# Irish: Gardaí Síochána



## L'irlandais

Dia daoibh,
Altough *Taoiseach* has already been discussed on here, I've seen no mention of the *dail* (_Irish parliment_) at all.
Nor for that matter, have I seen mention of the *Gardaí*, used for *_An Garda Síochána na hÉireann_, our _police force_.  (Similar to the French notion "_Gardiens de la paix_")

Sample sentence :  _"The *Gardaí* were out in force the other night."_

I wonder if such words are in some way different from the other loan-words we've been discussing, in that they are very much official terms.  Are these a special type of loan-words? or am I imagining it?
Slán go fóill,


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## Pedro y La Torre

Just a small correction l'irlandais, the usual term is An _Garda_ Síochána na hÉireann.

I presume that the use of Gardai or Dail is no different to the use of _Knesset_ to describe the Israeli parliament, or talking about the _Gendarmerie_ in reference to a branch of the French police.


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## elirlandes

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Just a small correction l'irlandais, the usual term is An _Garda_ Síochána na hÉireann.



An Garda Síochána = the police force [Literally The Guardian of Peace]
e.g. My brother is in the Garda Síochána. / My brother is in the Gardaí / My brother is in the guards.

We address a policeman as "Garda" or "Guard" ["Monsieur l'agent"]
When talking about 1 policeman, he can be referred to as "a garda" or "a guard": My brother is a garda / a guard.



L'irlandais said:


> the *dáil* (_Irish parliment_)


Typo - "dáil" uses a fada on the "a" even when written in English.

In fact, that perhaps makes the distinction you refer to. These words are Irish language words used in English, whereas others discussed in the forum have been Irish words which are anglicised into English - _am I mistaken in calling them calques_?.

The mention of gardaí is interesting because an Irish person (who, for the benefit of non-Irish forum members) is less likely to say "Call the police!" when in Ireland, will say either:

"Call the gardaí" [using the Irish language word in english]
or
"Call the guards" [using an anglicisation of the Irish language word in english]

It appears that these Irish language words are all Proper Nouns of specific institutions in Ireland.

Curiously for our head of government, when speaking in English we use the term Taoiseach, and never Prime Minister or equivalent, whereas our head of state, the President is almost always referred to using the english language word "President" and not the Irish "Uachtarán".

Following on from that, in Ireland, we would say that :
The President lives in the Áras. 
The President lives in Áras an Uachtarán.
...which means 
The President lives in the "_Residence"_ or "the President's Residence".


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## Brioche

elirlandes said:


> Curiously for our head of government, when speaking in English we use the term Taoiseach, and never Prime Minister or equivalent.



In Germany they translate Taoiseach as _Ministerpräsident_, which how they translate Prime Minister.

If one were mischievous, one could suggest that _Häuptling_ or _Führer_ is a closer translation.


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## franc 91

En français le mot Taoiseach (Premier Ministre) historiquement désigne un chef ou cheftaine et son adjoint le Tànaiste veut dire le Dauphin ou l'Héritier. Un député (TD) Teachta Dàla est un messager du Dàil (l'Assemblée). Le mot pour le Président ou la Présidente (Uachtaràn) a la même racine que le mot crème (uachtar). Flann O'Brien disait que le premier citoyen de la République n'était qu'un crèmier, et sa résidence officielle, Aràs an Uachtaràin, "la grande crèmerie". Il y a aussi la blague un peu usée lorsque l'on parle des gardes (gardiens de la paix - an Garda Siochàna) qui deviennent la Garde des Poulets - an Garda Sicini.
Je cite Ciaràn Mac Guill - l'Irlandais de Poche (Assimil)


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