Tag Archives: Gaelic
Téarmaí Nollag: Nollaig Shona duit! Nollaig Shona daoibh! srl. Posted by róislín on Dec 24, 2009
(le Róislín) Here are some of the basic terms for this holiday season: Oíche Nollag, Christmas Eve, but Oíche Lá Nollag, the night of Christmas Day An Nollaig, Christmas (note the use of the definite article, “the” Christmas) Lá Nollag, Christmas Day Nóta 1: Irish doesn’t really have a separate word for “eve” to distinguish “the…
Cé Mhéad Duine? How Many People? – Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta i nGaeilge (Numbers for Counting People in Irish) Posted by róislín on Jul 16, 2009
(le Róislín) As I alluded to in the earlier post on “maoluimhreacha” (independent numbers), Irish has a separate system for counting people. These are used up to 10 and also for 12. Eleven is skipped over for these purposes. The phrase for counting 11 people uses the same number system as saying you have 11…
Karros, Carrus, and Today’s “Carr” Posted by róislín on Apr 27, 2009
(le Róislín) You might have noticed “carr” as a recent Word of the Day at blogs.transparent.com. It could be easy to assume that this is a recent borrowing from English, dating to the era of, well, motor-cars. Ach a mhalairt, a chara! (but the opposite, my friend). The word “carr” was in use in…
The Many Meanings of “Oireachtas” Posted by róislín on Apr 18, 2009
(le Róislín) For the week of April 5 to 12, 2009, many Philadelphians probably saw more samples of the Irish language in the media than ever before in the city’s history. Why? This year, Philadelphia hosted the first Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne (World Irish Dance Championship) to be held outside Ireland or the U.K. Over 6000…
An Cháisc (Easter) is a Cognate of … Pascha and Pesach Posted by róislín on Apr 12, 2009
(le Róislín) It may seem straightforward enough that Pascha (Latin for Easter) and Pesach (Passover) are linguistically related to each other. Several of the other Celtic words for Easter are also clearly connected, Y Pasg (Welsh), Pask (Cornish, Breton), as are the English adjective, Paschal, and the Romance words, Pâques, Pascua, and Pasqua. Their connection…
Mór? Críonna? or Sean? — Grandparents By Any Other Name! Posted by róislín on Apr 9, 2009
(le Róislín) I frequently get asked about the Irish word for “grandmother” or “grandma,” so children in Irish-American families can start using it as a pet name. Sometimes the basic term “Grandma” has already been taken by one side of the family, so the other side may look for a different name, like “Nana” in…