Tag Archives: ceann
Na Focail “Beoir” agus “Leann” i nGaeilge (Beer and Ale) Posted by róislín on Mar 16, 2012
(le Róislín) I’m sure lots of people have lots of thoughts about beer and ale at this festive time of year. Probably most folks aren’t “declining” those nouns at the moment. That’s “declining” as a grammatical term, of course, not literally turning down or rejecting. But if you’re reading this blog, that’s what we’re in…
Using Your Head: Counting in Irish with the Word “Ceann” Posted by róislín on Aug 31, 2011
(le Róislín) Bhuel, it’s not really your head. Just a generalized application of the word “ceann” (head) in Irish. So far, in all of the counting practice in recent blogs, we’ve been practicing na huimhreacha with the actual items being counted (móideim amháin, deich mbliana, srl.). But there’s a convenient way to use the word…
Aimsir na Cásca Posted by róislín on Apr 21, 2011
(le Róislín) Hmm, “Aimsir na Cásca”? “The Weather of Easter”? Not really, even though Easter weather may be important for such outdoor activities as tóraíochtaí uibheacha Cásca or for the temporary workers who wear cultacha coiníní Cásca and stand outside places like bialanna and seomraí taispeántais carranna to attract customers to come in. Iad ag…
That’s The Way The Easter Bunny Goes – Cluas i ndiaidh Cluaise (using the Irish verb “to eat”)! Posted by róislín on Apr 9, 2010
(le Róislín) Some of you might still have your chocolate Easter bunnies, or part of them left. To celebrate the gradual eating of such chocolate bunnies, which usually starts with the cluas (ear), let’s continue our relative clause series with the irregular verb “ith” (eat). As you’ll see, some forms of “ith” look regular, such…
“Ceann, Gualainn, Glúin is Cos, Glúin is Cos” – Can agus Sín! (Sing and Stretch) Posted by róislín on Sep 20, 2009
Some of you may already have been singing this, especially if you have a tachrán (toddler) in the house. Perhaps you know the song as “Cabeza, hombros, rodillas y pies”? Yes, sometimes “rodillas” is sung as “piernas” and theoretically we should have, dedos de pies, but apparently Spanish pre-school teachers have already decided that phrase…
Irish “From Head to Toe” but without the “Head” (ceann) or the “Toe” (méar coise)! Posted by róislín on Sep 13, 2009
(le Róislín) It’s interesting how languages can have similar idioms but with slightly different vocabulary. In Irish there are two ways to express the idea of “from head to toe,” but neither of them uses the word “head” or the word “toe.” Both offer some useful vocabulary, although admittedly, none of these keywords has quite…
An Deireadh le “Ceann” – Go Ceann Tamaill! Posted by róislín on Sep 10, 2009
Oh, I just couldn’t resist a few more, especially since these compound words are almost transparent – in other words, they mean just about exactly what you think they’d mean. That’s assuming you spot the cognates, of course: a) ceanncheathrú [say: KYAN-HYAH-roo, 2nd “c” is silent, “t” is silent] b) ceannfhocal [say: KYAN-OK-ul…