Irish Language Blog
Menu
Search

Tag Archives: night

A Partial Glossary for “Silent Night” in Irish (Oíche Chiúin) and in Welsh (Tawel/Dawel Nos), plus a nod toward the German (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht) Posted by on Dec 17, 2017

(le Róislín) As you might guess from looking at the graphic above, today’s blogpost will deal with some vocabulary for the Christmas carol, “Silent Night.”  We’ll mostly focus on the Irish text, of course, but I thought I’d include a few notes on the Welsh, particularly because almost every version of it that I’ve seen…

Continue Reading

Eve vs. Evening in Irish (‘Christmas Eve’ vs. ‘a nice evening’) Posted by on Dec 20, 2014

(le Róislín) Oíche Nollag… it has always struck me as interesting that the Irish phrase for “Christmas Eve” actually uses the word for “night” (oíche), not the usual word for “evening,” which is “tráthnóna.”  Usual?  It’s actually an intriguing question – what exactly is “evening” in Irish, since “tráthnóna” can also mean “afternoon.”  Scéal cineál…

Continue Reading

Nollaig nó Nollag (How To Say ‘Christmas’ or ‘of Christmas’ in Irish) Posted by on Dec 24, 2013

(le Róislín) As Christmas approaches, you might be wondering why there’s such a constant variation of whether to say “Nollaig” or “Nollag,” and in a similar vein, “An Nollaig” or “na Nollag.” First, the basic answer, and then some examples. And before that, a pronunciation pointer. What is the difference in sound between “Nollaig” and…

Continue Reading