Ó 0 go 10 (0 agus 10 agus na hUimhreacha Eatarthu) Posted by róislín on Aug 22, 2011
(le Róislín) Recently we’ve looked at how to count a “couple” of things and how to count “two” of something (cúpla caife Gaelach, dhá chaife Ghaelacha). So you might be wondering about the numbers in between, and also zero (variously represented in Irish as “nialas,” “náid,” and, by implication, in the phrase “ar bith”). …
Cúpla Caife Gaelach, Dhá Chaife Ghaelacha (A Couple of Irish Coffees vs. Two Irish Coffees) Posted by róislín on Aug 20, 2011
(le Róislín) Lenition, another lenition, and a plural ending. That’s the difference that happens when we say “two Irish coffees” as opposed to “a couple of Irish coffees.” So how does that work? As we discussed in the last blog, the Irish word “cúpla” is followed by the singular form of the noun (unlike English…
Rudaí Gaelacha, Rudaí Éireannacha Posted by róislín on Aug 17, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently discussed rudaí Francacha and a cluster of rudaí Ollannacha, rudaí Dúitseacha, agus rudaí Ísiltíreacha. How about now cúpla rud Gaelach agus cúpla rud Éireannach? And before we proceed with the interesting cultural “stuif,” let’s look at the structures in the paragraph thuas. Rudaí is a plural noun (plural of rud, thing)…
Túis, Frainclíní, agus Saincheadúnais, A Thiarcais! Posted by róislín on Aug 14, 2011
(le Róislín) Actually, it is the English versions of these three words that offer the alliteration, which gives the phrase a slightly literary twist. That in turns tempts me to end teideal an bhlag seo with the interjection “a thiarcais.” So, the title of this blog translates into English as “Frankincense, Franklins, and Franchises, Oh…
Ar Ábhar na bhFrancach (On the Subject of the French) Posted by róislín on Aug 9, 2011
(le Róislín) While still on the subject of the French, let’s practice a few more phrases. And we’ll end with this blog with a “French” topic that could be (and has been) translated in multiple ways, with or without any reference to France, be it noun, adjective, or otherwise. Curiosity piqued? Lean ort (continue, i.e…
Blag na bhFrancach (“The Blog of the French,” Go Téamach Ar A Laghad) Posted by róislín on Aug 5, 2011
(le Róislín) As alluded to in a recent blog, today’s vocabulary theme is “na Francaigh” (the French), with the terminology for the country, the people, etc. We’ll also touch on “the Franks,” in the historical sense, but I can already foresee that thoroughly covering terminology derived from or at least connected to “na Frainc” (the…
The Curious Case of Dúitseach-Ollannach-Ísiltíreach (An Afterthought re: Logainmneacha) Posted by róislín on Aug 2, 2011
(le Róislín) After all this talk in recent blogs about singulars and plurals, and “sa’s” and “san’s” and “sna’s,” one might wonder, what’s the deal with “the Netherlands” – in Irish, of course. Perhaps all the more so since there are some ancient Celtic connections to the area now known as the Netherlands, like the…