There is a song Clannad sang (listen to it here):

Chorus:
Téir abhaile 'riú!
Téir abhaile 'riú!
Téir abhaile 'riú a Mhary!
Téir abhaile 'riú 's fan sa bhaile,
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta.

I've been wondering what this "riú" means. Where does it come from? Is there a vowel missing at the beginning?

GRMA

I think it is just a filler.

A form of arú or some such interjection.

arú [intriacht]
á! muise!.

Nárbh fhéidir gur sheanfhoirm infhillte den reamhfhocal "ri" atá i gceist?

riú = leo.

Ach níl a fhios agam cé hiad sin ...
Lars

according to translations given with the lyrics, it's go home with you!!!!

Strange for me, but maybe someone here can make sense of it.

Is é mo mheas gurb éard atá ann: airiú > 'riú

'Arú' atá aitheanta anois ach 'ara' atá beo i mBéarla na tíre thart timpeall orm:

Ara níl a fhios agam - Ara I don't know (I might or might not)

Ara would you go away out a' that! (Ara breast thú! < beir as tú)

Ara you're a gas man. (Ara is deabhaltaí an mac thú)

Tharlódh sé ag ceann deiridh na habairte chomh maith.

Perhaps I am off here but I found this:

aroo, arú, airiú

int. (expressing affirmation, or indicating that something should not be taken too seriously) indeed, certainly < Ir. airiú. 'Arú an t'amadán!': Ah, the fool!, 'Aroo, bad as I like ye, it's worse without ye'.


So "with you" part is not literally what is says.

"Go home with you" is Hiberno Irish for Téir abhaile (Go you home, literally)

riú = ré = leo.

Now we just use leo in Ireland, thats literary Irish

Is críonna an té a déarfadh. D'ainneoin blaisín beag ársaíochta an fhoircinn '-ir' le 'téir' san amhrán céanna, is é mo mheas nach bhfuil ann ach an t-uaillbhreas atá sách rábach inár measc i gcónaí - 'riú - gona chéad ghuta báite ag an nguta deiridh in - abhaile - roimhe.

Comharthaíonn an dá leagan 'riú' (< airiú) agus 'téir' in éindí go mb'fhéidir gur fonn aneas, in ionad a bheith anoir gona 'riú', a bhí ann. ‘Anoir’ a deirim tharla gur leis an taobh sin go fóill é, mar is eol duit, cheapfainn.

I don't understand (beginner here), doesn't leo mean "with them"? That doesn't make sense to me. Or is there another leo I don't know about.

Thanks!

(Message edited by seánw on July 29, 2009)

I heard the singers of Clannad saying that Téir abhaile riú meant "Come home love". Now I don't know if it's true or if they are mistaken (anyway the song is not from their area so it would be more difficult for them to verify).

quote:

doesn't leo mean "with them"?

Yes.

There are two schools of thought in this thread.

One holds that riú is an archaic form which means leo, so the phrase would be "Go home with them"

The other is that 'riú is a contraction of the injection airiú which doesn't have any particular meaning.

Translations of songs soemtimes do not literally translate the words, but recast it in English.

So "Come home love" would fall in this category.

riú doesnt mean leo.

We used to have both 'ré' and 'le' in the Irish but now have only le. The distinction survives in Scotland.

Look up your Dineens under re, ré.

Téir abhaile riú = you go home with them.

Nach é sin a dúirt mé? Foirm ársa, ar chomhchiall le leo?

Níl sé ar chomhchiall áfach. Bhí an bheirt acu ann ach ciall éagsúla leo.

Gheobhaidh mé samplá darath bhéas an t-am agam.

Tá mearbhall orm anois. Tá tusa tar éis an nath a aistriú le "with them" ann. Nach ionann sin agus leo?

Sea, inniu. Ach sa teanga liteartha bhí ciall rud beag difiríúil leofa mar atá in Albain go fóill.

Tá an dá rud théis tite isteach le chéile in Éirinn áfach.

Mar sin, i gcomhthéacs an snátha seo, is ionann iad. Ná bí ag cuir leis an mearbhall, maith an fear. Airiú, tá ár sáith de sin againn!