#na-teangacha

[polysprachig]

17.03.2024 | lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh and some borderline Merlin fanfiction in Irish ☘️🍄

*Currently learning to record and working on my reader voice—without dropping my mixed accent

Sometimes you plan to do something 4 years ago, then 2, and in the end you do it today. How long I thought it would take to improve my writing and translation skills before moving on to creative reading and how long it actually took differed quite drastically. But as I annotate the polyglot journal I started in 2020 (which is not the book pictured above), it's hard to feel like that's a bad thing, since I gave myself an appropriate amount of time to work on each stage of my projects at my current level without feeling the need to rush on to the next thing.

The audio here is cut from a set of blanket test recordings I made to test out some recording software, which is why it gives she-just-picked-up-the-text-and-started-reading-without-prep-time vibes.

Text in Irish and English below.

English translation shares the original sentiment but at a different register—as was my specific intention in this particular project.

Fadó, fadó chuaigh Merlin go Camelot.

Long before the days of yore and once upon a time Merlin went to Camelot.

Bhuel, shiúil sé chuig an gcathair agus teangacha a bhróg ag longadán anonn is anall agus é ar a bhealach ann.

Walked, rather, the tongues of his boots swaying back and forth as he made his way there.

Ní raibh ann ach stócach bocht thart faoin am sin agus ní raibh a fhios aige cén dóigh marcaíocht ar chapall a dhéanamh, agus ní raibh capall aige fiú!

He was only a young lad at that time and hadn’t the faintest idea how to ride a horse, but fortunately for him, he didn’t own one!

Ba bhuachaill deas is cairdiúil é Merlin. Bhí sé ard tanaí agus bhí gruaig dhubh, súile gorma, agus cluasa móra air.

A nice, friendly boy Merlin was, tall and thin with black hair, blue eyes and sizeable ears.

É sin ráite, níor éist sé le daoine eile ar chor ar bith – agus fadhb i gcroí an scéil seo a bheidh inti sin, déanta na fírinne.

Not that he used them to listen to anyone else – a truth which, I dare say, will be the problem at the heart of this story.

Mar sin féin, ní hionann sin ‘s a rá go raibh sé ag déanamh amaidí gach lá.

Be that as it may, he wasn’t one to make a complete fool of himself either.

Thuig sé rudaí praiticiúla, mar shampla: ná bí i do shuí ar do thóin nuair a bhuaileann tú le díbheargaigh sa choill, ná hól uisce as an áit naofa agus rudaí mar sin.

He knew such practical things as not to sit on his arse when he happened on bandits in the forest, not to drink water from a sacred well and things like that.

Cé gur thuig sé é sin, rinne sé a rogha rud freisin.

Still, Merlin was rather prone to do as he pleased.

Tugadh am crua dó, ach b’fhearrde sé é gan dabht. 

It nearly always made his life more difficult, but what great test of character that turned out to be.

Chaith sé éadach glan buanfasach. Éadach donn a bhí i gceist den chuid is mó, ach bhí léine ghorm is scaif dhearg iontach deas aige freisin.

He wore clothes which were clean and durable and mostly brown to my recollection; yet he did have a blue shirt and a wonderfully lovely red scarf as well.

Ní raibh ach mála beag amháin aige chomh maith le pocán fíona, a luasc nuair a ghlac sé gach céim, agus éadach olla áisiúil ar chodail sé air. 

With him he carried only a small rucksack, a wineskin which rocked to and fro as he took each step, and a handy, woollen blanket to sleep on.

Bhí sé an-ghaofar nuair a chuaigh Merlin thar na sléibhte ar an mbóthar gainimh, ach mhothaigh sé an ghrian ar a aghaidh. Bhí sé te go leor.

A strong wind blew as Merlin traversed the mountains on the sandy road, but the sun on his face shone warm enough.

Bhí lá breá geallta don lá, rud a rinne radharc an tírdhreacha i bhfad níos áille.

The day was proving, as promised, to be a fine one and that made the view of the landscape even more beautiful.

Bhí féar glas agus rosáin bheaga ag fás taobh le cosán an tsléibhe, crainn ghiúise ina sheasamh ar charraigeacha na n-aillte, sruthanna beaga sneachta ag soilsiú ar cheann an tsléibhe agus néalta geala ag síneadh go bun na spéire.

Green grass and small shrubs grew along the mountain path, fir trees towered on the rocky cliffs, little streams of snow glistened on each mountain peak and bright clouds stretched as far as the eye could see.

Ní fhaca sé Camelot fós agus bhí tinneas cosa air, ach níor chuir sé sin moill air.

He could not yet see Camelot and his feet grew weary, but his pace never slowed.

Le fírinne, bhí an-dúil ag Merlin sa turas mór agus bhí sé sásta, is dócha. 

Truth be told, the journey was quite enjoyable for Merlin and he was generally content to be on it.

[not-that-debonair]

One of my favourite funky little language facts is that both German and Irish get shit for the word for girl not being feminine (Mädchen being neuter and cailín being masculine) and despite not being hugely similar languages it is for literally the exact same reason.

(I’m sure a load of other languages have that too but these are the two I know of so)

Fíricín fhánach teanga amháin is fearr liom go bhfaigheann Gearmáinis agus Gaeilge cac mar níl a bhfocal ar chailín baininscneach (tá Mädchen neodrach agus tá cailín firinscneach) agus in ainneoin nach bhfuil siad ró-chosúil le cheile ó thaobh na teangeolaíochta de, tarlaíonn sé díreach ar an gcúis chéanna.

(Táim lánchinnte go dtarlíonn sé le lán teangacha eile ach is iad sin na samplaí go bhfuil fhios agam faoi)

[pansnovydinnia]

Táim ag scríobh le Google Aistritheoir.

Is Úcráinis mé. Scrios na Rúisigh teanga, cultúr agus náisiún mo thíre leis na céadta bliain.

Nuair a fheicim Éireannaigh ag labhairt Béarla, tá sé cosúil le Úcráinis ag labhairt Rúisis.

Tá mé i bpian an oiread sin. Tá a leithéid de theanga láidir, álainn gann. Teastaíonn uaim go bhfaigheadh na hÉireannaigh, cosúil linne, neamhspleáchas iomlán arís. Ba mhaith liom iad a fháil ar ais ar a dteanga.

Táim ag foghlaim Gaeilge faoi láthair. Tá teangacha deacair dom, ach ní chuirfidh sé sin bac orm.

Ná bíodh náire ort as do chuid fréamhacha, ná bíodh náire ort as do bhotúin, ná bíodh náire ort as do theanga! Beo leis an teanga, tá sí láidir, sáróidh sé aon trioblóidí!

Ná lig don teanga bás, ná lig don teanga imithe. Ná lig anam do náisiún imithe. Go maire an teanga. De réir mar a chosain na hÚcránaigh an Úcráinis, is amhlaidh a chosnaíonn tú an Ghaeilge.

Troid - buaigh!

Boritsia - poborete!

Taras Shevchenko.

мда, дивнувато на мене вечірня пора впливає. певно зеро лайків буде. або срач. хоча, гадаю, саме зеро лайків. кому я треба зі своїми балачками крізь перекладач.

[toinghaeilge]

Strawberries

Sú talún, meaning strawberry, derives from

Sú comes from Old Irish súg (sap; juice) or from Old Irish suib (berry)  Talún is the genitive form of talamh (earth;  ground). 

The genitive is used here because it is an adjective showing possession or relation—”sap of the earth”

Compare sú craobh (raspberry): “sap of the (tree) branch”

In Scottish Gaelic, sùbh-làir is used:

Sùbh comes from Old Irish suib (berry).  Làir refers also to “earth; ground” 

It is related to Irish lár, meaning “floor” and mainly referring to an interior floor. 

Sú/Sùbh further derive from Proto-Celtic *subi (berry) from Proto-Indo-European *sewH- (“to squeeze out”). Welsh syfi (strawberry) descends from Proto-Celtic *subi. 

I found these two entries in the Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Matasović, 2009) to be of interest:

In essence it implies that Proto-Celtic *subi could be a loanword from an unknown origin, through contact with another language; but also points out that the Old Irish suib looks to be Celtic in origin. 

We also can’t ignore the entry for *sutu, which appears undoubtedly related. 

[toingaeilge]

Tonnta, Tonna agus Tonntracha

There are a few different plurals for tonn, meaning ‘waves’. 

Standard Irish plural: tonnta

Ó Duinnín's Irish dictionary (1927) dictionary lists plurals tonnta, tonna and tonntracha. 

Ó Dónaill’s dictionary (1977) lists plurals tonnta and tonntracha along another variant: tonntacha

You might hear tonntracha pronounced as though tonnthracha in parts of Munster.

Archaic forms and other Celtic Languages

Toinn, tonnan and tonntan can be found in historical texts—they are dialectal forms from the Antrim Valleys, Oriel and North Down and are no longer used. 

Scottish Gaelic still uses plurals tuinn, tonna and tonnan (singular tonn) and Manx uses the plural tonnyn (singular tonn). 

[nuelangblr]

Teanga

- (feminine noun, fourth declension) language

teanga dhúchais - first language (mother language) dara teanga - second language teanga iasachta - foreign language

na teangacha Ceilteacha - the Celtic languages Gaeilge - the Irish Gaelic Gaeilge na hAlban / Gáidhlig - Scottish Gaelic Manainnis / Gaeilge Mhanann - Manx Breatnais - Welsh Briotáinis - Breton Coirnis - Cornish

An bhfuil aon Ghaeilge agat? - Do you know any Irish? Conas a deirtear ‘cocoa’ as Gaeilge? - How do you say ‘cocoa’ in Irish? Cad é an Ghailge ar ‘love language‘? - What’s the Irish for ‘love language’?

[cuimhnigh-i-gconai]

It might be an indication of how tired I am that the (completely true) assertion that Yiddish is a "language without a country" made me burst out into hysterical giggles

[gan-inscne]

Cad quizlets a cheart dom a dhéanamh?

Rinne mé 'na míonna agus na séasúir', 'poist', 'briathra', 'ainmhithe', 'pórtha madraí', 'an aimsir', 'na tíortha' agus 'náisiúntachtaí' agus déanfaidh mé 'na cúigí agus na contaetha' agus 'na teangacha'.

An cheart dom na dánta na hArdteistiméireachta agus na gearrscéalta na hArdteistiméireachta a dhéanamh? Cad atá tú ag iarraidh a fhoghlaim?

[thelanguagecommunity]

this post is meant to be a directory of every resource I come across for Irish or Irish Gaelic. it will be a continuous work in progress so thank you for your patience! if you have any issues or things to add, please reply to this post!

info

fun facts / fun facts

learning profile

playlist of samples

secrets to practicing irish gaelic [scans]

the irish language [pdf]

wikipedia

alphabet

overview of irish braille

overview of irish orthography

courses

bbc northern ireland

bitesize irish gaelic [email course]

bliubliu

duolingo

easy irish!

irish 101 [mooc] - starts January 29

introduction to the irish language [mooc]

learning irish

mangolanguages

memrise

now you’re talking

dictionaries

acmhainn.ie

electronic dictionary of the irish language

foclóir.ie

freelang

dicts.info

iggl1 [glossary]

irish identity [glossary]

lexilogos

thesaurus

wiktionary

flashcards

cram

quizlet

tinycards

forums

irish language forum

/r/gaeilge [reddit]

unilang

grammar

a grammar of the irish language - john o’donovan [scans]

first-declension nouns

inflection tables tool

overview of irish grammar

overview of declension

second-declension nouns

syntax / overview of irish syntax

literature

Bible translations

Bible with parallel english translation

book of common prayer

church of ireland texts

homepage for asterix & obelix

overview of irish literature / overview of modern irish literature

universal declaration of human rights [pdf]

virtual library - project gutenberg

virtual library - logoslibrary

virtual library - wikisource

media

cúla 4

rté one

tg 4 [tv player]

news

bbc gaeilge

rté nuacht

phrasebooks & travel guides

wikitravel

wikivoyage

podcasts

learn irish [spotify]

one minute irish

pronunciation

a beginner’s guide to irish gaelic pronunciation

consonant mutations

forvo [pronunciation dictionary]

ipa key

language synthesiser - turns text into speech

lenition and eclipses

overview of initial mutations

overview of phonology

phonetisation tool

phonology comparison between the three major dialects

pronunciation chart

The original guide

pronunciation hints for learners

quizzes & exercises

proficiency test

teaching resources

tongue twisters

vocab & reading exercise - carla

vocabulary games - digitaldialects

radio

radio in dublin

radio na gaeltachta

radio na life

social media

@irishlanguage [twitter]

discussion group for irish novels

list of the most active twitter accounts

wikipedia

speaking tips

contractions

idioms

proverbs - wikiquote

proverbs - wiktionary

special topics

comparision between scottish gaelic and irish

irish language in northern ireland

list of given names  / list of given names

list of surnames

tumblrs

@abitirish

@gaeilge101​

@irishlanguagelearners

@seanfhocail

@teangacha

verbs

conjugator - verbix

overview of conjugation

“to be”

verb dictionary

verb suffixes

vocabulary

colors & their connotations  / colors

compound prepositions

congratulating

days of the week

fruits

greetings

i love you

merry christmas

months

nationalities

nature

numbers

professions

qualities

roses

school

school subjects

sports

st. patrick's day [mangolanguages]

swadesh list

vegetables

word of the day tool

writing tips

spellcheck

spelling standardizer

youtube

bitsize irish gaelic

language hunters

sean ó briain

[not-that-debonair]

‼️Uquiz as Gaeilge: cuid a dó! (Dúirt mé go gcríochnóinn é :D)

[Uquiz in Irish, part 2! (I said I’d finish it :D)]

cuid a haon:

https://www.tumblr.com/not-that-debonair/709275814444810240/uquiz-as-gaeilge-uquiz-as-gaeilge-uquiz-as-gaeilge

[mnaasilveira]

Teangacha

________________________________________________________ Is iontach agus suimiúil é labhairt i dteangacha – teanga nár fhoghlaim muid riamh, nó teanga na n-aingeal. (1 Cor 13:1) Is bronntanas don urnaí go príomha é carisme na dteangacha – labhraíonn an Spiorad Naomh go díreach le Dia tríom, fiú mura dtuigeann muid ár gcaint. Is “geata” do bhronntanais eile agus do bheatha sa Spiorad é carisme na…

[toinghaeilge]

Fluency and Poetry

Ó Dónaill's Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (1977) defines líofa as the following:

Ground, sharpened, polished by friction

Fluent, polished

Keen, eager

Sharp, speedy

Here it is used in several contexts:

Tá stíl an-líofa aici She has a very fluid style

roth líofa grinding wheel

Tá Spáinnis líofa aige He is fluent in Spanish

It has an alternative spelling of líomhtha and is related to líomhadh ("grind, sharpen, smooth"). Líomh comes from Old Irish límaid ("sharpens, grinds, polishes"). It could be borrowed from or related to Latin līmō ("I sharpen").  

The reason I dug into this was that the Scottish Gaelic word was entirely different: fileanta. Fileanta comes from filidh, file, filíocht ("poet, poetry"). Fileanta is defined as “eloquent, articulate, fluent”. 

Finally, for fun, the English fluent derives from Latin fluens and means "free-flowing". It's related to fluid.

[toingaeilge]

East Ulster Irish

Within Ulster Irish, there are two main groups: West Ulster (Donegal Irish) and East Ulster (the rest of Ulster and parts of Counties Louth and Meath, and much of Oriel). When we’ve mentioned Ulster Irish in the past, we have been referring to what we still hear today—i.e. not East Ulster Irish. 

East Ulster Irish was used up till the 20th century and is said to be very closely related to the (Scottish) Gaelic of Islay and Arran. 

Favoured Spellings

Ársuigh instead of the standard ársaigh (tell)

Corruighe instead of the standard corraí (anger)

Entirely Different Words

Frithir (sore)

Go seadh (yet)

And words clearly similar to Scottish Gaelic (of course including the Ulster ‘cha’ but we’re talking specifically East Ulster):

Coinfheasgar (evening) (Gaelic coin-fheasgar)

Márt (cow) (Gaelic mart, specifically a milking cow)

Práinn (hurry) (Gaelic pràdhainn)

Toigh (house) (Gaelic taigh, though teach is also used)

Tonnóg (duck) (Gaelic tunnag or tonnag, though lach is used for a wild duck)

Pronunciation

In West Ulster and the rest of Ireland, the vowel “ea” is pronounced like “ah”, like as in fear, sean and such. However, in East Ulster, fear would be pronounced as though spelt féar. Names like Seán were also pronounced as though spelt Séan. 

We can derive this from how names and placenames were anglicised in the region:

Gleann Seáin: Glenshane (Seán’s Valley) Seán Mac Cuinn Ó Néil: Shane O’Neill

In East Ulster, th or ch in the middle of a word tended to vanish, leaving what sounded like one long syllable. And at the ends of words, ch sounds a lot weaker. In Southeast Ulster, ch could render much like ‘f”, giving Ó Murchada the anglicisation “Murphy”.

Much like Munster Irish, Outer Hebridean Gaelic (and the Westernmost Inner Hebrides), the broad bh and mh sounds are rendered like ‘V’, though when in the middle of words they tend to conform to the more standard ‘W’ sound. 

[pablandomucho-blog]

Táim ag foghlaim Gaeilge - Cén fáth?

In dhá mhíle is a cúig deag, thosaigh mé ag foghlaim Spáinnis ar Duolingo. Rinné mé an cuntais twitter agus thosaigh mé ag tvuíteáil. Scríobh mé as Spáinnis agus Bearla. Chuala mé faoi 'tumadh'(immersion). Bhí sé ríthábhachtach chun teangacha a foghlaim. Má tú bí ag caint, ag eist agus ag scríbh Sin é an bealach is fearr an teagacha a foghlaim arsa mise liom féin. In dhá mhíle is a sé deag thosaigh mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge aris i Corcaigh. Rinné mé gach Leibhéal ar Duolingo agus táim reidh le an crann teanga. Feicim ar TG4. Éistim le radio agus an amhrain Gaeilge. Chuir mé mo Facebook, twitter agus mo fón cliste as Gaeilge. Léamh mé Nós.ie agus thosaigh mé ag léamh na leabhair Gaeilge. Táim ag féachaint ar na comharthaí bóthair gach lá and léamh mé na Gaeilge orainn Chuaigh mé isteach sna club leabhar agus déan mé astriu gach mí le mo chairde nua anois Thosaigh mé ag tvuíteáil as Gaeilge freisin. Scríobh mé as Spáinnis, Bearla agus Gaeilge anois. Tá mé ag foghlaim Spáinnis agus Gaeilge fós. Bá mhaith liom an Ceol2017 a áil