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Alex
| Posted on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:51 am: |
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I just typed this out and I THINK it erased, if not I apologize for the repost. I have a friend who is learning Gàidhlig. And we were discussing the gender of Cailín. He said in Gàidhlig it is femenine, and all his sources spelled it Cailin (Gan fada) and said it was femenine like Gàidhlig. Any input here? Also I was told it is possible for a word to change gender based on Dialect. Any input or examples here if any? Lastly Does anyone have any special resources on learning Donegal Irish or any special links/sources? Go raibh maith agaibh |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 08:01 am: |
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cailín Masculine an cailín óg ainm an chailín óig na cailíní óga ainmneacha na gcailíní óga -- As for gender differences in dialects... they only one I've ever seen is: An talamh Dath an talaimh Dath na talún |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:13 am: |
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A Scots Gaelic dictionary online at Sabhal Mór Ostaig gives cailin (nó accent) as girl, and as feminine. http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/bb/lorg.php?submit=Lorg&facal=cailin&seorsa=Gaidhlig I believe cailín is masculine in Irish, because it was once neuter - but this is a pet theory based on no evidence, and due to the fact that in German for example, "das Mädchen" is neuter. There are other words for girl in Irish which are feminine - for example girseach, gearrchaile. |
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Alex
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 08:26 am: |
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What does "GO NDÉANART" mean? I know what it means, but the question is more on why is the déan- ended in -art, and how is this used? Also I heard a song, and in it, she said "'s tá mo chailín ag baile 's duine a phógfaidh a béal" I get the gist, I am more curious on the A before phógfaidh....Does it mean "to" as in "a person to/who will kiss her lips"? |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 09:52 am: |
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"Go ndéanart" Never seen the likes of it. Maybe Old-Irish, níl 'fhios agam. "'s tá mo chailín ag baile 's duine a phógfaidh a béal" "and my girl's [at home] and a person will kiss her mouth" Never seen the likes of "ag baile". "At home" is "sa bhaile", "At school" is "ar scoil", never seen "ag" used with them. |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 10:53 am: |
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"ag (an) baile" is fairly common usage. Are you sure it was "GO NDÉANART", Alex? "Go ndéanar" would be 2nd person singular for "may you do" soemthing. But the T looks like a stray. "'s tá mo chailín ag baile 's duine a phógfaidh a béal" my girl is at home, and a person who will kiss her mouth (is there too) a phógfaidh - who will kiss |
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Alex
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 07:53 pm: |
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I was questioning the a....wondering if it was short for anything too, thank you guys, I am not too sure, it was "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" Also I have met a lot of people who used AG BAILE like "Tá mé ag dul ag baile" |
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Alex
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 07:58 pm: |
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Another thing AON is the N pronounced in front of consanants? |
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Alex
| Posted on Friday, July 16, 2004 - 08:24 pm: |
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'S tá mo chailín ag baile 's gan duine aici a phógfadh a béal that's the original part to the song, I'm sorry I messed it up but I think it has the same jist no? |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 05:32 am: |
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And my girl is at home and without anyone to kiss her mouth |
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alex
| Posted on Saturday, July 17, 2004 - 08:42 pm: |
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Thank you fear there are several words in here like phógfaí phógfadh Shouldnt they both be Phógfaidh? |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 02:45 am: |
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Does anyone know if "Teach me! Irish" is good? I heard the welsh is pretty good, and if so what dialect it is? |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 05:32 am: |
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Phógfaí = would be kissed The girl would be kissed if she had a boy. Phógfaí an cailín dá mbeadh buachaill aici. Phógfadh = would kiss He would kiss the girl if she would let him. Phógfadh sé an cailín dá ligfeadh sí dó. Pógfaidh = will kiss He'll kiss the girl. Pógfaidh sé an cailín. Ní phógfaí Ní phógfadh Ní phógfaidh go bpógfaí go bpógfadh go bpógfaidh |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 02:23 pm: |
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Thank you fear! This is why I try not to correct things ;-) But what does "spré" Because another line was Dhá mbeidh spré ag an gcat nach deas mar a phógfaí a bhéal |
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PAD
| Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 05:04 pm: |
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Alex - That's a variation of "Dá mbeadh spré ag an gcat, is minic a pógfai a béal". If a cat had a dowry, it's often her mouth would be kissed. Spré meaning cattle, property, dowry. |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 07:26 pm: |
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Why is it NACH DEAS MAR A - and d,b, and p lenited then? |
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Betty OBrien
| Posted on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 05:51 am: |
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A Alex: Teach me! Irish is very good for responsible people and I am sure you are. I would just certainly not use that for children. There is plenty of vocabulary and the grammar is very wisely divided to cca 45 levels. There is a function of "Autolearn" which means that the program will give you an exercise well suited for you every time. I've found very few mistakes in it and anyway - the program is improving all the time. There is also a big select of the languages through which you can learn. (By the way: Look at Czech - some of that translation is my work, especially the stories.) It is proved, that a complete beginner who would use Teach me! Irish every day for 3 months will then be able to speak and write Irish in a very good level. It's not an advert - really, I am using Teach me! and I am very satisfied. My Irish is not very good just because I am too lazy and I have to learn much more languages than Irish only. As you can see, my English is not very good, too. I just don't have enough time to learn 5 languages in one time. Anyway, Teach me! Irish is a very high quality program which is based on exercises and a practical use of the language. |
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Betty OBrien
| Posted on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 05:56 am: |
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With Teach me! Irish you will learn all variations (dialects) and you will just choose which one you want to learn. The recordings of phrases and words are made by many people all living in different parts of Ireland, so you will also hear the difference. |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Monday, July 19, 2004 - 07:49 am: |
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Is minic a théim abhaile. Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón. Is minic a fheicim an fear sin. Is minic a phógfaí a béal. Nach deas mar a phógfaí a béal. If there's no séimhiú, then it's a typo/mistake. |
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Alex
| Posted on Thursday, July 22, 2004 - 12:00 pm: |
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Ok I was listening to some tapes and some things that troubled me were -Chífidh mé tú, the ch sounded like CH(english ch in challenge)...and the í sounded like a broad I...? -Also the alphabet sounded exactly like the english, the letters said almost identicle, anything on this? |
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PAD
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 07:29 am: |
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"Chifidh me tu" - Feicfidh me tu. |
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Tomás
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 09:24 am: |
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Alex, -- I've never come across that variant pronunciation. It is possible that there is such a local variant. But, typically, the only sound in Irish that somewhat resembles the 'ch' sound in 'challenge' is 't' preceded or followed by a slender vowel. So, such a local variant would have been written as 'tifidh'. The aspirated 'c' in Irish is always, always a guttural. Depending on where the speaker is from, 'chifidh' would sound approximately like either KHEE-fee or KHEE-fih. I would go with either of those pronunciations. I would be interested to hear if anybody else has come across the variant pronunciation that you think you heard, and, if so, where the speaker was from. |
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Chris
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 03:41 pm: |
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That pronunciation (the CH sound in challenge for Chifidh) is used on the book/tapes that I have been working from: Irish on your own. From what I gather, most of the speakers on the tape series are speaking in the Ulster dialect... |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 04:00 pm: |
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Maybe it's just a run-of-the-mill irregularity, like "receipt". |
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Pat
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 07:23 pm: |
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You heard the tapes correctly. {Chi-} is the Ulster dialect independent root of the verb feic. (Chifidh me - I will see, ni fheicfidh me, I will not see.) The pronunciation is more understandable when you realize that the word can also be written tifidh or tchifidh. Munster also uses this variant {chi-} form, but there it is pronounced in the usual way with a slender lenited c. |
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Antóin
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 07:39 pm: |
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"Chífidh mé" is pronounced as if commencing with a 't' in Donegal Irish and is sometimes written; "tchífidh" It is quite a different pronounciation from the rest of the country but quite acceptable. |
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Antóin
| Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 07:43 pm: |
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Oops, sorry Pat. had my message posted before seeing your response. |
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Alex
| Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 07:33 am: |
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THat is what I was thinking, It sounded like a slender t and it is Irish on your own, Ulster, I was near ready to throw the thing across the room thinking it was an anglicized thing...Thank you for helping me sort that out |
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Gleann Toite
| Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 09:22 am: |
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'across the room' . . . Alex, get a grip. Although 'tchifidh' et al is not an anglicised import, all languages use import influences. As a modern language Gaeilge is no different. And despite history we don't resent our neighbours in England. We've moved on. |
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Alex
| Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 10:25 pm: |
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Oh I know what you mean, but I thought it was like an Irish word turned into more english like spelling, ch - ch(english ch)....If you know what I mean? |
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Tomás
| Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 10:10 am: |
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First, thanks everyone. Although I have two native speaker friends from Gaoth Dobhair, I hadn't heard the 'tch-' pronunciation for 'chífidh'. I am much more familiar with the Irish of Connamara and West Munster. Second, Alex, a chara, -- We borrow words all the time in Irish from English and retain elements of the English spelling, maybe putting a slight Gaelic spin on them to make them conform. Mar shampla: 'jab' = job. An bhfuil aon jab agat? 'votáil' = to vote And, by the way, almost invariably in speech and usually also in writing, the foreign consonants are aspirated and eclipsed like their Irish phonetic counterparts. So, 'jab' is treated as if it were spelled "deab". You may see "my job" written in Irish as "mo jab" or "mo jhab" but the pronunciation in speech is almost invariably "MUH YAHB". |
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Larry
| Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 01:39 pm: |
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A Thomáis, a chara, Just a small point on your post... You should never see 'my job' written in Irish as 'mo jhab' as the letter J is not subject to aspiration. Le meas, Larry. |
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Tomás
| Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 05:25 pm: |
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Larry, a chara, -- I agree to a point. "Should" and "could" being two very different things. As 'j' is not indigenous to the Irish alphabet, you are correct that it is not subject to aspiration -- normally. But, my point was, that being borrowed, it behaves in speech and may behave in writing (dialog, mar shampla) as if it were its phonetic counterparts 'de-' or 'di-', srl. I just want Alex to be aware of that. le gach dea-ghuí, Tomás |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Friday, July 30, 2004 - 05:29 am: |
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Well I myself would write: mo jab and speak: mo yab I don't aspirate the letter J, although I do aspirate the sound J, which is a slender D. |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 09:16 am: |
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Thanks all and I get what you mean, Fear what I was saying though, was I Was thinking it was chífidh...an Irish word...being pronounced by an english speaker as in English, like when people read another language sometimes they unkowingly speak a letter/cluster as if it were in their native language, I thought that was what this was and would be unable to use the tapes if it were with things like that...if that makes sense In Donegal/Ulster...Is the N in an bhfuil pronounced? Thanks all of you for your help and all, I don't know if I could measure all the bits of the languages I've picked up in the past year just observing posts and asking my dumb questions...This site is extremely helpful and it's always the first one I recomend...:-) |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 10:15 am: |
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I see what you mean Alex. For instance, when I've just been reading Gaeilge, and then I read a bit of English, or vice versa, and I come upon the word: fear |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:54 pm: |
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LOL Not even that, like anything, like say Ill read an spanish word like "hablar" as if it were Irish...Heard the Pimsleur Irish? Is it me or is that English accents in it? |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 03:27 pm: |
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Primsleur Irish? *going to Google, back soon* Oh, I see, it's a language book thingie. I tend not to make the kind of mistakes of pronouncing a word as if it were of another language, eg. pronouncing the Gaeilge "chaint" as English "chain" with a "t" at the end. Maybe some people's brains are wired differently! I presume there wouldn't be much hassle if you were English learning Arabic though. They have originality, you have to give to that! |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 06:18 pm: |
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Heh, true Fear, the thing with Pimsleur was things like..."Gael-Linn" instead of "Gaeilge" and not slenderizing S's in slender s places in some cases...I'm not the only one who has seen this...Any one else? Perhaps I'm mistaken on something? But I was under the impression anseo, the S is ALWAYS slenderized in all dialects? |
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Pat
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 08:06 pm: |
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Alex, If you are using "Irish on Your Own", you don't have to worry about it being the real deal. One of the authors, Eamonn O Donaill (sorry, try as I might, I can't do fadas) is a native speaker from Donegal. He teaches at Oideas Gael in Gleann Cholm Cille, and is without a doubt one of the best teachers I've ever had. The native speakers on the tapes are so authentic, in fact, that their accents had to be regularized a bit for the recordings. It seems that different locales, even different families, in Donegal have enough variations in their pronunciation that a learner might have been thrown by them. Bain sult as an leabhar agus na teipeanna! |
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Alex
| Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 10:31 pm: |
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Thanks for the reasurance, I just have seen some poor quality pronunciations in manyu languages, and one like Irish with less speakers...less popular sorta I was worried even more...:-) |
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Mike Q.
| Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 04:49 pm: |
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Ok a question... "Mura beidh mhaith leat bainne -I can get some- duit" like "If you'd like some milk I can get you some" Please correct what I have in Irish and translate if possible and thanks in advance |
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Maidhc Ó G.
| Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 08:16 pm: |
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I'm not certain, but I think it may go more like, " Mara mba mhaith leat bainne éigin, tá an t-abaltach orm cuid éigin a fháil duit. Again, I'm not fully sure, but I do really need the practise. -Maidhc. |
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IHS
| Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - 08:58 pm: |
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Hi Mike, I'm guessing this is more like it: "Más maith leat bainne, is féidir liom cuid a fhail duit" NB: "Mura beidh" is way off the radar. If you were using Mura" it would be: "Mura mbeadh" which means "if there were not" (conditional tense). |
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Alex
| Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 02:03 am: |
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A question to Welsh...the Dictionary said "Breatnais"....this didn't seem 100%, any takers? |
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Alex
| Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 02:42 am: |
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Is it correct to say "An gCaintinn thú?" Meaning like Do you talk? Or Does...talk to you? the question is more on the Caintinn... |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 04:44 am: |
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No Maidhc - mura is negation Dá mba mhaith leat bainne - if you would like milk is feidir liom roinnt a fháil dhuit - I can get you some. abáltacht is used for an innate ability or skill. Wales -> An Bhreatain Bhig Welsh -> Breatnais (the language) Breatnach (a person or as an adjective) An labhraíonn tú - do you talk ( a very odd question!) |
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Alex
| Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 12:43 pm: |
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How is "Do you talk" an odd question? I can think of several uses off the bat ;-) Thank you though Aonghus, you and Fear are two people who have helped me to outstanding amounts, and to everyone else as well on thie list.....so much help and response here! |
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Fear na mBróg
| Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 01:27 pm: |
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The Gaeilge for talk is "caint", eg. Bhí siad ag caint le chéile. But it's a noun and nothing more, there's no verb associated with it. When we want to say, "I talked to him yesterday", we say: Labhair mé leis inné. If I was supplied the above sentence and asked to translate it to English I'd say: I spoke with him yesterday. OR I talked to him yesterday. Note in Gaeilge you always say something with some-one and you always speak with some-one: Labhair mé leis. Dúirt mé leis. The only exception is if your telling some-one something: I told him the story. D'inis mé an scéal dó. |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 04:32 am: |
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Scríobh Alex: Quote:How is "Do you talk" an odd question? I can think of several uses off the bat ;-)
But I can only think of one - a nicer way of saying "are you dumb?" (i.e. physically unable to speak) |
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Alex
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 04:38 am: |
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You can also say "Do you talk to him or not?" As in perhaps you have dislike for him ;-) Anyhow back to Irish! I know you say Go úrú-VN - may VN.... Or around those lines would you say Go nach mbeidh leanaí aici... Like "May she never have kids" (best example I could think of atm lol Another thing How does one past tense words without lenitable letters? Like Labhraíonn? |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 04:43 am: |
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Quote:You can also say "Do you talk to him or not?"
An bhfuil tú ag caint leis, nó nach bhfuil? or An labhraíonn tú leis? Nach raibh leanaí aici riamh. (don't know the rule, perhaps FnaB can help. However Go nach is wrong, Nach implies it. And the verb has to be in a special mood). I don't understand your last question. Did you speak to him? Ar labhair tú leis? Used you speak to him? An labharfá leis go dtí seo? Errors and Omissions excepted. I make most grammatical errors when I try to think about them, and I have a bad feeling about that second example.... |
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Ed
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 02:40 pm: |
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By not leniting. Rith mé ar nós na gaoithe. Léigh mé leabhar suimiúil. OK??? |
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Jonas
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 05:09 pm: |
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Alex, may I make some comments upon what you wrote: Heh, true Fear, the thing with Pimsleur was things like..."Gael-Linn" instead of "Gaeilge" Gaelainn is the name for the Irish language in all Munster dialects. It is neither more nor less correct than Gaeilge. and not slenderizing S's in slender s places in some cases...I'm not the only one who has seen this...Any one else? Perhaps I'm mistaken on something? But I was under the impression anseo, the S is ALWAYS slenderized in all dialects? No, not at all. The Munster word is anso. I might add that anso is the original word, Connacht's anseo is a rather recent invention. There is nothing on the Pimsleur tapes that isn't genuine Irish. |
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Alex
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 11:08 pm: |
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Thank you Jonas, that is why I said Perhaps I'm mistaken Thank you for clearing it up |
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IHS
| Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 11:23 pm: |
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Aonghus, Take a look at this: Ná raibh páistí aicí choíche May she never gave kids Nár lagaí Dia thú! May God not weaken you! Nach raibh paistí aicí? Didn't she have kids? |
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Jonas
| Posted on Friday, August 06, 2004 - 02:13 am: |
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I myself made the very same mistakes once. When I first came to Ireland, I had studied Learning Irish and my first weeks were spent in Galway and Conamara. Naturally, I thought Conamara-Irish to be the Irish dialect. When I came to Corca Dhuibhne in Co.Kerry and first heard the dialect I myself speak today I was struck by those very points you mentioned. The same thing happened when I first went to Donegal, though with completely different features. |
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Rómán
| Posted on Friday, August 06, 2004 - 02:31 am: |
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Dia dhaoibh go léir! Tá a fios agam go bhfuil I am repeating the same question again and again. But this is because I still haven't got clear answer from anybody. Gaelainn - according to the tape has a SLENDER "L", as if it was spelled "Gaeilinn". Can anyone confirm or negate this??? |
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Aonghus
| Posted on Friday, August 06, 2004 - 04:06 am: |
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IHS. grma. Ní rabhas ag tabhairt aird cheart ar an gceist. Mar a dúirt, is minice a dhéanaim botún nuair a bhím ag smaoineamh ro dhoimhin ar rudaí. "Ná raibh" a bhí i gceist agam scríobh - chuir an "go nach" ar strae mé. Agus ní cuimhin liom rialacha an Mhodh Fhoshuitigh, gan trácht ar bheith in ann iad a mhiniú sa Sács Bhéarla. |
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Jonas
| Posted on Friday, August 06, 2004 - 04:09 am: |
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Well, I cannot confirm or negate what's on the tape because I haven't got it right now (if you mean the Pimsleur one). However, both in Kerry and in Cork the "l" is definitely pronounced broad, as if spelled "Gaelainn". |
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