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An Bhrasaíl: Tír Aíochta Chorn an Domhain, 2014 (FIFA) Posted by on Jun 25, 2014

(le Róislín) Hmm, just looking at those seven words of the title is probably enough to fill a blog.  We’ve got the name of the country (Brazil), the term for “host country,” and the phrase “Corn an Domhain” (World Cup) with a slight adjustment (“Corn” becomes “Chorn“) since we’re now saying, literally, ” country (of)…

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Cén Ghaeilge atá ar ‘FIFA’? Posted by on Jun 23, 2014

(le Róislín) It seems that ‘FIFA,’ like many a good acronym (acrainm), has long been a word unto itself, used in many languages.  But many languages also have a translation of the phrase “Fédération Internationale de Football Association” (FIFA).  In Wikipedia, I find examples ranging from “Die Internasionale Federasie vir Voetbal Assosiasie” to “Egbe Ipapo Kariaye…

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PS: Re: Cupán nó Corn Posted by on Jun 18, 2014

It looks like my spellchecker had a mind of its own in the last blog, so if you got the emailed version, you may have seen “domain” for “domhain,” “Francacha” for “Francach,” and “alphorn” for “alpchorn.”  Tá  brón orm. – R

Cupán nó Corn? (when speaking of “The World”) Posted by on Jun 18, 2014

(le Róislín) Corn an Domhain.  The World Cup.  A good reminder never to assume that the closest basic Irish equivalent is the one you want for a translation. In Irish, “cupán” is used for a cup to drink from, and can give us phrases like: cupán tae cupán caife cupán cócó A little less applicable…

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Athair, An tAthair, Aithreacha, and more ways to say ‘father’ in Irish (just in time for Father’s Day) Posted by on Jun 14, 2014

(le Róislín) ‘Sea, is é an t-am sin den bhliain é — tá Lá na nAithreacha ag teacht. 15 Meitheamh i mbliana. So first let’s look at the various forms of the word for “father” in Irish. Then we’ll think of the Irish words for a few typical Father’s Day gifts. Perhaps you’d like to…

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Sula bhfágann muid na Fritíortha (Before we leave the Antipodes) Posted by on Jun 9, 2014

(le Róislín) In this blog we’ll take a last look at some geographical terms pertaining to New Zealand, including the interpretation of “Aotearoa,” as mentioned in the last blog.  All of the words in today’s basic vocabulary also have wide applications for conversation in general.  We’ll be looking at the following words: tír, land, country…

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tír + scamall + fada + bán = Aotearoa (probably!) Posted by on Jun 5, 2014

(le Róislín) So what was that dú-shlán [DOO-hlawn] mentioned in the last blog (nasc thíos).  Gaeilge a chur ar Mhaorais (to translate Maori to Irish)?  Bhuel, cén fáth nach ndéanfaí sin (Well, why not, lit. why wouldn’t that be done)?The hitch is, here, that I’m just going to set out the vocabulary in this blog…

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