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Tag Archives: An Nollaig

Nollaig nó Nollag (How To Say ‘Christmas’ or ‘of Christmas’ in Irish) Posted by on Dec 24, 2013

(le Róislín) As Christmas approaches, you might be wondering why there’s such a constant variation of whether to say “Nollaig” or “Nollag,” and in a similar vein, “An Nollaig” or “na Nollag.” First, the basic answer, and then some examples. And before that, a pronunciation pointer. What is the difference in sound between “Nollaig” and…

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Scannáin Nollag (Christmas Movies — na teidil i nGaeilge) Posted by on Dec 9, 2012

(le Róislín) Seo rogha de scannáin Nollag a bhfuil clú mór orthu.  Fad m’eolais níl leagan Gaeilge díobh ann so rinne mé an chéad chéim — na teidil a aistriú go Gaeilge.  An aithníonn tú iad?  Agus an féidir leat iad a mheaitseáil leis na teidil i mBéarla?  Mar chuidiú, tá gluais leis na freagraí. …

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As Easy As “Pióg”: How To Say Kinds of Pies in Irish Posted by on Nov 12, 2011

(le Róislín) In the end, you’ll need to be your own judge as to whether this is really “as easy as pie,” but here at least are some tips for naming different types of pies.  And as two holiday seasons approach, Lá Altaithe (Meiriceá) and An Nollaig, what tastier topic? So let’s look at the terms for…

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Laethanta na Seachtaine (Days of the Week, in Irish, with pronunciation) Posted by on Sep 24, 2011

(le Róislín) And one more féilire-related topic: laethanta na seachtaine.  Which could also be called “laethe na seachtaine.”  Both plural forms of “lá” are widely used, “laethanta” and “laethe.” You’ve already noticed the use of “an tuiseal ginideach” in this phrase, right?  That accounts for the “-e” ending to the word “seachtain.”  Since we’re saying…

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Daidí nó Athair (na Nollag) Posted by on Dec 16, 2010

We recently addressed the “happy” vs. “merry” distinction for Christmas greetings, discussing the use of “sona” (or shona), faoi shéan and faoi mhaise, as well as non-Christmas terms translated as “happy,” like dea-, or which may function like “happy” lie “beannachtaí” (lit. blessing).  Some day we’ll deal with a slew of other “happy” words, like…

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An Cháisc (Easter) is a Cognate of … Pascha and Pesach Posted by on Apr 12, 2009

(le Róislín) It may seem straightforward enough that Pascha (Latin for Easter) and Pesach (Passover) are linguistically related to each other.  Several of the other Celtic words for Easter are also clearly connected, Y Pasg (Welsh), Pask (Cornish, Breton), as are the English adjective, Paschal, and the Romance words, Pâques, Pascua, and Pasqua.  Their connection…

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