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Re:Help Learning Gaelic (Irish)
Hi Lia,
Pluralisation is different for the different declensions of Irish words, so there is no one easy rule for how to make words plural.
Very roughly, nouns in the first declension (includes most masculine nouns) you add an 'i' before the last consonant, but sometimes you'll change the last vowel to an i instead.
Nouns in the second declension (most feminine nouns) get an i added before the last consonant if they don't already have an i or e there, and they get an e added onto the end.
Unless they end with each or ach that is, in which case the end changes to í or aí respectively.
Then there's the third declension, which usually get an í added to the end, but there may be other changes too...
Fourth and fifth declensions have various other ways of forming plurals. To be honest you really need to look up each word in a dictionary and find it's declension in order to form the plural initially, but if that doesn't put you off and you keep at it, you will eventually start to remember them.
To make the past tense you add a h after the first consonant, usually... Then there's a host of irregular verbs that have strange past tenses.
Pronouncing Irish words can also be a bit of a struggle. If you post any specific examples here I'll try to explain them.
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Language pair: Gaelic (Irish); English
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Kathryn C.
August 2, 2003
# Msgs: 2
Latest: August 2, 2003
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Re:Help Learning Gaelic (Irish)
Hi Lia,
How r u :) Joseph here from India. Wanna be friend, do reply. i love to make friends all over the world.
do take care.
reg.
Joseph
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Language pair: Gaelic (Irish); English
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Josiey
August 1, 2003
# Msgs: 2
Latest: August 2, 2003
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Re:Hello in Gaelic
Ok, here the phrases you request and a few more besides.
Hello = Dia Dhuit
Good bye = Slán leat, or just slán
Ireland = Eireann / Eire
Yes & No = actually these are slightly complicated. In Irish you don't answer a question such as "Are you happy" with "yes" or "no" instead you say "I am". Similarly if you're asked "can you sing" you'll say "I can" or "I can't". Basically, when asked a question you have to respond using the same verb which appears in the question.
So if you're asked the question "Do you understand?" which in Irish is "An dtuigeann tú". The reply to this would be either "Tuigim" (I understand) or "Ní thuigim" (I don't understand).
Ok, on to numbers:
1 = aon
2 = dó
3 = trí
4 = ceathair
5 = cuig
6 = sé
7 = seacht
8 = ocht
9 = naoi
10 = deich
However, when counting objects you don't always use those numbers! Yeay! So if you want to say "one" it's "aon" but if you want to say "One house" it's "teach amhain" (teach = house, amhain = one for counting things). Two houses would be "dhá dteach"
Then for counting people there's a whole other set of numbers. Sorry you asked yet?
Alphabet, hhmmm... Irish children don't really learn the Alphabet in Irish, at least I didn't. There are some letters that are missing from Irish, those would be K, J, Q, X, Z and maybe some others. In terms of sounds in Irish we have a lot of gutteral sounds, such as gh, ch, etc. These are sounds which aren't in English, though they do occur other languages such as German or Dutch.
Other useful phrases include
Thankyou = Go raibh maith agat
And = agus
The (singular) = an
The (plural) = na
How are you? = Conas atá tú (or "cén choai ina bhfuil tú", or "cad é mar atá tú")
I am well = Táim go maith (or Tá mé go maith)
I am happy = Tá áthas orm
I am sad = Tá brón orm
"orm" means "on me" literally, so when you say "Tá áthas orm" or "Tá brón orm" you are actually saying "There is happiness upon me" or "There is sadness upon me".
To apply this to someone else you would use "on him", "on you" etc. eg:
Tá brón air = he is sad (there is sadness on him)
Tá brón ort = you are sad (there is sadness on you)
Ok, that'll do for now. Be warned my spelling and grammar are atrocious as it's years since I spoke any Irish...
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Language pair: English; Gaelic (Irish)
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Kathryn C.
July 20, 2003
# Msgs: 2
Latest: July 20, 2003
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Re:Hello in Gaelic
Ok, here the phrases you request and a few more besides.
Hello = Dia Dhuit
Good bye = Slán leat, or just slán
Ireland = Eireann / Eire
Yes & No = actually these are slightly complicated. In Irish you don't answer a question such as "Are you happy" with "yes" or "no" instead you say "I am". Similarly if you're asked "can you sing" you'll say "I can" or "I can't". Basically, when asked a question you have to respond using the same verb which appears in the question.
So if you're asked the question "Do you understand?" which in Irish is "An dtuigeann tú". The reply to this would be either "Tuigim" (I understand) or "Ní thuigim" (I don't understand).
Ok, on to numbers:
1 = aon
2 = dó
3 = trí
4 = ceathair
5 = cuig
6 = sé
7 = seacht
8 = ocht
9 = naoi
10 = deich
However, when counting objects you don't use those numbers! Yeay! So if you want to say "one" it's "aon" but if you want to say "One house" it's "teach amhain" (teach = house, amhain = one for counting things). Two houses would be "dhá dteach" I think.
Then for counting people there's a whole other set of numbers.
Alphabet, hhmmm... Irish children don't really learn the Alphabet in Irish, at least I didn't. There are some letters that are missing from Irish, those would be K, J, Q, X, Z and maybe some others. In terms of sounds in Irish we have a lot of gutteral sounds, such as gh, ch, etc. These are sounds which aren't in English, though they do occur other languages such as German.
Other useful phrases include
Thankyou = Go raibh maith agat
And = agus
The (singular) = an
The (plural) = na
A = an
How are you? = Conas atá tú (or "cén choai ina bhfuil tú", or "cad é mar atá tú")
I am well = Táim go maith (or Tá mé go maith)
I am happy = Tá athas orm
I am sad = Tá brón orm
"orm" means "on me" literally, so when you say "Tá athas orm" or "Tá brón orm" you are actually saying "There is happiness upon me" or "There is sadness upon me".
To apply this to someone else you would use "on him", "on you" etc. eg:
Tá brón air = he is sad (there is sadness on him)
Tá brón ort = you are sad (there is sadness on you)
Ok, that'll do for now. Be warned my spelling and grammar are atrocious as it's years since I spoke any Irish...
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Language pair: English; Gaelic (Irish)
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Kathryn C.
July 18, 2003
# Msgs: 2
Latest: July 20, 2003
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