Irish: Basic Phrases and Pronunciation

[Zirandorthel]

Welcome to Irish and Ireland 086. In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some basic phrases that you might use everyday if you spoke Irish, and if Irish was actually spoken anywhere except the Gaeltacht, but more on that later. Let’s pretend, for a moment, that you’re all fluent Gaelgeoirí, able to take your uru from your seibhu, and all that malarkey, and have a stab at these phrases:Dia dhuit, conas atá tú?Hello (God be with you), how are you?Pron: Dee-ah gwitt, kun-iss a-taw (like maw) too?To which the answer is:Dia is Mhuire dhuit, táim go maith, agus tosa?Hello (God and Mary be with you), I’m good, and you?Pron: Dee-ah iss Mweera gwitt, taw-im guh mah, ogg-uss tuh-sa?Now, you’ll notice that in the response, “is Mhuire” is added in. This is common, and it’s a joke that two especially religious Irish speakers can stand for hours, with increasingly long lists of saints and other religious knick-knacks being exchanged. But not really. Alternatively, you can say this:“Céad míle fáilte romhat, conas atá tú?”A hundred thousand welcomes before you, how are you?Pron: Kayd meelah fall-tcha row-ut, kun-iss a-taw too?But this is more of a welcome than a greeting, as you can see, and the response is the same as before. So that’s welcomes out of the way. Now for saying things about yourself:Eoin is ainm domMy name is EoinPron: Eoin iss annum dumbTáim i mo chonaí i mBréI live in BrayPron: Taw-im ih muh ho-knee ih mrayTáim seacht mbliain déag d’aois.I am seventeen.Pron: Taw-im shockd mlee-un day-g deeshTáim sé bhliain d’aoisI am sixPron: Taw-im shay vlee-un deeshTáim sé bhliain déag d’aoisI am sixteenPron: Taw-im shay vlee-un day-g deeshNow, as you can see, there are three different ages described above. In the first, the subject is saying they are seventeen, and in the other two, they are saying they are six and sixteen. Can you see any difference? In the first, the word “bliain” which means “year” has what is called an “uru” on it. This is because any number above six takes an uru. For example: “Táim fiche-seacht mbliana d’aois; Táim triocha-hocht mbliana d’aois, srl.” The uru the letter b is the letter m, the uru for the letter s is t. You don’t really need to know them for the level of Irish you are doing however, just learn them as they come up. Also, with the "where I live" sentence, "Bré" which means "Living Hill" (where I live) takes an uru of m. For you guys, "Meiricea" (America) takes a h, so "Táim i mo chonaí/conaí (for Angellene and Jadie) i Mheiricea" or "Táim i mo chonaí/conaí i gCalifornia". These are pronounced "Taw-imm i mo ho-knee/ko-knee i Ver-ih-caw" "Taw-imm i mo ho-knee/ko-knee i Gal-ih-fornya". Easy enough so far?With the other two, bliain has taken an h. An h after the first letter of the word is called a séibhu. I believe the term is ecliption of something of the sort, but having never studied linguistics, I can’t be sure. I learn these terms in Irish, and what they mean for the Irish language. This is the effect of ever number equal to and less than six in number terms. The letter h is never seen alone except in names in Irish, and these would be foreign names.Also, there is the word “déag”, which implies –teen, or ten. This is always used, for example: “Bhí dó dhéag madraí ann” There were twelve dogs there.While we’re on the subject of numbers, I’ll just tell you that there are two types of counting: one for humans and one for everything else. Humans are counted thusly:Duine (Person)Beirt (Pair)Triúr (Trio)Ceathiúr (Quartet)Cuigear (erm, Pentet)Seisear (Sectet, maybe)Seachtar (possibly Septet?)Hochtar (…..Octet?)Naonar (Feck off)Deichniúr (I’m not even trying)With “fiche-ceathiúr fear” for twenty-four men, and so on, whereas everything else is counted like this:h-Aon (note that the séibhu is in front of the first letter for A)DóTríCeathairCúigSéSeachtHochtNaoiDeichQuestions, next, I think. The question words in Irish are:Cad (What)Cé (Who)Cá bhfuil/raibh/bheidh (Where is/was/will be)Conas (How)Cén (Which)Cé mhéad (How many)Cén fáth (Why)Cad is ainm duit (What’s your name)Cén aois thú (What age are you)Cá bhfuil/raibh/bheidh tú I do gconai (Where do/did/will you live)Conas atá tú (How are you)Cén bhealach (Which way)Fairly straightforward. We’ve already seen “conas atá tú” before whilst dealing with greetings. Many’s a time when, in national school, I and my terrified peers were grilled by the headmaster “Cad is ainm duit?” (Often condensed to “Cad s’ainm duit?”), “Cén aois thú”, “Cá bhfuil tu I do gconaí”, etc, etc, to which we would respond with the same maniacal responses we always had. When you changed age it was really difficult, getting to remember a new age for yourself. Now, you might be noticing a recurring trend of words having diagonal lines over them. This, my friends, is the “fada”, the only accentation you’ll ever have to learn in modern Irish. Look at it, get to like it. Looks suspiciously like the acute accent in French, and in fact there’s not a single Irish student who doesn’t think of it as such. They even have similar effects, though on different letters. The effect of the “fada” is to lengthen the sound of the vowels, and it is only over a, e, I, o and u that they will appear. The word “fad” in Irish means “long”.É goes to ay (e.g. Cé goes to Kay)Ó goes to oh (e.g. Pól goes to Pole)Í goes to ee (e.g. Spailpín goes to Spawlp-een)Ú goes to oo (e.g. Zú goes to Zoo, coincidentally what it means, such bastardisation is common with modern words)Á goes to aw (e.g. Ábharacas goes to Aw-varakass)So wherever you see these accents, you know how to pronounce them. Also, there are the unusual combinations of letters you would not ordinarily see in English, for example bh-, mh-, gh-, fh-, ch-, th-, dh- etc. This is as a result of the séibhu, which we have already discussed. Now, how to pronounce them? Well, since there is a shorter alphabet in Irish, some combinations of sounds have resulted, to replace the need for them.Bh is pronounced V.Mh is alternatively pronounced w (e.g mhathair goes to wah-heer)Gh is pronounced y (e.g. gheobhaidh goes to yo-ig)Fh is not pronounced at all, and the pronunciation goes to the first vowel (e.g. fhoghlaim goes to oh-lum)Ch is an odd pronunciation, with both the c and the h being pronounced simultaneously, almost (e.g. chun goes to cuh-hun, but more run together)Th is pronounced like a h (e.g. Thuairim goes to Hoor-im)Dh is pronounced g (e.g. dhún goes to goon)Adh in the middle of a word is pronounced “eye” (e.g. bladhm goes to bleyem)Well, I think that’s enough confusion for today. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. ZirandorthelThe Golden DarknessNiirus Tinenetuwar"In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."-Stephen Braveheart Edited by: Zirandorthel at: 11/15/03 4:43 am

[Zirandorthel]

Don't worry, they won't all be as long as this, I just had a few ideas that sprouted. I didn't put in everything I thought of, because I would have ended up covering absolutely everything. ZirandorthelThe Golden DarknessNiirus Tinenetuwar"In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."-Stephen Braveheart

[Gryphon Avocatio]

I'm moving this lesson to the hall...i guess I wasn't specific about where to put it... -Gryphon Avocatio- Lord Governor and Duke of all Yardistan - Minister of Research and Education, Shireroth - Shirerothian Elder - "Minsiter of Dance, Pants and Funny Walks" - SAVE THE KIWI!! - Lover of Llamas "You're intense and driven. That can lead to a lot of good things. It can also lead to high blood pressure and a closing of the arteries." -Mr. Mathews -- "I think that people who drive Hummers are clueless, and that they just have enough money to advertise it." -Peter Camejo -- "Skanky-Deutch-Ho-Bag!!" -Mike

[Gryphon Avocatio]

Feck...the pronunciation is fricken hard!Congratuations...you beat the french! -Gryphon Avocatio- Lord Governor and Duke of all Yardistan - Minister of Research and Education, Shireroth - Shirerothian Elder - "Minsiter of Dance, Pants and Funny Walks" - SAVE THE KIWI!! - Lover of Llamas "You're intense and driven. That can lead to a lot of good things. It can also lead to high blood pressure and a closing of the arteries." -Mr. Mathews -- "I think that people who drive Hummers are clueless, and that they just have enough money to advertise it." -Peter Camejo -- "Skanky-Deutch-Ho-Bag!!" -Mike

[Zirandorthel]

Of course we beat the French, the only thing the French are famous for in Ireland is for helping us botch coups by landing on the wrong fricking side of the island or by being such bad seamen that they get themselves captured or killed.Not that I have anything against the French, wonderful people, great rugby players, not as good as us, of course, they only beat us by sheer fluke, but satisfactory all the same. ZirandorthelThe Golden DarknessBelde of the Far Reaches.Niirus Tinenetuwar"In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."-Stephen Braveheart