Tag Archives: pronunciation
Féilte agus Laethanta Saoire agus Ócáidí Speisialta i Mí Feabhra Posted by róislín on Feb 11, 2012
(le Róislín) For a relatively short month, February is sure packed full of holidays. Here are some dates and some themes. Can you match them up? Since writing the dates in the standard “orduimhir” form would lessen the “dúshlán,” I’ve written them out in full and the key to the numbers is given below, with…
Feabhra: Mí an Chroí i Meiriceá agus sa Bhreatain (February: Heart Month) Posted by róislín on Feb 2, 2012
(le Róislín) Nach deas an neas-suíomh é: Feabhra mar “Mhí an Chroí” (i Meiriceá agus sa Bhreatain) agus Feabhra mar mhí do leannáin (lovers) go ginearálta, mar gheall ar Lá Vailintín. I’ve actually been poking around online trying to find out what year February as American Heart Month started, but gan éifeacht (to no avail…
Téarmaí Geimhridh (Winter Terms) Posted by róislín on Jan 30, 2012
(le Róislín) This winter is proving to be unusually cold (fuar) in some parts of the world (an Eoraip) and unseasonably mild (bog) in others (Meiriceá, b’fhéidir Ceanada). Before we proceed, let’s look briefly at the pronunciation of the adjectives “fuar” and “bog.” For “fuar,” I’ll simply note that each vowel is pronounced, so it’s…
TSAGGSSL (An Gaeilge É Sin? Is That Irish?) Posted by róislín on Jan 26, 2012
(le Róislín) Bhuel, to answer the title question, braitheann sé. It depends. You might remember “TSAGGSSL” from the last blog. No, it’s not some permutation of “Yggdrasil” or a new companion to the smallish list of words with 8 letters but only one vowel. Yes, there are some examples of those 8-letter wonders in languages…
Nótaí Fuaimnithe don Bhlag “Cé Mhéad Lá sa Mhí?” (Pronunciation Notes) Posted by róislín on Jan 23, 2012
(le Róislín) Pronunciation notes always seem welcome here, so here’s another batch, this time for the discussion of na míonna, from the previous blog (nasc: https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/ce-mhead-la-sa-mhi-how-many-days-in-the-month/). That blog seems to have generated a lot of lenition (séimhiú), so we’ll certainly be looking at that here. Urú (eclipsis), hmm, I only see one example. An meas…
Cúig Fhrása (Béarla) Gan Mhaith (De Réir Fhionntán Uí Thuathail aka Fintan O’Toole) (Cuid 2/4) Posted by róislín on Jan 8, 2012
(le Róislín) Remember what gátar, déine, and tarrtháil have in common? Hmmm, the first two have related meanings and are nearly interchangeable (beart gátair, austerity measure; cáinaisnéis déine, austerity budget) but “tarrtháil” is completely different in function as well as meaning. It’s an ainmfhocal briathartha, not a gnáthainmfhocal (ordinary noun). We could also note that…
Maidir le Dreoilíní Posted by róislín on Dec 26, 2011
(le Róislín) Wren Day has become increasingly well-known outside of Ireland, ever since the Clancy Brothers recorded “The Wran (i.e. Wren) Song” in 1955. Groups as diverse as Steeleye Span and the Chieftains have added to the musical legacy of the wren festivities. Well, festive for everyone except an dreoilín. Ar an dea-uair, the wrens…