Irish: Family Phrases

A place for impromptu lectures or debates. Stir up controversy, just like the forum's namesake, Kaiser Leto III the Bold!
Post Reply
Zirandorthel
Posts: 1390
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2003 1:15 am

Irish: Family Phrases

Post by Zirandorthel »

“Clann” and “teaghlach”, these are the two words for family. Clann is pronounced like con, except with an l. Teaghlach is pronounced “Chie-lock”, kind of like Shakespeare’s Shylock, except with more of a “ch” sound.The family members are more or less recognisable to Anglophones, with the odd exception:Athair (Ah-her) – FatherMáthair (Maw-her) – MotherDearthair (Der-har) – BrotherDeirfiúr (Der-foor) – SisterMac (Mach, like the razor) – SonIníon (In-een) – DaughterCol (Col) – CousinDaideo (dad-yo) – Grandpa (colloquial, affectionate)Seanathair (Shan-ah-her) – GrandfatherSeanmháthair (Shan-vaw-her) – GrandmotherMamó (Mom-oh) – GrandmaGarmhac (Gar-vac) – GrandsonGariníon (Gar-in-een) – GranddaughterTuismitheorí (Tish-mi-horee) – ParentsSeanthuismitheoiri (Shan-hish-mi-horee) – GrandparentsUncail (Un-call) – UncleAint (Ant) – AuntIf you want to say “My brother’s name is Tadhg”, then you’d say:Tadhg is ainm do mo dhearthairPron. Tie-g iss anam duh muh ruhr-harrJust treat the confusing change in dearthair as an exception, it’s how the language treats it, not common sense.The family nouns change as follows:M’athair (Mah-her) – My fatherMo mháthair (Muh waw-her) – My motherMo dhearthair (Muh ruhr-harr) – My brotherMo dheirfiúr (Muh rih-furr) – My sisterMo mhac (Muh wok) – My sonMo h-iníon (Muh hin-een) – My daughterMo chol (Muh holl) – My cousinMo dhaideo (Muh yad-yo) – My grandpa Mo sheanathair (Muh hann-ah-her) – My grandfatherMo sheanmháthair (Muh han-vaw-her) – My grandmotherMo mhamó (Muh wamoh) – My grandmaMo gharmhac (Muh yar-vok) – My grandsonMo ghariníon (Muh yar-in-een) – My granddaughterMo thuismitheorí (Mo hish-mi-horee) – My parentsMo sheanthuismitheoiri (Muh han-hish-mi-horee) – My grandparentsM’uncail (Mun-call) – My uncleM’aint (Mant) – My auntSo mo, fairly obviously, means “my”. What about the other possessional pronouns? Well, they are:Mo – MineDo – YoursA – HisA – Hers (the difference is that the female version takes no h, for example, her parents is “a tuismitheoiri”, whereas his parents is “a thuismitheoiri”)Ár – OursBhur – Yers (Plural of yours)A – Theirs Now, let’s take the last three pronouns, Ár, Bhur and A. Now, these make the noun after them take an uru, which we have heard of before, I think. For example, “Our parents” is “ár dtuismitheori” and your (plural) father is “bhur t-athair”, and their parents is “a dtuismitheori”. The urus are, as far as I remember:Letter – UruT – D C – GA – T- (for example “ár t-athair”, our father)B – MU – T- (for example “ar an t-urlár”, on the floor)F – Bh S – TYou’ll have to forgive me, this is not a complete list. As I have been taught Irish as a second-first language, if you get me, rather than as a second language like French or German, I can’t explain why certain things happen, and can write things naturally without really thinking about why I do so. It’s enough to go on for you to know that you use these when saying our, yours or theirs, or when you use a preposition with a noun, like on the, next to, etc.Doing things with your family:Chuaigh mé agus mo chlann/theaghlach ar laethanta saoire sa Fhrainc.Pron. Who-igg may ogg-uss muh hlan/hi-lock ar lay-han-tah seera sah RankMy family and I went on holiday in FranceTáim I mo chonaí le mo chlann/theaghlach I mBréTaw-imm I mo ho-knee leh muh hlan/hi-lock I mrayI live with my family in BrayThug mé cuairt ar mo dhaideo I mBothar BuíHug may coort air muh yad-yo I moher bweeI visited my granda in EnfieldScríobh mé litir chuig mo dheirfiúr I mBaile Átha CliathSkreev may litter quig muh riffur I moll-ya awe-ha clee-ahI wrote a letter to my sister in DublinSheol mé e-mail chuig m’athair I gCathair na MairtHyole may e-mail quig mah-her ih gah-her nah martI sent an e-mail to my father in WestportIf you have any other sentences to be translated, look, as always, to the Translations thread. I can’t think of anything else to put in this at the moment, so I’ll leave it slightly short. 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

Post Reply

Return to “Leto III Hall”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests