Corcaighist

nimed jaapani keeles

2009-07-15T11:12:00.000+01:00

Inspired by Aidan's post My Family in Japanese I present to you how to write Eva's and my name in Japanese. There are so many ways to write your name in Japanese that it is quite a fun activity. If you know how the system works (click here) and use a dictionary such as here you too can work out how to write and pronounce your name in Japanese. A book that would come in handy for this task is Kanji Pictographix.

You could start with the meaning of your name and find a kanji that represents that. (If you don't like what your name means you could always name yourself after your star sign or Chinese year animal.) The next step is to find the kana that indicates pronunciation of that name. In this case you only use the kanji for its meaning and not for its pronounciation. That is taken care of by the kana.

Here the kanji (miniature pictures) represent the meaning of the name while the kana (katakana in this case, the lines) tell Japanese speakers how your name should be pronounced in Japanese.

Colm - 鴿 (dove) read as コルム (ko-ru-mu)
Eva - 生 (life) read as エワ (e-wa)

You could however also use kanji to 'spell' out your name using the sounds that are already attached to a certain kanji and from there you get a new meaning based on the kanji (or combination therein). This is an altogether more difficult route because each kanji has multiple pronounciations and vice versa, many kanji share the same pronunciation. PLUS there are two ways to read kanji, the Japanese kun'yomi way and the Chinese on'yomi way. One should never mix kun'yomi and on'yomi readings in the one word. Why? Well how would a Japanese speaker then know what sounds you meant? In a two-syllable word they would be wrong 50% of the time.

But back to choosing kanji for their sound. For example (and just taking a kun'yomi reading), how do I represent the first syllable of my name (ko)?

Would I use 児 (meaning: child), 粉 (meaning: flour, powder) or 子 (also meaning: child)? The choice it seems is up to me.

Say I take 子 (child). However I run into a problem. Kanji Pictographix doesn't list any kanji with the kun reading 'ru'. I could go back and switch to a on reading or I could change the vowel 'u' for another one.

Let's say I switch to an on reading which offers us a number of possibilities, two of which I have listed before.

Colm - ko-ru-mu 己流武 meaning: self stream warrior
Colm - ko-ru-mu 古流夢 meaning: old stream dream etc.

Eva - ewa 絵羽 meaning: picture wing
(This was provided for my fiancée by a native speaker of Japanese but it seems to do the unthinkable and mix on and kun readings. 絵 has the on reading of 'e' but doesn't have a kun reading. 羽 has the kun reading of 'wa'. Any Japanese speakers care to comment?)

It should be clear at this point that the method and outcome of this exercise are entirely up to you. So go write your name in Japanese and recreate yourself!

Notes:

1. You are probably better picking a kanji for meaning and then running with the katakana or just forgetting about kanji and only spelling your name in katakana if you are new to Japanese. For me picking a kanji for meaning and then spelling my name in kana was easy but picking a kanji for sound was much harder and it's likely that I have made mistakes.

2. If you are just a small bit thinking of getting a Japanese tattoo please check out this page FIRST.

3. If you are a Japanese speaker and you are feeling very kind it would be great if you could leave your comments or suggestions and maybe you could also write Eva's and my name in Japanese the way that you think best, both from a sound point of view and from a meaning one.

Eva is pronounced ey-va and means 'life' while Colm is kolum and means 'dove'.

pop! pojke eller flicka?

2009-07-14T18:57:00.005+01:00

As if in reponse to my recent post printsess, in today's Health section of the Irish Times Isabel Conway writes about a Swedish couple who is refusing to reveal the sex of their first child who is known as 'Pop' in the media, to all but the most close of family. However, how long can they keep their secret with pre-school not far away? The piece can be read here.

The mother is quoted in Svenska Dagbladet as saying: “It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead," and adds that that the longer they can keep Pop’s gender a secret, the better the child can avoid preconceived notions of how people should be treated if male or female.

Personally I don't believe they have made the right decision. The question is not so much about what is between the child's legs but rather how the child is raised. It really doesn't matter if you let people know if it's a boy or a girl. You could do that and still tell people not to gender the child one way or the other. They should disclose the child's sex to people and explain to the child (when it's old enough to understand) the difference between boys and girls. You can still raise the child with an open view of gender and let the child express itself in whatever manner it feels comfortable.

Keeping people and the child itself in the dark is just as bad as forcing a gender upon the child. It's my opinion that gender is between the ears and people should be allowed to develop their gender how and when they are ready, be it as children, teenagers or adults. Teenagehood is a time for self-discovery. Why not allow teenagers to also explore their gender? Unlike sex, gender lends itself to fluidity.

The question is not whether the child has an inny or an outy but rather that the child should be free to chose its own identity free from external influence, from parents or others. I agree with the mother in that. To be a girl, be a boy, be both, be neither - that decision should be up to the child itself. Howver, gender doesn't need to be stamped on its head and it doesn't need to follow from its genitalia. To do otherwise is just to continue the Freudian myth that the complex notion of gender can all be boiled down to the simple fact of penis versus no-penis.

goals

2009-07-14T10:41:00.001+01:00

Normally people make goals at the start of the year - or to be more precise, on the eve of the new year's first day. However I have decided to lay down some goals for the next five months and when that time is up I can come back and review them to see how well I did. Thus on the 14th of December 2009 I will review this list.

Using the online Japanese dictionary Denshi Jisho I came up with a number of ways to express the concept 'aim' or 'goal' as in something to work and strive towards.

1. 当て所 ....... read as atedo....... あてど
2. 意図....... read as ito....... いと
3. 当て.......read as ate.......あて

Can anyone who speaks Japanese advise me on this? Which is the best word for what I want to express?

Language Goals:

1. Irish: Finish the DVD intermediate course Speaking Irish / An Ghaeilge Bheo
2. Irish: Finish Intermediate Irish: A Grammar and Workbook
3. Irish: Read and understand all the Agallamh Beo sections from the Beo online Irish magazine from July 2009-December 2009 (5 in total)
4. Irish: Listen to all the An tImeall podcasts at least once (195 in total) ---- Going to be hard to do!
5. Irish: Write at least 3 blogposts in Irish every month (15 in total)
6. Irish: Read the book Dúnmharú sa Daingean and have started on another
7. Irish: Read through all my back-issues of Nós

8. Estonian: Finish with E nagu Eesti, chapters, exercises and audio ---Unlikely to achieve this but we'll see how it goes
9. Estonian: Read the book Põhjatuul ja lõunatuul and have started on another
10. Estonian: Write at least 1 blogpost a month in Estonian (5 in total)

11. French: Read 4 filles et un jeans and have started on Harry Potter et le Prince de Sang-Mêlé --- I read Baudelaire and Montesquieu in college. Now I prefer to read something lighter
12. French: Write a blogpost in French every forthnight (9 in total)
13. French: Read and understand the main article of Le Monde twice a month (9 in total)
14. French: Listen to 1 hour of French podcasts a week (17 hours in total)

15. Japanese: Learn to read and write all the kana
16. Japanese: Learn to read, write and understand 10 of the most common kanji

17. English: Learn a new word everyday (154 words)

Non-Language Goals:

18. Weight: Have lost 2kgs (4.4lbs) a month (10kgs [22lbs] in total) --- and get back to my so-far-elusive pre-Erasmus weight
19. Book: Have started work on a novel. I have lots of ideas in my head but I don't follow them through.
20. Worked out a definite foundation for a con-lang.
21. Started with laser hair removal on my face --- I hate shaving
22. Finished my thesis --- before 30 September
23. Graduated with an M.Phil in Applied Linguistics --- 11 December
24. Read Language, Truth, and Logic, A Brief History of Time and Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness
25. Have found a job in Tallinn --- A must

Some of the goals will be harder to achieve than others. Some wont be achieved and some will be surpassed but it gives me some goals to work towards.

ei ei ei

2009-07-12T10:13:00.006+01:00

It's not true to say that Irish has no way to say 'yes' or 'no'. Sure there are no single words for such but the concept is just encoded a lil differently. Consider the examples below.

- An múinteoir é? - Is he a teacher?
- 'Sea. / Ní hea. - He is / He isn't.

- An bhfuil suim agat i gcúrsaí spóirt? - Is there an interest at you in sports?
- Tá / Níl. - There is / There isn't.

- An gcabhróidh tú mé le m'obair bhaile? - Will you help me with my homework?
- Cabhróidh. / Ní chabhróidh. - Will help. / Will not help.

This feature has carried over to the form of English that Irish people speak. As the old joke goes. The English man asks the Irish man: "Why do you Irish always answer a question with a question?" The Irish man replies: "Do we?"

Never ever play the yes/no game with an Irish person. You will lose! Seriously though, Irish people are programmed not to use the words yes or no or if we absolutely must use those words you can not place the emphasis of the utterance on them and you must accompany them with other phrase.

Take an example of a piece of cake. Imagine you are visiting a friend of a friend and this person offers you a second helping of cake. Even if you think the cake is delicious you are not allowed to immediately say that you want to have another slice. That is considered greedy. You must refuse with the words: "No, honestly I'm fine. I simply couldn't." This you must do three times, and on the fourth you give in and accept.

Likewise if you are asked your opinion on the cake and let's say it wasn't very nice or at least wasn't to your taste you can never say that you didn't like it. Answering: "No" to the question: "Did you like the cake?" would be akin to streaking through the mainstreet in nothing but your granny's nightgown. It's just not something you do. Of course you liked the cake! But of course you decline to have a second slice (to join the other than you spat back out into your napkin...)

On my first trips to Estonia I was affected by this Irish cultural baggage of long replies to the big cake dilemma and I have done my fair share of lying to please my hosts. In Ireland we just wouldn't have it any other way. You must not offend the host and you must eat what is put in front of you even, if you don't like it.

I got my fair share of mockings from Eva's family and relatives for my Irish ways. The Estonians value short, direct and honest answers. If you want another piece of cake you either take it or ask for it. If an Estonian is polite enough to ask you you must be considerate to not waste their time with long replies but simply to asnwer Jah, ma tahan küll (Yes, I want some more for sure) or Ma ei taha rohkem, aitäh. (I don't want any more, thanks). Oh if I had a penny for everytime I was told not to use the words 'I want' when I was growing up...

My Estonian hosts just did not understand my I'm fine thanks. Does that mean that you want some or that you don't want some? It utterly confused them to the point that it became sort of an in-joke and at my expense. I thought I was being polite. They felt I was being needlessly indirect and vague.

Now I have learned to say jah and ei. This is a typical example of when knowing words is miles away from knowing how to use words. The difference between savoir and savoir-faire as one says in French.

For an Estonian, wasting food on people who don't like it and who lie about liking it is a disgrace. For the Irish, a person who is a guest in your home and tells you that they don't like what you offer them is considered rude.

Who would have thought that there would be such a gap in food culture between these two peoples? It's clear you don't have to leave the borders of Europe to get your feet burnt as a result of a faux-pas or three.

So if you are in Estonia for the first time and your hosts ask you questions you'll know to keep your replies short, direct and honest.

Your Estonian survival phrases:

Jah, ma tahan veel = Yes I want more.
Ei, ma ei taha, aitäh. = No, I don't want [more], thanks.
Jah, mulle meeldib. Kook on väga maitsev. = Yes, I like [it]. [The] cake is very tasty.
Ei, mulle ei meeldi. = No, I don't like [it].

Thanks to Myst for the post idea.

おいしいわ

2009-07-10T10:11:00.007+01:00

Recently my fiancée and I made sushi. We bought all the ingredients at a local supermarket. We made two types: cucumber and mackrel and cucumber and shrimp and I must say that they were delish! I won't go through how to make sushi as this isn't a food blog and there are, besides, many pages already out there online on how to do it - click here. All I will say is that it was very easy and tasty and I can't wait to try it again.

If Eva and I were Japanese the following utterances (as shown on the right) may have occured. I do apologise for my lack of drawing skills. Hey I am a student of linguistics afterall! Language examples and idea for picture come from the excellent book: Japanese the Manga Way (pg. 4 & pg. 15) by Wayne P. Lammers.

Man says: いただきまーす Itadakimāsu.
will receive/ partake "I will partake." = "Let's eat!"

itadakimasu is the polite form of itadaku ("receive") and is most commonly used is at the start of a meal. The polite -masu suffix doesn't normally have a long a but the added emphasis represents enthusiasm on the part of the speaker.

Woman says: おいしいわ Oishii wa
is tasty/ delicious (fem*) = "It's delicious!"

* Japanese has lots of different participles. wa is the feminine participle that is used to offer "soft" feminine emphasis to an utterance.

You will notice some more posts to do with Japanese language and popular culture on this blog in the near future. For some reason my fiancée's interest in all things Japanese (food, language, manga, anime, books) has also 'infected' me. Mostly I just like playing around with kana, reading simple manga sketches and learning about how kanji works. Forever the linguist!

では de ha "then/ in that case" = "Goodbye!"

本

2009-07-08T12:11:00.003+01:00

Cúpla bliain ó shin, cheannaigh mé leabhar le Haruki Murakami i siopa leabhair i gCathair Chorcaí. Ba é Sputnik Sweetheart an teideal a bhí air.

Ag an am níl eolas ar bith agam ar teanga nó ar chultúr na Seapáine agus níor léigh mé aon leabhar seapánach. Ba é léamh an leabhair sin mo chéad turas i litríocht nua-aimseartha na Seapáine in aistriúchán agus caithim a rá go raibh mé an-tóghta leis an seánra.

Feictear dom gur d'imir Franz Kafka tionchar éigin ar scríbhneoireacht Murakami mar tá na plotaí agus na carachtair an-surreal agus an-deacair a leanúint agus a thuiscint. Má léigh tú The Castle le Kafka tá a fhios agat cad tá i gceist agam. Is amhlaidh is Kafka on the Shore an t-aimn atá ar leabhar le Murakami a fhoilsíodh i mbliain 2005 - is 海辺のカフカ (Umibe no Kafuka) an teideal atá an leagán Seapáinise, a fhoilsíodh i mbliain 2002 .

Tug mo chailín The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle mar bronntanas dom ar mo lá bheithe an bhliain seo. Níor thosaigh mé fós é ach tá cinnte go mbainfidh mé taitneamh as. Faoi láthair tá m'fhiacla i leabhar darbh ainm Out le údar eile ón Seapáin. Natsuo Kirino an t-ainm atá uirithi.

B'fhéidir go bhfuil tú ag smaoineamh cad tá i gceist leis an siombail i dteideal an phost. Is í an siombail seo an kanji don bhfocal 'lebahar' i Seapáinis. Léitear í moto (もと). Is í ほん (léitear hon) an kana ar 'leabhar'.

Feicimid an kanji 本 sa fhrása 本気？ (léitear ほんき honto ki) 'Bhfuil tú cinnte?' Ní hí 'leabhar' an t-aon brí atá ar an gkanji 本 ach ciallaíonn sí 'fíor' freisin. Nuair a chuirimid na kanji 本 agus 気 (いき iki, 'meabhar', 'giúmar', 'mothú', 'meanma') le chéile, sroichimid ar an mbrí 'meabhar ceart' nó '[bhfuil tú] cinnte?'.

~本~

A couple of years ago I bought a book by Haruki Murakami in a book store in Cork city. Sputnik Sweetheart was the title of the book.

At the time I didn't know anything about Japanese language or culture. Reading this book was my first foray into modern Japanese literature in translation and I must say that I was very taken with the genre.

It seems to me that Franz Kafka played a certain influence on Murakami's writing as the plots and the characters are very surreal and very hard to follow and understand. If you have read The Castle by Kafka you'll know what I am talking about. In fact Kafka on the Shore is the name of a book by Murakami published in 2005 - 海辺のカフカ (Umibe no Kafuka) is the title of the original Japanese version, published in 2002.

My fiancée gave me The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as a birthday present this year and while I haven't started it yet I just know I will enjoy it. At the moment I am have teeth stuck in a book (Out) by another Japanese author by the name of Natsuo Kirino, a woman writer this time.

You might be wondering what that symbol in the post title means. It is the kanji for the Japanese word for 'book'. It is read as moto (もと). The kana for the word book is ほん, read as hon.

The kanji 本 appears in the question-phrase 本気？ (read as ほんき honto ki) which means Are you sure? The kanji 本 apart from meaning book can also mean 'real' or 'true'. This joined to the kanji 気 (いき iki) which means 'mood', 'mind' or 'spirit' leads to readings such as 'true-mind' or '[are you] sure?'.

läheme Soome and thesis update

2009-07-07T22:04:00.003+01:00

~~Reedel me läheme Soome autoga. Ühel Eva isa sõpradest on suvemaja kesk-Soomes.~~
Reedel me läheme autoga Soome. Ühel Eva isa sõpradest on kesk-Soomes suvemaja.

On Friday we're off to Finland with the car. One of Eva's father's friends has a summer house in the middle of Finland. We'll be returning to Estonia on Monday. For the interval I'll run some scheduled posts.

In other news my thesis is going okay. I'm not getting as much work done on it as I would wish but things can't always be just as you hoped for. So far I have recorded two children and I have roughly 70 minutes of data between them plus some information from a background survey that the children's parents filled out.

I have a pretty good review of the literature but it's inside my head. I haven't written much down yet and I am unsure how my data fits/ will fit in with the literature. So far I have more questions than answers and as the days roll on I get more anxious and it becomes harder to concentrate.

It's likely now too late to find any more participants in Estonia (we leave on the 16th of July) but if you know of anyone there just might be enough time to do a recording or maybe I can organise a recording in absentia. If you know someone in Ireland there would be plently of time to do a recording.

My research is on child bilingualism, children between 3 and 4 years of age that have been raised through English and Estonian from birth where one parent is a native speaker of English and the other is a native speaker of Estonian. The research entails 30 minutes of recording and a background survey. Email me on corcaighist[at]gmail.com for further details if you are interested or know a family that might be.

suur eesti grillipidu

2009-07-06T14:21:00.006+01:00

I won't go too much into the festival itself, information of which can be easily found by surfing the web. I will rather add to what has already been said by the likes of Kris and Giustino.

The Song Festival, otherwise known as the Big Estonian Grill Party (Suur Eesti Grillipidu - look it up on wiki if you don't believe me) took place last weekend, 4th and 5th of July 2009. It was the 25 time that the Estonian nation got together in one spot to grill and eat the very best (veri vorst?) of Estonian meat products and, in-between eating, sing a few of the nation's favourite tunes as well.

Okay, let's get serious...

On the whole we liked the festival. Eva and I just went to the final day of the song festival and watched the rest on telly-cat. I'll try not to go too much into the negatives of the festival though there are however a few points I wish to mention and maybe get some feedback on.

Number 1: The horrible bus journey we had on the number 5 Männiku-Metsakool. The city transport company should cop itself on a put on more transport for major events such as this. I am surprised someone wasn't trampled, squashed or didn't suffocate to death on the bus-ride from hell.

Number 2: The sitting arrangements (or lack there of) was annoying. Originally we organised a nice plot from where we have a nice view of the stage in a sitting position. Likewise everyone behind us with sitting too. However as the grounds began to fill more and more people stopped looking for places to sit down and just stood right in front of us completely blocking our view. Now, I like Estonian ass as much as the next foreigner but we did after all pay to see singers. We were forced to stand which meant we blocked the view of those behind us.

We moved to higher ground under the trees where we got shelter against the rain but it also left us without the sun's rays and it got very chilly very quickly. Plus we couldn't hear anything of the festival, just the clapping of the people below at the end of each song. Also if people can't hear what's going on they tend to talk which is terribly annoying. So we moved again to stand further down, ironically not far from where we left a nice plot on the ground a couple of hours ago. So we stood for the last two hours of the festival.

It was clear that there just wasn't enough space for everyone that came which forced people to stand and also clogged the passage ways. Thank god no-one got sick or injured before I have no idea how paramedics would have been able to move in such a mass of people.

Number 3: I understand the need of people to eat and does the air need to be that smoky? For a moment I thought there must have been two festivals on at the same time - the song festival and the grill festival. Perhaps there was. It's just that the smell of all that cooked meat was unnerving. Plus the smoke made the stage harder to see, not least of all to take pictures and videos of.

Number 4: The whole event felt exclusive. On the one hand you had people at the front who got seats a great view of the stage that was utterly interactive in nature. They saw and heard everything. Of course they payed up to 8 times as much for the tickets so I guess it's just fair that way. However surely there should have been some live screens and extra speakers so the people further back (us) would have been able to see the stage with its singers and actually hear the lyrics. There were times I didn't even know what song was on because all I heard was a faint murmur from down the valley. In a way the TV coverage of Saturday's festival gave us a better view of the festival than actually being there on Sunday. It seemed like the people at the front were at a concert and those at the back were re-enacting rush-hour traffic Manhattan style equipped with prams, buggies and camping-chairs. However as we got closer to the end of the festival the crowds stopped moving and people started to pay more attention to the stage.

Okay, that said there were lots of positive sides to the festival as well that I will now turn to just so you know I amn't a grump (all of the time).

The festival was really cheap. My ticket was 100eek (€6.39) and Eva's was just half that, 50eek. It was well worth the money because despite the bad points, we spent just under 6 hours listening to music and being actively part of the Estonian nation. Giustino has said that: Laulipidu is an exercise in identity building...[people] leave the Laulupidu as one of the Estonian masses while Kris has said that the Song Festival is practically a sacred duty (see links above). It's true that the festival holds a special place in the culture and history of the Estonian nation (which I wrote about here) and as the day wore on you could sense that oneness that I had heard about so many times and that I became hooked on from watching the docfilm The Singing Revolution. As the songs went by I got over my intial annoyances and just went with the flow.

I felt privileged to have been there, to have seen this great coming-together, this cultural institution that is the laulupidu. I did feel some of that laulupidu magic yesterday and no doubt during the next one I will feel much more.

I am not a tourist in Estonian, but neither am I a väliseestlane. Sometimes I don't really know my place here. Should I allow myself become swept up with this tide of Estonian nationalism? How does being an Estophile fit in with my being Irish? There is an old Irish saying: Ní féidir leat freastal ar an dá thrá (You can’t serve two masters).

I guess I felt all these questions yesterday. I have been coming to and from Estonia now since Easter 2006 and the country continues to grow on me. I have travelled her length and breadth and I have seen her great Egg Mountain. I have picked mushrooms from her forests and berries from her bogs. I have been to a song festival and I have seen her American dickie-bow wearing President three times with my own eyes. I have even eaten blood sausage and meat jelly!

And yet I feel like there is something missing. To me the ways of Estonians are still a mystery. Even after over three years I have still to master how to refuse a second helping of manna piimaga à la estonien let alone feel comfortable with the plural partitive case!

Yes, I have a lot to learn and maybe not understanding the lyrics of the songs (only their titles) was a factor that took away somewhat from yesterday. I wonder though in 2014 (when the festival shall next been around and I will be 29), attending the Laulu- Tantsupidu with my eesti naine of four years and our one pool-eestlane (or two pool-eestlast ?) if I will feel more a part of the Estonian nation. I don't doubt it.

So while leaving the song ground yesterday I bought myself a festival commemorative pin for less than €2 to mark the occasion of my first festival-attendance. I will be back and maybe next time I will understand to what I am singing along. Aitäh ja nägemist!

printsess

2009-07-04T09:53:00.007+01:00

princess "Sachi"
Originally uploaded by *Rock Girl [Busy]

So I was on a road-trip of sorts with my kallis a few days back. When on a road-trip it is important to feed and rest yourself well, necessitating stop-offs for lunch, coffee and supplies in various kaubamajad along the high-ways and by-ways. And when you let women loose in department stories you lose them to the many clothes stores therein. As a broke student whose philosophy is to only look at clothes when 1) I have money, and 2) I have a particular item in mind and then to buy them somewhere cheap, I had plenty of time to pontificate and survey in these middle-of-the-market stores.

One thing that is very clear in clothes stores that cater the whole family is the divison between the sexes. Anyone that argues that societal gender roles are wholely a result of sexual differences at the biological level should take a look at how clothes (and toys) are marketed to our children.

In one section of the store you have the boys' clothes and in another the girls', and very rare should the two meet. In the boys' section we have pictures of boys looking mischievous and up to no good, as if they are about to hit you with a sling-shot. The girls are pictured looking innocent and pretty as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. And for some reason you find these stupid labels on some girls' and young women's clothes along the lines of: "Just for Girls!".

I can understand making a large distinction between mens' and womens' clothes. Simply men and women's bodies are different, not just in shape but also in proportion. However for children, often times the only way to know if the child running amuck in the park is a boy or a girl is by their clothes. And if the clothes are unisex the only clue is the hair. That girls have long hair and boys have short hair is a rule of thumb that has been institutionalised can be seen by the rule in force in many of Ireland's primary and secondary schools that specifies a maximum length of hair for boys and a minimum length for girls.

Turn back the clock two decades and it was common to wear hand-me-downs from older siblings or relatives. As a child my fiancée was often dressed the same to her younger brother. They were often taken for twins, her for a boy. Would it be so bad to blur the line between boy clothes and girl clothes? To sell more unisex clothes for children, even a unisex section in the store for children, perhaps for adults too?

It's not just clothes. Take footwear as well. Sure it's uncommon for men to want to wear heels and pumps but if you look at the way footwear such as trainers (runners) and hiking boots are marketed in sports and outdoor stores you find a clear distinction made between womens' and mens' shoes. I wasn't aware there was a difference between men and women's feet. I have often wandered around a sports store following the shoes and pick up a pair that looks cool and is my size. They turn out to be for girls' and for some reason I am made to feel weird.

Are the signs and boards up there above so someone can check if they are in the "right" section? Does it matter if a guy buys a pair of "womens'" runners? Does it make a girl less of one of she fancies a pair of "guys'" shoes? Surely the world would stop turning if people were able to walk into a store and not be guided by signs and pictures. It would instead be an interesting natural social experiment. What purchases would we make if we didn't know this item of clothing or footwear "belonged" to one sex/gender or the other?

Back to children. Ask yourself a question. As a parent would you buy your son a pink t-shirt or jumper? Would you buy it for him if it had sparkles on it? If it had the word "princess"? What about a dress or a skirt?

If your son wanted a doll for Christmas would you deny him it, even if it made him cry and upset for the whole day? Would you instead buy him a G.I. Joe (or other similar toy)? Would it depend on the age of the child, okay for a four year old to play with a Barbie, but not a ten year old?

Boys and girls are different. As are men and women. It is a distinction that is created in the womb, one that is inescapably biological. At the same time however I can't help feeling that alot of the tension and misunderstanding that exists between the genders in society is a result of an upbringing that exaggerates and emphasises differences that are not really there naturally. In a way boys and girls seem to grow up in different worlds and as a result of this cultural and societal conditioning this division continues into adult-hood.

What think you?

the power of sound

2009-07-03T09:08:00.001+01:00

Recently I updated my iPod and swapped music tracks with podcasts. The major change though was that there is now no material in English on my iPod. I downloaded podcasts in Irish from the state broadcaster RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and the independent blogger and podcaster Conn Ó Muíneacháin of An tImeall; in French from Radio France's France Culture; and in Estonian from Vikerraadio.

In Estonian I mostly just listen to the sound and the rhythm of the language and try and listen out for phrases and expressions that I know. In Irish and French I find listening to the podcasts a couple of times helps me keep in touch with the languages. The cool thing is that there is never a shortage of podcasts so when I get bored and tired with the ones I have I can always update with the click of a button. There is such a great choice as well between interviews, entertainment news, general news, chat-shows, short-stories...

I try and bring my iPod with me where-ever I go, be it on the bus, going for a run, or just sunbathing in the garden. I can relax and surround me with whatever language I wish. It really is an advantage to be able to combine ''study'' with another activity. That way I can let my brain soak up Irish/ French/ Estonian while I work on stretches or my tan. Excellent!

Irish: podchraoladh (sg.) / podchraoltaí (pl.)
French: podcast (sg.) / podcasts (pl.)
Estonian: podcast (sg.) / podcastid (pl.)

You really do need to create the learning opportunity with which to exposure yourself to the language if you wish to progress. It's my intention to become fluent in those three languages in so far as that I would feel comfortable reading, writing, speaking, interacting and listening. My goal therefore is to become a function quadrilingual.

lõpetaja

2009-07-02T15:39:00.004+01:00

Yesterday my fiancée Eva graduated with a B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology from Tallinn University of Technology. Fair play to her!

I love ya babes!

~ . ~

Bhain mo ghrá geal inné céim Baitsiléir Eolaíochta amach i gCeimic Fheidhmeach agus Biteicneolaíochta ón Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta Tallinn. Fair plé léi!

Is tú mo stóirín!

iron horses, blue lice and a finnish woman

2009-06-30T16:09:00.014+01:00

What could iron horses (trains) and a Finnish woman have to do with lice, let alone lice that are blue? Well, I will tell you and it all takes place down a dusty road in Southern Estonia.

Today and yesterday I was down Lõuna-Eesti way with my naine and my naise vanemad on a road trip, one of the purposes of which was to visit an American-Estonian family to record a soon-to-be 4 year old boy. It was part of my master's research into Estonian-English child bilingualism. The visit was set-up for yesterday.

The family have a summer retreat in a very isolated area of southern Estonia and the journey really necessitated the logistical assistance of Eva's parents to reach it. About ten minutes before the appointed time we arrived at the intersection as mentioned in the instructions that the man of house had given me. He had told me (us) to turn down this dusty country road and go to the first farm house on the right. In my mixture of nervousness and excitement I asked Eva's father to pull into the first house on the road which happened to be on the left. Eva and I exited the car and I took my recording equipment with me, a small handheld dictophone and digital camera with video/ sound recording.

I walked up to the garden of the house and saw an eldery woman. At that point I realised we (I?) had the wrong house but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. In my broken Estonian I asked the woman if she knew an American family on the road and gave her the name of the family. The funny thing was that it seemed like the woman popped out from somewhere in Finland. The intonation pattern of her language was much more similiar to Finnish than Estonian.

I'm not sure what her exact reply and I am not sure either what language it was in but I at least got the message she didn't know any foreign families on the road, let alone American ones. Maybe Northern Estonian but no other foreigners.

You see, Estonia has a north-south language-division. Similiar to how France is socially and linguistically split into the northern oïl-languages and the southern òc-languages, Estonia has two main languages: Northern Estonian, the official state standard; and Southern Estonian, a umbrella term for protected minority languages spoken in Southern Estonia such as Võro and Seto.

Contrary to what you might think because of geography, Southern Estonian is closer to Finnish than Northern Estonian. To see the differences between Estonian and Southern Estonian I have copied out the Lord's Prayer in standard Estonian and standard Võro (the q of Võro denotes a glottal stop).

Estonian: Meie isa, kes Sa oled taevas: pühitsetud olgu Sinu nimi. Sinu riik tulgu. Sinu tahtmine sündigu, nagu taevas nõnda ka maa peal. Meie igapäevast leiba anna meile tänapäev. Ja anna meile andeks meie võlad nagu meiegi andeks anname oma võlglastele. Ja ära saada meid kiusatusse, vaid päästa meid ära kurjast. Sest Sinu päralt on riik ja vägi ja au igavesti. Aamen.

Võro: Mi Esä taivan: pühendedüs saaguq sino nimi. Sino riik tulguq. Sino tahtminõ sündkuq, ku taivan, nii ka maa pääl. Mi päävälikku leibä annaq meile täämbä. Nink annaq meile andis mi süüq, nii ku ka mi andis anna umilõ süüdläisile. Ni saatku-i meid joht kiusatusõ sisse, a pästäq meid ärq kur’ast, selle et sino perält om riik ja vägi ni avvustus igävädses aos. Aamõn.

The woman might have been speaking a dialect of southern Estonian or she might have been speaking standard northern Estonian with a southern-Estonian accent but either way her speech was just so full of ä's, glottals and õ's. I don't know what she made of my crap Estonian, but anyway, at least we tried to make communication. So, no, I lied, this story isn't to do with a Finnish woman per se, but one that just seemed to have come from Finland!

We got back in the car and drove up the road for a little bit, took in the lay of the land and went back to the first house on the left, I mean, original right but now left...

We had finally arrived at the right house, and bang on time. We greeted the parents and the two children and proceeded to interview the parents and record the boy, after he had given us a nice tour of the garden.

The boy was very articulate and very intelligent. He loved trains and wanted to be a train-driver when he grows up. His favourite thing in the world, apart from trains, were whales. The boy educated me and his father about the diet of the blue whale which is his favourite. It was really an enjoyable and interesting visit because the family were very nice and I got good quality data for my project.

You might at this point be wondering where the lice come in. Well, the boy's father asked me how was whale in Irish. I'm not good on the names for animals, even in English so I didn't have an answer for him.

Today when I arrived home I checked online what was whale in Irish. I was in for a surprise. Whale translates as míol mór. Mór means 'big' but I didn't know the meaning of míol. It was a word I have never come across before. I looked it up and found out it meant louse! So the term in Irish for whale translates as 'big louse'. That was sure news to me and it is likely to be a term that I am unlikley to forget any time soon.

I'd just like to say thanks to the family for their warm hospitality, aitäh! and thanks also to the little boy for the lovely drawings that he gave Eva and Eva's father. For Eva he drew a picture of two blue whales and for Eva's father (who is a railway-engineer) he drew two pictures of trains. Picasso would surely have a run for his money if he were still alive today!

laulupidu

2009-06-28T18:03:00.020+01:00

This post is about the 5-yearly song festival that takes place in Estonia. Click here to find out more in English. I'll be going to to final day of the song festival so if any of my readers are going we should meet up and sing together.

Grianghraf: Rialtas na hEastóine

Is é an Laulupidu (an Fhéile Amhráin) ceann de na córfhéilte amaitéaraigh is mó an domhain. Cuirtear an fhéile ar siúl gach cúig bliana ag an Lauluväljak (Tailte an Fhéile Amhráin) i dTallinn, príomhchathair na hEastóine.

Cuireadh an chéad fhéile i mbliain 1869 i dTartu (phríomhchathair Eastóin Theas agus an phríomhchathair cultúrtha) ag an am céanna agus a thosaigh na h-Eastónaigh a admháil iad féin mar náisiún agus pobal amháin. Ba í maarahvas (muintir na tíre) an féin-ainmníocht a bhíodh ar na h-Eastónaigh riomhe sin ach thosaigh siad a úsáid an téarma comhaimseartha eestlane/eestlased (Eastónach/ Eastónaigh) ón tréimhse seo amach. Is é an t-ainm a chuirtear ar an dtéimhse seo ná National Age of Awakening nó Ärkamisaeg in Eastóinis.

Ba é traidisiún na hamhráin an ceann tiomána taobh thiar den ath-neamhspleáchas na tíre i mbliain 1991 i measc turnamh Aontas na bPoblachtaí Sóivéadacha Sóisialacha (USSR). Chaill an Eastóin a neamhspleáchas i mbliain 1940 le h-ionradh feadhna sóivéadach agus chuireadh tús le cúig dheichniúr de rialú Rúiseach. Bhíodh arm síochánta áfach ag na h-Eastónaigh: a gcultúr, go háirithe a dteanga agus a dtradisiún amhráin.

Ba é glan sóiléir don mBunaíocht go raibh siad in ann an fhéile a úsáid chun a chuid bholscaireachta a chur chun cinn. Chur sí cos ar chanadh na hamhráin náisiúnta Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (M'athartha, mo shonas agus áthas) agus chaith na hEastónaigh amhráin sóivéadacha a chanadh. Ach chruthaigh Gustav Ernesaks séis nua i mbliain 1944 chun í a chur le dán a scríobh Lydia Koidula i mbliain 1869 darbh ainm Mu isamaa on minu arm (Is é mo ghrá m'atharta). Is amhrán an-álainn í. Seo iad na focail agus tá an fhís YT thíos. Sna bhlianta sóivéadacha ba í Mu isamaa on minu arm ina n-amhrán náisiúnta neamhoifigiúil.

Bhí páirt tábhachtach ag an bhféile i réabhlóid amhránaíochta (Laulev revolutsioon) a tharla idir 1987-1990. Maireann stát na hEastóine tríd a chuid chultúir agus ba é leis a chuid chultúir (agus a chuid amhránachta) a throid na hEastónaigh (agus na Laitviaigh agus na Liotuánaigh) na tacanna sóivéadach. Chan siad go dtí an t-am agus nach raibh siad in ann canadh níos mó agus thosaigh siad a chanadh aríst.

Féach thíos ar an réamhbhlaiseadh den scannán The Singing Revoultion. Is breá lem' chroí an scannán seo. Tá teagasc álainn ann: Never stop believing! Beidh an 25ú féile amhráin ar súil ar an 4ú agus ar an 5ú lá de mhí Iúil 2009.

~
Tá fhios go dhéanaim alán botún im' chuid Ghaeilge. Má's bhfuil Gaeilge mhaith agat agus tú in ann na botúin is measa a cheartú, beadh mo bhuíochas ort.

Mu isamaa on minu arm

Réamhbhlaiseadh den scannán The Singing Revoultion

lenini aabits

2009-06-26T11:26:00.007+01:00

While routing around the bookshelves at Eva's grandparents the other day I came across an ABC book published by Kirjastus Valgus, 1981. Copyright is by Kirjastus Valgus, 1974. The book on the inside cover has, written at the top, Kinnitanud Eesti NSV Haridusministeerium (Approved by the Estonian SSR Ministry of Education).

Underneath it has a picture of a smiling girl with blonde hair in ponytails and wearing her school pinafore, off to her first day of the new school year with a bunch of red flowers in one hand and a satchel in the other. The poem that accompanies the picture is called üks tähtis kuu (one important month).

Septembrikuu
On tähtis kuu:
Siis aabits uus,
Siis ranits uus,
Uus vormipluus -
kõik, kõik on uus
Septembrikuus!

September
Is an important month:
A new ABC,
A new school bag,
A new uniform -
All, all is new,
In September!

It all seems innocent enough. What caught my eye however was page 112: a story entitled Lenin.

Lenin õppis koolis hästi. Sageli tulid klassikaaslased tema juurde. Üks ei osanud arvutada, teine ei osanud jälle midagi muud. Lenin aitas neid kõiki.
Meie kõik peame meeles Lenini sõnu: <<Õppida, õppida ja õppida!>> Sellepärast õpime meiegi hästi. Me oskame juba lugeda ja kirjutada.

Lenin studied well in school. Classmates often came to him. One could not calculate, another could not do something else. Lenin helped them all.

Me must all remember Lenin's words: "Learn, learn, learn!" That is why we study well too. We can already read and write.

Questions/instructions follow:

1. What did Lenin know?
2. How did Lenin study?
3. How do you learn?
4. Read the book 'Lenin and children'.

And finally at the end in blue:

Everywhere, where you serve the nation and the homeland - in school, at work, in deeds. Everywhere Lenin sends you, togther with you again.

I have a feeling that for a number of Jaanipäevad after re-independence books like this provided whole neighbourhoods with the burning material needed to fuel the fires of solidarity, Estonian solidarity minus all that hammer and sickle stuff. Still, it's good that some copies of these books survived, if only to show future generations how lucky there are to be going off to school in these generations to learn how to write and write, without a picture of Lenin haunting them on page 112.

vanalinn päikese käes

2009-06-25T17:24:00.015+01:00

For someone who has only ever seen Tallinn's old town from September to May today's trip into the cobblestone streets, basking in the afternoon sun of late June was a delight. I got some nice pictures and with copious amounts of suncream factor 30 on I was able to enjoy the sun's rays without worrying about them making my pale Irish skin go all red and blotchy.

Please enjoy the pictures. More can be found on my flickr page.

Mõtle mida vabadus Sinule tähendab

2009-06-23T11:19:00.010+01:00

Photo: Raigo Pajula.

Victory Day - Võidupüha

Last night was very moving for me. I don't think I've witnessed anything like it before. The mixture of the fading evening light, the live music, the monument and the crowds coming together as one people was magical.

As the thousands of names rolled up on the screens, all those men and women, girls and boys who died fighting, not just for the lives of their family but also for the very survival of their nation, the whole event got a bit too much for me and I could feel a tear form in corner of my eye.

Ireland and Estonia, though sometimes it seems like we are miles apart, we share an enormous amount in common. Estonia is the nation today because of those brave men and women who fought in the independence war. It is because of those men and women that there was something to be saved after the 50 years of soviet occupation. I shudder to think what Estonia would look like now had it not fought to enjoy two decades of independence and affirm itself as a soverign state with its own languages, traditions and culture.

Estonia survived communism, won the culture war and re-established itself as a nation among the family of nations. Ireland has indeed changed in the twenty years since the the fall of the Berlin-War and the new Europe that arise from that time. However it seems like progress is being made (and indeed it has) we must think to what we have lost and what we still stand to lose. Ireland may have gained political independence, for the majority of the island, what that might mean in an increasingly super-national-cum-federal Europe is unclear.

What of the culture war? That war has been raging for some two hundreds years and it is unlikely to end anytime soon. There are however no prises for guessing who are the winners. In 1922 as Chairman of the Provisioanl Government, Irish Patriot Michael Collins wrote:

“The biggest task will be the restoration of the language. How can we express our most subtle thoughts and finest feelings in a foreign tongue? Irish will scarcely be our language in this generation, or even perhaps in the next. But until we have it again on our tongues and in our minds we are not free, and we will produce no important literature.”

In his speech last night Estonian President Ilves mentioned the word keel 'language' three times. If ever there was a nation that understood the importance of its own language for self-expression and identity it is Estonia. Not only do Estonians recognise the importance of them fighting for political their political freedom, but also for their culture freedom. This is all the more pertinent when we think of all the nations within the present Russian Federation that were at the end of the second world war more populous than Estonia but that are now all but vanished, their languages silent and their population Russified and assimilated. Last night President Ilves asked us to think to the Ingrians and how their fate could have been the fate of Estonians. He ended his speech last night by saying:

"Nii mälestame neid mehi ja naisi, tänu kellele oli meid 20 aastat tagasi vabaduse taastamiseks veel piisavalt palju alles. Mõtle siis täna ja homme hetkeks sellele, mida vabadus Sinule tähendab. Ja ütle mõttes oma tänusõnad nendele, kes selle vabaduse Sulle tõid."

"Commemorate the men and women, thanks to whom 20 years ago we were still able to restore freedom. Think then today and tomorrow, what freedom means to you. And give thanks to those who brought you freedom."

Soovin sinule ilusat Võidupüha.

Edit (4 July): Commenting is re-opened but please no comments about Nazis, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact or the Holocaust. Please keep on topic of the Estonian Independence War and the Monument.

tick tock all messed up

2009-06-22T14:43:00.001+01:00

Whenever I come to Estonia I feel like I have no time. It's not a question of jetlag but rather just the simple matter of a loss of two hours. On the upswing when I return to Ireland I win them back and feel like I have all the time in the world.

My timetable has been screwed up this past week. It's partly due to the crappy flight I had from Ireland last Monday. The flight left at 01:30 and get in to Estonia 06:20 (local times). I didn't get a chance to sleep and ended up not sleeping until late that night.

Another factor in the equation is the long evenings here where the sky never gets black but stays a dark navy. The day stretches on until half 11 or so. Last night for example it was 11 when I looked at the clock and I didn't feel tired. It was 9 o' clock in Ireland and it was light outside. We end up going to bed at 2 or 3 and getting up at 11 or 12. I really need to get onto the Estonian clock - go to sleep at 11 Estonian time and wake up at 7.

kõige pikem päev vä

2009-06-21T21:43:00.008+01:00

Morning
Originally uploaded by Romeo Koitmäe

So the teacher says to Juku: 'Juku, give me a sentence'. Juku obliges with: 'Eile ma käsin loomaaias' (Yesterday I went to the zoo).

'Very good', says the teacher to Juku. 'Now, make that into a question.' Juku replies: 'Eile ma käisin loomaaias...vä?'

And so the 'standard' question-participle kas, which always appears at the beginning of an utterance, is replaced by vä, which appears at the end.

If you feel particulary lazy you can drop the consonant and just run with ä - kelle juurde sa lähed ä? (to who's place are you going ä?). Lihtne - simple.

Täna on aasta kõige pikem päev. - Today is the year's longest day. No vä, or ä about it.

kawaii tokei wa

2009-06-20T16:26:00.005+01:00

Eva's mother picked up this clock for Eva and I at a DIY store today. Isn't it sweet?

Yes...we are five.

Eva ema ostis täna selle seinakella Evale ja mulle ehituskaubamajast. Kas see pole mitte kena?

Ja...me oleme viieaastaseid.

Nòs Ùr

2009-06-18T19:27:00.003+01:00

Nòs Ùr (‘new style’) is a song competition in the Celtic and Scots languages. It is one of the regional finals for Liet International, the pan-European song competition where songs are solely sung in European minority languages. Liet International is to be held in October 2009 in Friesland, the Netherlands.

The minority languages that will feature in in Nòs Ùr are: Scots, Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton.

Nòs Ùr can be watched online here on Saturday the 20 June, starting from 7:30pm British Summer Time.

The report below is from last year's festival (in Gaelic and Welsh with English subtitles).

pop!

2009-06-17T09:21:00.003+01:00

I had a lucky break last night. We were celebrating Eva finishing her B.Sc. and her parents had bought us 2 kilos of strawberries, a kilo of sweet cherries, cream, and champagne. I went out to the garden to open the bottle, knowing from experience not to open the same indoors. However, the cork must have been very anxious to pop out for as as soon as I took off the cage it popped out and hit me in the face, right on the cheek-bone. I was very lucky it didn't hit my glasses! Or, if I had not have been wearing glasses (rare occurence) it would have taken out my eye...Either way I was very lucky to have escaped with only a sore cheek.

The champers, strawberries and cherries tasted all the sweeter with the dull ache in my face.

minu oma keel

2009-06-15T17:42:00.011+01:00

I had some free time today as I was waiting at my fiancée's lab for her to make a presentation to her colleagues so I decided to continue work on non-existent conlang (constructed language) that never seems to get off the ground.

Ever since the spring of 2006 I have been working on creating a language but I never seem to get it the way I like. One of the major issues I have is the internal-debate I have with myself over whether to model the language off Estonian and Irish (never mind how to do that) with the vocabulary highly dervived from those two languages, or to go in a totally different direction.

Just over two years ago I made a post called Mú tangél úrs (My new language). Here is a sample of what that language looked like back then.

Póste íhae shon on natán aílik. Klaakyúa má a tangélg úrs. Lól nél on animeg vés aka ló on enama mask ó éstíis yaag aeríis.
Istía má dask yúreg stádirítúbas, éshta má Clannad yaag vaata aídet yaag íhaítaíviret. Aerícir. Éginaíg ní flarg yaag laaknal, aka ta on alaní rohelas. Ta on mú kodule.

The post tonight is a lil strange. I am practising my new language. It does not have a name yet but it is mostly a mixture of Estonian and Irish.
I am siting at a desk in the study room, I'm listening to Clannad and I am looking out at the garden and at the night sky. Ireland. Sometimes so wet and drab, but it's always green. It's my home.

I used to dump old scribbling on the various incarnations of the language when I got tired of them. I no longer do that but instead I keep everything, no matter how trivial. It is very interesting to see how the language has changed over the course of months and years.

This is what my language looks like as of today:

djy djuri djikti do jälisba nyr täbi inei
dark.GEN forest.GEN root.GEN to walk.PST.3SG young girl yesterday
The young girl walked to the dark forest yesterday

lenba sei säni mädi kenda
be.NPST.3SG this old land very.beautiful
This old land is very beautiful

murä paunji et lenba lur, gä juri paunji et lenba pildi, gä piltti sitti et lenba kena täbi
table.GEN head.GEN at be.NPST.3SG book and book.GEN head.GEN at be.NPST.3SG picture and picture.GEN insides.GEN at be.NPST.3SG beautiful girl
On the table is a book, and on the book is a picture, and in the picture is a beautiful girl

The big difference between the two versions is that the older one dervives both vocabulary and grammatical affixes straight from Estonian whereas the newer version takes mostly just the concept and generates vocab less directly dervived from the language.

Adjective/ Noun list:
Nominative, Genitive, (English) - Source

dy, djy, (dark) - Irish: dubh (black)
dur, djuri, (forest)
dig, djikti, (root) - concept from Estonian: juur (root)
nyr, njyr, (young) - Irish/Gaelic: úr/ùr (new/fresh) and English: new
täbi, täpti, (girl)
inei, injei, (yesterday) - Irish: inné
säni, sänji, (old) - Irish: sean (old)
mädi, mätti, (land/ country) - Estonian: maa (land/ country)
kena, kenja, (beautiful) - Estonian: kena (pretty)
ken-d-a, ken-di-ja, (very beautiful)
mur, murä, (table)
paun, paunji, (head) - Estonian/Irish: pea/ceann (head)
lur, juri, (book) - Irish: leabhar (book)
pildi, piltti, (picture) - Estonian: pilt (picture)
sidi, sitti, (insides)

Verb/Postposition/ other list:
Word, (English) - Source
do, (to) - Irish: do
jälpan, (walk) - Estonian: jalg (leg)
lenan, (be) - Saami: lean (I am)
sei, sää, (this) - Estonian: see (this)
et, (at) - Irish/English: ag/at
gä, (and) - Irish/Estonian: agus/ja (and)

Abbreviations:

GEN - genitive
3SG - 3rd person singular
PST - past
NPST - non-past

eesti elu

2009-06-12T18:43:00.007+01:00

Pühapäeval ma sõidan puhkusele Eestisse. Mulle meeldib Eestisse sõita.
On Sunday I am travelling to Estonia on holidays. I like to travel to Estonia.

Ma hakkan palju eesti keelt rääkima. Mulle meeldib eesti keelt rääkida.
I will speak alot of Estonian. I like speaking Estonian.

Eva vanaema ütleb, et me peame oma tuba iga päev koristama, aga mulle ei meedi koristada.
Eva's grandmother says, that we have to clean our room everyday, but I don't like to clean.

Võib-olla me sõidame Soome laevaga. Mulle meeldib laevaga sõita, ja arvan, et soome loodus on väga ilus. Kahju, et soome toidud ei ole väga maitsvad.
Maybe we'll travel to Finland on the boat. I like travelling by boat, and I think that Finland's nature is very beautiful. It's a pity that Finnish food isn't very tasty.

Tule vaatama! Minu väitekiri on valmis!....
Come see! My dissertation is finished!.....

ütlesin ma, naljaga pooleks.
said I, jokingly.

a language's last cough

2009-06-09T10:47:00.012+01:00

A language's last cough
Suzanne Roberts talks to the last Gaelic speaker. - Boston Times, Tuesday June 9, 2009

IN A COTTAGE overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland's northwest coast Shaymus McCarren recounts to me tales from his childhood spend in the picturesque town of Gweedore where to this day he still resides.

"Me father was a fisherman so he was and I remember I used to head out on the boat. Myself, me father and Uncle Tommy and we'd be out there for a good couple of hours. Fishing ran in the family. I left school at 12 and join my father on the boat. I took over from him when he got too old for it. Me and my cousin Patrick. It was hard work but it those days you either had a boat, a couple of animals or you emigrated to England or Merikay [America]."

Shaymus tells me how his mother had a cottage industry selling eggs and lace with her sisters-in-law at the local markets. "It was a hard life and there was no space for wasters. You did your day's work, Monday to Saturday and on Sunday we'd walk to mass. There would be a dance that night. In those days the Sunday was kept for God and family. Times were hard but there was always time to talk to the man above or to support and help out a family member. Neighbours were like family and in many cases they really were related to you. It was a close-knit community. They're all dead now, God bless their souls."

English: An Economic Necessity

Shaymus is 89 years of age, born in 1920 when Ireland was still apart of the the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. He is the last speaker of Gaelic, the old tongue of Ireland, once spoken across Ireland from the glens of Antrim to the Cork and Kerry mountains, but that had been in terminal decline since the 19th century. Many commentators and historians believe that the famine of 1845-1849 was the death-blow for the Gaelic language as the worst affected were those in the poorer parts of Ireland where the majority of Gaelic speakers were concentrated. Roughly a million people died of starvation and a million more emigrated, many to America.

By the time the Irish Free State was established in 1922 English had long since been the everyday language of most of Ireland. Still, pockets of the language survived and one such community was Gweedore where Shaymus's parents raised him in Irish. He learned much of his English at school where the use of Irish was at best discouraged, and at worst a reason for a beating.

"The teachers were hard on the use of language," Shaymus tell me, "they said that English was the language of commerce and education and that there was no future for the old tongue. I remember the headmaster at the time, he told us we needed to speak English so we could get a job. 'Now boys,' he said 'your parents didn't pay good money on your education to see ye waste it on this God-forsaken place.'

"And so many of the boys did. Many believed back then that English was the key to progress. I never believed it was that simple. Sure there must be room enough in me head for more than one language. So I kept on speaking Irish to me father. Me mother on the otherhand had fallen under the sway of the Church and the other women of the village. They were encouraging all the young girls to speak English to their babies. They said that Gaelic would just damage them. From then one a word of Gaelic never passed between her and her children. Me and my sister Maure were the only ones raised in Gaelic, all the other siblings were raised through English. They say a child learns to speak at the lap of its mother. A mother can give a language, but she can also take it away.

"Looking back, the State should have done something to save the langauge. But many people laughed at the idea of Gaelic on the wireless or in the schools. They thought it was too backward for that. If only the ordinary people had been encouraged to continue to speak Gaelic to their children, along with English, well then the langauge might had stood a chance. I always felt that the human mind was intelligent enough for two languages but most people felt two languages would only confuse children and they would end up mute. 'No,' they said 'proper English is what they need.'"

Traveling the Atlantic

"In time I too went to Merikay. I worked in construction. The old language came in handy in talking with a few lads from Cheerkonnell [Donegal]. The ladies loved it of course. They didn't know what the jabers we were saying but by God they sure found it interesting. It's funny. Me and the handful of other Irish lads were probably speaking more Gaelic than all the people back home."

In 1950, at the age of 50, Shaymus returned to Ireland with his American wife and their young son David. Being American, Shaymus's wife Shannon didn't speak any Gaelic and so they raised David and their other 4 children through English. Shannon had a part time job as a typist and Shaymus went back to fishing. "There was something peaceful being back on the boat after those years in construction in the Big Apple."

Shaymus's children are now scattered across Ireland, raising children of their own. All, except for David, who is back in New York with his American wife. "They say history repeats itself. He gets back quite a bit now, now with the airplanes. He has a very nice house, or so he tells me. I can't see it for myself, I'm too old to travel. He's a good lad though, came back to look after Shannon and organised all the funeral arrangements. God bless her."

A Language's Last Cough

According to linguists there are better 6,000 and 12,000 languages in the world today but the vast majority won't make it to the next century. Some say the number could be as high as one every two weeks. One dialect that didn't make into this century is the form of Gaelic that used to be spoken on the Isle of Man. The language died out in 1974 with the death of its last speaker, Ned Maddrell. The Gaelic of Scotland survived to see the new millennium, but only just, its last speaker died in 2002. One woman that was deeply upset by the the passing of Gaelic in Scotland was American linguist Nancy Dorian who was well known in Gaelic circles for her work on the East Sutherland dialect and who was instrumental in recording its words and phrases before its last speakers died.

All around the world languages are dying out as their community of speakers switch to speaking more dominant languages. As soon the children stop speaking the language is moribund and it is only a matter of time. The age profile of the language's speakers is a vital clue to it's vitality. Linguist and expert in endangered language, Joshua A. Fishman believes that the inter-generational transmission of a language is the key to its survival. This was a core message from his 1991 book Reversing language shift.

At 89 Shaymus has outlived his wife and his family. "I see my children and their children when they get a chance to visit me. They wanted to buy me a small flat in Dublin so I could see them more often. But what would I do down there? No, I'm happy where I am in Gweedore with the ghosts of my parents." And the ghost of the Gaelic language no doubt as the language has already died out in Scotland and on the Isle of Man.

"Linguists used to come to my house to record me. I used to translate proverbs for them and recount my life, in Gaelic, and then in English. It was hard though because my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be and I'd be forgetting words because I don't be using them any more. That happens when you have no one to speak to.

"They had all these funny electric gadgets these men. Sure I didn't know what they were for but I'll I had to do with talk and tell a story. I used to tell a good story and people used to laugh at all the amusing parts but these young men didn't laugh. They didn't know what I was saying.

"They used to come from all over, Merikay, Germany, Dublin. There used to be all sorts at the door, making moving pictures and the lot. They don't come anymore. Sure, I'm an old man. I just want to spend my last few days in peace and quiet without all these intrusions. They told me they were compiling the language so that future generations could re-learn it. But it's too late I used to tell them. Once the people turned their back on the language, well, there's no return from that. It's lonely being the last speaker. There is a great sadness about it. No amount of recordings will replace that feeling."

On this rugged and desolate part of Ireland you can almost sense the weight of the past and hear the Gaelic language as it returns to the land along with the mist coming off the sea. However the language won't return to the lips of the living and Shaymus is left with no one to talk Gaelic to but himself. Slawn gas bannuckt - farewell from Gweedore.

the use of Irish

2009-06-04T10:16:00.002+01:00

There is nothing that annoys me more than the piecemeal use of Irish expect the piecemeal use of in-correct Irish. If you are going to throw in our national tongue onto a page (sign/ notice etc.) that it otherwise entirely covered in English, please make sure that you get it right!

This morning I picked up a copy of Ireland and Paliamentary Democracy: How the Sydtem of Government Works which is published by Gay Mitchell MEP in conjunction with Fine Gael and the EPP-ED. This is the 2nd edition 2008 version. It first appeared in 2007.

On page 23 we can see a picture of Gay himself at the parliament in Strasbourg. Above the picture is the page heading EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT and in brackets An Pharliamint na hEorpa.

Leaving aside the question "why is the Irish in brackets?", it is wrong. In a single noun-phrase one can not have two definite articles.

Yes, an Pharlaimint means '(the) Parliament' and an Pharlaimint Thírghrách means '(the) Patriot Parliament' [source Focal] but add an Pharlaimint to an Eoraip 'Europe' and you get: Parliamint na hEorpa '(The) European Parliament'.

In Gramadach na Gaeilge in Chapter 10 (The Article) under usage of the article, rule 3 states:

if a definite noun is further described by a definite genitive attribute, there is and article only preceding the attribute (if necessary), but never in front of the antecedent), e.g.

teach Sheáin = Seán's house (no way - an teach Sheáin!)
teach an dochtúra = the doctor's house (no way - an teach an dochtúra!)
fear na mná móire = the big woman's husband (no way - an fear na mná móire)

A statement like "a house of the doctor" must be formed with prepositions: teach don dochtúir