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Tag Archives: lenition

Feabhra na bhFéilte ‘s na bhFeiseanna (February Holidays and Festivals) Posted by on Jan 31, 2013

(le Róislín) These days we can find a special day to celebrate practically every item, product, or concept imaginable, from cheese-rolling (at Cooper’s Hill, England), wife-carrying (originally Finland, now international, including Newry, Maine, and locations in Wisconsin and Michigan), the Idiotarod [sic!] (various locations), and “Punch Your Neighbor Day” in Bolivia. But for a mí…

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Puimcín Amháin, Dhá Phuimcín, Trí Phuimcín, Ollphuimcín … Puimcíní Go Leor (One Pumpkin … Pumpkins Galore, and the Great Pumpkin too) Posted by on Oct 18, 2012

(le Róislín) More counting practice, this time, le bheith tráthúil, le puimcíní.  First a quick review of the basic set-up for counting objects in Irish: the word for “one” follows the noun, other numbers come before the noun, two through six cause lenition (here, “p” becoming “ph”), and seven through ten cause eclipsis (here, “p”…

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Bígí Ciúin! Ba é an cat é! Or Should That Be “Ba Iad Na Deich gCat Dhubha Iad”? Posted by on Oct 15, 2012

(le Róislín) Just when you may have thought there couldn’t possibly be any more rialacha for comhaireamh in Irish, there is at least one more point to be addressed — the use of adjectives with the nouns being counted (e.g. two big dogs, five small cats). Given the season, let’s count black cats.  As you’ll…

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Comhaireamh Síos Go hOíche Shamhna (Countdown to Halloween) Posted by on Oct 9, 2012

(le Róislín) Bhuel, it’s not exactly a “comhaireamh síos” [KOH-irzh-uv sheess] as such, but here’s a sampler of focail le téama Oíche Shamhna (Halloween-themed words) that might be a fun way to practice counting in Irish.  With Irish numbers, you don’t just have to learn the numbers themselves, but also the ever-present mutations that follow…

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Deir an Dúmheidic (Black Medick): “Ba mhaith liomsa a bheith i m’iomaitheoir freisin!” Posted by on Mar 13, 2012

(le Róislín) In the last blog (blogs.transparent.com/irish/an-tseamrog-the-shamrock/), I noted that there were at least eight contenders for the title of “shamrock,” including seamsóg (wood-sorrel) and various types of seamair (clover).  The blog I cited (www.naturalistsalmanac.com/0317stpat.html) mentioned there being eight possibilities, but only elaborated on six (five types of clover and the wood-sorrel).  So what are the other…

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Croí Lorcán Uí Thuathail (The Heart of St. Laurence O’Toole) Posted by on Mar 4, 2012

(le Róislín) Bhuel, mí an Mhárta may be the “sure-they’d-steal-your-heart-away” month, as “Irish Eyes” is sung over and over and over again, but I doubt it was ever meant to be taken literally. But that’s exactly what has happened recently.  The theft of St. Laurence O’Toole’s heart apparently occurred on the morning of March 3rd…

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Irish Pronunciation: Compound Words Like “Croíbhriste” and “Croíbhrúite” Posted by on Feb 8, 2012

(le Róislín) In addition to some of its inherently long words, like “(go) bhfaighidh” and “(na) haghaidheanna” (fuaimniú thíos), Irish has its share of longish words, which are actually compounds, with one or more prefixes, a root (or two), and/or one or more suffixes.  Fortunately, most of these words break down quite nicely, once you…

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