Jonas

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Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 76 total)
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  • in reply to: “Vacation” planning #44256
    Jonas
    Participant

    Sa bhFeothanach a bhí mé, creidim. Ach mar a deirim, is dócha gur ormsa agus ar mo chuid droch-Ghaeilge a bhí an locht.

    An siopa in aice le an séipéal ?

    Táim im chónaí ar an bhfeothanigh , and as far as I can tell everyone in there Can and does speak Irish.
    AS do the vast majority of people in the Area.

    I could safely same im one of the worst for Irish in the whole area. But im not here long

    Daithi, have you been spending some time in the area east of Dingle? I’m asking since I used to spend quite a lot of time in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht myself, mainly in Dún Urlann and Dún Chaoin, but also some time in An Mhuiríoch and An Fheothanach. I always found the entire area between these villages completely Irish speaking, and I of course found the town of Dingle mainly English speaking. What I didn’t realize at the time was that there is still some Irish left east of Dingle. As I knew Dún Chaoin to be entirely Irish, Ceann Trá to be quite Irish but not as strong, and then Dingle to be English – well, I thought at the time that Irish just kept getting weaker as one went eastwards. Then of course came the quite extensive studies on daily usage of the Irish language some 6-7 years ago. They showed that Irish is still spoken daily by more than 50% of the population in Mináird (the area with villages such as An Mhin Aird Thiar, An Mhin Aird Thoir, Gleann na Mine Airde, Log na gCapall, An Bhánóg etc) and by almost 50% in both Cinnáird (the main village of Lios Póil and several smaller villages south of it) and in An Clochán (main village of An Clochán and some small hamlets around it).

    That’s of course nowhere near as Irish speaking as An Fheothanach, Dún Urlann, Dún Chaoin or even Ceann Trá, but it means that those areas match more famous Gaeltacht areas such as An Rinn and Cúil Aodha, and would be more Irish speaking than for instance Oiléain Chléire, Corr na Mona, Teileann and Gleann Colmchille. Unfortunately I’ve only passed through them, but if you’ve spent some time in them, it would be nice to hear your impressions.

    Last but not least: even though it’s been a while since I was last in Corca Dhuibhne myself, my parents and eight friends of theirs stayed a little while in Baile na nGall not that long ago and they found it to be completely Irish speaking. My dad and his friends said they didn’t hear a word of English in the pubs. 😉

    Jonas
    Participant

    Corsican, Hebrew, Japanese (in compound words)… 🙂

    Only one of those that violates my statement is Corsican, and mutation in compound words is debatably initial mutation, isn’t it?

    Without being an expert, I believe Lughaidh said that both Corsian and Hebrew have initial mutation, while Japanese has it in compound words. Initial mutation is very widespread in Corsican. It’s one of the reasons we who speak Italian usually can read it without problems but have a much harder time understanding it. To give a example

    /korsiga/ (Corsica( but /a gorsiga/ after the article.
    /be/ (well) but /tut:i ve/ (all well)
    /du’me:nika/ /Sunday) but /a umenika/ after the article.

    Of course initial mutations function very differently in Corsican, they are more automatic than in Celtic languages and primarily about phonology, not grammar. But still, they are very much a part of the language.

    in reply to: The sounds of Irish #44254
    Jonas
    Participant

    Fair enough, Jonas. I suppose /a/ could be regarded as a realisation of /æː/ in a particular environment (unstressed syllable), and it can be hard to draw a clear line between /​​ɛː/ and /æː/. Perhaps that depends on
    the idiolect of the speaker. But then, I’m saying that without having listened to the actual recordings. 🙂

    Oh sure, I definitely understand using the same symbol for /a:/ and /æː/. I can also very well understand using the same symbol for /​​ɛː/ and /æː/ when describinh North Donegal as I believe the two are in free variation there. Lughaigh will know that better. I’m already a bit surprised when both /​​ɛː/ and /aː/ are covered by the same symbol. And when we stretch that to even include everything between /a:/ and /i:/, well, then something is clearly wrong. Just listen to those words by using the link and tell me if you agree with the IPA 😉

    Jonas
    Participant


    Another thing is the absence of the verb “to have”. In Irish, you don’t own things, they are just “at you”. The same is true for Slavic and Finno-Ugric languages, but for speakers of most Western-European languages, this might be unsettling.

    (Just a small detail, if I may. Many Slavic languages do have the verb “to have”, though it is true that Russian (the largest and the best known) doesn’t.)

    in reply to: The sounds of Irish #44243
    Jonas
    Participant

    Onuvanja, that’s a valid point. I’m not saying that the sound files are wrong (on the contrary, I’m sure they are correct) and I’m not necessarily saying that the IPA versions the author gives are wrong either. What I am saying, most definitely, is that they don’t correlate. When I listen to both the Galway speaker and the Kerry speaker, I think that what they say is well matched by the IPA the author uses. Not so for the Donegal speaker. What she says and what the author writes are (too) often two very different things.

    in reply to: The sounds of Irish #44238
    Jonas
    Participant

    Is as Baile na hAbha in aice le Más a’ Tiompáin é Dara.

    Is fíor é sin, ach ceapaim gurb ait é, an triúir acu go leir ansan, in aice lena chéile 😉
    Maidir le Dara Ó Cinnéide, labharíonn sé an teanga i ngach aon aít. Is breá liom go mór an óráid bheag so 😀
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVE82iitjC4

    in reply to: The sounds of Irish #44236
    Jonas
    Participant

    Welcome! This website accompanies the book Fuaimeanna na Gaeilge, a beginner’s course in phonetics and phonology. The book describes the vowels and consonants of three dialects: the Irish of Gaoth Dobhair, the Irish of An Cheathrú Rua and the Irish of Corca Dhuibhne. This website supports readers with a catalog of the sounds and sample recordings referred to in the book.

    I had a look at this and I think it’s a great site. I have to say, though, that I disagree with some of the IPA notions, particularly for Gaoth Dobhair. Lughaidh will know this better as he’s both a trained linguist and an expert on that dialect, but if I look at, for instance, what the author puts down as /æː/… I’m confused.

    If you visit the relevant page http://fuaimeanna.ie/ga/Recordings.aspx?PhonemeID=6 you can listen to these words

    – a ghá. The author has /æː/, I hear /​​ɛː/. That’s what I hear in most cases with this speaker.
    – áineas. The author has /æː/, in my ears this tends towards /​eː/
    – bearr. The author has /æː/, I hear /​​aː/.
    – faoi. The author has /æː/(!!), I hear /​​iː/.
    – Máire. The author has /æː/, I hear something like /​​əi/.
    – sláinte. The author has /æː/, and here I also hear /æː/, though close to /​​ɛː/.
    – Stiofán. The author has /æː/, I hear a short /a/.
    – tháith. The author has /æː/, I hear /​​ɛi/.

    I hear almost all of the sounds above more than once, but only gave one example for each. Most of the time I hear /​​ɛː/, and I can understand the author using /æː/ instead. I think it’s already a bit of a stretch to include everything between /​​aː/ and /​​ɛː/ under the same phoneme, and when the author goes from /​​aː/ almost all the way up to /​​iː/, then I get confused.

    On a minor note, the Munster speaker comes from Corca Dhuibhne. And he comes from Baile na hAbha in Corca Dhuibhne. The question for the reader then is if he’s from [url=https://maps.google.fr/?ll=52.155321,-10.198059&spn=0.013507,0.038581&t=h&z=15]Baile na hAbha[/url], from [url=https://maps.google.fr/?ll=52.249034,-10.278783&spn=0.013479,0.038581&t=h&z=15]Baile na hAbha[/url] or perhaps from [url=https://maps.google.fr/?ll=52.140205,-10.4498&spn=0.013512,0.038581&t=h&z=15]Baile na hAbha[/url]. When you visit the Corca Dhbuibhne Gaeltacht, you’re never far from Baile na hAbha 😉

    in reply to: Foclóir nua ar líne #44235
    Jonas
    Participant

    I think this is a great new dictionary, very helpful and it will no doubt be even better when all the material is up online.

    One point of criticism I would offer is that they could have marked dialectal words as such. If we look at “as well”, we are given four alternatives, all of them correct Irish but two of them would never be heard in Munster, and I’d say one is exclusively used in Munster and never in Connacht or Ulster. Of course most words are the same in all dialects with only minor pronunciation differences (I love the sound files!) but those few words that are different could perhaps have been marked. Anyhow, a great new tool for everybody interested in Irish!

    in reply to: “Vacation” planning #44231
    Jonas
    Participant

    B’fhéidir… Tharlaigh sé go minic nuair a bhíos sa Fhrainc blianta ó shin. Bhíos cinnte go raibh mo chuid fraincise líofa, agus níor mhaith liom nuair a labhradar Béarla liom. Ní labhríonn duine ar bith Béarla liom sa Fhrainc anois, ach is cuimhin liom go maith ní rabhas sásta… Scríobhas alt beag air seo 😉
    https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/3214081

    in reply to: “Vacation” planning #44229
    Jonas
    Participant

    Ar an taobh eile, bhí mé ag rothaíocht i gCiarraí blianta ó shin agus scannán nua uaim le haghaidh an cheamara, ach ní raibh freagra ar bith ag cailín an tsiopa, nuair a chuir mé ceist uirthi. Seans go raibh blas aisteach ar mo chuid Gaeilge nó gur cheap sí gur cigire a bhí ionam.

    Mhuise, is ait é sin – cá rabhais? Bím ag labhairt na Gaelainne i gcónaí i gCorca Dhuibhne, agus níor bhuaileas riamh le éinne ná raibh an teanga aige.

    in reply to: Na Gaeltachtaí #44226
    Jonas
    Participant

    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.

    in reply to: Na Gaeltachtaí #44224
    Jonas
    Participant

    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.

    in reply to: Dia dhaoibh #44223
    Jonas
    Participant

    Jonas, Níl aon aithne agat orm, ach tá seanaithne agam ort! D’fhoghlaimíos roinnt
    mhaith eolais ód’ theachtaireachtaí ar na liostaí ríomhphoist Gaeilge-A agus B!

    Failte thar n-ais!

    Go raibh maith agat, agus is breá liom a chloisint gur bhainis sult as mo theachtaireachtaí blianta ó shin 🙂

    Diabhal scéil.

    Conas tá agat féin? Fáilte ar ais. Éirithe ciúin sna bólaí seo ó bhí tú thart cheana.

    Táim go maith, go raibh maith agat a sheanchara. Táim im chónaí sa Fhrainc anois, i mBordeaux – ollamh is ea mé ar an ollscoil agus is maith liom go mór é. Tá an fíon níos fearr ná san Fhionlainn 😉 Roimhe sin bhíos im chónaí i Milano agus fillim go minic san Iodáil mar bím ag múineadh ansan leis. Sin iad na scéalta, is docha, mar tá a fhios agat cheana féin go rabhas im chónaí i Montréal.

    in reply to: “Vacation” planning #44222
    Jonas
    Participant

    There was a time when I spent most of my holidays sna Gaeltachtaí. But no, I haven’t visited all of those above (though I have visited quite a few not mentioned there), but almost. I’ve never been to Mayo, and I’ve never been to Oiléain Thoraigh. As for the Donegal Gaeltacht, I’ve only spent some days there, mainly in Cnoc Fola and Gaoth Dobhair though I visited all of the places I’ve listed there except Dún Lúiche. I lived and worked in the Galway Gaeltacht so I’ve visited all places I mention there. I’ve visited Corca Dhuibhne many times, so I know the villages there quite well, but my experience of Cúil Aodha, Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh and Baile Bhúirne is also limited to a visit of three days.

    in reply to: “Vacation” planning #44215
    Jonas
    Participant

    If you’re looking for the highest concentration of Irish speakers, you should probably head to Oileán Thoraigh. As for a larger area, it must be the Gaeltacht of Conamara Theas. Virtually everybody speaks Irish in Ros Muc, Camas, Leitir Móir, Cill Chiaráin, Garmna, Béal an Daingin etc.

    Then again, concentration of Irish speakers alone should hardly decide it, as there are luckily enough quite a few places where Irish is spoken by most people. Goes for the whole NW of Donegal (Mín an Chladaigh, Gort a’ Choirce, Gaoth Dobhair, Bun Beag, Cnoc Fola, Rann na Féirste, Dún Lúiche…) Lughaidh will know more about that. In Northern Mayo, I’m afraid you’re restricted to Ceathrú Thaidhg, though that’s a gorgeous area. In addition to the locations in Conamara Theas mentioned above, the whole coast of Cois Fharraige is mainly Irish speaking from An Spidéal (least) to Ros a’ Mhíl (most). And outside Cill Rónáin, the Aran Islands are entirely Irish speaking. Same thing goes in Munster. The coast between Ceann Sléibhe and Pointe an Choma Dhóite is completely Irish speaking, including the villages of Dún Chaoin, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, An Mhuiríoch, Baile na nGall, An Fheothanach, Baile an Chnocáin etc. Besides, Ceann Trá and the hamlets around are also mainly Irish speaking. Absolutely stunning area, and a number of courses for adults throughout the year. Or if you want to head inland, Cúil Aodha is great place to speak Irish, and you’d have no problem finding Irish speakers in Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh or Baile Bhúirne, though the latter two are not quite as strongly Irish as all the other places I’ve mentioned.

    The only place mentioned here where you should not go, if speaking Irish is your intetion, is Tuar Mhic Éadaigh. I’m afraid very little Irish is spoken there these days, but if you head 10km south of Tuar Mhic Éadaigh to Fionnaithe, you’ll hear South Mayo Irish all around you.

Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 76 total)