Tag Archives: seanfhocal
When to Say ‘Pádraig,’ When to Say ‘Phádraig,’ and When to say ‘Saxifraga spathularis’ Posted by róislín 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…
Droichead na Cónaidhme nó ‘Réise na mBeann Glas’ (Mar a Dúradh) Posted by róislín on Feb 22, 2014
(le Róislín) I couldn’t resist spending a little more time with bridges (droichid) since Canada’s Confederation Bridge has such a clever nickname, as bestowed by …, hmm, which Irish person? (freagra thíos). Just a quick review of the phrase “Droichead na Cónaidhme,” before we get to the nickname: droichead [DRIH-hud], bridge na [nuh], here it…
An Éan É? An Reiptíl É? An Dineasár É? Bhuel, Ní Hea, ‘Sea, agus Ní Hea Posted by róislín on Jun 27, 2013
(le Róislín) So, no sooner do I finish ploughing through examples of the word for “teireadachtalach” (pterodactyl) in umpteen languages, as reported in the last blog (nasc 1 thíos) than I come across the following statement on About.com (nasc 2 thíos): “There’s no such thing as a pterodactyl.” So doing a little more taighde online, I…
You Say You Want a Resolution, bhuel, tá ‘fhios ‘ad … Úúps, “Revolution” a Bhí i gCeist ag na Beatles Posted by róislín on Jan 17, 2013
(le Róislín) Ar ndóigh, “resolution” (dea-rún) atá i gceist againne anseo. “Réabhlóid” (revolution) a bhí i gceist ag na Beatles. Ach oiriúnaíonn sé rithim an amhráin — sin é mo leithscéal (excuse)! In the last blog, we discussed “dea-rúin” (resolutions), at least from “dearcadh na leipreachán” (https://blogs.transparent.com/irish/five-new-years-resolutions-a-leprechaun-would-make/). Let’s look now at the actual word for…
Cuir Cluas Ort! Listen Up! (but where’s the “up”?) Posted by róislín on May 27, 2012
(le Róislín) Before we completely leave the topic of ears, eaves, and eavesdropping, let’s look a little closer at the word for “ear” itself — cluas [KLOO-uss]. First a pronunciation note, “ua” in Irish is pronounced as two syllables [oo-uh]. You may well have heard the sound in other words, such as “rua” [ROO-uh], “nua”…
Cé Mhéad Lá? Cé Mhéad Paorach? Posted by róislín on May 11, 2012
(le Róislín) A recent blog in this series on figurative speech in Irish mentioned “na laethanta go léir a bhí ag na Paoraigh.” Some of you probably recognized this as a reference to the well-known seanfhocal (proverb): Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach (Mr. Power will have another day). So how does this seanfhocal break…
Cáisc, Cháisc, Chásca, Cásca et al. – Which One When? Posted by róislín on Apr 8, 2012
(le Róislín) After seeing so many Easter phrases, you might start to wonder why there are so many different forms of the same word. Well, there’s the practical answer and the theoretical answer. Let’s start with the practical answer. For “Easter” in Irish we have the subject form (An Cháisc, lenited because it’s a feminine…