Contents: Intro Dialects Writing Vowels Broad/Slender Lenition/Eclipsis Names Family Numbers Articles Pronouns Bi (is) Poss. Pronouns Grammar Questions Genetive Imperative Adjectives Prepositions Verb Classes
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Irish Gaelic: Notes from
a Beginner |
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Most of us recognize Irish surnames easily enough, O'Connell, MacAlpin. We also know that the different prefixes mean different things. For example, Mac -- son of... thus MacConnaill -- Son of Conaill Women's surnames undergo a bit more of a change, depending on whether the woman in question is married or unmarried. Rule 1: Names vary for married and unmarried women Rule 2: Women's surnames cause lenition. Nic and Mhic do not cause lenition if the surname starts with 'C'
Rule 3: Women's titles are added by 'bean', woman. One of the strangest things for me to deal with in Irish was the fact that people's names can change pronuncication depending on how they are used. English speakers (and many other languages) are used to names being sacrosanct: Mary is always pronounced Mary, no matter where the name shows up. Irish, though, not only changes the ends of words (like English ball becomes balls), the middles of words (as English mouse becomes mice), but also the beginnings of words. So in some cases, Mary is prounounced "Wary", because of a grammar rule called lenition. (there are other rules, too, but don't worry about them with names.) When you refer to a person by
name, as in saying , "Mary, how are you?" the structure is:
Rule 4: Precede the person's name with 'a', which causes lenition. An addition, men's names also change form by changing the ending in some cases. Rule 5: Male names that end with broad consonants (preceded by a, o, u) Names also change when they are in the genetive case (ok, if you're not familiar with the tenses and cases, don't panic. I had no clue what this meant. Basically, something is in the genetive case when you would say, in English, 'of x', like 'The house of Mary', or Mary's house.) Tá teach Mháire anseo. |
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Irish gaelic - Notes from a beginner |
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