Focal an Lae #164
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: gallúnach (GAH-loo-nuhkh) [galuːnəx]
Meaning: gallúnach = soap
Usage:
- Nigh do lámha le gallúnach! (NYIH duh LAW-wuh luh GAH-loo-nuhkh) [n′i də laːvə lə galuːnəx] = Wash your hands with soap!
- púdar gallúnaí (POO-duhr GAH-loo-nee) [puːdər galuːniː] = soap powder (lit., powder of-soap)
- sobal gallúnaí (SO-buhl...) [sobəl...] = soap suds
History: Irish “gallúnach” appears to be a compound of “gall” (foreign) and “uanach” (foaming, from “uan”, foam).
Old Irish “úan” (froth, foam), Welsh “ewyn” and Breton “eon” derive from Indo-European *pow-ino-, from the root *pu (to swell, blow),
with loss of “p” which is regular in proto-Celtic.
Old Irish “Gall” originally meant “Gaul” and was later applied in turn to the Norse and the English, and finally came to mean “foreigner, foreign”.
The name of the Gauls (Latin “Galli”) probably comes from the Indo-European root *gal- (to be able, to have power).