Archive for August, 2018
Six more Irish words ending in ‘-íceach/-ící’ on topics ranging from algae to spiked hair Posted by róislín on Aug 31, 2018
(le Róislín) As promised last time, here are the remaining words I have been able to find that end in “-íceach.” These are aidiachtaí cineálacha (generic adjectives), not eatnainmneacha (ethnonyms) like we saw in the previous blogpost (nasc thíos). Just for a quick review, here are the ethnonyms from the last blogpost again but with…
Irish Words ending with ‘-íceach’ and sometimes ‘-ícigh’ or ‘-ící’ – dosaen fada díobh Posted by róislín on Aug 29, 2018
(le Róislín) From “-icí” [IK-ee] to “-ící” [EEK-ee]! In the last blogpost (nasc thíos) we looked at some Irish words ending in “-icí,” either in their basic structure, like “dicí” or “soinicí” or in an inflected form, like “picnicí,” “gúsnaicí,” or “ceimicí.” Today we’ll look at a few Irish words ending in “-íceach,” which in…
Four Ways the Irish Word Ending “-icí” Can Be Used (Picnicí, Eiticí, Seicí, Vicí) Posted by róislín on Aug 27, 2018
(le Róislín) Remember the two recent blogposts about “picnicí” (naisc thíos). Well, one was really about picnics and the other one was really about counting how many people were at the picnic. Thinking about the word “picnic” (plural: picnicí) and how it might have gotten borrowed into Irish got me thinking about what other words…
Counting People in Irish — Cén daoine? Na daoine ag an bpic-nic! Posted by róislín on Aug 25, 2018
(le Róislín) Counting people in Irish is fairly straightforward, but there are two important things to remember: The question “How many people …?” keeps the word for “people” in the singular in Irish, so we use “duine” (person), not “daoine” (people). The question is “Cé mhéad duine …?” There is a special system of numbers…
The Word ‘Picnic’ in Irish and the Mysterious Insect ‘Créachadóir na bPicnicí’ Posted by róislín on Aug 22, 2018
(le Róislín) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Cole%27s_%22The_Picnic%22,_Brooklyn_Museum_IMG_3787.JPG, A Pic-Nic Party (The Picnic), by Thomas Cole (1801-1848), public domain; lipéad Gaeilge le Róislín, 2018 It’s not hard to figure out how to say ‘picnic’ in Irish – it’s “picnic”! The only thing that’s a bit tricky is to figure out what slight changes might occur to the word when we…
Saying ‘Hi’ to Aoife or Tadhg in Irish: Direct Address Forms for Names in the New Video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name’ Posted by róislín on Aug 19, 2018
(le Róislín) Names like “Caoimhe” or “Bláthnaid” may seem unusual to people outside Ireland or the growing “cibear-Ghaeltacht.” And this may include baristas ar fud an domhain (around the world), or everywhere the Irish diaspora has spread. This issue was dealt with delightfully in the new video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name,’ which…
An féidir leat déileáil leo seo? Irish Language Practice for the New Video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name’ Posted by róislín on Aug 16, 2018
(le Róislín) Many of you many have seen by now the entertaining new video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name,’ which shows a barista in a coffee bar looking baffled by some traditional Irish names (nasc thíos). Perhaps some of you have had similar experiences in real life. If so, scríobh isteach, le…