I am looking for help translating two potential names for a sailboat from American English to Gaelic as it is spoken in Daingean Uí Chúis, where my Momma's ancestors emigrated from.

I suspect that the most likely phrasing differs from one area's dialect to another in Ireland, and maybe even within dialects as it does in the USA. As an example, in the USA if a waiter/waitress wants to know what kind of sugary, carbonated beverage you'd like, in the northeast you'd be asked what kind of "soda pop" you'd like. In Pittsburgh and the Midwest, you'd be asked what kind of "pop" you want, & in Phoenix, Arizona, you'd be asked what kind of soda you want. In Atlanta, they ask what kind of "Coke" you want, & if you answer "root beer", "cream soda", or "ginger ale" nobody looks at you funny.

What I seek the Irish for are two possibilities: "Dingle Dreams" and "Dingle Desires".

Part of the fun of naming a boat, at least here in the States, is the use of innuendo or double entendre, and I'm hoping there are specific words that can be used to imply that the "Dreams" or "Desires" are, shall we say, "passionate". If a phonetic pronunciation guide for each word could be provided, also, that wouldbe quite helpful ... the online pronunciation sites I have found are less-than-comprehensive in their vocabularies.

Thank you!

"Aisling" is a kind of poetic dream.


So I suggest:
Aisling an Daingin

Wait for more comments, suggestions, or corrections.

Thanks. Will do.

Here's another suggestion - Taibhrimh (dreams) an Daingin - and Dúile (desires) an Daingin - in Irish this one sounds better as there are the two d sounds that follow each other, but wait for other comments and suggestions.

Thanks! Quick question about the construction: so far, each suggestion has been noun-preposition-adjective (i.e., "Dreams of Dingle"), rather than adjective-noun ("Dingle Dreams"), if I am reading correctly. I assume that is how syntax operates in Gaelic? Not unlike many other languages ... just not what I expected.

This is the way the genitive is expressed - when something belongs to something else. What you are seeing there is a noun followed by the definite article followed by another noun in its genitive form. If you look, there are pages about Irish grammar on this forum. There's also the on-line dictionary at teanglann.ie where if you look up a word in the Irish language dictionary section (Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla) and click on Gramadach (grammar) up on the top right next to the Foghraíocht (pronunciation) you will see the noun presented in its different forms - nominitive, singular, genitive and plural.

By the way you get similar examples in Old French which survive in place-names such as Bourg-la-Reine (Queenstown), Villeneuve-le-Roi (New Kingston) and - à la queue le leu, whether this is the influence of the long lost Gaulois (a Celtic language) is far from certain.

I can confirm any of those three given above. I do like the alliteration of "Dúile an Daingin" (DIngle Desires) though, although "Aisling an Daingin" sounds pretty.

Tim

As part of your family originates from this part of the world, you might be interested in looking at this website -

www.oidhreacht.ie - in case you didn't know, in the Corca Dhuibhne they speak Gaelainn (there's a page on Wikipedia about Munster Irish that explains a bit more about it).

Thank you ... that explanation makes perfect sense to me, as I had to wrap my head around similar structural rules when I studied Latin for four years. This is the first dip of a toe into the Gaelic languages waters for me, & you just moved my understanding forward by a couple of months! Very grateful that you took the time. Again, thank you!

Thank you ... I will definitely pull up that website & do some exploring. I did know that the Peninsula is one of the few places where Irish is still the daily spoken language of most of the community; I have been following the local tourism pages and the local Gaelic football club on FB for the past few years, & much of what is posted there is not in English.

This information about the particular strain spoken there emphasizes the importance of having the translation match the colloquialisms of the region. If there is a nuance to how it would be written/pronounced in Gaelainn as compared to most everywhere else, I want to capture that. My boat is not appropriate for a transatlantic voyage, but if it suddenly appeared in Dingle Harbor I wouldn't want anyone to think the skipper is illiterate.

Again, thanks!