Greetings,

Could anyone please tell me how I would say "firefly" or "fireflies" in gaelic? Thanks very much.

Trae

Lampróg

Tomás de Bhaldraithe English-Irish dictionary gives "fire-fly" = "Lampróg".

"Lampróg" is classified as a feminine noun (f.).

As the noun "Lampróg" ends in "óg" it is automatically classified as a member of the second declension of nouns (An Dara Díochlaonadh).

The jist of which means =

The plural of "Lampróg" = "Lampróga" =

The fire-flies were flying =
Bhí na lampróga ag eitilt.

The genitive (e.g. possessive case) of "Lampróg" = "Lampróige" =

The sound of the fire-fly =
Fuaim na lampróige.

"na" is used here in the singular possessive because "Lampróg" is a feminine noun (possessive case).

As "Lampróg" belongs to the second declension, it is classified as a "weak" noun.

The jist of which means =

Any weak noun (e.g. "Lampróg")
in the PLURAL possessive case
retains its singular (not plural) spelling.

The eyes of the fire-flies =
Súile na lampróg.

Hope this helps you.

Very very instructive!

Thanks!

Although Arabian Knight's recent post might come across as tedious or pedantic, I know of two good reasons to continue this sort of discourse:

(1) For those of us who don't enjoy the luxury of immersion in the spoken language, the next best thing is immersion in the written language. Hence, the more we get to read of Irish, the more we are likely to learn. It's like throwing a lot of cooked spaghetti at the wall. Some of it will stick. Thank you, A.K.

(2) I have found that explaining things to others, even in writing, reinforces my own understanding and helps me to remember it.

One last thought: those of you living in or near the Gaeltacht really have it made. Sometimes I feel like a deaf person trying to learn to speak. Much of my spoken Irish must resemble baby talk.

I didn't find Arabian Knight's post tedious or pedantic a'tall a'tall! I genuinely found it very informative and instructive (even if I did know it already!).