uamhraidh (fearful / gloomy)

Droigheann · Unread post by **Droigheann** » Tue Oct 09, 2018 9:52 pm

Both AFB and Mark's dictionary have the example expression "guth uamhraidh - fearful voice", and Mark's entry in fact reads "fearfull (full of fear)", which makes me wonder whether the word can be also used for something inducing fear, as in "tubaist uamhraidh - fearful accident" or only for, well, full of fear.

Which of course also makes me wonder about the "gloomy" sense - could "seòmar/cusbair/suidheachadh 7c7c uamhraidh - gloomy room/subject/situation &c&" and "duine uamhraidh - gloomy man" all be used, or is only the latter natural Gaelic and the former unnatural Anglicisms?

An Gobaire · Unread post by **An Gobaire** » Tue Dec 11, 2018 2:51 am

"àite uamhraidh" sounds fine for "a gloomy fearful place" as far as I can tell - though I am aware of examples using "aognaidh" for gloomy, rather than "uamhraidh". I think it would work fine for a collocation like: "àite uamhraidh, uaigneach"*

As Dwelly, etc. says the word is related to uamh (cave, pit, den) which is probably where the "fearful" meaning comes from, as caves are "fearful" places, and they are also gloomy.

*Perthshire Gaelic has uadhaidh/uamhaidh from uaghaidh for "uamh". It seems to also be used for "sloc". One story in Perthshire Gaelic, they are debating the following: "nì sinn uadhaidh 's cuireas sinn fon talamh e gus am bàsaich e an sin" - "we'll make a hole and put him under the ground until he dies there."

Droigheann · Unread post by **Droigheann** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:50 pm

So judging by Dwelly a fearful/gloomy place may have even been the original meaning? Interesting. Mòran taing (also for bringing my attention to the word uaigneach, which I didn't know)!

Unread post by **akerbeltz** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:34 pm

Doubt the cave connection. These ua- words (uabhasach, uamhar etc) mostly go back to Old Irish uath "fear, horror, terror" which picked up various compounds which caused the -th to drop off so uath + bás ultimately gives us uabhasach, uamharr(a) is via uath + mar (the same that crops up in words like brìoghmhor or feòlmhor).

Pretty sure we just have coincidental homographs i.e. two words derived from two roots which happen to have taken on the same form, one from uamh (i.e. cavernous) the other from uamhar (terror).

An Gobaire · Unread post by **An Gobaire** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:38 pm

Okay, thanks. Where does uaghaidh come from, as it’s a form of uamh in some dialects.

Unread post by **akerbeltz** » Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:36 am

That's just uamhaidh, a dative which has turned into a nominative and with the -mh- turning into hiatus, people starting to misspell it any which way.