Learn webs of meaning, not single words

If you’re anything like me, you might find it impossible to simply learn a list of words if you’re learning a language.

It’s like trying to store a stand-alone idea and trying to recall it in a vacuum of other ideas. But that’s not really how our memories work.

It’s much more fruitful to see learning as learning webs of meaning. One word can and often will have multiple meanings. Languages by their nature connect different ideas. Seeing those connections gives us a sense of the world view of the people speaking the language.

It’s why our In Irish site with phrases brings you to related phrases from any one phrase. Have a listen to the Irish language recordings there.

A word might span meanings too, from positive to negative connotations. It can be interesting to see how those meanings veer into the positive of the negative.

Words don’t stand alone either. The Irish language has countless turns of phrase. One root word can be involved in a web of phrases or metaphors, tying that word to other concepts.

Mear: Spirited, Confused, Dizzy

In a recent live practice session for An Ciorcal Beo members, we were talking about cooking and food preferences. One phrase that’s in the practice script is mearbhia:

Bia means food, and mear can mean fast, lively and spirited.

Think of the song Mo Ghile Mear (one of the songs in our course Sing in Irish). It can be translated to “my gallant darling”. Mear is being translated as “gallant” but you could substitute it for “lively” or “spirited”.

So suddenly you’re getting insight into the meaning of the word, plus the meaning of the song’s title.

The meaning of mear quickly veers toward the negative. It can mean hasty or rash. Mearbhia then is not just fast food but it’s hasty or impatient.

Mear can also mean mad or crazy. There’s a related phrase, ar nós mire. (In this case mear takes on its genitive form mire). The phrase means “crazily” or “really quickly”.

Ar mire means being really angry, for example:

The web of meaning keeps going. The Irish for jigsaw puzzle is míreanna mearaí. Have a listen:

Literally, the phrase means something like “pieces of confusion” or maybe even “maddening pieces”.

One last strand of this. Building on the root word mear, mearbhall means confusion:

Resources

A word or phrase might also have a long history of meaning, meandering in changing meaning over the centuries. eDIL is a resource to look up Irish words in historical dictionaries of Old and Middle Irish. It can be hard to decipher the entries, but they can give you an idea of past meanings of a word.

The Ó Dónaill Irish-English dictionary (on teanglann.ie) is also a good resource for looking up a particular Irish word, and getting a host of meanings and usages.

Follow your curiosity

So keep pulling at these webs of meaning. Connect one word and phrase to another as you’re extending your understanding of the Irish language. This is a good way to continue on your journey in the way of Gaeilge Gach Lá.

This means following your curiosity. Don’t worry if you don’t understand a word, just keep pulling the thread of meaning.

If you’re looking to start making these webs of meaning, check out our Irish course Gaeilge Gateway, and if you’re looking to use Irish every day, check out our Explore membership.

Does this help you on your Irish language journey? Comment below on how you use similar approaches for learning Irish.