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quick question
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:25 pm
by MikeS
How would one say "of shadows"??
Like as in "the people standing againt the window cast a bunch of shadows"
Something like "nan sgàileain" ??
Thanks!!
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:04 pm
by Stìophan
of shadows could be
nan sgàilean,
nam faileas or
nan sgàth.
Your construction though is a little more complicated; I would say:
Thug na daoine a bha a' seasamh an aghaidh na h-uinneige bad de dh'fhaileasan/sgàilean/sgàthan
Although, their may be a more idiomatic way of saying it.
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:54 pm
by MikeS
Thanks Stiòphan!
Yeah, the construction is a little odd - only example I could think of! The only other one that comes to mind is something like "book of shadows"
For "shadows" I mean it as the shadow something would cast - I'm not sure out of those three which would be the best word. I had thought "Sgàil", but I'm not positive - ?
Mike S
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:47 pm
by faoileag
Going by songs I know, I would say 'faileas' fits the bill here. The shadow cast by something or someone.
Faileas air an Airigh, by Runrig, is not the only one.
Watson supports this:
Laigh a faileas orm: her shadow fell on me.
and compares:sgàil(e) as a 'shade' eg beneath the shade of a tree: fo sgàil craoibhe
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:30 am
by neoni
there's a book called "fo sgàil a' swastika", and the english title is something like "under the shadow of the swastika"
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:21 pm
by MikeS
Hmm...OK - I had seen where sgàil could also mean "shade" so I wasn't sure.
So - "faileas" - how would you put that in the genitive plural "of (the) shadows"??
Also, could someone give me a quick pronunciation of the word; sorry, I'm more familiar with Irish Gaelic....... something like FAH-lyus?? I assume the 'l' here would receive the "slender" pronunciation, right?
Thanks!!
Mike S
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:23 pm
by Gràisg
Dè do bheachd air na beachdan a tha agamsa?
Chunnacas bad fhaileas leis an fheadhainn a bha nan seasamh an aghaidh na h-uinneige
Chaidh bad fhaileas a dhèanamh leis an fheadhainn a bha nan seasamh an aghaidh na h-uinneige.
Rinn na daoine[...] bad fhaileas
Dh’adbharachadh bad fhaileas leis [...]
Uill sin agad e, a bheil iad gu feum sam bith? (ceart no ceàrr a tha iad lol)
Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:26 pm
by Stìophan
MikeS wrote:Hmm...OK - I had seen where sgàil could also mean "shade" so I wasn't sure.
So - "faileas" - how would you put that in the genitive plural "of (the) shadows"??
Also, could someone give me a quick pronunciation of the word; sorry, I'm more familiar with Irish Gaelic....... something like FAH-lyus?? I assume the 'l' here would receive the "slender" pronunciation, right?
Thanks!!
Mike S
You're pretty much spot on Mike although there isn't really the 'y', just the slender 'l' as in Irish
Níl
nam faileas is the genitive plural
In case you don't know:
nan (
nam before b, f, m and p) is the genitive version of the plural
na (h-)
in terms of the noun itself, generally if the noun ends in a broad consonant you use the nominative singular for the g. pl., for slender nouns and borrowed words you use the nom. pl. although this can vary depending on dialect.
Hope this helps
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:10 pm
by MikeS
Thanks - yes it helps -
My bad; I know about the change of n>m in "nan" before labials but I forgot about it when I typed it!
Yeah, the 'y' is the only way I could think of to approximate the slender 'l'.
Thanks again!
Mike S
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:01 pm
by Stìophan
MikeS wrote:Thanks - yes it helps -
My bad; I know about the change of n>m in "nan" before labials but I forgot about it when I typed it!
Yeah, the 'y' is the only way I could think of to approximate the slender 'l'.
Thanks again!
Mike S
'S e ur beatha
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:46 pm
by Stìophan
I have an update on your request Mike
It appears you would use the verb
Tilg (to throw) for 'cast' and a better word for bunch in this case would be
grunn.
Thus:
Thilg na daoine a bha a' seasamh an aghaidh na h-uinneige grunn fhaileas
no need for
de after
grunn.
Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:00 pm
by faoileag
Grinn grinn - 's toil leam am fear sin.
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:36 pm
by MikeS
Hmmm..... OK - I just have to ask - hopw would you then say the following:
"book of shadows"
"cast (or the verb 'to cast') a spell
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:58 pm
by faoileag
To cast a spell is: cuir fo gheusaibh
(from geus, a spell, enchantment)
Book of shadows - it would , as mentioned above, depend a bit on the shadows you mean, but by far the most likely would be
Leabhar nam Faileas
Sounds better with the article to me.
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:04 pm
by eideard
faoileag wrote:To cast a spell is: cuir fo gheusaibh.
You can also say ..... fo gheasaibh. Another way to say this is "cuir geasa air" - put a spell on.