Tag Archives: ceann
Giving Commands in Irish, from the Cheerful ‘Be Happy’ to the Brusque ‘Shut Your Gob!’ Posted by róislín on Feb 12, 2018
(le Róislín) Continuing with our recent ‘happy’ theme (nasc thios), the above graphic illustrates one way of saying “Be happy” in Irish. As you may have noticed, it’s the plural form. No special reason for the plural — it’s just that the singular form (“bí“) would have made for pretty minimal eyebrows (malaí fíorbheaga). The…
More Irish Numbers Practice: Orduimhreacha i dTeidil Scannán — Aistrithe go Gaeilge Posted by róislín on Aug 16, 2017
(le Róislín) Since we’ve been on an “orduimhreacha” roll recently (nasc thíos), I thought it would be fun to try some more examples, this time embedded in Irish versions of famous (or not-so-famous) film titles. So I’ll provide the Irish phrase for context, and see if you can fill in the blank, using the ordinal…
Saying Ordinal Numbers Out Loud in Irish: Ag rá orduimhreacha os ard i nGaeilge Posted by róislín on Aug 13, 2017
(le Róislín) I’ve sometimes seen otherwise-confident learners of Irish come to a dead stop when they’re reading out loud and come to some numbers. The basic numbers are challenging enough. First, one must deal with all the different mutations that follow (dhá chat but seacht gcat). Then there are all the exceptions due to the…
An Caisearbhán (The Dandelion), Cuid 2: Other Names for ‘Dandelion’ in Irish Posted by róislín on May 27, 2016
(le Róislín) Last time we looked at the word most typically taught for “dandelion” (caisearbhán [kah-SHAR-uh-vawn]) and checked out its interesting etymology (cos, foot, or maybe gas, stem + searbh, bitter + -án). Today we’ll look at the different ways this word can be used in sentences or phrases, and then we’ll move on to…
Cén Ghaeilge atá ar … wattle? (Stór focal in am do Lá an Altaithe) Posted by róislín on Nov 6, 2015
(le Róislín) When we describe parts of a turkey’s body, it’s easy enough to reference cosa (feet / legs), sciatháin (wings), cleití (feathers), tail (eireaball OR ruball), ceann (head), and gob (beak). These would be widely found on other animals, and to some extent, people (cosa and ceann, with sciatháin doubling for arms and gob…
An Sloinne ‘Ó Cinnéide’ (The Surname ‘Kennedy’) Posted by róislín on Nov 15, 2013
(le Róislín) In the past, at this time of year, it’s been hard to come up for air between writing about Oíche Shamhna and then Lá Altaithe, with An Nollaig looming large just around the corner. But this year, marking the sad 50th anniversary of “feallmharú Kennedy,” we’ll take a breather from the holiday themes…
Ag Caint faoi Thuí agus faoi Thuíodóireacht (Speaking of Thatching) Posted by róislín on Apr 14, 2013
(le Róislín) Before moving away from tuíodóireacht to other topics, I thought it would be interesting to look at the tools used by a tuíodóir, and also to look briefly at the use of díonta tuí outside of Ireland and Britain. You might have just noticed the phrase “díonta tuí” (thatched roofs). And you might…