Unlocking Ireland - thread uimhir a seacht!

[LifeInAHamsterWheel]

A shiny new thread for us all to talk pure shite whilst we wait for lockdown to end

@JaneJeffer

When I lived in England I had to remember to tell people to take something with them instead of bring it and lots of little things like that

I still get caught out with the press. When I'm on my game, it is of course the cupboard. Caught off gaurd, things are in the press. NOT. A. NOTION. HAVE. THEY. as to what the fuck I'm talking about.

What about A Stor? (Fada on the o which I can't do on my phone for some reason)

It's a term of affection - I loved it when growing up as we had a certain family that used to visit who would use it while chatting to us children.
It made me feel special.

Interesting about the various pronunciations. I've heard Gayl-ga and then how I pronounce it 'Gway-li-ga'. I think my pronunciation might be Connaght or Munster, but the former might be Leinster Irish. Donegal Irish is another language altogether lol. I remember dreading that we might get someone from Donegal in the orals! Our teacher had us warned.

@halfpasteleven

What about A Stor? (Fada on the o which I can't do on my phone for some reason)

It's a term of affection - I loved it when growing up as we had a certain family that used to visit who would use it while chatting to us children.
It made me feel special.

Yep! Grandmother used it!

A mhichín was my father's term of endearment for me. I think it means dear little girl?

He still actually calls me a mhichín to this day when he's saying goodbye on the phone!

Pressing the Alt Gr key at the same time as the o should give you the fada.

@Therewereroses

Pressing the Alt Gr key at the same time as the o should give you the fada.

Thanks! On my phone so no Alt Gr button!

Some of the pronunciations are here Therewereroses.

www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/Gaeilge

I'm from Munster and find Ulster Irish a bit scary too

Ah right, phones are annoying for fancy things like fadas!

@LizzieAnt

Some of the pronunciations are here Therewereroses.

www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/Gaeilge

I'm from Munster and find Ulster Irish a bit scary too

That's mental! It's definitely the Connaght way that I pronounce it.

How the fuck does Munster find an N sound at the end of Gaeilge?

A few months ago an ambulance crew were here as I was very unwell. They asked for a list of medications or where my medications were. Being doped out of it on said medications, I told them it was in the press. I think they thought I was hallucinating as I was rushed down to the ambulance, while trying to clarify that the medication was in the cupboard. Turns out I was actually quite unwell, but I wasn't hallucinating. Just forgot my p's and q's!

Oh dear, I hope you're feeling better now
I say press too and no doubt would in an emergency.

Gaeilge was spelt differently in Munster, with two n's at the end to reflect pronunciation - Gaelainn/ Gaolainn. An Caighdeán then standardised the spelling, but the pronunciation didn't change. The Connacht pronunciation is the one taught in most schools though, well, in Munster and presumably Connacht and Leinster at least. I'm not sure about Ulster.

Usually holding down the letter on the phone makes a selection of accented letters pop up...might depend on the phone though.

That's really interesting. Now that I think about it, we were told that if we were going to the Gaeltacht to go to Connemara as our oral examiners would likely be from there. I may be making this up, but I think you were given an extra 10% if you happened to get a Donegal examiner. They tried to give you an examiner from the dialect you learned. I wonder how the various dialects coped with the Irish aurals as I recall it being normal to my ear, so presumably Connaght Irish?

The Gaeltacht is so expensive! It's about 1200 for 2 or 3 weeks.

I'm not really much better thank you Lizzie for asking! I'm just on a lot of painkillers. I strongly suspect I have the dreaded long covid, though have never had covid that I know of. Certainly never tested positive for it. I think I might have had it before testing was prevalent. My lungs are fucked, I wake up dreaming I'm suffocating as my lungs are so congested. It takes a couple of hours to clear out mucous from nose/sinuses/lungs every day. I've unexplained pain in my ribs. All very strange. I think an element of my symptoms could be depression as I'm normally a social beast and this past year has not suited me at all. My sleeping pattern is crazy. Lost my job April last year due to covid. I'm going a bit mental to be honest so I'm not sure what I'm imagining and what I'm not!

Are you all sending your dc to the Gaeltacht when things open up?

Oh no, I'm very sorry you're not feeling well at the moment. That all sounds very challenging. I hope that you'll start feeling better very soon and that things will be back to normal before long.

My dc won't be at the Gaeltacht this year I'd say. They're still in primary and haven't been on any of the courses yet.

As far as I know the Irish aurals these days have bits of all three dialects...I can't remember what it was like when I did it, it seems so long ago now!

The gaeltacht really only comes into its own for the JC and LC. When they're teens and can enjoy it.

Thank you @LizzieAnt for the tip re the fadas! It works for me!

Go raibh míle maith agat

@Therewereroses

Are you all sending your dc to the Gaeltacht when things open up?

DD was supposed to go in 2020 but obviously that didn't happen. There'll be no point in sending her in 2022 because she'll have the Leaving Cert. done by then.

@Therewereroses

He still actually calls me a mhichín to this day when he's saying goodbye on the phone!

That's lovely. I'm sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well though and I hope you start to feel better soon. Sorry to hear about the loss of your job also. I loved the story about you telling the paramedics that your medication was in the press.

Sorry to hear you're so unwell roses. That sounds terrible.

Good morning! Another lovely sunny day, thanks be to God!

Don't forget to watch the new series of 'Reeling in the Years' later on and enjoy a blast of nostalgia from...2010, I think.

Welcome Therewereroses
I really hope you start feeling better soon.

@Therewereroses

I suppose the best translation of mardhea would be 'auspiciously'? Or 'according to herself' or something? I can't quite translate it properly and I've studied translation albeit of a different language to English. It's one of those words that doesn't translate well. *@mardhea* Come and explain it and prove to me that we weren't the only family in Ireland to use that expression (Galway/Mayo).

I missed the whole wee hours of the morning conversation about this!

Yep, it's a sarcastic, cynical interjection that fits my whole worldview very well It wasn't used loads in my house growing up but when it was, it was always on point - in reference to something a politician said (the money was just resting in my account), or a teenager's excuse for something (I need to stay at my friend's to do a homework project), etc.

I also think it fits very well with the Irish psyche and its tendency to be indirect plus its general mistrust of authority (thanks to centuries of colonisation, there). There's often the official story and then what really happened. Mar dhea is the indirect way of letting people know you might be mouthing the official version but of course it's not what really went on. 😉

@Therewereroses

Ah right, phones are annoying for fancy things like fadas!

On an iPhone, you just hold down the letter for a sec and all the diacritical version pop up above. Not sure if it's the same on Android.