Tag Archives: pronunciation
Nollaig nó Nollag (How To Say ‘Christmas’ or ‘of Christmas’ in Irish) Posted by róislín 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…
Cé Mhéad Patraisc? Cé Mhéad Drumadóir? (or ’12 Lá na Nollag’ Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot) Posted by róislín on Dec 18, 2013
(le Róislín) In the last blog, we discussed “fearáin” (aka “fearáin bhreaca“) amongst other members of the order Columbiformes (coilm agus colúir, doves and pigeons, etc.). And we briefly alluded to the fact that the Irish for “turtledove” doesn’t have the element “turtle” (turtar) or “dove” (colm, or sometimes “colúir” — for more on the…
Cait: Cúpla Téarma Eile (Mothchat, Baldúin, Crúbálaí) Posted by róislín on Dec 9, 2013
(le Róislín) A few more cat terms have recently come to my attention. Let’s start with the rather eye-catching: mothchat [muh-khaht] tomcat Ar dtús báire, ní peata “Leamhanfhir” é. Nó “peata Fhear an Leamhain,” más fearr leat mar sin é. So, no, the Mothman of West Virginia (and of “Prophecies” fame) didn’t suddenly become a…
Seamus Heaney and the Irish Language (Cuid a Trí as Trí) Posted by róislín 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…
Gníomhaíochtaí Samhraidh (Summer Activities) Posted by róislín on Jul 22, 2013
(le Róislín) An raibh tú ag beárbaiciú le déanaí? Ar ith tú burgair nó burgair veigeatóra nó brocairí teo? Seachas na beárbaiciúnna, cad faoi ghníomhaíochtaí samhraidh [SOW-ree, with “sow” as in the pig) eile? Let’s backtrack and take a closer look at that impressively consonant-laden word, “gníomhaíocht.” And you may have noticed that following “faoi”…
Traein na nDineasár: Gluaisín do Théamamhrán an Chláir Teilifíse (Cuid 2/3) Posted by róislín on Jul 11, 2013
(le Róislín) In the last blog, we looked at some vocabulary from the téamamhrán for a popular clár teilifíse for children, “Traein na nDineasár.” In this blog, we’ll continue with some words and phrases from this song. As before, I’m not presenting them in ord na haibítre, but in sequence, as they appear in the…
How To Say Irish Words Like ‘Aghaidh,’ ‘Bhratach,’ and ‘Shaoirse’ (Pronunciation Guide for the Red, White and Blue Blog) Posted by róislín on Jun 20, 2013
(le Róislín) The recurring chorus that I hear in Irish classes, year after year, is “How do you pronounce that?,” or as students get more advanced, and ask it in Irish “Cén chaoi a ndeir tú sin?” (How do you say that?). In theory, at least, people could be asking, “Cén chaoi a bhfuaimníonn tú…