I did see that haha - it sounded like a right ordeal Aran!
You have such a choice of languages to swear in - luckily I donât do Twitter. Swear Something in Manx seems appropriate for Irish Sea crossing problemsâŚ
I feel Irish Ferries could benefit from sponsoring Welsh - Irish and other Celtic connections⌠I remember it was Brittany Ferries who sponsored musical events and recordings bringing Breton musicians together with the Chieftains decades ago. Sadly, I have not been a great traveller but if I were one of those or ever become one I think Iâd be impressed by a language aware travel business/company.
⌠if the wrath of Aran ever passes from themâŚ
Speaking from a point of ignorance, I must say that after learning Welsh some of the mutated(?) Irish letters now make sense. Iâm thinking of the bh in Siobhan. OK, you are going to say âItâs not a mutationâ or something
Iâm thinking of lobbying Brittany Ferries to come and take over the Dublin-Caergybi routeâŚ
Yeah, keep it in the Brythonic family.
Just while you mentioned the subject, the part of Irish mutation I struggle with but find interesting (and which is different to Welsh and Scottish Gaelic) is âeclipsisâ where the modified letter is placed before the original, which stays there.
For example: Welsh goes cath -> gath, but in Irish you get naoi gcat for nine cats (the original âcâ stays there and the âgâ goes on the front).
When a word begins with a capital letter and is mutated in this way, you can then end up with a lower first letter of the word and a capital second letter of the word, e.g. i nGaillimh (in Galway).
gCuriouser and gcuriouserâŚ
Ah! Thanks for this! Iâd seen the lower-case initial followed by upper-case letter before and wondered how that came about. Youâve made it all clear for me now.
Irish I am trying to reactivate in my head right now (challenged by a beginners course online Irish 102)
Irish: Is /TĂĄ - Welsh : Mae - English : âŚis, there isâŚ
Irish: NĂ/NĂl - Welsh : Does - English : (there) isnât
Irish An/An bhfuil - Welsh - Oes/Ydy English : Is (there)�
Irish Nach/Nach bhfuil - Welsh ? English : Isnât (there)âŚ?
That last line looks wrong for me in the Irish and the Welsh. And the single word affirmative or negative responses are not clear in my ceann/pen wedi cawlio eitherâŚ
As for adding question words into this lot⌠I have got a lot to get straight in my flipping from Irish to Welsh when I get to Llanrannog and want to avoid speaking Saesneg as much as possâŚ
Any ideas for getting these things straight in my mind/head/pronunciation apparatus/synapses?
I guess just go with the flow when you get there. You will probably just snap over to the language after acclimatising.
Reassurance much appreciated, thanks, John.
Iâm late to this, but Iâd like to say Iâd also be interested in a Gaeilge or a GĂ idhlig course after I finish the Welsh. I did the Duolingo Irish course a couple of times through, but it doesnât really prepare you for listening/speaking.
I went Missing In Action a bit there, sorry for late reply. Yes, JD, I am edging back towards balancing my Irish and Welsh listening, learning, etc.
I found exactly the same that although Duolingo gave me some exciting access to adult words which I could start to pick out as isolated examples in news broadcasts, my ear never became attuned to either varied accents (because I was not properly familiar with the patterns, constructions and common phrases, nor could I learn from reading because Duolingo is just a starter, and as for speaking - Duolingo out of sight, Irish words out of mind!
Welcome back. Did you know that Now Youâre Talking also had Irish episodes? I stumbled across them again yesterday, actually.
Yep! Done âem all, and although I got further through them with Irish than with GĂ idhlig (Speaking Our Language - similar style or same stable?) or Cymraeg NYT - I am only talking Welsh because of SSiW!
Having said that, most courses bring something, but I wish there were a post SSi directorâs cut version of them, in some places!
However, as a keen student of costume and scene-setting artefact (in another life Iâd do great dramas and films) all three courses are a great time warp experience. Trouble is, I get accustomed to the prices quoted, and fail to look critically at what I am wearing before leaving the house, and then I feel the shame of the programmesâ deepest impact - time travel & nostalgia!
Sadly I am talking, but not in Irish⌠The accents there are good - suit my Ulster adoptive origins, but the same author moved on to Gaeilge Gan Stró which is good but bores me to tears. and being 2Rs prioritising or 4-aspects equal, is putting the cart before the horse, which is what SSi avoids/remedies. I found a single lesson of Manx did more to help my Irish, so now I am trying to link any revision of SSi Welsh with activating or seeking out gaps in my Irish, reactivating my French, German and even BSL if I can achieve that.
OhâŚthey can keep their Derry Air because the Air na Aran is more blue