I've been studying dóigh lately. It has quite a number of definitions, but right now I'm concentrating on the noun, and specifically the phrase meaning 'in my opinion'. I'll move on to 'I think … ', 'I'm of the opinion …' shortly.

Both my dictionaries say that 'in my opinion' is de mo dhóigh. I realize that one must be very flexible when going from a preposition in one language to a preposition in any other, but the use of de surprised me a bit, so I did an internet search on that phrase. I only got 2 hits. When I searched mo dhóigh alone, I got 20, some of which used de/do, some ar and some i. I don't know enough Irish to understand the context in which those hits were found.

So, which preposition would you use with dóigh for 'in my opinion'? And if you don't mind, please indicate which dialect you're writing of. Thank you.

I'd say "Is dóigh liom X" (Which Ó Donaill also lists)

I don't recall reading "De mo dhóigh " anywhere.

A quick scan of the Google results seem to show that "mo dhóigh" is being used for "my condition" rather than "my opinion", so that doesn't help much.

Is there an option for "none of the above"? In my experience, Irish-speakers use a completely different constructions, namely is dóigh liom. (Le with copula expresses ownership, e.g. is liom an leabhar seo "This book belongs to me".) Mo dhóigh more often has the meaning of "my way" as in Bhí mé dílis di ar mo dhóigh féin "I was faithful to her in my own way". (Note how the meaning changes if you translate this as "my own opinion".)

If you want a literal translation of "in my opinion", the noun I would use isn't dóigh at all but rather tuairim.

Perhaps dom dóigh or dom dhóigh is intended? Looking at DIL it seems these are on the archaic side. I use dar liomsa. This is the "dictionary" dialect of a learner. Would love a better suggestion if there is one.

(Message edited by seánw on September 03, 2009)

Dar liom
or
I mo thuairim
are perfectly good introductions (In my opinion, ....)

Is dóigh liom xxxx
Means
In my opinion xxxx is true

However, Ó Donaill lists "de mo dhóigh" - so there is authority for it.

Interestingly, Dinneen does not, listing only "Is dóigh"

A few thoughts on the prepositions:

English in conveys the idea of "location within". So one could think of the idea as "within the limits of my thought" > "in my opinion".

Irish de conveys the idea of "separation". One more specific concept is "origin" (from). The word dóigh has a lot of meanings that could easily be construed to also mean "estimation" so "from my estimation" > "in my opinion".

Is dóigh liom xxxx

Does this require a dependent or independent clause? Example sentence please! :)

Chuala mé an ceann seo: "Ara. Níl cuma ná dóigh air!" I think it means "it does not look well. It is not well-finished etc" "It's a mess."

There's also the seanfhocal: Is mairg a dhéanas deimhin dá dhóigh. (Sad is the person who makes his "opinion" definite / certain.")

Regarding "de mo dhóigh" I'm sure it's OK somewhere but rarely heard. I suspect authors of textbooks may make up sentences to illustrate the point rather than taking authentic speech and then describing it and drawing whatever rules possible from it. The caveat being that while a word may be commonly used in one context it may never be used in others even though it would appear to be suitable for use in those. The only way to protect yourself from such translation errors is to familiarise yourself with as much existing Irish as possible before embarking on the creation of new Irish of your own.

Is dóigh liom go ndeachaigh Seán go dtí an Astráil. I think John went to Australia.

Is dóigh liom is followed by reported speech or claoninsint.

Sorry. I should have made myself more clear. When I said I intend to move on to 'I think … ', 'I'm of the opinion …' shortly, I was referring to the is dóigh le construct.

In the meantime, back to de mo dhóigh. It's listed in Foclóir Póca, Collins Pocket Irish Dictionary, and An Foclóir Beag online. In fact, FB lists 'de mo dhóigh (i mo thuairim)'.

So, before I plunge into all the alternatives to mo dhóigh, has anybody ever heard any of the following 3 phrases, in any dialect or part of Ireland, for 'in my opinion', and if so, where?
(a) de/do mo dhóigh
(a) ar mo dhóigh
(a) i mo dhóigh

I know Dennis used it this way 2 years ago on this forum (click here): De mo dhóigh ní haon dochar a chur annseo síos. But I can't be sure it means 'in my opinion'.

An online dictionary also has:

de mo dhóighse

i mo bharúil

I don't know what the historical connexion might be, but there are really two nouns involved here: One meaning "way" or "manner" and another meaning "expectation" or "opinion". As mentioned before, when I see ar mo dhóigh, only the first meaning comes to mind.

Regarding "de mo dhóighse" I think it stilted. Probably seldom used if ever nowadays.

"I mo bharúil" is a direct translation of "in my opinion" and is probably seldom used in native literature.

Try "[Is é (an)] barúil atá agamsa ná ~~~~~. Goidé do bharúil faoi sin?" My opinion is ~~~~~~~~~~~ what is your opinion of that?

"Níl barúil ar bith agam mar níl eolas dá laghad agam faoin ábhar." I don't have an opinion at all because I haven't the least knowledge of the topic.

quote:

"Níl barúil ar bith agam mar níl eolas dá laghad agam faoin ábhar." I don't have an opinion at all because I haven't the least knowledge of the topic.

I take it this is an example of an utterance which is strictly grammatically correct but which for pragmatic reasons would never be uttered? An choibhéis Ghaelach de "Furious green ideas sleep colourlessly," i bhfocail eile?

Ní hea. Chloisfeá é.