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<\/a>You may have noticed that both “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” and “d\u00e9ag<\/b>” were used in the last blog title (nasc th\u00edos)<\/strong>.\u00a0 For “twelve animals,” we said “dh\u00e1 ainmh\u00ed dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” with the lenited form “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” [yayg].\u00a0 For “twelve years,” we said “dh\u00e1 bhliain d\u00e9ag<\/b>,” with the basic form of “d\u00e9ag<\/b>” ([djayg] not lenited).\u00a0 So what’s going on here?<\/p>\nThere is a pattern to when to use “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” and when to use “d\u00e9ag<\/b>.”\u00a0 First, though, let’s look at the basic word order for these phrases, since we’ll need that for the explanation.\u00a0 \u00a0In Irish, if you’re counting twelve things or animals, what you’re counting comes in between the words for “two” (dh\u00e1<\/b>) and for “ten” (d\u00e9ag \/ dh\u00e9ag<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0 It’s almost as if you’re saying “two animal ten” or “two year ten” to say “twelve animals” or “twelve years.”<\/p>\n
Now for “d\u00e9ag<\/b>” vs. “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>.”\u00a0 Whether to use “d\u00e9ag<\/b>” or “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” depends on how the thing you’re counting is spelled.\u00a0 If the word ends in a vowel, “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” is used.\u00a0 A few examples include:<\/p>\n
dh\u00e1 ainmh\u00ed dh\u00e9ag<\/b>, twelve animals (remember: “dh\u00e9ag<\/strong>” sounds like “yayg”)<\/p>\n dh\u00e1 or\u00e1iste dh\u00e9ag<\/b>, twelve oranges<\/p>\n If the thing you’re counting ends in a consonant, we use “d\u00e9ag<\/b>,” as in:<\/p>\n dh\u00e1 bhliain d\u00e9ag<\/b>, twelve years<\/p>\n dh\u00e1 \u00fall d\u00e9ag<\/b>, twelve apples<\/p>\n So what do apostles, mill-clappers, and zodiac signs have to so with all of this?\u00a0 Bhuel<\/b>, directly or indirectly, they have to do with the number twelve.\u00a0 So let’s continue practicing the number “twelve,” and for good measure, we’ll look at “dozen” as well.<\/p>\n First, how do we say “twelve signs,” as in “Comhartha\u00ed an Stoidiaca<\/b>“?\u00a0 It’s a good way to practice “dh\u00e1 … dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” since there are 12 signs, ceann do gach m\u00ed.\u00a0 D\u00e1la an sc\u00e9il, “comhartha\u00ed”<\/b> sounds like “KOR-hee” or “KOH-ur-hee”:<\/p>\n dh\u00e1 chomhartha dh\u00e9ag<\/b>, twelve signs [for “chomhartha<\/strong>,” say “KHOR-huh”\u00a0 or “KHOH-ur-huh,” with the “mh” nearly silent, the “t” silent, and in the initial “kh” sound like the “ch” of “challah,” “Chanukah,” or German Buch<\/em>]<\/p>\n So we have three points to keep in mind: a) “chomhartha<\/b>” lenited after “dh\u00e1<\/b>,” b) “dh\u00e9ag<\/b>” lenited after “chomhartha<\/b>,” and c) “c(h)omhartha<\/b>” is singular in this phrase, not plural, which would be “comhartha\u00ed<\/b>” [KOH-ur-hee].<\/p>\n Next, counting people, and apostles happens to be a convenient example.\u00a0 In Irish, saying the number of apostles uses a different system from counting animals or years, etc., one specifically for counting people (na huimhreacha pearsanta<\/b>).\u00a0 You might recognize this concept from phrases like “beirt bhan<\/b>,” “tri\u00far buachaill\u00ed<\/b>,” and “Ceathrar Marcach an Apacailipsis<\/b>.” \u00a0\u00a0This is a bit like using “duo,” “trio,” and “quartet” in English, but in English, these terms are mostly limited to musicians or deliberately artsy phrases (Dynamic Duo, etc.).\u00a0 In Irish, words like “beirt<\/b>,” “tri\u00far<\/b>,” and “ceathrar<\/b>,” up through “deichni\u00far<\/b>” and “dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag<\/b>” are routinely used for counting people.<\/p>\n So how do we say twelve people?\u00a0 There are two choices:<\/p>\n dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag<\/b> (twelve people), this is as far as the “uimhreacha pearsanta<\/b>” system goes.\u00a0 Starting with thirteen, we use the regular cardinal numbers (tr\u00ed dhuine dh\u00e9ag<\/b>, etc.)<\/p>\n dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag fear<\/b>, twelve men, and note that “dh” changes to “d” after “an<\/strong>” here: an d\u00e1r\u00e9ag fear<\/b>, the twelve men<\/p>\n dh\u00e1r\u00e9ag aspal<\/b>, twelve apostles, and “an D\u00e1r\u00e9ag Aspal<\/b>,” the Twelve Apostles, sometimes just referred to as “An D\u00e1r\u00e9ag<\/b>.”<\/p>\n So far we have the cardinal numbers (dh\u00e1 ainmh\u00ed dh\u00e9ag<\/b>) and the personal numbers (an D\u00e1r\u00e9ag Aspal<\/b>).\u00a0 How about “dozen.”\u00a0 And what was that about mill-clappers?\u00a0\u00a0 Bhuel<\/b>, just a bit of fun, actually. \u00a0The Irish word for “dozen” is “dosaen<\/b>,” not surprisingly.\u00a0 But if we want to describe someone as talking “nineteen to the dozen” in Irish we don’t actually refer to numbers at all in the closest equivalent.\u00a0 Instead, the phrase is “to be (like) a mill-clapper” (claib\u00edn muilinn<\/b>).\u00a0 So we could say:<\/p>\n T\u00e1 Stella Mudd (bean Harry Mudd) ina claib\u00edn muilinn (R\u00e9altAistear, S\u00e9as\u00far 2, Eipeas\u00f3id 8,<\/b> “I, Mudd,” 1967).\u00a0 N\u00ed deir s\u00ed ach ruda\u00ed mar<\/b> “Harcourt Fenton Mudd, what have you been up to? Have you been drinking again? You answer me!” agus<\/b> “Harcourt Fenton Mudd, what have you been up to? Nothing good, I’m sure. Well, let me tell you, you lazy, good-for-nothing\u00a0.”\u00a0 Ar\u00eds agus ar\u00edst eile, go tapaidh agus gan stad.<\/b><\/p>\n C\u00e9 mh\u00e9ad ubh shona at\u00e1 sa phicti\u00far seo? Dosaen!<\/p><\/div>\n So the Irish equivalent to “nineteen to the dozen” doesn’t involve numbers but it did give us an interesting way to introduce the word “dosaen<\/b>” into our discussion of the number “twelve.”\u00a0\u00a0 Some other phrases with “dosaen<\/b>” include “dosaen uibheacha<\/b>” and “dosaen r\u00f3sanna<\/b>.” Those two examples demonstrate that “d<\/strong>osaen<\/b>” is followed by the genitive plural, unlike the cardinal numbers, which are followed by the nominative singular form of the noun (“dosaen<\/strong> r\u00f3sanna”<\/b><\/b>\u00a0 but “dh\u00e1<\/strong> r\u00f3s d\u00e9ag”)<\/b><\/b>.\u00a0 A “dosaen fada<\/b>” is a “baker’s dozen” i.e. thirteen of something.\u00a0 Again, the Irish isn’t literally the same as the English, since “dosaen fada<\/b>” actually means “a long dozen.”<\/p>\n<\/a>