Irish Translation Forum

Hello everyone I have just stumbled upon this wonderful resource while checking up on the legitimacy of Mo Anam Cara...which I very quickly found out to be a sham (like the majority of mainstream "foreign inscriptions" in America). I am looking to inscribe something Gaelic and beautiful onto a ring. Any suggestions?

Cuisle mo chroí - Pulse of my heart

I saw this one when I quickly browsed a little bit. Is it correct?

Merrrr wrote:Hello everyone I have just stumbled upon this wonderful resource while checking up on the legitimacy of Mo Anam Cara...which I very quickly found out to be a sham (like the majority of mainstream "foreign inscriptions" in America). I am looking to inscribe something Gaelic and beautiful onto a ring. Any suggestions?

Cuisle mo chroí - Pulse of my heart

I saw this one when I quickly browsed a little bit. Is it correct?

It's so glad to hear of people who do their research on this!

Yes..."cuisle mo chroí" is just fine.

Redwolf

Anamchara is a legitimate phrase in Ireland. The Americans do not agree. They think it means confessor alone and not soulmate also. It's a running opinion. The yanks are stuck in books a bit and not in the spoken language where rules are less important. Nonetheless their input is invaluable.

Merrrr wrote:Hello everyone I have just stumbled upon this wonderful resource while checking up on the legitimacy of Mo Anam Cara...which I very quickly found out to be a sham (like the majority of mainstream "foreign inscriptions" in America). I am looking to inscribe something Gaelic and beautiful onto a ring. Any suggestions?

Cuisle mo chroí - Pulse of my heart

I saw this one when I quickly browsed a little bit. Is it correct?

Hi, I like ''Buille mo Chroí'' see Karen Casey sing on utube.
Christy.

Anamchara is a legitimate phrase in Ireland

I don't have a clue about that word so I won't say anything, but there are a few rules that has been spreading on the forum which isn't true at all, such as you can only use Éireannach if you are born in Ireland other wise you are Gaelach. But you can be Éireannach but born outside of Ireland, it wouldn't have ''Gaelach'' on someones Irish passport for people with Irish parents born out of Ireland. The other one is you can't say ''cailín daidí'' because it can mean daddys girlfriend, but the meaning is what you'd make it and if you asked any fluent Irish speaker how he/she would say ''daddys girl'' cailín daidí would be the answer. There is also the iompar v beir rule too. I could go on There are plently more out there.

I agree if not in detail than in degree. The English of America is different than Ireland's English and as such some of the well versed speakers Stateside have a different opinion on some matters although they do not tally with established forms here. The biggest example I have come across is "anamchara". I learned this word meaning soulmate in the beginning and latter learned it's other meaning of "confessor". This is not the case in the states but I really think that sometimes the native Irish interpretation should take precedent relating to the irish phrase. Having said that I constantly point out the dynamic nature of language, but in matters like this I believe Ireland should come first and then America's interpretation. The language afterall is spoken here to a larger degree and with a longer history

Its up to native speakers how languages work and how things should be used, not by other learners.

I have been told by NATIVE SPEAKERS that if they saw "anamchara," they would think "confessor"...not "soulmate."

And it has been people in IRELAND who have told those of us of Irish descent in other countries that we shouldn't use "Éireannach."

So don't blame the "Yanks," rossaí.

Also, the person asked about "Mo Anam Cara," which is wrong on every other level as well.

Redwolf

Éireannach is anyone who is born in Ireland.
Gael is anyone of the Gaelic culture and speaks Gaelic. This is my interpretation.

As for anamchara being used to mean confessor in normal speech seems to me peculiar in the extreme. In fact, just plain incorrect, regardless of what you have been told. I in no way would wish to cause offence particularly to you Redwolf but let's call a spade a spade, I think you're wrong and you think that I'm wrong. I tell you what..the most knowledgeable man of the Irish langauge I know is Ollamh Seán Ó Coileán in Cork, then Dr. Seán Ó Duinnshléibhe and then Dr. Barra Ó Cearnaigh. If I ask them by email in a straight question what anamchara means would you agree to their interpretation?

Do chara léinn, Rossaí

rossai wrote:Éireannach is anyone who is born in Ireland.
Gael is anyone of the Gaelic culture and speaks Gaelic. This is my interpretation.

As for anamchara being used to mean confessor in normal speech seems to me peculiar in the extreme. In fact, just plain incorrect, regardless of what you have been told. I in no way would wish to cause offence particularly to you Redwolf but let's call a spade a spade, I think you're wrong and you think that I'm wrong. I tell you what..the most knowledgeable man of the Irish langauge I know is Ollamh Seán Ó Coileán in Cork, then Dr. Seán Ó Duinnshléibhe and then Dr. Barra Ó Cearnaigh. If I ask them by email in a straight question what anamchara means would you agree to their interpretation?

Do chara léinn, Rossaí

Actually, yes...I'd love to see this resolved, because it's been a thorn in the side here for many years. I'd love to get an authoritative answer.

As far as the Gaelach/Éireannach issue, often the problem is people who want to express their Irish ethnicity. Typically they AREN'T Irish citizens, and weren't born in Ireland, but they don't speak Irish, and they are part of the Irish-American/Canadian/Australian culture (which is quite distinct in and of itself) rather than true Gaelic culture. When someone like that comes to us and wants to know how to say "Irish pride" or "Proud to be Irish"...that's when we run into these issues. I know that, in Europe, these distinctions can seem a little odd, but in immigrant cultures, one's passion for one's heritage runs very deep.

Redwolf