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Tag Archives: church

Speaking of Pigeons (Colúir) Posted by on Dec 14, 2013

(le Róislín) I’ll leave journalists Sean Dunne (IrishCentral) and Liz Alderman (New York Times) to “squabble” over the accuracy of the recent reference in the New York Times to “pigeon-eating” in Ireland.  But it does seem to me like a good opportunity to explore the related Irish vocabulary (naisc do na hailt thíos).  So we’ll…

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Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Trí: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities – Wales and the Welsh Posted by on May 3, 2009

We’ve recently discussed the place names Albain (Scotland) and Éire (Ireland).  Now we’ll turn to ”An Bhreatain Bheag” (Wales).  Since “Breatain” is a feminine noun, the adjective that modifies it, “beag” (little) becomes “bheag.”  And since this country name includes the definite article “an” (the), it also causes “Breatain” to change to “Bhreatain,” pronounced with…

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A Lán Lann – A Lot of Places (with the Suffix “–lann”) Posted by on Mar 15, 2009

(le Róislín) You may have noticed Transparent Language’s recent WOTD, an bhialann, the restaurant, and you may recognize a keyword in this expression, “bia” (food).  It’s helpful to know the suffix “–lann” also, since it is used to make dozens of words. The suffix comes from the word “lann,” which has many meanings, including “land,” “ground,”…

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