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In Irish, should we say “an enchilada fada” or “an t-enchilada fada” or “an enchilada fhada”?   Posted by on Jul 10, 2017

(le Róislín) Since I had so much fun in the last blogpost (nasc thíos) saying “enchilada fada” to myself, I thought you might enjoy playing around with the phrase also. Actually, there’s a very serious question to be addressed first.  If we say “enchilada” in an Irish language sentence, should we consider the word to…

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From ‘Multilingual Madness’ to the ‘Siege Perilous’ via a Discussion of ‘Ord na bhFocal’ in Irish Posted by on Apr 14, 2014

 (le Róislín) Lately we’ve looked at the possibilities for saying “multilingual” and “madness” in Irish (ilteangach, buile, among other choices).  The next question is how do we put the two words together.   We’ll follow the typical word order in Irish, first noun, then adjective.   This is the reverse of the normal word order in English…

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Cailíní — firinscneach? Staileanna — baininscneach? Go figure! Posted by on Nov 30, 2012

(le Róislín) Very early on in learning Irish, most people see phrases like “an capall” (the horse) and “an bhó” (the cow).  Or “an seomra” (the room) and “an chistin” (the kitchen).  Then, somewhere along the way, we learn that the basic form of “cow” is “bó” (not “bhó“) and that the basic form of…

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Cúpla Caife Gaelach, Dhá Chaife Ghaelacha (A Couple of Irish Coffees vs. Two Irish Coffees) Posted by on Aug 20, 2011

(le Róislín) Lenition, another lenition, and a plural ending.  That’s the difference that happens when we say “two Irish coffees” as opposed to “a couple of Irish coffees.” So how does that work? As we discussed in the last blog, the Irish word “cúpla” is followed by the singular form of the noun (unlike English…

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Aimsir na Cásca Posted by on Apr 21, 2011

(le Róislín) Hmm, “Aimsir na Cásca”?  “The Weather of Easter”?  Not really, even though Easter weather may be important for such outdoor activities as tóraíochtaí uibheacha Cásca or for the temporary workers who wear cultacha coiníní Cásca and stand outside places like bialanna and seomraí taispeántais carranna to attract customers to come in.  Iad ag…

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