Cúpla focail eile: New words take place in Irish dictionary
Deireadh Fómhair 7, 2013
Cúpla focail eile: New words take place in Irish dictionary
HOW strange would a féinphic of a member of the triúracht in a pitseáma aonphíosa look?
You’re unlikely to ever see it but you will find these new Irish words in the Irish dictionary. “Selfie” has become “féinphic” (self picture) in Irish, “troika” has been translated into “triúracht”, while “onesie” is “pitseáma aonphíosa” having been added to the dictionary. The dictionary has moved online to Focal.ie, a database set up in 2006 by the Irish language department of Dublin City University (DCU) in conjunction with Forás na Gaeilge. The staff work constantly to keep the language up to date with the newest terms arriving into the English language.
“New terms that arise from technology and social media are definitely one of the main domains of language we have to deal with,” said Dr Gearóid Ó Cleircín, terminology manager of Fiontar in DCU.
Many are also to do with public administration, place names and the official names of government bodies.” Anyone can recommend a term to be translated through the submission form on the database homepage. The majority of people who submit terms are translators and journalists, who are looking for a term to use for their work. Once a translation is requested, the staff provide a temporary term for them to use immediately. The recommendation is then brought to the terminology committee to be researched and discussed. The committee is made up of 21 academics, journalists, civil servants and experts from different areas who meet voluntarily once a month to discuss new terms.
Each term is considered and researched before being approved and published in the database. On average, the terminology committee approve and publish 500-700 new terms a month. Not all words are translated into Irish, however – recently recommended words like “burrito” and “tortilla” were left in their native Spanish. “Words like ‘selfie’ make sense to put into Irish, as they are easy enough to directly translate,” said Dr Ó Cleircín. It is important to keep up to date with the terms, Dr Ó Cleircín said, so that the Irish language continues to develop alongside the English language. “It’s important for language to modernise, and if the effort isn’t made then there will be no choice but to use the English words,” he said.
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