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Coiníní Óga sa Nead: Describing Rabbits in Irish Posted by on Jun 6, 2017

(le Róislín)                             Some of you may already know the word “coinín,” which means “rabbit,” “bunny,” or “bunny-rabbit.”  In today’s blogpost, we’ll look at some ways to describe “na coiníní gleoite atá sa nead” in the picture above and we’ll also consider…

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Bláth Buí Eile — An Caisearbhán (‘Dandelion’ in Irish) Posted by on May 24, 2016

(le Róislín) Continuing our break from the flower-themed girls’ names (like Bláithín, Lile, and Nóinín), we’ll look at another actual flower.  Why specifically a “bláth buí” at this particular time?  Well, we did nóiníní, which may be partly or all yellow, and then cama an ime, which are completely yellow (hence the “im” part of…

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‘Bléinbheart’ go ‘Zeitibheart’  — Cineálacha Beart agus Beartanna i nGaeilge Posted by on Aug 14, 2015

(le Róislín) When I first thought of this blog topic, I thought I’d just do types of clothing, like “bléinbheart” and “coisbheart.”  But then I figured we might as well do “an banana iomlán.”  If we’re in for a “pingin,” we may as well be in for a “punt.”  Or actually, as the more traditional…

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Two Irish Words for ‘Foot’: ‘cos’ vs. ‘troigh’ Posted by on Mar 4, 2015

(le Róislín) In the last blog, we looked at the words for “inch” and “foot” (in measurements) in Irish (orlach and troigh).  Among other reasons for discussing these measurement terms, a lot of people have been talking about the depth of snow in Boston lately (thart fá chéad orlach ó thús an gheimhridh).  Even that…

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Irish Pronunciation: Compound Words Like “Croíbhriste” and “Croíbhrúite” Posted by on Feb 8, 2012

(le Róislín) In addition to some of its inherently long words, like “(go) bhfaighidh” and “(na) haghaidheanna” (fuaimniú thíos), Irish has its share of longish words, which are actually compounds, with one or more prefixes, a root (or two), and/or one or more suffixes.  Fortunately, most of these words break down quite nicely, once you…

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“Ceann, Gualainn, Glúin is Cos, Glúin is Cos” – Can agus Sín! (Sing and Stretch) Posted by 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…

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Toe Head and the Hag’s Footstep, Co. Cork; The Foot of the Sea, Co. Galway, and Other Geographical Footnotes, Plus Some More Straightforward Vocabulary Posted by on Sep 16, 2009

(le Róislín) Well, as promised, today’s blog has a pedal theme, hopefully not too pedantic and at least as entertaining as it is pedagogic. Let’s start with the actual word for “toe.”  Oops, not so fast. the actual words for “toe” (I think I’ll christen this the TMTM premise in vocabulary – “the more, the merrier,”…

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