Charles Davis Feb 10, 2012:

Yes it could. It could be either or both, really. "Multicoloured" and "sparkling" could suggest it's referring to their appearance, but my first reaction to "gay" here is "blithe". The two ideas can be closely connected. People sometimes talk about "cheerful" wallpaper (once they might have referred to wallpaper being "very gay"). That suggests brightly coloured, but also that it induces cheerfulness. It would be great to use a word that has both aspects, and actually "gayo" fits the bill. Anyway, I like rescuing words from oblivion!

DLyons Feb 10, 2012:

@Charles If this is Poe, presumably the text is "... backed by a forest vegetation, gigantic, glossy, multicoloured, sparkling with gay birds and burthened with perfume these features make up, in the vale of Louisiana, the most voluptuous natural scenery upon earth."

In that passage, "gay" could certainly be "happy", "blithe".

Javier Moreno Pollarolo (asker) Feb 10, 2012:

Epechácatamente :)

isabelmurill (X) Feb 10, 2012:

@all Que bonitos los versos de Zorrilla. ¿Veis cómo estos foros nos ayudan a todos a conocer la belleza del idioma?

Javier Moreno Pollarolo (asker) Feb 9, 2012:

Thank you Charles, and thank you all for your contributions!

Charles Davis Feb 9, 2012:

It depends on the context, but I would be very tempted to put "gayas aves". I admit it's a bit archaic and literary, but then so is "gay birds". Nowadays, in my experience, only very unworldly old ladies use the word "gay" in its original sense, which is clearly the sense it has here. Indeed, if you look up "gay birds" on the Internet it is some time before you find a case which does not refer to homosexual birds.

"Gayo", meaning "alegre, vistoso", is still in the dictionary. "Gayas aves" is an attractive expression, used not only in the Spanish translation of Poe ("una selvática vegetación, gigantesca, lustrosa, multicolor, chispeante de gayas aves y cargada de perfume"), but also by Zorrilla in Granada ("Gayas aves entretienen / Con sus trinos y sus quejas / El afán de las abejas / Que en tus troncos labran miel"), and by several other writers. Anyway, I'm not totally convinced "gay" has to mean just "brightly coloured". In principle, "gay" used to mean "alegre".

Javier Moreno Pollarolo (asker) Feb 9, 2012:

Yeah, not exactly that, but a study of it.

DLyons Feb 9, 2012:

Córtazar's translation of Poe?

Javier Moreno Pollarolo (asker) Feb 9, 2012:

Gracias DLyons! Estaba en duda puesto que encontré una traducción, bastante antigua, en donde se referían a los "pájaros Gayos" (sic), y hasta me puse a buscar en mi enciclopedia de la vida animal por si las dudas.

DLyons Feb 9, 2012:

I think it just means "brightly coloured" and is a popular, rather than scientific, term.