Sláinte
Gaelic drinking toast
The word sláinte in Irish or slàinte in Scottish Gaelic means "health." As a drinking toast it is common in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, though also increasingly in other countries within the whiskey/whisky drinking community.
01Variations
| Language | Phrase | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| English | slainte | /ˈslɑːntʃə/ SLAHN-chə |
| Irish | sláinte (mhaith) | [ˈsˠl̪ˠaːn̠ʲtʲə (wa)] |
| Scots Gaelic | slàinte (mhath) | [ˈs̪l̪ˠaːɲtʲʰə (va)] |
| Scots Gaelic | do dheagh shlàinte | [t̪ə ʝoː ˈl̪ˠaːɲtʲʰə] |
| Scots Gaelic | slàinte mhòr | [ˈs̪l̪ˠaːɲtʲʰə voːɾ] |
| Manx | slaynt vie | [slentθ vaːi] |
| Manx | corp slaynt | [kʰoɾpʰ slentθ] |
Sláinte is the basic form in Irish. Variations of this toast include sláinte mhaith "good health" in Irish (mhaith being the lenited form of maith "good"). In Irish, the response to sláinte is sláinte agatsa, which translates "to your health as well".
The basic Scottish Gaelic equivalent is slàinte (mhath), with the 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 Jacobite toast with the alternative meaning of "health to Marion", Marion (Mòr) being a Jacobite code name for Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
The Manx Gaelic form is slaynt (vie) or shoh slaynt. Alternatively, corp slaynt "healthy body" is also used in Manx.
02Etymology
The word is an abstract noun derived from the Old Irish adjective 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," as well as the River Slaney in Ireland.
In some modern Romance languages, words descended from the Latin word salus (such as salute in Italian, salut in Catalan and Romanian, salud in Spanish) are similarly used as a toast. (However, sănătate in Romanian, santat in Occitan and santé in French are from Latin sanitas "health.")
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sláinte”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Slainte Bar, South Street, Perth - geograph.org.uk - 8063790.jpg by Bill Harrison, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Sláinte Mhath .- Bonne santé.jpg by © Pierre André, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
