Hi all,

I've been asked to translate a children's book written by a friend from English into Irish. At one point in the story, one little boy is confronted with the school soccer team (all his own age) that he has been tormenting with a series of pranks. Someone shouts "Get him!", and he takes off with the team chasing after him.

I know that for a translation request I'm supposed to try myself first, but I really can't think of anything. What would natural Irish speakers say in a situation like that?

Thank you all so much,

Mary.

I would say "Beir air!" (Beir uirthi! - for a girl)

But wait for other suggestions.




That really only applies to children who ask for help with homework. Not adults asking for a translation.

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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That's perfect Bríd, thanks. Now that I see it, I think that that's the perfect phrase for the situation.

This actually leads me to a second question. Many times in the book, a single character uses the imperative mood when addressing several people. "Get him!" is a good example, because it's one boy addressing the whole soccer team. Which of the following do you think is a more natural translation:

"Beirigí air!"
OR:
"Beir air!"

I have a feeling that the first one is "book correct", but that the second one corresponds more to real-life usage. As well as this specific case, I'd like to ask the question generally: when one person addresses many in an informal situation, is it more natural to use the singular or plural imperative? Some other examples:

One person taking a photo tells many to "Say cheese":

"Abraigí cáis/grian/aoibh"
OR:
"Abair cáis/grian/aoibh"

A girl gets between the soccer team and the prankster and says:

"Stopaigí!"
OR:
"Stop!"

I'd use beirígí (or beiríg (Cork Irish)) here.

In my experience, for what its worth, the plural imperative is still very much in use when addressing more than one person. Though, you may occasionally hear the imperative singular, I think that is probably an influence from English, rather than a natural progression in language use.



I would think the imperative plural would be more common.

Abraigí cáis that's a new one http://www.focloir.ie/en/dictionary/ei/ ... #cheese__8

Taispeánaigí (bh)úr ndea-aoibh a bheadh agam fhéinig.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

Yes, use the plural when addressing a group of people.

_________________
___________________________________________________________

It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
___________________________________________________________

Thanks so much all.

But, a Chionnfhaolaigh, the Four Masters of Ballyvourney, in the list of corrections to the text of Ua Laoghaire's Séadna that they published in 1943 in An Músgraigheach stated that "stadaigh, a fheara" in Séadna could have read "stad, a fheara". I'm wondering if, when addressing a group, each member of that group will be doing something individually, and not acting as a group, then it is acceptable to use the vocative singular????

This is from https://corkirish.wordpress.com/wp-cont ... ach2-3.pdf, if you go to p23 of 30 in the PDF, and then see their corrections to p247 of Séadna. It says there that that is a correction to line 7 of p247, but they are referring to one specific edition of the book, and it seems to be referring to Stadaigh on p247 of the following edition, where that word isn't on line 7 but on another line: https://corkirish.wordpress.com/wp-cont ... ach2-3.pdf