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Hi could someone please help me translate the following:
‘I think it is more important to preserve the Gaeltachts already in existence/we already have’
Is this correct?:
‘Ceapaim go bhfuil sé níos tábhachtaí na Gaeltachtaí atá ann cheana féin a chaomhnú’Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
The first half of the sentence is correct. The second half should read “gheobhadh an teanga bás”. Instead of “gan na Gaeltachtaí”, you could also say “marach na Gaeltachtaí, though this would slightly change the meaning (“marach” – “if it weren’t for”).
The other sentence you posted was correct, I think.
Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
Gan na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhaidh an teanga bás.
Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
Gan na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhaidh an teanga bás.
B’fhearr liom:
Murach na Gaeltachtaí ….Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
Gan na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhaidh an teanga bás.
Not “gheobhaidh”, but “gheobhadh”, I would say, as “would” is a conditional form.
Oh and this also:
‘Without the Gaeltachts, the language would die’
‘Gan na Gaeltachtaí, bheadh an teanga bás’?
Gan na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhaidh an teanga bás.
Not “gheobhaidh”, but “gheobhadh”, I would say, as “would” is a conditional form.
Of course, silly typo from me as it changes the meaning and makes me seem more pessimistic than I am. Thanks for spotting it.
Definitely murach 🙂
Well… 😉 ‘Murach na Gaeltachtaí’ is more elegant, just as “If it weren’t for the Gaeltachts” sounds more elegant in my ears. But to say “Without the Gaeltachts, Irish would be dead”, as Brian said, I think there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t consider correct Irish except for changing “bheadh — bás” to “gheobhadh— bás”. Then we can of course discuss literary styles in Irish as in any other language, but both options are correct Irish.
Mara mbeadh na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhadh an teanga bás
Am I missing something, or is this grammatically incorrect? Seems you’re missing a word.
“mara mbeadh na gaeltachtaí ____ (ann?) , gheobhadh an teanga bás”
Mara mbeadh na Gaeltachtaí, bhí an teanga marbh fadó = Only for the Gaeltachtaí, the language would have died long agoHi Carmanach, I was wondering a bit about this.
As far as I know the conditional has its usual (not sure of the correct terminology for
something unmarked for aspect) meaning and a perfect meaning.Dá bhfeicfinn é, do labharfainn leis
This can mean:
If I saw him, I would speak to him
and
If I had seen him, I would have spoken to him.Is using the past in the main clause another way of conveying the perfective meaning?
We also originally had a distinction between past subjuncitve and conditional:
mara mbíodh sé (if it hadn’t been) vs mara mbeadh sé (if it were/would be)
Is that used anywhere today? I don’t knowI heard from a seanachaí in An Buailtín that although he would recognise it, he wouldn’t
say it. A few people in Dún Chaoin said the same thing. Although I know Dónall Ó hÉalaithe (from
recordings and Irisleabhar Mhá Nuad) and others in Cork (from speaking to them) do
use it to some degree.Mara mbeadh na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhadh an teanga bás
Am I missing something, or is this grammatically incorrect? Seems you’re missing a word.
“mara mbeadh na gaeltachtaí ____ (ann?) , gheobhadh an teanga bás”No, there’s no missing word. See Ó Dónaill, Dinneen and GGBC for other examples.
Well, I’m not going to argue with you, because I’ve seen how productive that is. But I think you’re wrong. It sounds to me like saying “tá na Gaeltachtaí”. I’ll look for examples that confirm this construction, but I’ve never seen it before.
Edit: it appears, there is one example in O’Donaill which supports this use: “mura mbeadh mise” = were it not for me. Personally I don’t understand this – from my understanding it would have had to be “murach mise”. The other seems like an incomplete clause to me.
Mara mbeadh na Gaeltachtaí, gheobhadh an teanga bás
Am I missing something, or is this grammatically incorrect? Seems you’re missing a word.
“mara mbeadh na gaeltachtaí ____ (ann?) , gheobhadh an teanga bás”No, there’s no missing word. See Ó Dónaill, Dinneen and GGBC for other examples.
Well, I’m not going to argue with you, because I’ve seen how productive that is. But I think you’re wrong. It sounds to me like saying “tá na Gaeltachtaí”. I’ll look for examples that confirm this construction, but I’ve never seen it before.
Edit: it appears, there is one example in O’Donaill which supports this use: “mura mbeadh mise” = were it not for me. Personally I don’t understand this – from my understanding it would have had to be “murach mise”. The other seems like an incomplete clause to me.
I recently learned that “murach” itself is a contraction of “mura (muna) mbeadh”. “Mura mbeadh” here seems to function as a kind of conjunction(al phrase).
Mura mbeadh na Gaeltachtai = If it were not for/only for the Gaeltachts
but
Mura mbeadh na Gaeltachtai ann = If the Gaeltachts didn’t exist
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