Irish Language Blog

(le Róislín)  In keeping with the novel coronavirus terms introduced in the previous blog (nasc thíos), we add a few more terms here: sneezing and coughing, and related terms like “droplets” and “salivary.” Let’s start with “sneeze” and some of its various forms.  The most basic, in my experience, is “sraoth a ligean” (lit. to…

(le Róislín) There are, of course, many ways to look at and discuss the ongoing coróinvíreas, but, since this is a language-learning site, how about the tried and true method of ord na haibítre (alphabetical order)?  Irish to English — and that may be a bit of a challenge since the Irish alphabet doesn’t typically…

(le Róislín) Cén lá a dtarlaíonn damhsa mar seo? Cén bhliain a ndearna na cailíní sa phictiúr an damhsa seo, i do bharúil: sna 1930í? sna 1940í? sna 1950í? sna 1960í? sna 1970í? sna 1980í? sna 1990í? Ar ndóigh, is féidir linn a bheith cinnte nach raibh sé san aois seo. Freagra thíos, bunoscionn. Grafaic…

(le Róislín) From New Year’s Day (1 Eanáir) to World AIDS Day (1 Mí na Nollag), there are significant events on the first day of each month of the year.  Some, like Lá Domhanda SEIF, are of profound importance in recognizing the issues of 21st-century life.  Others, like *Lá Náisiúnta Brioscaí Baile (1 Deireadh Fómhair), are…

(le Róislín) Irish can have up to five consonants in a row, something we rarely encounter in English.  These situations usually occur because a prefix has been added to a word, so the seemingly simple “cleas” (trick) can become “droch-chleas” when we add the prefix “droch-” (bad).  In this case, with “ch” followed by “ch,”…

(le Róislín, taking a short break from the “Nature Words” series, in honor of the season) ‘Tis the season where we go around wishing people ‘Happy’ (‘sona‘ in Irish) _____ (fill in your holiday). Or do we? One of the most basic words for “happy” in Irish is “sona,” which sometimes appears as “shona,” as…

(le Róislín) Which words should be in a dictionary and which ones should be removed after a certain period of time?  We can all probably agree that for modern English pocket dictionaries, we probably don’t need to take up space with words like “apricity” or “yelm,” although I’m delighted to find them in Landmarks, Robert…