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Deatach Dubh, Deatach Bán … agus Pápa! Posted by róislín on Mar 10, 2013
(le Róislín) The selection of a new pope gives us an interesting opportunity to look at some Irish vocabulary, in particular, the words for “smoke,” the colors “black” (dubh) and “white” (bán), and, for good measure, “gray” (liath), and “conclave.” And of course, the word for “pope,” which is “pápa.” Let’s start with “deatach dubh”…
Súil Siar ar Théarmaí Réalteolaíochta (Review of Astronomical Terms in Irish) Posted by róislín on Mar 6, 2013
(le Róislín) Before we completely leave the téarmaí réaleolaíochta behind us, let’s do one last bit of “cleachtadh.” Seo roinnt frásaí le meaitseáil, na focail i gcolún A leis na focail i gcolún B. Some of the terms come from the recent blogs on dreigítí, cóiméid, and astaróidigh, and some are general terms that might…
Trí Fhocal ar ‘Asteroid’ (in Irish) Posted by róislín on Feb 28, 2013
(le Róislín) Since we’ve been on this astronomy kick, covering dreigítí agus cóiméid, I figured we may as well cover asteroids as well. Overall, I’d say that of the three terms (meteor, comet, asteroid), the term “astaróideach” is the most straightforward of the three. There are still several choices, but they all break down into recognizable…
A ‘Cóiméad’ by Any Other Name Posted by róislín on Feb 22, 2013
(le Róislín) Last blog I alluded to five words in Irish for comet agus seo iad. The first one you have no doubt spotted by now since it’s i dteideal an bhlag seo. It’s a fairly straightforward word, first declension, masculine. Here are its forms: 1) cóiméad, comet, as in “Beidh Cóiméad Halley ar ais…
Is Éan É! Is Eitleán É! Ní Hea — Dreige Atá Ann! (Sorry, Clark!) Posted by róislín on Feb 16, 2013
(le Róislín) Or should that be “dreigít“? Or “dreigeoideach“? Bhuel, all three really, I guess, depending on what stage of the event you’re talking about. I thought I had learned all that téarmaíocht réalteolaíoch, at least the buntéarmaí, years ago, but when the news reports start coming in about the Chelyabinsk event, I realized I…
Deich nDóigh (10 Ways) le ‘I Love You’ a Rá i nGaeilge Posted by róislín on Feb 8, 2013
(le Róislín) So, Irish has lots of ways to say “I love you,” but most of them don’t involve the verb “to love.” How is that supposed to work? Bhuel, with lots of téarmaí ceana (terms of endearment)! In other words, you mostly use nouns to say that someone is your sweetheart, your darling, your…
Feabhra na bhFéilte ‘s na bhFeiseanna (February Holidays and Festivals) Posted by róislín on Jan 31, 2013
(le Róislín) These days we can find a special day to celebrate practically every item, product, or concept imaginable, from cheese-rolling (at Cooper’s Hill, England), wife-carrying (originally Finland, now international, including Newry, Maine, and locations in Wisconsin and Michigan), the Idiotarod [sic!] (various locations), and “Punch Your Neighbor Day” in Bolivia. But for a mí…