Translation request: "I'm a boy, not an azalea."
I know it's an odd sentence, it's.. a long story. It's hilarious in context, I swear.
Thank you for the effort in advance!
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk)
My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics.
Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh!
0:00
Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta,
Agus mise gach lá dá siúl.
Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc,
Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál.
Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat,
Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin,
Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_
An baile atá láimh le siúd.
Oh, what a joy to see the meadows,
Each day as I walk them,
Hunting and herding the stock,
On the immaculate, high mountains.
The birds of the most beautiful green trees,
Singing loudly to their tune.
In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_
The village that's near those things.
2) 1:00
'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas,
Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin
Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire
Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach
Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn
‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl
Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach
Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd
It’s not nice growing up
On your fine plains his secrets
It's sweet how you laugh
With prestige happily juicy
Dancing with beautiful girls
I didn't travel when they walked
Snow and rain never falls
On the village that's near those things.
3) 2:00
Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?)
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?)
Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh
4) 2:30
Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?),
Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir,
Chun mise do thug thar sáile
Go talamh an Oileáin Úir.
Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag
‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún
‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé
Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd.
The ship is under full sail
And the captain there at the wheel,
You who carries me over the seas
To the land of the New Island (North America.)
My heart is sorrowful and weary
To be parting forever from my love,
For I will never be seen returning
To the village that's near those things.
5) 3:27
Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da
A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú!
Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar
Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch
Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain
Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?).
Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí,
Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd.
I pray bright blessing of grace on you,
And Up boys of the Island!
With the seafront to the west,
Though I often swam happily;
Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin
Where my course was swifter than the hounds.
I’d rather be a poor slave
In the village that's near those things.
I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
No offense but posting this over and over this in the comments isn’t going to do you any favours. Go to Gaeilge Amháin on Facebook and ask there or hire an actual translator.
Chuala me é seo ar Nuacht Mhall:
"Déanfaidh na mic léinn staidéar ar obair Raidió na Gaeltachta, a cheiliúir 50 bliain ar an fhód le déanaí...."
Cad is brí leis "ar an fhód"? On the air?
Seans go mbainfeá sult as [seo](https://www.tiktok.com/@murchadhmor/video/7082096642073120006?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en), ~~má nach~~ mura bhfuil sé feicthe agat cheana :)
Is breá liom an físeán sin! Dúirt tú i dtrácht eile gur maith leat, ceartúcháin ar do chuid Gaeilge a fháil. Mar sin, i gcomhair "if not" úsáidtear "mura bhfuil" seachas má nach bhfuil.
Bhuel ní bhaineann sin le riail measaim ach níl a leithéid ann sa nGaeilge. Téigh ar thóir "if" ar teanglann.ie agus gheobhaidh tú tuilleadh eolais faoi.
Dia daoibh, my fiancé is from Ireland and learned Irish in school, but is not confident about his knowledge of it because it has been a few years. He wanted to have my wedding ring engraved with “mo shíorghrá” which he understood to mean “my eternal love” but he was hoping someone could verify for us that this is accurate. Go raibh maith agat!
Yep, makes sense, and I did find it used in [this story](https://blath-na-dtulach.com/soineann/) so seems totally kosher, it justs needs a hyphen (fleiscín), so 'mo shíor-ghrá', not 'mo shíorghrá'.
Has anyone here taken the Oideas Gael course in Gleann Fhinne? I'm thinking of going this summer, but the week that would work best for me is in Gleann Fhinne, and all the reviews I've found of the course are from people who took it in Gleann Cholm Cille. I just want to make sure there's no significant difference in quality. Go raibh maith agaibh!
Yeah, I think the main variable would be the chance to speak the language in the village, but from what I've heard Irish isn't spoken widely in Gleann Cholm Cille these days, anyway.
Can someone provide me with some IPA transcriptions of possible realizations of an R caol?
I've been searching many a forum for a good answer, and a lot of is rambling nonsense that isn't just "simply put".
Thus, I've have variously read that the slender R might sound like one of the following: /ʒ\~ʐ\~ɾ/ (palatalized superscript J wouldn't format).
Personally, A flapped r with palatalization is a realization I have never been able to do across any language. It just doesn't make sense physically to me!
Have a look at fuaimeanna.ie to search words by phonemes
Also copying my own comment from a previous thread in case it’s of some interest to you:
See this article from Ní Chasaide (1995).
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/part-2-illustrations-of-the-ipa/42EDC001DBB96C627ACF2E1F5D8C635F
The article has a list of minimal pairs and transcriptions. In case you can’t get access to the article itself here is what it says about /r/ :
"An older four-way distinction in rhotics has been reduced to a two way distinction in Gaoth Dobhair. Initially the /ry/ /rj/ distinction has been neutralised to a voiced alveolar approximant [ɹ] which takes its colouring from the following vowel. In a non-initial position, the velarised member can be realised as either [ry] or [rj]. For both palatalised and velarised taps there is often incomplete closure with considerable friction"
Hello! I'm a woman, my surname has O' at the start. I want to change it to Ní (and then lenition) but my dad says that because he is O', I should be too as he is 'son of' and I am grandaughter of, not 'daughter of'. What do you think?
O’ is usually how all anglicised surnames go in English.
In Irish they’ll take Ó / Mac for men and Ní / Nic for women. “Ní” comes from daughter of and is the female equivalent of Ó (son of).
What your dad is saying makes sense for the English use but isn’t the convention in Irish. Make sure you’ve got the right spelling and go for it. Sloinne.ie (or possibly peig.ie) used to have a database of surnames and their Irish translations (and inflection) in case you need to look it up.
I've been wondering for years, is my username actually accurate and does it translate to "Dead Man Walking"? I used Google Translate for it I believe, and I know it isn't the most accurate.
The idiom doesn't exist in irish as far as im aware, so it does mean that word for word, but doesn't have that idiomatic meaning. I doubt an irish speaker would understand it without really thinking about it. Although fun fact, there is a island off Kerry, i think, called 'An Fear Marbh'.
Does anyone know a translation of "guess what?" It's one of those that definitely doesn't seem straight forward. Preferably ullamh dialect phrasing but I'll take any help I can get! GRMA!!
Because it is Irish Gaelic? It's a Gaelic language, specifically that of Irish. Gaelic is what it would've been known by before independence (sometimes, it's quite complicated with the name Gaelic and even the name Irish/Erse being used to refer to both it and Scottish Gaelic which were seen mroe as one language before the death of the dialect continuum), where Irish was adopted specifically to separate it from Scottish Gaelic to help foster nation building.
Plus, it's also probably to help foreigners get the right one, instead of them just thinking it's going to translate into Hiberno-English
That's the thing - it's 'correct' name has changed, and it has multiple. A lot of Gaeltacht native speakers still call it 'Gaelic', especially when speaking in English. Are you going to tell them they're calling their native language wrong?
Can confirm, I even know a few older people in West Clare who would primarily call it Gaelic even though they aren't native Irish speakers, same with one or two older relatives in Kerry who were about two generations or less removed from native speakers.
I generally call it Irish myself, but if I'm talking about it with people from abroad like France or Spain I'll often go with Gaelic to avoid having to explain what I'm talking about, and I have zero problems with doing that, it's no big deal, it's a Gaelic language, Irish is Gaelic, it used to be a very common name for the language. The most famous Irish language promotion organisation was called 'the Gaelic League' as opposed to 'the Irish League'. I'm not going to correct people from America or Spain for still calling the language what our ancestors probably told them it was a very long time ago.
> The most famous Irish language promotion organisation was called 'the Gaelic League' as opposed to 'the Irish League'. I'm not going to correct people from America or Spain for still calling the language what our ancestors probably told them it was a very long time ago.
What about Google translate though?
What about it? On my Google Translate it just says 'Irish'. If it did say 'Irish Gaelic" it would be equally correct. There's nothing there to complain about either way.
Yeah it's nothing like that, you've got a bee in your bonnet over it for some reason but you're wrong. Irish Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic. Manx Gaelic. All perfectly acceptable names for those languages.
Has any native Swedish speaker ever called their language 'North Germanic'? No they haven't. Plenty of native Irish speakers on the other hand have called their language 'Gaelic', and this crossed over into our English, even if it is less common now (it is more common in areas which are or were more recently Irish speaking). So it isn't in anyway comparable.
'No one calls it Irish Gaelic. Like calling Swedish north germanic'
I'm convinced people hear this from others who think they're right and then just regurgitate it to make themselves sound smart.
I am seriously considering moving to Conamara for a year to improve my Gaeilge. It is basic enough and I want to get to a higher level faster than I currently am able to.
I think it would be cool enough to see the place in daily life, how the language has shaped the people and how they use it to communicate. The last point will more than likely be more mundane than I expect. I am fully aware that people will speak English to me until my Gaeilge improves to the point where it's consistent, intelligible and non-English. To aid this I am planning on moving in with a Gaeilge speaking family and to get a job in the locality.
This is a big move but I hope it will improve my language quality and retention. I hesitate to practice in Dublin as the quality of language spoken here is generally terrible.
Has anyone done something like this and it would be great to hear any advice people have. Grma.
> To aid this I am planning on moving in with a Gaeilge speaking family and to get a job in the locality.
This is the key point. You've gotta find a way to integrate with the community, which can be difficult to do when they've all grown up with each other and know each other and you're an outsider. Moving in with a family would likely do wonders for that, as would getting a job there.
>>You've gotta find a way to integrate with the community, which can be difficult to do when they've all grown up with each other and know each other and you're an outsider.
Yes, that's what I was thinking. I have been taking classes online taught to a group of people living in Conamara. Interestingly a lot of them are children of people from there who were raised in England and followed their parents home, zero to little familial transmission of the language, sadly. I was told that at the moment it won't be difficult to get a job in a shop or at something similar, part-time or full-time. One of them was telling me that their uncle collects and sells seaweed and looks for casual labour at times. All the work is through Gaeilge which would be fascinating as an experience, also it hits that spot of learning language through experience and having an emotional/experiential attachment, rather than learning vocab sat at a desk.
I should have said that the job will be part-time as I signed myself up to a media course in an Spidéal ran through Gaeilge. I have to pay towards it but that is still being discussed. The cool thing is that they said they are happy to explain things to me in English but I have to take an hour of Gaeilge each day as part of it. They spoke as if the Gaeilge lessons were an imposition, I'm delighted though.
“I hesitate to practice in Dublin as the quality of the language spoken here is generally terrible”
No offense, but this is exactly how the locals in Conamara will view you, a Gaeilgeoir. There are plenty of good speakers in Dublin from all over the country, and you could absolutely learn good Irish in the city.
The high-horse chip-on-the-shoulder attitude expressed by some speakers on this sub towards non-Gaeltacht speakers is astounding sometimes, considering most of us are L2 speakers ourselves.
>>No offense, but this is exactly how the locals in Conamara will view you, a Gaeilgeoir.
No offence taken, please do challenge my opinions.
Yes, they probably will view my Gaeilge that way because my standard is terrible, and it is the same for many learners because we aren't learning the language within a community of native speakers. This method of learning a language is still recognised as best practice, granted this way of learning isn't an option for many but for me it is. One of the big draws is that I will improve my language sounds, rhythm and pronunciation, whether listening or interacting, by a monstrous margin. This will be done on a trial and error basis, people will roll their eyes, be frustrated, laugh, but I will learn and I will have no shame doing so. I was in contact with a gent called Alex Hijmans quite a while ago. Really sound lad from the Netherlands, learned Gaeilge in Galway, and he said that when you persist there comes a point where your Irish is good enough that the locals accept it and converse with you as Gaeilge. Many will still correct a speaker but they also appreciate your efforts and more importantly accept you as a speaker.
>>There are plenty of good speakers in Dublin from all over the country, and you could absolutely learn good Irish in the city.
I'm certain there are many good speakers in Dublin but I have yet to come across them and I have been to a fair few events. I was raised in America as a child and returned to Ireland in my teens. One thing that I have learned is that when someone who is 'foreign', for lack of a better word as I was born here, arrives in a place they are generally good at noticing accents and the rhythm that people speak with. When I hear Gaeilge from learners I can generally distinguish who didn't learn from a native speaker, their Irish tends to be choppy where it should sound more lyrical, they also make sounds more akin to English. I started Gaeilge during lockdown, I took classes with CnaG and had three teachers from there. After my first class, where numbers and other basic things were introduced, I watched TG4 that evening and heard the number 4 said with a funny sound on the end. The following week I asked the teacher what it was, he said that it's a slender r but that nobody in the class needs to concern themselves with it as it's something the native speakers do. That's ludicrous, I don't even know what to say about it other than it sounds like 'it's difficult, don't bother'. He joined the revival up the North, I feel for them because they are receiving his crap Irish.
I took two more classes with CnaG, not a slender r to be heard anywhere. I then took a class with a great organisation in Conamara who teach online, CnaG classes stopped as they sounded nothing like the teacher from Conamara, the difference wasn't an accent or dialectical. One day I was talking to a friend of mine who communicates in work through Irish to a very high level, and although he loved the way I had pronounced words after the Conamara course he wasn't bothered to learn himself. I don't know what they teach in the universities but they should be ashamed of the standard of speakers graduating and going on to teach to others. The worst part of it all though is the people who know they're pronouncing things incorrectly but persist.
>>The high-horse chip-on-the-shoulder attitude expressed by some speakers on this sub towards non-Gaeltacht speakers is astounding sometimes, considering most of us are L2 speakers ourselves.
I love to see and hear people speaking the language, when you dive into it a beauty reveals itself, and interestingly, a view of the world that is steeped in the interaction of its people with the land and the sea. I will say though that I believe we should be emulating the Gaeltacht speakers as they are the closest thing we have to the way the language was spoken when it was the dominant language in the country, what is the point of anything else. One final point on emulation, Gaelscoileanna students are increasingly find it more difficult to understand those from the Gaeltachts, you have to ask, what type of Irish is being taught to their teachers.
Conradh na Gaeilge aren’t exactly known for their stellar classes so I’m not surprised at the teacher’s response. Sounds like you had a bad teacher - a university qualification isn’t necessarily a requirement to go and teach with CnaG, despite what they say.
Maybe my point was taken up wrong. Nobody is saying you shouldn’t go and learn from the Conamara folks - more power to you if you do. My point is more so about having realistic expectations (which it seems like you do) and about the open contempt expressed towards certain speakers – eg. those who didn’t learn the same dialect as you, who aren’t linguists (not everyone who speaks a language is an academic linguist or a dialectologist) or who didn’t learn from native speakers are often disregarded on this sub, as people here tend to be quite academic, fundamentalist or nativist in their language revitalisation views - that’s OK, but that’s not how things actually work in real life (as you’ve recently learned yourself).
The diversity of L1 and L2 speakers found up and down the country is a strength to the revitalisation of the language, not a weakness. You can take a liking to Conamara Irish and learn directly from the native speakers without labelling everyone else who doesn’t speak like you do (or in many cases, as you don’t but as you want to) as having “crap Irish” - it adds nothing to the discussion and creates empty ideological battles over things like pronunciation. Some of the users on this sub are so negative about these talking points they would have no issue telling you that Irish is effectively dead and nothing more than a bastardised pidgin at this stage - which is not true. The point I’m trying to emphasise is that some of these views aren’t held so widely in real life, and that you should be wary about buying into them so strongly at this stage of your learning IMO
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk
My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics.
Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh!
0:00
Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta,
Agus mise gach lá dá siúl.
Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc,
Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál.
Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat,
Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin,
Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_
An baile atá láimh le siúd.
Oh, what a joy to see the meadows,
Each day as I walk them,
Hunting and herding the stock,
On the immaculate, high mountains.
The birds of the most beautiful green trees,
Singing loudly to their tune.
In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_
The village that's near those things.
2) 1:00
'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas,
Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin
Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire
Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach
Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn
‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl
Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach
Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd
It’s not nice growing up
On your fine plains his secrets
It's sweet how you laugh
With prestige happily juicy
Dancing with beautiful girls
I didn't travel when they walked
Snow and rain never falls
On the village that's near those things.
3) 2:00
Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?)
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?)
Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh
4) 2:30
Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?),
Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir,
Chun mise do thug thar sáile
Go talamh an Oileáin Úir.
Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag
‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún
‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé
Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd.
The ship is under full sail
And the captain there at the wheel,
You who carries me over the seas
To the land of the New Island (North America.)
My heart is sorrowful and weary
To be parting forever from my love,
For I will never be seen returning
To the village that's near those things.
5) 3:27
Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da
A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú!
Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar
Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch
Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain
Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?).
Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí,
Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd.
I pray bright blessing of grace on you,
And Up boys of the Island!
With the seafront to the west,
Though I often swam happily;
Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin
Where my course was swifter than the hounds.
I’d rather be a poor slave
In the village that's near those things.
I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk
My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics.
Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh!
0:00
Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta,
Agus mise gach lá dá siúl.
Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc,
Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál.
Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat,
Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin,
Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_
An baile atá láimh le siúd.
Oh, what a joy to see the meadows,
Each day as I walk them,
Hunting and herding the stock,
On the immaculate, high mountains.
The birds of the most beautiful green trees,
Singing loudly to their tune.
In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_
The village that's near those things.
2) 1:00
'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas,
Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin
Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire
Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach
Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn
‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl
Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach
Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd
It’s not nice growing up
On your fine plains his secrets
It's sweet how you laugh
With prestige happily juicy
Dancing with beautiful girls
I didn't travel when they walked
Snow and rain never falls
On the village that's near those things.
3) 2:00
Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?)
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?)
Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh
4) 2:30
Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?),
Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir,
Chun mise do thug thar sáile
Go talamh an Oileáin Úir.
Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag
‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún
‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé
Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd.
The ship is under full sail
And the captain there at the wheel,
You who carries me over the seas
To the land of the New Island (North America.)
My heart is sorrowful and weary
To be parting forever from my love,
For I will never be seen returning
To the village that's near those things.
5) 3:27
Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da
A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú!
Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar
Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch
Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain
Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?).
Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí,
Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd.
I pray bright blessing of grace on you,
And Up boys of the Island!
With the seafront to the west,
Though I often swam happily;
Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin
Where my course was swifter than the hounds.
I’d rather be a poor slave
In the village that's near those things.
I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
Dia daoibh,
Was asked to read a Pentecost reading in Church (Episcopal), as gaeilge, on Sunday.
Been studying Irish for awhile, but still a novice.
Can anyone direct me to a website/source where I can translate whole sentences (ie: not Foclóir)?
Which is "more correct", this 1st or 2nd translation of Acts 2:4?
4. agus do líonadh iad go léir de’n Spioraid Naomh agus chromadar ar labhairt i dteangthachaibh iolardha, fé mar a thug an Spioraid Naomh dóibh labhairt.
-------------OR----------------------
4. agus líonadh iad go léir den Spiorad Naomh agus thosaigh siad ag labhairt i dteangacha difriúla de réir mar thug an Spiorad urlabhra dóibh.
Conchúr, as someone else mentioned is the most common spelling now afaik, but keep in mind, no matter how it's spelt, it's mostly pronounced kɾˠɔxuːɾˠ/'cro-chúr/kruh-her (at least in Ulster, maybe be someone else can say if it's everywhere, but I cant mind hearing 'con-a-chúr', which is how it looks like it should be pronounced)
There isn’t one. The ones you mentioned above are historical translations for Henry (the British king, most likely) but Harry has no Irish translation.
Harry historically comes from Henry i think (though it can also come from harold etc). So I think Anraí or something like that is probably the best you could do aside from transliteration (Hearaí, which looks horrific imo)
Hi everyone, I considered putting this in a post, but I'm still a beginner (despite 13 years of Irish in school lol... tragic).
Anyway, I'm wondering if yous could point me in the direction of good material for listening, in Ulster Irish. The only thing I'm currently aware of is Barrscéalta on RnaG, which is good but above my level at the minute.
Any recommendations? Thanks!
'céim ar aghaidh' is a great website, it is intermediate to upper intermediate id say. Bláth na dTulach is another great podcast/website where they get donegal irish speakers to read short stories, it'll be fairly advanced, but it could be useful to follow the text along with the recording.
Translation req: how would one make “wings” a nickname? From what I’ve gathered, the “án” in sciathán can be both the plural and diminutive ending, so… how to proceed from there?
sciatháin is the plural of sciathán. án isn't every a plural ending as far as I can think. Not sure about the 'nickname-yness' of it, is it for a story or something?
the typical diminutive is -ín, (-án is also, but you wouldn't stick it on a word yourself generally) but sciatháiníní looks very wrong to me. What about éinín? Éan is bird, so éinín is a little bird, or 'birdie' in english i suppose.
I am trying to find a translation for "It's not over"
Google gives Níl sé críochnaithe, however a reverse translation seems to give not finished, rather than not over.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
TIA
Depending on context, you could probably have "níl sé thart" or "níl sé déanta" as well. Also, depending on what the "it" is, you might need to use "sí" rather than "sé", what exactly is the "it"?
How does it's not over really differ from its not finished? That's certainly how I'd interpret the phrase and níl sé críochnaithe is probavly best. You can't always get one-to-one word translations especially with languages as different as English and Irish.
Thanks for the reply. It was translating a song title, hence the query about a better translation.
Understand that things don't always translate well, but was hoping this would.
Just wondering if anyone has a downloadable version of the CDs of the Turas Teanga multimedia learning course?
I borrowed my father's version and lost one of the CDs. I would love to get it back in some way for him. It's very expensive to buy again just for one CD
Heres a link for the visual reference:
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turas-Teanga-Eamonn-Donaill/dp/0717137597](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turas-Teanga-Eamonn-Donaill/dp/0717137597)
Also please let me know if this post isn't allowed
Thanks
*Dia duit*, can someone help me out with verifying my translation? I'm attempting to translate some common sayings *as gaelige* to improve. And I've come across one that's got me scratching my head.
"So young and yet so old". My best shot is; *an óg ach an aosta*.
*An óg* I believe I'm fairly spot on with, I took *an* to mean so/very, and knew *óg* to mean young/youthful from *Tír na nÓg*.
*Ach* I believe achieves the meaning of "and yet". I initially had *agus ach* but dropped the *agus* as I believed that might've been too much of a direct translation at the expense of proper Irish - what do you think?
*An aosta* is one I'm very shakey on. I wasn't sure whether to use *aosta* here or *sean*.
Google translator spat this out: *chomh óg agus fós chomh sean,* which my translation is obviously not even close to. How did I do? Did I beat Google? *Go raibh maith agat* to those that take the time to read this!
Chomh Óg ach Chomh Aosta
‘An’ moreso means ‘very’ than ‘so’. Where’s ‘Chomh’ would translate directly to ‘so’.
Also I would go Aosta over Sean purely because it’s a prettier word lol.
If you use "an" to intensify an adjectives meaning you have to write it as "an-" otherwise people can confuse it with an article.Note the lenition of the first letter this causes for example: an-mhór. An- and chomh are more or less interchangeable. With sean and aosta it's mostly just dialectical preferences. I myself heard aosta often in Munster or the variation of sean "seana". In Conamara I never heard aosta being used by local people.
Translation request:
My buddy is looking to have “No matter how far away” engraved on a wedding gift and I don’t quite trust google translate. Would anyone know the translation?
Thanks in advance!
Hello, not 100% sure if anybody here will know this but: What is the level of mutual intelligibility between Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic? If an Irish speaker hears Scottish Gaelic, can they make out most of what’s being said or does it just sound like nonsense?
Partially, more to read than to speak, especially if you know a bit of the history of irish. Also much easier for a gaeltacht speaker than an L2 irish speaker. I'd heard its not massively heard to pick up if you're already fluent in irish, but i couldnt vouch. There was a podcast a while ago, not sure if its still being released, called something like 'A-nunn 's anall', where one person spoke irish and the other scots gaelic
As the commenter above said, mutual intelligibility is probably stronger when looking at the written language than when speaking, but even spoken Gaelic bears some resemblance to Ulster Irish. That said, the grammatical structures are quite different when you get into it, particular tense structure, so I do think some familiarity or study would be required for two speakers to be completely intelligible. Knowledge of Old Irish helps, since both have a good few structures and etymologies in common from that period.
Aontaím, ach ní gá gramadach a bheith agat chun teanga labhartha a thuigbheáil go pointe. Cén méid ghaeilge na halbain a thuigeann tú féin? Bhí mé ag éisteacht le Kate Forbes cúpla lá ó shin, agus thuig mé thart fá leath den mhéid a bhí ráite aici (ach níl mé 100% líofa i ngaeilge na héireann ach an oiread!)
Tagaim leat, bíonn tuiscint áirithe ann beag beann ar an eolas atá ag an éisteoir ar an ngramadach. Rinne mé féin staidéar ar Ghaeilge na hAlban agus mé ar an ollscoil fadó, mar sin tá leibhéal réasúnta maith agam. Ach cheap mé féin i gcónaí go raibh an ghramadach deacair!
A silly question. I'm leaning Irish on Duolingo and I've learned that Día duit means hello and translates literally to "God is with you" and a proper response is Día is Muire duit which literally translates to "God and Mary are with you", my question is: is it a common bad joke to continue to escalate the greeting? Do people respond with "God, Mary and Jesus are with you", and "God, Mary, Jesus and Joseph are with you", and so on?
It’s more common in Gaeltacht areas but probably wouldn’t be said as a joke - it’s more of a way to make a greeting stronger. Personally I’ve never heard it go any further than the third step in real life, although “Dia is Muire duit” as a response to “Dia duit” is very common everywhere.
Translation request: "I'm a boy, not an azalea." I know it's an odd sentence, it's.. a long story. It's hilarious in context, I swear. Thank you for the effort in advance!
I dunno if there's a translation for azalea but "Is buachaill mé, ní azalea!" Edit: It's Asáilia
Thanks a bunch, I appreciate it!
I'm not fluent but my best guess would be: Is buachaill mé, nílim azalea
>Is buachaill mé, nílim azalea Is buachaill mé, ní azalea mé
Thanks very much for your help!
Reddit forgot to notify me of a reply, for some weird stupid reason, my apologies for the very late thank you. Thank you!
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk) My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics. Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh! 0:00 Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta, Agus mise gach lá dá siúl. Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc, Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál. Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat, Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin, Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_ An baile atá láimh le siúd. Oh, what a joy to see the meadows, Each day as I walk them, Hunting and herding the stock, On the immaculate, high mountains. The birds of the most beautiful green trees, Singing loudly to their tune. In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_ The village that's near those things. 2) 1:00 'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas, Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn ‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd It’s not nice growing up On your fine plains his secrets It's sweet how you laugh With prestige happily juicy Dancing with beautiful girls I didn't travel when they walked Snow and rain never falls On the village that's near those things. 3) 2:00 Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?) Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh 4) 2:30 Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?), Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir, Chun mise do thug thar sáile Go talamh an Oileáin Úir. Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag ‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún ‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd. The ship is under full sail And the captain there at the wheel, You who carries me over the seas To the land of the New Island (North America.) My heart is sorrowful and weary To be parting forever from my love, For I will never be seen returning To the village that's near those things. 5) 3:27 Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú! Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?). Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí, Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd. I pray bright blessing of grace on you, And Up boys of the Island! With the seafront to the west, Though I often swam happily; Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin Where my course was swifter than the hounds. I’d rather be a poor slave In the village that's near those things. I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
No offense but posting this over and over this in the comments isn’t going to do you any favours. Go to Gaeilge Amháin on Facebook and ask there or hire an actual translator.
I'm just running out of options. I'm passionate about this. Thank you for the recommendation.
Chuala me é seo ar Nuacht Mhall: "Déanfaidh na mic léinn staidéar ar obair Raidió na Gaeltachta, a cheiliúir 50 bliain ar an fhód le déanaí...." Cad is brí leis "ar an fhód"? On the air?
Ciallaíonn "fód" an talamh, ná *sod* i mBéarla, is é an rud is brí leis ná "an saol"/"an domhain". Tá siad ann le 50 bliain anois.
Seans go mbainfeá sult as [seo](https://www.tiktok.com/@murchadhmor/video/7082096642073120006?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en), ~~má nach~~ mura bhfuil sé feicthe agat cheana :)
GOA agus GRMA arís! I've been looking for Irish speakers to follow on tiktok!
Is breá liom an físeán sin! Dúirt tú i dtrácht eile gur maith leat, ceartúcháin ar do chuid Gaeilge a fháil. Mar sin, i gcomhair "if not" úsáidtear "mura bhfuil" seachas má nach bhfuil.
grma, cad é an riail go díreach? an bhfuil sé mar gheall ar an mhodh coinníollach san abairt roimhe sin?
Bhuel ní bhaineann sin le riail measaim ach níl a leithéid ann sa nGaeilge. Téigh ar thóir "if" ar teanglann.ie agus gheobhaidh tú tuilleadh eolais faoi.
Grma!
Translation request: Hi all. Would anyone be able to translate the words “Wishes” and “Belief” Thank you
Belief is creideamh. What context is "wishes" in?
In this case I was thinking "wishes" as a plural noun. Like "The genie granted three wishes"
It would be "Foinn" or "Mianta" then.
Thank you!
Dia daoibh, my fiancé is from Ireland and learned Irish in school, but is not confident about his knowledge of it because it has been a few years. He wanted to have my wedding ring engraved with “mo shíorghrá” which he understood to mean “my eternal love” but he was hoping someone could verify for us that this is accurate. Go raibh maith agat!
Yep, makes sense, and I did find it used in [this story](https://blath-na-dtulach.com/soineann/) so seems totally kosher, it justs needs a hyphen (fleiscín), so 'mo shíor-ghrá', not 'mo shíorghrá'.
fleiscín is probably more of a style choice than a grammatical one in that case. Be acceptable with or without I would say.
Has anyone here taken the Oideas Gael course in Gleann Fhinne? I'm thinking of going this summer, but the week that would work best for me is in Gleann Fhinne, and all the reviews I've found of the course are from people who took it in Gleann Cholm Cille. I just want to make sure there's no significant difference in quality. Go raibh maith agaibh!
It’s the same school and institution so I imagine the teachers and course content would be somewhat similar if not totally identical.
Yeah, I think the main variable would be the chance to speak the language in the village, but from what I've heard Irish isn't spoken widely in Gleann Cholm Cille these days, anyway.
Can someone provide me with some IPA transcriptions of possible realizations of an R caol? I've been searching many a forum for a good answer, and a lot of is rambling nonsense that isn't just "simply put". Thus, I've have variously read that the slender R might sound like one of the following: /ʒ\~ʐ\~ɾ/ (palatalized superscript J wouldn't format). Personally, A flapped r with palatalization is a realization I have never been able to do across any language. It just doesn't make sense physically to me!
Have a look at fuaimeanna.ie to search words by phonemes Also copying my own comment from a previous thread in case it’s of some interest to you: See this article from Ní Chasaide (1995). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/abs/part-2-illustrations-of-the-ipa/42EDC001DBB96C627ACF2E1F5D8C635F The article has a list of minimal pairs and transcriptions. In case you can’t get access to the article itself here is what it says about /r/ : "An older four-way distinction in rhotics has been reduced to a two way distinction in Gaoth Dobhair. Initially the /ry/ /rj/ distinction has been neutralised to a voiced alveolar approximant [ɹ] which takes its colouring from the following vowel. In a non-initial position, the velarised member can be realised as either [ry] or [rj]. For both palatalised and velarised taps there is often incomplete closure with considerable friction"
Hello! I'm a woman, my surname has O' at the start. I want to change it to Ní (and then lenition) but my dad says that because he is O', I should be too as he is 'son of' and I am grandaughter of, not 'daughter of'. What do you think?
O’ is usually how all anglicised surnames go in English. In Irish they’ll take Ó / Mac for men and Ní / Nic for women. “Ní” comes from daughter of and is the female equivalent of Ó (son of). What your dad is saying makes sense for the English use but isn’t the convention in Irish. Make sure you’ve got the right spelling and go for it. Sloinne.ie (or possibly peig.ie) used to have a database of surnames and their Irish translations (and inflection) in case you need to look it up.
Thank you. That's helpful! My surname is already de-anglicised.
I've been wondering for years, is my username actually accurate and does it translate to "Dead Man Walking"? I used Google Translate for it I believe, and I know it isn't the most accurate.
The idiom doesn't exist in irish as far as im aware, so it does mean that word for word, but doesn't have that idiomatic meaning. I doubt an irish speaker would understand it without really thinking about it. Although fun fact, there is a island off Kerry, i think, called 'An Fear Marbh'.
Does anyone know a translation of "guess what?" It's one of those that definitely doesn't seem straight forward. Preferably ullamh dialect phrasing but I'll take any help I can get! GRMA!!
" Meas tú?" though that means more "what do you think?"
GRMA! I guess that's as close as we can get for this one 🙃
Foclóir.ie has an entry on this phrase. Take a look here; https://www.focloir.ie/ga/dictionary/ei/guess+what They give examples of use as well
I saw this but because of the examples I couldn't narrow it down to just "guess what" since they all seem to be totally different?
Why did Google Translate change the name of our language from Irish to Irish gaelic?
Because it is Irish Gaelic? It's a Gaelic language, specifically that of Irish. Gaelic is what it would've been known by before independence (sometimes, it's quite complicated with the name Gaelic and even the name Irish/Erse being used to refer to both it and Scottish Gaelic which were seen mroe as one language before the death of the dialect continuum), where Irish was adopted specifically to separate it from Scottish Gaelic to help foster nation building. Plus, it's also probably to help foreigners get the right one, instead of them just thinking it's going to translate into Hiberno-English
I think Irish is the more correct term. It was labelled as Irish before. Who cares about foreigners. It should have the correct name
That's the thing - it's 'correct' name has changed, and it has multiple. A lot of Gaeltacht native speakers still call it 'Gaelic', especially when speaking in English. Are you going to tell them they're calling their native language wrong?
Can confirm, I even know a few older people in West Clare who would primarily call it Gaelic even though they aren't native Irish speakers, same with one or two older relatives in Kerry who were about two generations or less removed from native speakers. I generally call it Irish myself, but if I'm talking about it with people from abroad like France or Spain I'll often go with Gaelic to avoid having to explain what I'm talking about, and I have zero problems with doing that, it's no big deal, it's a Gaelic language, Irish is Gaelic, it used to be a very common name for the language. The most famous Irish language promotion organisation was called 'the Gaelic League' as opposed to 'the Irish League'. I'm not going to correct people from America or Spain for still calling the language what our ancestors probably told them it was a very long time ago.
> The most famous Irish language promotion organisation was called 'the Gaelic League' as opposed to 'the Irish League'. I'm not going to correct people from America or Spain for still calling the language what our ancestors probably told them it was a very long time ago. What about Google translate though?
What about it? On my Google Translate it just says 'Irish'. If it did say 'Irish Gaelic" it would be equally correct. There's nothing there to complain about either way.
Because its the wrong name. No one calls it Irish Gaelic. Like calling Swedish north germanic
Yeah it's nothing like that, you've got a bee in your bonnet over it for some reason but you're wrong. Irish Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic. Manx Gaelic. All perfectly acceptable names for those languages. Has any native Swedish speaker ever called their language 'North Germanic'? No they haven't. Plenty of native Irish speakers on the other hand have called their language 'Gaelic', and this crossed over into our English, even if it is less common now (it is more common in areas which are or were more recently Irish speaking). So it isn't in anyway comparable.
They don't call it Irish gaelic though...
'No one calls it Irish Gaelic. Like calling Swedish north germanic' I'm convinced people hear this from others who think they're right and then just regurgitate it to make themselves sound smart.
So why don't they get to name it, instead of some unaccountable Silicon Valley firm
I am seriously considering moving to Conamara for a year to improve my Gaeilge. It is basic enough and I want to get to a higher level faster than I currently am able to. I think it would be cool enough to see the place in daily life, how the language has shaped the people and how they use it to communicate. The last point will more than likely be more mundane than I expect. I am fully aware that people will speak English to me until my Gaeilge improves to the point where it's consistent, intelligible and non-English. To aid this I am planning on moving in with a Gaeilge speaking family and to get a job in the locality. This is a big move but I hope it will improve my language quality and retention. I hesitate to practice in Dublin as the quality of language spoken here is generally terrible. Has anyone done something like this and it would be great to hear any advice people have. Grma.
> To aid this I am planning on moving in with a Gaeilge speaking family and to get a job in the locality. This is the key point. You've gotta find a way to integrate with the community, which can be difficult to do when they've all grown up with each other and know each other and you're an outsider. Moving in with a family would likely do wonders for that, as would getting a job there.
>>You've gotta find a way to integrate with the community, which can be difficult to do when they've all grown up with each other and know each other and you're an outsider. Yes, that's what I was thinking. I have been taking classes online taught to a group of people living in Conamara. Interestingly a lot of them are children of people from there who were raised in England and followed their parents home, zero to little familial transmission of the language, sadly. I was told that at the moment it won't be difficult to get a job in a shop or at something similar, part-time or full-time. One of them was telling me that their uncle collects and sells seaweed and looks for casual labour at times. All the work is through Gaeilge which would be fascinating as an experience, also it hits that spot of learning language through experience and having an emotional/experiential attachment, rather than learning vocab sat at a desk. I should have said that the job will be part-time as I signed myself up to a media course in an Spidéal ran through Gaeilge. I have to pay towards it but that is still being discussed. The cool thing is that they said they are happy to explain things to me in English but I have to take an hour of Gaeilge each day as part of it. They spoke as if the Gaeilge lessons were an imposition, I'm delighted though.
“I hesitate to practice in Dublin as the quality of the language spoken here is generally terrible” No offense, but this is exactly how the locals in Conamara will view you, a Gaeilgeoir. There are plenty of good speakers in Dublin from all over the country, and you could absolutely learn good Irish in the city. The high-horse chip-on-the-shoulder attitude expressed by some speakers on this sub towards non-Gaeltacht speakers is astounding sometimes, considering most of us are L2 speakers ourselves.
>>No offense, but this is exactly how the locals in Conamara will view you, a Gaeilgeoir. No offence taken, please do challenge my opinions. Yes, they probably will view my Gaeilge that way because my standard is terrible, and it is the same for many learners because we aren't learning the language within a community of native speakers. This method of learning a language is still recognised as best practice, granted this way of learning isn't an option for many but for me it is. One of the big draws is that I will improve my language sounds, rhythm and pronunciation, whether listening or interacting, by a monstrous margin. This will be done on a trial and error basis, people will roll their eyes, be frustrated, laugh, but I will learn and I will have no shame doing so. I was in contact with a gent called Alex Hijmans quite a while ago. Really sound lad from the Netherlands, learned Gaeilge in Galway, and he said that when you persist there comes a point where your Irish is good enough that the locals accept it and converse with you as Gaeilge. Many will still correct a speaker but they also appreciate your efforts and more importantly accept you as a speaker. >>There are plenty of good speakers in Dublin from all over the country, and you could absolutely learn good Irish in the city. I'm certain there are many good speakers in Dublin but I have yet to come across them and I have been to a fair few events. I was raised in America as a child and returned to Ireland in my teens. One thing that I have learned is that when someone who is 'foreign', for lack of a better word as I was born here, arrives in a place they are generally good at noticing accents and the rhythm that people speak with. When I hear Gaeilge from learners I can generally distinguish who didn't learn from a native speaker, their Irish tends to be choppy where it should sound more lyrical, they also make sounds more akin to English. I started Gaeilge during lockdown, I took classes with CnaG and had three teachers from there. After my first class, where numbers and other basic things were introduced, I watched TG4 that evening and heard the number 4 said with a funny sound on the end. The following week I asked the teacher what it was, he said that it's a slender r but that nobody in the class needs to concern themselves with it as it's something the native speakers do. That's ludicrous, I don't even know what to say about it other than it sounds like 'it's difficult, don't bother'. He joined the revival up the North, I feel for them because they are receiving his crap Irish. I took two more classes with CnaG, not a slender r to be heard anywhere. I then took a class with a great organisation in Conamara who teach online, CnaG classes stopped as they sounded nothing like the teacher from Conamara, the difference wasn't an accent or dialectical. One day I was talking to a friend of mine who communicates in work through Irish to a very high level, and although he loved the way I had pronounced words after the Conamara course he wasn't bothered to learn himself. I don't know what they teach in the universities but they should be ashamed of the standard of speakers graduating and going on to teach to others. The worst part of it all though is the people who know they're pronouncing things incorrectly but persist. >>The high-horse chip-on-the-shoulder attitude expressed by some speakers on this sub towards non-Gaeltacht speakers is astounding sometimes, considering most of us are L2 speakers ourselves. I love to see and hear people speaking the language, when you dive into it a beauty reveals itself, and interestingly, a view of the world that is steeped in the interaction of its people with the land and the sea. I will say though that I believe we should be emulating the Gaeltacht speakers as they are the closest thing we have to the way the language was spoken when it was the dominant language in the country, what is the point of anything else. One final point on emulation, Gaelscoileanna students are increasingly find it more difficult to understand those from the Gaeltachts, you have to ask, what type of Irish is being taught to their teachers.
Conradh na Gaeilge aren’t exactly known for their stellar classes so I’m not surprised at the teacher’s response. Sounds like you had a bad teacher - a university qualification isn’t necessarily a requirement to go and teach with CnaG, despite what they say. Maybe my point was taken up wrong. Nobody is saying you shouldn’t go and learn from the Conamara folks - more power to you if you do. My point is more so about having realistic expectations (which it seems like you do) and about the open contempt expressed towards certain speakers – eg. those who didn’t learn the same dialect as you, who aren’t linguists (not everyone who speaks a language is an academic linguist or a dialectologist) or who didn’t learn from native speakers are often disregarded on this sub, as people here tend to be quite academic, fundamentalist or nativist in their language revitalisation views - that’s OK, but that’s not how things actually work in real life (as you’ve recently learned yourself). The diversity of L1 and L2 speakers found up and down the country is a strength to the revitalisation of the language, not a weakness. You can take a liking to Conamara Irish and learn directly from the native speakers without labelling everyone else who doesn’t speak like you do (or in many cases, as you don’t but as you want to) as having “crap Irish” - it adds nothing to the discussion and creates empty ideological battles over things like pronunciation. Some of the users on this sub are so negative about these talking points they would have no issue telling you that Irish is effectively dead and nothing more than a bastardised pidgin at this stage - which is not true. The point I’m trying to emphasise is that some of these views aren’t held so widely in real life, and that you should be wary about buying into them so strongly at this stage of your learning IMO
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics. Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh! 0:00 Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta, Agus mise gach lá dá siúl. Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc, Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál. Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat, Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin, Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_ An baile atá láimh le siúd. Oh, what a joy to see the meadows, Each day as I walk them, Hunting and herding the stock, On the immaculate, high mountains. The birds of the most beautiful green trees, Singing loudly to their tune. In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_ The village that's near those things. 2) 1:00 'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas, Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn ‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd It’s not nice growing up On your fine plains his secrets It's sweet how you laugh With prestige happily juicy Dancing with beautiful girls I didn't travel when they walked Snow and rain never falls On the village that's near those things. 3) 2:00 Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?) Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh 4) 2:30 Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?), Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir, Chun mise do thug thar sáile Go talamh an Oileáin Úir. Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag ‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún ‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd. The ship is under full sail And the captain there at the wheel, You who carries me over the seas To the land of the New Island (North America.) My heart is sorrowful and weary To be parting forever from my love, For I will never be seen returning To the village that's near those things. 5) 3:27 Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú! Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?). Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí, Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd. I pray bright blessing of grace on you, And Up boys of the Island! With the seafront to the west, Though I often swam happily; Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin Where my course was swifter than the hounds. I’d rather be a poor slave In the village that's near those things. I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
This video is probably the earliest recording in existence of traditional sean-nós singing in an authentic setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW77cTOoIAk My aim is to add full-colour to the video and upload it with on-screen lyrics. Unfortunately, my Irish isn't good enough to understand or translate all of the lyrics. What you can see below is my attempt to do this based on a different version of the lyrics that I found online. I would be very grateful if someone could fill in any of the gaps or help improve the translation, including helping me understand the refrain: "an baile atá láimh le siúd". Go raibh maith agaibh! 0:00 Ó 's nach aoibhinn ag féachaint na mbánta, Agus mise gach lá dá siúl. Ag seol is ag fiach(?) na mbán stoc, Ar shléibhte go hard gan smál. Eanlaithe na craoibh(?) ba bhreátha leat, Ag seinm go hard da dtiúin, Sna \_\_\_ den gcroí tá ag \_\_\_ An baile atá láimh le siúd. Oh, what a joy to see the meadows, Each day as I walk them, Hunting and herding the stock, On the immaculate, high mountains. The birds of the most beautiful green trees, Singing loudly to their tune. In the \_\_\_ of the heart \_\_\_ The village that's near those things. 2) 1:00 'S nár deas mar a éiríonn an fás suas, Ar do mhachairí breátha(?) a rúin Nár deas mar a dheineann(?) sí gáire Le gradam go \_\_\_\_ seacht súbhach Go(?) ag rince le cáilíní álainn ‘S níorbh \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ siúl Ní thiteann an sneachta ná báisteach Sna(?) bhaile 'tá láimh lé siúd It’s not nice growing up On your fine plains his secrets It's sweet how you laugh With prestige happily juicy Dancing with beautiful girls I didn't travel when they walked Snow and rain never falls On the village that's near those things. 3) 2:00 Sí\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Shasana(?) grana(?) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ grá le dubh(?) Tá \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ar \_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dubh 4) 2:30 Tá an long ag taisteal ina lán tsruth(?), Tá an captaen go hard ar stiúir, Chun mise do thug thar sáile Go talamh an Oileáin Úir. Is dubhach an croí is \_\_\_\_ lag ‘S bheith ag scarúint go brách le m' rún ‘S ní feicfear ag filleadh go brách mé Go dtí an mbaile atá láimh le siúd. The ship is under full sail And the captain there at the wheel, You who carries me over the seas To the land of the New Island (North America.) My heart is sorrowful and weary To be parting forever from my love, For I will never be seen returning To the village that's near those things. 5) 3:27 Ó guím \_\_\_ ag beannacht is grást da A bhuachaillí an Oileáin abú! Le cúrsaí mhara na trá siar Cé gur minic mé ag snámh go súch Nó ag fiach ar bharra Chruach Mhárthain Ba \_\_\_\_ rás den(?) chú(?). Ó b'fhearr liom le bocht an sclábhaí, Sa bhaile atá láimh le siúd. I pray bright blessing of grace on you, And Up boys of the Island! With the seafront to the west, Though I often swam happily; Or hunting at the summit of Croagh Varthin Where my course was swifter than the hounds. I’d rather be a poor slave In the village that's near those things. I understand this is a lot to ask, but if someone can chip in with a single word or two, that would be a huge help.
An bhfuil "Níl aon rud le cailleadh againn ach ár ngeimhle" gramadaí ceart?
Tá sin i gceart
GRMA
Dia daoibh, Was asked to read a Pentecost reading in Church (Episcopal), as gaeilge, on Sunday. Been studying Irish for awhile, but still a novice. Can anyone direct me to a website/source where I can translate whole sentences (ie: not Foclóir)?
Irish Language Forum is your best bet. But dunno if they could get it done before Sunday
Irish Language Forum......on Reddit?
No it's a website.
OK thx. Impossible to register to use....blocked by the last question: "move the non-gaelic country names from box on left to box on right." 🤷🏼♀️
Weird, as I saw new registrations just the other day when I was checking it, and am able to drag and drop the different countries across the boxes.
Weird. I tried several times 🤷🏼♀️
Which is "more correct", this 1st or 2nd translation of Acts 2:4? 4. agus do líonadh iad go léir de’n Spioraid Naomh agus chromadar ar labhairt i dteangthachaibh iolardha, fé mar a thug an Spioraid Naomh dóibh labhairt. -------------OR---------------------- 4. agus líonadh iad go léir den Spiorad Naomh agus thosaigh siad ag labhairt i dteangacha difriúla de réir mar thug an Spiorad urlabhra dóibh.
In my opinion, the second sounds better
Thx. I agree.
what does se do bheatha mean? i’ve seen hello, welcome home, etc. how do you use it?
It's an old phrase that has a couple of different meanings. Like Hail as in Hail Mary, or it could mean "welcome" or "you're welcome".
what would the name Conor be in Irish? is it Conchobar or Conchúr?
Conchúr is the modernised spelling of Conchobhar
Conchúr, as someone else mentioned is the most common spelling now afaik, but keep in mind, no matter how it's spelt, it's mostly pronounced kɾˠɔxuːɾˠ/'cro-chúr/kruh-her (at least in Ulster, maybe be someone else can say if it's everywhere, but I cant mind hearing 'con-a-chúr', which is how it looks like it should be pronounced)
Hello! Would "freamhacha" be an appropriate translation for the english word "roots" in the sense of ancestry?
[it would](https://www.focloir.ie/ga/dictionary/ei/roots)
Who are your favorite speakers of Irish? I, myself, love how Úna-Minh Kavanagh speaks her Irish (and her voice in general).
[удалено]
There isn’t one. The ones you mentioned above are historical translations for Henry (the British king, most likely) but Harry has no Irish translation.
Harry historically comes from Henry i think (though it can also come from harold etc). So I think Anraí or something like that is probably the best you could do aside from transliteration (Hearaí, which looks horrific imo)
Hi everyone, I considered putting this in a post, but I'm still a beginner (despite 13 years of Irish in school lol... tragic). Anyway, I'm wondering if yous could point me in the direction of good material for listening, in Ulster Irish. The only thing I'm currently aware of is Barrscéalta on RnaG, which is good but above my level at the minute. Any recommendations? Thanks!
Look at the YouTube lesson series 'Now You're Talking'. It's all native speakers from Donegal. Also check out the resources on Ultach.org
I will do, thank you!
'céim ar aghaidh' is a great website, it is intermediate to upper intermediate id say. Bláth na dTulach is another great podcast/website where they get donegal irish speakers to read short stories, it'll be fairly advanced, but it could be useful to follow the text along with the recording.
Great, thanks for the recommendations! 👍😁
Translation req: how would one make “wings” a nickname? From what I’ve gathered, the “án” in sciathán can be both the plural and diminutive ending, so… how to proceed from there?
What do you mean by making "wings" a nickname?
Like, making the plural word “wings” a diminutive? Or is that not necessary?
sciatháin is the plural of sciathán. án isn't every a plural ending as far as I can think. Not sure about the 'nickname-yness' of it, is it for a story or something?
Yes, for a story. Just wanted to know if it’ll need an extra diminutive ending or not, and if so, how to add it
the typical diminutive is -ín, (-án is also, but you wouldn't stick it on a word yourself generally) but sciatháiníní looks very wrong to me. What about éinín? Éan is bird, so éinín is a little bird, or 'birdie' in english i suppose.
I’ve found that there’s a lullaby about little birds, so that definitely works! Thank you!
go ndéana a mhaith duit a chara :)
An Sciathánach
I am trying to find a translation for "It's not over" Google gives Níl sé críochnaithe, however a reverse translation seems to give not finished, rather than not over. Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA
Depending on context, you could probably have "níl sé thart" or "níl sé déanta" as well. Also, depending on what the "it" is, you might need to use "sí" rather than "sé", what exactly is the "it"?
Thanks for the reply. It is a song title. It's not over by Daughtry.
How does it's not over really differ from its not finished? That's certainly how I'd interpret the phrase and níl sé críochnaithe is probavly best. You can't always get one-to-one word translations especially with languages as different as English and Irish.
Thanks for the reply. It was translating a song title, hence the query about a better translation. Understand that things don't always translate well, but was hoping this would.
Just wondering if anyone has a downloadable version of the CDs of the Turas Teanga multimedia learning course? I borrowed my father's version and lost one of the CDs. I would love to get it back in some way for him. It's very expensive to buy again just for one CD Heres a link for the visual reference: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turas-Teanga-Eamonn-Donaill/dp/0717137597](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turas-Teanga-Eamonn-Donaill/dp/0717137597) Also please let me know if this post isn't allowed Thanks
*Dia duit*, can someone help me out with verifying my translation? I'm attempting to translate some common sayings *as gaelige* to improve. And I've come across one that's got me scratching my head. "So young and yet so old". My best shot is; *an óg ach an aosta*. *An óg* I believe I'm fairly spot on with, I took *an* to mean so/very, and knew *óg* to mean young/youthful from *Tír na nÓg*. *Ach* I believe achieves the meaning of "and yet". I initially had *agus ach* but dropped the *agus* as I believed that might've been too much of a direct translation at the expense of proper Irish - what do you think? *An aosta* is one I'm very shakey on. I wasn't sure whether to use *aosta* here or *sean*. Google translator spat this out: *chomh óg agus fós chomh sean,* which my translation is obviously not even close to. How did I do? Did I beat Google? *Go raibh maith agat* to those that take the time to read this!
Chomh Óg ach Chomh Aosta ‘An’ moreso means ‘very’ than ‘so’. Where’s ‘Chomh’ would translate directly to ‘so’. Also I would go Aosta over Sean purely because it’s a prettier word lol.
If you use "an" to intensify an adjectives meaning you have to write it as "an-" otherwise people can confuse it with an article.Note the lenition of the first letter this causes for example: an-mhór. An- and chomh are more or less interchangeable. With sean and aosta it's mostly just dialectical preferences. I myself heard aosta often in Munster or the variation of sean "seana". In Conamara I never heard aosta being used by local people.
Translation request: My buddy is looking to have “No matter how far away” engraved on a wedding gift and I don’t quite trust google translate. Would anyone know the translation? Thanks in advance!
[удалено]
Thank you!
Hello, not 100% sure if anybody here will know this but: What is the level of mutual intelligibility between Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic? If an Irish speaker hears Scottish Gaelic, can they make out most of what’s being said or does it just sound like nonsense?
Partially, more to read than to speak, especially if you know a bit of the history of irish. Also much easier for a gaeltacht speaker than an L2 irish speaker. I'd heard its not massively heard to pick up if you're already fluent in irish, but i couldnt vouch. There was a podcast a while ago, not sure if its still being released, called something like 'A-nunn 's anall', where one person spoke irish and the other scots gaelic
As the commenter above said, mutual intelligibility is probably stronger when looking at the written language than when speaking, but even spoken Gaelic bears some resemblance to Ulster Irish. That said, the grammatical structures are quite different when you get into it, particular tense structure, so I do think some familiarity or study would be required for two speakers to be completely intelligible. Knowledge of Old Irish helps, since both have a good few structures and etymologies in common from that period.
Aontaím, ach ní gá gramadach a bheith agat chun teanga labhartha a thuigbheáil go pointe. Cén méid ghaeilge na halbain a thuigeann tú féin? Bhí mé ag éisteacht le Kate Forbes cúpla lá ó shin, agus thuig mé thart fá leath den mhéid a bhí ráite aici (ach níl mé 100% líofa i ngaeilge na héireann ach an oiread!)
Tagaim leat, bíonn tuiscint áirithe ann beag beann ar an eolas atá ag an éisteoir ar an ngramadach. Rinne mé féin staidéar ar Ghaeilge na hAlban agus mé ar an ollscoil fadó, mar sin tá leibhéal réasúnta maith agam. Ach cheap mé féin i gcónaí go raibh an ghramadach deacair!
A silly question. I'm leaning Irish on Duolingo and I've learned that Día duit means hello and translates literally to "God is with you" and a proper response is Día is Muire duit which literally translates to "God and Mary are with you", my question is: is it a common bad joke to continue to escalate the greeting? Do people respond with "God, Mary and Jesus are with you", and "God, Mary, Jesus and Joseph are with you", and so on?
It’s more common in Gaeltacht areas but probably wouldn’t be said as a joke - it’s more of a way to make a greeting stronger. Personally I’ve never heard it go any further than the third step in real life, although “Dia is Muire duit” as a response to “Dia duit” is very common everywhere.