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Tag Archives: loch

Some Irish Words Starting with the Letter ‘X’ (Part 1 of 2) Posted by on Sep 14, 2015

(le Róislín) As you might suspect, there are relatively few words in Irish that start with the letter ‘x,’ since it wasn’t part of the traditional original Irish alphabet (which was a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, and u). We’ve seen something similar for…

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‘Míor” + “cat” agus “suri” + “cata” = gleoiteacht! Posted by on Sep 30, 2014

(le Róislín) I see that my previous cat blog (4 Mí na Nollag 2013) has been reposted (Cats Galore in Irish (Cait, Caitíní, Piscíní, Pisíní, srl.), so I thought this might be a good time to look at another “cat” word, “meerkat,” in Irish. And also to look into where the Latin taxonomical name, Suricata…

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Eolaithe Eile (agus Eolaíochtaí Eile) Posted by on Aug 5, 2014

(le Róislín) While we’re on a roll with occupations, especially “-ologists,” I thought we could add a few more.  This time, they’ll be a mix and match, just to add a little more … what’s that great compound word again … “dúshlán.”  Understanding “dúshlán” as a compound word (originally “dubh” + “slán,” becoming “shlán” [hlawn]…

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Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a Trí as Trí) Posted by on Sep 22, 2013

(le Róislín) The previous two blogs in this “mionsraith” discussed Seamus Heaney’s use of Irish in writing poetry in English.  We discussed the Irish titles of some of his poems (e.g. “Aisling,” “Maighdean Mara“) and the implied Irish in “The Backward Look,” where he incorporates folk expressions for “snipe” into the body of a poem…

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How To Congratulate Someone in Irish: Comhghairdeas leat, a Katie, srl. Posted by on Aug 9, 2012

(le Róislín)  Agus go díreach mar a réamhinis an t-amhrán “Croílár na Féile,” níor stop duine ar bith Katie Taylor!  An cuimhin leat an líne seo san amhrán: ” ‘S níl duine a stopas riamh í”?  An bonn óir aici ag na Cluichí Oilimpeacha!  So what would you say if you met her?  Ar bhuail…

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Saying “I love you” in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives Posted by on Oct 9, 2011

(le Róislín) We’ve recently been looking at different ways to say “I love you” in Irish.  Some of you might have been wondering how to pronounce them, especially the phrases where the straightforward “grá” [graw] changes to “ghrá” [γraw, to be explained below, note the IPA gamma symbol for the “gh”] and the straightforward “croí” changes…

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Beannachtaí i nGaeilge – Or How to Greet Someone in Irish Posted by on Mar 23, 2009

(le Róislín) Beannachtaí i nGaeilge (Cuid a hAon) – Or How to Greet Someone in Irish For starters, let’s look at the word “beannacht,” which literally means “a blessing” but which also means “greeting.” Traditionally almost all Irish greetings were blessings. Today, the field has opened up with various versions of “hello” and “hi” now…

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