Tag Archives: sona
Frásaí an tSéasúir (Seasonal Phrases) in Irish: ‘Sona’ or not ‘Sona’? (‘happy’ or not ‘happy’?) Posted by róislín on Nov 30, 2019
(le Róislín, taking a short break from the “Nature Words” series, in honor of the season) ‘Tis the season where we go around wishing people ‘Happy’ (‘sona‘ in Irish) _____ (fill in your holiday). Or do we? One of the most basic words for “happy” in Irish is “sona,” which sometimes appears as “shona,” as…
How to say “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” in Irish AND Five Examples of Lenition (Séimhiú), to boot Posted by róislín on Dec 24, 2018
(le Róislín) Around this time of year, we often see the phrases “Nollaig Shona” and “Athbhliain faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise duit.” Today’s blogpost will look at how to pronounce these phrases and at the reasons why words like “sona” and “bliain” change to “shona” and “bhliain.” This change of the first letter is called…
Giving Commands in Irish, from the Cheerful ‘Be Happy’ to the Brusque ‘Shut Your Gob!’ Posted by róislín on Feb 12, 2018
(le Róislín) Continuing with our recent ‘happy’ theme (nasc thios), the above graphic illustrates one way of saying “Be happy” in Irish. As you may have noticed, it’s the plural form. No special reason for the plural — it’s just that the singular form (“bí“) would have made for pretty minimal eyebrows (malaí fíorbheaga). The…
How to Say ‘Be Happy’ in Irish and 20 Ways to Say ‘Happy’ Itself: ‘Ádhúil’ to “Toilteanach’ with an Emphasis on “Sona” Posted by róislín on Feb 10, 2018
(le Róislín) We’ve recently had a request for the phrase “Be happy!” for a tattoo. So seo dhuit, na frásaí is coitianta (mo thuairimse, ar a laghad) le “Be happy” a rá agus ansin súil siar ar dhóigheanna eile le “happy” a rá i nGaeilge. So, here you are, the most common phrases (my opinion…
Twenty Ways to Say ‘Happy’ in Irish and Which Ones to Use for ‘Christmas’ and ‘New Year’ Posted by róislín on Dec 25, 2017
(le Róislín) In various previous blogposts (naisc thíos) we’ve looked at how to say “happy” in Irish. Like many times when we go from one language to another, it seems like the more you look, the more possibilities you find. So right now, the count for “happy” is at twenty, and I’m sure a few…
How many ‘happys’ are there in Irish for the various seasonal greetings? Posted by róislín on Dec 14, 2017
(le Róislín) How many ways are there to say ‘happy’ in Irish? Quite a few, but for right now we’ll concentrate on two seasonal variations. One will be for saying ‘Happy Christmas,’ which in US English would be ‘Merry Christmas,’ and the other will be for ‘Happy New Year.’ The bottom line is that neither…
Happy, Happiness and Happy Dances in Irish (mostly based on ‘áthas’) Posted by róislín on May 25, 2015
(le Róislín) “I’m just doing a little happy dance.” Recently overheard at an event I attended, where one of the coordinators had had to sit on the floor because all the seats were taken. At the end of the event, she got up, did some yoga-like stretches, and one of the other coordinators asked if…