| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| EXPENSIVE RAMSEY? Vel shen ennym yn arrane ta mee er chlashtyn goll mygeayrt er y gherrid “Rhumsaa Gheyr”, she shen ennym yn arrane “Ramsey Town” ayns Gaelg myr ta mee er chlashtyn sleih goaill eh er y gherrid ayns thieyn oast as y lhied! | EXPENSIVE RAMSEY? Is that that the name I have heard going around recently “Rhumsaa Gheyr” (“Dear Ramsey”), that is the name of the song “Ramsey Town” in Manx as I have heard people taking it recently in pubs and such! | |
| Ta fys mie aym dy row ny loayreyderyn jerrinagh jannoo ymmyd jeh baarlaghys jeh’n lhied ’sy Ghaelg oc, agh cha n’egin dooinyn y red keddin ny laghyn t’ayn jiu edyr! | I well know that the last speakers made use of Anglicisation of the like in their Manx, but we don't have to (do) the same thing these days at all! | |
| Ta fys mie aym dy vel “deyr” ry gheddyn ayns ny shenn hymnyn Gaelgagh, myr sampleyr “Marish nyn garrey deyr”, agh, son shickyrys, nagh beagh eh ny share dy enmys “Ramsey Town”, “Rhumsaa Veein”? | I well know that “deyr” is to be found in old Manx language hymns, as an example “Marish nyn garrey deyr” (“With our dear friend,”) but, surely, wouldn’t it be better to name “Ramsey Town”, “Rhumsaa Veein” (“dear, or darling, Ramsey”)?[1] | |
|
[1] The writer’s argument is that
[deyr] (
[gheyr] in the vocative) is an anglicism and therefore
[meein] /
[meen] (
[veein] /
[veen] in the vocative) should be used instead is contentious. The word
[deyr] is the Manx cognate of Old Irish
[daòr], and its usage in phrases such as
[nyn garrey deyr] ‘our dear friend’,
[My charrey deyr,] ‘My dear friend’,
[My vraar deyr,] ‘My dear brother’, and
[My chaarjyn deyr,] ‘My dear friends,’ etc., is well attested, as is ‘Mo chara daòr’ (‘My dear friend’), etc. in Irish. Notice that
[deyr] is neither lenited or pluralised when used this way. There does seem to be a subtle difference in usage between
[deyr] and
[veen], and that might depend on whether the addressee is known and being addressed directly by the speaker as
[veen] seems to suggest intimacy or personal acquantance, eg;
[Vannin veg veen] ‘Dear Isle of Man’,
[my ven veen] ‘my dear wife’,
[Boy veen] ‘Dear Boy’, etc.
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| Ramsey is dear to many Manxmen but surely not all that expensive ? | ||
| This is a new column in the “Star” and contributions from our Manx-speaking readers will be very welcome indeed, either in Manx or in English (if you feel that your Manx is still a bit inadequate). | ||
| By vie lhiam geddyn screeuyn, skeeallyn, raghyn, shennaghys, beeal-arrish ny red erbee bailliu. | I would like to receive letters, stories, phrases, history, oral-tradition or anything you would like. | |
| Naightyn erbee mychione reddyn ta goll-er ’sy theihll Gaelgagh, cremeydys, caslyssyn jeh reddyn suimoil, sleih, buill, dy jarroo, red erbee dy lhieeney ny barnaghyn ayns y cholloon. | Any news about things that are going on in the Manx language world, criticism, images of interesting things, people places, indeed, anything to fill the gaps in the column. | |
| “SERVICES UNRENDERED" | ||
| Va shen yn ennym er art beg hie er screeu ayns “Brialtagh Ellan Vannin” er yn gerrid, liorish “Commentator”. | That was the name of a little article in “The Isle of Man Examiner” recently, by “Commentator”. | |
| Ta enney aym er "Commentator" agh cha bloys dou ginsh yn ennym echey diu, er y fa dy re[2] oltey Tynvaal eshyn as bare leshyn screeu fo far ennym ’sy Vrialtagh. | I know “Commentator” but I wouldn’t dare tell you his name, because he’s a member of Tynwald and he would prefer to write under a flase name in the Examiner. | |
|
[2] er y fa dy re] text gives
[er y fa re]
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| Foddym ginsh diu myr te[3] dy vel eh cheet voish “harrish y Droghad”. | I can tell you though that he comes from “over the Bridge”. | |
|
[3] Myr te]
[my-ta] ‘though’
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| V’eh screeu ’syn art shoh mychione yn argid scammyltagh ta Mannin geeck da Sostyn gagh vlein son coadey as y lhied, £600,000 son veg! | He was writing in this article about the scandalous money that the Isle of Man pays England every year for defence and such, £600,000 for nothing! | |
| Dy beagh yn keeadoo ayrn jeh’n argid shoh (£6,000) currit da cooishyn Gaelgagh ayns Rheynn Ny Gaelgey ’sy stait-hirveish, veagh caa ain dy hauail nyn jengey veih toyrt-mow! | If a twentieth of this money (£6,000) was spent for Manx language matters in a Department of Manx in the state-service, we would have an opportunity to save our language from destruction! | |
| What government in Europe would be unwilling to spend such a small fraction of their national income on their mother tongue except the Manx? | ||
| There will be more spent on silver paint during next year’s Silver Jubilee than we can expect during the next 20 years on Manx! | ||
| Ga dy vel reihys ayn ayns Mee Houney,[4] er lhiam nagh bee monney caghlaa ’sy reiltys, yiowmayds lhied ny thootyn t’ain nish, er yn oyr nagh vod Manninagh dooie erbee fordail dy chur stiagh son y reihys. | Although there is an election in October, I think there won’t be much change in the government, we’ll get such fools as we have now, because no native Manxman can afford to put in for the government. | |
|
[4] Ga dy vel reihys ayn ayns Mee Houney] ‘Although there is an elecetion in November’. In Classical Manx this is would be ungrammatical as a future tense or modifier of intention would be required. The word
[ayn] before
[ayns Mee Houney] ‘in November’ would be superflous in Classical Manx.
[Ga dy bee reihys ayns Mee Houney] would be expected here.
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| Ta olteynyn y Chiare as Feed geddyn red gollrish £28 ’sy chiaghtin as cha nee agh feallagh berchagh ver stiagh son shen! | Members of the Keys get (some)thing like £28 a week and it is only rich folk who would put (go) in for that! | |
| My yiarragh ny Yernee “Bee’n chooish goll y choayl[5] reesht.” | As the Irish would say “the matter will be getting lost again” | |
|
[5] goll y choayl]
[goll er coayl] ‘getting lost’, although
[er ny choayl] would be expected here.
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| Loayrt rish Screeudeyr Ny Sheshaght Gaelgagh er y chiaghtin, dooyrt ee nagh jagh mooney sleih gys y shelg-hashtee va cummit tammylt er dy henney. | Speaking to the Secretary of Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society) in the week, she said not many people went to the treasure hunt that was held a while ago. | |
| V’ee gaccan nagh vel ’olteynyn ny Sheshaght son cheet gys reddyn ta reaghit er nyn son oc. | She was complaining that members of the Society aren’t able to come to things that are arranged for them. | |
| Well, cha nee red noa eh! | Well, it isn’t a new thing! | |
| Ta mee er va gyndys rish ny smoo na queig bleeaney as feed cre’n aght dy ghreinnaghey ny Manninee Gaelgagh dy heet gys y lhied, as ta’n chooish er n’gheddyn yn varriaght orrym. | I have been wondering for more than twenty-five years how to encourage the Gaelic Manx to come to such a thing, and the matter has defeated me. | |
| Screeu Brian Mac Stoyl er y chiaghtyn chaie dy vel BUNNEYDYS 2 aarloo echey as dy vel y lioaran ayns laueyn schleioil Yn Olloo Robard Mac Thomysh (Dr. R. L. Thomson). | Brian Stowell wrote in the week that he has BUNNEYDYS 2 ready and that the small book is in the skillful hands of Professor Robert Thompson (Dr. R. L. Thomson). | |
| Bee dagh ooilley Vanninagh dooie goaill boggey tra hig magh BUNNEYDYS 2 my vees eh lieh cha mie as BUNNEYDYS 1. | Every true Manxman will rejoice when BUNNEYDYS 2 comes out if it is half as good as BUNNEYDYS 1. | |
| Beemayd booiagh dy akin cre ny reddyn bee Orree, Ealish, Juan, Moirrey, Kirree as Jamys jannoo ’sy nah lioaran. | We’ll be pleased to see what Orree, Ealish, Juan, Moirrey, Kirree and Jamys will be doing in the next little book. | |
| Agh un red — my vees recortys goll y yannoo jeh BUNNEYDYS 2[6], lhig dooin cliaghtey y yannoo rolaue! | But one thing ‚ if a recording of it will be made, let’s do a practice beforehand! | |
|
[6] my vees recortys goll y yannoo jeh BUNNEYDYS 2 ...
] Evidently, the intention is to say ‘if a recording is made of BUNNEDYDYS 2 ...’ for which ‘my vees recoyrtys j’eh BUNNEYDYS 2 er ny yannoo’. The writer tends to use
[goll y yannoo] where
[goll er jannoo] ‘being made’ would be expected (and so on with other verbs). Furthermore, the writer frequently uses
[goll y yannoo] where in fact
[er ny yanoo] ‘made’ would be the more grammatical choice.
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| ’Sy nah recortys jeh BUNNEYDYS 1 ta marranyn ayn, er y fa nagh ren y skimmee ren loayrt ny focklyn, cliaghtey y yannoo cooidjagh rolaue. | In the second recording of BUNNEYDYS 1 there are mistakes, because the team that spoke the words didn’t practice together beforehand. | |
| The Irish use the word “bolgadh” for “inflation of currency” and the Manx equivalent is “bolgey” (m). | The Irish used the word “bolgadh” for “inflation of currency” and the manx equivalent is “bolgey” (m). (Cregeen — ‘roasting or blistering’). | |
| Er lhiam dy vel shoh'n fockle kiart dooinyn neesht ’sy Ghaelg noa - emshyragh. | I think that this word is right for us too in Modern Manx. | |
| Myr ta fys ec y chooid smoo jeuish, ta mee er ve strepey dy chur jerrey er fockleyr noa Baarle-Gaelg rish tammylt liauyr nish as ta mee greie screeu[7] magh ny kaartyn er duillagyn dy phabyr ec y traa t’ayn. | As most of you know, I have been struggling to finish a new English-Manx dictionary for a long while now and I am typing out the cards on pages of paper at the present time. | |
|
[7] greie screeu] ‘writing instrument’ — evidently used here for ‘typing’.
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| Ta mee er roshtyn yn lettyr “T” as ta mee er choayl bunnys ooilley folt my ching boirey mychione focklyn cooie, jesh, ’sy Ghaelg, oddysmayd jannoo ymmyd jeu ayns “Neo-Manx”! | I have reached the letter ‘T’ and I’ve lost almost all the hair of my head worrying about suitable, nice words, in Manx, that we will be able to make use of in “Neo-Manx”! | |
| Honnick me ’sy “Rollage” tammylt er dy henney, screeuyn arganey mychione yn sorch dy Ghaelg lhisagh shin loayrt nish dy vel loayreyderyn jerrinagh ersooyl thie fo’n oaid. | I saw in the ‘Star’ a while ago, a letter arguing about the sort of Manx we should speak now that (the) last speakers are gone home under the sod. | |
| Er my hon hene ta mee ooilley cooidjagh graihagh er Gaelg ny Bible, ish yn Ghaelg share as s’aaley va rieau goll y screeu[8] as she ish lhisagh shin loayrt nish, gyn scansh y chur da drogh Gaelg ny loayreyderyn s’jerree. | As for myself, I am altogether fond of the Manx of the Bible, it is the best and most beautiful Manx that was ever being written and it is what we should be speaking now, without paying attention to the bad Manx of the last speakers. | |
|
[8] goll er screeu]
[goll er screeu]
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| Nagh row yn Gaelg oc agh Baarle ayns coamrey Gaelgagh ? | Wasn’t their Manx only English in Manx clothing? | |
| Nagh dinsh ad shen dooin adhene. | Didn’t they tell us that themselves. | |
| Keayrt dy row vrie mee jeh Ned Maddrell, “Cre'n sorch dy Ghaelg va goll y loayrt ayns Creneash tra v’ou aeg, tra va Ned Beg Hom Ruy beaghey ’sy thie thooit echey er gerrey da Naunt Peie as Thom Thomman?” | Once I asked Ned Maddrell, “What sort of Manx was spoken in Cregneash when you were young, when Ned Beg Hom Ruy was living in his thatched house near to Aunt Peie and Tom Taubman?” | |
| “Aw,” dooyrt Ned, “V'ad loayrt Gaelg chiart ayns ny laghyn shen, tra va mee aeg,” nagh vel shen yn ansoor ain ? | “Oh,” said Ned, “They were speaking correct Manx in those days, when I was young.” Isn’t that our answer? | |
| Er jerrey — Ga dy vel eh yindyssagh erskyn insh dy vel lhied yn feallagh aegey[9] Gaelgagh ayn nish, er lheh y Twoaie, dy vel ad er chiaddey banglane twoaie Sheshaght Gaelgagh daue hene, banglane bioyr lane dy vree, nar lhig eh Jee dy darragh scoltey erbee ayns gleashaght ny Gaelgey. | To conclude — Although it is incredibly wonderful that there are so many young ones now, especially (in) the North, that they have formed a North Branch Manx Society for themselves, a lively, energrtic branch, God forbid that any split at all would come in the Manx movement. | |
|
[9] lheid yn feallagh aegey] ‘such as the young ones’ / ‘such as the young folk’ evidently an error. For ‘so many young people’
[wheesh dy ’leih aegey] would be expected.
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| Ta nyn lhieds ro ghoan! | Our sort are too rare! | |
| Mannagh jean-yds[10] shassoo ry cheilley[11] ayns ‘barney yn danjeyr’[12] geaylin ry gheaylin beemayd baiht ‘sy cheayn dy Vaarle ta baggyrt orrinyn as er nyn jengey veen as bee’n ghlare ain goll y choayl[13] er son dy bragh. | Unless we stand together in ‘the gap of the danger’ shoulder to shoulder we will drowned in the sea of English that threatens us and our dear tongue and our language will be lost for ever. | |
|
[10] jean-yds] evidently a typo for ‘jeanmayd’s’.
[11] Ry-cheulley] — ‘to each other’. In this sentence ‘cooidjaght’ (‘together’) would be expected.
[12] ‘barney yn danjeyr’] — the inverted commas suggest that this is a translation of a well known English phrase, although, without knowledge of what the exact phrase is, it is translated here a ‘the gap of danger’.
[13] goll y choayl]
[goll er coayl, (although ‘er ny coayl’ would expected here).
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| The most important problem facing the Manx people today is that they are a dying cultural community. Material prosperity (of a sort) has been bought by the Manx Government at a price which is too dear to pay. An awful sameness and monotony of life is gradually pervading Manx society, with the English predominating in both numbers and in our economic life. A frightening prospect of utter boredom of spirit lies before us. Language, thought and culture are inseparable. To change one's language is tantamount to changing one's mentality. | ||
| Nee shoh ta shin laccal? Er lhiam nagh nee. | Is this what we want? I don’t think it is. | |
| Lhig dooin cummal seose nyn jengey, ayns unnaneys. | Let’s support our language, in unity. | |