Sliabh and Planxty: how do you say them???

[fearfaoin]

I wonder is it a word dating back to the Norse invaders, them with their pesky "X's" and all (Leixlip, Wexford etc).

The Romans and Normans had their share of X's, too. Hard to say...
Does kinda sound Germanic, though, doesn't it?

An interesting note on boxty is found on this site:

Yes, boxty is an English word but most dictionaries, if they mention it at all, simply say that its origin is Irish without divulging the precise details. Our Irish-English dictionary tells us that bacstaid is "bread made of the raw pulp of potatoes; a boxty". No etymology is given but we assume that it is related to the words bacail, "the act of baking", bacalaide "a baker", and bacus, "a bakery". As the latter is clearly a Hibernian version of bake-house, it is quite likely that all these words have their origin in the English word bake.

[Jumper]

The only word that I know that sounds vaguely similar to it is "boxty"

[Ptarmigan]

......& of course Boxty is:

"Definition: a thick pancake of grated potato, flour, and baking soda or powder
Etymology: originated during Irish famine"

Thanks - 'dictionary.com'

By the way, speaking of Planxty, I saw one of the original members of 'Planxty', Johnny Moynihan, playing last Sunday at an Appalachian & Bluegrass festival in Co. Tyrone, with his new Old Time Music group - 'Frankie, Johnny & Sweetheart' - they were terrific!
Watch out for their CD which will be released soon!

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k210/ ... theart.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

[talasiga]

I don't think Planxty is a particularly Gaelic word... it's not really
spelled or pronounced like one. Ah, dictionary.com says it's from
the Latin plangere - "to lament for" (or "to strike or beat").

I like the the Latin thrust for its etymological exploration. I like it because I know that a lot of Irish culture was informed by Latin Christianity, including the plainsong modes, and that, at various points in European Medieval history, Ireland was revered as a seat of high scholastics.

Perhaps the Latin genesis took a Nordic turn at some point?

[Roger O'Keeffe]

I don't think Planxty is a particularly Gaelic word... it's not really
spelled or pronounced like one. Ah, dictionary.com says it's from
the Latin plangere - "to lament for" (or "to strike or beat").

I like the the Latin thrust for its etymological exploration. I like it because I know that a lot of Irish culture was informed by Latin Christianity, including the plainsong modes, and that, at various points in European Medieval history, Ireland was revered as a seat of high scholastics.

Perhaps the Latin genesis took a Nordic turn at some point?

But a planxty is a lively tune, so it's questionable whether there's any connection.

[Redwolf]

I don't think Planxty is a particularly Gaelic word... it's not really
spelled or pronounced like one. Ah, dictionary.com says it's from
the Latin plangere - "to lament for" (or "to strike or beat").

I like the the Latin thrust for its etymological exploration. I like it because I know that a lot of Irish culture was informed by Latin Christianity, including the plainsong modes, and that, at various points in European Medieval history, Ireland was revered as a seat of high scholastics.

Perhaps the Latin genesis took a Nordic turn at some point?

But a planxty is a lively tune, so it's questionable whether there's any connection.

A planxty isn't necessarily all that lively, is it? My understanding is that it's any tune composed in honor of a patron.

In Irish, "planxty" is spelled "plancstaí" and "boxty" "bacstaí." They're phonetic, though, so its possible they came in from other sources and were Irishized.

Redwolf

[talasiga]

But a planxty is a lively tune, so it's questionable whether there's any connection.

One of the things we learnt in secondary and tertiary linguistics is that
etymology and current semantics (meaning) are not always related.

Neither the phonic nor script form origin of a word need reflect its
current meaning.

For instance, the etymology of "cope" traces back from Old French 'colper'
from Latin 'colpus' from Greek 'kolaphos' meaning to "blow with fist". As
you can see the Greek semantic is quite distal to what we mean
by "cope". That doesn't deny its greek etymology.

[Jennie]

I just read last evening, in the Companion to Irish Music (Fintan Vallely) that there's a possible connection between the words "planxty" and "slainte" --oh help, where's the accent?

Anyhow, the tune written in honor of someone being like a toast to their health. Those two words do ring a little alike.

Jennie

[talasiga]

Gee, thats really deep.
Dog and bog sound alike too.
I know dogs are often muddy
but I never heard a bog bark.

But you may have a point there, after all.
I had an Irish friend who called his dog Peat.

[Redwolf]

I just read last evening, in the Companion to Irish Music (Fintan Vallely) that there's a possible connection between the words "planxty" and "slainte" --oh help, where's the accent?

Anyhow, the tune written in honor of someone being like a toast to their health. Those two words do ring a little alike.

Jennie

If you're using Windows, hold down the alt key and type 225 on your number pad to get á.

Redwolf

[Cayden]

I had an Irish friend who called his dog Peat.

And there was this band who's bassplayer was Pete Briquette

[Wombat]

I can't give you a source, of hand, but I've heard that 'planxty' is simply a scrambled spelling of the English 'thanks to ...' which, given what a planxty is, wouldn't be surprising.

[Wombat]

I had an Irish friend who called his dog Peat.

And there was this band who's bassplayer was Pete Briquette

You sure it wasn't a drummer?

[Cayden]

Actually Simon Crowe was the drummer

[Ro3b]

This is a post from Dale, from ages and ages ago...

Uncle Dale's Guide to Pronunciation of Gaelic



On the newsgroup rec.music.celtic, someone posted a request for help pronouncing the Gaelic word, Claddagh. This was my posted response:



It's really very simple, like all Gaelic pronunciations:

1. The "Cl" at the beginning is pronounced "Firz'

2. The "a" is actually pronounced like the English phoneme

"arrrgh"

3. "d" is normally pronounced "d", but the double d ("dd") is

pronounced "ger-ger"

4. And, of course, the "agh" is prounounced "eye-loo"

5. So, putting it all together, the word "Claddagh" is

pronounced:

"Firz-arrrgh-ger-ger-eye-loo"



See, simple!!