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Archive for October, 2012

New Year’s – Celtic Style (1 Mí na Samhna in ionad 1 Eanáir) Posted by on Oct 31, 2012

(le Róislín) While January 1 is widely considered to be “New Year’s Day” in many parts of the world, including Ireland, there is/was a Celtic concept of the New Year that placed the holiday much earlier in the winter season, specifically on November 1. I say “is/was” quite deliberately.  Considering “an t-aonú lá de mhí…

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Uachtarán: The Irish Word for “President” (uachtar, “upper portion, cream” + -án, a suffix) Posted by on Oct 28, 2012

(le Róislín) I guess that “teideal an bhlag seo” pretty much explains the Irish word for president, “uachtarán” [OO-ukh-tar-awn].  “Uachtar” [OO-ukh-tar] actually means “upper portion,” widely used today to mean “cream” (as in “uachtar reoite,” ice-cream).  That is, of course a throwback to the days before homaiginiú, when the cream rose to the top of…

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Sárstoirm, Meigeastoirm, Ollstoirm (Superstorm, Megastorm, Great Storm) Posted by on Oct 25, 2012

(le Róislín) Several different words have been used to describe Hairicín Sandy (aka Spéirling Sandy).  Most of them involve the use of prefixes, although the term “stoirm fhoirfe” [STIRzh-im IRzh-fuh] could also be used.  “Stoirm fhoirfe,” is the Irish for “a perfect storm,” a term popularized (in English) by author Sebastian Junger in his 1997…

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Cineálacha Stoirmeacha (Kinds of Storms): An Scéal Leantach (The Sequel) Posted by on Oct 21, 2012

(le Róislín) Kind of has a nice beat, doesn’t it?  Cineálacha Stoirmeacha [KIN-yawl-ukh-uh STIRzh-im-ukh-uh].   Storms are possible any time of year, of course, but the month of October can see several types.  Stoirmeacha sneachta, mar a bhí ar chósta thiar na Stát Aontaithe i mí Dheireadh Fómhair (go luath don séasúr!) sa bhliain 2011 —…

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Puimcín Amháin, Dhá Phuimcín, Trí Phuimcín, Ollphuimcín … Puimcíní Go Leor (One Pumpkin … Pumpkins Galore, and the Great Pumpkin too) Posted by on Oct 18, 2012

(le Róislín) More counting practice, this time, le bheith tráthúil, le puimcíní.  First a quick review of the basic set-up for counting objects in Irish: the word for “one” follows the noun, other numbers come before the noun, two through six cause lenition (here, “p” becoming “ph”), and seven through ten cause eclipsis (here, “p”…

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Bígí Ciúin! Ba é an cat é! Or Should That Be “Ba Iad Na Deich gCat Dhubha Iad”? Posted by on Oct 15, 2012

(le Róislín) Just when you may have thought there couldn’t possibly be any more rialacha for comhaireamh in Irish, there is at least one more point to be addressed — the use of adjectives with the nouns being counted (e.g. two big dogs, five small cats). Given the season, let’s count black cats.  As you’ll…

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Ag Comhaireamh Daoine i gCultacha Oíche Shamhna (Vaimpírí, Gúil, srl.) Posted by on Oct 12, 2012

(le Róislín) So, the title of this blog means “Counting People in Halloween Costumes,” but of course there’s always the possibility that these beings are simply that, neacha (beings). I’ll leave that idirdhealú to you, na léitheoirí, and I’ll just proceed with how we would count them, lenite them, eclipse them, and otherwise grammatically manipulate…

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