{"id":3300,"date":"2012-10-09T12:16:44","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T12:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=3300"},"modified":"2016-10-20T10:59:08","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T10:59:08","slug":"comhaireamh-sios-go-hoiche-shamhna-countdown-to-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/comhaireamh-sios-go-hoiche-shamhna-countdown-to-halloween\/","title":{"rendered":"Comhaireamh S\u00edos Go hO\u00edche Shamhna (Countdown to Halloween)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

An bhfeiceann t\u00fa l\u00edon an damh\u00e1in alla?<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Bhuel<\/strong>, it’s not exactly a “comhaireamh s\u00edos<\/strong>” [KOH-irzh-uv sheess] as such, but here’s a sampler of focail le t\u00e9ama O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong> (Halloween-themed words) that might be a fun way to practice counting in Irish.\u00a0 With Irish numbers, you don’t just have to learn the numbers themselves, but also the ever-present mutations that follow them.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, the rialacha<\/strong> (rules) are, with a very basic example, “bosca<\/strong>,” to show the changes :<\/p>\n

for one item: just the noun, or the noun followed by “amh\u00e1in<\/strong>” (that “followed by” is important because all the other numbers come before the noun): bosca<\/strong> OR bosca amh\u00e1in, mar shampla<\/strong><\/p>\n

for two items: dh\u00e1<\/strong> plus lenition (inserting an “h” after the initial consonant): dh\u00e1 bhosca<\/strong><\/p>\n

for three, four, five, or six items: tr\u00ed, ceithre, c\u00faig<\/strong>, or s\u00e9<\/strong>, plus lenition: tr\u00ed bhosca, ceithre bhosca, c\u00faig bhosca, s\u00e9 bhosca<\/strong><\/p>\n

for seven, eight, nine, or ten items: seacht, ocht, naoi<\/strong>, or deich,<\/strong> plus eclipsis (covering over the original first consonant with another letter, in this case “m” in front of the “b,” giving us “mb”): seacht mbosca, ocht mbosca, naoi mbosca, deich mbosca<\/strong> (say “MOS-kuh” for all the eclipsed versions–the “b” is now silent)<\/p>\n

And now for some examples pertaining to O\u00edche Shamhna<\/strong> [“EE-hyuh HOW-nuh, with “how” as in English “how” or “now,” not like the English “ow” as in “snow” or “tow”]<\/p>\n

taibhse amh\u00e1in<\/strong> [TAIV-shuh uh-WAW-in, with the “ai” like “pie” or “eye,” not like “rain”]: one ghost<\/p>\n

dh\u00e1 ialt\u00f3g<\/strong> [\u03b3aw EELT-ohg; that first letter is the gamma sign, signifying the throaty pronunciation, sort of like the “ch” in “Chutzpah” but lower down in the throat–it’s our old friend the voiced velar fricative, for those who are interested in the linguistic details]: two bats<\/p>\n

tr\u00ed phuimc\u00edn<\/strong> [trzhee FWIM-keen]: three pumpkins<\/p>\n

ceithre starrfhiacail<\/strong> [KyEH-ruh STAR-EE-uh-kil, note that “st” never gets lenited and that the “fh” is completely silent]: four fangs (t\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go bhfuil siad d\u00e9anta as c\u00e9ir <\/strong>— I hope they’re made of wax)<\/p>\n

c\u00faig thurnapa<\/strong> [KOO-ig HUR-nuh-puh]: five turnips (for those who endorse the pre-pumpkin “Jack-O-Lantern”). \u00a0 An sc\u00e9al go hioml\u00e1n faoi Jack?<\/strong> \u00a0Blag \u00e9igin eile!<\/strong><\/p>\n

s\u00e9 choinneal<\/strong> [shay KHIN-yawl]: six candles (in case “coinneal Jeaic<\/strong>” burns out!)<\/p>\n

seacht gculaith<\/strong> [shakht GUL-ee]: seven costumes. \u00a0Remember, the noun stays singular after numbers in Irish, so we don’t use the plural, cultacha<\/strong> (costumes).\u00a0 It’s an irregular plural, though, and good to know (culaith<\/strong>, singular; cultacha<\/strong>, costumes).<\/p>\n

ocht laind\u00e9ar<\/strong> [okht LAN-djayr]: eight lanterns (no eclipsis because “laind\u00e9ar<\/strong>” starts with “l,” which is non-eclipsable)<\/p>\n

naoi ndamh\u00e1n alla<\/strong> [nee NOW-awn AH-luh]: nine spiders<\/p>\n

deich dtarant\u00fala<\/strong> [NB: “dt” pronounced like “d,” as “dar”]: ten tarantulas, just to ratchet up the big-black-spideriness of the season!\u00a0 Now there’s a word I’ve never seen in Irish before — spideriness!\u00a0 I’ll have to check up on that one.\u00a0 Presumably one could say “*damh\u00e1n-allachas<\/strong>,” or something like that, but it’s a little tricky creating the “-ness” form, since “spider” is already a 2-word phrase in Irish (damh\u00e1n alla<\/strong>, which literally means “little wild ox,” yes, “ox,” which in Irish is “damh<\/strong>“).\u00a0 And I guess there could be non-Halloween applications, like describing scr\u00edbhneoireacht <\/strong>(handwriting).\u00a0 Normally, though, we’d just say “scr\u00edbhneoireacht chaolchr\u00fabach<\/strong>,” which literally means “narrow-clawed” or “narrow-awkward” writing.\u00a0 In other words, “spidery handwriting” isn’t traditionally described as “spidery” as such in Irish.\u00a0 But there’s no reason why it couldn’t be.\u00a0 Just ask Charlotte!<\/p>\n

You might have noticed that I avoided listing human-type beings here, except for “taibhse amh\u00e1in<\/strong>” (one ghost).\u00a0 Any thoughts as to why I’m saving that for another blog?<\/p>\n

Got it?\u00a0 Maybe?\u00a0 If not, here’s a clue.\u00a0 Counting people in Irish takes the so-called “personal number” form, which is different from the actual cardinal number.\u00a0 I’m debating whether vaimpir\u00ed<\/strong> and g\u00fail<\/strong> should be considered as people for this purpose. \u00a0Fans of Twilight<\/em> will no doubt say yes!\u00a0 At any rate, doing the “uimhreacha pearsanta<\/strong>” will take at least another blog, so “ghoulies” and “ghosties,” please be patient.\u00a0 And “long-leggity beasties” too.<\/p>\n

SGF,\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grafaic\u00ed (uimhreacha l\u00edon damh\u00e1n alla): <\/strong><\/strong>Graphics From the Pond\u00a0http:\/\/frompond.blogspot.com<\/p>\n

P.S. Sin f\u00edor<\/strong>scr\u00edbhneoireacht “aracn\u00f3ideach” thuas, nach ea? \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Bhuel, it’s not exactly a “comhaireamh s\u00edos” [KOH-irzh-uv sheess] as such, but here’s a sampler of focail le t\u00e9ama O\u00edche Shamhna (Halloween-themed words) that might be a fun way to practice counting in Irish.\u00a0 With Irish numbers, you don’t just have to learn the numbers themselves, but also the ever-present mutations that follow…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":3340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[254995,254994,254980,4852,4855,461010,8667,254982,460933,254979,5878,96595,6344,34569,11,6667,6668,6779,254981,461008,461009,7200,7232,7233,7234,95784,254983],"class_list":["post-3300","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-arachnoid","tag-aracnoideach","tag-counting-in-irish","tag-culaith","tag-cultacha","tag-dtarantula","tag-eclipsis","tag-fang","tag-guil","tag-hoiche-shamhna","tag-lenition","tag-na-huimhreacha","tag-oiche-shamhna","tag-personal-number","tag-pronunciation","tag-samhain","tag-samhna","tag-shamhna","tag-starrfhiacail","tag-tarantula","tag-tharantula","tag-tsamhain","tag-uimhir-phearsanta","tag-uimhreacha","tag-uimhreacha-pearsanta","tag-vaimpiri","tag-wax"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t