Clíodhna Campbell
ATHBHLIAIN faoi mhaise daoibh! Ah-vlane fwee wah-shh deeve! Happy New Year! Cad é mar a bhí an Nollaig? Caa jay marr ah vee ann null-ig? How was Christmas?
Bhí an Nollaig go maith
Vee ann null-ig goh my-h
Christmas was good
Bhí an Nollaig go h-olc
Vee ann null-ig go hulk
Christmas was awful
Bhí an Nollaig ciúin
Vee ann null-ig queue-in
Christmas was quiet
An raibh béile deas agat?
Ann row bayl-ye jass ug-ut?
Did you have a nice meal?
D’ith muid turcaí agus liamhás
Gee-h m-widge turkey ug-us leo-vass
We ate turkey and ham
Bhí béile veigeánach agam
Bee bayl-ye vegan-ach ug-um
I had a vegan meal
D’ith mé barraíocht seacláid
Gee-h may barry-ocht shock-lidge
I ate too much chocolate
An ndeachaigh tú ar siúlóid áit ar bith? Nó ar thuras fiú?
Ann n-ya-he too air shoo-l-oidge eye-tch air bee-h?
Did you go for a walk anywhere? Or even on a trip?
Chuaigh mé ar siúlóid gach lá
Whoo-ee may ar shoo-l-oidge gack lah
I went for a walk everyday
Ní dheachaigh mé ar siúlóid ar bith
Knee ya-he may eye-tch air bee-h
I didn’t go on any walks
D’fhan mé sa teach an t-am ar fad. Bhí sé ar fheabhas
Dan may sah ch-ah ann tam air fad. Vee shay air ow-ass
I stayed in the house the whole time. It was brilliant
Bhí an támh liom dul ar thuras go Dún na nGall le mo theaghlach/le mo chairde/le mo chéile
Vee ann t-oww lum dull air hurr-us goh Doon nah n-Al le maw how-loch/le maw hard-ye/le maw hail-ye
I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Donegal with my family/with my friends/with my partner
(Dún na nGall—Doon na n-Al—Al pronounced like the name Al)
I nDún nan Gall chuaigh mé ar siúlóid ar an trá.
Ih Noon na n-Al who-ee may air shoo-l-oidge air ann trah
In Donegal I went for a walk on the beach
Ghlac muid ár mhadadh linn
G-lak m-widge arr wa-do linn
We brought our dog with us
(Ghlac—G-lak—G is the ‘g’ sound made with your throat)
(ár—arr—said like a pirate)
When answering questions in Irish there are a range of answers that match the question form.
An raibh…? (Question)
Bhí… (Positive Answer)
Ní raibh… (Negative Answer)
An ndeachaigh…? (Question)
Chuaigh… (Positive Answer)
Ní dheachaigh… (Negative Answer)
Ar ith tú…? (Question)
D’ith… (Positive Answer)
Níor ith… (Negative Answer)
You may also have noticed Dún na nGall changes to ‘nDún na nGall.’ This is because of the preposition ‘i’ meaning ‘in.’ The ‘n’ added before a ‘d’ is a mutation that occurs after prepositions, after a number, or after a word that is showing ownership/possession. Another example of this was ‘ár mhadadh’—our dog. The ‘our’ causes a mutation, which in the case of the letter ‘m’ is an an aspiration instead of an eclipse.
Séimhiú
A séimhiú aspirates or adds lenition to the start of the word, which changes the sound of the word. This is done using the letter ’h’ after the first consonant of a word.
Urú
An urú eclipses the start of the word, which also changes the sound of a word, but in a different way using different letters. This additional letter comes at the very beginning of the word itself—before the first consonant.
Not all words
Not all words take a séimhiú or an urú. If the first letter is a vowel there will never be a séimhiú, as well as words beginning with n, l or r.
b (consonant)
bh (with a séimhiú)
mb (with an urú)
c (consonant)
ch (with a séimhiú)
gc (with an urú)
d (consonant)
dh (with a séimhiú)
nd (with an urú)
f (consonant)
fh (with a séimhiú)
bhf (with an urú)
g (consonant)
gh (with a séimhiú)
ng (with an urú)
m (consonant)
mh (with a séimhiú)
(with an urú)
p (consonant)
ph (with a séimhiú)
bp (with an urú)
s (consonant)
sh (with a séimhiú)
(with an urú)
t (consonant)
th (with a séimhiú)
dt (with an urú)
If we imagine putting an ‘i,’ ‘bhur’ or ‘ár’ in front of some words it will show how the words change.
Béal Feirste
Bell Fair-ist-ye
Belfast
Bhí mé i mBéal Feirste
Vee may ih Mell Fair-ist-ye.
I was in Belfast
Madadh
Ma-doo
Dog
Cá bhfuil bhur mhadadh?
Cah will were wa-doo?
Where is your (pl) dog?
Teach
Ch-ah
House
Seo ár dteach úr
Shaw arr jah ew-ir
Here is our new house
Bhéinn buíoch as aiseolas ar bith ar Twitter: @cccliodhna. Le dea-ghhuí, Clíodhna.
Clíodhna Campbell is a teacher, language enthusiast and mother. If you would like to get in touch with her with any linguistic queries, e-mail: cliodhnamorgan@live.co.uk or follow her on Twitter: @cccliodhna
PIC: ANA MUNICIO
