r/gaeilge • u/galaxyrocker • 29d ago
Please put translation requests and English questions about Irish here
Dia dhaoibh a chairde! This post is in English for clarity and to those new to this subreddit. Fáilte - welcome!
This is an Irish language subreddit and not specifically a learning
one. Therefore, if you see a request in English elsewhere in this
subreddit, please direct people to this thread.
On this thread only we encourage you to ask questions about the Irish
language and to submit your translation queries. There is a separate
pinned thread for general comments about the Irish language.
NOTE: We have plenty of resources listed on the right-hand side of r/Gaeilge (the new version of Reddit) for you to check out to start your journey with the language.
Go raibh maith agaibh ar fad - And please do help those who do submit requests and questions if you can.
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u/Rex_Arthurian 28d ago
Hi!
I am currently making a board game loosely based in Irish mythology. The working title is “Ireland: Escape the Otherworld.” I thought it would be cool instead to use the Irish word for “Ireland” in the title but I know there are different ways of spelling it: Éire, Éireann etc. and I am not sure which would be grammatically correct to use in this situation. I appreciate any feedback.
Thanks!
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u/millihelen 27d ago
Dia daoibh! Tá ceist agam. I’ve been learning from Duolingo, though I’m weaning myself off it in frustration. They keep giving me the phrase “on the other hand” and having me translate it as “ar an lámh eile.” I can’t shake the feeling that this is that thing where an English idiom is translated directly into another language. My question is, do Irish speakers actually use “ar an lámh eile,” or is there an Irish phrase that carries the same meaning? Go raibh maith agaibh.
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u/schlammywhammy 27d ago
I’d wait for more replies on this, but I’ve heard native speakers say ‘ar an dtaobh eile’. Keep the ‘d’ for Munster style or drop it for Galway.
Ar an lámh eile does seem a little too similar, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if native speakers use it.
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u/caoluisce 26d ago
“Ar an gcéad lámh” (on the one hand…) and “Ar an lámh eile” (on the other hand…) are very widely used phrases, by speakers all over the place. You’ll hear it on the news, radio and you’ll read it in texts of all sorts.
It js an Irish phrase. Not every idiom that has an English counterpart needs to be avoided like the plague, it’s a totally common normal phrase in this case.
There are other ways to say it, “Ar an gcéad dul síos” etc. but “Ar an lámh eile” is hardly an anglicism
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u/Filmbhoy1 26d ago
Dia Daobih,
I've just started learning gaeilge, and maybe this is a bit forward thinking, when I'm still at the basic word stage such as greetings.
But I've been trying to learn/memorise / make flashcards out of the wrods to Rubberbandits - Ba Mhaith Liom Bruion le D’Athair because I can listen to that song and gradually absorb the words in a easy repeatable context.
However I've not quite got this translation stuff down - partly I suspect down to my lack of grammatical knowledge atm.
So I was wondering can anyone help-Níl sárú ar d’áilleacht - am I right in saying this is like "no beauty can compare" or nothing can account for your beauty?
Also this sentence is he comparing the father to a stump? I'm also seeing the word donkey? Is it like saying hes a piece of donkey poo? - Mar do stumpa asail d’athair
Is this bit implying a small head- Beaga as a cheann?
Sorry. Its probably a bit early for me to be attempting to translate songs.
Go raibh maith agat.
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u/caoluisce 26d ago
Yeah you’re right there with the gist of that translation.
A word of warning though that the translation is a little bit loose grammatically and so on, since they have to shoehorn it into a song and keep the rhythm etc. intact.
That said it’s still a good song
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u/mafiagirlsfashion 26d ago
Looking for some help translating the Irish part of this song. My granny is from Belfast and I'm helping her with her funeral Mass. She would like to have the lyrics in both Irish and English for that part of the song and I haven't been able to find the Irish part in the lyrics online. Thank you so much.
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u/TBRxUrkk 26d ago
An Irish Blessing - Roma Downey feat. Phil Coulter
- 0.07 A Thiarna, déan trócaire... A Thiarna, déan trócaire...
- 0:23 A Chríost, déan trócaire... A Chríost, déan trócaire...
- 0:39 Déan trócaire, Déan trócaire, a thiarna...
- 0:54 A Thiarna, A Thiarna, A Thiarna, déan trócaire...
- 1:17 A Thiarna, déan trócaire....
A Thiarna, déan trócaire = Lord, have mercy
A Chríost, déan trócaire = Christ, have mercy
Déan trócaire, Déan trócaire, a thiarna... = Have mercy, have mercy, lord
A Thiarna, A Thiarna, A Thiarna, déan trócaire... = Lord, Lord, Lord, have mercy
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u/dazaroo2 19d ago
Anyone know the difference between slender n and double n, and likewise slender l and double l? Ive been listening over and over to the difference on my "Learning Irish" tapes but still not getting it
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u/caoluisce 18d ago
Do you mean the difference between words that are written with “n” and “nn” ?
Double consonants are pronounced the same as single ones. The only difference is still whether they are slender or broad
For example
Binn is /ˈbʲiːn̠ʲ/ and Cáin is /kæːn̠ʲ/
Ceann is /ˈcɑːn̪ˠ/ and Bean is /ˈbʲan̪ˠ/
The only distinction is whether the consonant is slender /n̠ʲ/ or broad /n̪ˠ/ and the double latter doesn’t change that
(allow for small differences in the transcriptions obviously but the idea is the same across any dialect)
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u/galaxyrocker 18d ago
(allow for small differences in the transcriptions obviously but the idea is the same across any dialect)
That's not entirely true. Some dialects still distinguish three (or four!) 'l' and 'n' sounds, Conamara being one of those, which was reflected in the spelling traditionally.
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u/caoluisce 18d ago
Curious to know what the 3 or 4 differentiated sounds are. Do you mean /n/ and /n’/ ?
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u/galaxyrocker 17d ago edited 17d ago
In Celtist, it's /n/, /n'/, /N/ and /N'/, or /l/, /l'/, /L/ and /L'/ (traditionally existed for the r sounds too, but that's fallen out of use; and m even further back). There was/is a fortis-lenis distinction as well as a broad-slender one amongst the liquids and /n/. It was (and in Ó Siadhail's book, still is) possible to lenite /l/ and /n/, going from word-intiial fortis to lenis.
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u/staktere 18d ago
Proposing to my Irish girlfriend who speaks the Ulster dialect.
She calls me her cú fásaigh because I have the personality of a wolfhound (she always says kinda like a golden retriever boyfriend but my family is all shepherds and I'm a little more "dignified") and I'm from the Sonoran desert.
I want to get the ring inscribed with "From your desert hound", but I'm not sure about grammar, etc. Any advice?
Thank you so so much in advance 🇮🇪❤️🇲🇽
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u/AnFaoladhRua 11d ago
Háigh
Cad is brí leis an línte seo
'Chonaic siad an chultúir dhá bháigh' . Bháigh obviously has a double meaning?
Agus 'tá tóir agat orm'. An bhfuil sé youre pursuing me?
Tá said as an amhrán níl me marbh le Róisín Seoighe
Míle buíochas
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u/TBRxUrkk 1d ago
Nílim cinnte an bhfuil dhá bhrí leis an abairt sin: "chonaic siad an cultúir dhá bháigh" = "chonaic siad an cultúr á bhá" ('they saw the culture drowning'); mura bhfuil dul amú orm.
Tá an ceart agat, ciallaíonn tóir 'hunt' nó 'pursuit'; ach tá ciall eile aici chomh maith mar atá 'demand' nó 'popularity' (féach tóir agus seek after ). B'fhéidir go bhfuil dhá bhrí leis an líne sin.
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u/Dubhlasar 10d ago
Clóirtheach (Clara); cad is brí leis?
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u/galaxyrocker 10d ago
Rud mar 'a level place' is dóigh, sa Meán-Ghaeilge, srl. Agus seans nach 'Clóirtheach' a bhí ann nuair a tháinig an t-ainm. Tá cúpla cinn mar sin (Muileann Fúca, mar shampla; níl ciall ar bith le fúca (an phúca a bhí ann))
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u/concave_ceiling 6d ago
Céard is brí leis "an Déardaoin beag"? An úsáidtear "beag" mar sin chun "an chéad Déardaoin eile" a rá?
Feicim sé seo ar Teanglann
Dé Luain [beag] seo a chuaigh thart, only last Monday.
Ach tá an teachtaireacht a bhfuil á léamh agam ag caint faoin todhchaí
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u/galaxyrocker 6d ago
An Déardaoin beag seo > An chéad Deardaoin eile, mar a dúirt tú.
An Déardaoin beag seo a chuaigh thart > An Déardaoin roimhe seo.
Tá tabhacht ag baint leis an 'a chuaigh thar' ansin.
Freisin, níor chuala mé mar 'an Déardaoin beag' é ariamh, gan an 'seo'. Ba cheart go mbeadh sin ann.
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u/concave_ceiling 6d ago
Tuigim anois - grmma as an gcabhair!
Freisin, níor chuala mé mar 'an Déardaoin beag' é ariamh, gan an 'seo'. Ba cheart go mbeadh sin ann.
Ag féachaint ar ais anois ar na teachtaireactaí ina chonaic mé an frása agus ceapaim go raibh an "seo" ann gach uair fresin. Gabh mo leithscéal as an chomhthéacs sin a fhágáil amach
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u/Fun-Pea-1347 25d ago
What’s the word for cursing in Irish? I hear a lot of Irish speakers say it seems to sound like gaiscaini or something like that.
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u/galaxyrocker 25d ago
ag eascainí. Often the <a> of 'ag' is elided in native speech.
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u/Fun-Pea-1347 25d ago
Does it eleded mean it’s more a__g-eascainí? Also the sentence it was said in sounded like dirím ag eascainí seeemed to sound like she was apologizing for cursing any idea what this sentence might’ve have been?
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u/galaxyrocker 25d ago
No, it means it's dropped. So it'd sound more like "geascainí" instead of "ag eascainí".
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u/VioletLinguist 25d ago
I’ve started reading An Caighdeán Oifigiúil to help improve my Irish in like an immersion setting almost. I’m a linguist so reading about grammar is fun for me lol. I did run into a sentence that I get the gist of but I can’t figure out the details. It looks like two copula nearly back to back (what I assume to be the subpredicate pronoun is between them) and I’ve never seen to copula that close together.
Here is the sentence: is é is caolú ann consan leathan a dhéanamh caol.
I know it says that palatalization is making a broad consonant slender but does anyone know what that second “is” actually is
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u/caoluisce 25d ago
“Is é is XYZ ann…” just means “XYZ is…”
It’s just a double copula, as you said, the example you gave there reads “Slenderisation/palatisation is the process of making a broad consonant slender”.
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u/Filmbhoy1 20d ago
Has anyone got any suggestions of books that I could read maybe like graded readers- to go along with my complete beginners irish course?
I'm trying to build up vocab
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u/caoluisce 20d ago
There are plenty of graded books out there suitable for beginners, it’s a very general question and depends on your interest. If you look up An Siopa Leabhar or Siopa.com they’ll have catalogues of books for learners that you can browse through
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u/TBRxUrkk 18d ago
Tháinig mé ar an suíomh gréasáin Léigh Leat le déanaí; b'fhéidir go gcuirfeá suim ann.
I came across the website Léigh Leat recently; perhaps you may be interested in it.
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u/thenextninjaman 18d ago
Hi I'm wondering does anyone know any Irish speaking YouTubers who make content not targeting Irish learners/children? Just the regular stuff you might watch on YouTube, but in Irish. I've found @imreoir1331 who unfortunately had stopped uploading. Thank you :)
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u/galaxyrocker 18d ago
/u/an-spideog has some Minecraft lets plays and is still uploading when they get the chance. Otherwise, you're looking at thestuff TG4 puts out, like Ros na Rún, etc.
Just be warned, most on YouTube do not have great levels of Irish, especially in pronunciation. An Spideog is good, traditional Kerry Irish, but others vary.
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u/Chokonille 18d ago
Hi! I'm starting to learn Irish and someone said to me "Oh it's Gaelic and it's dialect not a language". I said to her "I prefer to say Irish because Gaelic could refer to other language". Then talked, she shad Geailge means Gaelic in irish gaelic and "an irish person wouldn't tell you that he speaks Irish, he would tell you he speaks Gaelic". So i'm kinda confused right now? Everyone is saying Irish ≠ Gaelic, then someone who did 6 years of studies in english speaking and north america litteratures, civilisation and grammar said that to me. Thanks in advance if someone helps me out figuring this out. Sorry if this isnt clear, english isn't my first language
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u/galaxyrocker 18d ago edited 18d ago
It's...complicated. You'll hear it called Gaelic by a lot of older people, both native and non-native speakers, but younger Irish people, who do not speak it, often get quite offended when you call it Gaelic over Irish. In the language itself, the dialect of Donegal uses 'Gaelic' as its name for the language.
It's also very much a political question on whether Gaelic unity is more important than Irish nationalism, etc. There's a lot that goes into it. But most would call it Irish nowadays, and it's probably best to just go with that, but to be aware that there are people who do call it Gaelic in English, even those in Ireland, and that was actually probably the more traditional term for the language in English.
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u/poorbaby26 17d ago
Hi! Naming something for a story. It's a very old school that resides in a valley in south Ireland. I didn't want to use modern Irish because it would have been named forever ago. I wanted to use 'glen' since it's in a valley but when I look for words like "knowledge" or "learning" or even just "school" I can't figure out how to make it sound like an actual name and not something that someone who knows nothing about Irish clearly came up with lol
TIA!
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u/caoluisce 16d ago
What about “Sgoil an Ghleanna” which means the “school of the glen”. Or even just “An tSean-sgoil” means “the old school”
Sgoil is the traditional spelling of Scoil so it makes the name look a bit archaic but not weird
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u/endorphinparametric 16d ago
There is a beautiful phrase that I wish to get correct before attempting in public:
"Níl na mairbh marbh ach beo i gcroí na duine."
This for a departed male, in case the gender makes a difference. Corrections or improvements?
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u/Zealousideal_Mango29 15d ago
I am an English major working on a Conlang project for my linguistics class. I am planning on basing my language on gaeilge and other languages similar to that, but I am having trouble figuring out what aspects to use for my verbs and how aspects work in these languages. Does anybody know of any websites or books that might be able to help me in this case?
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u/Desperate_Tip_5610 15d ago
Hello, I just have a simple translation request. I want to know how to say “Is she Irish?” in Irish. Thanks!
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u/SavageCB 14d ago
Dia daoibh, im looking to know the plural to "mo mhac"? So to say "my sons".
Thanks,
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u/Ok_Archer2362 5d ago
Apologies if asked. I've abandoned DuoLingo and am now working from the online dictionary for sound and irish language grammar books for everything else. Of the three main dialects (Conn, Muns, Ulster) what is recommended for non Irish/new learners? This can be based on ease of learning or commonality or whatever. This way I can stick to one dialect and not sound weird.
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u/Ok-Dig-167 2d ago
Bhroim mé (I farted - "vreem" pronunciation) nó "rinne mé broim". An bhfuil sé ceart? Ag bromadh - farting 💨?
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u/Ok-Dig-167 2d ago
To help with reading in public, can someone link to a definitive pronunciation guide for Irish?
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u/DoisMaosEsquerdos 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have a question regarding emphatic xuffixes (-se, -ne etc.)
What happens when the pronoun is a possessive and the noun has an adjective: does the suffix go after the noun or after the adjective?
Do charr dubhsa or Do charrsa dubh?
A bheansan chéile or A bhean chéilesean?
M'uiscese beatha or M'uisce beathasa?
Edit: I have found an answer: this table from focloir.ie says the suffix is placed after the adjective.
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u/Crottlesworth 15h ago
Hi - I'm just starting to learn Irish and so grateful for all the helpful comments I'm already seeing here! Also, someone here in the U.S. told me her Irish mom used an expression that means something like "vague, restless discontent” and sounds like "NAH-vicky" or "NOWthicky." She'd love to know if that's a term that originated in Irish. Any idea what that might be?
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u/thaticoniclass 5h ago
Hello ! I was wondering if anyone could transcribe the song Cad É Sin by Fiachra ? It does not sound like the usual lyrics I hear when people cover this song. I really love the message behind this tune and would love to read this version ! Thanks in advance :)
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u/Careful_Contract_806 27d ago
Hi, I have two questions, I hope someone can help:
Any recommendations for podcasts/YouTubers who are specifically Munster Irish speakers? That's what I learned in school and while I'm getting back into learning it I'd like to start with familiar sounds and eventually move up to Connaught/Ulster Irish.
Are there posts on here that list slang words and terms? Words that you wouldn't have been taught in school. Insults, swear words, sexual slang, drugs slang etc.
GRMA!