'S mise/ it's me

[clarsach]

I was about to write 'S mise, meaning 'it's me,' but saw it technically means, "My name is." Is this correct? So how would I say, "It's me, [Name]." Tha mi? Tha mi a th'ann? 'S e mi a th'ann?

Thank you.

[AlasdairBochd]

's mise does mean it is me, so when you say " 's mise Clarsach" you are saying, "it is me, Clarsach". To say "my name is Clarsach" you would say " 's e Clarsach an t-ainm a th' orm" which means "it is Clarsach the name that is on me".

" 's mi a th' ann" means " it is me that is here". The highlighted a means that in these situations.

[akerbeltz]

Always remember that there are two levels of "tr*nsl*t**n", the literal and the idiomatic.

Literally, the tr*nsl*t**n of the German idiom "ihm ist eine Laus über die Leber gelaufen" is "a louse ran over his liver" but the idiomatic tr*nsl*t**n is "he's being really tetchy". Same applies to any other language pair you might be tr*nsl*t*ng from/into.

[Níall Beag]

I've been told by many Gaels that 's mise Nìall or whatever just isn't natural.

There's a problem in language learning that it has been decided that saying your name is a massively important thing (it really isn't -- how often do you say "my name is ..." in real life? When someone asks me what my name is, I just say "Nìall") but then at the same time they don't want to teach anything too complicated structurally, so they mangle things and make sentences that no-one would say, just because they want to teach a particular grammar point. It's a bit silly, because there are plenty of things that speakers do say that use the grammar correctly.

My Welsh tutor was quite apologetic about this -- the course we were following (not her choice) taught us to ask literally "who are you?", which seems just as rude in Welsh as in English. Worse, the course had decided to start with "chi" (polite you -- "sibh" in Gaelic) rather than "ti" (familiar you -- "thu" in Gaelic), so it felt a bit like taking your hat off, bowing down low and saying "milord, who the *%&$ are you?!??!!?"

[akerbeltz]

I've been told by many Gaels that 's mise Nìall or whatever just isn't natural.

Not heard that one before - though my memory may be coloured by having started with Irish where that's perfectly ok. The problem, as I see it, is that I'm not sure we can trust native speakers on this account - there are hardly any situations left where you would introduce yourself to a stranger in Gaelic, mostly you get introduced by someone else or you discover at some point past intros that the other party speaks Gaelic. So introductions in Gaelic as a whole may be "unnatural" these days.

[clarsach]

so it felt a bit like taking your hat off, bowing down low and saying "milord, who the *%&$ are you?!??!!?"

LOL, oh the joys of learning a language and not always knowing for sure how you're coming off to native speakers! (We were warned early on NEVER to tell a German, even on a 110 degree day, that you are hot.)

Tha mi duillich-- Sgriobh mi [post] sin aig opair an-dè... where I had just found a site online that gave the tr*nsl*t**n as My name is... On further thought, I was sure that was not how my multitude of books and CDs translated it, but didn't have them available at work to check.

The situation I need this for is one in which someone would definitely say, "It's me, Name." It's a scene in a novel, in which a Gaelic speaker addresses her fiance. Her maid has just pointed out that he seems not to recognize her, and she says to him, "It's me, Allene."

Can someone correct my attempt at this sentence, too: (the maid is shocked at the man's swearing) "Do not be talking to my lady like that!"

Would it be: Chan eil sibh a' labhairt gun m' bana-mhorair mar sin!

Are bruidhinn and labhairt pretty interchangeable?

And technically, these women should be using medieval Gaelic, which so far, I've had no luck finding any linguistic information on. The closest I've come is some online copies of books from the 1700's in Scots Gaelic.

Thank you as always for all the help.

[Níall Beag]

"It's me" would be "'S mise a th' ann", I believe.

In "it's me, Allene", I think you'd need to put the name in the vocative, but maybe someone else will confirm that... although "Allene" wouldn't change, so that's by the bye....

[clarsach]

Thanks.

Also, I left him here last night = Dh'fhàg mi e seo a-raoir?

[IainDonnchaidh]

Na loisg! 'S mise a tha'ann!

[Níall Beag]

Not heard that one before - though my memory may be coloured by having started with Irish where that's perfectly ok.

But perhaps it has been made OK by being school Gaeilge, just like the neologism "madainn mhath" has been introduced into Gaeldom via the school system...?

[Seonaidh]

A Chlarsaich, mas toigh leatsa b' urrainn dhomh copaidh den sgeul Meadhan-Chuimris a sgrìobh mi a chur thugad. Uill, cha b' e Meadhan-Chuimris a bha e - Cuimris an-diugh le beagan sine stuth ann - seann taibhse ann an caisteal ann an Northumberland.

Fhad 's a tha fios agam, chan eil càil ceàrr le faighneachd sa Chuimris rudan mar "Pwy 'dach chi? Pwy wyt ti?" (Cò sibhse? Cò thusa?), far am biodh tu a' faighneachd "Who are you?" sa Bheurla.

Gu mi-fhortanach, chan eil CDan, teipichean amsaa agam le daoine a' bruidhinn sa Mheadhan-Ghàidhlig: 's dòcha nach robh an teicneòlas mu chuairt aig an àm ud. An àite "'S mise a th' ann", smathaid "Is mi", no "Is mi, Alien" (?Allene). Tha mi a' creidsinn nach eil mòran "cha", "chan" sa Mheadhan-Ghàidhlig, m.e.:-

Ní bhí bó álainn gan oigh = Cha robh bò àlainn gun laogh

[Níall Beag]

Fhad 's a tha fios agam, chan eil càil ceàrr le faighneachd sa Chuimris rudan mar "Pwy 'dach chi? Pwy wyt ti?" (Cò sibhse? Cò thusa?), far am biodh tu a' faighneachd "Who are you?" sa Bheurla.

Yes, but the point is that you don't ask someone their name by asking "Who are you?", do you?

Gu mi-fhortanach, chan eil CDan, teipichean amsaa agam le daoine a' bruidhinn sa Mheadhan-Ghàidhlig: 's dòcha nach robh an teicneòlas mu chuairt aig an àm ud. An àite "'S mise a th' ann", smathaid "Is mi", no "Is mi, Alien" (?Allene). Tha mi a' creidsinn nach eil mòran "cha", "chan" sa Mheadhan-Ghàidhlig, m.e.:-

Ní bhí bó álainn gan oigh = Cha robh bò àlainn gun laogh

That just looks like Irish to me.

As I understand it, looking for evidence of Mediaeval Gaelic is quite difficult, because Irish was the language of literature. There's a similar problem looking for material in Early French, Spanish or Italian -- the literature doesn't exist because literate people still wrote in Latin.

[akerbeltz]

"Do not be talking to my lady like that!"

Would it be: Chan eil sibh a' labhairt gun m' bana-mhorair mar sin!

The main problem is that in the middle ages, the written language was Middle Irish... but if you were writing colloquial Gaelic in that period, I guess along these lines:

Negative imperative, also polite form likely, plus labhair + ri

Na bithibh ag labhairt ri mo bhan-tighearna mar sin

I left him here last night = Dh'fhàg mi e seo a-raoir?

Depends on how fancy you want to be... probably

d' fhàg mé an so é an raoir

but I can't guarantee that. Why are you asking?

Yes, but the point is that you don't ask someone their name by asking "Who are you?", do you?

Why not? The conventions of introductions can be fairly crazy in languages and asking someone's name by asking "who are you" does not seem crazy to me. Question and answer do not always match in human language.

[GunChleoc]

In "it's me, Allene", I think you'd need to put the name in the vocative, but maybe someone else will confirm that... although "Allene" wouldn't change, so that's by the bye....

Whith the vocative it would me: It's me, Allene!

The person talking in the example is Allene, not addressing Allene. So, no vocative.

[clarsach]

Tapadh leibh, agus tha mi duillich, feumaidh mi Beurla sgriobh. Tha mi mò 's mall-ghluasadach anns a' Gàidhlig. [Hopefully I'm saying: Thank you and I'm sorry, I must write in English. I am too slow in Gaelic. ]

Seonaidh, I don't entirely understand all you said. I'm learning on my own, apart from this forum. You're asking if you can send me a copy of middle Welsh writing? And old ghosts in the castle in Northumberland?

I understand the second paragraph pretty well.

The third: unfortunately, without a CD or tapes of people speaking middle Gaelic... I hope not to be too technical, but the words would be different in different places. (with examples) I believe there's not so much 'cha' or 'chan' in middle Gaelic.... [Am I close?]

Niall and Aberkelz, tapah leibh! Is there a source online where I could learn a little about the differences in modern and middle as spoken?