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Celtic Pathways – Sunwise
In this episode we unravel the Celtic roots the English word deiseal.
Deiseal [ˈdjɛʃəl] refers to a motion towards the right, in the direction of the hands of a clock or of the apparent motion of the sun (in the Northern Hemisphere); a turning in this direction. It is also written deisal, deasil, deisul or deshil [source].
Apparently deiseal can also be said when someone sneezes or swallows something awry. In this context, it means ‘May it go right’, and is an alternative to ‘(God) bless you’ or ‘gesundheit’.
It was borrowed from the Irish word deiseal (righthand direction, direction of the sun, clockwise, sunwise), which comes from Old Irish dess [dʲes] (right, south) and sel [sʲel] (a turn, a while), from Proto-Celtic *dexswos (right, south) and *swelos (a turn) [source].
Related words in the Celtic languages include mearbhall [ˈmʲaɾˠəwəl̪ˠ] (bewilderment, confusion) in Irish, deiseal [dʲeʃal] (clockwise, facing south, finished, ready, poised, prepared, handy, dexterous) in Scottish Gaelic, jeshal (clockwise) in Manx, and chwŷl [χwɨːl] (turn of events, course, destiny) in Welsh.
And also tuathal [ˈt̪ˠuəhəl̪ˠ] (anticlockwise, counterclockwise) in Irish, and tuathal [tuəhəl̪ˠ] (anticlockwise, unlucky, ill-omened, confused, agitated, disorien(ta)ted) in Scottish Gaelic [source].
More details of such words can be found in the Celtiadur post To Seek.
Another word for anticlockwise in English is widdershins / withershins, which also used to mean ‘the wrong way’. It comes from Middle Low German weddersins, from wedder- (whither, against, opposite) and sin (direction, way) [source].
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By Simon Ager
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In this episode we unravel the Celtic roots the English word deiseal.
Deiseal [ˈdjɛʃəl] refers to a motion towards the right, in the direction of the hands of a clock or of the apparent motion of the sun (in the Northern Hemisphere); a turning in this direction. It is also written deisal, deasil, deisul or deshil [source].
Apparently deiseal can also be said when someone sneezes or swallows something awry. In this context, it means ‘May it go right’, and is an alternative to ‘(God) bless you’ or ‘gesundheit’.
It was borrowed from the Irish word deiseal (righthand direction, direction of the sun, clockwise, sunwise), which comes from Old Irish dess [dʲes] (right, south) and sel [sʲel] (a turn, a while), from Proto-Celtic *dexswos (right, south) and *swelos (a turn) [source].
Related words in the Celtic languages include mearbhall [ˈmʲaɾˠəwəl̪ˠ] (bewilderment, confusion) in Irish, deiseal [dʲeʃal] (clockwise, facing south, finished, ready, poised, prepared, handy, dexterous) in Scottish Gaelic, jeshal (clockwise) in Manx, and chwŷl [χwɨːl] (turn of events, course, destiny) in Welsh.
And also tuathal [ˈt̪ˠuəhəl̪ˠ] (anticlockwise, counterclockwise) in Irish, and tuathal [tuəhəl̪ˠ] (anticlockwise, unlucky, ill-omened, confused, agitated, disorien(ta)ted) in Scottish Gaelic [source].
More details of such words can be found in the Celtiadur post To Seek.
Another word for anticlockwise in English is widdershins / withershins, which also used to mean ‘the wrong way’. It comes from Middle Low German weddersins, from wedder- (whither, against, opposite) and sin (direction, way) [source].
Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.