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Tag Archives: Francach

Irish ‘Fill in the Blanks’ for ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ (Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag) (cuid/part 1 of 2) Posted by on Dec 28, 2017

(le Róislín) What kind of bird (cén sórt éin) is that in the tree?  And what kind of tree (cén sórt crainn) is it?  How would you fill in the phrase “sé __ __ __ ag breith“?  And what are those píobairí and drumadóirí doing ar an 11ú lá agus an 12ú lá den Nollaig? …

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How to say ‘rat’ in Irish and a continuation of the glossary for ‘An Píobaire Breac’ (an t-aistriúchán le Seán Ó Dúrois) (Cuid 3) Posted by on Sep 30, 2017

(le Róislín) Bhuel, the Christmas carol, “Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag” may refer to “aon phíobaire dhéag,” but I could only come up with five pipers (cúigear píobairí) so far for the graphic for this blogpost.  Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see the different styles of illustration and different approaches to his “pied-ness” — is it…

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Whose beret?  Bairéad an fhrancaigh nó bairéad an Fhrancaigh?  Nó bairéad an phúdail?  (Showing possession in Irish) Posted by on Sep 28, 2017

(le Róislín) Let’s take a short break from the actual vocabulary we’ve been working on for “An Píobaire Breac,” Seán Ó Dúrois’s translation of Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” (nasc agus eolas foilseacháin thíos). With rats as the inspiration, as you can see in the graphic above, I thought it would be fun…

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How to say ‘rat’ in Irish and a continuation of the glossary for ‘An Píobaire Breac’ (an t-aistriúchán le Seán Ó Dúrois) (Cuid 2) Posted by on Sep 25, 2017

(le Róislín) Today we’ll continue the glossary started in the previous blog (nasc thíos) to help with reading “An Píobaire Breac,” Seán Ó Dúrois’s lively translation of Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” (Eolas foilseacháin thíos). First a brief review from last time.  There are two main ways to say “rat” in Irish, one…

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How to say ‘rat’ in Irish and a preliminary glossary for reading ‘An Píobaire Breac’ (an t-aistriúchán le Seán Ó Dúrois) (Cuid 1 as 4) Posted by on Sep 23, 2017

(le Róislín) In today’s post, we’ll look at one of my favorite translations into Irish, Seán Ó Dúrois’s version of Robert Browning’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.”  The two words that intrigue me the most are “francach” and “luch mhór,” both of which mean “rat.”  But they each have at least one other potential meaning…

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Ar an 2ú agus  an 3ú lá den Nollaig – dhá fhearán, trí chearc fhrancacha (2 turtledoves, 3 French hens, for the 2nd and 3rd days of Christmas) Posted by on Dec 24, 2016

(le Róislín) One partridge and one pear tree down (in the previous blogpost) and the following left to go: fearáin, cearca francacha, lonta dubha, fáinní óir, géanna, ealaí, cailíní bleánaí, mná ag damhsa, tiarnaí, píobairí agus drumadóirí.  Although the meaning of the fourth verse is often disputed, I’m going with “lonta dubha,” since early versions…

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How many ways can we say ‘bliain’ (year) in Irish, including ‘athbhliain’? Posted by on Jan 11, 2016

(le Róislín) As we settle into the new year (an bhliain nua, an bhliain úr, an athbhliain, srl.), let’s think of how many ways we can say and use the word ‘year’ in Irish. Most recently, you’ve probably seen the phrase “Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise” (A happy and prosperous New Year). But let’s look…

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