{"id":10991,"date":"2019-02-28T13:36:42","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T13:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=10991"},"modified":"2019-03-07T20:21:19","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T20:21:19","slug":"ten-irish-phrases-for-snowflake-and-whether-they-use-sneachta-or-shneachta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ten-irish-phrases-for-snowflake-and-whether-they-use-sneachta-or-shneachta\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Irish Phrases for Snowflake and Whether They Use ‘Sneachta’ or ‘Shneachta’"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u00edomh\u00e1 ghearrtha \u00f3 https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Snow#\/media\/File:Snowflakeschapte00warriala-p11-p21-p29-p39.jpg<\/a>, public domain; the original work: Warren, Israel Perkins, 1814-92; this image: ComputerHotline-Snowflakes: a chapter from the book of nature ([c1863)]; t\u00e9acs Gaeilge le R\u00f3isl\u00edn, 2019<\/em><\/p><\/div>I have to admit that I was surprised at how many Irish words for “snowflake” I found as I researched the previous blog (nasc th\u00edos<\/strong>).\u00a0 Before we move on to some other topics, I thought it would be good to review them one more time, looking specifically at how to say “a snowflake” (singular) as opposed to “snowflakes” (plural).\u00a0 This is usually a bit trickier in Irish than in English because in Irish we have to keep in mind the spelling changes caused by grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) and lenition (usually inserting “h”) .\u00a0 But there’s definitely a pattern, at least as far as these 10 words are concerned.<\/p>\n

By the way, I’ve limited myself to the 10 words for snowflake that I think are reasonably the most common.\u00a0 As you saw in the last blogpost, there are actually even more.\u00a0 But I think ten is a nice round number for practicing.<\/p>\n

So I’ll set the phrases up as a quiz and you can decide as you go whether to use “sneachta<\/strong>” (the basic word for ‘snow’) or “shneachta<\/strong>‘ (the lenited form of the word for ‘snow’).\u00a0 For good measure, we’ll also practice adding the word “the” to the phrase, which may trigger a few more spelling changes to the beginning of the word for “flake” (remember, like when we say “an bhean<\/strong>” for “the woman,” but just “bean<\/strong>” for “woman,” or “an chearc\/cearc<\/strong>” for “the hen” and “hen” respectively). \u00a0\u00a0Unlike some quizzes and word games I’ve done in the past in this blog, where the number of blanks specifically matches the number of letters to be filled in, here we just have plain lines — otherwise I’d be giving the answers away.\u00a0 The ‘freagra\u00ed<\/strong> ‘ will be ‘th\u00edos<\/strong>.’<\/p>\n

1)) brat\u00f3g\u00a0 __________; an ___at\u00f3g\u00a0 \u00a0__________<\/p>\n

2)) c\u00e1ithn\u00edn __________; an ___\u00e1ithn\u00edn\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

3)) cal\u00f3g\u00a0 __________; an ___al\u00f3g\u00a0 __________\u00a0 \u00a0Remember, by the way, that this phrase is the most widely used, according to all the times I’ve heard snowflakes discussed in Irish.<\/p>\n

4)) f\u00edneog\u00a0 __________; an ___\u00edneog\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

5)) l\u00f3ip\u00edn __________; an ___\u00f3ip\u00edn\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

6)) lubh\u00f3g\u00a0 __________; an ___ubh\u00f3g\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

7)) sl\u00e1m __________; an ___l\u00e1m\u00a0 __________\u00a0 A word of advice for this phrase: it could also mean “a lot of snow,” referring to the entire amount.<\/p>\n

8)) sl\u00e1m\u00e1n\u00a0 __________; an ___l\u00e1m\u00e1n\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

9)) sl\u00e1m\u00f3g\u00a0 __________; an ___l\u00e1m\u00f3g\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

10)) spitheog\u00a0 __________;\u00a0 an ___itheog\u00a0 __________<\/p>\n

Now, on to the freagra\u00ed<\/strong>.\u00a0 Of course, you could always have just copied them from the previous blogpost, but then, “C\u00e1 mbeadh an d\u00fashl\u00e1n?<\/strong>”\u00a0 At the end of the answer key, you’ll find a little summary of the rule that actually makes this exercise quite predictable.\u00a0 SGF<\/strong> and I hope you enjoyed this d\u00fashl\u00e1in\u00edn beag<\/strong>.\u00a0 It might also be useful if you’re teaching Irish to beginners — t\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go bhfuil s\u00e9 \u00fas\u00e1ideach duit, d\u00f3igh amh\u00e1in n\u00f3 d\u00f3igh eile. — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freagra\u00ed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1)) brat\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta; an bhrat\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta<\/p>\n

2)) c\u00e1ithn\u00edn \u00a0sneachta; an c\u00e1ithn\u00edn\u00a0 sneachta<\/p>\n

3)) cal\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta; an chal\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0(italics here because this is the most useful phrase of all, imo).<\/p>\n

4)) f\u00edneog\u00a0 shneachta; an fh\u00edneog\u00a0 shneachta<\/p>\n

5)) l\u00f3ip\u00edn sneachta; an \u00a0l\u00f3ip\u00edn\u00a0 sneachta<\/p>\n

6)) lubh\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta; an lubh\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta<\/p>\n

7)) sl\u00e1m sneachta; an sl\u00e1m\u00a0 sneachta.\u00a0 Remember the advice re: this phrase: it could also mean “a lot of snow,” referring to the entire amount, especially if we say “sl\u00e1m m\u00f3r sneachta<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

8)) sl\u00e1m\u00e1n\u00a0 sneachta; an sl\u00e1m\u00e1n\u00a0 sneachta<\/p>\n

9)) sl\u00e1m\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta; an tsl\u00e1m\u00f3g\u00a0 shneachta<\/p>\n

10)) spitheog\u00a0 shneachta;\u00a0 an spitheog\u00a0 shneachta<\/p>\n

An riail<\/strong> (the rule): If the word for “flake” is grammatically feminine, we use “shneachta<\/strong>” instead of “sneachta<\/strong>.”\u00a0 “Snow” is being used as an adjective here, so we follow the same rules as for adjectives, namely lenition, just as when we say “\u00f3c\u00e1id shona<\/strong>” but “l\u00e1 sona<\/strong>” for “happy occasion” and “happy day,” respectively.\u00a0 \u00a0All of the nouns in this list ending in “-\u00f3g” or “-eog” are feminine, as they are virtually all the time in Irish (sp\u00fan\u00f3g mh\u00f3r, br\u00f3g bheag, srl.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

If the word for “flake” is grammatically masculine, we just use the base word “sneachta<\/strong>.”\u00a0 So that accounts for c\u00e1ithn\u00edn, l\u00f3ip\u00edn, sl\u00e1m<\/strong>, and sl\u00e1m\u00e1n<\/strong>.\u00a0 As you may already know, the ending “-\u00edn” is almost always masculine in Irish, even when it’s used for the word for “girl,” as in “an cail\u00edn m\u00f3r<\/strong>” (the big girl).\u00a0 If somehow the word “cail\u00edn<\/strong>” were feminine, we’d have an initial “ch-“, not just a “c” and we’d change “m\u00f3r<\/strong>” to “mh\u00f3r<\/strong>.”\u00a0 \u00a0There are a very few exceptions to this “-\u00edn” rule, but one fun one is “lach\u00edn<\/strong>” (duckling), for which we say “lach\u00edn mh\u00f3r<\/strong>” or “lach\u00edn bheag<\/strong>.” \u00a0Words ending in “-\u00e1n” (like sl\u00e1m\u00e1n<\/strong>) are almost always masculine (ar\u00e1n blasta, cup\u00e1n m\u00f3r<\/strong>).\u00a0 For a word like “sl\u00e1m<\/strong>,” there’s no real clue to the gender, so we have to look it up in a dictionary or deduce it from context.\u00a0 Phrases like “sl\u00e1m m\u00f3r airgid<\/strong>” tell us that “sl\u00e1m<\/strong>” is masculine.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the phrase uses “m\u00f3r” instead of “mh\u00f3r.”<\/p>\n

As for the initial changes to the word for “flake” itself, again, it’s all based on gender.\u00a0 The feminine ones all take lenition (aka s\u00e9imhi\u00fa<\/strong>), so we have the following: an bhrat\u00f3g, an chal\u00f3g, an fh\u00edneog<\/strong>.\u00a0 For “lubh\u00f3g<\/strong>” there is no spelling change because we do not write “lh” in Irish.\u00a0 For “spitheog<\/strong>” there is no change because the cluster “sp” is an exception to the lenition rule (as with the “sp” of “an sp\u00e9ir<\/strong>“).\u00a0 For “sl\u00e1m\u00f3g<\/strong>,” the lenition rule changes to prefix a “t” without inserting the “h,” giving us “an tsl\u00e1m\u00f3g<\/strong>” (say: un TLAW-mohg, the original “s” becomes silent).\u00a0 Similarly, you might remember “an tslat” and “an tsl\u00e1inte.”<\/p>\n

Anyway, sin \u00e9<\/strong> and I hope you found this interesting, useful, and thought-provoking.\u00a0 I’m still intrigued by the abundance of words for “snowflake” in Irish, especially since, until recently it seems, snow wasn’t so general or frequent or deep all over Ireland.\u00a0 Remember, today’s blog only dealt with 10 of the possibilities of words for “snowflake.”\u00a0 The previous blogpost included a few more, mostly less commonly used, at least in my experience.<\/p>\n

Nasc:<\/strong> The Irish Words for \u2018Snowflake\u2019 \u2014 Cal\u00f3ga and More! (with \u2018sneachta,\u2019 of course)<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Feb 20, 2019 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) I have to admit that I was surprised at how many Irish words for “snowflake” I found as I researched the previous blog (nasc th\u00edos).\u00a0 Before we move on to some other topics, I thought it would be good to review them one more time, looking specifically at how to say “a snowflake”…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":10995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[513797,513798,172880,513799,489423,5878,460984,513800,6758,365067,513801,513802,513803,6864,984,251471,513804],"class_list":["post-10991","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-bratog","tag-caithnin","tag-calog","tag-fineog","tag-flake","tag-lenition","tag-loipin","tag-lubhog","tag-seimhiu","tag-shneachta","tag-slam","tag-slaman","tag-slamog","tag-sneachta","tag-snow","tag-snowflake","tag-spitheog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10991"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11003,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991\/revisions\/11003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}