| Manx | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Ta shin ooilley er chlashtyn mychione ny trughanysyn ec shiartanse dy chummaltee son dy vel rouyr dy “hraa dy liooar” ayn ayns nyn ellan. | We have all heard about the grumblings several new residents have because there is too much “traa dy liooar”[1] (“Time Enough”) in our island. | |
|
[1] traa dy liooar] a well known phrase, meaning ’time enough’ often used in the sense of ’there’s plenty of time, don’t rush me’. Was used as a pejorative against the Manx by ’new residents’ in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
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| Agh cha nel shin nyn lomarcan. | But we are not alone. | |
| Er-hoh skeeayl beg mychione ny Yernee. | Here is a little story about the Irish. | |
| Va dooinney Americagh ayn, as v’eh er n’gholl gys Divlyn dy chur jerrey er cooish ennagh lesh shiartanse dy leighderyn Yernagh. | There was an American, and he had gone to Dublin to finish some matter with several Irish lawyers. | |
| Cha lhisagh yn chooish ver er n’goaill agh un oor ny jees dy yannoo. | The matter should only have taken one hour, or two, to do. | |
| Shiaghtin ny s’anmee, v’eh foast ayns shen. | A week later, he was still there. | |
| Myr v’eh lieh-lhie noi barr ayns thie-lhionney, hyndaa eh rish carrey echey, as eshyn ny olloo dy Yernish ayns olloo-scoill Ghivlin, as dooyrt yn Americagh (ass Americaish, t’ou toiggal), “Insh dou, vel fockle erbee ayns y Ghailck son ‘manana?’” | As he was leaning (half-lying) against a bar in an alehouse, he turned to his friend, who was a professor of Irish in Dublin University, and the American said (in American, you understand,) “Tell me, is there any word in Gaelic for ‘manana?’” | |
| (She fockle Spaainagh ta “manana” son shlearagh). | (“manana” is a Spanish word for procrastinating). | |
| Ren yn Yernagh smooinaghtyn son tammylt beg, as fy-yerrey dreggyr eh rish, | The Irishman thought for a little while, and finally he answered him, | |
| “Ta, ta, dy jarroo. Agh cha nel ec yn ’ockle Gailckagh yn cheeayl cheddin dy hiyr.” | “There is, there is indeed. But the Gaelic word does not have the same sense of hurry.” | |
| Ga dy vel ny Yernee beggan goll-rooin hene [2] ayns cooishyn dellal, cha n’iarragh peiagh erbee as shione dasyn ny fir-dellal ayns Divlin, dy vel ny Yernee bolvanagh. | Although the Irish are a little like ourselves in business matters, no one who knows the businesspeople of Dublin would say that the Irish are stupid. | |
|
[2] goll-rooin hene] `— original gives
[gollrin-hene].
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| Dy jarroo, er-lhiam dy vel ad feer cheeayllagh as mie-ynsit. | Indeed, I think that they are very sensible and well educated[3] | |
|
[3] mie-ynsit] — ‘well-educated’. The original gives
[mie-chliaghtit] ‘well versed’, ‘well-trained’, or ‘well used to’, but is assumed here to be an error.
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| Va fastyr-Gailckagh er ny chummal yn jerdein s’jerree[4] ayns mee Voaldyn, ayns y thie-oast Kerroo-Droghad. | There was a Manx language evening held on the last Thursday in May, in the Quarterbridge pub. | |
|
[4] Yn jerdein s’jerree] ‘the final Thursday’. Original gives
[jerdein s’jerree].
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| Va ram Gaelgeyryn ayn, as ren y lhune stroo[5] gollrish ushtey. | There were many Manx speakers there, and the ale streamed like water. | |
|
[5] ren y lhune stroo] ‘the ale streamed’.
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| Hed yn nah cho-haglym er cummal ayns Laksaa ec Thie-oast ny Meainyn, Jemayrt yn queiggoo laa a feed Mean Souree. | The next get-together will be held in Laxey at the Mines Tavern, on Tuesday the twenty-fifth of June. | |
| She smoo scanshoil eh[6] dy jig whilleen dy leih as foddee ve. | It is most important that as many people will come as is possible. | |
|
[6] she smoo scanshoil eh] ’it is most important’. The use of
[smoo] as an auxiliary superlative (to form the superlative of adjectives other
[mooar] ’large’) is found in Classical Manx, (although only generally found in claques on phrases in translations such as
[smoo casherick] ’most holy’,
[smoo syrjey] ’most high’ and
[smoo graysoil] ’most gracious’. As the copular verb
[she] does not precede an adjective or preposition, unless it is intended to demonstrate contrast, the expected construction here would be either
[T’eh smoo scanshoil ...] or
[T’eh jeh’n scansh smoo ...].
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| Mannagh vel shin loayrt ass y Ghailck[7] dy mennick, bee ee jarroodit ain, as cha nhegin da shen taghyrt. | Unless we speak in Manx often, we will forget it, and that must not happen. | |
|
[7] ass y Ghaelg] ‘in Manx’. In Classical Manx we find
[ayns Gailck] or
[ayns Gaelg] — the word
[Gailck] /
[Gaelg] is rarely, if ever preceded by the article from the mid eighteenth century until colums in the Isle of Man Examiner at the very end of the nineteenth century. Beginning in the Mona‘s Herald ‘Coraa ny Gael’ columns of the mid 1950s, we sometimes find
[ass y Ghailck] /
[ass y Ghaelg] which imitates the equivalent Irish phrase rather than
[ayns y Ghailck] /
[ayns y Ghaelg].
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| Jedoonee shoh chaie, hie mee dys y cheeill ayns Rhumsaa. | Last Sunday, I went to the church in Ramsey. | |
| (V’eh Kingeesh, as shegin da Creesteenyn ooilley goll dys y cheeill yn laa shen). | (It was Pentecost, and all Christians must go to church on that day). | |
| Agh, va’n saggyrt preacheil as goaill padjer myr dy beagh Mannin ny rheynn dy Hostyn. | But, the priest was preaching and praying as if the Isle of Man was a division of England. | |
| She mooar[8], dy jarroo, yn obbyr dy aavioaghey yn phersoonagh[9] Ghailckagh ain. | It is great, indeed, the work to revive our Gaelic identity. | |
|
[8] she mooar] ‘it is great’ / it is large’ —
[she] would not be expected to precede the adjective here, the expected phrase would be
[t’eh mooar] ‘it is great’, or
[s’mooar] eh ‘how great it is’.
[9] yn phersoonagh] Cregeen defines
[persoonagh] as an adverb meaning ‘personally, in person’.
The writer uses it here as a noun, evidently to mean ‘identity’ and assigns it feminine gender. Political ‘identy’ was one of the major themes of Manx writing in the late twentieth century, but
[yn phersoonagh] sees not to have caught on. See also
[jarroo-enney].
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| BRANLAADAGH. | BRANLAADAGH. | |