"Dé Sathairn."
Translation:Saturday.
12 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
There’s more than one meaning to dé. In this case, dé means “day” (the second definition at the dictionary site). “On” is used in the English translation because Dé Sathairn is only used adverbially, like “on Saturday” in English is.
in that case, what is the difference between de and la? (ignore my fada-less-ness)
Dé is mainly used now only in literary contexts (apart from adverbial use for weekday names). Lá is the usual word for most meanings of “day”.
Would this mean " day of Saturn"? Does the Irish Sathairn have the same root as Saturn, as Saturday does?
Yes, both Satharn (Sathairn is its genitive) and “Saturday”, as well as both Satarn and “Saturn”, have their roots in Latin Saturnus.
1320
I don't think that they have their roots in the Latin version. I'd rather say, both have their roots in an older religion of the Indo-Europeans.
The eDIL entry for Satharn(n) explicitly shows
(Lat. dies Saturni)
as its etymological source, quoting Bergin’s Irish grammatical tracts. What has led you to conclude that Satharn is not derived from Latin Saturnus ?
- 1320
Because not all words today which are similar to Latin have a Latin offspring. For example father and pater are of course related, but father doesn't come from pater. Instead both are derived from an older Indo-European language. The Germani had their own word for father. They didn't need a new one. Our English teacher (who teaches among others also Latin) told us multiple times that it's a common mistake to assume what I wrote in the first sentence. However, in this case it looks like you're right and I'm not/wasn't!^^ I hope my explanation is understandable, I'm just a German student and still learn English at school!^^
previously Saturday = Satharn so I thought Dé Sathairn was on Saturday. At least that was in my notes for the lesson