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Can A Word Look Irish But Not Be Irish?   The Curious Case of … (Léigh leat le fáil amach) Posted by on Apr 25, 2018

(le Róislín) As you can see in the graphic above, Irish has a number of words that end in “-inne.”  And to add to the mix, the ending “-inné” does exist but is much less common.  The ten words above end in either “-inne” or “-inné,” but one of them isn’t actually Irish.  So, looking…

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Cineálacha Béar agus Cineálacha Beár (Irish Words for Types of Bears and Types of Bars) (Cuid/Pt. 1/2) Posted by on Feb 28, 2018

(le Róislín) We recently looked at “Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBéar Bán” (International Polar Bear Day) celebrated every year on February 27th, and I hope that thinking about that day gave you some paws (ermm, oops, should be “pause”  – groan / duck) for thought about what is happening to “gnáthóg na mbéar bán” (the habitat…

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Irish Phrases and Idioms Using ‘Red,’ ‘White,’ and ‘Blue’ (Dearg, Bán, Gorm), pt. 2 Posted by on Jun 26, 2016

(le Róislín) Most recently, we looked at the Irish for “red” (dearg) inspired by the timely red, white and blue color schemes one sees a lot around this time of year, sna Stáit Aontaithe, ar a laghad. So that was “dearg,” and we had lots of examples: Clóicín Dearg, léine dhearg, cuiríní dearga, báid dhearga…

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Irish Phrases and Idioms Using ‘Red,’ ‘White,’ and ‘Blue’ (Dearg, Bán, Gorm), Pt. 1 Posted by on Jun 24, 2016

(le Róislín) Around this time of year, we go from Flag Day in the US to Canada Day (July 1), Independence Day (US, July 4th) and Bastille Day.  So it seems like a good time to check out some Irish phrases using the color terms, “dearg” (red), “bán” (white), and “gorm” (blue).  The French and…

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Aistriúchán den Chomhrá le Nola, An Srónbheannach (A Translation of the Irish Dialogue with Nola)–Cuid 1/2 Posted by on Dec 3, 2015

(le Róislín) Usually I write these blogs bilingually, but the imaginary conversation with Nola, the 4th-last Northern White Rhinoceros in the world, took on a life of its own in Irish.  So, for the benefit of newcomers to the language, I’ll do an interlinear translation here, with some vocabulary notes and pronunciation interspersed.  This blog…

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Comhrá (samhlaitheach) le Nola, an Srónbheannach: An Imaginary Conversation in Irish with Nola, The Rhinoceros Posted by on Nov 23, 2015

(le Róislín)   Amidst the many catastróif that seem to be happening lately, I was also saddened to learn of the death of Nola, an srónbheannach bán tuaisceartach a bhí ina cónaí i San Diego Zoo Safari Park ó 1989. Of course, she probably lived longer in captivity than she would have in the wild…

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tír + scamall + fada + bán = Aotearoa (probably!) Posted by on Jun 5, 2014

(le Róislín) So what was that dú-shlán [DOO-hlawn] mentioned in the last blog (nasc thíos).  Gaeilge a chur ar Mhaorais (to translate Maori to Irish)?  Bhuel, cén fáth nach ndéanfaí sin (Well, why not, lit. why wouldn’t that be done)?The hitch is, here, that I’m just going to set out the vocabulary in this blog…

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