Tag Archives: Chutzpah
Some Irish Words Starting with the Letter ‘X’ (Part 1 of 2) Posted by róislín on Sep 14, 2015
(le Róislín) As you might suspect, there are relatively few words in Irish that start with the letter ‘x,’ since it wasn’t part of the traditional original Irish alphabet (which was a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, and u). We’ve seen something similar for…
Pronunciation Tips for ”Six Ways to Say ‘I Want Some More’ in Irish” Posted by róislín on May 14, 2014
(le Róislín) From time to time (ó am go ham), I like to go back to a previous blog and provide more pronunciation notes. Here are a few more tips for ” Six Ways to Say, ‘I Want Some More’ in Irish (ag cur Gaeilge ar athfhriotal clúiteach Oilibhéir)” (10 Bealtaine 2014; nasc thíos). As…
How to Say ‘2014’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Dec 31, 2013
(le Róislín) Dhá mhíle is a ceathair déag. Piece o’ cake, right? Well, maybe, but for anyone new to the language, here is a rough pronunciation guide: [γaw VEEL-yuh iss uh KYA-hirzh djayg]. [Pointe léirithe, 4 Eanáir 2014: ní an litir “y” atá i gceist i “γaw” ach an tsiombail teangeolaíochta “γ” .i. an tsiombail…
Cait: Cúpla Téarma Eile (Mothchat, Baldúin, Crúbálaí) Posted by róislín on Dec 9, 2013
(le Róislín) A few more cat terms have recently come to my attention. Let’s start with the rather eye-catching: mothchat [muh-khaht] tomcat Ar dtús báire, ní peata “Leamhanfhir” é. Nó “peata Fhear an Leamhain,” más fearr leat mar sin é. So, no, the Mothman of West Virginia (and of “Prophecies” fame) didn’t suddenly become a…
How To Pronounce ‘A Dheaide,’ ‘A Dhaidí,’ and Other Forms of ‘Dad/Daddy’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Jun 6, 2013
(le Róislín) Since June is mí Lá na nAithreacha, let’s look once more at the various words for “Dad” and “Daddy” in Irish, specifically in direct address. So we’ll take a brief break from the Irish names we were working on in the last blog (Seán, Sinéad, srl.) and their direct address forms (“Dia duit…
Saying “I love you” in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives Posted by róislín on Oct 9, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently been looking at different ways to say “I love you” in Irish. Some of you might have been wondering how to pronounce them, especially the phrases where the straightforward “grá” [graw] changes to “ghrá” [γraw, to be explained below, note the IPA gamma symbol for the “gh”] and the straightforward “croí” changes…
Where Do You Live? Cá Bhfuil Tú i do Chónaí? I mBaile Nach “Scáilbhaile” É! Posted by róislín on Jul 12, 2011
(le Róislín) Since we had a nice flurry of responses to the question about “Where do you live? In American Flag, Arizona?” (iarbhlag: nasc thíos) I figured we’d try a few more locations where readers of this blog might live, i.e. bailte, srl., nach scáilbhailte íad (towns, etc., that aren’t ghost towns). Of course, the…