Archive for 'Irish Language'
Beannachtaí i nGaeilge a Dó – Or How to Greet Several People in Irish Posted by róislín on Mar 25, 2009
(le Róislín) Beannachtaí i nGaeilge (Cuid a Dó) – Or How to Greet Several People in Irish As promised in a recent blog, here we’ll look at the greetings used when you’re talking to more than one person. Remember that Irish has two different ways to say “you,” singular and plural. Therefore, phrases such as “Dia…
Beannachtaí i nGaeilge – Or How to Greet Someone in Irish Posted by róislín on Mar 23, 2009
(le Róislín) Beannachtaí i nGaeilge (Cuid a hAon) – Or How to Greet Someone in Irish For starters, let’s look at the word “beannacht,” which literally means “a blessing” but which also means “greeting.” Traditionally almost all Irish greetings were blessings. Today, the field has opened up with various versions of “hello” and “hi” now…
An Chéad Lá den Earrach (The First Day of Spring) – Not! Posted by róislín on Mar 21, 2009
(le Róislín) Shortly after St. Patrick’s Day, we welcome in an tEarrach (the Spring). Or do we? We may be accustomed to thinking of March 20th or 21st as the beginning of Spring, but there is actually a lot of controversy in English as to whether Spring starts on the first of the month or…
As Easy as “a hAon, a Dó, a Trí” – Na Maoluimhreacha i nGaeilge Posted by róislín on Mar 19, 2009
(le Róislín) Quite a few of the basic Irish numbers from one to ten are recognizable if you know at least one other European language. In each case, the actual number is preceded by the single letter “a,” which here is the numerical particle. It has no actual meaning. It simply indicates that a “maoluimhir”…
A Lán Lann – A Lot of Places (with the Suffix “–lann”) Posted by róislín on Mar 15, 2009
(le Róislín) You may have noticed Transparent Language’s recent WOTD, an bhialann, the restaurant, and you may recognize a keyword in this expression, “bia” (food). It’s helpful to know the suffix “–lann” also, since it is used to make dozens of words. The suffix comes from the word “lann,” which has many meanings, including “land,” “ground,”…
Lá Fhéile Pádraig! Posted by róislín on Mar 12, 2009
(le Róislín) As you might have guessed, the title phrase above means “St. Patrick’s Day,” a good time for launching this “blag nua” (new blog). Remember that in pronunciation, the “fh” of the word “Fhéile” is completely silent. For that reason, you sometimes see the phrase written as “Lá ‘Éile Pádraig,” dropping the “fh” entirely. …