My wife is designing her tattoo that she’s gonna get done later today.
In it, she wants the Gaelic for mother (Ma`thair) and son… and she’s not quite happy with using “Mac” as son, which is what she keeps coming across.
Is there another acceptable word that means “Son” in Gaelic?
For those that were interested, she’s getting a Motherhood Heart with the baby’s footprint in the middle, with the words “Mother” and “Son” making a band that will go around her ankle.
Thanks for help! We’ve got about 2 hours before we head to the shop.
Not sure what’s wrong with mac, which is the word you want, but here are some alternatives:
balach: boy, lad, jack (in cards)
gille: boy, fellow, lad
leanbh: babe, baby, child [the word is grammatically masculine; to specify a female, you might use leanbh-mnà]
I am not a native speaker, so take the following with a grain of salt, but my impression is that the first two are a bit more jocular and the last one is only used of very young children.
… and also pàiste: child, kid
Sorry. My Angúm’s Foclóir Póca shows only mac for son and máthair for mother.
(Maicín is a spoiled child, but I doubt that you really want that.)
Foclóir Póca is Irish rather than Scottish Gaelic.
Although in m(á/à)thair the only difference is the direction of the accent, and in mac the only difference is the pronunciation (maak vs. makh-k).
Thank you all!
Sadly, right after I posted she came up with a sketch of her new idea.
It’s the baby’s footprint, still, surrounded by a Celtic Motherhood Heart. It’s beautiful.
I’ll try to link to a pic in the morning!