{"id":6096,"date":"2015-01-04T18:18:45","date_gmt":"2015-01-04T18:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=6096"},"modified":"2019-01-06T21:56:38","modified_gmt":"2019-01-06T21:56:38","slug":"how-to-say-how-are-you-in-irish-not-quite-100-ways-but-maybe-50-ish-and-which-are-the-top-5-ish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/how-to-say-how-are-you-in-irish-not-quite-100-ways-but-maybe-50-ish-and-which-are-the-top-5-ish\/","title":{"rendered":"How to say ‘How are you?” in Irish — not quite 100 ways but maybe 50-ish.\u00a0 And which are the top 5(-ish)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"hera<\/a>Some of you may have seen the recent article “Did you know there are 100 ways to say ‘How are you?’ as Gaeilge<\/strong>?” in The Daily Edge<\/em>, based on a dialect map posted on Twitter (naisc th\u00edos).<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

As comments to the Daily Edge article pointed out, about half of the examples are from Scotland, so they’re in “G\u00e0idhlig<\/em>,” not in Irish (Gaeilge<\/strong>), and another four are in Manx (Gaelg<\/em>).\u00a0 But leaving that argument aside, there still are about 50 interesting examples for Ireland.\u00a0 Some of the entries are almost identical, except for slight spelling or punctuation issues (like “Goid\u00e9 mar at\u00e1 t\u00fa?<\/strong>” vs. “Goid\u00e9 mar ‘t\u00e1 t\u00fa<\/strong>?”).<\/p>\n

For today’s blog, let’s just look at the top 5 most common ways to say “How are you?” in Irish (de r\u00e9ir mo thaith\u00ed f\u00e9in, ar nd\u00f3igh, ach s\u00edlim go bhfuil mo thaith\u00ed samplach go leor<\/strong>).\u00a0 Eventually, I hope to look further into some of the less typical forms.<\/p>\n

1) The one that is probably taught the most is:<\/p>\n

Conas at\u00e1 t\u00fa?<\/strong>, which is, quite literally, “How are you?”<\/p>\n

2) The typical Conamara version is:<\/p>\n

C\u00e9n chaoi a bhfuil t\u00fa?<\/strong>, lit. “What way are you?”\u00a0 And here are some pronunciation tips:<\/p>\n

* the “n” of “c\u00e9n<\/strong>” is often not pronounced<\/p>\n

* the whole phrase glides together into what sounds like one longish word, pronounced something like “kay-khuh-WIL-too?”<\/p>\n

3) In Donegal and among Irish speakers in Northern Ireland, you usually hear:<\/p>\n

Cad \u00e9 mar at\u00e1 t\u00fa?<\/strong>, very very literally, “what-as are you?” — not that anyone really translates it as such. \u00a0“Cad \u00e9 mar<\/strong>” usually translates to “how?” \u00a0 This phrase is often, and quite traditionally spelled “Goid\u00e9 mar at\u00e1 t\u00fa?<\/strong>,” since “goid\u00e9<\/strong>” is a typical Northern form of “cad \u00e9<\/strong>,” as in “Goid\u00e9 ‘t\u00e1 cearr leat?<\/strong>” or “Goid\u00e9 a chonaic Fionn agus na Fianna rompu ach teach beag b\u00eddeach agus solas amh\u00e1in san fhuinneog?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

“Cad \u00e9<\/strong>” and “Goid\u00e9<\/strong>” sound very similar in Northern Irish, since the broad “d” of “cad<\/strong>” becomes slender, adding a “j” sound, as in “judge,” when it\u00a0comes before a slender vowel like “\u00e9.”\u00a0 Remember, “cad<\/strong>” itself is normally pronounced more like “kahd,” not like “cad” in English (as in “an ill-bred person”)<\/p>\n

So while, the “Cad \u00e9 mar<\/strong>” and “Goid\u00e9 mar<\/strong>” versions may count as two entries in the list of 100, they’re basically the same core idea, as opposed to phrases with really different vocabulary, such as “Cad \u00e9 an d\u00f3igh at\u00e1 ort?<\/strong>,” lit. “What is the way that is on you?” or “Cad \u00e9 ‘n gl\u00e9as at\u00e1 ort?<\/strong>,” lit. “What is the order \/ arrangement \/ means \/ outfit that is on you?”\u00a0 None of those definitions for “gl\u00e9as<\/strong>” really work that well in English, but hopefully the idea comes through.<\/p>\n

And finally, the two variants that I’ve heard most, aside from the ones above, and they’re both Munster Irish (southwestern)<\/p>\n

4) Conas at\u00e1nn t\u00fa?<\/strong> \u00a0Interesting because it includes the “-nn” ending that is used for most Irish present tense verb endings except, in standard Irish, for “t\u00e1<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Typical uses of the “-nn” ending are “\u00f3lann<\/strong>,” “itheann<\/strong>,” “d\u00e9anann<\/strong>,” etc.\u00a0 The “at\u00e1nn<\/strong>” form can also occur with lenition as in “Conas ath\u00e1nn t\u00fa?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

5) Conas ataoi?<\/strong>\u00a0 Interesting because it uses a built-in pronoun ending, instead of the actual word “t\u00fa<\/strong>.”\u00a0 These built-in forms are referred to as “synthetic” endings in Irish, and were at one time a more prominent feature of the language.<\/p>\n

So, sin iad na pr\u00edomhleaganacha, i mo bhar\u00fail f\u00e9in, ar a laghad.\u00a0 Cad a sh\u00edleann tusa?\u00a0<\/strong> Of all the forms on the map, which one(s) do you use the most?\u00a0 And does anyone here speak Scottish Gaelic or Manx?\u00a0 If so, what your top choice for those?<\/p>\n

Perhaps for some of you, the New Year’s resolution (r\u00fan athbhliana<\/strong>) is to speak more Irish.\u00a0 Hopefully, one of these phrases will help with the “caint<\/strong>” and the “comhr\u00e1<\/strong>.”\u00a0 Sl\u00e1n go f\u00f3ill agus athbhliain faoi sh\u00e9an agus faoi mhaise duit — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluais<\/strong>: ar a laghad<\/strong>, at least; leagan<\/strong>, version; samplach<\/strong>, representative<\/p>\n

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

an l\u00e9arsc\u00e1il<\/strong>: https:\/\/twitter.com\/coistenabhfocal\/status\/549283529818116096.\u00a0 The article includes an email address for obtaining a “leagan ardchaighde\u00e1in<\/strong>” of the map by Ciar\u00e1n Dunbar.<\/p>\n

an t-alt Daily Edge<\/strong>: http:\/\/www.dailyedge.ie\/how-are-you-as-gaeilge-1855766-Dec2014\/<\/p>\n

Nasc eile d’alt i Sp\u00e1innis (!) faoin teanga Gaeilge go ginear\u00e1lta le p\u00edosa beag faoi\u00a0dh\u00f3igheanna le <\/strong>“How are you?” a r\u00e1<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/1globaltranslators.blogspot.com\/2013\/11\/el-irlandes-en-defensa-de-la-lengua.html. \u00a0<\/strong>Gotta love the picture of what must be\u00a0hand-knit leprechaun booties. \u00a0Not that that has anything to do with “How are you?” but it’s a great photo!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le\u00a0R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Some of you may have seen the recent article “Did you know there are 100 ways to say ‘How are you?’ as Gaeilge?” in The Daily Edge, based on a dialect map posted on Twitter (naisc th\u00edos).\u00a0 As comments to the Daily Edge article pointed out, about half of the examples are from Scotland…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":6102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[513774,513773,513772,4240,272955,379911,384276,365308,513771,365307,4756,365306,513770,513775,359130,513769,332133,111204,229970,5302,229969,365309,384274,365305,5667,5879,384275,5994,6175,460681,11,272953,6719,6724],"class_list":["post-6096","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-ata","tag-atann","tag-ataoi","tag-athbhliain","tag-athbhliana","tag-bhfuil","tag-booties","tag-cad-e","tag-cearr","tag-cen-chaoi","tag-conamara","tag-conas","tag-daily-edge","tag-doigh","tag-donegal","tag-dunbar","tag-fianna","tag-fionn","tag-gaelg","tag-gaelic","tag-gaidhlig","tag-goide","tag-hand-knit","tag-how-are-you","tag-irish","tag-leprechaun","tag-leprechaun-booties","tag-manx","tag-munster","tag-northern-ireland","tag-pronunciation","tag-run","tag-scotland","tag-scottish"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6096","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=6096"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7697,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6096\/revisions\/7697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}