Naming a boat

Tá Failte Romhat! For all conversation about the Irish language. Scots Gaelic discussion welcome.
Forum rules
The purpose of this forum is to provide a place for people who are interested in the Irish language and various Celtic languages to discuss them, to practice them, and to share information about them, particularly (but not exclusively) in the context of traditional music and culture.

This is not a "translation forum," per se, though translation requests may occasionally be honored at the discretion of the moderators. If you're seeking a one-time translation for something like a tattoo, engraving, wedding vow, or other such purpose, we strongly recommend that you visit our friends at ILF: http://irishlearner.awyr.com
Post Reply
User avatar
daveboling
Posts: 4882
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: Huntsville, AL

Naming a boat

Post by daveboling »

I've just completed building a boat (picture below), and I need help with the naming. My ancestry is Irish, but I don't have the Irish myself. The boat is built traditional (wood), and I was thinking of using "Old School", or the Irish vernacular equivalent. Can anyone help with the translation of this into Irish?

Slainte,

dave boling
Image
I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Meggie's heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.
-- Douglas Adams

'Bundinn er bátlaus maðu'.
User avatar
MTGuru
Posts: 18663
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2006 12:45 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: San Diego, CA

Re: Naming a boat

Post by MTGuru »

daveboling wrote:I was thinking of using "Old School", or the Irish vernacular equivalent.
Wouldn't that be sean nós ?
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips

Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
User avatar
Nanohedron
Moderatorer
Posts: 38211
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.

Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps.
Location: Lefse country

Re: Naming a boat

Post by Nanohedron »

There's always "Sean-Nós". Means "old style", and if you play ITM, you're probably familiar with the phrase's connection to certain types of dance and singing (and I'm sure it's applicable to other things as well). It might cover a bunch of ground for you. :)

If you use it, just mind that there's only one fada (accent mark), that on the O of the second word, and none anywhere on the first. It matters. I frequently see the words hyphenated, but I don't know if that's a requirement. Redwolf?

[Crossposted w/ MTGuru]
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Tribal musician
User avatar
Mr.Gumby
Posts: 6606
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:31 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: the Back of Beyond

Re: Naming a boat

Post by Mr.Gumby »

Image
My brain hurts

Image
User avatar
nohoval_turrets
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:42 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: Ireland

Re: Naming a boat

Post by nohoval_turrets »

About the hyphen in "sean-nós". It's there because it's a compound word. Usually compound words don't use the hyphen, as in seanfhocal = sean + focal = old + word = proverb. But because the first word ends in the same consonant as the second one in sean-nós, the hyphen makes the spelling clearer, so that's the convention.

You can use it either with the hyphen or as two separate words. With the hyphen is more common, but you do see both.

Sean = old
Nós = habit, custom or manner

Ar nós na gaoithe = like (as in as fast as) the wind.

The literal translation "sean scoil" means old school, as in an actual school which is old. It's not an irish phrase, just a literal translation of an english one - béaralachas (anglicism). No harm in that, if you're comfortable with it. It would be like saying "old word" when you mean proverb.

Nice boat! Looks like a good build too.
User avatar
Nanohedron
Moderatorer
Posts: 38211
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.

Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps.
Location: Lefse country

Re: Naming a boat

Post by Nanohedron »

Thanks for the clarification about the hyphen. I always wondered about that. :)
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Tribal musician
User avatar
Redwolf
Posts: 6051
Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: Somewhere in the Western Hemisphere

Re: Naming a boat

Post by Redwolf »

I would go with "sean nós," and I wouldn't hyphenate it. You'll see it that way, but the standard way of writing it is as two words, not as a compound.

Pronounced "shan" (rhymes with "pan") "nohss"

Redwolf
...agus déanfaidh mé do mholadh ar an gcruit a Dhia, a Dhia liom!
User avatar
s1m0n
Posts: 10069
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:17 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: The Inside Passage

Re: Naming a boat

Post by s1m0n »

It looks like plyood clinker to be, with horizontal battens along the seams. AFAIK, that's a style that owes everything to epoxy and very little to trad boatbuilding, in which the ribs - in good white q/s oak - would have run verticle, not horizontal.

Don't get me wrong - It's a fine design and entirely apporopriate to today's tech. But it isnae Sean Nos. You need a new name. Is there a term for the best of the past combined with the formost tech of today? You need one, if there isn't. This where future sales are gonna lay.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis
Post Reply