Tag Archives: sona
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…
‘Sona’ or ‘Shona’ for ‘Happy Christmas’ (Merry Christmas) in Irish? Posted by róislín on Dec 1, 2014
(le Róislín) As we transition from Lá Altaithe (i Meiriceá) to Aoine Dhubh to Satharn na nGnóthas Beag to Cibearluan, and now, most recently, Máirt na Carthanachta, we’re now ready to look at another set of holiday terms, such as “Oíche Nollag” and “An Nollaig.” And right along with that, we have the greeting, “Nollaig…
More Month-of-May Motifs (i nGaeilge, ar ndóigh) Posted by róislín on Apr 27, 2014
(le Róislín) Is it the “merry month” of May or the “merry, merry month” of May? Is it “meidhreach” or “sona,” “croíúil” or “súgach? Or is it as in the traditional Irish phrase, “buí” (Mí Bhuí na Bealtaine)? We looked at all of those terms in the last blog (nasc thíos) but here’s a quick…
Merry, Month, May, and How to Say It All in Irish Posted by róislín on Apr 24, 2014
(le Róislín) As we approach Lá Bealtaine and mí na Bealtaine, it seems a good time to break apart the time-worn phrase “merry, merry month of May,” and see how these words appear in Irish. So we’ve got at least four words for “merry” plus a curious use of “buí,” one basic word for “month”…
How To Pronounce ‘A Dheaide,’ ‘A Dhaidí,’ and Other Forms of ‘Dad/Daddy’ in Irish Posted by róislín on Jun 6, 2013
(le Róislín) Since June is mí Lá na nAithreacha, let’s look once more at the various words for “Dad” and “Daddy” in Irish, specifically in direct address. So we’ll take a brief break from the Irish names we were working on in the last blog (Seán, Sinéad, srl.) and their direct address forms (“Dia duit…
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…
“Holly,” “Jolly,” “Merry,” agus “Berry” – An nDéanann Siad Rím le Chéile i nGaeilge? Posted by róislín on Nov 30, 2011
(le Róislín) Well, the answer is no, ní dhéanann siad rím le chéile i nGaeilge. “Athdhúbaltaigh ríme” [pronunciation below] normally don’t when you translate their component parts from language to language. For example, to attempt to translate a popular English rhyming reduplicative, “easy breezy,” in Irish you could choose from the following: easy: éasca, furasta…