Help for correction of translated phrases

Dia dhaoibh,

I have decided to write a book named "iníon na mara" and just looked up a few quotes about the sea/ selkies. I translated those from English to Irish with google translator(yes, I know, a very trustful resource), glosbe.com and focloir.ie but I'm pretty sure that I have made some mistakes.

I have not yet started learning Irish but I will do so as soon as I have figured out how to start

The quotes (with the original ones I have found online):

"Sisters of the tides are we, bound by sand, and salt, and sea. Selkie, mermaid, siren, daughters, priestesses of the holy waters." -A.M. Galdorcraeft

"Deirfiúracha na farraige táimid ag. Cheangal de réir gaineamh, agus salainn, agus mara. Selkie, maighdean mhara, cluanaí, iníonacha, banríon na n-uiscí naofa."- A.M. Galdorcraeft

"The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears or the sea." -Isak Dinesen

"An leigheas do rud ar bith è uisce salann- allais, deora, nó an fharraige."- Isak Dinesen

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Yves Cousteau 

"An fharraige, uair amháin sé draíochta a litriú, greim a choinneáil ceann i a glan eangach ar ionaía go deo." - Jasques Yves Cousteau

I would appreciate your help :)

Slán go fóill,

Auryn

Hello, Auryn.

The idea that you would like to write a book, in Irish, when you have not yet started to learn the language, shows remarkable self-confidence, and perhaps equal parts audacity, but I will be so bold as to suggest that you are putting the cart before the horse.  If you are serious about writing such a book, with or without translated quotes, you need to start by learning the language.  There is a good program for starting included on this site, called Buntús Cainte -- "Basic Speaking" -- which is a primer course in Irish that was used in schools in Ireland for many years.  It has been revamped with new graphics and explanations.

Irish has many important variances and differences from English which means it cannot be translated "word for word" which is typically what Google translate and other resources do as a matter of habit.  It results in Irish translations that are not good at all.

First:  Syntax.  Irish has a different sentence structure than English.  The typical English sentence is put together with the Subject first, then the Verb, then the Object, or SVO.  In Irish, the correct order is VSO.  I have seen no online translation service that takes this difference into account.

Irish has a number of peculiar constructs, or idioms, that are completely different from anything in English, and convey ideas about personal traits, conditions, possession, emotion, etc.  These must be leared separately, and usually employ "prepositional pronouns", something found also in Spanish, for example, but in Irish you have seventeen differeent prepositions that are fully conjugated into the seven parts of speech.  Knowing which to use for which idiom is an important part of the process.

I would recommend you start with Buntús Cainte and begin learning the language first.  If you want to write a book, but expect to find someone to edit something you have written with no basic understanding of the language, it will be a nightmare.  I have written a short book, in poetic form, and translated it into Irish, so I know whereof I speak.  Even with what understanding I had of the Irish language at the time, there were lots of corrections and changes needed.

Good luck!

Dale D

Hello Dale, I might have expressed myself wrongly, I don't intend to write a book in Irish. My idea was to write a story in German with Selkies and I only wanted someone to correct the quotes I translated with the help of those pages.

Auryn

Hi, Auryn,

That is different...but I must not be in the know on something, as I don't know what you mean by "Selkies."

I will look them over later, as I am unable to at the moment.  I did notice some VSO changes that probably should be made, and a couple of other items....

Dale D

"Sisters of the tides are we, bound by sand, and salt, and sea. Selkie, mermaid, siren, daughters, priestesses of the holy waters." -A.M. Galdorcraeft

"Deirfiúracha na farraige táimid ag. Cheangal de réir gaineamh, agus salainn, agus mara. Selkie, maighdean mhara, cluanaí, iníonacha, banríon na n-uiscí naofa."- A.M. Galdorcraeft

Here's my take on the first one; anyone else is welcome to take a shot at it and offer corrections, suggestions, etc..... 

Taimíd deirfiúracha na farraige sinn, cheanglaíomar le gaineamh, agus salainn, 's mara.  Selkie, maighdean mhara, cluanaí, iníonacha, bansagart na n-uisci naofa.

Dale D

Hi Auryn,

The translations from Google Translate aren't good I'm afraid.

For example spell is translated as litriú which means spelling (of a word). The Irish words for spell (as relates to magic and enchantment) are draíocht or geis, and ortha if you're talking about an incantation or magic charm. Once is translated as uair amhain, which means once, as in one time. That's just a couple of translation errors. The grammar is all over the place.

These would be my own translation attempts...

"Sisters of the tides are we, bound by sand, and salt, and sea. Selkie, mermaid, siren, daughters, priestesses of the holy waters."

Siúracha na dtaoidí muide, gafa le chéile ag gaineamh, salann is sáile. Maighdean róin, maighdean mhara, Síréana, iníonacha, bansagairt na n-uiscí naofa.

I've use siúracha for sisters. It suggests sisterhood - kinswomen rather than blood sisters.

I've used sáile instead of farraige for sea. Sáile is salt-water or sea and the s sounds in salann and sáile  are in keeping with the sounds in the original English version.

Selkie is an anglicization of Scots Gaelic. The word doesn't exist in Irish (as far as I know) so I've used maighdean róin (seal maiden) which does exist in Irish (as far as I know), and is basically the same concept as a selkie.

Síreana is the mythologocal siren.

Bansagairt means priestesses, but you might also consider bandraoithe. Draoithe are duids, magicians, diviners. Bandraoithe are the female versions of same.

Couple of small corrections, Dale.

Taimíd deirfiúracha... should be Is deirfiúracha... (copula)

Cheanglaíomar le gaineamh... means we were tied with sand... You could use ceangailte le chéile ag....

Cluanaí can be translated as siren but the meaning is more along the lines of seductress than mythological siren.

"The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears or the sea.

('Sé) Leigheas ar 'chuile shórt an tsáile - allas, deora nó an fharraige.

Literally, the cure for all sorts is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea. The 'Sé at the start can be omitted.

Other options...

Leigheas ar rud ar bith (beo) an tsáile - allas, deora nó an fharraige.

Leigheas ar aon ní an tsáile - allas, deora nó an fharraige.

Leigheas ar aon rud an tsáile - allas, deora nó an fharraige.

Leigheas ar 'chuile ní beo an tsáile - allas, deora nó an fharraige.

All variations on a theme. Just different translations used for anything (or everything).

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever"

There's a couple of ways to go at this...

I'd probably say...

Ó chuirfear draíocht na mara ort, gabhfar in eangach a iontais go deo thú

Once the spell of the sea has been cast on you, you'll be forever caught in it's net of wonder

Or

Ó chuirfear faoi dhraíocht na mara thú, gabhfair in eangach a iontais go deo

Once you are under the spell of the sea, you'll be forever in it's net of wonder

But I'd be using you for my pronoun instead of one. If you want to use sometghing similar to the English use of one, you could say something like

Ó chuirfear duine faoi dhraíocht na mara, gabhfar in eangach a iontais é go deo

A more direct translation would be

Nuair a chuireanns an fharraige faoi dhraíocht thú, gabhfar in eangach a iontais go deo

An fharraige, nuair a chuireanns sé faoi dhraíocht thú, gabhfar in eangach a iontais go deo

"Ó chuirfear draíocht na mara ort, gabhfar in eangach a iontais go deo thú."

 Aistriúchán blasta atá anseo, sílim.