Q&A le Siobhán – 20 February 2020

February’s Live Q&A with Siobhán from Bitesize Irish took place on Thursday, 20 February at 20:00 (Irish time). Watch it above!

• Three words for zero in Irish: náid, neamhní, and nialas. Náid can be heard widely, neamhní is usually used in Ulster Irish and nialas is much less common.
• Aríst is a form of arís, which means again, heard in the Cois Fharraige dialect. Cois Fharraige is an area in Conamara. You might recognise the following towns and villages that are within Cois Fharraige: Bearna, na Forbacha, an Spidéal, Indreabhán, An Tulach and Ros an Mhíl. Cois Fharraige means ‘by the sea’.
• The Irish word for today, inniu, is said as /in-yuv/ is found in the Munster dialect.
• Féin, which means self, may be pronounced as /hayn/ in any of the dialects.
• Dia duit (Hello) is still widely used. It is seen as many as being formal nowadays. Many skip it and use “How are you?” as a greeting. This is also found in Hiberno-English.
• Terms of respect: A dhuine uasail (Sir) and A bhean chóir (Madam) are sometimes used in writing but can sometimes be heard in spoken Irish, too. A chara (friend) is more common in writing and in spoken Irish, it’s even used in government correspondence. A chomrádaí (comrade) is also used occasionally as a form of address among friends and acquaintances, similar to mate in British English.
• There are lots of communities online and perhaps there is an Irish group near you. There might be the occasional pop-up Gaeltacht in a not too far off pub. Try out the Irish Language Forum. As a part of the Bitesize membership, Bitesize Pobal, which means community, also offers a way for learners to network with each other.
• If you want to focus on Conamara Irish, Bitesize Irish offers a foundation and offers advice on where to find immersion courses. If you live in Conamara, get in touch locally as that way you can learn the Irish dialect that is peculiar to your specific area.
• Find out what every word sounds like: Irish Language synthesiser Abair