Tomas (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From:
Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 08:47 pm:
Hello :-)
I recently decided to study Irish at a relaxed pace. I am using Irish on Your Own : Éamonn Ó Dónaill
Does anyone have anything to say about the book? Is it good or bad? I think it's pretty alright so far
I just had two little questions.
In the book they say Chífidh mé tú... Is this a specific regional expression? Also they pronounce it as if a T were in front of it -> (CH-yi-fih may too) I was just curious on the CH's pronunciation
And also:
As Ard Mhaca ó dhúchas mé, ach tá mé i mo chónaí i mBéal Feirste anois.
I was curious as to which words were equivelant to Armagh.
Meaning the first have of the sentence I'm not sure which words I can change and which I can't (what part is the location's name)
Would I say - "As Chicago ó dhúchas mé"
thank you so much
P.S. Does anyone know if AOL still hosts a chat room with Host Intl Gael? I used to speak with him every Sunday and found him rather helpful but I had to get rid of AOL After a while so I was curious if it were still around
Irish On Your Own is allright. It is Ulster Irish, mixed with some Standard Irish features (I think it's a pity, but anyway...)
Chífidh can also be written tchífidh, sometimes tífidh. Some people prefer writing chífidh because it looks more like Munster form cífidh and Scottish chì, but in Ulster, you do pronounce a t at the beginning, and no slender "ch" (it is written anyway because of etymological reasons: Old Irish at-chí). People say /t'if'i/ or /t'ihi/ (or respectively /t'ifə/ and /t'ihə/ when the following subject is a personal pronoun).
Tchífidh is the Ulster form of the verb to see in the future tense. In Standard Irish and in Connemara, it is "feicfidh". So in books you'll find "feicfidh mé thú" (i will see you) in Standard & Connemara Irish, and tchífidh/tífidh/chífidh mé thú (different spellings for the same word) in Ulster. In Munster, they say cífead thú or other forms like that.