Irish Translation Forum

Can someone tell me how to say, "Death is the consequence of life"? Thanks much.

that's not so little

mmmm..... whale omelette.....with capers......

There can be variations on this one

What comes immediately to mind is-

Is é iarmhairt bheatha ná bás


I feel it sounds better in Irish with the def article before beatha and bás


Is é iarmhairt na beatha ná an bás

The ná is in there as I feel it works best with it there.

However it works without it too!

But I'm sure there may be other suggestions -so wait. Plus I'm a bit iffy on the genitive of beatha- with and without the article- but I think it's right.
Can anyone confirm/deny?

XILethalPoisonIX wrote:Can someone tell me how to say, "Death is the consequence of life"? Thanks much.

Is é bás (an) iarmhairt na beatha

The (an) is optional. Normally it isn't put in but it sounds better in ur case

I'm sure that Iarmhairt with a 'h''is correct- An Foclóir has it and so does O Donnaill,. The spelling in De Bhaldraithe is wrong. Iar would always lead to a séimhiú in the next ''bit'' of the word.

(And I prefer my translation hehehe)

[quote="irish_blue_eyes

Is é bás (an) iarmhairt na beatha

The (an) is optional. Normally it isn't put in but it sounds better in ur case[/quote]

Not correct; ‘an’ would be wrong in that position.

Iarmhairt = a consequence

An iarmhairt = the consequence

But

Iarmhairt na beatha = the consequence of life.

Oisín would be able to articulate the rule behind that better than I but the ‘an’ is always dropped when the word is followed by a definite genitive.

On the contrary I would put ‘an’ before ‘bás’. ‘Death’ as a general concept is usually translated by ‘an bás’. For example; ‘Bhí an bás i ndán dó’ = ‘Death was fated for him’. ‘Bhí bás i ndán dó’ would not normally be used.

My suggestion:

“Is é an bás iarmhairt na beatha”

However, if this is meant for a tattoo, don’t take my word for it. I’m not an authority.

Hmm... Irish is harder to learn than I thought... much harder...

me too!