Tag Archives: tuiseal
Ten Ways to Say “Bravo” in Irish (using Ceol, Gairm, Beannacht, Fáinne, etc.) Posted by róislín on Feb 18, 2016
(le Róislín) Music lovers at a classical music concert will probably wait politely until the very end to call out “Bravo!” or “Brava!” during the applause. But in the realm of Irish folk music, short phrases of encouragement are often used during the song or tune, offering encouragement to the performer. They can all be…
Irish Christmas Terms without the Word ‘Christmas’ — Quiz Yourself! Posted by róislín on Dec 23, 2015
(le Róislín) One of the first Christmas blogs I wrote in this series was about Christmas phrases that don’t have the word “Christmas” in them (nasc thíos). Every time we use the word Christmas in Irish (Nollaig, Nollag), we have to be aware of the ending (“-aig” or “-ag”) and whether or not to include…
‘-aig” ag Nollaig nó ‘-ag’ ag ‘Nollag’? (When to say “Nollaig” and when to say “Nollag” for the Irish word for ‘Christmas’) Posted by róislín on Dec 11, 2015
(le Róislín) It’s that time of year again, and while the Christmas season may make us feel “holly jolly” and “berry merry,” but we might not always feel that way when confronted with the decision of “tuiseal ginideach” or not “tuiseal ginideach.” And what’s the “tuiseal ginideach,” anyway? It’s the form of the word used…
Ag seinm uirlisí ceoil, ó alpchorn go xileafón (Alpenhorn to Xylophone in Irish, pt. 1) Posted by róislín on Mar 19, 2015
(le Róislín) Uirlisí ceoil ón alpchorn go dtí an xileafón. And, just for good, ermm, measure (“líne“) here, we’ll nudge them into the “tuiseal ginideach,” so we can say “playing the alpenhorn” or “playing the xylophone.” And why do we need “an tuiseal ginideach“? And what is it, anyway? We saw a bit of it…
An Tuiseal Gairmeach sa Ghaeilge: Dealing with Nouns of Direct Address in Irish Posted by róislín on Feb 11, 2014
(le Róislín) “A Shéamais!” “A Shinéad!” “A chuisle!” “A stór!” “A óinseach!” “A amadáin!” What do all these Irish phrases have in common? The vocative particle “a,” which has no exact equivalent in English. In addition to being used with terms of endearment, as discussed in the most recent blog (nasc thíos), this particle is…
Lámha Leitean (An Cúigiú Díochlaonadh, ar l.) Posted by róislín on Jun 14, 2011
(le Róislín) “Catch!” “Dropped it? Lámha leitean!” Where English invokes the slipperiness of butter to describe someone who can’t catch a ball, Irish invokes, yes, you guessed it, porridge! “Lámha leitean” is a useful phrase for the clós súgartha (playground), and it’s also useful for demonstrating yet another 5th-declension noun in Irish. The “leitean” part…
Piontaí agus an Ceathrú Díochlaonadh Posted by róislín on May 18, 2011
(le Róislín) As long as we’re on the topic of “turas an Uachtaráin go hÉirinn,” how about “piontaí Guinness”? And since “pionta” happens to be a 4th-declension noun, all the more reason to keep sraith na ndíochlaontaí going. Credit: PDPhoto.org / Public Domain Image So, if we’re going to describe this pint, what are the…