Hi All,

I am looking to get a tattoo that states "Everything happens for a reason" in standard Irish (CO).

There were some previous threads around this however, there was never any confirmation or agreement around this. Some of the suggestions were:

"Bíonn fáth le chuile shórt a tharlaíonns"
"Tarlaíonn chuile ní ar chúis éigin"
"Tá cúis le chuile ní/shórt"

Any help at all with this would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,
Patrick

All of those are correct, but not all of them are correct for the CO.

Although "chuile" is accepted in the CO, gach is more common. "Chuile" is more Conamara.

Tarlaíonn gach ní ar chúis éigin everything happens for a reason
Bíonn fáth/cúis ar gach ní everything has a reason (it doesn't really makes sense in English but it makes sense for Irish)
Bíonn fáth/cúis ar gach gníomh every action has a reason

Wait for more input

Cian

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Thanks a million for the feedback. I also received some feedback from an Irish teacher who stated it should be:

"tárlaoinn gach rud ar chúis eigin"

I noticed that some of fada's are different than above and also the "ní" is replaced by "rud". Can anyone add anymore clarity to this?

Thanks,

First of all tárlaoinn is spelled incorrectly. It should be at least spelled as Tárlaíonn. The fada above the "a", though accepted in dialectal Irish, especially Munster where tharla can be spelled thárla and there is traditional and phonetic reasons for spelling it as such. However it is not accepted in the official standard (CO), which you have requested. Therefore, for CO Irish it should be Tarlaíonn.

Rud-v-ní; some speakers, especially in Munster, differentiate between ní as a thing that is living and rud an inanimate or nonliving object/ thing.

However, this concept is starting to loose ground and they are being used, nowadays at least, as if they were synonymous. I am not sure whether the CO officially adheres to this definition or not. But current usage suggests that they are interchangeable. However, when I was doing science in school, the vocabulary used for discussing Living Things and what characteristics they must have to called such things; they were almost exclusively referred to as Nithe Beo. Nithe being the plural nominative of ní.

Rud and ní are interchangeable for most people whether they use the CO or not. As there is no distinction as to whether the "thing" in your request is living or nonliving I would think rud would be more suited. Although that is only a small point.

Your "everything happens for a reason" has very philosophical and theological implications. It is part of the human condition to associate deeper senses of meaning and symbolism to events that occur in life or why things around us are there. Therefore, its quite a personal phrase, that can have different nuances of meaning and interpretation. What is your understanding of the phrase?

I took it to mean every action people make has a reason behind it. That's why I gave you the option of "Bíonn cúis ar/ le gach gníomh" There is a reason for every action

Wait for more input

Cian

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