Tag Archives: year
How many ‘happys’ are there in Irish for the various seasonal greetings? Posted by róislín on Dec 14, 2017
(le Róislín) How many ways are there to say ‘happy’ in Irish? Quite a few, but for right now we’ll concentrate on two seasonal variations. One will be for saying ‘Happy Christmas,’ which in US English would be ‘Merry Christmas,’ and the other will be for ‘Happy New Year.’ The bottom line is that neither…
How many ways can we say ‘bliain’ (year) in Irish, including ‘athbhliain’? Posted by róislín on Jan 11, 2016
(le Róislín) As we settle into the new year (an bhliain nua, an bhliain úr, an athbhliain, srl.), let’s think of how many ways we can say and use the word ‘year’ in Irish. Most recently, you’ve probably seen the phrase “Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise” (A happy and prosperous New Year). But let’s look…
Some Irish Words Starting with the Letter ‘Y’ (yóyó ina measc) Posted by róislín on Sep 21, 2015
(le Róislín) In the past few blagmhíreanna (naisc thíos), we’ve looked at some Irish words that start with letters not traditionally in the Irish alphabet (v, w, x). Today’s blog will deal with the letter “y” and soon we’ll do “z.” Someday we’ll get to the other three non-traditional letters (j, k, q), but for…
Years, Ears, and Donkeys in Irish (Bhuel, Not Really Donkeys!) Posted by róislín on Jan 25, 2014
(le Róislín) This time in January, in between the western New Year (1 Eanáir) and Chinese New Year (31 Eanáir i 2014) seems like a good time to look again at the word “bliain” (year) in Irish (nasc thíos do bhlag eile faoi seo). In this blog, we’ll look at the basic forms of the…
New Year’s – Celtic Style (1 Mí na Samhna in ionad 1 Eanáir) Posted by róislín on Oct 31, 2012
(le Róislín) While January 1 is widely considered to be “New Year’s Day” in many parts of the world, including Ireland, there is/was a Celtic concept of the New Year that placed the holiday much earlier in the winter season, specifically on November 1. I say “is/was” quite deliberately. Considering “an t-aonú lá de mhí…
Na Séasúir (The Seasons, in Irish) Posted by róislín on Sep 21, 2011
(le Róislín) Here’s yet another topic based on “an féilire.” In Irish, na séasúir are samhradh, earrach, fómhar and geimhreadh. As you may have noticed, I didn’t list them in the order we usually think of them, just so we can do another round of meaitseáil. These four words may not very recognizable from an…