Ababú! — Cá as a dtáinig an litir “b” as áit sa bhlag deireanach? Posted by róislín on Dec 21, 2014
(le Róislín) Bhuel, some of you may have noticed the mysterious “b” in the emailed version of the last blog. In one case, it replaced the word “oíche” and in another case, it showed up at the end of what should have been “Nollag.” After staring at those words for a while, when I got…
Eve vs. Evening in Irish (‘Christmas Eve’ vs. ‘a nice evening’) Posted by róislín on Dec 20, 2014
(le Róislín) Oíche Nollag… it has always struck me as interesting that the Irish phrase for “Christmas Eve” actually uses the word for “night” (oíche), not the usual word for “evening,” which is “tráthnóna.” Usual? It’s actually an intriguing question – what exactly is “evening” in Irish, since “tráthnóna” can also mean “afternoon.” Scéal cineál…
Gluais don Oideas “Arán Sóide” (A Glossary for the Irish Soda Bread Recipe, with pronunciation guide) Posted by róislín on Dec 15, 2014
(le Róislín) Some of you may have tried the recent recipe for Irish Soda Bread which appeared in this blog (nasc thíos). If you’re fairly new to the language, the following might be helpful: First, the word “oideas” itself. This word can appear in many contexts, with several different meanings (instruction, teaching, recipe, and prescription). …
Oideas i nGaeilge: Arán Sóide Éireannach, agus Aistriúchán Béarla (and an English translation) Posted by róislín on Dec 11, 2014
(le Róislín) Mí na Nollag! Seo an séasúr le bheith ag bácáil. Brioscaí, cístí, fíoracha sinséir, donnóga, agus araile. Ach má tá tú ag iarraidh gan barraíocht rudaí milse a dhéanamh i mbliana, seo oideas d’arán blasta. Níl siúcra ar bith ann, ar ndóigh, ach má tá tú ag iarraidh blas beagán milis, bain triail…
Luan Glas (or should it be ‘Luan Uaine’?): Green Monday Posted by róislín on Dec 8, 2014
(le Róislín) I recently saw an article from WHEC (nasc thíos) that happened to sort of sum up my view on “coined shopping days.” It starts out, “Just when you thought all the coined shopping days were over, today is Green Monday.” The article stops just short of being a jeremiad about the commercialization of…
Speaking of Christmas in Irish — Does It End with ‘-ig,’ ‘-ag,’ or “igí”? Posted by róislín on Dec 6, 2014
(le Róislín) OK, admittedly, we’re not going to use the last choice (‘-igí [IG-ee]) all that often. But I added it to today’s discussion for two reasons. One is for a sense of completion. If we’re going to say “Christmas” (An Nollaig) and “of Christmas” (na Nollag), we might as well be prepared to use…
‘Sona’ or ‘Shona’ for ‘Happy Christmas’ (Merry Christmas) in Irish? Posted by róislín on Dec 1, 2014
(le Róislín) As we transition from Lá Altaithe (i Meiriceá) to Aoine Dhubh to Satharn na nGnóthas Beag to Cibearluan, and now, most recently, Máirt na Carthanachta, we’re now ready to look at another set of holiday terms, such as “Oíche Nollag” and “An Nollaig.” And right along with that, we have the greeting, “Nollaig…