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

Re: can anyone translate 'Níl dé air' for me please.

otuathail — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:18:22 GMT

'Níl dé air' means 'there's not a trace of him (or it)', 'there's no sign of him (or it)', 'he's (or it's) vanished without a trace', etc.

The word dé means smoke, puff, breath, glimmer.

You might also come across 'níl dé ná deatach air' which has the same meaning as above.

http://www.focloir.ie/ga/search/ei/adv?q=d%C3%A9+deatach&inlanguage=ga&searchin=&pos=&subject=&style=

See also a similar useage in Ó Dónaill's Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla

ní fhacas dé air le blianta, I haven't set eyes on him for years

http://www.teanglann.ie/en/eid/d%C3%A9_air

Barra

Re: can anyone translate 'Níl dé air' for me please.

LauraHuntORI — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 15:01:58 GMT

Cad é an comhthéacs?

Re: can anyone translate 'Níl dé air' for me please.

Dale D — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 01:29:19 GMT

The literal translation I have come up with is "Smoke is not on him" but I am certain this is an idiomatic construct. Dé shows as meaning "smoke" but also "breath" or "puff".

I suspect it may mean, "He doesn't smoke" (as in tobacco products) but I could be mistaken.

Another possibility is, if dé is being used to mean "breath" instead of "smoke", then it might translate as "He is not breathing."

The context of the sentence may be the determining factor.

Anyone else willing to chime in?

Dale D

can anyone translate 'Níl dé air' for me please.

seanjohnson — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:59:37 GMT

can anyone translate 'Níl dé air' for me please.

thanks.