Category Archives: Proverbs

“Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.”

Nationality: Irish
Age: 54
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Dublin, Ireland
Performance Date: January 22nd, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Irish

Translation (Literal): There’s no hearth like your own hearth

Translation (Modern English): There’s no place like home

 

Background: Informant is 54-year-old woman living in Dublin, Ireland. Raised in rural Ireland, she has a wealth of Irish proverbs and sayings, which are called seanfhocail in the original Irish (literally “old words”). She is married and has one grown daughter. She is signified in this conversation by the initials C.D.

 

Main Piece:

C.D.: The saying goes, “Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán fein.”

 

A: Would you be able to define that for me?

 

C.D.: Of course. It’s an old Irish seanfhocail – that’s like an old proverb or saying – that means ‘there’s no hearth like your own hearth,’ kind of like the modern ‘there’s no place like home.’ I’d say that’s the most popular one of all the old sayings. I think a lot of them got assimilated into English because there’s loads of things that are kind of cliché sayings nowadays that got taken from the Irish and made their way into popular culture. I suppose that it helped that there was already a phrase in English ready to accommodate it.

 

A.: And do you think that it’s true? Is there really no place like home?

 

C.D.: Well, it’s nice to go on holidays and everything, but I don’t think I’d ever leave Ireland for good. A lot of my family emigrated and it was tough on them, they could hack it of course but they’d always be counting down the days until they came home – and then they’d be off again! I don’t want to live my life like that. I’ve made a life for myself here and I couldn’t be happier with it. I wouldn’t want to have to be wishing my time away, sure life’s too short for that! I suppose that’s why we use it when welcoming people home, because it’s such a quintessentially Irish phrase and in the language it has a bit more punch to it.

 

Performance context: I interviewed the informant over FaceTime due to her being in Ireland and I in California. In conversation about me coming home at the end of the semester, she mentioned this saying to me. However, this saying was not new to me as seanfhoclai are taught during Irish class at about the age of 10/11 in most Irish primary schools. At school, the purpose of the exercise of learning these proverbs was to enrich our spoken Irish and connect us with a history of Gaeilgeoir (Irish speakers). These phrases are very common in speech, even in their Anglicized format.

 

My Thoughts: Folk speech and expressions are some of the most enduring and transmitted forms of folklore. Alan Dundes says that proverbs are concise statements of situational philosophies, and so this leads us to consider in particular the Irish history of emigration in relation to this saying. This has a twofold effect. Firstly, this saying appeals in particular to emigrants, who would experience homesickness on a scale perhaps unrivalled by any other people. Romantic Irish writers abound write about their longing for Ireland, but acknowledge that they did leave for a reason. Secondly, my informant’s clever linking of this saying with the Anglicized and more popular ‘there’s no place like home’ illustrates the inherent and large field of transmission in folk-proverbs. I am personally unsure whether the English or Irish phrase came first, or whether this exists in a multiplicity of cultures, perhaps further collections can shed light on this. This saying is also past-focused, reinforcing Dundes’ idea that European culture is less future-focused than American society, as this saying suggests the ultimate comfort exists in what one has, as opposed to what one will have in the unreachable and ever-fleeing future.

Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste

Nationality: Irish
Age: 56
Occupation: IT Technician
Residence: Dublin, Ireland
Performance Date: February 1st, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Irish

Translation: Broken Irish is better than clever English

Background: Informant is 56-year old IT technician living in Dublin, Ireland. His first language is English, but is proficient in Irish. Therefore, sayings such as this tend to pepper his speech, making him an active bearer of this tradition. He enjoys using these phrases in conversation as they are Irish, and also appropriate in many situations. He is signified in this conversation by the initials D.O.

Main Piece:

A.: Could you give me the gist of that phrase?

 

D.O.: Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste? Of course. It means ‘broken Irish is better than clever English.’ I didn’t used to hear it when I was younger, I don’t think it’s one of the classic seanfhoclai, sure I could be wrong but I think it’s a modern invention.

 

A.: Why do you think that?

 

D.O.: Well I suppose the rhyme for one thing – like there is rhyme in Irish, of course, but this seems purposefully rhymed, if you get me. I suppose the amount of Irish speakers has gone down hugely since I was younger, so a nice catchphrase might do a good job of encouraging interest in the language. And especially the fact that it’s broken Irish in particular – I think that’s an incentive to give speaking what Irish you know a go, without being afraid you’ll be laughed at for not sounding perfect. A lot of countries have that kind of thing though – once you make a bit of effort with the people to speak their language they lighten up a bit, they appreciate the effort. It’s just a nice thing to do I think – sort of respectful of another culture, by acknowledging that you’re not just another ignorant tourist!

 

A.: I remember being told that phrase back in my spoken exams in secondary school.

 

D.O.: Exactly – it’s always worth trying, especially with something people consider a ‘dead’ language. It’s important to try and get a bit of the language into general circulation, especially with the young people. They can try and get a bit of the language back if they make it seem less – what’s the word – archaic?

 

A.: When was the first time you heard this phrase?

 

D.O.: I first heard it when I was studying, and I suppose at that point the language was declining in everyday use. As the language declined I heard it more and more, which was interesting, but I suppose that’s the point of the saying, to revive the language.

 

Performance context: I interviewed this informant over the phone considering that I am in California and he in Dublin. In a conversation in a mix of English and Irish, he mentioned this phrase in reference to the multiple misunderstandings on my part due to my less-than-perfect Irish. I had heard the phrase before as a kind of encouragement to keep trying when learning Irish.

 

My thoughts: This is a useful phrase to encourage people to keep trying when learning Irish, without being condescending. The fact that it rhymes definitely helps it appeal to people who may be learning Irish and find a rhyming sentence easier to remember. It also teaches a few rules of the language in itself, such as adding the ‘h’ to bhriste. From his testimony, it seems to be a new proverb addition to the folkloristic canon, and it is interesting both that it was created to be written in Irish in its’ native form, and also that it has taken off so rapidly and been accepted into the canon of seanfhoclai. As a new-ish addition, it shows that proverbs are still being created, and its’ prevalence within the school community in particular – in my experience – suggests that proverbs are not simply for use by older people, as it can often seem. They also serve a didactic function not only to be taught to the youth, but to be used among them.

“Hitting your foot with an axe”

Nationality: Indian
Age: 20
Occupation: undergraduate student
Residence: New Delhi, CA
Performance Date: 2017-3-18
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Main piece:

Apne aap pe kulhadi maarna

“Hitting your foot with an axe”

 

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

Informant is an international student from India. Her grandmother first taught her but everyone uses it in their day to day talk.

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

It means that when you put yourself in trouble. You planned everything but in the end there was trouble. For example, Person A is manipulative and tells everyone that Person B is cheating in school to ruin his/her reputation. In the end, it turns out that Person B never cheated and everyone finds out. Person A’s plan backfires and is now known as a bad person. This is when you would say, “Apne aap pe kulhadi maarna”.

Personal Analysis:

This is really similar to the American saying “shoot oneself in the foot”. The meaning is universal because the situation is a common occurrence in any society. The indian equivalent of a gun is an axe. It shows how different cultures are familiar with different weapons and might hint at what time period these proverbs started.

 

Door ke dhol suhaavne lagte hai

Nationality: Indian
Age: 20
Occupation: undergraduate student
Residence: New Delhi, India
Performance Date: 2017-3-18
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Main piece:

“Door ke dhol suhaavne lagte hai”

The drums sound better at a distance

Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):

Informant learned this in grade school when she was studying in India.

Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):

It has a similar meaning to “the grass is always greener on the other side”.

Personal Analysis:

I don’t know if drums actually sound better at a distance, because it might sound very loud and messy. In a rhetorical sense, I can see that something that’s loud and entertaining might seem good from far away. It might mean that the small details of the drum is not that pleasing to the ear, or maybe the drums from up close is too loud that it’s not that great. The American version of grass makes me think of the american dream and having a nicely mowed green lawn. I think that cultural differences make one more relevant to another area. I grew up in the States and don’t really know if the sound of a drum is as meaningful in a proverb.

Proverb

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: U.S.
Performance Date: March 18, 2017
Primary Language: English

Here is a proverb my friend provided on keeping a normal heart. She learned it from her political teacher in her middle school.

Proverb:

The followings are Original script, Phonetic script, Transliteration, and Full translation in order.

水            能          载         舟，          亦          能       覆            舟。

Shui       neng      zai     zhou,           yi         neng     fu          zhou.

Water    can        float    boat,         also       can    capsize    boat.

Water can float the boat, but also can capsize the boat.

 

Thoughts:

This proverb was originally a warning the famous philosopher Xunzi gave to a King. He used the water as metaphor of the people and the boat of King’s authority. It is later used to describe that everything has a positive side and a negative side, so one must handle things carefully.

This proverb shows how the proverb can originally targeting one specific event, but later is re-comprehended and now can have a more general meaning.