#mamaigh

[toingaeilge]

Seagulls Aren’t Small Wolves, Promise

I spied someone suggesting that faol for wolf and faoileán for seagull were related. It does look like faoileán: faol + diminutive suffix -án. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, completely false. 

Faoileán derives from Old Irish faílenn + diminutive suffix -án. Faílenn in turn comes from Proto-Celtic *wēlannā, meaning “seagull”. 

Faol comes from Middle Irish fáel, which in turn comes from Proto-Celtic and Proto-Indo-European *waylos, meaning “wolf” or “howler”. 

Going deeper back, though, *waylos is purported to have descended from *way, which was an exclamation or interjection, much like “alas”. This is where the “howl” from “howler” derives. Imagine deriving your word for wolf from "awoo"—now you're getting it. 

You might have also heard about how faol is actually a euphemism as the original *wĺ̥kʷos (wolf) was seen as a taboo word. It was replaced by *waylos and *wĺ̥kʷos descended to give the modern day Irish olc, meaning “evil”. 

[toinghaeilge]

Seagulls Aren’t Small Wolves, Promise

I spied someone suggesting that faol for wolf and faoileán for seagull were related. It does look like faoileán: faol + diminutive suffix -án. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, completely false. 

Faoileán derives from Old Irish faílenn + diminutive suffix -án. Faílenn in turn comes from Proto-Celtic *wēlannā, meaning “seagull”. 

Faol comes from Middle Irish fáel, which in turn comes from Proto-Celtic and Proto-Indo-European *waylos, meaning “wolf” or “howler”. 

Going deeper back, though, *waylos is purported to have descended from *way, which was an exclamation or interjection, much like “alas”. This is where the “howl” from “howler” derives. Imagine deriving your word for wolf from "awoo"—now you're getting it. 

You might have also heard about how faol is actually a euphemism as the original *wĺ̥kʷos (wolf) was seen as a taboo word. It was replaced by *waylos and *wĺ̥kʷos descended to give the modern day Irish olc, meaning “evil”. 

[toinghaeilge]

Hatred, Spears and Grain

In modern Irish, gráin refers to a hatred or abhorrence. As such, we might infer that the word for hedgehog uses the diminutive -óg to form gráinneog, or “little hateful one”. There are, however, two more possibilities to go through:

Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (2019) has an alternative meaning listed from Acallam na Senórach (1900) Stokes, Whitley, MRIA:

a spearpoint

However, an alternative translation of 'terror, dread, hatefulness' fits just as perfectly in the only two sources that translate gráinne as spearpoint. 

Finally, another possible root word comes into play: gráinne, meaning ‘grain’ with the implication that the prickles resemble stubs from harvesting wheat. 

The name Gráinne

Gráinne more likely derives from grán: grain or grian: the Sun. Both would make sense as Gráinne in Irish mythology is often associated with the Sun and Spring. 

Gráinde?

The name Gráinne first appears in the legal text Senchus Mór. It appears with a different spelling in the sentence Grainde luid lat a Lughaidh: “Gráinne eloped with thee, Lughaidh”. 

From Sengoidelc: Old Irish for Beginners (2006) Stifter p.158:

Outside of standardized orthography one repeatedly encounters the variation between nn and nd in Old Irish texts. Although originally these spellings were used for two different sounds, /n/ and /nd/ respectively, they had fallen together in /n/ already in the Old Irish period and eventually became freely interchangeable orthographical variants. So whenever you encounter nn or nd in an unknown word, keep in mind the possibility of looking it up under nd or nn in the dictionary.

Because nd still existed by the Old Irish period but was no longer pronounced, the assumption was made that it was merely an older spelling of nn. As a result, scribes used nd over nn to make their orthography appear older and by extension, more legitimate. 

[toinghaeilge]

The Old Man of the Forest

Having previously discussed madra rua, we now look into sionnach, another term for ‘fox’: 

Sanas Cormaic suggests that the old Irish word sinnach (also sindach) is derived from sen-nech—‘old person’. The suggestion could have been prompted by the white beards that red foxes have. 

Several placenames carry this word, namely Inis Sionnach (Haulbowline) in Co. Cork and Carraig na Sionnach (Carricknashanagh) in Co. Louth. Sionnach is often anglicised in placenames as shanny, shannagh, and shinnagh. In Co. Roscommon, Cluain Sionnach is simply anglicised as 'Foxborough'.

[toinghaeilge]

Etymammalagy

Coinín From Anglo-Norman conil, from Latin cunīculus (and in turn from Greek κύνικλος).  A possible etymology put forward for κύνικλος says it might be derived from a word meaning “burrow”; but it is thought that the reverse, deriving “burrow” from “rabbit” seemed more plausible. This is similar to how leamhan was derived from Old Irish.

Note: Up to the 19th century, in English coney referred to the rabbit (same etymology), and the term "rabbit" only referred to its young.

Dobhareach The hippopotamus' name was derived the same was it was in English—hippos(horse)+potamos(river). Dobhar(water)+each(horse). Each is an older name for a horse (we commonly see capall) and is related to "equine" and "equestrian".

Francach The rat is also known as luchóg mór, but francach is literally "French", and it is popularly believed that they were first brought to Ireland from France. However, there is another possibility: Francach also refers to "foreign", "exotic" or "large", perhaps used in contrast with a mouse.

Giorria The hare is literally called short deer, from the earlier girr-fhiadh, from gearr +‎ fia(dh). It is purported that this is because hare, as opposed to rabbits, ran really quickly over the land rather than burrowing and was thus likened to deer.

Mac Tíre or Machtíre Wolf, or son of the countryside. The etymology is unclear, but on RTÉ special Wolfland, it was said to be a euphemism and the original word could possibly be related to (or be) olc, which became taboo because it was associated with the horrors of the wolf. Another theory is that machtíre is considered to be half human. 

Other words include madra allta (wild dog), faol (from the proto-Celtic waylos, howling one) or faolchú (faol + cú, hound).

Madra Rua Also known as sionnach (Old Irish sinnach), the fox is literally “red dog”. It might show up as Madadh Rua in Connacht and Ulster Irish. It is also known as Loisinnán, or 'little white tipped one', for its tail.

Mathúin More often béar from English, mathúin, from mathghamain, is a compound of maith + yearling calf or deer. It is also used as a name, anglicised to Matthew.

Sciatháin Leathar Having only heard it as ialtog, I was beyond thrilled to find that the bat is also called leather wings. Even better, bás dorcha, or black death is also accepted. Say you wanted to go the cute route, you could also say eitleog (little flyer).

Srónbheannach I was pleased to learn that the rhinoceros was, in Irish, nose horned. 

Torcán Craobhach Torcán "little boar" → torc (wild boar) + diminutive -án + craobhach (branches, branching, dendritic). A wild boar is thus a 'little branched boar'.

[toingaeilge]

Hatred, Spears and Grain

In modern Irish, gráin refers to a hatred or abhorrence. As such, we might infer that the word for hedgehog uses the diminutive -óg to form gráinneog, or “little hateful one”. There are, however, two more possibilities to go through:

eDIL has an alternative meaning listed from Acallam na Senórach (1900) Stokes, Whitley, MRIA:

a spearpoint

However, an alternative translation of 'terror, dread, hatefulness' fits just as perfectly in the only two sources that translate gráinne as spearpoint. 

Finally, another possible root word comes into play: gráinne, meaning ‘grain’ with the implication that the prickles resemble stubs from harvesting wheat. 

The name Gráinne

Gráinne more likely derives from grán: grain or grian: the Sun. Both would make sense as Gráinne in Irish mythology is often associated with the Sun and Spring. 

Gráinde?

The name Gráinne first appears in the legal text Senchus Mór. It appears with a different spelling in the sentence Grainde luid lat a Lughaidh: “Gráinne eloped with thee, Lughaidh”. 

From Sengoidelc: Old Irish for Beginners (2006) Stifter p.158:

Outside of standardized orthography one repeatedly encounters the variation between nn and nd in Old Irish texts. Although originally these spellings were used for two different sounds, /n/ and /nd/ respectively, they had fallen together in /n/ already in the Old Irish period and eventually became freely interchangeable orthographical variants. So whenever you encounter nn or nd in an unknown word, keep in mind the possibility of looking it up under nd or nn in the dictionary.

Because nd still existed by the Old Irish period but was no longer pronounced, the assumption was made that it was merely an older spelling of nn. As a result, scribes used nd over nn to make their orthography appear older and by extension, more legitimate. 

[toingaeilge]

The Old Man of the Forest

Having previously discussed madra rua, we now look into sionnach, another term for ‘fox’: 

Sanas Cormaic suggests that the old Irish word sinnach (also sindach) is derived from sen-nech—‘old person’. The suggestion could have been prompted by the white beards that red foxes have. 

Several placenames carry this word, namely Inis Sionnach (Haulbowline) in Co. Cork and Carraig na Sionnach (Carricknashanagh) in Co. Louth. Sionnach is often anglicised in placenames as shanny, shannagh, and shinnagh. In Co. Roscommon, Cluain Sionnach is simply anglicised as 'Foxborough'.

[toingaeilge]

Etymammalagy

Coinín From Anglo-Norman conil, from Latin cunīculus (and in turn from Greek κύνικλος).  A possible etymology put forward for κύνικλος says it might be derived from a word meaning “burrow”; but it is thought that the reverse, deriving “burrow” from “rabbit” seemed more plausible. This is similar to how leamhan was derived from Old Irish.

Dobhareach The hippopotamus' name was derived the same was it was in English—hippos(horse)+potamos(river). Dobhar(water)+each(horse). Each is an older name for a horse (we commonly see capall) and is related to "equine" and "equestrian".

Francach The rat is also known as luchóg mór, but francach is literally French, because rats were introduced to Ireland from France.

Giorria The hare is literally called short deer, from the earlier girr-fhiadh, from gearr +‎ fia(dh). It is purported that this is because hare, as opposed to rabbits, ran really quickly over the land rather than burrowing and was thus likened to deer.

Mac Tíre or Machtíre Wolf, or son of the countryside. The etymology is unclear, but on RTÉ special Wolfland, it was said to be a euphemism and the original word could possibly be related to (or be) olc, which became taboo because it was associated with the horrors of the wolf. Another theory is that machtíre is considered to be half human. 

Other words include madra allta (wild dog), faol (from the proto-Celtic waylos, howling one) or faolchú (faol + cú, hound).

Madra Rua Also known as sionnach (Old Irish sinnach), the fox is literally “red dog”. It might show up as Madadh Rua in Connacht and Ulster Irish. It is also known as Loisinnán, or 'little white tipped one', for its tail.

Mathúin More often béar from English, mathúin, from mathghamain, is a compound of maith + yearling calf or deer. It is also used as a name, anglicised to Matthew.

Sciatháin Leathar Having only heard it as ialtog, I was beyond thrilled to find that the bat is also called leather wings. Even better, bás dorcha, or black death is also accepted. Say you wanted to go the cute route, you could also say eitleog (little flyer).

Srónbheannach I was pleased to learn that the rhinoceros was, in Irish, nose horned.