Stella, Étoile, Estrella, Stea … Réalta! Posted by róislín on Jun 20, 2011
(le Róislín) Sandwiched between Lá na Brataí (an American holiday celebrated on June 14th) and Lá na Saoirse (4 Iúil) might be a good time to talk about “réaltaí agus riabha” (stars and stripes). So we’ll take a sos (break) from the díochlaontaí for a while, and address, first, the “réalta” component. The “riabha” will…
Díth Ingne (An Cúigiú Díochlaonadh, ar l. arís) Posted by róislín on Jun 17, 2011
(le Róislín) So, what do you see in the title of this blog that exemplifies the pattern for a 5th-declension noun? That’s right, nothing really. Remember the various patterns we’ve seen so far (athair, athar, aithreacha; cathair, cathrach, cathracha; cathaoir, cathaoireach, cathaoireacha)? And more recently, the pattern where you add “-an,” as in: pearsa, pearsan…
Lámha Leitean (An Cúigiú Díochlaonadh, ar l.) Posted by róislín on Jun 14, 2011
(le Róislín) “Catch!” “Dropped it? Lámha leitean!” Where English invokes the slipperiness of butter to describe someone who can’t catch a ball, Irish invokes, yes, you guessed it, porridge! “Lámha leitean” is a useful phrase for the clós súgartha (playground), and it’s also useful for demonstrating yet another 5th-declension noun in Irish. The “leitean” part…
“Comharsa,” “Monarcha,” “Pearsa”: An Cúigiú Díochlaonadh Arís Posted by róislín on Jun 10, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently seen several patterns for 5th-declension nouns in Irish. One small group, which contains some very important kinship terms, looks like this: athair (father), athar, aithreacha máthair (mother), máthar, máithreacha Another group sometimes also has the “-air” ending but works slightly differently when you create the possessive form (adding “-ach”) and includes…
Whither “Nathair”? Mar “Athair” nó Mar “Chathair”? Posted by róislín on Jun 6, 2011
(le Róislín) So, you’re staring at the Irish word “nathair” and wondering which way to go for its tuiseal ginideach and its foirmeacha iolra. Is it going to be like “cathair” or is it going to be like “athair”? Before we actually answer that (why cut to the chase when we can prevaricate and still…
An Iarmhír “-ach” sa Chúigiú Díochlaonadh: Beoir (Beer) vs. Beorach (of Beer), srl. Posted by róislín on Jun 3, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently seen one pattern for the 5th category of Irish nouns (an cúigiú díochlaonadh), which involved dropping the “i” of words like máthair, athair, deartháir, and bráthair. As you may recall, that change results in phrases like the following (aistriúcháin thíos): a) gach mac máthar b) in ainm an Athar c) carr…
Declensions, Generally Speaking Posted by róislín on May 30, 2011
(le Róislín) Next time the gnáthmhionchaint grows tedious at some required but understimulating social event, maybe you’d like to liven up the chat by mentioning declensions. The conversation could have far-reaching implications, like “When is a category a category?” and “When is a category a sub-category?” If it’s anything like “adamhach” and “fo-adamhach,” sin scéal…