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Tag Archives: gairmeach

Saying ‘Hi’ to Aoife or Tadhg in Irish: Direct Address Forms for Names in the New Video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name’ Posted by on Aug 19, 2018

(le Róislín) Names like “Caoimhe” or “Bláthnaid” may seem unusual to people outside Ireland or the growing “cibear-Ghaeltacht.”  And this may include baristas ar fud an domhain (around the world), or everywhere the Irish diaspora has spread. This issue was dealt with delightfully in the new video ‘When You Order Coffee with an Irish Name,’ which…

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Five More Irish Names for Boys – Seán, Séamas, Seosamh, Liam, Mícheál, Pt. 2: Séamas, Seosamh Posted by on Apr 10, 2016

(le Róislín) Continuing our coverage of Irish personal names, this blogpost will look at “Séamas” and “Seosamh.”  Beidh na hainmneacha “Liam” agus “Mícheál” sa chéad bhlagmhír eile. “Séamas” and “Seosamh” make an interesting pair, pronunciation-wise, because even though they both start with the same letter, a slender “s,” in their basic form, the sounds vary…

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Five Irish Names for Boys: Pronunciation and Meaning (Alabhaois, Éadbhard, Feardorcha, Rónán, Tiarnán) Posted by on Mar 31, 2016

(le Róislín) Continuing our look at some Irish given names, here are five more, this time for boys.   I picked these five names since they are interesting from the viewpoint of spelling or meaning.  They range in popularity from moderate (Rónán) to fairly uncommon (Alabhaois).  At some point, I might also do a blog…

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An Tuiseal Gairmeach sa Ghaeilge: Dealing with Nouns of Direct Address in Irish Posted by on Feb 11, 2014

(le Róislín) “A Shéamais!” “A Shinéad!” “A chuisle!” “A stór!” “A óinseach!” “A amadáin!”  What do all these Irish phrases have in common?  The vocative particle “a,” which has no exact equivalent in English.  In addition to being used with terms of endearment, as discussed in the most recent blog (nasc thíos), this particle is…

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You Just Call Out My Name (sa Tuiseal Gairmeach, of course, in Irish) (Pt. 3: Ainmneacha Buachaillí) Posted by on Jun 14, 2013

(le Róislín) In several previous blogs (links below), we looked at Irish names used in direct address, focusing on names for girls and women in the most recent one.   Today we’ll look at saying names for buachaillí (boys) and fir (men) when you’re speaking directly to them. In English, there is no official change when…

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You Just Call Out My Name (sa Tuiseal Gairmeach, of course, in Irish) (Pt. 2: Ainmneacha Cailíní) Posted by on Jun 11, 2013

(le Róislín) Remember how “Séamas” changes to “a Shéamais” and “Sinéad” changes to “a Shinéad” for direct address in Irish?  (Nasc: https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/you-just-call-out-my-name-sa-tuiseal-gairmeach-of-course-in-irish-pt-1/).  The first blog in this mini-series discussed Irish given names in general, and gave some specific examples for use with phrases like “Dia duit!” (Hello) and “Slán agat!” (Good-bye!).  We looked at a…

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What’s the “Tuiseal” of “an Tuiseal Ginideach” Anyway? Posted by on Apr 5, 2011

(le Róislín) By now, you’ve probably heard the term “tuiseal” quite a bit in discussing Irish nouns.  It’s generally translated as “case” as in “an tuiseal gairmeach” (“a Shinéad” for “Sinéad” in the “vocative” case) or as in “an tuiseal ginideach” (“cóta Sheáin” for “John’s coat” in the “genitive” case), etc. Of course, this isn’t…

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