gaelic translation?

Question

Can anyone translate 'Mat-gae-bhun'
Thanks

Answer 1

It sounds like you mean "Mathghamhain" (pronounce mah-gow-un), an older Gaelic word for "bear." In Irish Gaelic, its use today is largely literary although it survives in Scotch Gaelic as "Mathun" (pronounced muh-hoon). The word originally meant "honey-eater" according to some sources I've read. The Slavic languages have words for "bear" which mean "honey-eater" too.

It's hard to tell if the modern Irish Gaelic word for "bear," béar (pronounced byair) is a loan word from English or indigenous. Some sources I've read derive it from Proto-Celtic *beatrix meaning "beast" or "monster." It also existis in Scottish Gaelic as "beithir."

Sometimes "Mathghamhain" is a personal name in Gaelic and it seems to be the name of a lot of characters in video games too.

You may also wish to see the web link below:

http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Mathgamain.shtml

Bears have been extinct in Ireland since the 10th century A.D. and in Scotland since the 16th, maybe 17th century. I suspect that the Viking invasions hastened their demise in Ireland just as the later English occupation led to the extinction of the wolf there.