Archive by Author
An Focal “Twerking” i nGaeilge (Yet Another “tv+vowel” Word!) Posted by róislín on Oct 11, 2013
(le Róislín) I started pondering this question shortly after the Miley Cyrus escapades broke the news but I simply thought I’d eventually do a blog on the various words used to describe what “twerking” is, like “gyrate,” “thrust,” etc. I wasn’t sure if the powers that be in the Irish vocabulary world would decide on…
An Litir ‘V’ in Aibítir na Gaeilge (The Letter ‘V’ in the Irish Alphabet) Posted by róislín on Oct 6, 2013
(le Róislín) Some of you may have been surprised to see the combination “tv,” followed by a vowel, in the recent post about “tvuíteanna” and “tvuíteáil” ( https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/how-to-say-tweet-and-twitter-in-irish/). Admittedly, it’s not at all common in Irish, or, for that matter, in any other languages that I’ve been able to check (with Russian city and river “Tver”…
How To Say ‘Tweet’ and ‘Twitter’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Sep 30, 2013
(le Róislín) Remember when “tweets” and “twittering” mostly referred to birds, especially the “spideog” or the “smólach imirce“? Or perhaps the sound of “caint eachtardhomhandach” (the speech of extra-terrestrials) as in H. G. Wells’ insect-like Selenites? You might recall that they made “a slight elusive twittering,” as observed by Messrs. Bedford and Cavor (The First…
An Dara Grúpa d’Fhocail: Curiosity, Passion, Interest, Heritage, Family (i nGaeilge) Posted by róislín on Sep 28, 2013
(le Róislín) In the previous blog we looked at the Irish for the five most prominent terms in this speech balloon. Seo iad: Eolas, Grá, Cultúr, Spraoi, Cairde. An cuimhin leat an Béarla atá orthu? The translations back into English are below (má tá cuidiú de dhíth ort). Anois, an chéad ghrúpa eile d’fhocail. But wait…
Na Fáthanna Is Mó: Knowledge, Love, Fun, Culture, Friends Posted by róislín on Sep 25, 2013
(le Róislín) By now you’ve all probably noticed Transparent Language’s new “balún cainte,” which shows reasons why people choose to learn a new language. This blog will translate the five most prominent fáthanna (reasons) that show up “sa bhalún cainte” (in the speech balloon). But, bíodh cuimhne agat, there’s not always a one-to-one correspondence as…
Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a Trí as Trí) Posted by róislín on Sep 22, 2013
(le Róislín) The previous two blogs in this “mionsraith” discussed Seamus Heaney’s use of Irish in writing poetry in English. We discussed the Irish titles of some of his poems (e.g. “Aisling,” “Maighdean Mara“) and the implied Irish in “The Backward Look,” where he incorporates folk expressions for “snipe” into the body of a poem…
Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a Dó as Trí) Posted by róislín on Sep 19, 2013
(le Róislín) In the last blog we looked at the Irish titles of two of Heaney’s poems, “Aisling” (Dream/Vision) and “Maighdean Mara” (Mermaid/Sea-maiden). This time we’ll look at a poem which is inspired by some Irish Gaelic words but which doesn’t actually include them in the text. So, by reading this blog, you’ll not only…