Tag Archives: uncle
Ó ‘Uncail Oscar’ go garmhac Fhionn Mhic Cumhaill: The Irish Roots of the Name ‘Oscar’ Posted by róislín on Feb 25, 2015
(le Róislín) Hmm, I was going to continue writing about “bombogenesis” and the guairneáin associated with aimsir gheimhriúil, but the timely topic of the Oscars was too tempting! The last blog (nasc thíos) addressed that subject, and we’ll return to it in another blog or two. So, “Oscar” was the grandson of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and…
How To Say “Uncail” (Uncailín, Amhnair, etc.) i nGaeilge Posted by róislín on May 20, 2013
(le Róislín) First, let me clarify that in this blog we’ll just be saying “uncle” in a very straightforward way, no implication of “crying uncle” (yielding, giving in). Even though the Irish language is incredibly rich in idioms and figurative expressions, I haven’t really found much use of the word “uncail” in such expressions. Perhaps…
Ainteanna nó Aintíní? (Aunts or Aunties?) Posted by róislín on May 14, 2013
(le Róislín) We’ve recently mentioned Mother’s Day (Lá na Máithreacha) and Father’s Day (Lá na nAithreacha), and we’ve looked at various mother/father expressions (e.g. máthair na mballach, lus gan athair gan mháthair). For the next couple of blogs, we’ll check out na hainteanna (or should we say “na haintíní“?) and na huncailí (or the occasionally…
When Is A ‘Máthair” Not A ‘Mother’ (literally, that is) Posted by róislín on May 7, 2013
(le Róislín) No, this blog isn’t going to be about toircheas fireann (à la Trip Tucker and the Xyrillians in Star Trek: Enterprise, The Unexpected). Nor will it be about capaill mhara or snáthaidí mara or the possibilities of toirchis eachtópacha i bhfir as postulated in our homeworld or as speculated about i bhficsean eolaíoch…
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…