Irish Translation Forum

I think it's like anam carnam or something like that...but I can't remember

Thanks to Redwolf who in turn thanked Tadgh

"Soulmate"

We get asked about this one so often, I thought it a good idea to copy here the excellent post on this subject made by Tadgh an Mhargaidh a while back (since it's the one we all tend to refer to anyway). Here goes:


Quote:
It seems to be a commom misconception that the Irish word ‘anamchara’ (literally ‘soulfriend’) means ‘soulmate’ (in the modern English sense of ‘true love’, ‘perfect mate’, etc.)

‘Anamchara’ traditionally means ‘spiritual advisor’/'confessor'/'spiritual mentor', etc.. I believe it has its origin in medieval times when (younger) monks sought advice from older more spiritually mature monks.

It was never used to mean ‘soulmate’ in the modern English sense.

I was thinking about this question yesterday and how one would properly translate the modern English meaning of ‘soulmate’ into Irish. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no exact equivalent (there rarely is) but that there is a word/concept in Irish which is similar enough in meaning to be used as the Gaelic equivalent of ‘soulmate’ :

Sonuachar

As in the blessing :

Sonuachar chugat !

which I would translate roughly as

May you find a soulmate !

‘Sonuachar’ roughly means a ‘good spouse’ (‘sona’ = happy ; sonuachar = 'someone you’re happily married to’) and would be an appropriate word to use to translate expressions like

To my soulmate = Do mo shonuachar

You’re my soulmate = Is tú mo shonuachar

And so on.

Spread the word !



That's the word, folks!

Redwolf

hmm that's interesting thanks!! I must say that I did read somewhere that it meant the exchange of two souls....I took that as being soulmates....but I suppose it could mean something else. So ‘anamchara’ is as close as it gets?? That works for me!!! Thanks Pol, and RedWolf

oh and thanks to Tadgh as well

Well, I believe the point is that if you want a translation for "soulmate" you should use sonuachar, NOT anamchara.

David

Bass wrote:hmm that's interesting thanks!! I must say that I did read somewhere that it meant the exchange of two souls....I took that as being soulmates....but I suppose it could mean something else. So ‘anamchara’ is as close as it gets?? That works for me!!! Thanks Pol, and RedWolf

No! Absolutely not! "Anamchara" means "spiritual advisor" or "confessor." It DOES NOT mean "soulmate" in the English sense of the word (that's what that whole thing that Tadgh wrote and Pól and I quoted and re-quoted is saying). The CLOSEST thing in Irish to the English concept of "soulmate" is "sonuachar."

Redwolf

If you want a similar and eloquently phrased explanation, seek out the truly gifted works of John O'Donohue.

oh, so yer saying Tadhg isn't eloquent?

them's fightin words round these parts, mucker

just messin with ya

wdsci wrote:Well, I believe the point is that if you want a translation for "soulmate" you should use sonuachar, NOT anamchara.

David

Thanks David!!

Redwolf wrote:

Bass wrote:hmm that's interesting thanks!! I must say that I did read somewhere that it meant the exchange of two souls....I took that as being soulmates....but I suppose it could mean something else. So ‘anamchara’ is as close as it gets?? That works for me!!! Thanks Pol, and RedWolf

No! Absolutely not! "Anamchara" means "spiritual advisor" or "confessor." It DOES NOT mean "soulmate" in the English sense of the word (that's what that whole thing that Tadgh wrote and Pól and I quoted and re-quoted is saying). The CLOSEST thing in Irish to the English concept of "soulmate" is "sonuachar."

Redwolf

I didn't mean to start any wars...I'm just saying that I did read it somewhere...they obviously translated it incorrectly.