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<\/a>grafaic: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Anonymous (1780). Mirth without Mischief. C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt \u00e9in m\u00e9?\u00a0 C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt crainn a bhfuil m\u00e9 ann?\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, you’ve probably guessed the answers, given the season that’s in it.\u00a0 The bird is a partridge and the tree is the pear tree from the Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”<\/p>\n In a whole slew of previous blogposts, we’ve looked at various ways to use the Irish version of this song for language learning practice, especially for counting and for expanding vocabulary, particularly regarding birds and (admittedly non-typical) occupations (like being a milkmaid).\u00a0 A webliography of the iarbhlagmh\u00edreanna<\/strong> for the song “Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong>” appears below.<\/p>\n But who would have thought that a “car\u00fal Nollag<\/strong>” could lend itself so readily to a nice little lesson regarding “an tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>,” aka the oft-dreaded genitive case.\u00a0 It’s not so bad, really — you just have to learn five basic sets of endings (like -\u00e1in for “cup\u00e1n<\/strong>” if you want to say, for example, the color of the cup: dath an chup\u00e1in<\/strong>, or “-eora” for “m\u00fainteoir<\/strong>” if you want to say “the name of the teacher”: ainm an mh\u00fainteora<\/strong>.”).<\/p>\n And we could go on go h\u00e9igr\u00edoch agus thairsti<\/strong>, with additional details on this topic: variations for broad and slender word endings (like using “-\u00f3ra” instead of “-eora,” as, for example, in “ainm an sti\u00farth\u00f3ra<\/strong>,” the name of the director), variations even within one word (like “talaimh<\/strong>” and “tal\u00fan<\/strong>” for “talamh<\/strong>“), the motley assortment which is the fifth declension (including both “beoir \/ beorach<\/strong>” and “athair \/athar<\/strong>“), and the complete grab-bag which is labeled “irregular,” like “bean \/ mn\u00e1<\/strong>” \u00a0and “l\u00e1 \/ lae<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n But for today, we’ll just like at two types of genitive case use, one for “\u00e9an<\/strong>” and “crann<\/strong>,” and one for “An Nollaig<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n So if “\u00e9an<\/strong>” means “bird,” how do we say, “of a bird,” for a question like “What sort of (a) bird am I?” as we see in the graphic above. The word “\u00e9an<\/strong>” changes to “\u00e9in<\/strong>” and the question is: C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt \u00e9in m\u00e9?<\/strong><\/p>\n Agus an freagra, “Is patraisc m\u00e9.”<\/strong> (I’m a partridge).<\/p>\n Similarly, if we want to say “of a tree,” we change “crann<\/strong>” (tree) to “crainn<\/strong>” (of a tree, and note the pronunciation change — like “krin,” with a short “i,” as opposed to “crann<\/strong>,” which is usually more like “krahn” or “kraun.”<\/p>\n So, an Q & A beag: C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt crainn a bhfuil m\u00e9 ann?<\/strong> (What kind of a tree am I in? Freagra an-simpl\u00ed (gan abairt ioml\u00e1n): crann piorra\u00ed<\/strong> (a pear tree, lit. a tree of pears).<\/p>\n A little more complex would be a full sentence: T\u00e1 m\u00e9 i gcrann piorra\u00ed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And then there’s always: Is crann piorra\u00ed \u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n Or: Crann piorra\u00ed is ea \u00e9<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We’ll wrap up today’s blogpost with a quick look at how “An Nollaig<\/strong>” (Christmas) changes to say “of Christmas” or to use “Christmas” as an adjective (as in “Christmas carol). “Nollaig<\/strong>” belongs to the fifth declension, that is the “grab-bag” category, so it’s not part of any widespread pattern.\u00a0 We remove the “i” for the genitive case, as in “M\u00ed na Nollag<\/strong>” (December, lit. the month of Christmas), car\u00fal Nollag<\/strong> (a Christmas carol), and Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong> (The 12 Days of Christmas).<\/p>\n So, that’s it for today, patraisc\u00ed, piorra\u00ed, agus roinnt patr\u00fan don tuiseal ginideach<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0Guess what’s coming up for the next few blogposts as well?\u00a0 Well, we’ve got a delightful 11 more verses to go, but don’t worry, we’ll consolidate a few of them together into fewer blogposts so we won’t be doing an tuiseal ginideach<\/strong> non-stop until m\u00ed na Feabhra!\u00a0 SGF — R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n Blaganna Eile faoin Amhr\u00e1n\u00a0Seo:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 2010: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/dha-la-dheag-na-nollag-the-twelve-days-of-christmas\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a>(The Twelve Days of Christmas)<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Posted on 25. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n 2010: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/cearca-francacha-agus-lonta-dubha-cuid-a-do-don-tsraith-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a>\u00a0Cearca Francacha agus Lonta Dubha (Cuid a D\u00f3 don tSraith: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Posted on 29. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n 2010: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/%E2%80%9Cor%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Coir%E2%80%9D-or-%E2%80%9Corga%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%9Cfainne%E2%80%9D-or-%E2%80%9Cean%E2%80%9D-ean-cuid-a-tri-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a>\u00a0\u201c\u00d3r,\u201d \u201c\u00d3ir\u201d or \u201c\u00d3rga\u201d? \u201cF\u00e1inne\u201d or \u201c\u00c9an\u201d? \u00c9an?! (Cuid a Tr\u00ed: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Posted on 31. Dec, 2010<\/p>\n 2011: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/geanna-agus-ealai-cuid-a-ceathair-dha-la-dheag-na-nollag\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0G\u00e9anna agus Eala\u00ed (Cuid a Ceathair: Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Posted on 04. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n 2011: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/na-huimhreacha-pearsanta-i-ngaeilge\/<\/a>\u00a0Na hUimhreacha Pearsanta i nGaeilge\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a>(Irish Personal Numbers and\u00a0Cuid a C\u00faig<\/strong>\u00a0or the Last Installment of\u00a0Dh\u00e1 L\u00e1 Dh\u00e9ag na Nollag<\/strong>)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Posted on 06. Jan, 2011<\/p>\n 2012: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/bunuimhreacha-orduimhreacha-is-maoluimhreacha-a-thiarcais-oh-my\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0B<\/u><\/em><\/strong>unuimhreacha, Orduimhreacha is Maoluimhreacha \u2014 A Thiarcais!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a>(Oh my!)<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Posted on 25. Dec, 2012<\/p>\n 2013: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/speaking-of-pigeons-coluir\/\u00a0 Speaking of Pigeons (Col\u00fair)<\/a>Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Dec 14, 2013 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n 2013: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/ce-mhead-patraisc-ce-mhead-drumadoir-or-12-la-na-nollag-redux-and-an-irish-counting-lesson-to-boot\/ (C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Patraisc? C\u00e9 Mh\u00e9ad Drumad\u00f3ir? (or \u201912 L\u00e1 na Nollag\u2019 Redux and an Irish Counting Lesson to boot)<\/a>\u00a0Posted on 18. Dec, 2013 by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n 2015: https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/257 woirish\/the-irish-twelve-days-of-christmas-redux-redux-with-a-blogliography-of-other-blogs-on-the-song\/ The Irish Twelve Days of Christmas Redux Redux with a Blogliography of Other Blogs on the Song<\/a> Posted by\u00a0r\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/a>\u00a0on Dec 25, 2015 in\u00a0Irish Language<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt \u00e9in m\u00e9?\u00a0 C\u00e9n s\u00f3rt crainn a bhfuil m\u00e9 ann?\u00a0 Yes, you’ve probably guessed the answers, given the season that’s in it.\u00a0 The bird is a partridge and the tree is the pear tree from the Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” In a whole slew of previous blogposts, we’ve looked…<\/p>\n
https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3A12-days-title.png<\/a>; T\u00e9acs Gaeilge & dearadh le R\u00f3isl\u00edn 2016<\/p><\/div>\u00a0(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn)<\/strong><\/p>\n