Tag Archives: lenition
Cúpla Caife Gaelach, Dhá Chaife Ghaelacha (A Couple of Irish Coffees vs. Two Irish Coffees) Posted by róislín on Aug 20, 2011
(le Róislín) Lenition, another lenition, and a plural ending. That’s the difference that happens when we say “two Irish coffees” as opposed to “a couple of Irish coffees.” So how does that work? As we discussed in the last blog, the Irish word “cúpla” is followed by the singular form of the noun (unlike English…
Súil Siar: Clásail Choibhneasta Posted by róislín on May 20, 2010
((le Róislín) It’s been a while since we dealt with the clásail choibhneasta (relative clauses), so I thought I’d do a seisiún súil siar before we wrap up with the remaining irregular verbs. So here are some selections from the previous blogs. The verb slot has been left blank, to fill in, and freagraí are…
Irish Terms for Easter: Téarmaí don Cháisc Posted by róislín on Apr 2, 2010
(le Róislín) Yes, it’s been over a year now since this blog was started. Luisa was kind enough to send birthday greetings to the blog a little while ago. Tá an blag beagán níos mó ná bliain d’aois anois. (The blog is a little over a year old now). Go raibh maith agat, a Luisa!…
Nótaí Fuaimnithe don Bhlag Roimhe (Pronunciation Notes for the Previous Blog) Posted by róislín on Dec 31, 2009
This blog is mostly pronunciation notes for the previous entry, since pronunciation is one of the aspects of Irish that many of my students keep asking about. As usual, I’ll be concentrating on the words that have silent letters or that tend to raise questions. I hope this will be useful for relative…
Pronunciation tips for Mamó, Móraí, and Daideo (Grandma/Granny and Grandpa) Posted by róislín on Jun 5, 2009
(le Róislín) There have been numerous inquiries on how to pronounce these words, since the previous blogpost on this topic came out (nasc thíos), so here are some tips: To pronounce Mamó: the final vowel is long, so it gets extra emphasis: mam-OH To pronounce Móraí: the emphasis is on the first syllable, which sounds like…
An Bliosán Gréine (Jerusalem Artichoke): Ainm Contráilte i mBéarla ach “Neamhchontráilte” i nGaeilge (An English Misnomer but Irish “Non-Misnomer”) Posted by róislín on May 25, 2009
Tamaillín ó shin (a little while ago, May 6 to be specific), I hinted at a discussion of the term “Jerusalem artichoke” in Irish. And why not? It’s suimiúil (interesting) on several counts: “luibheolaíocht” (botany), “logainmníocht” (toponymy), “sanasaíocht” and “bréagshanasaíocht” (etymology and pseudo-etymology), “cócaireacht” (cooking), and “eolas contráilte”(misinformation), to name just a few. You…
Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Sé: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities 6 – Cornwall and the Cornish Posted by róislín on May 22, 2009
We’ve recently discussed the place names Albain, Éire, An Bhreatain Bheag, Oileán Mhanann, and An Bhriotáin. Today we’ll turn to Cornwall. Below you’ll find some examples of how to use the place name and how to indicate that a person or thing is Cornish. Cornwall is called “Corn na Breataine” (horn of Britain) or sometimes…