Irish Translation Forum

I am requesting a Scottish Gaelic translation of the phrase "By the grace of God". I would prefer a conversational translation vice a direct word for word translation. Thank you all so very much for this forum and your help.

Timothy Kilpatrick

timkilpatrick wrote:I am requesting a Scottish Gaelic translation of the phrase "By the grace of God". I would prefer a conversational translation vice a direct word for word translation. Thank you all so very much for this forum and your help.

Timothy Kilpatrick

tre ghràs Dè

maybe...
wait on other opinions

wonder where i got that accent from?

kevin45sf wrote:tron ghràs Dhè

tro...?
pretty sure it wouldn't need an article
and what's the difference between tre and tro?
is it just dialectical or are there set rules for the change?
or have i got the wrong word altogether?

The Scottish Gaelic version of the Irish trí can be either tre [sometimes trè and in older works tré, with a sharp accent] or tro, but tro seems to be winning out nowadays (I don't know whether there's a subtle influence from the English "through" or "t'rough" happening there). My most modern dictionary doesn't even have tre in it. You also see trì /trìd in older writings.

You'd have a better feel than I do for whether the direct article is appropriate, Caffler. I was just translating literally [tron = through the/by means of the], formed the same way that things like don are formed in Irish.

thanks for the ixplanashun kev
i was thinking that in
gràs Dhè
Dhè, was a proper noun in the genitive so the phrase wouldn't need the article???
i don't think it would in irish.

i was thinking that in gràs Dhè
Dhè, was a proper noun in the genitive so the phrase wouldn't need the article???
i don't think it would in irish.

Good point, Caff. I bet you're right, even in Gàidhlig, so I changed it

Thank you both for your input. Should I await responses from others?

Since this is for a tattoo I was planning to capitalize all of the letters. Would this change any of the characters or have any effect on the meaning? Essentially would "tro ghràs Dhè" be the same as "TRO GHRÀS DHÈ"? Thank you so much for your help and for this forum,

Timothy Kilpatrick

All caps is fine, just as you showed it. There are not a lot of people on here with much Gàidhlig, so you may not get others to chime in (there is a fluent speaker who pops in from time to time, but I haven't seen him lately). I'm still a learner myself, but this expression is simple enough that I feel safe in saying (with Caffler's help) that you are safe going with it. Caffler's reasoning as to leaving out the "n" at the end of tro seems to make good sense. I checked around and other expressions in Gàidhlig do follow the Irish pattern.

Kevin & Caffler,
Thank you so very much for your help and input. Perhaps with the level of demand for translations, and the wonderful help of the contributors, there should be a donate option to help fray the costs of running the website. I'm not certain if there is such a need, though for someone like me who benefits from this site and service I would certainly like to know how I could give back. Thank you again,

Timothy Kilpatrick

Kilpatricks of the clan Colquhoun - i mak siccar