Béarla
/Bayr-la/
The English Language
Tá Béarla agam.
/Taw Bayr-la a-gum/
I speak English.
Literally, I have English or there is English at me.
Sasanach
/Soss-a-nukh/
An English person
Is Sasanach é.
/Iss Soss-a-nukh ey/
He is English, he is an Englishman
(For Bitesize Irish members, see Lesson: Introducing people)
na Sasanaigh
/na Soss-a-nee/ or /na Soss-a-nig/
The English people
(For Bitesize Irish members, see Lesson: Countries and Nationalities)
cupán Sasanach
/kup-awn Soss-a-nukh/
An English cup
An cupán Sasanach é?
/On kup-awn Soss-a-nukh ey/
Is it an English cup?
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The example at the end of the video, it doesn’t appear to have an Irish question form. An cupán sasanach é? Is the question form implied by tone of voice?
Hi Robert,
This is the question form of An Chopail.
The copula, or an chopail, is how we say something is something else in Irish.
Is cupán sasanach é = It is an english cup
An cupán sasanach é? = is it an english cup?
We use this, rather than the verb to be (bí) when describing a permanent state of being.
It’s quite a complex grammatical concept and I don’t know any other languages that have it (although I’m sure they do!)
Gabrielle