Tag Archives: ginideach
Na Séasúir (The Seasons, in Irish) Posted by róislín on Sep 21, 2011
(le Róislín) Here’s yet another topic based on “an féilire.” In Irish, na séasúir are samhradh, earrach, fómhar and geimhreadh. As you may have noticed, I didn’t list them in the order we usually think of them, just so we can do another round of meaitseáil. These four words may not very recognizable from an…
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…
Piontaí agus an Ceathrú Díochlaonadh Posted by róislín on May 18, 2011
(le Róislín) As long as we’re on the topic of “turas an Uachtaráin go hÉirinn,” how about “piontaí Guinness”? And since “pionta” happens to be a 4th-declension noun, all the more reason to keep sraith na ndíochlaontaí going. Credit: PDPhoto.org / Public Domain Image So, if we’re going to describe this pint, what are the…
An Dara Díochlaonadh, Firinscneach: Lambs of Butter, Mountains of Butter Posted by róislín on Apr 15, 2011
(le Róislín) Second-declension nouns — mostly feminine, right? Right! Mar shampla: spúnóg, bróg, ubh, feirm. Tuiseal ginideach, uatha? Sodhéanta: spúnóige, bróige, uibhe, feirme, etc. I mentioned in an earlier blog that at least two 2nd-declension nouns are masculine, “im” and “sliabh.” Let’s start with “im” (butter), if for no other reason than that it has…
What’s the “Tuiseal” of “an Tuiseal Ginideach” Anyway? Posted by róislín 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…
Dhá Lá Dhéag na Nollag (The Twelve Days of Christmas) Posted by róislín on Dec 25, 2010
(le Róislín) For the next few (six really) blogs, I thought I’d check out the gifts mentioned sa charúl Nollag, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” There are so many gifts, we’ll do two per blog and see if that ends up on the actual 12th day of Christmas. Be warned, there are at least four…
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…