Archive for 'Irish Language'
Cáisc, Cháisc, Chásca, Cásca et al. – Which One When? Posted by róislín on Apr 8, 2012
(le Róislín) After seeing so many Easter phrases, you might start to wonder why there are so many different forms of the same word. Well, there’s the practical answer and the theoretical answer. Let’s start with the practical answer. For “Easter” in Irish we have the subject form (An Cháisc, lenited because it’s a feminine…
Fools on Hills, and Otherwise, with Irish Pronunciation Tips Posted by róislín on Apr 1, 2012
(le Róislín) On the topic of fools (amadáin), Irish seems to have an endless supply of words. Probably other languages do as well (Welsh offering up ffŵl, ffwlcyn, hurtyn, lolyn, penbwl, twpsyn, and ynfytyn, just for starters), but our focus here, ar ndóigh, will be on Irish terms. We’ve recently discussed quite a few (gamal…
Lá na nAmadán…na nGamal?…na nÓinseach?…na bPleidhcí?…na bPleotaí? Posted by róislín on Mar 30, 2012
(le Róislín) We may be well accustomed to calling April 1st “Lá na nAmadán” in Irish, but couldn’t there be some other possibilities as well? Irish has many words for “a fool,” so what would happen if we tried some of the others? And, grammatically speaking, how do we work backwards from “fools” in the…
Cineálacha Gloiní: Types of Glasses Posted by róislín on Mar 26, 2012
(le Róislín) Before taking the mud-in-your-eye detour of the last blog (https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/maidir-le-mud-muck-mire-etc/), we were talking about drinking shots and what the word for “shot glass” would be in Irish. It also got me thinking, why is “shot glass” so uncommon in Irish language resources, when the typical contents of said glasses are such a delicacy…
Maidir le “Mud” (Muck, Mire, etc.) Posted by róislín on Mar 23, 2012
(le Róislín) Before getting back to the question of the shot glass vs. the “timbléar fuisce,” I thought I’d look a little further into the words for mud, mire, muck and the like, as mentioned in the last blog. Whether you decide to use any of these for an cuspa sláinte traidisiúnta Béarla (Here’s mud…
Glincíní agus na Gloiní as a nÓlann Muid Iad Posted by róislín on Mar 20, 2012
(le Róislín) Thinking about “glincín” in the last blog got me wondering – what exactly is “glincín” a diminutive of? And how would one say “shot glass” in Irish? So, ceist a haon ar dtosach, then we’ll see if there’s even spás go leor for ceist a dó in this blog, or if it will…
Póit, Poit, Poitín, Póitín, Pótaire, Potaire, or, Mind Your “Síntí Fada” Posted by róislín on Mar 17, 2012
(le Róislín) Continuing with the topic of tippling and toping for Lá Fhéile Pádraig, here’s another interesting assortment of timely tidbits of vocabulary. Four of the words in the title actually have to do with drinking (really three and a variation), and two have nothing to do with drinking, but are simply here as a…