Tag Archives: séan
How to Say ‘Happy New Year’ in Irish and How to Pronounce the Consonant Cluster “thbhl” Posted by róislín on Dec 31, 2014
(le Róislín) Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit. Happy New Year to you. Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise daoibh. Happy New Year to you (plural). So how do we pronounce that, what does it literally mean, why are the actual words “happy” and “new” not in the phrase, and where does a consonant…
Happiness Is … Lots of Ways to Say “Happy” in Irish (including “Happy Christmas”) Posted by róislín on Dec 3, 2011
(le Róislín) Recently we talked about some of the more whimsical (i.e. jingle-ish) ways to describe Christmas (“Holly Jolly” and “Berry Merry”) in English and pondered their translatability into Irish. Today let’s get back to the more traditional Irish phrase, and look at its various forms (singular and plural, greeting and response): Nollaig Shona duit…
What’s the “Tuiseal” of “an Tuiseal Ginideach” Anyway? Posted by róislín on Apr 5, 2011
(le Róislín) By now, you’ve probably heard the term “tuiseal” quite a bit in discussing Irish nouns. It’s generally translated as “case” as in “an tuiseal gairmeach” (“a Shinéad” for “Sinéad” in the “vocative” case) or as in “an tuiseal ginideach” (“cóta Sheáin” for “John’s coat” in the “genitive” case), etc. Of course, this isn’t…
Happy vs. Merry and All That! (Sona, Meidhreach, srl.) Posted by róislín on Dec 12, 2010
(le Róislín) ‘S é an séasúr é! ‘Tis the season! So let’s do a little holiday terminology. Some of these phrases are quite well known but all are interesting when looked at from a translator’s perspective. Nollaig Shona! or to be more specific “Nollaig Shona dhuit!” (to one person) or “Nollaig Shona dhaoibh! (plural). Or…
‘Is Lá Eile É An Lá Amárach’ … agus ‘Lá an Oirthear’ (More on ‘After’ in Irish) Posted by róislín on Oct 24, 2010
(le Róislín) Sula mbeidh téama Samhna againn, beidh beagáinín eile sa bhlag faoin bhfocal “after.” Is í ceist Sheancháin an cheist a spreag an tsraith seo agus mar sin freagróidh mé a cheistsean sula dtosóidh mé na blaganna faoi Oíche Shamhna agus faoin tSamhain. Before we have the Halloween theme (which is champing at the…
Terms for Grandchildren “as Gaeilge” (in Irish): Garmhac, Gariníon and Other Compounds with “Gar” Posted by róislín on Apr 21, 2009
(le Róislín) Unlike English, where the prefix “grand-“ is used with “mother,” “father,” “parent,” “son,” “daughter,” and “child,” in Irish, there is a major shift in the qualifier used for “grandchildren.” As you may recall from the previous blog on grandparents, there are three widely used options: seanathair / seanmháthair, athair mór / máthair…