Irish Language
The Gaelic language is divided into two distinct varieties:
Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic is more
commonly just called "Irish". It is a Celtic language that
is part of the Indo-European language family.
Written Irish was based at first on Latin orthography and
British pronunciation, which makes ancient texts difficult
to decipher. Viking invasions in 8th century
Ireland left their mark on Irish vocabulary by introducing
Scandinavian words that refer to navigation and urban life.
Up until the 17th century, the Irish language
was spoken by the entire population of Ireland. It was
predicted that Irish would become extinct in the 19th
century due to the influence of English. However, the
language experienced a resurgence after the formation of the
Irish Free State in 1921. A standard written form of the
Irish language was implemented in 1945.
Today, about 500,000 people speak Irish, which adds up to
about one-seventh of the population of the Republic of
Ireland. Irish Gaelic is the official language of Ireland,
but it has been overtaken by English as the primary spoken
language. Because of this, the government has instigated
revival programs instigated. The Irish language is now
taught in all of the schools in Ireland. Dialects of Irish
are prominent in the following areas: Munster, Connacht,
Donegal, Leinster, and Ulster.
The Irish alphabet has only 18 letters, as compared to
the 26 in English. The remaining letters, such as "j" and
"z," may be used in loanwords from other languages, but are
not used in native Irish vocabulary words.
English words of Gaelic origin include bard, glen,
bog, whiskey, shamrock, and
galore.
When you're learning Irish vocabulary, watch out for
false cognates. These are vocabulary words that resemble
English words but have a very different meaning. If you are
learning to speak Irish and you ask someone for a bean,
you may be surprised to find out you requested a woman!
The phrase "Have no fear!" might get you in trouble,
fear means man! If you tell someone they are
bád, you're calling them a boat!
Unlike English, Irish nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and
articles have a gender assigned to them. To complicate
matters, the gender of Irish nouns does not always seem
logical. For example, cailín (girl) is a masculine
noun, whereas bean (woman) is a feminine noun.
Learning Irish pronunciation can be tricky for English
speakers because the words are not pronounced phonetically.
Some words are particularly baffling. Teamhair (hill)
is pronounced "t'yower"; niamh (brilliance) is
pronounced "nee-av"; and suidhe (sit) is pronounced
"see."
Regular practice is necessary to learn to speak Irish
well. That's one reason why good
Irish software programs can be so useful for Irish
language learning. It's easier than ever to learn Irish and
to begin to speak Irish with the language resources and
Irish language software from Transparent Language. With
IrishNow!,
Before You Know It, and
our other language learning products, you will speak Irish,
learn Irish vocabulary, conjugate Irish verbs, understand
Irish grammar, and master Irish pronunciation quickly. Best
of luck with your Irish language learning!
Weather
Reports
Visit our Web Directory:
One Click Ireland Web
Directory
|
