Post by megli on Dec 16, 2010 21:09:34 GMT -1
Dear all,
please cd I test something with your kind help? The following is from the preliminary blurb to the book I' working on, a history of the Tuatha De Danann in literature (and art, and one opera...)
I need to know if the pronunciation pointers a) make sense and b) are worth doing. Your feedback would be very gratefully received. I'm sorry it's not formatted very well.
Thanks
Mark
Two notes on proper names
The most frequent name used in this book for the gods of Irish myth―taking ‘gods’, ‘Irish’, and ‘myth’ in their broadest senses for the moment―is Túatha Dé Danann, ‘the Peoples of the Goddess Danu.’ The word túatha, ‘peoples’, is very frequently spelled even by medieval specialists in the Modern Irish way, without an accent. Medieval Irish spellings varied on this point, but throughout this book (except, of course, in quotations) I follow the example of the Dictionary of the Irish Language, which gives the word its accent.
Another more problematic Irish term for the gods also exists, a word which originally referred to the idea that the immortal beings made their homes inside hollow mounds. The word for such natural or artificial landscape features in Old Irish was síd, plural síde, but when taken over into English its use was extended to become the collective noun for the otherworldly inhabitants of a hollow hill as well as for the tumulus itself. Áes síde, ‘the people of the hollow hills’, in other words, came themselves to be termed ‘the people of the síde’ or simply ‘the Sídhe’―that is, ‘fairies, supernatural beings’―whether or not they were depicted as actually dwelling in a síd at the time. Unfortunately as the Goidelic languages changed this word came to appear in a variety of historical forms, together with an accent that came and went―Old Irish síd, síth, síde, later Irish síodh, sídhe, Modern Irish sí, síthe, Scottish Gaelic sìthiche, sìthichean, and finally the anglicized shee, which also happens to be the spelling of the word in Manx. Faced with this choice and given the wide timespan covered by the book, a flexible approach to spelling the word seemed best―I have simply attempted to use the form which seemed the least confusing or distracting in any given context. Broadly speaking, this means that as the book progresses síd gives way to Sídhe and then to Shee. The inconsistency seemed unavoidable: it would have been both anachronistic and linguistically absurd to have written of Æ’s ‘paintings of the síd’ or to have referred to ‘depictions of the Shee in medieval Irish’. It is hoped that this terminological variation will not confuse the reader, whose attention is drawn in addition to the definition of the word in the glossary.
Pronunciation
It is notorious that words in Irish (and in its sister language, Scottish Gaelic) can appear wholly unpronounceable to those unfamiliar with the Gaelic spelling system, such as the hapless tourist in the Highlands or west of Ireland encountering Loch nan Amhaichean or Aonach Urmhumhan for the first time. To the specialist, this spelling system is remarkable both for its economy and its essential continuity over the centuries. Nevertheless, important shifts in pronunciation took place as Old Irish (roughly 600---900 AD) gave way to Middle Irish (c.900---1200 AD) and that in turn developed into the Early Modern and Modern versions of the language. Scottish Gaelic also has idiosyncrasies of its own.
The diachronic nature of this book means that many names are met with in Old Irish, Middle Irish, and Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic dress, and the pronunciation of some of these altered considerably with time. Old Irish Lug, for example, has a short vowel and a throaty rasp at the end, whereas later Irish Lugh more or less rhymes with English clue, with a long vowel and no audible final consonant. In addition, Irishless writers who have picked up and used mythological proper names have sometimes garbled them badly: W. B. Yeats’ Clooth-na-bare, for example, bears scant resemblance to Old Irish Cailleach Béara.
No standard English form exists for most Irish mythological figures, unlike for those of the Norse or Greek pantheons―we are comfortable, for example, with the use of Odin for Old Norse Óðinn, or with Apollo for Greek Apollōn. Most Celticists adopt the forms found in the medieval text about which they are writing, often regularizing them slightly. Given the number of sources discussed in this book―in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and English―this would be liable to confuse the reader with numerous variants of the same name.
Accordingly, a compromise has been adopted. In both translations and discussion all names are given in a (sometimes regularized) Old Irish form, if extant. If no Old Irish form is available, then the earliest attested form is given. This system is not perfect: it means that the god Lugh―undoubtedly the most familiar form of the name in English―appears throughout as Lug, and similarly we have Óengus rather than Middle Irish Aengus, Scottish Gaelic Aonghus or anglicised Angus. Likewise, speakers of modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic may find the Old Irish forms unfamiliar and rather stark. But for other readers, this system has the advantage that we have Medb rather than Meadhbh, the Dagda rather than the Daghdha (or indeed the Dhaghdha, to give an example of the kind of hypercorrect solecisms that modern Irishless writers sometimes employ). If the particular spelling found in a text is for any reason noteworthy, it is discussed when it occurs.
Adopting this system also means that a single and broadly Old Irish-based key to pronunciation can be provided. I must give fair warning that this cannot be entirely accurate without the reader trying to learn some Irish, as the language has some sounds and combinations of sounds not found in English. The specialist in the field will already know how to pronounce the proper names in all their varying historical forms, of course, but by using the key below non-specialist readers will be able to have confidence that they are approximating the names in a manner that has at least some historical justification.
Key to the pronunciation of proper names
Capital letters indicate the stress in words of more than one syllable: almost always this is the initial syllable. Monosyllables are always stressed. The symbol γ represents a throaty gh sound, similar to the -ch in Scottish loch but further back in the throat and thus close to the g in German Tage. The symbol ð represents the th- sound at the start of those, that, and than, which is quite different to the th- sound at the beginning of thick, thin, or think. The superscript symbol ʸ indicates that the preceding consonant is ‘palatal’, that is, accompanied by a y-glide like the n in onion, the m in music, or the c in cute.
Áeb aiv (approximately to rhyme with ‘five’)
Áed aið (approximately to rhyme with ‘scythe’)
Aífe, Aoife EYE-fuh, EE-fuh
Áine AWN-yuh
Aíbell, Aoibheall EYE-vell, EE-vull
Airmid AR-um-ið
Badb` BAð-uv
Balor BAL-or
Banba BAN-uv-uh
Becḟola BʸEG-ola
Bóand BOW-an (‘BOW’ rhyming with English crow)
Bodb (Derg) BOð-uV (DʸER-ug)
Brigit BRI-γid (English Bridget is often substituted, especially when referring to the saint.)
Cailleach Béara KAL-yakh VAY-ruh
Cas Corach KASS KOR-ukh
Cian KI-an
Clídna KLEEð-nuh
Crom Crúach Krom KROO-ukh
Crom Dub Krom Duv (‘Duv’ like English dove)
Créidne KRAYð-nʸeh
Cú Chulaind COO KHULL-unn (‘KHULL’ rhymes with ‘skull’)
Dagda DAγ-ðuh
Dían Cécht DʸEE-an KAY-kht
Étaín AY-deen
Ériu AYR-you
Fand FANN or FAND
Fionn mac Cumhaill FʸON muck COO-wul
Fomóire FOV-oh-reh
Fótla FOWD-luh (‘FOWD’ rhymes with English code)
Goibniu GOV-nʸuh
Lug Lámḟota LUγ LAH-voduh (the vowel in Lug is similar to that in English look)
Macha MAKH-uh
Manannán mac Lir MAN-unn-ahn mack LEER
Medb MEð-uv
Midir MIð-ir
Mórrígan MOH--ree-γun
Nemain NʸEV-un
Núadu Airgetlám NOO-uð-uh AR-ged-lahv.
Óengus OYN-γuss
Ogma Oγ-vuh
Síd SHEEð (much like English sheathe); later Sidhe, Sí, both pronounced shee.
Sín Sheen
Sinand SHIN-and, SHIN-ann
Túatha Dé Danann TOOTH-uh DAY DA-nunn
please cd I test something with your kind help? The following is from the preliminary blurb to the book I' working on, a history of the Tuatha De Danann in literature (and art, and one opera...)
I need to know if the pronunciation pointers a) make sense and b) are worth doing. Your feedback would be very gratefully received. I'm sorry it's not formatted very well.
Thanks
Mark
Two notes on proper names
The most frequent name used in this book for the gods of Irish myth―taking ‘gods’, ‘Irish’, and ‘myth’ in their broadest senses for the moment―is Túatha Dé Danann, ‘the Peoples of the Goddess Danu.’ The word túatha, ‘peoples’, is very frequently spelled even by medieval specialists in the Modern Irish way, without an accent. Medieval Irish spellings varied on this point, but throughout this book (except, of course, in quotations) I follow the example of the Dictionary of the Irish Language, which gives the word its accent.
Another more problematic Irish term for the gods also exists, a word which originally referred to the idea that the immortal beings made their homes inside hollow mounds. The word for such natural or artificial landscape features in Old Irish was síd, plural síde, but when taken over into English its use was extended to become the collective noun for the otherworldly inhabitants of a hollow hill as well as for the tumulus itself. Áes síde, ‘the people of the hollow hills’, in other words, came themselves to be termed ‘the people of the síde’ or simply ‘the Sídhe’―that is, ‘fairies, supernatural beings’―whether or not they were depicted as actually dwelling in a síd at the time. Unfortunately as the Goidelic languages changed this word came to appear in a variety of historical forms, together with an accent that came and went―Old Irish síd, síth, síde, later Irish síodh, sídhe, Modern Irish sí, síthe, Scottish Gaelic sìthiche, sìthichean, and finally the anglicized shee, which also happens to be the spelling of the word in Manx. Faced with this choice and given the wide timespan covered by the book, a flexible approach to spelling the word seemed best―I have simply attempted to use the form which seemed the least confusing or distracting in any given context. Broadly speaking, this means that as the book progresses síd gives way to Sídhe and then to Shee. The inconsistency seemed unavoidable: it would have been both anachronistic and linguistically absurd to have written of Æ’s ‘paintings of the síd’ or to have referred to ‘depictions of the Shee in medieval Irish’. It is hoped that this terminological variation will not confuse the reader, whose attention is drawn in addition to the definition of the word in the glossary.
Pronunciation
It is notorious that words in Irish (and in its sister language, Scottish Gaelic) can appear wholly unpronounceable to those unfamiliar with the Gaelic spelling system, such as the hapless tourist in the Highlands or west of Ireland encountering Loch nan Amhaichean or Aonach Urmhumhan for the first time. To the specialist, this spelling system is remarkable both for its economy and its essential continuity over the centuries. Nevertheless, important shifts in pronunciation took place as Old Irish (roughly 600---900 AD) gave way to Middle Irish (c.900---1200 AD) and that in turn developed into the Early Modern and Modern versions of the language. Scottish Gaelic also has idiosyncrasies of its own.
The diachronic nature of this book means that many names are met with in Old Irish, Middle Irish, and Modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic dress, and the pronunciation of some of these altered considerably with time. Old Irish Lug, for example, has a short vowel and a throaty rasp at the end, whereas later Irish Lugh more or less rhymes with English clue, with a long vowel and no audible final consonant. In addition, Irishless writers who have picked up and used mythological proper names have sometimes garbled them badly: W. B. Yeats’ Clooth-na-bare, for example, bears scant resemblance to Old Irish Cailleach Béara.
No standard English form exists for most Irish mythological figures, unlike for those of the Norse or Greek pantheons―we are comfortable, for example, with the use of Odin for Old Norse Óðinn, or with Apollo for Greek Apollōn. Most Celticists adopt the forms found in the medieval text about which they are writing, often regularizing them slightly. Given the number of sources discussed in this book―in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and English―this would be liable to confuse the reader with numerous variants of the same name.
Accordingly, a compromise has been adopted. In both translations and discussion all names are given in a (sometimes regularized) Old Irish form, if extant. If no Old Irish form is available, then the earliest attested form is given. This system is not perfect: it means that the god Lugh―undoubtedly the most familiar form of the name in English―appears throughout as Lug, and similarly we have Óengus rather than Middle Irish Aengus, Scottish Gaelic Aonghus or anglicised Angus. Likewise, speakers of modern Irish or Scottish Gaelic may find the Old Irish forms unfamiliar and rather stark. But for other readers, this system has the advantage that we have Medb rather than Meadhbh, the Dagda rather than the Daghdha (or indeed the Dhaghdha, to give an example of the kind of hypercorrect solecisms that modern Irishless writers sometimes employ). If the particular spelling found in a text is for any reason noteworthy, it is discussed when it occurs.
Adopting this system also means that a single and broadly Old Irish-based key to pronunciation can be provided. I must give fair warning that this cannot be entirely accurate without the reader trying to learn some Irish, as the language has some sounds and combinations of sounds not found in English. The specialist in the field will already know how to pronounce the proper names in all their varying historical forms, of course, but by using the key below non-specialist readers will be able to have confidence that they are approximating the names in a manner that has at least some historical justification.
Key to the pronunciation of proper names
Capital letters indicate the stress in words of more than one syllable: almost always this is the initial syllable. Monosyllables are always stressed. The symbol γ represents a throaty gh sound, similar to the -ch in Scottish loch but further back in the throat and thus close to the g in German Tage. The symbol ð represents the th- sound at the start of those, that, and than, which is quite different to the th- sound at the beginning of thick, thin, or think. The superscript symbol ʸ indicates that the preceding consonant is ‘palatal’, that is, accompanied by a y-glide like the n in onion, the m in music, or the c in cute.
Áeb aiv (approximately to rhyme with ‘five’)
Áed aið (approximately to rhyme with ‘scythe’)
Aífe, Aoife EYE-fuh, EE-fuh
Áine AWN-yuh
Aíbell, Aoibheall EYE-vell, EE-vull
Airmid AR-um-ið
Badb` BAð-uv
Balor BAL-or
Banba BAN-uv-uh
Becḟola BʸEG-ola
Bóand BOW-an (‘BOW’ rhyming with English crow)
Bodb (Derg) BOð-uV (DʸER-ug)
Brigit BRI-γid (English Bridget is often substituted, especially when referring to the saint.)
Cailleach Béara KAL-yakh VAY-ruh
Cas Corach KASS KOR-ukh
Cian KI-an
Clídna KLEEð-nuh
Crom Crúach Krom KROO-ukh
Crom Dub Krom Duv (‘Duv’ like English dove)
Créidne KRAYð-nʸeh
Cú Chulaind COO KHULL-unn (‘KHULL’ rhymes with ‘skull’)
Dagda DAγ-ðuh
Dían Cécht DʸEE-an KAY-kht
Étaín AY-deen
Ériu AYR-you
Fand FANN or FAND
Fionn mac Cumhaill FʸON muck COO-wul
Fomóire FOV-oh-reh
Fótla FOWD-luh (‘FOWD’ rhymes with English code)
Goibniu GOV-nʸuh
Lug Lámḟota LUγ LAH-voduh (the vowel in Lug is similar to that in English look)
Macha MAKH-uh
Manannán mac Lir MAN-unn-ahn mack LEER
Medb MEð-uv
Midir MIð-ir
Mórrígan MOH--ree-γun
Nemain NʸEV-un
Núadu Airgetlám NOO-uð-uh AR-ged-lahv.
Óengus OYN-γuss
Ogma Oγ-vuh
Síd SHEEð (much like English sheathe); later Sidhe, Sí, both pronounced shee.
Sín Sheen
Sinand SHIN-and, SHIN-ann
Túatha Dé Danann TOOTH-uh DAY DA-nunn
