h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay then so could one of you two explain how exactly you pronounce that lot?

These doo hickeys "áíéóú" are called Fáda's,they simply lenghthen the sound of the letter they're over.eg,á=auuu.ú=oooh

Cén=kane
Fáth=faahh
Nach=knock
Raibh=rev
Gaeilge=go-ale-ge
án=on
seo=shu

Easy peazy lemon squezzey

Oh yeah no sweat...

So, to nag you a bi more about this simple little sentence - is 'c' always pronounced like a 'k'? Is 'th' always pronounced like a 'h'? And what's the deal with the 's'?

If I remember correctly, a letter can change its sound when the word is connected to another one, or something like that, right? (If it's right that's actually quite interesting, as Hebrew has a similar phenomenon! )

"s" well its usually Sh
"C" is pronouced like a "k"
"th" is pronounced usually pronounced "he"

If there is question being asked with the word Án,then an Úru is added on to the following word,this is a bit difficult so I might wait abit before I beging to explain the intricitys of the 8 irish tenses and how to asks questions.

*Waits*

*looks nervous*

Right lets start with the basics.

seá=yes -sha
níl=no -neil

May I humbly point out that there is no term Scottish Gaeilge.
I think it's either Scottish Gaelic like Irish Gaelic, etc or Gàidhlig.

Tapadh leibh. Tioraidh.

*nods*

Do you speak Gaelic then?

yeah, I speak a little Scottish Gaelic, and had my daft surprises with Irish.

Are you from Scotland or Ireland?

A'mnae Irish. I like having a pint o'Guiness though.

I don't speak any Gaelic, but I'd like to learn some of my family is from the Hebridies you see.

there are some nice resources around. BBC has a new program for learners. Other websites are available for free too. I may look some up for you if you wish.

Ooh yes that would be great thank you.


Thanks

Andromeda

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/colinandcumberland/
http://www.taic.btinternet.co.uk/

Thank you!!!

That's very helpful.

's e beatha - you're welcome.

Ah, my question is answered - I recognised Gaelic but wasn't sure if it was the Scots or Irish kind being spoken.

I've encountered Scots Highlanders who are snobby and sniffy at any idea that their language has anything to do with the people on the island next door, which surprises me; I'm not sure if this could be an ethnic thing, or a hangover of older attitudes all British people - including Scots - were taught to have against the Irish. (ie -the received prejudice which a lot of older Brits still have, and apologies, this IS in inverted commas, "they're a bunch of feckless drunken workshy Paddies who aren't QUITE as human as you or me". Maybe it's the religion thing too, a largely Prot Scotland looking down on a largely Catholic Ireland and considering, as Prots from those parts did and still do, that their superior religion places them on a pedastal WAY above the deluded Romanists?

Either way, people with that mind-set would refuse to believe they share a common language with a people they think are not their intellectual or social equals. You wonder if this lingers on? But I have seen a Scottish Gaelic speaker express real offence at having his language associated with Irish Gaelic, which really did surprise me.

Also, J.R.R. Tolkein, in his professional capacity as philologist and language professor, considered Gaelic to be an "ugly tongue" spoken, by implicit extention, by ugly people - Tolkein is on record as considering whether to base the languages of Orcs and Trolls on Gaelic, which I thought was a bit of an insult and which might also have its roots in anti-Irish racism - Tolkien instinctively likening the Irish to orcs and goblins sounds like the kind of attitude people would have had fifty odd years ago!

Here is a tip to make a scottish man your most hated enemy... Tell him that Cúculainn is an Irish hero that the 'Scots of the Glens' brought from ulster to Pictland. God that get's their spurrans in a knot, incedently the Irish word Spurán means 'purse'

As to Tolkien, alot of war time people didn't like the Irish because of being neutral, Churchill didn't help matters of course, so it's excusable.

We're an easy goin' race after all.

Strangely, Tolkien loved Welsh, and used it as a basis for one of his Elvish tongues. To an uneducated ear, the sound differences between Welsh and Irish are miniscule.

Irish is actually a very beautiful language, and I rather wish I'd put more effort into learning it while I was in school. (I'm concentrating on ISL now, and then I want to de-rust my French, but I might try reviving my Irish again after that.)

TRiG.