Tag Archives: declension
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…
Gaolta and the Fifth Posted by róislín on May 27, 2011
(le Róislín) Fifth declension, that is. So, no, the fifth here is not a cúigiú as in 4/5 of a galún, traditionally filled with uisce beatha, vodca, rum, or other hard liquor, ar ndóigh. And it’s not the “Fifth” that Americans, at least, might take, demand, or plead, to protect against féin-ionchoiriú, etc. That’s “an…
M3, .i. An Téarma Gramadaí (Ní Mótarbhealach Atá i gCeist) Posted by róislín on Apr 27, 2011
(le Róislín) The abbreviation “M3” may suggest many things to many people: mótarbhealaigh (to traffic planners), soláthar airgid (to financial analysts), tomhas scriú sa chóras méadrach (to carpenters), an teanga ríomhchlárúcháin Modula-3 (to computer programmers), and an réaltbhraisle chruinneogach sa réaltbhuíon “na Madraí Fiaigh,” .i. Canes Venatici (to astronomers), to name just a few. But…
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…
An Chéad Díochlaonadh: Newts, Frogs, and, for Easter, Baskets Posted by róislín on Apr 8, 2011
(le Róislín) We’ve recently seen a number of first-declension nouns in Irish, with their various forms. You might have noticed how when we say “hats of men” or “eyes of newts,” the plural form appears to look singular. In other words, “fear” normally means “a man” but can mean “of men” in the right grammatical…
Lá na Brataí (Flag Day) i Meiriceá Posted by róislín on Jun 14, 2010
(le Róislín) Ceiliúrtar Lá na Brataí i Meiriceá ar an 14ú lá de mhí an Mheithimh. Cad a dhéantar? Paráidí in áiteanna (is fiú le rá Quincy, MA., Traoi (Troy), NY, agus Fairfield, WA), searmanais, canadh an amhráin náisiúnta, agus na bratacha iad féin curtha ar foluain. The Irish word for flag is “bratach.” In…