Re: NATLANG: Irish greeting
| From: | Stephen Mulraney <ataltanie@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, August 26, 2003, 2:32 |
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Costentin Cornomorus wrote:
>>Spot on John! O means from
>>
>>-Duke
>
>
> The same o as in O Connell?
>
It's always seemed like they might be the same thing to me.
I've seen 'Ó' in surnames (Or "O'" in anglicised forms) described
as "ancestor of", but it does look like a thinly-disguised preposition.
OTOH, there is a bit of a twist: 'Ó' has a genitive form 'Ui', so that
you'd say "O'Connell" as "Ó Connall" (have I spelt that right? I'm not
sure - having a head cold always makes me rather dyslexic (!)), and
"O'Connell's dog" as "madra Ui Chonnaill". So perhaps they have different
sources.
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This post brought to you be the letter 3 and the number 0xF.
Stephen Mulraney... ataltane at ataltane.net... ataltane.net
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