The Irish Language - Grammar, Pronunciation, Games, Myths, Poetry and more

Re: Translation for a Memorial

midden — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 23:01:00 GMT

Very helpful. Go raibh maith agat.

Bob M.

Re: Translation for a Memorial

seano — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 18:13:19 GMT

Hi Bob, Mícheálín's version is largely correct but the spelling and grammar are non-standard. In the Caighdeán Oifigiúil it would be this:

"Tiomnaithe do na banlaochra a fuair bás sa streachailt."

In some dialects and to some speakers in would be an banlaochra, because the word laochra is kind of a collective noun but I think the most ancient form treats it as a full plural and therefore the plural article na goes with it. And it has to be the direct relative "a fuair" not "a bhfuair". As M. says, it has to be sa rather than i because it's the definite article.

Hope this helps! :-)

Re: Translation for a Memorial

midden — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 03:31:36 GMT

Go raibh maith agat. This is very helpful.

Best regards,

Bob M.

Re: Translation for a Memorial

NíShíodhcháin — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:15:56 GMT

Hi Bob,

Tá sé sin go maith cruinn ach bh'féidir go ndéanfá roinnt beag athruithe:

That's quite accurate, but you could make some minor changes.

Déarfainn: "Tiomnaithe don bean-laochra a bhfuair bás sa streachailt."

When "do" and "na" come together, you contract, hence "don"

Nuair a thagann "do" is "na" le chéile, gioraíonn tú é go dtí "don"

I changed "laochra mná" to "bean-laochra", I suppose just to make it sound more natural.

D'athraigh mé "laochra mná" go dtí bean-laochra" chun éa dhéanamh níos nadúrtha.

And when there's a "the" in the sentence, "i" changes to "sa".

Agus nuair a bhíonn "the" san abairt, athraíonn "i" go "sa".

Tá brón orm, tá fhios agam go bhfuil do phost as 2009 :-)

Sorry, I know that you posted that a good while back.

Mícheálín

Translation for a Memorial

midden — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:22:34 GMT

Someone I know is creating a memorial for the women in his family and would very much like a translation for the inscription. Since this will be permanently incribed he wants to be certain that this is grammatically correct and would prefer modern Irish. Here is the phrase:

Dedicated to the women warriors who died in the struggle.

And here is the translation that I have so far:

Tiomnaithe do na laochra mná a maraíodh i streachailt.

Is this a good translation? If so, where can I obtain a phonetic pronunciation or a recording of it spoken correctly?

Here is the story behind the memorial:

This memorial is for the things the women in my Mom's family went through both long ago in Cork and generations later in Indiana and finally (for my Mom at least) Toledo, Ohio. All the men on the Irish side kept dying young in accidents and illnesses. This explains why my cousins and I all seem to have German family names.

None of those ladies ever had to pick up a gun, but what they collectively went through could fill a fairly gritty, sad, but ultimately uplifting book, if I ever get time to try to write down all the anecdotes I heard and overheard growing up.

With gratitude for any help others can provide,

Bob Midden

With gratitude for any help that can be provided.

Bob Midden