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Tag Archives: Saint

Vocabulary Round-up for Féilte agus Feiseanna agus Laethe Speisialta na Feabhra: Fill in the Blanks Posted by on Feb 5, 2018

(le Róislín)  Here are some of the vocabulary words to accompany the most recent blog (nasc thíos) and some practice for each one.  Watch out for all the small changes that happen in Irish: initial consonant mutation, genitive case endings, plural endings, etc.  Remember that a lot of these phrases have the word “of” in…

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An Caisearbhán (The Dandelion), Cuid 2: Other Names for ‘Dandelion’ in Irish Posted by on May 27, 2016

(le Róislín)   Last time we looked at the word most typically taught for “dandelion” (caisearbhán [kah-SHAR-uh-vawn]) and checked out its interesting etymology (cos, foot, or maybe gas, stem + searbh, bitter + -án).  Today we’ll look at the different ways this word can be used in sentences or phrases, and then we’ll move on to…

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Naoimh, Neimhe, Néimhe, and Nimhe — and what does any of this have to do with Saint Patrick?  (Cuid 2 as 2) Posted by on Mar 27, 2016

(le Róislín) We interrupted our “Naoimh, Neimhe, Néimhe, Nimhe” sequence (nasc thíos) for an Easter preview, but now let’s go back to wrap up this thrilling excursion through the genitive case, stopping at the second declension.  The second who?  It’s a category of nouns in Irish with similar endings to show possession and plural and…

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Naoimh, Neimhe, Néimhe, and Nimhe  — and what does any of this have to do with Saint Patrick?  (Cuid 1 as 2) Posted by on Mar 20, 2016

(le Róislín) Well, to answer the title question, the St. Patrick connection will primarily be in the first of the four words in the title, “naoimh.” You might remember that in the most recent blog (nasc thíos), we looked at these five words: naomh, neamh, neamh- (the prefix), Niamh, and nimh, meaning, in order: saint…

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Naomh, Neamh, Neamh-, Niamh, Nimh — Which One Pertains to St. Patrick and How Do You Pronounce Them? Posted by on Mar 17, 2016

(le Róislín) Oh, the beauty of péirí íosdifríochta! In the title we see five words that have similar spellings and somewhat similar sounds.   So let’s dig right in and see what the differences are. We’ll start with “naomh” for two reasons.  First, it comes first alphabetically, never a bad reason for sequencing.  Second, this is…

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When to Say ‘Pádraig,’ When to Say ‘Phádraig,’ and When to say ‘Saxifraga spathularis’ Posted by on Mar 11, 2014

(le Róislín) With Lá Fhéile Pádraig just around the corner, let’s take a closer look at the name “Pádraig” itself.  It has two main forms, “Pádraig” being the basic form, and “Phádraig,” used in certain types of phrases.  Less frequently, we may also encounter “bPádraig.”  Of course, there are also nicknames, like Páidín, Páid, Padhra…

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Ag Cur Cat ar Fhuinneoga (or at least ‘á n-oscailt,’ the windows, that is) Posted by on Mar 4, 2014

(le Róislín) Recently we’ve gone from discussing bridges, like Droichead na Leathphingine (Baile Átha Cliath) and Droichead na Cónaidhme (Ceanada) to discussing windows (fuinneoga).  Well, one window (fuinneog amháin) anyway, the well-known “Carpenter Gothic” one in Grant Wood’s American Gothic.  So let’s look a little closer at the word “window” itself in its various forms…

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