The Daltaí Boards: Téigh vs imigh

Imeacht - means go away. Dul - means just go. But there are numerous examples showing that imeacht is used in contexts far beyond "go away", and in fact that it is frequently used for just "go".

Where in Matthew 17:27, the English version of the Bible has "go thou to the sea", Peadar ua Laoghaire's translation hs "imigh chun na farraige". I suppose if someone is going to the sea, they are also going away from the speaker, but the "away" is not explicitly in the English.

Try to use imeacht even where there is no "away" in the English wherever the context bears the interpretation of someone going away.

In my dictionary of Cork Irish, my entry for imím is as follows:

imím, vn. imeacht, verb. (i'mʹi:mʹ, i'mʹaxt) 1. I go away. 2. I pass away, die: d’imigh sé in a chodladh, he passed away in his sleep. 3. I get away, escape. 4. used with constructions analogous to “going and doing something” in English: do h-innseadh dúinn gur dhein duine acu féinig feall ar an gcuid eile acu; gur imthigh sé agus gur dhíol sé iad, I was told that one of their own selves betrayed the rest of them, that he went and betrayed them [PUL1915]. Past: d'imíos, d’imigh sé. Future: imeod, imeoidh sé. Imperative: imigh. Participle: imithe. With ar, go on, proceed: imigh ort abhaile, go on home! Níor airigheas aon tuairisg riamh ó shin ar cad d'imthigh air n-a dhiaigh san, ná ar cad í an chrích a rug é, I never heard anything since then about what became of him after that or how he ended up [PUL1915]. Imím ar aghaidh i rud, I go ahead with something. Also with ar, to happen to: fuair sé an súsa ann roimis, gan aon nídh imthighthe air ach raint daoine bheith ag féachaint air agus ag déanamh iongnadh dhé, he found the rug there in front of him; nothing had happened to it, except for some people looking at it and admiring it [PUL1915]. With as: d'imthigh sé as mo cheann, I put it behind me, stopped thinking about it [PUL1915]. With de: b’fhéidir dá dtrialaimís sinn féin i ngníomh éigin eile go bhfaghfá an lámh uachtair orm agus ansan go n-imtheóch’ an fhearg díot, maybe if we tried ourselves in some other context, you would get the upper hand over me and then your anger would dissipate [PUL1907]. Imím i, I become (particularly of going off and joining, eg the army), I decay into a certain state: imím im shaighdiúir, I become a soldier. Imím isteach, I go in, enter: ansan imtheóchaidh sé isteach i gcoláiste éigin, then he will enroll in some college [PUL1907]. Imím le, I go out with, I court: táid siad ag imeacht lena chéile, they are going out together. Imíonn sé leis, he goes off. Conus d’imthigh le Séadna?, how did it go with Séadna? [PUL1904]. Imeacht ó, to leave or go away from: d’imigh a chosa uaidh, his legs gave way from under him. Baois iseadh mian ár gcroídhe do chur ins na neithibh atá ag imtheacht uainn ar cos-anáirde, it is folly to focus the desire of our hearts on things that are fleeting [PUL1914]. Ró-imithe, too far-gone (in figurative usage). Bhí an chluas imthighthe, her ear was gone, she had no ear [PUL1904]. Imíonn an chuid is mó den airgead sa chíos, most of the money goes on the rent. Note: imigh is often to mean “go” where there is no clear sense of “go away”: imthigh chun na faraige, go thou to the sea [Matthew 17:27, PUL1915/2]; thugas fé ndeara na garsúin bheaga agus iad ag imtheacht fiain ar fuid na h-áite gach aon tráthnóna, I noticed the little boys running wild throughout the place every evening [PUL1915].