Hello, I'm a total newb to the Irish language (though I've always thought that it was a very beautiful, albeit difficult, language to learn and understand). I'm in the process of writing a novel of historical fiction/fantasy and I want to make sure that my translations which involve the Irish language are accurate.

For one, I'm trying to find the etymology of my profile name here. "Khasmoda" is just my own eye-dialect spelling of what my Irish great-grandfather used to call me but never explained the translation. I have no idea if it was a term of endearment, gentle teasing, an honorific, or what. I'm sure that my spelling is no where near accurate and perhaps my memory of how he pronounced it isn't 100% clear since he died when I was 5 and I haven't heard the name since then. Just a long standing curiosity that I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on.

Also, in the novel I'm writing, there are a group of elite Irish bodyguards whose titles I'm trying to translate as something along the lines of "The Green-Cloaks" or "Green-Jackets". The closest thing I've found from my own research is something along the lines of "chlócaibh glasa" but I'm sure that my grammar and use of declension is probably incorrect.

Any and all help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :-)

I'm afraid I can't help with your profile name...I can't think of anything in Irish that would be pronounced that way (unless I'm pronouncing it very differently than you do). I'm seeing it as being pronounced something like kaz-MOH-duh or kass-MOH-duh...is that how you're pronouncing it?

I'm wondering if it might be something followed by "óg" ("young"), which is pronounced "ohg"? That would be a fairly common thing to do in Irish (adding "óg" to someone's name or nickname), especially if there were more than one person in the immediate family with the same name (or nickname")

As far as "green-cloaks" go, I'd go for something like "Lucht na gClócaí Glais," but wait for more input on that (I'm never sure what to do with adjectives in the genitive plural).

Redwolf

"Khasmoda" - It sounds like it is in the vocative.
You probably don't remember the "a" before it.

"A ch.... "
I can't think of what word it might be.

What is your real first name?

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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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@ Redwolf

I'm going back many years so I doubt that I'm pronouncing it correctly and I'm only basing this off of an eye-dialect spelling from what I can remember. The "Kh" is for the harder aspirate "k" like the Greek "chi" (X) letter. Long á vowel for KhAs- and modA and long ó vowel for mOda.

It's possible that I misheard the óg part, especially if it's a diminutive suffix. It's possible it was just to add a sense of smallness or cuteness to whatever the stem form of the name meant.

Out of curiosity, what's the literal translation of "Lucht na gClócaí Glais"? I'm guessing that the "na" part is something which indicates the genitive, as if to say "of the cloaks green". I'm totally unfamiliar with "lucht". That word only makes me think of Lugh, the Irish Sun God.

@ Bríd Mhór

I would imagine that it's in the vocative declension given how my great-grandfather used it. It's likely that I don't remember or simply conflated the "a ch..." sound into what I remember as just the "ch" sound.

My real first name is Justin. I have no idea what the Irish version of that would be. I've also gone by my middle name "Douglas", which is the family name from Ireland. Is it possible that it was just a play on my name in Gaelic?

"Lucht" is a term meaning "class of people." It doesn't really have a comparable form in English, but it's often used in Irish when you're speaking of a particular group of people...in this case, your guards.

The "na" is the definite article "the" in the genitive plural. In Irish genitive constructions, the definite article is only used once, and comes between the first noun and qualifying noun.

Basically, what it comes down to literally is "[The]people [of] the green cloaks." This makes it clear you're talking about a group of people referred to as "green cloaks" in English, rather than about a bunch of green garments.

I don't know if you're a Firefly or Star Trek fan, but this is the same structure I'd be inclined to use in Irish if I were speaking of Brown Coats or Red Shirts.

Redwolf

I may also be wrong but I think the "rule" is that if the noun stays in the plural rather than reverting to the singular form then the adjective follows suit, i.e., both stay in the plural:

Lucht na gClócaí Glasa

But await confirmation or correction on that ...

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I know that Saighdiúir dearg is used for a Red Cloak (an English solider), however that's a specific idiom for a well known group.

In Munster Irish at any rate, Breandán would be right about the adjective:
Lucht na gClócaí Glasa

The adjective matches the form of the noun, if the noun uses the nominative plural for the genitive plural then the adjective is in the plural form. If it uses the singular then the adjective is in the singular.

chlócaibh glasa would be a dative plural appearing after some preposition, e.g.
ar chólcaibh glasa = on green coats.

I usually think Lucht na is a bit more "distant" than a simple plural, for example:
Fánaithe = Wanderers.
Lucht Fáin = People of Wandering/Those who wander.

There's a slight difference that I find hard to put into English, hopefully the translation above conveys it. Does anybody
think this might be relevant to the translation?

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

For the Green-Cloaks in the novel, they are Ulstermen during the foundation of the kingdom of Dal Riata (when the Scots from Ulster were first immigrating to Northwestern Britain and conquering/absorbing the Pictish tribes. I realize that at this time, the Old Irish language would have been quite different from the modern, but since there is so little available on the antiquated Irish language of this period, I'm content with using modern Irish (since Old Irish and Modern Irish are much more similar to each other than Old English/Anglo-Saxon and Modern English). I'm not sure if the Ulster dialect or even the modern Scots Gaelic dialect would reflect more accuracy one way or another in the translation.

It seems like the word "lucht" is quite necessary then in order to distinguish this order as a group of people rather than making a vague reference to what could be misinterpreted as simply the green cloak itself as opposed to those who are specifically wearing the green cloaks as their telltale uniform.

Isn't uaine usually used for green clothing, or is that only if it's bright green? I though that glas, when used with clothing, meant grey?
Perhaps Lucht na gClócaí Uaine ?

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I thought that was only animals (capall glas: grey horse)

Redwolf