The sum of Irish and maths
August 23, 2012
Sir, –
I did not have to wait long to see the customary letter questioning the value and usefulness of Irish in the Leaving Certificate. For Andrew Doyle Clifden’s (August 21st) benefit, trigonometry is triantánacht in Irish, which roughly translates to “the study of triangles”.
Most mathematical terms in Irish are similar to their English language counterparts, as they all have their origins in Greek. Calculus is calculas in Irish. I would be more concerned that students would understand the concepts rather than the terms.
In certain cases, Irish language terms are self-explanatory, acting as aides-mémoires to students and deepening their understanding of certain concepts. Hypotenuse is “taobhagán” which translates as “a support/side”. To understand the English term one needs to appreciate the Greek prefix “hypo” and and the Greek verb “teinein” (to stretch) – granted a student studying French may make the link with the verb “tenir”, and thus make the connection that the hypo-tenuse is the “very holding/supporting” side of the triangle, or put simply, the long side. Taobhagán is a much simpler term and is self-explanatory to an Irish speaker. There is very little in the term “isosceles” that a student would understand. However, in Irish, the term “triantán comhchosach” is self-explanatory – “an equal legged triangle”.
Students who have achieved a high grade in higher-level mathematics through Irish in their Leaving Certificate and who wish to continue to study mathematics at third level will have to do so in English as there is no third-level course in mathematics through Irish. I am sure over the four years in university, these able students will pick up the few terms required to impress any future employer.
Students who studied mathematics through Irish will have the terms both in Irish and English, whereas the candidate who studied mathematics in English may not have the Irish terms. That both will be excellent mathematicians is beyond doubt.
Yours, etc,
Colm Ó hAnluain,
Avenue Belle Vue, Waterloo, Belgium.
www.irishtimes.com
