Pronunciation Assistance with Prayers

Fáilte (Welcome) Forums General Discussion (Irish and English) Pronunciation Assistance with Prayers

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  • #36538
    Dál Riata
    Participant

    Dia dhuit.

    I am looking for assistance in pronouncing the prayers of the Rosary in Irish according to the dialects of Galway (preferably Cois Fharraige as I am using Learning Irish). I’ve found YouTube videos of the basic prayers, and even full rosaries, recited in Irish. But I don’t believe they’re representative of how they’re said in Galway. If you don’t use it, you lose it, they say. And I can think of no better way of using my Irish!

    Any help will be greatly appreciated.

    GRMA!

    #43934
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Try CatholicDevotions Irish Section. I found quite a few prayers there, read by a male Connemara speaker. I might be wrong, but I don’t think native speakers ‘convert’ prayers to their own dialect. If the prayer is written Standard Irish, then it’s read accordingly. For example, “go naomhfar d’ainm”, not “go naomhfar t’ainm”, as you might expect in that particular dialect. But of course, the sounds are those used in dialect, e.g. “domhan” has the diphthong “au”, “den” is pronounced with “g”, etc. At least, that’s the impression I had when listening.
    I suspect the same is true for English. You stick to the archaic grammar “Our Father who art in heaven”, but otherwise use your own pronunciation (British, American, Irish).

    #43935
    Dál Riata
    Participant

    http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8B81E602286B16F0

    Is that the CatholicDevotions you recommend? He’s a Connemara man? Excellent!

    I don’t suspect that native speakers have “converted” the prayers in to their own dialects but it’s more than Latin was the standard for the Ave Maria and Pater Noster, etc., for centuries. The Ave and Pater that we know in English was actually the standard imposed by the Anglican Church which Catholics eventually adopted. Even then there are minor variations in word choice in translations that I have seen. I believe it’s similar with other languages where dialectal differences exist in these basic prayers in the West because Latin was the standard. Of course with the vernacular liturgy imposed in the 60s, standard translations would have been adopted.

    #43936
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Yes, that’s the one I meant. I’m not totally sure he’s a native speeaker, but he certainly sounds like one. I wouldn’t be suprised if there was more stuff like that on Youtube. Good luck!

    #43938
    Bríd Mhór
    Participant

    Personally in the Hail Mary I’d say –

    Is beannaithe thú thar mná

    #43944
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Personally in the Hail Mary I’d say –

    Is beannaithe thú thar mná

    A Bhríd, what I said was just a personal theory based on that particular recording, so you’re more than welcome to correct me. 🙂 Was I right in assuming the reader was a native speaker?

    #43946
    Bríd Mhór
    Participant

    Personally in the Hail Mary I’d say –

    Is beannaithe thú thar mná

    A Bhríd, what I said was just a personal theory based on that particular recording, so you’re more than welcome to correct me. 🙂 Was I right in assuming the reader was a native speaker?

    I wasn’t correcting you at all.
    Both wordings are correct.
    I was just telling you the version I learnt. (both can be found online)

    He does sound native, or very fluent anyhow.

    #43947
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    GRMA. Is é an cainteoir dhúchais an foinse is fearr i gcónaí.

    #43954
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Actually, “go naomhfar t’ainm” is incorrect as it is not the future indicative but the present subjunctive and this should be “go naomht(h)ar t’ainm”. Amhlaoibh Ó Luinse has “go naomhaíthear t’ainm”.

    Thanks for the correction Carmanach! I know it’s the subjunctive mood, but I couldn’t remember how it is spelt. So I just wanted to make sure there was an “f” in there, in order to reflect the pronunciation. 🙂 In fact, having checked the video on Youtube again, I can see that it’s spelt “go naofar d’ainm” there.

    #43956
    Onuvanja
    Participant

    Interesting. What you say makes sense. Still, Bible version published on the anbioblanaofa.org web site also has “go naofar d’ainm”. Why should this verb have an irregular subjunctive (impersonal) form? Are there historical reasons for the sound change from “t” to “th” (naomhtar -> naomhthar), as you suggest? Just being curious.

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