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Welcome to Ó Siadhail-land. Not the easiest place to start, but worth what persistent effort you can muster.
I’ve been studying Gaeilge for a little over a year now and found Foclóir Póca to be a suitable dictionary for the first 9 months or so. The transliteration of every Irish word using a simplified IPA-like symbology is extremely useful when you’re starting out. You don’t get that with the more comprehensive dictionaries. The print in Foclóir Póca is tiny though, so if you can get the larger print edition, Foclóir Scoile, it might be worth it. (One source is: http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=4454.)
At some point it became clear that I was ready for more extensive resources and I bought Ó Dónaill.
For a mobile electronic dictionary, I’ve heard good things about Get The Focal (http://www.getthefocal.com/).
Good luck! You’ve taken one excellent step by joining this community.
I’d like to offer an alternative interpretation:
I take “Ní ólaim” to indeed mean “I don’t drink alcohol”. The fact that it is written in Gaeilge conveys a very nice, clever message: “Don’t assume that because I’m Irish I must be a drunk.” I take it as a statement of pride and a rejection of a very hurtful stereotype that gets pinned on our people a lot.
Ná habair é. I’m glad it worked out.
By the way, “Comhalta” just means “member”. You’re not the first, or last, to get confused by that. You have to look a teensy bit harder to find the member’s moniker.
Le meas,
Seáinín
Even if Gaeilge was the only language I was going to work in, I would use the US – International keyboard for Windows rather than the Irish one. It is much easier to type a fada with it. (Just the apostrophe key followed by the letter.) With the Irish keyboard layout you have to type and hold the right Alt key, then the letter or the apostrophe and then the letter.
No patriotism involved. I just like things to be as simple as possible!
Not sure why you’re not seeing the 2nd keyboard option, but as an alternative you might set your default keyboard to “English (United States) – United States -International”. That way you don’t have to switch back and forth. I have that set as my default on a Windows 7 machine and it gives easy access to any characters I need for Gaeilge (mostly síneadh fada). Microsoft provides an interactive display of all of the Windows keyboard layouts at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964651. You can choose “US – International” to see the one I am suggesting.
It doesn’t exist, but if you use Learning Irish + The Irish of Cois Fhairrge + Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge: an Deilbhìocht, I think you’ll have the pronunciation of many words.
And I’m not sure that the lexicon at the end of LI contains all the words that are taught in the book…GRMA, a Lughaidh.
I have been compiling a list of the missing words from LI’s vocabulary appendix. I’ll post it on the forum when it is completed.
I have a PDF copy of an old dictionary of Múscraí Irish (with pronunciation!)
Does anyone know if such a dictionary, with pronunciation, exists for the Cois Fharrige dialect? (Other than the small vocabulary list at the back of Ó Siadhail’s Learning Irish.)
Seáinín
If you look up “mara” in Ó Dónaill you are redirected to mura, with this initial description:
“conj. (Eclipses; becomes murar before past tense of regular verbs; combines with copula and gives pres. and fut. mura, before vowels murab, past and cond. murar, before vowels murarbh) If not, unless
which parallels nicely with what Lughaidh has written.
So we have:
before regular verbs
mara/mura before verbs not in the past tense
marar/murar before verbs in the past tense
combining with the copula
mara/mura for present and future before a consonant
marab/murab for present/future before a vowel
marar/murar for past and conditional before a consonant
mara(r)bh/murarbh for past/conditional before a consonant and f+vowelDoes that make sense?
“Stone the crows!”??? I had to look that one up. That would be a fun idiom to try to translate to Gaeilge!
Some examples of using the copula with a future meaning (from Ó Siadhail, page 96):
Is fiú airgead mór amach anseo é. It will be worth big money sometime in the future.
Is deacair fanacht anseo amáireach It will be hard to stay here tomorrow.
He goes on to say: “These forms of the copula (is, ar, nach, etc.) can be used with a future meaning.
See what you think about this explanation of Irish initial mutations on Wikipedia:
From an Irish Grammar:
‘If’: Má and Dá
Irish has two words for ‘if’, má and dá. They imply different degrees of
probability, possibility, and doubt on behalf of the speaker/writer, so they
are not interchangeable.What follows má is probable, possible, or believed to be true by the
speaker/writer, e.g. má bhriseann an chraobh, titfidh an cliabhán ‘if the
branch breaks, the cradle will fall’.Má is also used when ‘if’ is equivalent to ‘whenever’, e.g. má shéideann an
ghaoth, luascann an cliabhán ‘if/whenever the wind blows, the cradle rocks’.
Má is followed by a verb in the indicative mood. The verb in the Main
Clause can be in the indicative mood, the imperative mood, or the
present subjunctive.Examples of Dependent Clauses with má:
Má bhuaileann tú leis an nGarda Fox, abair leis gur goideadh do
lampa rothair ort.
‘If you encounter Policeman Fox, tell him that your bicycle-lamp
was stolen.’
Present Tense in Dependent Clause, Imperative Mood in Main ClauseMá ghlacann sibh mo chomhairle, rachaidh sibh go dtí an Stáisiún
Gardaí is gaire dúinn.
‘If you take my advice, you will go to the nearest Police Station.’
Present Tense in Dependent Clause, Future Tense in Main ClauseMá bhíonn a bhosca airgid ag Philip Mathers amárach, beidh sé san
airdeall ar ghadaithe.
‘If Philip Mathers has his cashbox tomorrow, he will be on the alert
for thieves.’
Present Habitual in Dependent Clause, Future Tense in Main ClauseMá léinn de Selby, ní thuiginn leath dar scríobh sé.
‘If I used to read de Selby, I used not understand half of what he wrote.’
Imperfect Tense in Dependent Clause and in Main ClauseWhat follows dá is improbable, impossible, or known to be false by the
speaker/writer, e.g. dá mbeadh ciall ag máthair an naíonáin, ní fhágfadh
sí thuas sa chrann é ‘if the baby’s mother had sense, she would not leave
him up in the tree.’Dá can be followed by a verb in the conditional mood or the past
subjunctive. The verb in the Main Clause must be in the conditional mood.Examples of Dependent Clauses with dá:
Dá mbeadh an fear sin neamhchiontach, ní bheadh sé i bpríosún. or
Dá mbíodh an fear sin neamhchiontach, ní bheadh sé i bpríosún.
‘If that man were innocent, he would not be in prison.’
Conditional Mood in Dependent Clause and in Main Clause or
Past Subjunctive in Dependent Clause,Conditional Mood in Main ClauseDá gcuirfí an cillín faoi ghlas, ní éalódh an príosúnach. or
Dá gcuirtí an cillín faoi ghlas, ní éalódh an príosúnach.
‘If the cell had been locked, the prisoner would not have escaped.’
Conditional Mood in Dependent Clause and in Main Clause or
Past Subjunctive in Dependent Clause,Conditional Mood in Main ClauseYou might also try the VIFAX program at Maynooth College: http://www.nuim.ie/language/vifax/
Tá sé seo den scoth!
