Tag Archives: case
An Tuiseal Gairmeach sa Ghaeilge: Dealing with Nouns of Direct Address in Irish Posted by róislín on Feb 11, 2014
(le Róislín) “A Shéamais!” “A Shinéad!” “A chuisle!” “A stór!” “A óinseach!” “A amadáin!” What do all these Irish phrases have in common? The vocative particle “a,” which has no exact equivalent in English. In addition to being used with terms of endearment, as discussed in the most recent blog (nasc thíos), this particle is…
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…
Díochlaontaí Arís! Posted by róislín on Apr 24, 2011
(le Róislín) Two words that pertain to Easter conveniently fit our next category of nouns, an tríú díochlaonadh (the third declension). One is the word “Cáisc” itself, and the other is “uaineoil.” As you may recall, before we took our “Sos Pónairí Glóthaí” and “Sos Cásca,” we had gotten through the first two declensions of…
What’s the “Tuiseal” of “an Tuiseal Ginideach” Anyway? Posted by róislín on Apr 5, 2011
(le Róislín) By now, you’ve probably heard the term “tuiseal” quite a bit in discussing Irish nouns. It’s generally translated as “case” as in “an tuiseal gairmeach” (“a Shinéad” for “Sinéad” in the “vocative” case) or as in “an tuiseal ginideach” (“cóta Sheáin” for “John’s coat” in the “genitive” case), etc. Of course, this isn’t…