Can a Gaeilgeoir explain the difference between “an Domhan” and “an Talamh” in Irish to me? I could’ve sworn that I’ve heard “Talamh” before in Irish but I’m only a beginner so I haven’t got a clue as to why it’s not shown on this map

14 comments

1. I think the map is wrong. Domhain means World/Universe as opposed to Earth. Talamh means the Earth/Ground.

2. I think the map is incorrect. An Domhan means the world whilst an talamh would mean the ground or earth.

3. “An Domhan” means the world, or Earth the planet.

   “Talamh” means land, ground, or earth the soil.

   “Cré” is another word for earth (the soil kind)

4. presumably they are talking about earth as in ‘planet earth’ rather than the dirt or tract of land kind. an domhan.

5. An domhan means *the* Earth.

   Talamh means earth, as in the soil /ground.

6. domhain is the world, talamh is the ground

7. Was watching that Tom Hanks movie “News of the World” a few days ago and saw that earth was dōm in Kiowa, pronounced almost the same as the Irish. Went down a rabbit hole of offshoot mad theories. The red haired tribe of cannibal giants of Nevada and the Duhare tribe of the South Carolina.

8. Part of the why the ‘Domhan’/‘Talamh’ translation is confusing is because of how these words were intended to by conveyed in the context of the old Irish culture.

   Talamh referred to the ground, the soil under your feet and what could be considered the ‘visible ground’, so hills, ditches and the surface of all of the earthy/geoform around you. This is an important distinction because of how old Irish conceived the ‘other world’, as being manifested/mirrored through natural formations in our world, ie. A mound or hill would be constituted as ‘soil’ at its surface (Talamh) but the veil between our world and the Otherworld would be maintained as that layer of surface soil – this would be why disturbance of top layers of soil could be considered as ‘weakening the veil’.

   An Domhan – this refers to the world, our visible, known world, with its sky, sea and plains. It exists within our observable and revisitable mind, and would straddle the otherworld, which is best considered as pockets of ‘unreality’ pressed against the fabric of our reality. When Irish legends tell of ‘Tír na …’ in the sense of otherworldly places, they refer to places that we could pass through the veil into these otherworlds, in a sense, leaving our world – an Domhan. This is, in part, why material earth is so powerful in Irish legend, with ‘Talamh’ acting as an anchor to our world – the Children of Lir and ‘Tir an N’Og’ describe this relationship in their tales.

   TL;DR – an Domhan refers to the content of our world, and Talamh refers to the ground, but often with the implication of this ground acting as the boundary between our world and the otherworld

9. talamh = ground/floor

   tire = land

   domhan = earth i.e “Planet Earth”

10. An talmhan would mean the land.

11. “an Domhan”… (Pron. *un Down)* = The World. the Earth.

    “an Talamh”… (Pron. *un Taluv)* = the Ground, the Soil.

12. An Domhan – The Earth

    An Talamh – The Ground

13. Domain is earth as in world, talamh is earth as in ground.

14. finland be like

    I’ll tell me Maa, til I go home, those greenhouse gases won’t leave the world alone.