I was at the zoo today. Where they write the title of the animal, they write it in English and Irish.

snow leopard = liopárd sneachta.

snowy owl = ulchabhán sneachtúil.

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snow leopard -> leopard of snow -> liopárd sneachta

snowly owl -> ulchabhán sneachtúil

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sneachta = snow

"sneachta" = noun, genitive case

"sneachtúil" = adjective

-

na teangacha ceilteacha

teangacha na ceiltigh

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Anyone got any thoughts about this? I'm just wondering what it's all about and why one would choose one form over the other. If anything, it adds a bit of variety to the language.

I myself would probably prefer the genitive noun, but then again I'm not a fluent speaker so I won't know until I will be a fluent speaker.

A few more examples of adjectives used in the place of genitive nouns:

medical
economical
facial

For example, would you say "a face razor" or "a facial razor"?

-Phil