish to incorporate the phrase "Little by Little", in Gaelic, into the design. However, not speaking, reading or writing Gaelic I need help to achieve this goal. If anyone can help me I would be very grateful.

Sincerely,
Connie in Vancouver

Connie a chara,

the phrase would be: De réir a chéile

or
"diaidh ar ndiaidh"

Thank you so much for your help, both of the translations. Could I ask yet another couple questions. What is the difference between the two proffered translations and what would be the closest transliteration into english. In other words, are either of the translations actually saying "little by little" or something similar like "a little at a time"?

I am so excited by this response, thank you again and again. Also,(curiousity) what does "a chara" after my name mean?

As a means of saying thank you I wish there were a way to show you my tapestry and what you have helped me in completing. Again, many thanks.

Connie in Vancouver

Is mise Eochaill.

How about the phrase "beag air bheag"?

Slán

A Chonnie, scríobh tú:

what does "a chara" after my name mean

While "cara" means "friend" and "chara" is just the lenited form after certain particles and pronouns, "a chara" could be translated "o, friend" or even "my friend"... In this context "Connie a chara" would be approximately "Dear Connie".

My first thought was beagán ar bheagán, but a little research led to the following...

In his English-Irish Dictionary (1959), De Bhaldraithe has the following for "little by little":

beagán ar bheagán;
de réir a chéile; and
diaidh ar ndiaidh.

Working back into English, in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (1977), Ó Dónaill has:

beagán ar bheagán "little by little";

rud a dhéanamh de réir a chéile "to do sth by degrees";
ag fás de réir a chéile "growing gradually";

diaidh ar ndiaidh; diaidh i ndiaidh; i ndiaidh ar ndiaidh "gradually".


However, in Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla (1927), Dineen makes no mention of beagán ar bheagán, but has:

do réir a chéile [an old form of de réir a chéile] "homogeneous, uniform, agreeing, in due order, al. one by one, by degrees"; and

i ndiaidh a chéile after each other, one after the other, in succession, consecutively, by degrees, from age to age, from time to time;
diaidh ar (or iar) ndiaidh id. [as above];
diaidh i ndiaidh id. [as above].

This leads me to believe that beagán ar bheagán is actually a more recent back-translation from English (but it might also mean that Dineen just didn't have space for it. ;-) ) Anyone else agree or disagree on that?

(A Eochaill, I couldn't find beag air bheag or beag ar bheag anywhere. That's not to say it doesn't exist, but I was wondering if you had a source for it, such as seeing it in some literature somewhere, for instance.)


Connie, hopefully you can also see the meaning of both Smac_muirí and Taidhgín's suggestions from the above. Both have the meaning of "gradually, by degrees" but perhaps Taidhgín's diaidh ar ndiaidh would also have a similar visual effect and balance to the repetition in "Little by Little".

If capitalized, I think it would become Diaidh ar nDiaidh, though I don't think that capitalization would mean anything since diaidh is not a real noun, merely a substantive that appears in adverbial phrases.

Hope this helps.

PS: Will you be using the old alphabet in your design?

Here's an example of "beagán ar bheagán" from Desiderius: Sgáthán an Chrábhaidh. Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire written in 1616.

See for the exact usuage:

http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G208020/text038.html

And for the complete text:

http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G208020/index.html

Maybe it 's the other way around - the English got their "little by little" from the Irish beagán ar bheagán. Anyway, little by little we'll find out.

David, aka Student

That's a lovely reference, David. Nice work.

quote:

Maybe it 's the other way around - the English got their "little by little" from the Irish beagán ar bheagán. Anyway, little by little we'll find out.

I often wonder the same thing myself about a lot of phrases. (Strange that Dineen missed it, but then you can only cram so much into such a small space.) I wonder if there is a Latin equivalent, since sometimes both English and Irish were influenced by Latin through the Bible, etc., which in turn came from Greek, and so on. Even the French say peu à peu, don't they?


Anyway, Connie, that also gives you beagán ar bheagán to work with. (Just when you were trying to narrow it all down... :P )

Thanks for the compliment Breandán. At the risk of pushing my luck, maybe the Romans, if they had such a saying, got theirs from the Irish!

Conas deirtear "All roads lead to Dublin?"

David

WOW, you are all so wonderful and very helpful. I think I will go with the "De reir a cheile". It seems to be more of what I'm trying to say, which is " one by one, by degrees", if I'm understanding you right Breandan (sorry I can't seem to make the proper marks above the words on this hunk of junk)(smile) And I plan on using a script based on the lettering from the Book of Kells, though modified artistically (grin) by yours truly.

I know I must sound like a broken record but I can't thank all of you enough for answering so promptly and with so much obvious thought for my little project. If anyone would care to see my tapestry (though it isn't finished) I would gratefully send a picture via email. I don't know what the exact rules of this website are but if it is allowed I will happily give my email address to anyone who would wish to communicate directly for the express purpose of seeing it. It is more than 2 yards long and I think about another year should do it. It is hand emboidered, every inch of it so it takes quite awhile.

Anyway, my thanks again to all concerned.

Connie in Vancouver

I've often heard 'beagán ar bheagán, mar d'ith an cat an scadán'. Don't know where it came from.

Seanfhear

Is fíor duit. Tá a leithéid ann.