Category: Irish (Gaeilge)

Attitudes to languages

By Simon

I came across an interesting article today which discusses, among other things, attitudes to Irish in Ireland. The writer is a native speaker of Irish from Connemara who bemoans the feelings of inferiority about their language felt by many people in the Gaeltachtaí (the areas where Irish is, in theory, the main language).

Here are a few extracts:

In Ireland Irish is more of an emotional question than a linguistic one. The sound of Irish seems to be lodged in the sub-conscious mind of our people. That might explain why discussions about Irish are more of an emotional nature than about the intricacies of the language itself.

Never is there as much emotion expressed in relation to the other languages they failed to learn at school or didn’t enjoy. And even less knowledge about them. The sounds that I made as a child are still ringing in our ears and pounding in our hearts waiting to be released.

I’ve witnessed many people in the Galltacht expressing the belief that Gaeltacht people have a real sense of pride about their language and would prefer to keep the ‘blow-ins’ out. This may be true of some but the truth is that a feeling of inferiority is rampant among native Irish speakers and has been for centuries.

English is felt to be the ‘better’ language by many in the Gaeltacht.

The effect of losing our language is a subtle shift in our harmony with ourselves. It will not make headlines but its survival is necessary for our fundamental feeling of belonging and our understanding of who we really are.

Similar sentiments and attitudes are unfortunately true for many other minority languages, and indeed ‘non-standard’ dialects. The situation isn’t entirely gloomy in Ireland though – many pupils at the increasingly popular gaelscoileanna (schools that teach everything through the medium of Irish), seem to be proud to speak Irish.

Linguistic adventures in Cuba

By Simon

My linguistic adventures started on the flight out to Cuba, during which I was sitting next to an electrician from Germany. I tried speaking a bit of German with him, but he seemed to prefer using English, which he spoke very well. I also tried out my Spanish on the cabin staff and did my best to understand the announcements in Spanish.

When in Cuba I used my Spanish as much as possible. Some of the people I encountered didn’t speak English, so I had to speak to them in Spanish and was able to communicate fairly well. Other people spoke English and some preferred to practise their English with me rather than to speak Spanish. One feature of Cuban Spanish I noticed was a tendency to drop esses, particularly at the ends of words. For example, they say buena dia rather than buenas dias, and ecuela rather than escuela.

I met some Germans and Austrians and was able to converse with them in German, though I kept on having to use English words when I couldn’t remember the German ones. Not bad considering I haven’t used my German much since leaving school many years ago.

One member of the group was Chinese and I spoke some Mandarin with her. Another member of the group was an Irish speaker and I spoke some Irish with her, though she found it a little difficult to understand me as I speak Donegal Irish, while she speaks Munster Irish. The differences between these dialects are not huge, but they take some getting used to.

Art and aliens

By Simon

It struck me today that the Irish word for artists, ealaíontóirí, sounds like ‘alien tory’. I hadn’t really noticed this before. When I hear or read the word, it usually brings to mind artists and art, though hearing it out of context triggered the thoughts of extraterrestrial members of the Conservative Party.

I try to think in the languages I’m studying as much as possible, and to picture in my mind the things and actions I hear or read about. Sometimes I only notice that a foreign word sounds funny to English speakers when someone who doesn’t speak the language points this out to me, or if my brain is in English mode.

Language proficiency tests

By Simon

I came across some useful online language proficiency tests today on the Transparent Language site. There are tests for Chinese (Romanized), Dutch, English, English (for Spanish Speakers), French, German, Irish, Italian, Japanese (Romanized), Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. The questions are all fill-in-the-blanks type and each test consists of two grammar sections, a vocabulary section and a reading comprehension section.

I just took the Irish test and got a overall score of 105 out of 150 or 70%. My highest scores was in the vocabulary section – 27/30 or 90%, and the reading comprehension – 25/30 or 83%. I didn’t do so well in the grammar sections getting only 27/45 or 60% in each one. Obviously my Irish grammar needs more work.

Does anybody know of any online language test that include listening? I’m sure I’ve seen some somewhere but can’t remember where.

Bál Mór Buí

By Simon

Fadó, fadó bhí bál mór buí ann, ach ní raibh aon cairde aige…

When I went to Ireland in June, I found quite an unusual way to use my Irish. On the last day of courses at Oideas Gael there is usually a kind of talent show, which typically involves classes and individuals singing, playing instruments, dancing, reciting poetry, telling stories or performing in some other fashion. Performances that involve speaking or singing are often in Irish, which gives students a chance to show what they’ve learnt during the week.

This year, as well as joining in with the singing, I also did some juggling. To make my performance a bit more interesting, I made up a story about the Bál Mór Buí (Big Yellow Ball) and its search for other balls to play with. The Bál mór buí was my large contact* ball, which I used to do some contact moves in one hand, while juggling beanbags with the other hand. The story went down very well and was one of the most unusual uses I’ve found for my languages so far.

What unusual uses have you found for your languages?

*Contact juggling involves rolling balls or other objects around the hands, arms and other parts of the body.

Definite countries

By Simon

Only a few country names are accompanied by the definite article in English. These include the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, the Gambia, the Sudan, the Ukraine and the Lebannon. In some cases the definite article is only used occasionally – Sudan and Lebannon, for example, usually manage perfectly well without it. Why some countries are more definite than others is a bit of a mystery. Any suggestions?

In Welsh only some of countries have the definite article, though not the same ones as in English. Examples include yr Ariannin (Argentina), yr Aifft (Egypt), y Ffindir (Finland), yr Almaen (Germany), yr Eidal (Italy), yr Iseldiroedd (the Netherlands), yr Alban (Scotland), y Swdan (the Sudan), y Swistir (Switzerland) and yr Unol Daleithiau (the United States).

Most countries have the definite article in Irish, with the exception of Alba (Scotland), Ceanada (Canada), Cúba (Cuba), Gána (Ghana), Iosrael (Israel), Lucsamburg (Luxembourg), Meicsiceo (Mexico), Maracó (Marocco) and Sasana (England)

This and that

By Simon

Most languages I’ve encountered seem to have a way of indicating that something or somebody is close to the speaker, i.e. this man, or close to the listener, i.e. that man. Some languages make a third distinction: that something is distant from both the speaker and the listener. In standard English you can express this idea by saying something like ‘that man over there’, but in some dialects of English you can say ‘yon man’, ‘yonder man’ or ‘that there man’.

Does anybody know of any languages that make further distinctions?

In the Celtic languages there are no single words for this and that. Instead they use the constructions ‘the man here’ and ‘the man there’.

Irish
an duine seo – this man
an duine sin – that man
an duine úd – that man over there / yonder man

Scottish Gaelic
an duine seo – this man
an duine sin – that man
an duine siud – that man over there / yonder man

Manx
yn dooinney shoh – this man
yn dooinney shen – that man
yn dooinney shid – that man over there / yonder man

Welsh
y dyn ʼma – this man
y dyn ʼna – that man
y dyn acw – that man over there / yonder man

Ar ais arís anois (back again now)

By Simon

Tháinig mé ar ais chuig Brighton areir i ndhiaidh turas fada go maith – d’fhág mé Gleann Cholm Cille ag a haon déag ar maidin agus chuaigh mé ar a bus go Baile Dún na nGall, cá bhualadh mé le ceann de na scoláire a bhí ar an cúrsa in Oideas Gael, agus rinne mé comhrá léi as Gaeilge agus Béarla ar an bus go Baile Átha Cliatha.

I got back to Brighton last night after quite a long journey – I left Glencolmcille at eleven in the morning and went by bus to Donegal City, where I bumped into one of the other students who was on the course at Oideas Gael and I chatted to her in Irish and English on the bus to Dublin.

Nuair a tháinig mé chuig Gleann Cholm Cille Dé Sathairn seo caite, d’inis daoine liom go raibh féile ann an deireadh seachtaine sin, agus an tráthóna sin chuaigh mé chuig seisiún ar fheabhas in ostán Gleann Cholm Cille le ceoltóirí as Gleann, Oileán Mhanann agus Oileán Leodhais. Bhí cailín ann ag canadh as Manainnis, agus amhránaí eile ag canadh as Gaeilge na hAlban freisin. An lá dar gcionn, bhí cór as Leodhais agus cór áitiúl ag canadh Salm as Gaeilge na hÉireann agus Gaeilge na hAlban in Oideas Gael. Bhí fuaim an cór as Leodhais an chumhachtach agus corraitheach.

When I arrived in Glencolmcille last Saturday, I was told that there was a festival that weekend, and that evening I went to an excellent session at the Hotel Glencolmcille with musicians from the Glen, the Isle of Man and Lewis. There were a lass there who sang in Manx and other people singing in Scottish Gaelic. The next day, a local group and a group from Lewis sang some psalms in Irish and Scottish Gaelic at Oideas Gael.

The group from Lewis sang in very unusual way – they took it in turns to lead the singing, and the others improvised each line. It’s a unique style of singing and the sound they made was very powerful, moving and almost unearthly. There were only ten or them in the group, so the sound of a whole church full of people singing in this way must be incredible.

Bhain mé an sult as an fuílleach an seachtain. Níl ach seachtdeig daoine bhí ann ag foghlaim Gaeilge, triúr i rang a haon, beirt i rang a dó agus dháréag i rang a trí. Bhí go leor daoine ann i mbliana a bhí ann anuraidh, agus bhí sé deas iad a fheiceáil. Ar dtús, bhí ár múinteoir, Gráinne as Béal Feirste, giota beag moillitheach, ach i ndhiaidh tamallín bhí sí ag teacht i gcleachtadh ar chúrsai.

The rest of the week was very enjoyable. There was only seventeen of us studying Irish, three in level one, two in level two and twelve, including myself, in level three. Quite a few were there last year and it was nice to see them again. Our teacher, Gráinne from Belfast, was a bit hesitant at first, but soon got into the swing of things.

This year I stayed in a house in Cashel, over the road from one of the pubs and close to the shops. Two other students were staying there – a retired teacher from Austria and a lad from Roscommon who plays a mean flute. Our host fed us well and made us feel very welcome.

Most nights, after the activities at Oideas Gael, most of us ended up in Biddys, one of the local pubs. There were some good sessions, though not every night. We also watched quite a few football matches.

I learnt a lot during me stay in Gleann Cholm Cille and am now able to understand more Irish, and to speak it with more confidence and fluency. I’ll definitely be going back to Oideas Gael in the not too distant future.

Word of the day – nimhneach

By Simon

nimhneach, adjective = painful, sore, (person) touchy, spiteful

Examples of usage
Tá sceadamán nimhneach orm = I have a sore throat
Tá droim nimhneach air = He has a sore back
Tá bolg nimhneach uirthi = She has a stomach-ache

Related words
nimh, noun = poison, venom
nimheadas, noun = antagonism, spitefulness
nimheanta, adjective = poisonous, spiteful
nimhigh, verb = to poison
nimhíoc, noun = antidote
nimhiú, noun = poisoning – nimhiú bia = blood food poisoning
nimhiúil, adjective = poisonous

This word came up in one of the Irish lessons I listened today and I really like it’s sound.

Word of the day – bean ghlúine

By Simon

bean ghlúine, noun = midwife (lit. “kneeling woman”)

This word suggests that kneeling was once a major part of being a midwife in Ireland. Other Irish words for midwife are bean chabhartha (“helping woman”) and cnáimhseach, and midwifery is cnáimhseachas.

The word midwife comes from the Old English mid (with) and wif (woman). One of the Welsh words for midwife, gwidwith, perhaps comes from the same root; the other is bydwraig (“world wife”).

Faoi láthair tá mo dheirfiúr a dhéanamh staidéar ar an chnaimhseachas, agus sin é an fáth a phioc mé an focal seo.

My sister is currently studying midwifery, which is why I choose this word.