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Tag Archives: voiced velar fricative

Ó Abair An Léir Dhuit: Oh Say Can You See (Amhrán Náisiúnta na Stát Aontaithe) Posted by on Jun 18, 2012

(le Róislín) As those of us sna Stáit Aontaithe transition from Lá na Brataí (14 Meitheamh) go Lá na Saoirse (i Meiriceá; 4 Iúil), this might be an apt time to try the American National Anthem in Irish.  It was translated long before the ongoing row as to whether “The Star-Spangled Banner” should be sung…

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Fools on Hills, and Otherwise, with Irish Pronunciation Tips Posted by on Apr 1, 2012

(le Róislín) On the topic of fools (amadáin), Irish seems to have an endless supply of words.  Probably other languages do as well (Welsh offering up ffŵl, ffwlcyn, hurtyn, lolyn, penbwl, twpsyn, and ynfytyn, just for starters), but our focus here, ar ndóigh, will be on Irish terms.  We’ve recently discussed quite a few (gamal…

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Saying “I love you” in Irish and Minding Your Velar Fricatives Posted by on Oct 9, 2011

(le Róislín) We’ve recently been looking at different ways to say “I love you” in Irish.  Some of you might have been wondering how to pronounce them, especially the phrases where the straightforward “grá” [graw] changes to “ghrá” [γraw, to be explained below, note the IPA gamma symbol for the “gh”] and the straightforward “croí” changes…

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Dóigheanna le “I Love You!” a Rá i nGaeilge: Let Me Count the Ways! Posted by on Feb 12, 2011

(le Róislín) Many languages, perhaps most, have numerous ways to say “I love you!” and Irish is no exception.  But, compared to other languages, Irish may be somewhat unusual in not really using the verb “to love,” as such, as much as it uses noun phrases.  Examples would include calling the object of your affection…

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