Languages: Irish, A Primer

A Hitchhiker of a certain region probably has all of the tools he would need: his towel, a satchel, a notebook, pens, camera, and so on... Yet, a cosmopolitan [1] hitchhiker would need one other tool: the language of the region he is visiting!

Here is a quick introduction to the Irish [2] language, in case you are ever in Ireland. Note: yes, I know a little bit about it. I spent two summers learning as much as I could, so this is from experience. Still, I may have made mistakes. If I did, email me and make me correct it!

This is presented in some dialogues, English first, Irish second.

The sequence \' followed by a letter means read the letter as if it had an acute accent over it.

English

Dick

Hello!

Jane

God and Mary with you! How are you today?

Dick

Very good, thank you. And you?

Jane

Good, thank you.

Irish

Dick

Dia dhuit! (Jee-ah ghwich!)

Jane

Dia's Muire duit! Conas t\'a t\'u? (Jee-ahs mwir-rah ghwich! kun-us taw too?)

Dick

T\'a m\'e go maith, go raibh maith agat. Agus t\'u? (Taw me guh muh, guh row moyh ah-gut. Aw-gus too?)

Jane

Go bre\'a, go raibh maith agat. (Guh bree-ah, guh row moyh ah-gut.)

English

Dick

Hello! What is your name?

Mary

My name is Mary.

Dick

I'm pleased to meet you!

Irish

Dick

Dia dhuit! Cad is ainm duit? (Jee-ah ghwich! kad iss an-im ghwich?)

Mark

Muire is ainm dom. (Mwir-rah iss an-im dum.)

Dick

T\'a \'athas orm bualadh leat! (Taw ah-has orm buh-lah lyat!)

English

  Dick:  I'm hungry!
  Dick:  I'm thirsty!
  Dick:  I'm tired!
  Dick:  I'm...
  Mary smacks Dick.
  Dick:  Owww...  I'm sorry, Mary.

Irish

  Dick:  T\'a ocras orm!  _(Taw o-kras urm!)_
  Dick:  T\'a tart orm!  _(Taw tart urm!)_
  Dick:  T\'a tuirse orm!  _(Taw toor-sah urm!)_
  Dick:  T\'a...  _(Taw...)_
  Boiseogann s\'e Dick.
  Dick:  Ouwww... T\'a br\'on orm, Muire.  _(Ouwww... Taw brun urm!)_

Now, you should have a few basic phrases and should be able to survive in most cases in Ireland among the Irish. Oh, another note: most of the Irish nowadays only speak English but, thankfully, there are at least a half-million people out there either speaking it or learning it right now. Support the Irish language!

See also

• Ireland, Earth
  /articles/2R88.html