irish language basics

`dia dhuit' -- good day to you. this page is in no way an irish course, just my notes from my `introduction to irish' lessons -- on the web. this, of course implies that there will be mistakes, many. please if you spot any, mail me so i can correct them. please also note, that i am not a native english speaker, so you might find some english mistakes as well...

this page is not internationalized, i.e. it uses iso-8859-1, and the somewhat deprecated system of the special `acute' letters.

please also forgive my notoriousness for low-case letters, i don't mean to be rude when i write 'irish' instead of 'Irish'.

a good link for serious irish learning is daltai

thanks to John Kehoe, the course-teacher.

table of contents:

1. history
2. the alphabet/basic characteristics
   1. aspiration
   2. eclipsis
3. personal pronoun
4. article
5. prepositons
6. prepositonal pronouns
7. verbs
8. verbal pronouns(gerund)
9. copula
10. pronounciation
11. common phrases
12. vocabulary
    1. nouns
    2. adjectives
    3. verbs

the 1st official language in Ireland is Irish (spoken by 27% and growing), the 2nd official language is english (89%).

irish is an indo-europian language, developed directly from celtic. it relates to several other languages imported into ireland by celtics and spread to scotland. it is a gaelic (irish: gaeilge) language. its estimated age is 2600 yrs, and 1600 yrs in written form. we know 2 main dialects of gaelic:

• continental (died out in 5th cent.)
• insular:
  • british (welsch, cornish)
  • irish (irish, scotts, manx[isle of man])

there are probably 4 main periods of irish celtic:

1. old irish [600-900 AD] -- huge latin influence, written stuff is religious (the book of celts)
2. middle irish [900-1200 AD] -- not much writing, some stories, tales, and headstones
3. classical irish [1200-1600 AD] -- poems, songs, a few novels, slovanic influence appears
4. modern irish [1600- ]

some important dates in irish history:

• 432 st. Patrick and the snakes
• 1169 norman invasion of the culturally and politically gaelic ireland, irish still dominant, however abolished
• 1366 killing the irish language "statutes of kilkenny"
• 17th cent. "penal laws" an attempt to destroy irish catholics. the infamous "priest's lake". reducing irish to 30-35%. lasted for 120 yrs
• 1845 the great famine starvation -- dealing with the english, irish drops to 10%
• 1932 the irish free state, compulsory irish, newspapers (cumman na ngael, an phobail), radio station (radio na ngaeltacht), television (TG4); the gaelic revival: programs, clubs, etc.

the irish alphabet has 18 letters, 5 vowels and 13 consonants. the other letters of english alphabet sometimes occur in irish but only in loan-words, and never undergo any alteration. in contrast the irish alphabet undergoes a lot of alteration in certain circumstances.

// aspiration (a.k.a. lenition)

this phenomenon occurs with certain consonants only and is achieved by putting `h' after the first letter of the word.

note: consonants `h', `l', `n' and `r' do not aspirate.

// eclipsis

this occurs with all vowels and certain consonants, and it is achieved by placing another consonent before the first letter of the word.

the letter `n' goes before the vowels: n-a, n-e, n-i, n-o, n-u

note: consonants `h', `l', `m', `n', `r' and `s' cannot be eclipsed.

// long/short vowels

vowels in irish have 2 qualities: short and long, where we mean the duration of the uttered vowel. a vowel is lengthened by putting a short stroke above the letter, called sina fada.

// broad/slender consonants

a consonant or group of consonant is said to be broad if the neighbouring vowel is a `back' vowel (i.e. a, o, u)

e.g. doras -- `d', `r', and `s' are all broad

a consonant or group of consonant is said to be slender if the neighbouring vowel is a `front' vowel (i.e. e, i)

e.g. tine -- `t' and `n' are all slender

// some other characteristics of irish language

• the stress is always on the first syllable
• there are 2 grammatical genders for nouns: masculine and feminine, neutrals are mostly masculine
• 5 cases for nouns (nominative = accusative)
• no indefinite article
• adjectives don't change according to gender
• 11 irregular verbs
• 5 tenses for verbs (present, past, future, conditional, instrumental[imperfect])
• verb is at the beginnig of the sentence
• adjective allways follows the noun
• no have verb
• large number of prepositional pronouns

note: some of these forms (i am) have `short' forms, (at least for me) it is far more easier to learn the forms this way...

imperative form of be is bí, plural form bígí

the indefinite article does NOT exist.

the definite article has 2 forms:

1. an[ón] -- only for singular nouns, except the feminine genitive case
2. na[ne] -- only for plural nouns and singular genitive feminine nouns

using an in nominative(the same for accusative):

• masculine -- words starting with:
  1. consonant -- no change: an doras, an fear, an teach
  2. vowel -- prefix `t': an t-asal, an t-éan, an t-uan
• feminine -- words starting with:
  1. `d', `t' -- no change: an deifir, an tine
  2. `sl', `sn', `sr', `s+vowel' -- prefix `t': an t-seilf, an t-súil, an t-srón. the `s' becomes silent [an telf], everything else aspirates: an bhean, an chistin, an mháthair

using na in nominative(the same for accusative, dative) -- no gender distinguishion:

• noun starting w/consonant -- no change: na báid, na cait, na fir, na mná
• noun starting w/vowel -- prefix `h': na hasail, na héin, na huain

note: the i's in italics note the plural.

examples:
ar chraun, ar bhád, ar bhórd,
same with definite article (and proper changes like aspiration, etc):
ar an gcraun, ar an mbád, ar an mbórd

note 1: there is no `have' verb in irish, this function is fulfilled by `ag':

tá teach ag Seán.

Sean has a house. (possibly: there's house at Sean)

but

tá Seán ag (an) teach.

Sean is at (the) house.

note 2: there's no verb for `to know', again `ag' is used. `fios' means knowledge.

tá fios ag Seán.

Sean knows. (possibly: there's knowledge at Sean.)

note 3: sometimes `go dtí' is used instead of `do', and means physical movement by legs.

irish language is rich in prepositional pronouns.

it combines forms, for example `to you' -- `do + tú' is combined into `duit'. another example: `at me = ag + mé ->agam'.

• my
• to
• at
• on
• with
• from
• under

possesive pronounon

irish	english	causes	example
mo	my	aspiration	mo chat
so	your	aspiration	so bhean
a	his	aspiration	a chos
a	her	prefix `h'	a hór
ár	our	ecliption	ár dteach
bhur	your	ecliption	bhur mbus
a	their	ecliption	a gcat

dom	[dom]	to me
duit	[ditch]	to you
dó	[do:]	to him
dí	[gee]	to her
dúinn	[du:in]	to us
daiobh	[dueev]	to you
dóibh	[dojv]	to them

agam	[agam]	at me
agat	[agat]	at you
aige	[egæ]	at him
aici	[ekee]	at her
againn	[agin]	at us
agaibh	[agiv]	at you
acu	[aku]	at them

orm	[oræm]	on me
ort	[ort]	on you
air	[er]	on him
uirthi	[orhee]	on her
orainn	[orin]	on us
oraibh	[orif]	on you
orthu	[orhu]	on them

liom	[lom]	with me
leat	[leat]	with you
leis	[leish]	with him
léi	[le:hi]	with her
linn	[linn]	with us
libh	[liv]	with you
leo	[lo:]	with them

uaim	[wem]	from me
uait	[wetch]	from you
uaidh	[wa:j]	from him
uaithi	[wehi]	from her
uainn	[win]	from us
uaibh	[wif]	from you
uathu	[uhu:]	from them

fúm	[fu:m]	under me
fút	[fut]	under you
faoi	[fuee]	under him
fúithi	[fihi]	under her
fúinn	[fu:in]	under us
fúibh	[fu:if]	under you
fúthu	[fu:hu]	under them

note: all rules described here work only with regular verbs
disclaimer: all this division may be incorrect... (note the vástál exception in the table for example)

infinitive = imperative = root of the verb, e.g.

tóg [to:g] -- lift/take
plural form: tógagi

there are 2 groups of irish verbs(called conjugations):

1. one-syllable-root verbs, 2 subtypes:

a.) those verbs where the last vowel is a slender one, i.e. `i' and very rarely `e':

bain	[bain]	to cut
bris	[brish]	to break
buail	[bul]	to beat
caill	[kal]	to lose
caith	[kai]	to throw
creid	[krego]	to believe
cuir	[ka:r]	to put
éist	[e:sht]	to listen
léim	[leim]	to jump
lig	[lig]	to allow/let
múin	[muin]	to teach
rith	[ri]	to run
tit	[titch]	to fall
troid	[tredz]	to fight
tuig	[thig]	to understand
vástál	[vasta:l]	to waste

b.) those that do not have a slender vowel as the last one:

bog	[bug]	to move
ceap	[kiap]	to think
diol	[gil]	to sell
dún	[du:n]	to close
fág	[fo:g]	to leave
fan	[fan]	to wait
gabh	[kaug]	to take
glan	[glan]	to clean
las	[las]	to light
líon	[lin]	to fill
mol	[mol]	to praise
ól	[o:l]	to drink
póg	[po:g]	to kiss
scriobh	[shkrif]	to write
seas	[shes]	to stand
tóg	[to:g]	to lift

2. all the other regular verbs, 2 subtypes:

a.) those verbs where the last vowels are `ai':

athraigh	?	to change
beannaigh	?	to bless
breathnaigh	?	to look
ceannaigh	?	to buy
críochnaigh	?	to finish

b.) those verbs where the last vowel is `i':

airigh	?	to sense
bailigh	?	to gather/collect
coinnigh	?	to keep
cruinnigh	?	to gather together
cruimhnigh	?	to remember

// forms of verbs

verbs w/broad vowels, 1st conjugation

tóg	to lift
tógaim	i lift
tógann tú	you lift
tógann sé	he lifts
tógann sí	she lifts
tógaimid	we lift
tógann sibh	you lift
tógann siad	they lift
tógadh	lifted

verbs w/slender vowels, 1st conjugation

bris	to break
brisim	i break
briseann tú	you break
briseann sé	he breaks
briseann sí	she breaks
brisimid	we break
briseann sibh	you break
briseann siad	they break
briseadh	broken

2nd conjugation, type a.

beannaigh	to bless
beannaím	i bless
beannaíonn tú	you bless
beannaíonn sé	he blesses
beannaíonn sí	she blesses
beannaímid	we bless
beannaíonn sibh	you bless
beannaíonn siad	they bless
beannaíodh	blessed

2nd conjugation, type b.

bailigh	to collect
bailím	i collect
bailíonn tú	you collect
bailíonn sé	he collects
bailíonn sí	she collects
bailímid	we collect
bailíonn sibh	you collect
bailíonn siad	they collect
baileadh(?)	collected

we form verbal pronouns by adding `ag' in front of the verb root. this structure used on its own stands for an interrogative question.

ag caint	[kautch]	talking
ag canadh	[canu:]	singing
ag caoineadh	[kuimee]	crying
ag éirí	[a:jree]	rising
ag éisteacht	[ejshtiact]	listening
ag fágail	[fo:gail]	leaving
ag fáil	[fo:il]	getting
ag fanacht	[fanak]	waiting
ag féachaint	[feakintch]	looking
ag feiceáil	[fekal]	seeing
ag foghlaim	[folgm]	learning
ag gáire	[go:jre]	laughing
ag gabháil	[gavo:jl]	taking
ag gol	[gall]	crying
ag imeacht	[ineakt]	going away
ag imirt	[imærtch]	playing
ag ithe	[ihe]	eating
ag léamh	[le:v]	reading
ag obair	[ober]	working
ag ól	[o:l]	drinking
ag pógadh	[po:gu]	kissing
ag rá	[ro:]	saying
ag rith	[re]	running
ag scrióbh	[shkriv]	writing
ag siúl	[shu:l]	walking
ag smaoineadh	[smiunæv]	thinking
ag tabhairt	[to:rtch]	giving
ag teacht	[tchakt]	coming
ag tosú	[tosu:]	starting
ag vótáil	[vo:tail]	voting
ag dul	[dol]	going

the copula attaches two nouns. it is represented by the word `is'. it can start a sentence: `is fear mé -- i am man.' and it is not the same structure as `tá mé fuar -- i am cold.' the past tense for `is' is `ba' and it causes aspiration. if the word starts wth a vowel it is shortened to `b-'.

we distuingish classification -- he is a man, and identification -- sean is the doctor.

fear(man)	an fear(the man)
is fear Liam.	is é-Liam an fear.
Liam is a man.	Liam is the man.
is fear óg Liam.	is é-Liam an fear óg.
Liam is a young man.	Liam is the young man.
ní fear Liam.	ní hé-Liam an fear.
Liam is not a man.	Liam is not the man.
an fear Liam?	an é-Liam an fear?
is Liam a man?	is Liam the man?
copula + predicate + subject	copula + subject + predicate

note: the `é-' in front of the noun is called `emphasis', the feminine names the form is `í-'.

well, this section is quite theoretical, because apart from my teacher i have never heard any spoken irish.

i tried to keep the notation of pronounciation as english-near as i could. `:' means the vowel should be uttered long, `tch' is as in tchajkovskij, `dz' is `g' as in gee, `æ' is a poor replacement for `schwa' for the time beeing, `th' is something between `the' and `thank'.

if you intend to learn irish pronounciation, get a better source of it... (i don't know of any as of yet)

// common phrases

[top]

dia dhuit

[dzia duitch]

hello, good day to you. god to you.

dia (agus) Muire dhuit

[dzia (agus) mura duitch]

reply to the greeting. hello to you too.

cinas atá tú?

[konas/kinas ata thu]

how are you?

maidin mhaith

[maidzin wai]

good morning

oiche maith

[i:he wai]

good night

slán

[slón]

bye

slán leat

[slo:n let]

good bye

buíochas le dia

[bujochas le dzia]

thanks to god

slánte

[slo:ntche]

cheers

tá áthas orm

[ta: ahas orm]

happiness on me, i.e. i am happy ;-)

tá brón orm

[ta: bro:n orm]

sadness on me, i am sad.

nollaig shona duit

[nolig hona ditch]

happy christmas to you

failte

[fo:ltche]

welcome

tá mé go maith

[ta: me: go wai]

i am well/fine

go raibh maith agat

[go rau wai agat]

thank you

le do thoill

[le dæ hell]

please

cad is ainm duit?

[kad iz aum ditch]

what is your name?

seán is ainm dom

[sho:n iz aum dom]

john is my name

tá failte romhat

[ta: fo:ltche ro:t]

you are welcome

maith thú

[wai hu:]

well done

póg mo thoin

[po:g mo ho:n]

kiss my ass ;-)

ná bac leis

[na: bak lesh]

nevermind

tóg bog é

[to:g bog e:]

take it easy

gurab amhlaidh duit

[gorob aule: ditch]

the same to you

coladh sámh

[kolad sa:h]

sleep well

gabh mo leithscéal

[gab mo leitchshke:l]

excuse me. pardon me.

cén t-am é?

[ke:n tam e:]

what time is it?

cad hé sin?

[kad e: shin]

what is that?

cé hé sin?

[ke: he: shin]

who is that?

cá bhfuil ... ?

[ka: vil ... ]

where is/are ... ?

cén fáth?

[ke:n fa:]

why?

cá/é mhéad?

[ka: ve:d]

how many/much?

cén aois thú?/cá haois tú?

[ke:n is thu:/ka: hish tu:]

how old are you?

ar mhaith leat ... ?

[er fait let]

would you like ... ?

cad ba mhaith leat?

[kad ba fait let]

what would you like?

cathain ...

[kahn]

when ...

// vocabulary

[top]

a very limited vocabulary courtesy my irish teacher... (pronounciation most likely incorrect or not particularly incorrect ;-)

• nouns
• adjectives
• verbs

nouns

gender	irish	pronounciation	english
m	athair	[athæ]	father
m	bád	[bo:d]	boat
f	bean	[bean]	woman
m	bord	[bord]	table
m	cat	[kat]	cat
f	cos	[kos]	foot
m	doras	[doras]	door
m	éan	[e:n]	bird
m	fear	[fær]	man
?	focal	[fokæl]	word
m	lá	[lo:]	day
m	leabhar	[lavo:]	book
m	mac	[mek]	son
f	maidin	[maidzin]	morning
m	peann	[pia:n]	pen
f	póg	[po:g]	kiss
m	sagart	[sagærth]	priest
m	teach	[tcha]	house
f	tine	[tchina]	fire
?	uan	[un]	lamb
f	cistin	[kistchn]	kitchen
m	dalta	[dalte]	student
m	geata	[getha]	gate
f	lámh	[lo:f]	hand
f	oíche	[i:he]	night
f	suil	[suæl]	eye
m	tae	[te:]	tea
m	cupáan	[kapo:n]	cup
m	argead	[arigæd]	money
m	árasán	[araso:]	flat/department
m	asal	[azæl]	ass/donkey
f	deifir	[dzifær]	speed/haste
m	iasc	[jæsk]	fish
m	múinteoir	[muntchor]	teacher
m	ór	[or]	gold
f	seilf	[shelf]	shelf
m	seomra	[shomra]	room
f	sró	[shron]	nose
?	fios	[fjos]	knowledge
f	tír	[tchæ]	country
f	scoil	[skail]	school
m	cóta	[ko:ta]	coat
f	loug	[lou]	ship
f	leaba	[laba]	bed
f	oifig	[ifig]	office
m	rothar	[rohr]	bycicle
m	scéal	[shke:l]	story
m	siopa	[shopa]	shop
m	solas	[solas]	light
f	nair	[næ:]	hour
m	uisce	[ishke]	water

[vocabulary] [top]

adjectives

irish	pronounciation	english
beag	[biag]	small
deas	[dzass]	nice
fuar	[fæ]	cold
mhaith	[mai]/[wai]	good
mór	[mo:r]	big
óg	[o:g]	young
nua	[njua]	new
sean	[?]	old
te	[tche]	hot
sona	[sona]	happy
beatha	[bjatha]	holy
craun	[kraun]	free

[verbs vocabulary] [vocabulary top] [top]