Which Celtic Language Has 5 Words for ‘Hamster’ (Leid: Ní hí an Ghaeilge í!)? Posted by róislín on Jan 28, 2016
(le Róislín) Bhuel, as the title of this blog post suggests, Irish isn’t the Celtic language that has five words for ‘hamster.’ Or as “an leid” in the title said, “Ní hí an Ghaeilge í.” In fact, we can take care of the Irish word for ‘hamster’ quite tidily: hamstar, a hamster. Note that the…
Vocabulary and Pronunciation Round-up for ‘Capsúlbheathaisnéis Martin Luther King, Jr.’ Posted by róislín on Jan 25, 2016
(le Róislín) An Mórshiúl ar Washington, 1963. Cé mhéad duine a bhí ann, i do bharúil? Freagra ag bun an bhlag! (By “US Government Photo” [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) As promised in the first Martin Luther King, Jr., blog (nasc thios), here is some vocabulary review with pronunciation tips. This should prove useful both…
Five Civil Rights Terms in Irish (baghcat, cearta sibhialta, gníomhaí, mórshiúl, neamhfhoréigean) Posted by róislín on Jan 22, 2016
(le Róislín) Following our recent blog on Martin Luther King, Jr., I thought it might be useful to look a little further into some related voca-bulary. Four of the keywords here were used in that post (nasc thíos); one (neamhfhoréigean), as it happens, was not. Here are the words, with some pronunciation tips: Baghcat [BY-kot…
Martin Luther King, Jr. — Capsúlbheathaisnéis i nGaeilge (Brief Bio in Irish) Posted by róislín on Jan 18, 2016
(le Róislín) The fundamental concept of a “gluaiseacht cearta sibhialta” transcends any one country, so it seems appropriate to recognize the American federal holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, with a brief biography of King n Irish. In fact, the Civil Rights Movement of 1960s America, in which King played an immensely significant role, was…
How many ways can we say ‘bliain’ (year) in Irish, including ‘athbhliain’? Posted by róislín on Jan 11, 2016
(le Róislín) As we settle into the new year (an bhliain nua, an bhliain úr, an athbhliain, srl.), let’s think of how many ways we can say and use the word ‘year’ in Irish. Most recently, you’ve probably seen the phrase “Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise” (A happy and prosperous New Year). But let’s look…
Christmas Movie Titles — Aistrithe go Gaeilge (Irish) le Bearnaí le Líonadh Posted by róislín on Jan 6, 2016
(le Róislín) One last Christmas blog before the season really wraps up. For any teachers out there, especially of adult ed/night school courses in the Irish language, this one could be a ready-made class activity. For some lesson objectives, please see Nóta a Dó (thíos). We’re building here on a previous blog (nasc thíos)…
Níl tuile dá mhéad nach dtránn: Vocabulary for discussing the floods in Ireland Posted by róislín on Jan 4, 2016
(le Róislín) Like many people, I’m very concerned about the amount of flooding in Ireland. Not being any sort of innealtóir sibhialta, hidreolaí, or céad fhreagróir, I think the most I can to is “mo chuid imní a léiriú” and provide some vocabulary for discussing the situation. First, let’s start with the word for flood…