the question: what do the words "ciara" and "niamh" mean?
I was told ciara meant dark or poison(ed) and niamh meant blonde or beautiful BUT i doubt that...
can anyone help please?
From memory Ciara is associated with dark or black and Niamh is associated with brightness. In Irish mythology Niamh may have been fair but I think she was the poisonous one!
There was also a Niamh (a differnt lady from the one above) involved with Oisin and Tir na nOg but that was just a love story - not nearly as interesting.
And here's one of the versions of the love story - I actually think it's a rather nice tearjerker:
Niamh of the Golden Hair, daughter of Mannanan, the Celtic God of the sea, falls in love with a mortal, Oisin, son of Finn (leader of the Fenians), and she invites him to Tir na nOg (the otherworld, the land of promise) where they live happily together. It is a magical place where people are given the gift of immortality and eternal youth because it is not bound by the constricts of time. However, Oisin although he loves Niamh becomes restless and homesick and wants to visit the 'upper world' once more. Niamh understands his longing and gives him a magical white horse but with the warning that Oisin should not to set foot on the ground or he would once again be bound to human time and so wouldn't be able to come back to her since 300 mortal years had already passed. Unfortunately, as the tragedy goes his harness breaks and he falls to the ground where his body ages rapidly until he turns to nothing but dust... and the lovers are parted forever...
... and here is a rather pretty description of Niamh:
"her golden hair hung in tresses, and at the end of each plait hung a bead. To some men her hair was the colour of the yellow flag iris which grows by summer water; others thought it like ruddy polished gold. Slender and exquisite as a birch tree, of shape as sweet as the fine clover, of colour as fair as a summer morning, she is the type of the glory of all lands."
My sister gave her son the Indian name, 'Kiran', his father being from India. Ironically (or perhaps not), a dictionary of Hindu names gives the meaning as 'speck of dust or ray of light'. Why anyone would want to call their child a speck of dust is hard to imagine, but then, I am a prisoner of Western philosophies (or the absence thereof). 'Ray of light', however, seems to be an almost opposite meaning to the that of the Irish name 'Ciaran' (which has the same meaning as 'Ciara' - I could be wrong, but I think the latter is a relatively recent femininisation of the former).
Of course, whilst Irish and Sanskrit are connected, and one might suppose that, in its isolation, Irish had retained some ancient Indo-european roots that other languages of the family had long since lost, the probability of similar sounding words evolving independently with unconnected meanings is quite high, given the finite number of sounds that humans are capable of producing. As for words with obliquely opposite meanings, coincidences will happen.
As with all of my posts, do not bother reading the foregoing paragraphs - they are of no consequence whatsoever. Although I should like to point out that, the second paragraph consists almost entirely of one sentence - possibly the longest sentence I have ever written.
They are just girls names.
The 'translations' are just descriptions of characters in Irish mythology with those names and so are not translations. Niamh Chin Oir means 'Niamh of the Golden Head of Hair'. It doesn't mean 'Niamh is a translated as Golden hair"
thanx, gaelic writer!
great hint, the first one, the second one is more ..."modern", erm...*searching for proper articulation* ... it is a dictionary, useful in dayly life
tompipes,
that might be. but even names (even GIRLS names) do have a backround and that's what I found at one of gaelic writer's urls:
Kiara - "small and dark".
Ciara - ciar "dark" or "black
Niamh - from Old Irish Niam "luster, sheen, brightness,
radiance, brilliance"
My Daughter is called Niamh, and I've told her both of the stories. The "Valley of the Deaf" I know of as "The Silent Valley" in County Down. There's also a tune on the Database called "The Valley of Silence". It's a Catchy one.
Hi mairie!
In English
The name Conan comes from the celtic "kuno" and means "the exalted"
Francais:
Le nom Conan vient de le mot celte "kuno" et veut dire "le sublime"
Latine
nomen Conan ortus ex verbo Celticorum "kuno" est sibique vult "elatus"
Deutsch
Der Name Conan kommt vom keltischen Wort "kuno" und heisst "der Erhabene"
Italiano
Conan è un nome di origine celtica. Ad esso si possono associare vari significati, in dipendenza dell'ambito di interesse.
Ps:
Loquerisne bene latine?
questionem habeo debendi scribere "etne latine" in locum "et in latine?" causa: latine adverbum est
hi gabad,
actually I ment what is "Is sponug thù" (which is what conan wrote) in english or german or french or latine because I don't speak gaelic. but thanx anway
you seem to be quite mulitlingual, on the other hand there are many things one can do with the www nowadays.........
This is the fourth year i learn latine but since it is a "dead" language, we do only
Your deficiency is neither suspicion nor distrust, I’m amazed; but what is more worth to be admired is your self-confidence, you consider to count so much that I would search the net aiming only to bring thee transduction. In addition your “version” is wrong again, but I know some people don’t focus on reasonability but on unrehearsed actions.
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary... Fóclóir Gaeilge
Niamh means bright. She was the wife of Oisín. She came from Tír na n'Óg, the land of youth, and took him from Éire to her land for 300 years. He thought it was much less, as time meant nothing there. After 300 years he missed his home, friends and family, and begged to go back for a visit. Niamh gave him her white horse to ride across the sea back to Éire, telling him that under no circumstances was he to dismount. He went back, not realising that of course all his mortal family etc would be long-dead by now, and was very sad to see the country changed. He saw two weak-looking men trying to shift a boulder by themselves, and, knowing he was far stronger than they, he leaned over to help them with one arm. The horse's girth snapped, Oisín fell and immediately aged to the state of an ancient man.
Mairie, may I also please add that certain letters are NOT in the Irish alphabet, and it irks us very much when we see them included in Irish words and names when they SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST IN THE IRISH LANGUAGE!!!! Here they are: J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, Z. Therefore, the name 'Ciara' is NEVER, under ANY circumstances, spelt with a 'K'. It is JUST NOT DONE!!!
Niamh was not 'poisonous', as one post-er here claims; she simply took what she wanted from the mortal world because she was in love -- Oisín.
hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
the question: what do the words "ciara" and "niamh" mean?
I was told ciara meant dark or poison(ed) and niamh meant blonde or beautiful BUT i doubt that...
can anyone help please?
thanx in advance
mairie
# Posted on March 4th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
From memory Ciara is associated with dark or black and Niamh is associated with brightness. In Irish mythology Niamh may have been fair but I think she was the poisonous one!
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by Cuso
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
thank you!
but since I am not quite familiar with Irish mythology - who is Niamh? what's her story?
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
See http://www.ancuairt.org/tumulus/niamh.htm - a wife betraying her husband always shocked us when we were young (it never happened in Ireland in those days).
There was also a Niamh (a differnt lady from the one above) involved with Oisin and Tir na nOg but that was just a love story - not nearly as interesting.
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by Cuso
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
ciara - dark, black
niamh - radiance, brightness
And here's one of the versions of the love story - I actually think it's a rather nice tearjerker:
Niamh of the Golden Hair, daughter of Mannanan, the Celtic God of the sea, falls in love with a mortal, Oisin, son of Finn (leader of the Fenians), and she invites him to Tir na nOg (the otherworld, the land of promise) where they live happily together. It is a magical place where people are given the gift of immortality and eternal youth because it is not bound by the constricts of time. However, Oisin although he loves Niamh becomes restless and homesick and wants to visit the 'upper world' once more. Niamh understands his longing and gives him a magical white horse but with the warning that Oisin should not to set foot on the ground or he would once again be bound to human time and so wouldn't be able to come back to her since 300 mortal years had already passed. Unfortunately, as the tragedy goes his harness breaks and he falls to the ground where his body ages rapidly until he turns to nothing but dust... and the lovers are parted forever...
... and here is a rather pretty description of Niamh:
"her golden hair hung in tresses, and at the end of each plait hung a bead. To some men her hair was the colour of the yellow flag iris which grows by summer water; others thought it like ruddy polished gold. Slender and exquisite as a birch tree, of shape as sweet as the fine clover, of colour as fair as a summer morning, she is the type of the glory of all lands."
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by vanessa
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
My sister gave her son the Indian name, 'Kiran', his father being from India. Ironically (or perhaps not), a dictionary of Hindu names gives the meaning as 'speck of dust or ray of light'. Why anyone would want to call their child a speck of dust is hard to imagine, but then, I am a prisoner of Western philosophies (or the absence thereof). 'Ray of light', however, seems to be an almost opposite meaning to the that of the Irish name 'Ciaran' (which has the same meaning as 'Ciara' - I could be wrong, but I think the latter is a relatively recent femininisation of the former).
Of course, whilst Irish and Sanskrit are connected, and one might suppose that, in its isolation, Irish had retained some ancient Indo-european roots that other languages of the family had long since lost, the probability of similar sounding words evolving independently with unconnected meanings is quite high, given the finite number of sounds that humans are capable of producing. As for words with obliquely opposite meanings, coincidences will happen.
As with all of my posts, do not bother reading the foregoing paragraphs - they are of no consequence whatsoever. Although I should like to point out that, the second paragraph consists almost entirely of one sentence - possibly the longest sentence I have ever written.
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by ragaman
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
guys, you're great - thanks a lot!
now I feel safe to trust my informants......
spoon -
you're defenitly not an employed author
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
oh, gotta add:
what would you think of a band named "Ciara Niamh"?
irish-music band of course...
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Check out these urls as well:
www.daire.org/names/
www.englishirishdictionary.com/dictionary
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by Gaelic writer
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
They are just girls names.
The 'translations' are just descriptions of characters in Irish mythology with those names and so are not translations. Niamh Chin Oir means 'Niamh of the Golden Head of Hair'. It doesn't mean 'Niamh is a translated as Golden hair"
They're just peoples names.
t
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by tompipes
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
thanx, gaelic writer!
great hint, the first one, the second one is more ..."modern", erm...*searching for proper articulation* ... it is a dictionary, useful in dayly life
tompipes,
that might be. but even names (even GIRLS names) do have a backround and that's what I found at one of gaelic writer's urls:
Kiara - "small and dark".
Ciara - ciar "dark" or "black
Niamh - from Old Irish Niam "luster, sheen, brightness,
radiance, brilliance"
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Mairie - You're dead right. I'm not employed and I'm not an author.
# Posted on March 5th 2006 by ragaman
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
but you are a spoon...
ha, makes me feel so self-conscious, being right once in a while...
# Posted on March 6th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Is spunog thú!
# Posted on March 6th 2006 by Conán McDonnell
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
My Daughter is called Niamh, and I've told her both of the stories. The "Valley of the Deaf" I know of as "The Silent Valley" in County Down. There's also a tune on the Database called "The Valley of Silence". It's a Catchy one.
# Posted on March 7th 2006 by Innocent Bystander
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Just the one.
# Posted on March 7th 2006 by ragaman
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
self-confident actually was what I ment - anyway
Conàn - which would be in english?
- et en francais?
- et in latine?
- und in Deutsch?
so, that are all the languages I can speak from time to time ...
# Posted on March 7th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Hi mairie!
In English
The name Conan comes from the celtic "kuno" and means "the exalted"
Francais:
Le nom Conan vient de le mot celte "kuno" et veut dire "le sublime"
Latine
nomen Conan ortus ex verbo Celticorum "kuno" est sibique vult "elatus"
Deutsch
Der Name Conan kommt vom keltischen Wort "kuno" und heisst "der Erhabene"
Italiano
Conan è un nome di origine celtica. Ad esso si possono associare vari significati, in dipendenza dell'ambito di interesse.
Ps:
Loquerisne bene latine?
questionem habeo debendi scribere "etne latine" in locum "et in latine?" causa: latine adverbum est
# Posted on March 15th 2006 by gabad
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
hi gabad,
actually I ment what is "Is sponug thù" (which is what conan wrote) in english or german or french or latine because I don't speak gaelic. but thanx anway
you seem to be quite mulitlingual, on the other hand there are many things one can do with the www nowadays.........
This is the fourth year i learn latine but since it is a "dead" language, we do only
# Posted on March 22nd 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
...erm - sorry . error
we only translate old texts from philosophers, imperators and poets, you know.
but this version would do it: "et in lingua latine?"
# Posted on March 22nd 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Allô mairie
Your deficiency is neither suspicion nor distrust, I’m amazed; but what is more worth to be admired is your self-confidence, you consider to count so much that I would search the net aiming only to bring thee transduction. In addition your “version” is wrong again, but I know some people don’t focus on reasonability but on unrehearsed actions.
Farewell
# Posted on March 30th 2006 by gabad
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
you seem to be quite a sarci...
get yourself a drink and have a happy easter!
# Posted on April 15th 2006 by mairie
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary... Fóclóir Gaeilge
Niamh means bright. She was the wife of Oisín. She came from Tír na n'Óg, the land of youth, and took him from Éire to her land for 300 years. He thought it was much less, as time meant nothing there. After 300 years he missed his home, friends and family, and begged to go back for a visit. Niamh gave him her white horse to ride across the sea back to Éire, telling him that under no circumstances was he to dismount. He went back, not realising that of course all his mortal family etc would be long-dead by now, and was very sad to see the country changed. He saw two weak-looking men trying to shift a boulder by themselves, and, knowing he was far stronger than they, he leaned over to help them with one arm. The horse's girth snapped, Oisín fell and immediately aged to the state of an ancient man.
# Posted on October 5th 2007 by Niamh-Jo
Re: hELp!!!!! gaelic vocabulary...
Mairie, may I also please add that certain letters are NOT in the Irish alphabet, and it irks us very much when we see them included in Irish words and names when they SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST IN THE IRISH LANGUAGE!!!! Here they are: J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, Z. Therefore, the name 'Ciara' is NEVER, under ANY circumstances, spelt with a 'K'. It is JUST NOT DONE!!!
Niamh was not 'poisonous', as one post-er here claims; she simply took what she wanted from the mortal world because she was in love -- Oisín.
# Posted on October 5th 2007 by Niamh-Jo