2025 Day 21

 2025 Dedh Onan warn Ügens

De Meurth, kensa warn ügens mis Genver

Tuesday, 21st January

 

Nag eram ow clappya Godhalek. Na wörama y glappya. Nag ew aswonys genam an tavas na. Kemyskys o vy. My a redyas lavar coth dhort Wordhen: “Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam.” My a brederas “My wor an ger ‘tir’. Hemm ew ‘land’ en Sowsnek. Thew an keth ger en Kernôwek ha Kembrek. Ha my a wör an ger ‘gan’ - thewa pecar’a ‘gen’ po ‘gans’ en Kernôwek ha Kembrek. Hebma a dal styrya ‘with’ en Sowsnek. Ha, martesen, ‘teanga’ ew pecar’a ‘tavas’ en Kernôwek. Hemm ew ‘tongue’ po ‘language’ en Sowsnek. Ha ‘anam’ ew pecar’a ‘ena’ en Kernôwek, ‘soul’ en Sowsnek. Etho, my a brederas, “Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam.” a dal styrya "A land with a language, a land with a soul." Pur wir ew hebma rag Kernow.” Bes my a veu myskemerys. My a redyas an treylyans en Sowsnek: "A land without a language, a land without a soul." Thew hedna gwir rag Kernow ewedh. Bes en Kernôwek nei a venja ûsya "heb" rag "without". Ma dhe nei lavar coth agan hònan. "Den heb tavas a gollas y dir." En Sowsnek hemm ew "A man without language (a tongue) lost his land." Nei a venja leverel "Tir heb tavas, tir heb ena." Lavar dhebm, fatel alja ger kehaval styrya taclow contrary en dew davas?

I do not speak Irish. I cannot (don't know how to) speak it. I am not familiar with that language. I am confused. I read a proverb from Ireland: “Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam.” I thought, "I know the word ‘tir’.This is ‘land’ in English. It is the same word in Cornish and Welsh. And I know the word ‘gan’ - it's like ‘gen’ or ‘gans’ in Cornish. This should mean ‘with’ in English. And perhaps ‘teanga’ is like ‘tavas’ in Cornish. This is ‘tongue’ or ‘language’ in English. And ‘anam’ is like ‘ena’ in Cornish - ‘soul’ in English. So, I thought, “Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam.” should mean "A land with a language, a land with soul." This is very true for Cornwall. But I was mistaken. I read the translation in English: "A land without a language, a land without a soul." That is also true for Cornwall. But in Cornish we would use "heb" for "without". We have our own proverb: "Den heb tavas a gollas y dir." In English this is "A man without language (a tongue) lost his land." We would say "Tir heb tavas, tir heb ena." Tell me, how could a similar word mean opposite things in two languages?

Geryow rag hedhyw Words for today

ena (m) soul

gen ~ gans with, by

Godhalek Irish language

gollas (preterite) lost < vb. kelly to lose

heb without

kehaval ~ haval similar

Kembrek Welsh language

kemyskys confused, mixed up

myskemerys mistaken

styrya to mean, signify

tavas (m) tongue, language

tir (m) land (t>d)

treylyans (m) translation

Wordhen (PN) Ireland