Cúpla Focal: A couple of Irish Gaelic words
At Birmingham Irish, we feel that the beautiful language of Gaelic is an extraordinary gift that should be passed down from generation to generation with immense pride. This very reason is behind our language column, Cúpla Focal, meaning, a couple of Irish Gaelic words.
Ar ais arís – back again!
Conas atá sibh? How are you all?
Did you know that each of the three main dialects (canúintí) has its own way of saying How are you?
- In Connaught it’s: Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? (The most difficult to pronounce) Kay Hay a will thew (with variations I’m afraid).
- In Munster it’s Conas atá tú? (An easy one) kunnis a thaw thew.
- In Ulster it’s: Cad é mar atá tú? (With that J sound) coh Jay morra thaw thew.
If you have any difficulties with these stick to Conas atá tú? That will in any case be understood by all Irish speakers wherever they are from.
For a good pronunciation guide, go to abair.ie. It will give you the correct pronunciation for all three major dialects.
Now here are a few more useful links:
- Teanglann – get the app on your phone. A great dictionary
- Duolingo – free on-line learning that uses a fun games-like approach.
- focal.ie – good dictionary which also tell you how to pronounce stuff.
- Transparent Language – Irish Word of the day. This e.mails you a new word every day, puts it in a sentence and also tells you how to pronounce it.
- TG4 and RnG : Irish language TV and radio – Listen when you can and get a feel for the sounds.
We are in the process of setting up a Comhrá (conversation as Gaeilge) group in Birmingham. It will be suitable for everyone interested in the language – even beginners.
If you are interested, please let Sinéad at Birmingham Irish Association know. To contact Sinead please email sinead@birish.org.uk
We would love to hear from you.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
Terri
