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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 1999-2004 » 2004 (April-June) » Glad I Found This Board! « Previous Next »

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 11:01 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Hello,

I've been really interested in Ireland for the last year or two...and from that came an interest in the Irish language itself. I've read quite a few recent posts on this forum and browsed the archives somewhat. There seems to be so much knowledge here, it's great!

I'm curious to know how many native speakers there might be. Perhaps people from a Gaeltacht region or someone who grew up learning the language in the home?

Also, if you've taken it upon yourself to learn the language from scratch, and are now fluent (or close to it), I'd love to hear from you.

Again, great to be here....I'm really glad I came across this website...Isn't Google great!? ;p

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Aonghus
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 07:11 am:   Edit Post Print Post

I come under the category "grew up with it"

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 04:47 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Aonghus,

Where abouts?

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Jonas
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 04:05 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Well, I certainly took up the language from scrath at the of 19. In Finland. In a town without a single Irish speaker and even without a single Irish course at the library. ;-)

Am I fluent? If fluent is taken to mean that I speak absolutely perfect Irish and cannot learn anything more, then I hope I'll never be fluent. But if fluent means to be able to speak Irish in all possible situations I'd say I'm fluent. I've worked through the medium of Irish and I've lived for long periods in two Gaeltacht areas without speaking anything but Irish. Native Irish speakers whom I've met have often thought that I'm a native speaker. So it's definitely possible go get a rather good knowledge of the language even without being born in the Gaeltacht.

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Aonghus
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 04:14 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Bleá Cliathach mé.

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Fear na mBróg
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 09:20 am:   Edit Post Print Post

An giorriú é "Bleá" de "Baile Átha"? An fíorfhocal é? Mar shampla, arbh fhéidir é a chur ar chlúdach agus é a sheoladh?

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Aonghus
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 10:22 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Sea. Ní hea. Níorbh fhéidir.

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 04:54 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Bleá Cliathach = ??
You'll have to forgive me but I'm only fluent in Manx Gaelic and Cornish ;p

Jonas,

I'm curious to know what lead you to learn Irish? What caught your interest? How many years have you been speaking the language now? And finally...how many other languages do you speak?

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 04:59 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Bleá Cliathach = Baile Átha Cliath ??

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Jonas
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 06:19 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Bleá Cliathach, slang for "Dubliner".

1. "I'm curious to know what lead you to learn Irish? What caught your interest?

At the age of 16 I was an exchange student in England, quite close to the Welsh border. My host family (greatest ever) was very active and one of our common interests was walking in mountains - naturally we went to Wales. I was thrilled to meet people in the UK, not that far from London, who actually spoke a rather broken English. Nowadays I think it the most normal thing in the world but then I was fascinated by it. The look of the Welsh language also caught my interest and the scenes of Wales did their bit to further enhance my fascination. I started to learn Welsh almost immediately. From my interest in Welsh grew an interest in other Celtic languages and I started to learn Irish as well. For a long time I spoke more fluent Welsh than Irish but these days my Irish is better. The main reasons are the summers I've spent in the Gaeltacht and the friends I've got there. We keep in touch by writing mails every week.

2 How many years have you been speaking the language now?
Since 1998, that's when I first went to Ireland. I started to learn Irish in 1997 but at that my time my knowledge of the language was only theoretical. During my first weeks in Ireland I made lots and lots of mistakes but with time I got the hang of it.

3. And finally...how many other languages do you speak?
Hard to say, it depends on two key aspects:
a. Where do we draw the line for just knowing a bit of the language and actually speaking it.
b. What is a language. I speak Croatian. 15 years ago that would have been Serbo-Croatian but now the language is split up into three languages, Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian. I can speak both the Croatian and the Serbian standard and when necessary I can make the adjustments to Bosnian. So, by speaking what was once known as Serbo-Croatian, do I speak one, two or three languages? The same goes for Catalan. I speak Catalan with a Valencian accent. Some say that Valencian and Catalan are two different languages and in that case I speak both since I can easily adjust to the Barcelona standard. If they are only dialects of the same language, well, then I just speak that. In other words, it's hard to say.

Languages I definitely speak
I. Swedish. My mother tongue. I definitely speak it by any standard.
II. Finnish. The language of 94% of the inhabitants in my country and a language I use daily.
III. Irish. The language I use with my friends in Ireland when I visit them. I can speak it in all situations.
IV. Enlighs. By and large my working language. If I couldn't speak it I would have some troubble writing this ;-)
V. German. The first foreign language I learned but I have to say that my English is better than my German nowadays. I can use German in all kinds of situations, though.

Languages I probably speak
VI. French. I get by in everyday situations without any problems. I speak French with friends from France. I occasionally read books or papers in French. Still, I would not like to discuss matters like the effects of, say, acid rain on pine forests in French. Nor similar topics = topics which require a specialised vocabulary.
VII. Russian. I should speak Russian. I have papers from the university saying I do, excellent grades in all my Russian courses. I have to admit, though, that my university lecturer was a bit too kind with his grades. Sure, I understand Russian and I could get by in Moscow or St. Petersburg. I can read Russian but I takes much longer than reading in Swedish, Irish, English or even French.
VIII. Croatian. Contrary to Russian I have no papers saying I speak Croatian but I still speak it better than Russian. I have Croatian friends, so I get to practice it. Most everyday situations are within my capacity, I can get by as a tourist for a week or so. For a genuine discussion I would still prefer to use another language. Hoping to improve.
IX. Catalan. What I said for Croatian is also true for Catalan.
X. Welsh. I've been in Wales for one month without using English, so I guess I have to speak. Or at least I did then. Unfortunately my Welsh isn't what it used to be. My passive knowledge is quite intact, I have no problems understanding or reading even more advanced Welsh but it comes somewhat slowly to me when I have to speak myself. I guess it would come back if I spent some weeks in Welsh.

Languages I don't think I speak
There are a number of languages of which I can understand almost every word. Norweigian and Danish are very close to Swedish, Spanish is close to both Catalan and French and Estonian is close to Finnish. I can discuss with people who speak those languages - normally they speak their language and I mine. In other words, I don't speak those languages but I can read them perfectly well. Better than some of the languages I actually do speak.
Then I know some basic Breton and (Lebanese) Arabic but I would never been able to carry out a discussion in them nor would I understand more than some words in a discussion.

Languages of which I don't know a single word
Well over 6.000 ;-)

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Jonas
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 06:21 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

As you can all see, I still have to learn how to write ;-)

(No, I've never heard of a language called "Enlighs")

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Fear na mBróg
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 06:53 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Impressive, a Jhonais.

Ar smaoinigh tú choíche ar oibriú mar theangaire nó mar aistritheoir? Thuillfeá cnap deas airgid le d'fhios-sa!

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Antóin
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2004 - 08:28 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Jaysis!!

Jonas, you're giving me a massive inferiority complex. :(

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 04:17 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Jonas,

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing that. Where abouts in Wales did you go a month without speaking English? My guess would be somewhere in west or northwest Wales. Am I right?
My parents were all over Wales a couple of weeks ago for their first trip to the British Isles (they and I are from Canada). I hope to follow them soon. Although I'm more interested in Irish, I do have an interest in Welsh aswell...I've heard its easier to learn.

Being from Europe, I can see why you would be fluent in more than 1 language...Swedish, Finnish...even Danish and Norwegian...sure...but to know so many other languages you must obviously have a passion for it I assume?

How is your general language knowledge? ;p Can you name four languages spoken in Europe that are NOT part of the Indo-European family? (no web-searching!) hehe

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Jonas
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 06:46 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Great to see so many answers in such a short time. I'm in a bit of a hurry now so I'll try to answer later - writing short answers have never been a talet of mine ;-)

Just to answer the last question, the only one I can answer without writing an essay:

How is your general language knowledge? ;p Can you name four languages spoken in Europe that are NOT part of the Indo-European family? (no web-searching!) hehe

Well, I'm very interested in languages in general. Without web-searching I can mention these eight European languages that are not part of the Indo-European family

Finnish (Finno-Ugric)
Estonian (Finno-Ugric)
Sami (Finno-Ugric)
Karelian (Finno-Ugric)
Hungarian (Finno-Ugric)
Turkish (Altaic)
Maltese (Semitic)
Basque (Isolated)

Beidh mé thar n-ais tráthnóna, slán go fóill

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Jonas
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 03:27 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

A chairde!

Ar smaoinigh tú choíche ar oibriú mar theangaire nó mar aistritheoir?

Uaireanta, ach ní dóigh liom gur mhaith liom é. Bhuel, b'fhéidir gur mhaith - ach is fearr liom an obair atá agam fé láthair. Is maith liom teangacha go mór agus tá suim agam iontu ach... is fearr liom iad a labhairt ná iad a mhúin agus, cé gur maith liom teanga na ndaoine, is fearr liom daoine na teangan! ;-)

Thuillfeá cnap deas airgid le d'fhios-sa!

Ar éigean, a chara, ar éigean.. :-)


Jonas, you're giving me a massive inferiority complex.
Absolutely no need for that. We all have our own areas of knowledge. Besides, it is a big difference being a non-native speaker of English. Those who speak English usually trust their own language in all situations, we who have been brought up with other languages know that we simple have to learn new languages. Swedish wouldn't take me far outside the Nordic countries.

Where abouts in Wales did you go a month without speaking English? My guess would be somewhere in west or northwest Wales. Am I right?
Right you are! Mostly in Gwynedd, but also a bit on Ynys Môn and in Ceredigion. I travelled around the villages of the Llyn peninsula (Aberdaron, Pwllheli etc.), visited Machynlleth and Aberyswyth and spent a couple of days at the Eisteddfod, held on Ynys Môn that year. Great fun!

Although I'm more interested in Irish, I do have an interest in Welsh aswell...I've heard its easier to learn.
Much easier. Having the interest I have in languages, I sometimes get the question which European language I find easiest. I always reply "Welsh". Of course, a Finnish speaker would find Estonian easier, a Swedish speaker Norweigian, a Portuguese speak Spanish and a Russian speak Polish but apart from those languages close related to your own most people would probably find Welsh being the easiest. I cannot think of a single hard thing in it. The only problem is that it is so hard to practise outside Welsh - that's the reason why I've lost some of my fluency in it - but it is a lovely language. Actually, in 1999 I was accepted to the University of Aberystwyth to study Celtic languages. At that time I thought long and hard before deciding to stay in my university here.

Being from Europe, I can see why you would be fluent in more than 1 language

Well, yes. Still, that statement could be modified. My experience is that the English in England are the worlds most monolingual people. Most Americans I know speak at least one other language - though most Americans I know live in Europe, so that explains a part of it. We should also remember that a lot of people in Russia, Spain or France are monolingual - especially the older generation. Russian, Spanish and French are all rather big languages so the need for them to learn have not been as urgent as for us in the Nordic countries. To tell you the truth, I know no-one here who is monolingual. In school we all have to study Finnish (if your mother tounge is Swedish, otherwise the other way around) and English in school from an early age. Most people do either German and French. Many do other languages. My grandparents speak no English but of apart from Swedish they speak Finnish and a little bit of German. The attitude to learning languages is very positive in the society - especially amongst young people. Most youngsters want to travel to different places and knowing the language is the key. I remember once, in the Helsinki underground, how I sat next to three girls - I'd say they were about 15-16 years old. They switched back and forth between Finnish, English, Spanish and German with virtually no accent in any of the languages. Obviously they switched just for the fun of it. It was the same thing when I was in my teens, my friends and I used to talk in German at times just for fun.

Well, as I said when I answered the question about non-Indo-European languages - I still haven't learnt to write short answers

Slán go fóill,
Jonas

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Chris Dixon
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 06:06 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

A chara a Jhonais.
Molt interessant! Com i on has estudiat el català?
I'm a "professional" linguist... or at least I've earned a living as a linguist in the university sector in Ireland and Scotland for the better part of twenty years! Catalan, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish are the languages which I have taught. Language policy issues in Spain are one of my research interests and my work on those has lead me to take an interest in language policy issues in Ireland - particularly Irish (and to a lesser extent Ulster Scots) in the Six Counties.
Any way, I'm wandering off of the point... you're not the only one who finds it difficult to write short contributions... I am particularly interested in what you say about your Catalan/Valencian. How/where did you come to learn it, if you don't mind me asking?
Bhuell... níl móran gaeilge agam, dá bhrí sin gabhaim pardún agat as an teachtaireacht seo i mBéarla.
Slán beo!
Chris

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Chris Dixon
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 06:21 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

A chairde,
In response to the original query on this board, I grew up in an area of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, which was a real Irish enclave. All four of my grandparents were Irish, two were Irish speakers le blas na hUladh.
I had a few basic phrases of Irish from early childhood. I studied Romance languages at university, and got a job teaching Spanish and Catalan in University College Cork. I set out to learn Irish then and had great difficulty initially - the Munster variety being taught there being vastly different from the Ulster variety that I had experienced as a child. I left Cork with a reasonable knowledge about the language, but with little confidence to use it.
About eight years ago, I started attending some leisure classes in Irish here in Scotland, which were based around a "Northern standard".
I now survive reasonably well in the everyday situations that I've encountered in Irish speaking areas of Belfast and Donegal, and I can follow Irish language radio and TV broadcasts from BBC NI.
But I still struggle with the written language and I have a long way to go to reach a level of fluency that I'll be happy with!
Le meas.

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OCG
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2004 - 08:25 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Snath suimiúil arís.

I didn't know Maltese was a Semitic language - I;m guessing that its based on Arabic brough to the island by the Moors. An bhfuil an ceart agam?

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Chris Dixon
Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 03:40 am:   Edit Post Print Post

A chara a OCG,
Tá an ceart agat... up to a point.
Maltese does have clear relationship to Arabic - although it has a lot of Romance overlay. (If you think of English as a Germanic language with a Romance overlay from Norman French, then you could maybe get some sense of how Maltese compares to the other Semitic languages.) Italian is widely spoken in Malta and many Maltese have it as a second langugage - to say nothing of the pervasive influence of English!
I don't know enough about the linguistic history of Maltese to be confident that it was brought to the island by Moors or other North Africans. Although this would be fairly likely, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a pre-Moorish substratum that was Semitic... Greek... Phonecian... and the late Professor Heinrich Wagner (of happy memory!)who taught comparitive philology in Queens University Belfast for many years would no doubt have suggested a Celtic substratum!
Slán beo!
Chris

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Jonas
Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 03:36 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

A chairde!

Molt interessant! Com i on has estudiat el català?

Principalment he estudiat ací a Helsinki, tinc el llibre "Teach Yourself Catalan" - naturalment el coneixes. Els meus pares viven entre València i Alacant i - al meu entendre - es cortés parlar la llengua del lloc i del poble. Sempre parle (parlo a Barcelona, se molt be ;-) ) Català amb els amics dels meus pares.

I am particularly interested in what you say about your Catalan/Valencian. How/where did you come to learn it, if you don't mind me asking?

Of course not, I get the same question almost every time I say I speak Irish. ;-) I hope what I wrote above answer both your questions. I was thrilled to read that you have an interest in the language policy of Spain. Although slightly off-topic I think it is a fascinating subject - I think that of language policy in all countries but I think Spain is particularly interesting because of the (relative) strength of Catalan, the uniqueness of Basque and - of course - the often troubbled history. Unfortunately I don't know that much of the Galician situation. Those speakers I've met have been more inclined to regard it as a Portuguese dialect rather than a language of its own by I don't know if that view reflects what most Galicians think or not.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were a pre-Moorish substratum that was Semitic... Greek... Phonecian...
I've read the same, about a Phoenician substratum in Maltese. I don't know of any Greek influence but my knowledge of the subject is very limited. As far as I know, the supposed Phoenician substratum has not been proved - only two place names on Malta predates Arabic and they are not Phoenician (nor are their origins known). Some scholars view Maltese as an Arabic dialect, other as an independent language. As Chris says, there are a signifiant Romance vocabulary in it and also some other differences from Arabic dialects - even Tunisians (the Tunisian dialect is the closest one to Maltese) are said to have real problems with understanding it so I guess it makes sense to view it as an independent language that has developed out of Arabic. That is just a guess of mine, not a proven fact.

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 04:56 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Jonas,

Which Gaeltacht areas have you spent the most time in? Which regions do you consider the strongest in terms of concentration of Irish speakers (total %, lack of English language influence etc..) ?

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Jonas
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 04:18 am:   Edit Post Print Post

The time I spent should be fairly even between Corca Dhuibhne in Kerry and Conamara in Galway. In the other areas I've spent considerably shorter time.

Within Munster the strongest region by far (beyond comparison) is Corca Dhuibhne. Irish is still alive in An Rinn, Co. Waterford and Cúil Aodha in Cork though - as well as on Oileán Chléire.

In Connacht I'd say that Conamara (from Casla to Carna) is strongest, but there are other reasonably strong areas. Most of the Aran Islands are every bit as strong as Conamara, with the exception of the eastern part of Inis Mór. The western part of Cois Fhairrge (Indreabhán, Ros a' Mhíl) is also very strong, the middle part (around An Spidéal) is semi-strong and the eastern part (Bearna) is about as Irish speaking as China...

In Ulster the area around Gaoth Dobhair and Gort a' Choirce, including Tory Island, is stronger by far than any other area in Ulster.

If you're interested in more details I'll be happy to help!!

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Ó Deoráin
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 05:40 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Very interesting. I guess the main thing is I'd like to know the English equivalent placename for the areas you mentioned. Corca Dhuibhne = Dingle Peninsula??

I'm not really familiar with most of the places but I might be if you posted their English placename...

Have you spent much time around Bloody Foreland or Ros Muc? (perhaps you have and I didn't recognize the Irish name...)

And finally (for now)...Have you Jonas (or ANYONE else here...) ...have you met many Irish-born people whos fluency in Irish was significantly stronger than their fluency in English? If so, can you describe any of them? How old? From where? etc..

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Kay Uí Chinneide
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 05:45 am:   Edit Post Print Post

In answer to the question how many native speakers there might be try www.cso.ie

What is a native speaker anyway, someone born in a gaeltacht area, or someone born on the island of Ireland? I prefer the latter definition.

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Fear na mBróg
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 09:44 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Déarfainn go bhfuil an dara sainmhíniúchán lochtach ar fad!

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Jonas
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 11:58 am:   Edit Post Print Post

I guess the main thing is I'd like to know the English equivalent placename for the areas you mentioned
Corca Dhuibhne = Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry
An Rinn = Ring, Co. Waterford
Cúil Aodha = Coolea, Co.Cork
Oileán Chléire = Clear Island, Co.Cork
Carna = Carna, Co.Galway
Cois Fhairrge = 0. Has no English name, the northern coast of Galway Bay between Bearna and Ros a' Mhíl
Indreabhán = Inverin, Co.Galway
Ros a'Mhíl = Rosaveel, Co. Galway
An Spidéal = Spiddle, Co.Galway
Bearna = Barna, Co.Galway
Gaoth Dobhair = Gweedore, Co.Donegal
Gort a' Choirce = Gortahork, Co.Donegal

Have you spent much time around Bloody Foreland or Ros Muc?
I've been to both. Bloody Foreland is a part of Gaoth Dobhair. Ros Muc lies in the heart of Conamara, I've visited it and been looking out of it every day for some months from Gleann Trasna close to Leitir Mhóir (Lettermore).

Have you met many Irish-born people whos fluency in Irish was significantly stronger than their fluency in English?
No,unfortunately not. Very few indeed and always very old.

Then on to Kay's comment

What is a native speaker anyway, someone born in a gaeltacht area, or someone born on the island of Ireland? I prefer the latter definition.
I take it you're joking or that you've never been to Ireland. You can't mean that someone would be a native speaker of Irish just because they are born in Ireland?!?! I know many people from Ireland who cannot speak a word of Irish - how on earth could they be native speakers?

Besides, the question of who is a native speaker is not one that everyone can decide for themselves. You're a native speaker of the language you've been brought up speaking. I'm a native speaker of Swedish and only of Swedish. Those who have been brought up speaking Irish are native speakers. That has nothing to do with being born in a Gaeltacht. A child brought up in English in the Gaeltacht is not a native speaker of Irish, a child brought up in Irish in Dublin (or in Madrid, Peking etc.) is a native speaker.

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Fear na mBróg
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 01:38 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

It all depends on the definition of "native". The kangaroo is native to Australia, but there's kangaroos in all developed countries.

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OCG
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2004 - 08:51 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

I think Carna is called Roundstone on some maps of Ireland (old ones).

I've also seen Corca Dhuibhne referred to in books as Corkaguiney.

******
A Jonas, cén saghas oibre a bhfuair tú i gCon na Mara? Má tá éisc nó gliomaí i gceist ní bheadh suim agam!!

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Jonas
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 03:18 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Carna is always called Carna in both English and Irish but Roundstone is not far away - at least not as the bird flies. Carna and Rounstone are situated on opposite sides of the same bay, Carna on the eastern side and Roundstone on the western. Officially, Roundstone is also a part of the Gaeltacht, often taken as the most ludicrous example of some Gaeltacht boundaries. Already in the 1950s, Heinrich Wagner reported that Irish was completely extinct in Roundstone and it hasn't improved since then. So even though Roundstone is a part of the Gaeltacht, it is not part of the Irish speaking half of Conamara.

It's absolutely true that Corkaguiney can be seen for Corca Dhuibhne in older books.

A Jonas, cén saghas oibre a bhfuair tú i gCon na Mara? Má tá éisc nó gliomaí i gceist ní bheadh suim agam!!
Mhuise, ní mhiste liom iasc ná gliomach a ithe agus bheinn sásta an obair sin a dhéanamh - lá nó dó... seachas é sin, ní bheadh suim ann agamsa! Is é Muintearas na n-Oileán an áit a bhíos ag obair innti. BELOFICE, comhoibriú idir comhlachtaí beaga in Éirinn, san Fhionlainn, san Ostair, san Ungáir agus san Sloibhéin a bhí ar siúl againn san am san.

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Kay Uí Chinneide
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 11:33 am:   Edit Post Print Post

I ndáiríre atáim agus is Éireannach mé.

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Jonas
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 11:48 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Ceart go leor Kay, ach conas a déarfá gur cainteoirí dúchasach iad daoine gan focal ar bith?

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Aonghus
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 04:21 am:   Edit Post Print Post

The definition I got from a linguist of "native speaker" is somebody who intuitively i.e. withouth thinking about the rules, speaks the language and is (usually) grammatically correct.

I grew up in a bilingual family in Dublin and consider myself a native speaker - there are a number of other such families.

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Kay Uí Chinneide
Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 08:04 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Ní dóigh liom gur féidir le duine a bheith ina chónaí anseo gan focal a labhairt. Chaithfeá do ghob a oscailt am éigin.

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Jonas
Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 11:57 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Ceart go leor, is dócha go bhfuil "fáilte" "fir & mná" agus "go raibh maith agat" ag beagnach gach duine. Pé scéal é, ní féidir "native speaker" a thabhairt ar daoine ná féidir leo an teanga a labhairt.

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