I have a question: what is "ar leathchaoin" (the sentence is ...isteach i gcailleach ar leathchaoin ó dheas an ghrianáin, áit a raibh...

Thanks

The gentle/smooth side, I think

I'm not sure what cailleach means in this case.

Can you give the page reference?

One of the meanings of cailleach is "alcove", that would fit well

Into an alcove on the gentle, south side of the sun parlour.

GRMA!!!

in "An Braon Broghach" on page 107 starting a paragraph in the middle of the page, there's this passage:

Ainneoin an mheatha i raibh sí bhraith Nóra...

is the i raibh a mistake?

Perhaps it should be "ina raibh sí" -- "despite the decline in which she was"

Your references to "An Braon Broghach" caused me to take it down again off the shelf after 35 years. It's a challenging read but rewarding. Ó Cadhain makes no concessions. He's writing for people with more Irish than himself and using every nuance available in the language. His knowledge of all the dialects including Scottish Gaelic is legendary, as was his saeva indignatio (his ferocious anger?) and his achievement sets a headline that few will be able to follow for a long time to come.

My edition of 1957 has the last paragraph of An Bhearna Mhíl on page 107. What story are you referring to? What edition have you?

it's the last edition, the blue small book.

The srtory is An Bhearna Mhíl and it's the 14th paragraph (hopefully, this edition kept the opriginal paragraphic division).

on page 24 there's this:

triúr nó ceathrar seanphótairí

what's seanphótairí? is it old-drinkards or exceedingly-drunk?

moreover, I don't understand why there's ACH between the next two propositions:

"...áit a raibh amharc maith acu ar an siamsa, ACH ina raibh cúlráid óil seanchais agus fonnadóireachta acu, gan aon teampán a chur ar an oirfide ná ar an gcuid eile den chuideachta."

giving these items are part of the fun (siamsa), why does it say that there was no problem with drinks, chats and singing excluded?

Thanks!

(Message edited by seabhac on August 11, 2009)

Because musicians and the rest of the crowd don't appreciate the old fellas drinking, chatting and singing old songs in the corner disturbing the dance.

So they have a corner where they can watch, but not disturb the more civilised part of the proceedings.

Is this from Tnúthán an Dúchais?

Seanphótairí is old drinkers.

yes, it's from that story.

Thanks again.

I was trying to translate the rest of the page, and when I got to "taobh" I was stuck:

"Bhí an chailleach taobh le meathsholas..."

Is it "the alcove was on a side with a weak light"
or "the alcove was the side with a weak light"?

thanks

No, in this case "taobh le" means "reduced to", "relying on."

taobh le (ag brath ar (i dtaobh leis an méid sin)).

Only weak light was available in the alcove.

I didn't even try checking this in the dictionary!!!

So it seems that even when one is sure about a lexeme, it wouldn't hurt to open up a dictionary.

Thanks.

Yes, especially when le, i etc is involved.