Irish (Gaeilge)

[Godmy]

I don't speak Irish (but @Terry S. does!) nor am I learning it at the moment, but I was surprised this thread didn't exist, perhaps it should

Irish language - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Anyway, Terry, I've got this one guilty pleasure (and maybe you don't even really like her so it may be a mistake to mention her, haha) and that is listening from time to time to Enya... and some of those songs in Irish are just awesome, then I'm thinking that I should learn the language one day and I remember you

Some Enya's Latin songs* (even though the pronunciation is a kind of mix of all models) were also my first serious encounter with Latin before I started learning it and it made Latin an incredibly awesome language in my mind that I should know!
*the second half of the song especially!



Anyway, here's a thread for you ... for Irish!

 

[Terry S.]

Éireann go bragh!

 

[Terry S.]

Enya is ok. It's her dad I had a problem with. Because of my accent he mistook me for a Protestant Minister one day at the newsagents in An Bun Beag. God rest him. He was only being open-minded and welcoming really.

 

[Godmy]

Enya is ok. It's her dad I had a problem with. Because of my accent he mistook me for a Protestant Minister one day at the newsagents in An Bun Beag. God rest him. He was only being open-minded and welcoming really.

Wow, you even met him!!

 

[Terry S.]

Wow, you even met him!!

It wasn't difficult to do. He ran a pub just off the main road to Carrickfinn Airport, Leo's Tavern or some such.

 

[kizolk]

I used to listen to a lot of Enya. Either I simply didn't recognize Latin, or she didn't sing in Latin in the albums I had, either way it's cool and pretty fitting to her music.

Irish has been on my list of languages to learn forever, but I still haven't embarked on that journey yet. Maybe one day!

 

[Clemens]

I once tried to do a Scottish Gaelic course. I don't remember what the book was called, but it was of the La plume de ma tante variety. I remember two sentences in particular: Tha an t'uisge an diugh and Chunnaic mi cu aig an dorus (spelling is probably wrong).

 

[Godmy]

Maybe 9 years ago, when I needed some credits in my university studies, I was looking to participate in some interesting class where I could get the extra credits. (it was on the faculty of English Philology) And there was Irisih! Unfortunately, it was already crowded and noone else could get in. I tried to write a personal email to the lecturer asking whether he could make an exception (=they can do that, though they seldom do unless the subject is somehow vital for one's ability to finish the degree etc.). Before I got an answer, I enrolled in a DuoLingo course on Irish and did that pretty intensely for about two days... then no answer came and I gradually stopped, also because the DuoLingo had one problem: it was very prone to giving nonsensical non-semantic sentences like:

"I'm an apple". "The cat is a lemon." "The lemon sees a cat"

Or something like that. It was incredibly irritating and it posed really an obstacle for me to get into the language. As a linguist, I think that semantics is important even for training purposes... or at least when this is [hypothethically] your only resource and you have no other real text to immerse in.

I forgot everything, but what I remember is that the language was otherwise so fascinating!

 

[cinefactus]

"I'm an apple". "The cat is a lemon." "The lemon sees a cat"

The Russian one has more useful phrases:
I do not know this snake.
There is blood on the concert ticket.

 

[Godmy]

Hillarious!

 

[Terry S.]

Maybe 9 years ago, when I needed some credits in my university studies, I was looking to participate in some interesting class where I could get the extra credits. (it was on the faculty of English Philology) And there was Irisih! Unfortunately, it was already crowded and noone else could get in. I tried to write a personal email to the lecturer asking whether he could make an exception (=they can do that, though they seldom do unless the subject is somehow vital for one's ability to finish the degree etc.).
I forgot everything, but what I remember is that the language was otherwise so fascinating!

I'm sorry you missed out on that. Irish is fascinating, living as it does on the western edge of the pre-Columban Indo-European world. If you ever do decide to take up the cudgels again, give me a shout and I'll point you in the direction of some good resources.

The Duolingo course has limited uses. Aside from your own troubles with it, it teaches the standard language which is the native language of no historic community and is very often incomprehensible to native speakers of the natural dialects. TBH I think anyone who doesn't live near in or near a Gaeltacht should aim at mastering the Connamara dialect (group), which is central and has (IMHO) the best learning resources. I know that's heresy for an Ulsterman, but I have to be realistic occasionally!

 

[Terry S.]

There is blood on the concert ticket.

Howzabout adding:

There is blood on the president's hands.

 

[Godmy]

Thanks for the overview! Sounds quite helpful!

So, Terry, how did you come to the language? Did you happen to acquire it from some ancestor in an early age automatically or did you start learning it later on? (or a combination of both?)

 

[Terry S.]

I once tried to do a Scottish Gaelic course. I don't remember what the book was called, but it was of the La plume de ma tante variety. I remember two sentences in particular: Tha an t'uisge an diugh and Chunnaic mi cu aig an dorus (spelling is probably wrong).

I don't know whether your spelling is correct but I can understand what it means. I'm guessing that the first one is an idiomatic way of saying that it's raining and not just the literal, "There is the water today."

 

[Godmy]

There is the water today.

aig => aqua?

 

[Terry S.]

So, Terry, how did you come to the language? Did you happen to acquire it from some ancestor in an early age automatically or did you start learning it later on? (or a combination of both?)

In a word: combination.

My father and his family were native speakers. In fact, English only came into his family in the twentieth century. His mother is the first member of the family to have learned some English according to the 1911 census. My dad wouldn't teach me since we lived in Scotland (think, The Troubles), but from the age of ten I took an interest in Gaeilge while on my annual three holidays to the family (Christmas two weeks, Easter two weeks, summer six weeks) in Donegal. I badgered my dad for bits now and again, and a supportive uncle gave me books (no recordings though ) and I muddled along till I was at uni. Then I started attending a summer Irish college for three weeks annually and it took off from there. I'd practise with my dad and anyone else I could kidnap for long enough, got proper grammar books, made videos of Irish TV when I was in Donegal, recorded elderly neighbours etc. and carried my annual caches back to Scotland to keep me going till my next trip. In 2001, I moved into a Gaeltacht in Ireland with over 90% Irish speakers at the time, attended Oideas Gael in the summer and listened to local radio.

 

[Clemens]

I don't know whether your spelling is correct but I can understand what it means. I'm guessing that the first one is an idiomatic way of saying that it's raining and not just the literal, "There is the water today."

Yes. Is that not the idiom in Irish?

 

[Terry S.]

aig => aqua?

No, from the first of the sentences. uisge cf. uisce beatha

aig/ag is a preposition at.

Chunnaic mi cu aig an dorus. I saw a dog at the door.

 

[Terry S.]

Yes. Is that not the idiom in Irish?

Not around here anyway. We'd say Tá sé ag cur (baisteach). or Tá sé fliuch.

 

[Clemens]

aig => aqua?

Uisge is water—and the origin of the English word whisky.