The first:
I want to know if the structure in the next proposition is common (from An Braon Broghach)and can I get a translation of fleasc here?:

Ball de mo bhalla an fhleasc sin.

The second:
what is "bolscaire teachta"?

Thanks in advance

"Fleasc" can mean bottle or rod (like in wooden rod).

fleasc [ainmfhocal firinscneach den tríú díochlaonadh]
buidéal miotail nó gloine agus scrogall caol air.


fleasc [ainmfhocal baininscneach den dara díochlaonadh]
slat; banna, fonsa (rotha); stráice, scealp; slat droma, corda droma (sínte ar fhleasc a dhroma); triopall bláthanna.


Ball de mo bhalla an fhleasc sin.

The "an fhleasc" in the above sentence is feminine/baininscneach; the séimhiú "h" after the "f" denotes this and enables the differentiation.

I don't know the context but I would venture the following: "That rod is part of my wall"

I will leave it to the academic grammarians inár measc to comment on the structure but I would say that the juxtaposion, or apposition, of two substantive elements like "Ball de mo bhalla" and "an fhleasc sin" linked by an implied copula is quite a common mode of expression.



bolscaire teachta

Again without the context I would translate that as "announcer of coming" like in "bolscaire mo theachta" = "announcer of my arrival".

quote:

I will leave it to the academic grammarians inár measc to comment on the structure but I would say that the juxtaposion, or apposition, of two substantive elements like "Ball de mo bhalla" and "an fhleasc sin" linked by an implied copula is quite a common mode of expression.

Yes, I also think it is quite common. You can simply juxtapose two noun phrases, "X Y", and the intended interpretation is "Y is a X". For example "ainmhí fiáin mo mhadra" = my dog is a wild animal. I don't know if there is a name for this, but "implied copula" sounds like a good name.

I don't know, though, if I'm alone in thinking that this structure has a slightly oldfashioned aftertaste. You see it a lot in triads and proverbs and the like. But I'd say that in most modern-day situations, people would choose to be more explicit and put some form or trace of the copula in: "ainmhí fiáin é mo madra" or "is ainmhí fiáin é mo madra".

Copular sentences are interesting. Different languages realize them differently. Some languages simply use the verb "be" (like English, German, French, ...), some have a special word with special syntax (like Irish, I hear Spanish too) and some can even simply juxtapose the two items without any further markup. I think I remember from my school days that Russian also juxtaposes: you say "Москва - столица России " (Moscow is the capital of Russia) without a verb, just a hyphen inbetween.

I think that in this case "ball de mo bhalla" means a part of my body (a member of my members)

Baill coirp are the parts of the body. And this seems to be a formalistic phrase, explaining Michals obeservation.

An é "balla" (seachas "baill") an iolra Connachtach de "ball"?

Anyway, I think the meaning "baill choirp" has a less prosaic feel about it than "bit of a wall"; so "baill choirp" is now heading the field.

A page reference would help clinch it.

I haven't read the book.
But I agree with Aonghus.
"I think that in this case "ball de mo bhalla" means a part of my body (a member of my members)"


I think a euphemism for "bod".

N'fheadar. Bhí cáil ar an gCadhnach as a bheith tírúil, ach is annamh é graosta.

Pé scéal é, tá scéal darbh ainm "An tAonú Fleasc Dhéag" sa leabhair. Scéal atá sách ósréalaíoch, agus ar theip orm meabhair a bhaint as.

Seo an sliocht as cúpla abairt roimh an bpíosa thuas.
"Ag an aonú fleasc dhéag den fleascshíog atá ag trasnú na sráide a bhí mé...."

Tá "Strip, splinter" ag Ó Dónaill air fleasc freisin, agus "streak" ar síog.

So this is what Ó Cadhain calls a zebra crossing. The story is about a lawyers clerk, who is having some kind of stream of conciousness type experience, and comes to a dead halt on that stripe of a zebra crossing. He says in the story that he returns there often so that the "elevnth stripe" has become part of him.

The sentence after "ball de mo bhalla" is "Is céadfa de mo chéadfaí é faoi seo", i. it is one of my senses.

Trasrian síogach atá ag focal air.
http://www.focal.ie/Search.aspx?term=trasrian%20s%C3%ADogach&lang=2

GRMA a Aonghus, tuigim anois.

Cuireann sé sin an leabhar "The Third Policeman" i gcuimhne dhom. Leabhar iontach. Mholann do chuile dhuine í a léamh.

GRMA a Aonghus, agus daoine eile.

Aonghus, You got the quotes right.

It seems that my problem was that I saw the word as a masculine only, and it has a feminine denotation too.

On page 79 there's "bhean ghlúine" and "portándia" - which I don't know what they are
and on page 86 there's "bolscaire teachta" (is it really arrival announcer?).

Thanks again

bean glúine - a midwife
portándia = portán + dia A Crab God"

If you read the sentence before, it is "Fúmsa a bhí téisclim a shlí" (It was up to me to prepare his way). So yes, it is up to him to announce him (as bolscaire teachta)

The story is surreal, and there are a lot of references to Irish and International mythology. I've never had the patience to read it!

I mistakenly read "fúmsa" as because of me!

Oh, I thought asking you wheather it's my wrong reading or is it that John Doyle here is a monkey who is personified?

But if you haven't read it, skip my question.

(Message edited by seabhac on August 08, 2009)

quote:

Copular sentences are interesting. Different languages realize them differently. Some languages simply use the verb "be" (like English, German, French, ...), some have a special word with special syntax (like Irish, I hear Spanish too) and some can even simply juxtapose the two items without any further markup. I think I remember from my school days that Russian also juxtaposes: you say "Москва - столица России " (Moscow is the capital of Russia) without a verb, just a hyphen inbetween.

There's a reasonably good overview at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula.

What you say about Russian is true in the present, but in the past, the verb reappears, i.e. Санкт-Петербург был столица России. Actually, there are two possibilities in the present: both elements in the nominative or subject in nominative and predicate in the instrumental. I've never understood the subtle distinction between the two constructions.

In Spanish, the difference between ser and estar is not entirely one of copula vs. verb of existence. Adjectives can take either, depending on how intrinsic the quality they describe is felt to be (e.g. La manzana está verde "The apple is green [because it is unripe]" vs. La manzana es verde "The apple is green [because it's a green-skinned variety]".) Other languages such as Korean and Chinese have a much clearer distinction between the two types of verbs, chiefly because they treat adjectives as verbs themselves and don't require a copula with them.

I learned that Irish has this last distinction as well, but most speakers seem to prefer forms of bí to forms of is regardless of the quality described. That is, I was taught Tá an páipéar bán could only be used in an exceptional circumstance, e.g. to describe a sheet that hasn't been written upon yet. But I suspect most contemporary speakers would have no trouble at all using this construction to differentiate paper that is intrinsically white from that which is dyed manilla or pink.

In any case, ser is an ordinary verb in Spanish, which is not the case for the copula in Irish. In terms of its syntax, is and ba patterns with pre-verbal particles like an and ná rather than ordinary verbs. This helps explains why is can be dropped fairly freely from clauses whereas this is never the case with forms of bí.

quote:

Oh, I thought asking you wheather it's my wrong reading or is it that John Doyle here is a monkey who is personified?

I've only skimmed the story, so I'm not sure. John Doyle is somehow the counterpart to the narrator, but exactly how I don't know.

thanks. He's been a bit of a problem trying to decypher his stories.

Seabhac, here's wishing you well with An Cadhnach.

You might like to try "An Taoille Tuile", a more straightforward story from "An Braon Broghach". For this story you will find a glossary of some of the more difficult words and expressions under the following link:

http://ormondo-fon.blogspot.com/search/label/An%20Braon%20Broghach