dia daoibh,

i need to find a solid translation for the latin phrase "carpe diem" or "sieze the moment", as gaeilge

(Message edited by prunch on December 29, 2006)

Tapaigh an deis - take the opportunity

There is some debate as to what the actual meaning of this Latin phrase really means...one school of thought is that it really means the act of taking something, and the other school of thought is that it is a figurative way of saying enjoy something.

If you want a more literal translation you might try the verb "gabh" wich means to take/capture/sieze...

Maybe something like:

Gabh an lá - Take/Capture/Sieze the day.
Gabh an nóiniéad - Take/Capture/Sieze the moment.

If you want to say something like "take the chance/oppurtunity" there are all sorts of words for this concept. (an chinniúint, an áiméar, an fhaill, an seans, an fiontar) all taken from

http://www.englishirishdictionary.com/dictionary

If you are trying to say something along the lines of "live the day or enjoy the day..."

Maybe something like "Mair an..." or "Mothaigh an..."

Mothaigh actually means something along the lines of "feel" but I couldn't really think of anything for "experience" at the moment.

However, I must caution these are all just suggestions taken straight from a dictionary for a more literal translation. I would define what you want to mean with the expression and then go from there.

Latin is a SOV language for the most part and Irish is a VSO for the most part. Which means the two languages have different mentalities when it comes to expressing a concept.

Seo agaibh an abairt ar fad, ó Horace (Odes):

"carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero"

= bain sult as an lá inniu, ó tá amárch éiginnte

nó i bhfocail eile, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow may never come."

gavin,

you cannot use "mair" in that sense of experiencing. In fact there is no direct translation for positive experiencing.

Tapaigh an deis is an idiomatic Irish phrase, and is as close as you will get to the sense of carpe diem.

(Message edited by aonghus on December 30, 2006)

Yeah...I know, I couldn't find anything for "to experience."

But unfortunately the concept of "to experience" is the other half of the debate.

I have seen "tapaigh an deis" used in several proverb books...but I wanted to at least try and show another possibility.

bain sult as an lae inniu
blas go domhain den lae inniu

"Which means the two languages have different mentalities when it comes to expressing a concept"

I question the notion that syntax structure changes a persons atitude and way of perceiving things!

Corrections

bain sult as an lá inniu
blais go domhain den lá inniu

I don't see why syntax couldn't influence the way people view things. Maybe it does noticably or maybe it does but the influence is so minute that we don't really pay attention or bother with it. Nil fios agam.

Beir bua agus beannacht

I don't know if this qualifies as an example of how words can change their meaning due to syntax, but here goes anyway :

quote:

An English professor wrote the words, “Woman without her man is nothing” on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate it correctly.

The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”

The women wrote: “Woman: Without her, man is nothing.”

The above was found at: http://www.thrivingnow.com/for/Rick/woman-without-her-man-is-nothing/

As English speakers...there is a big difference.

The value a people place of the meaning often determines the order in which the choose to to express that meaning.

We do this in English a lot and don't really realize it...but think about it. Why do we typically place the subject at the beginning of a phrase? Because we value the subject of the phrase enough to make sure we clarify it first. Irish likes to clarify the action first because they collectively feel that the action was important enought to do so. Latin felt that the action of the phrase was also important, so...it should for the most part come at the end of the phrase, that way people know to listen for the action there.

Look at the following word order for English, Latin, Irish and see the differences in their way of perceiving the important of a concept.

The boy threw the ball. (English)
The boy the ball threw. (Latin)
Threw the boy the ball. (Irish)

All three get the same idea out, but the manner in which they do it is very different.