(le Róislín)

Here are some of the basic terms for this holiday season:

Oíche Nollag, Christmas Eve, but Oíche Lá Nollag, the night of Christmas Day

An Nollaig, Christmas (note the use of the definite article, “the” Christmas)

Lá Nollag, Christmas Day

Nóta 1: Irish doesn’t really have a separate word for “eve” to distinguish “the night before” from “night” in general.  With holidays, “oíche” is understood to have the sense of the English “eve,” as in Oíche Nollag and Oíche Shamhna (the eve of Samhain, Halloween, Samhain itself being November 1).  If you want to specify Christmas Night (December 25), you have to add the word “lá,” as in the phrase above.

Nóta 2: When do we include the word “na” (of the) in Christmas phrases?  Mostly it’s in phrases that point to Christmas as a single distinct concept, like Daidí na Nollag (there’s only one Santa Claus, supposedly) and Mí na Nollag (December, “the” month of “the” Christmas”).  The more generic ideas, like “crann Nollag,” “cárta Nollag,” and “stoca Nollag,” generally drop the “na” part.

Nóta 3: An Tuiseal Ginideach sa Fhrása seo: You’ve probably already noticed that when we say “of Christmas,” we drop the letter “i,” so “Nollaig” changes to “Nollag.”  That creates the genitive case of the word (i.e. the possessive form, to say “of Christmas”).  Having noted that, a Google search today indicates about 27,900 uses of “na” followed by the root form “Nollaig,” without making the change to the genitive case.

Many of these are simply incorrect, at least if they’re Irish.  There is another possible layer of confusion, though, since a lot of those 27,900 examples are actually correct Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), in phrases like “Oran na Nollaig” (Christmas song) or “Miosachan na Nollaig” (Advent Calendar, lit. calendar of Christmas) [sic].  I’m still a bit puzzled, since I understand the possessive form in Scottish Gaelic to be “Nollaige,” keeping that “i” and adding a final “e,” much like many Irish nouns (feis / feise), but it seems that even within Gàidhlig there are variations to the pattern, giving “àm na Nollaige” but “Latha Nollaig” and “Oidhche Nollaig,” for example.  But the intricacies of the Irish “ginideach” and the Scottish “gineamhuinneach,” I’ll leave for lá eile (or latha eile, if you will).

So, the works: Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise duit (to one person) or “daoibh” (for more than one).  [NUL-ik HUN-uh AH-gus AH-VLEE-in fwee WUSH-uh ditch / deev].  Conamara dialect speakers will probably write and say “dhuit” [γitch] and “dhaoibh” [γeev].  If those little gamma signs in the pronunciation guide are hard to read (they’re like a “v” with a little tail underneath), just keep in mind the pronunciation is guttural, deep in the throat, and lower down than the Irish broad “ch” (which you see in “ach” or “a chroí” and which sounds like the German “Buch” or “Achtung”).  Whatever féile you celebrate, I hope you’re having a good holiday season!  Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise duit — Róislín