I dream of syntax!

[muckefuck]

Finally, Gaelic in my dreams! Not speaking, however; that'd be unrealistic. Rather me being an arrogant show-off: Some LJ friends and me relaxing, someone mentions that Aztec Camera had a song whose title supposedly meant "The Only Song You Need To Know" in Irish, wondering if they got it right. They couldn't remember the exact words so I asked, "Did it have go in it?" No, it didn't. "Then it wasn't correct." (kcatalyst, you'll be pleased to know that a moment later my internal descriptivist kicked in and I said, "Well, I mean it wouldn't be standard...").

But of course I was wrong. When I woke up, I puzzled out what the correct translation would be and came up with An amhrán amhain go dteastaíonn eolas uait air. (Lit. "The song only that needs knowledge from.you on.it." A Dhia dhílis, tá grá agam ar chomhréir na Gaeilge![*]) But, you say, there's a go in there! Yes, but that's not standard, that's the crazy dialect I'm learning out of pure atavistic stubbornness. All the other dialects and Standard Irish as well call for a in place of go there. Oh, well!


[*] Lit. "Loyal God, is love at.me on syntax of Gaelic", i.e. "Good God, I love Irish syntax!"

Comments

[f8n-begorra.livejournal.com]

Last night I was dreaming of the song A Droimeann Donn Dílis... Best song ever about a (metaphorical) cow!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

What is it with the Irish and their cows?

[f8n-begorra.livejournal.com]

700 years of starvation!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

It's got to be a lot longer than that--who knows how old those tales of miraculous kine were before they even ended up in the Lebor na hUidre!