Slàinte
Encyclopedia
Sláinte is a word literally translating as "health" and is commonly used as a drinking toast
in Ireland
, Scotland
and the Isle of Man
.
Variations of this toast exist, it can for example be expanded to sláinte mhaith "good health" in Irish
(mhaith being the lenited form of maith "good").
The basic Scottish Gaelic equivalent is slàinte (mhath) (same meaning) to which the normal response is do dheagh shlàinte "your good health". There are other variations such as:
The Manx Gaelic form is slaynt (vie) or shoh slaynt. Alternatively, corp slaynt "healthy body" is also used in Manx.
The toast is mispronounced by non-native speakers in various ways, most commonly with excessive voicing
as ˈzlɑːndʒ (see the Pronunciation box on this page for a guide to the correct pronunciation).
slán "whole, healthy" plus the Old Irish suffix
tu, resulting in slántu "health" and eventually Middle Irish sláinte. The root slán is derived from the Indo-European
root *slā- "advantageous" and linked to words like German
selig "blessed" and the Latin
salus "health".
In modern Romance languages, words descended from the Latin word salus (such as salute in Italian
, salud in Spanish
, saúde in Portuguese
or santé in French
) are similarly used as a toast.
Toast (honor)
A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast"...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
.
Variations
| Pronunciation | |
|---|---|
| Irish Irish language Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of... : |
sláinte (mhaith) |
| Pronunciation: | slaːnʲtʲə vah |
| Manx Gaelic: | slaynt vie |
| Pronunciation: | slent vaːi |
| Manx Gaelic: | corp slaynt |
| Pronunciation: | kɔɾ̥p slent |
| Scots Gaelic: | slàinte (mhath) |
| Pronunciation: | s̪lˠ̪aːɲtʲə va |
| Scots Gaelic: | do dheagh shlàinte |
| Pronunciation: | t̪ə ʝoː lˠ̪aːɲtʲə |
| Scots Gaelic: | slàinte mhòr |
| Pronunciation: | s̪lˠ̪aːɲtʲə voːɾ |
Variations of this toast exist, it can for example be expanded to sláinte mhaith "good health" in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
(mhaith being the lenited form of maith "good").
The basic Scottish Gaelic equivalent is slàinte (mhath) (same meaning) to which the normal response is do dheagh shlàinte "your good health". There are other variations such as:
- air do shlàinte "on your health!" with the response slàinte agad-sa "health at yourself!"
- slàinte mhòr "great health" which is also used as a JacobiteJacobite risingThe Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
toast with the alternative meaning of "health to Marion", Marion (Gaelic Mòr) being a Jacobite code name for Prince Charles Edward StuartCharles Edward StuartPrince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
.
The Manx Gaelic form is slaynt (vie) or shoh slaynt. Alternatively, corp slaynt "healthy body" is also used in Manx.
The toast is mispronounced by non-native speakers in various ways, most commonly with excessive voicing
Voicing
Voicing may refer to:* Voice , a property of speech sounds * Consonant voicing and devoicing, a phonological change* Voicing , a representation of a chord* Voice acting...
as ˈzlɑːndʒ (see the Pronunciation box on this page for a guide to the correct pronunciation).
Etymology
The word is an abstract noun derived from the Old Irish adjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
slán "whole, healthy" plus the Old Irish suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
tu, resulting in slántu "health" and eventually Middle Irish sláinte. The root slán is derived from the Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
root *slā- "advantageous" and linked to words like German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
selig "blessed" and the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
salus "health".
In modern Romance languages, words descended from the Latin word salus (such as salute in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, salud in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, saúde in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
or santé in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) are similarly used as a toast.