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Tag Archives: Wales

Naoimh, Neimhe, Néimhe, and Nimhe  — and what does any of this have to do with Saint Patrick?  (Cuid 1 as 2) Posted by on Mar 20, 2016

(le Róislín) Well, to answer the title question, the St. Patrick connection will primarily be in the first of the four words in the title, “naoimh.” You might remember that in the most recent blog (nasc thíos), we looked at these five words: naomh, neamh, neamh- (the prefix), Niamh, and nimh, meaning, in order: saint…

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Ag seinm uirlisí ceoil, ó alpchorn go xileafón (Alpenhorn to Xylophone in Irish, pt. 1) Posted by 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…

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More Month-of-May Motifs (i nGaeilge, ar ndóigh) Posted by 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…

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Saying Where You’re From “i nGaeilge” Posted by on Jun 2, 2009

The terms “Gael-Mheiriceánaigh,” “Gael-Cheanadaigh,” and “Gael-Astrálach,” discussed on May 28 and earlier, account for a large percentage of the Irish diaspora, outside the U.S.  Now to get more specific.   Two North American groups who could have many members wishing to identify themselves in Irish are the Nova Scotians and the Newfoundlanders. In each case…

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Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Trí: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities – Wales and the Welsh Posted by on May 3, 2009

We’ve recently discussed the place names Albain (Scotland) and Éire (Ireland).  Now we’ll turn to ”An Bhreatain Bheag” (Wales).  Since “Breatain” is a feminine noun, the adjective that modifies it, “beag” (little) becomes “bheag.”  And since this country name includes the definite article “an” (the), it also causes “Breatain” to change to “Bhreatain,” pronounced with…

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The Many Meanings of “Oireachtas” Posted by on Apr 18, 2009

 (le Róislín) For the week of April 5 to 12, 2009, many Philadelphians probably saw more samples of the Irish language in the media than ever before in the city’s history.  Why?  This year, Philadelphia hosted the first Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne (World Irish Dance Championship) to be held outside Ireland or the U.K.  Over 6000…

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