Tag Archives: Nollaig
Ababú! — Cá as a dtáinig an litir “b” as áit sa bhlag deireanach? Posted by róislín on Dec 21, 2014
(le Róislín) Bhuel, some of you may have noticed the mysterious “b” in the emailed version of the last blog. In one case, it replaced the word “oíche” and in another case, it showed up at the end of what should have been “Nollag.” After staring at those words for a while, when I got…
Eve vs. Evening in Irish (‘Christmas Eve’ vs. ‘a nice evening’) Posted by róislín 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…
Speaking of Christmas in Irish — Does It End with ‘-ig,’ ‘-ag,’ or “igí”? Posted by róislín on Dec 6, 2014
(le Róislín) OK, admittedly, we’re not going to use the last choice (‘-igí [IG-ee]) all that often. But I added it to today’s discussion for two reasons. One is for a sense of completion. If we’re going to say “Christmas” (An Nollaig) and “of Christmas” (na Nollag), we might as well be prepared to use…
‘Sona’ or ‘Shona’ for ‘Happy Christmas’ (Merry Christmas) in Irish? Posted by róislín on Dec 1, 2014
(le Róislín) As we transition from Lá Altaithe (i Meiriceá) to Aoine Dhubh to Satharn na nGnóthas Beag to Cibearluan, and now, most recently, Máirt na Carthanachta, we’re now ready to look at another set of holiday terms, such as “Oíche Nollag” and “An Nollaig.” And right along with that, we have the greeting, “Nollaig…
The Irish word for ‘October’ and other words related to ‘fómhar’ and ‘fómhair’ Posted by róislín on Oct 6, 2014
(le Róislín) In some previous blogs (naisc thíos), we’ve looked at the names of the months (míonna) and seasons (séasúir) in Irish, including a discussion specifically of “September” and “October.” So let’s try a little mixing and matching for review of “September,” “October,” and the Fall or Autumn season. Given the word “fómhar” and its…
The Parameters of ‘Pudding’ (Putóg et al.) Posted by róislín on Aug 21, 2014
(le Róislín) So I thought I had the parameters of pudding pretty well parsed (putóg, maróg, milseog, all potentially in contrast to “custard,” a word borrowed as is from English), when I chanced upon yet another bit of “pudding” vocabulary. I’ll leave it for a bit of cliff-hanger at the end of this blog. Where…
Dreoilíní, Boscaí, agus Dea-thoil (26 Mí na Nollag 2013) Posted by róislín on Dec 26, 2013
(le Róislín) So what do “wrens,” “boxes,” and “goodwill” have in common? All pertain in one way or another to a day celebrated as a holiday under various names in Ireland, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some Commonwealth countries. An 26ú lá de mhí na Nollag atá i gceist. For the benefit…