Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig

A beginner’s Scottish Gaelic langblr main: @how-to-make-mistakes

[ezra-earith]

Scottish Gaelic

blàth

IPA: /pl̪ˠaː/

warm; tender, kind

From Old Irish bláith (“soft, smooth”), from Proto-Celtic *mlātis (“soft, tender”), *mlātos (“flour”), related to *meleti (“to grind, crush”).

Originally meant "ground soft".

Cognate with Welsh blawd (“flour, meal”).

WIKTIONARY

[gaelicwordofthesometimes]

Facle

Someone made a Gaelic version of Wordle!

Feuch gum faigh thu am facal.

[briosca-sa-speir]

[trickstertime]

This is so fucking funny

[trickstertime]

For non Irish speakers when translated it says “make a movie about black people they said” but in Irish putting a colour modifier when talking about a person/group of people it has a cultural meaning, some colours even have different words when talking about hair colour (like red). So in that vein, the word black (‘dubh’ pronounced ‘duv’) is associated with the devil and/or evil things and naturally it’s quite rude to describe someone as black in Irish so we call black people ’gorm’ (pronounced gurrum) which is actually blue. Frequently people claiming Irish heritage mess this up, most notably and hilariously is that cop who tried to make a ‘blue lives matter’ t-shirt and messed up every word single word in the translation except for the ‘blue’ modifier which made his stupid t-shirt actually say ‘black lives matter’.

All that to say that it translates as “make a movie about black people, they said” but directly translated it says “make a movie about blue people, they said”.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

[sirjuggles]

Give me more jokes requiring deep cultural knowledge!

[trickstertime]

OK, so in Irish there’s an old saying “Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin” (it sort of sounds like: ‘kneel ain tin-tawn mar duh tin-tawn fain’). It translates as “there’s no fireplace like your own fireplace”, as in ‘there’s no place like home’.

However the word for fireplace, thinteán (tin-tawn), is very similar in pronunciation to the words tinn tón (teen tone) and they sometimes get swapped out for comedic value or to low key make fun of someone complaining.

See, tinn tón means sore butt.

Which changes it from ’there’s no fireplace like your own fireplace’, a nice, relatable phrase that old people would smile at and agree with you about, to ‘there’s no sore arse like your own sore arse’, which, when deployed correctly, can be either a solemn commiseration with how it’s difficult for people to understand the deeper levels of the pain a person is feeling (you would have said it to the person who’s suffering in a sort of ‘here’s a silly joke to make you smile but also show I understand how little I understand of your pain. Plus we’re Irish and find it hard to show emotion without slagging so I’m pretending to make fun of you complaining but, really, we both know that the fact that I’m doing it in this way shows I care a lot), OR a jab at someone who’s going on and on complaining about some minor shit and you say it quietly to someone beside you who’s also been listening to this gobshite prattering on in the hopes that you can make them burst out laughing.

[duine-aiteach]

[ID: A screenshot from the movie Avatar containing two Na'vi people, who have blue skin. It is captioned with the Irish words “Scannán faoi dhaoine gorma / dúirt siad”. End ID]

(ID by @whatuegg)

[ceol-mor]

Tha ceist agam/Grammar question!

This is a very basic thing, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get much clarity with the resources available.

I’m making a table with the most common forms of the copula is, and I’m struggling to fill some of the spaces (neither am I completely certain about the others):

It could be that certain forms are simply lacking altogether, but maybe I just didn’t manage to find examples because of how few texts in Gaelic are used by online dictionaries and machine translators.

In short, I’m quite confused and will be extremely grateful for any help!

[ceol-mor]

@prinseparadox Oh, I see now! Thank you for correcting me on bhithidh and a bhios and giving such a thorough explanation with so many examples! Mòran taing :)

[ceol-mor]

Tha ceist agam/Grammar question!

This is a very basic thing, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get much clarity with the resources available.

I’m making a table with the most common forms of the copula is, and I’m struggling to fill some of the spaces (neither am I completely certain about the others):

It could be that certain forms are simply lacking altogether, but maybe I just didn’t manage to find examples because of how few texts in Gaelic are used by online dictionaries and machine translators.

In short, I’m quite confused and will be extremely grateful for any help!

[ceol-mor]

Days of the Week, Months & Seasons in Gaelic

Diluan* — Monday

Dimairt*— Tuesday

Diciadain — Wednesday

Diardaoin — Thursday

Dihaoine* — Friday

Disathairne (also, rare: Disathurna)* — Saturday

Latha na Sabaid/Didomhnaich**— Sunday

seachdain (f) — week

an t-seachdain seo — this week

an t-seachdain seo chaidh — last week

an t-earrach — spring

an samhradh — summer

am foghar — autumn

an geamhradh — winter

mìos (m) — month

am mìos seo — this month

am mìos seo chaidh — last month

Am Faoilleach (m) — January

An Gearran (m) — February

Am Mart (m) — March

An Giplean (f) — April

An Cèitean (f) — May

An t-Ògmhios (m) — June

An t-Iuchar (m) — July

Lunasdal (m) — August

An t-Sultain (f) — September

Dàmhar (m) — October

An t-Samhain (f) — November

An Dùbhlachd (m) — December

bliadhna (f) — year

am-bliadhna — this year

___

*Many weekday names break Gaelic's golden spelling rule (broad with broad, slender with slender), as they used to be written as composite words joined by a hyphen: Di-luain, Di-màirt.

**Didòmhnaich (lit.: the Lord's Day) is traditionally used in many predominately Catholic and Episcopalian communities, such as Barra, Eriskay, and South Uist, whereas latha na Sàbaid (lit.: the Sabbath Day) is used in many Presbyterian areas, such as Lewis and Harris. Nowadays, however, this distinction does not affect much and both words are equally common.

[cuanbog]

#100daysoflanguages (gaelic)

day one, learn ten new words 

sgian, knife

leabhar, book

sugh, juice

uachdar, cream

deasg, desk

garradh, garden

donn, brown

orains, orange

laghach, pleasant

leanabh, baby

(i learned a whole bunch of new words today so!!)

[meichenxi]

Beginners’ Gaelic resources

My mother’s family are native Gaelic speakers (Scottish Gaelic, not Irish), and the family that lives on the Western Isles still speaks Gaelic with their children. Many of my cousins are native bilingual speakers, but I grew up in England and was divorced from all of that. I tried to learn Gaelic as a child, but my grandparents actively discouraged it and eventually I stopped. 

A while ago it occurred to me: how is it I am learning Chinese when I can’t even speak their language? Or Welsh, or any of the languages of the UK? How can I think about language endangerment in other countries when I can’t speak Gaelic, as someone with half of their family from the islands? It seems bizarre when you frame it in those terms. 

Throughout the last few months Gaelic has been a casual on-again off-again project for rainy days, when Chinese gets too onerous. I’m keeping it light and fun, because I know I’ll be here for the long ride. Here are some of the resources I’ve been using:

1) Learn Gaelic with Jason: https://gaelicwithjason.thinkific.com - Jason is an American who developed an interest in Gaelic from a young age, with a degree from Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye. This course is paid, but it’s one of the best things I’ve found - not just for Gaelic, but for *any* language. It’s a series of complete immersive videos about 20-30 minutes long requiring no prior knowledge, building on each other. Jason really understands the idea of comprehensible input, and I could learn a lot from him as a teacher. He also hosts the lessons in a yurt, is a terrible drawer, and wears a torque. Cool guy. 

You can check out his videos for free here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVX7RajLZmm8i7LEuli05tw

Jason also has an intermediate course where he teaches Gaelic through folk tales from Scotland and Ireland which I will definitely use once I get there. It’s a wonderful way into stories I heard as a kid and have partly forgotten. 

2) Jason’s graded readers: Yes I love this man. He is a god. I’m not going to link to Amazon, but he has two graded readers and working on more. This is my favourite method of learning: of just opening a book and going ‘That..looks like…a verb?’ Very repetitive language, very high frequency, with an absolutely excellent glossary at the back - plus you get to read some lovely folk-tales. I’ve learnt so much from the one I have. 

3) https://learngaelic.scot : this is one of the best websites there is. It is a modern, well-designed accumulation of Stuff - it has flashcards, links to the old BBC Alba video series (highly recommended), grammar explanations, audio, more flashcards. And also tips for each level. They also have a YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqZrsYGwxA0g1KA3nKB6Y_A

4) Speaking Our Language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxeyZABaHeI&list=PLX1DGbPK9r2HHyLN062V_ASbIh3xXpyvb - This is a great playlist, very nicely old-fashioned, of Gaelic spoken in context for beginners. 

5) Learn Gaelic dictionary: https://learngaelic.scot/dictionary/index.jsp - This has sound, which is crucial

6) Beag air Bheag podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/34wGOU9sDTE7Vzg0qMexfv?si=2dF4YuqNQy6vdEL_smON4g&dl_branch=1 - Look. I understand none of this. But it’s an amazing podcast for intermediate learners, and I enjoy getting the occasional ‘agus’, ‘sin ceart’ and ‘ooooooo thaaaaaaaaa’. It’s nice to hear different accents and other learners too. 

7) GLOSSIKA!!!!!! I know what you’re thinking but - and it’s a big but - Glossika is free for certain small languages, and Gaelic is one of them!!! I’d really really recommend it, but best probably after the first 200 or so words to get the most from it. Basically it’s spaced repetition listening, and spoken importantly at a normal pace. Use glossika. 

(Also, for other languages, the free PDFs with standard IPA is available, uhh….quite easily…if you look..)

If anyone has any other resources you’d recommend for beginner level, let me know!! At the moment I’m more than preoccupied with Jason’s course and book, and Wiki as ever has all the grammar I need. For vocabulary, I’m not using Anki or anything specific yet, just memorising as I go along. It’s all very chill, and we’ll see how it goes. 

I…don’t know how to say 加油 in Gaelic. But. You get the picture.

- meichenxi out.

[catgriosaich]

mise nuair a thoisich mi a’ bhlog seo: tha mi ag ionnsachadh gàidhlig agus cuimris agus sin e. chan eil mi ag iarraidh ionnsachadh càil eile

mise a-nis: hmmm uill tha còrnais coltach ri cuimris gu mòr, agus bu chòir dhomh cleachd fraingis agus gearmaltais a-rithist, tha sin dìreach a’ dèanamh ciall, agus ‘s dòcha gum bi mi ionnsaich beagan ruisis no arabais cuideachd, tha iadsan inntinneach,,

[watches-and-windchimes]

One of my favourite linguistic things is looking at the ways different cultures classify colour.

In my research, I have found four words which convey "light" or "white" in Irish, depending on context - "bán" is the colour of fair skin and frost, "liath" is more of a light grey hair (but grey animal fur is "glas"), "fionn" is the warm brightness of sunlight and light blonde hair, and "geal" is more of a clean whiteness of teeth and snow.

A lot of the other colours have similar nuance - "glas" and "gorm" both convey blues, greens and grey, with varying intensity rather than hue. Then there's "uaine" which people tend to define as being more vivid or artificial greens

Similarly, "dearg" and "rua" both mean red - but the former is for brighter reds like blood androses, and the latter is the earthy red of hair and rust

An extra note on skin and hair: generally in Celtic languages, when we call someone a colour, we mean hair not skin. "Tá sí donn" (literally "she is brown") means that she has brown hair, not brown skin. This is presumably because, for a long time, most people speaking these languages would've been white, and therefore distinguishing people by hair colour would've made more sense. If you want to specifically refer to black skin, the word used is "gorm" which generally means blue.

Tl;dr - colour is really complicated

Some sources:

https://www.bitesize.irish/blog/color-me-irish/

[ceol-mor]

Body parts in Gaelic

corp (m) — body

gualann (f) — shoulder

gàirdean (m) — arm

làmh (f) — hand

cas (f) — leg, foot

broilleach (m) — chest

balg (m) — belly

druim (m) — back

bràigh (m) — neck, throat

ceann (m) — head

aodann (m) — face

cluas (f) — ear

sùil (f) — eye

sròn (f) — nose

beul (m) — mouth

teanga (f) — tongue

falt (m) — hair

liath — grey (hair)

ruadh — ginger, red (hair)

bànfair — light, blonde (hair)

àrd — tall

goirid — short

caol — thin

reamhar — plump, fat

glan — clean

salach — dirty

bòidheach — beautiful, pretty

grànda — ugly, horrible

fallain — healthy

goirt — sore

tinn — ill, sick

maol — bald

[catgriosaich]

halò a’ chàirdean! ‘s mise lucian agus tha mi ag ionnsachadh gàidhlig agus cuimris. tha mi nam thoisichear sa chuimris ach tha mi air ionnsachadh beagan gàidhlig aig an oilthigh. tha beurla, beagan fraingis agus beagan gearmailtis agam cuideachd, ach bidh mi a’ bruidhinn gàidhlig air a’ bhlog seo gu meud mo chomais.

ma ‘s e blogair na cànain a th’annad agus ma tha thu a’ postachadh sa ghàidhlig, mu dhèidhinn gàidhlig, sa chuimris, no mu dhèidhinn cuimris, roinn am brath-bloga seo agus seallaidh mi air a’ bhlog agad. mòran taing! 💙

hello friends! i’m lucian, and i’m learning gaelic and welsh. i’m a beginner in welsh but i’ve done a bit of gaelic at uni. i also speak english and a little bit of german and french, but i’ll be speaking gaelic on this blog to the best of my ability.

if you’re a langblr who posts in or about gaelic or welsh, reblog this post and i’ll take a look at your blog. thanks! 💙

[ceol-mor]

Colours in Scottish Gaelic

dath (m) — colour

dorcha — dark

ban — fair

dubh — black

geal— white

dearg — red

buidhe — yellow

uaine — green

gorm — blue, dark blue, natural green

liath — light blue, grey

glas — grey

donn — brown

orains — orange

purpaidh — purple

pinc — pink

[mali-umkin]

Let my language die with dignity

This essay has been brewing for many years.

"Gaelic as a living community language is dying. The illness is terminal. Gaelic as a language may survive, but Gaelic as a key to an entire culture, a way of being, an approach to life, a lens through which the world is seen: that is not going to make it."

[ceol-mor]

Family vocabulary in Scottish Gaelic

teaghlach (m) — family

pàrant (m) — parent

màthair (f) — mother

athair (m) — father

pàiste (m) — child

clann (f) — children, offspring

leanabh (m) — baby

nighean (f) — daughter

mac (m) — son

piuthar (f) — sister

bràthair (m) — brother

piuthar/bràthair leth-aon — twin sister/brother

duine (m) — man/husband (when possession is indicated: “an duine agam”)

bean (f) — wife

seanair (m) — grandfather

seanmhair (f) — grandmother

uncail (m) — uncle

antaidh (f) — aunt

mac-peathar (m)/mac-bràthair (m) — sororal/fraternal nephew

nighean-peathar (f)/nighean-bràthair (f) — sororal/fraternal niece

co-ogha (m) — first cousin

[ceol-mor]

Weather vocabulary in Scottish Gaelic

sìde (f)/aimsir (f) — weather

Cò ris a tha an t-sìde coltach (an-dràsta/a-nis/an-diugh)? — What is the weather like (at the moment/now/today)?

Tha i... (a-muigh) — It is... (outside)

fuar — cold

blàth — warm

teth — hot

fliuch — wet

gaothah — windy

sgòthach — cloudy

ceòthach — foggy

grianach — sunny

dorcha — dark

briagha — lovely

grànda — horrible

garbh — rough

Tha... ann — There is...

an t-iusge — rain (“the water”)

sneachd — snow

reòthadh — frost

tàirneanaich — thunder

dealanaich — lightning

[thelanguagecommunity]

this post is meant to be a directory of every resource I come across for Scottish Gaelic. It will be a continuous work in progress so thank you for your patience! also, please let me know if any of the links suddenly stop working.

courses

learngaelic

memrise

taic.me.uk [downloadable pdfs!]

dictionaries

a pretty big glossary

megapost of dictionaries

grammar

adjectives

articles

articles: forms

articles: nouns beginning with B,P,F,M

articles: nouns beginning with C,G

articles: nouns beginning with s

articles: nouns with initial vowel

articles: nouns in s followed by l, n, r or a vowel

articles: nouns with an article 

denoting possession

personal pronouns

possessive pronouns

syntax

literature

gutenberg - virtual library

poetry

songs

spiritual poems

news

bbc

pronunciation

consonant sounds

vowel sounds

quizzes & exercises

vocabulary games

radio

bbc

tumblrs

@ambi-alba

@sgribhisg

verbs

dependent form of the verb “bi”

verb forms

vocabulary

wiki phrasebook

swadesh list

[ayeforscotland]

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