Irish Class, April 12, 2010
Rang Gaeilge, 12ú lá mí Aibreáin 2010
Fabhalscéal as Gaeilge / A fable in Irish
First draft here. This is the revision
with suggestions from Wes taken as September
21, 2009. I should have realized that Irish loan-words from English would follow British English usage. Additonal corrections
per Wes on April 12, 2010.
This is based on Eric Bogle’s song Nobody’s Moggy Now
(Lyrics), but is nowhere near as funny.
| Bhí cat duine éigin ar thaobh an bhótair. Bhí an cat marbh agus an-leata. Níor chuimhin leis na dlíthe bóthair mhóra. Ní chat duine ar bith é anois. Ná cuir troid ar leoraí. Buafaidh an leoraí go deimhin. |
Somebody’s cat was by the side of the road. The cat was dead and very flat. He did not remember the laws of the highways. He is nobody’s cat now. Don’t argue with a truck. The truck is sure to win. |
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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ
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Including more phrases from the song would be an interesting challenge :-)>
| cat duine éigin | someone’s cat | Cois. eicínt. duine gs. same as nom. |
| leata | flat | |
| cuir troid ar dhuine | pick a fight with someone | /trod/, tred/ |
| buaigh | win, gain | /bu:ə/ fut. Buafaidh /bu:əhə/ |
| Is liomsa an leabhar | I own the book. | |
| Is cuimhin liom | I remember | |
| Ní cuimhin liom | I don’t remember | |
| Tá cuimhne agam | I remember | |
| Níl cuimhne agam | I don’t remember |
A theme of the evening was that a lot of statements/questions can be phrased with tá and an adjective or
alternatively with is (the copula).
| An bhfuil sé níos mó ná bosca aráin? | Is it bigger than a breadbox? | |
| An bhfaightear é sa teach? | Can it it be found (lit. “gotten”) in the house? | pres. aut. of faigh /wait’i:r/, /wi:t’i:r/ |
| An bhfuil sé de dhéantús an duine? | Is it man-made? | |
| An uirlis é? | Is is a tool? | uirlis “tool” is f2, but we use é rather than í to refer to the unknown object. It defaults to masculine. |
| An bhfuil sé daonna?…An duine daonna é? | Is it human? … Is it a human being? | |
| An bhfuil sé deanta as miotal,… adhmad,… éadach? | Is it made from metal,… wood,… cloth? | |
| An bhfuil sé inite?… An itear é? | Is is edible?… Is it eaten? | ith “eat”. vn ithe. va inite. pres.aut. itear |
| An bhfuil sé leitreach? | Is is electric? | |
| An mbaineann sé úsáid as leictreachas? | Does it use electricity? | Lit. “Does it extract usage from electricity?” |
| bain úsáid as rud | use something | Lit. “extract usage from something” |
| bain … amach | reach [a location], arrive at | |
| Bhain mé an scoil amach. | I arrived at the school. | |
| in amanna | sometimes | |
| uaireanta | sometimes | |
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From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 