Bread
arán
an t-arán

Jam:
subh
an tsubh

Out of morbid curiosity, why are words beginning with vowels prefixed with t- while words beginning with "s" prefixed by t without the hyphen?

Because one certainly knows that a word starts actually with s- though written "ts-".
But one would not know in case of spelling "ta-". (Is it tarán or arán?) So a hyphen is necessary before vowels.*)
Thairis sin: A t-prefix eclipses the sound of s (though a t-prefix before s is related to séimhiú, not urú)
A hyphen could perhaps suggest to pronounce both.

*)You don't need a hyphen in case of h-prefix because no proper Irish word starts with h-.
You don't need a hyphen in case of upper-case letters because you see if the word starts with a vowel or a consonant: An tArán, AN tARÁN.

Lars

Because one certainly knows that a word starts actually with s- though written "ts-".

Gabh mo leisceal, ach ní thuigim ar fad.

A native speaker/reader would also intuitively know that a word starting with a vowel should be pronounced with an initial t (in certain scenarios)... yet only then is it written as t-.

(Message edited by Domhnall_Ó_h_Aireachtaigh on April 12, 2008)

"tarán" is not existing, but:
an t-ál = the litter
an tál = the yield

Lars

quote:

You don't need a hyphen in case of h-prefix because no proper Irish word starts with h-.

Yes, loanwords like hata are quite new. In the older times loanwords beginning with "h" were regarded as lenited forms of consonants and so one delenited them, e.g. seabhac < hawk where the initial /h-/ was interpreted as a lenited form of [ʃ] and then reversed in Irish.

So instead of hata would sata or tata be better Irish words for hat?

Ceannbheart, a hIngeborg!

Maidir le seabhac, féach anseo:

http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb32.html#seabhag

(Message edited by aonghus on April 14, 2008)

Nó clogad, sna bólaí seo. Ní raibh aon fhocal leis an gciall "hat" sa tSean-Ghaeilge, go bhfios dom. Bhí "cathbarr" (battle + top; "cafarr" inniu) ann, agus tháinig an focal thuas, "ceinnbert" (head + garment), chun tosaigh sa Nua-Ghaeige Chlasaiceach. Ach chiallaigh siad beirt "helmet" chomh maith le "head-dress" nó "headgear".

quote:

Ceannbheart, a hIngeborg!

Yes, [ə'hiŋəbo:rg] sounds funny. Is it possible in some dialects?

In the standard, the vocative particle does only lenite, but does not affect vowels, eg. "a amadáin!"

I read the rule: The particles which cause h-prefixation have no effect on words beginning with a consonant; that is, they are non-leniting, non-eclipsing particles.

So I think "a hIngeborg" would mean "her Ingeborg" (for example my mother's)

PS. The other case are numbers like "a haon", but I am not numerical.

Hmm.
I don't know.

But "a hIngeborg" feels better than "a Ingeborg".

quote:

In the standard, the vocative particle does only lenite, but does not affect vowels, eg. "a amadáin!"

Tá an ceart agat a Ingeborg.
(D'fhuaimneoinn "a Ingeborg" mar [iŋəbo:rg])

Lars

Is dócha go bhfuil an cheart agaibh.

Mo bholg do mo chuir ar strae arís...

quote:

Mo bholg do mo chuir ar strae arís...

Is maith liom an meafar sin! An é an chaoi go n-éisteann an Gael lena bholg, ní lena chluais? Nó an bhfuair tú an cor cainte sin ó do bhean?

Hmm.

N'fheadar - tá an nath gut reaction sa Bhéarla, agus Bauchgefuehl sa Ghearmáinis. Ach bhí Gearmáinis agam i bhfad sular tháinig mé ar mo bhean.
An rud a bhí i gceist agam ná gurbh é sin a chéad rud a rith liom, gan aon anailís a dhéanamh air.

Ah. Níor smaoinigh mé ar gut reaction nuair a léigh mé é!