{"id":5404,"date":"2014-06-30T11:58:02","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T11:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=5404"},"modified":"2015-01-28T00:52:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T00:52:21","slug":"an-teach-is-saoire-ba-shaoire-in-eirinn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-teach-is-saoire-ba-shaoire-in-eirinn\/","title":{"rendered":"An Teach is saoire (ba shaoire ?) in \u00c9irinn …"},"content":{"rendered":"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I recently noticed an eye-catching article about a house for sale in Ireland, announcing that it was the cheapest house in Ireland (nasc th\u00edos; 17 Aibre\u00e1n 2014)<\/strong>. \u00a0It’s located in Magheracorran (Machaire an Chorr\u00e1in<\/strong>) in Co. Donegal, between Letterkenny and Donegal Town.\u00a0 How big is it?\u00a0 Reasonably big — 4 bedrooms, about 1800 sq. feet (167 sq. m.).\u00a0 And it’s detached, with a front and rear garden and a built-in conservatory, all of which should make it fairly desirable.<\/p>\n

Naturally that piqued my curiosity, and also made me think, that’s a great way to practice superlative forms of adjectives in Irish.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9n luach at\u00e1 ar an teach seo?<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0Well, that’s not actually clear from the article, since the house was to be auctioned off.\u00a0 But the “reserve price” (praghas forchoime\u00e1dta<\/strong>) was \u20ac15,000 (US $22,000).\u00a0 So presumably the catchy headline, “The cheapest house in Ireland is up for sale,” really means the house with the cheapest reserve price.<\/p>\n

Either way, it provides us with an opportunity to practice “foirmeacha\u00a0 s\u00e1rch\u00e9imeacha aidiachta\u00ed<\/strong>” in Irish (superlative forms of adjectives).<\/p>\n

When we want to say the biggest, smallest, best, worst, etc. of anything in Irish, the noun comes first (opposite word order to English):<\/p>\n

the biggest house in Ireland: an teach is m\u00f3 in \u00c9irinn<\/strong><\/p>\n

the smallest house in Ireland: an teach is l\u00fa in \u00c9irinn<\/strong> (for links to a couple of candidates, see below)<\/p>\n

the smallest house in Wales: an teach is l\u00fa sa Bhreatain Bheag<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’ve actually visited this one and would definitely say it’s worth a gander, especially if you’re visiting Conway, Wales, where it’s located.\u00a0 For the curious, here are “na tois\u00ed<\/strong>:” H x W x D (airde x leithead x doimhneacht<\/strong>): \u00a0m\u00e9adar<\/strong>: 3.1 x 1.83 x 3.05; troigh<\/strong>: 10’2″ x 6 x 10.\u00a0 Agus is teach dh\u00e1 st\u00f3r \u00e9!\u00a0 Achar url\u00e1ir<\/strong>: 3.05 x 1.8m; 10′ x 5’9″<\/p>\n

If we want to do “best” and “worst,” the words will be “is fearr<\/strong>” and “is measa<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Is \u00e9 an t-amhr\u00e1na\u00ed is fearr ar domhan \u00e9<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 He is the best singer in the world.<\/p>\n

T\u00e1 boladh an sc\u00fainc ar cheann de na bolaithe is measa ar domhan<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0The smell of the skunk is one of the worst smells in the world.<\/p>\n

So far the adjectives we’ve been using are irregular (m\u00f3r \/ is m\u00f3; beag \/ is l\u00fa; maith \/ is fearr; olc \/ is measa). <\/strong><\/p>\n

The good news is that most adjectives in Irish are regular and the superlative form is quite predictable, following one of the following rules, depending on how the original word is spelled.\u00a0\u00a0 In each case, we start with the word “is<\/strong>” [say “iss” not “iz”]<\/p>\n

a) if the adjective ends in a broad consonant (i.e. if it’s next to the vowels a, o, or u), slenderize the ending and add a final “e”: daor \/ is daoire; saor \/ is saoire; dubh \/ is duibhe, srl.<\/strong><\/p>\n

b) if the adjective already ends in a slender consonant, except for “-\u00fail,” just add “e”: tirim \/ is tirime<\/strong><\/p>\n

c) if the adjective ends in “-\u00fail\u201d (and there are lots), broaden the final -l and add “-a”: misni\u00fail \/ is misni\u00fala; dath\u00fail \/ is dath\u00fala<\/strong><\/p>\n

And yes, there are some sub-patterns and occasional other irregularities, but these rules will cover the lion’s share.<\/p>\n

So getting back to “the cheapest house,” it would be:<\/p>\n

an teach is saoire in \u00c9irinn<\/strong> [“is saoire<\/strong>” is pronounced\u00a0 “iss SEER-uh]<\/p>\n

To say, “the most expensive house in Ireland,” it’s “an teach is daoire in \u00c9irinn<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

If we want to say “the house that was cheapest” in Ireland, or “the cheapest house that was in Ireland,” we have to make a change, not just to the main verb, but to the “-est” form:<\/p>\n

an teach ba shaoire in \u00c9irinn<\/strong>: the house that was cheapest in Ireland (“is<\/strong>” changes to “ba<\/strong>,” which then triggers lenition, so the new pronunciation is “buh HEERzh<\/sup>-uh”<\/p>\n

Apparently the house sold at auction for \u20ac33,000 ($ US 45,055), which no doubt makes it no longer “the cheapest,” but at least it gave us an opportunity to practice “is saoire<\/strong>” and “ba shaoire<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Can you think of some good examples of superlatives?\u00a0 The driest place in the world?\u00a0 The most expensive watch in the world?\u00a0 Lots of food for thought there.\u00a0 SGF – R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Naisc<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.irishcentral.com\/news\/The-cheapest-house-in-Ireland-is-up-for-sale–.html (17 Aibre\u00e1n 2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.allsopspace.ie\/auction\/lot\/12216 (2 Bealtaine 2014<\/strong>; gives the selling price of \u20ac33,000)<\/p>\n

Hidden Belfast – Belfast’s Smallest House<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n