Nílim cinnte tar éis bheith ag féachaint ar leabhar gramadaí faoina treoracha i nGaeilge.. má táim ag iarraidh "Northwards" a rá.. an cheart dom ó thuaidh/ ó dheas a úsáid.... nó aduaidh? nó aneas? grma

Northwards is "ó thuaidh". From the north is "aduaidh".

These are difficult to remember, as "ó" sounds like it ought to mean "from", but is derived from another preposition entirely.

Sin é.

ó [dobhriathar]
i leith, i dtreo (ó thuaidh, taobh ó dheas de).


Gach "ó" dá bhfuil sa bhfoclóir, ó thuas go deiridh!

Ó, nach aoibhinn é d'ó ó Ghaillimh a sheoladh ó thuaidh?



(Message edited by aonghus on November 09, 2010)

Rud eile dhe, cloistear an seananós i gcónaí aige dornán, siod é, "ag dul síos go Tír Eoghain", "ag dul suas go Corcaigh". Tugtaí "Uachtar Éireann" ar Leath Mhogha agus "Íochtar Éireann" ar Leath Choinn fadó.

Carmanach, I am still ill, so excluse my replying in English. I can't rise to the giddy heights of Irish while I am coughing.

I have a bee in my bonnet about how to translate "ag dul síos go BÁC". I don't know what the official translators in Ireland do with this, but according to my knowledge of English, the north is up and the south is down. And so if you are in Cork and say "do chuaigh sé síos go BÁC", it would incorrect to translate this "he went down to Dub" - because language are different, and the correct English is "he went up". Do you agree you should alter these on the fly while translating, or would you translate literally?

quote:

but according to my knowledge of English, the north is up and the south is down

I think in this case it is rather railway usage: Up to Dublin, Down from it, as most railways were headquatered there.

Dennis has a few posts on this recently

http://nimill.blogspot.com/2010/10/suas-o-dheas-sios-o-thuaidh.html

quote:

I have a bee in my bonnet about how to translate "ag dul síos go BÁC". I don't know what the official translators in Ireland do with this, but according to my knowledge of English, the north is up and the south is down. And so if you are in Cork and say "do chuaigh sé síos go BÁC", it would incorrect to translate this "he went down to Dub" - because language are different, and the correct English is "he went up". Do you agree you should alter these on the fly while translating, or would you translate literally?

Well, I would probably stick to established English usage if translating into English, unless you wished to specifically point out that the Irish author said "down to Dublin from Cork etc.", in which case you would need to provide a footnote.

Aonghus is right also about the railways. Dublin being the hub not just of the railways but also of the road network, all of the motorways emanating from there.

If it's any help, perceived height may influence the choice too. I regularly say up to places that are south, but have a higher elevation. Where I live you can travel a good 3000 miles UP somewhere while going south. North of Scotland, for instance, is a higher elevation than the south generally. Not quite the same in Ireland, but for some perspectives this could be true.

quote:

Northwards is "ó thuaidh". From the north is "aduaidh".

These are difficult to remember, as "ó" sounds like it ought to mean "from", but is derived from another preposition entirely.

Spelling these words "óthuaidh" & "ódheas" (or "ó-thuaidh" & "ó-dheas") would help with this, I think.
I found it confusing myself at one stage.