Grammar

Place names in Irish often differ from the English versions. You probably know that BaileÁtha Cliath (blaw* KLEE-uh) is the Irish name of the capital of Ireland. Most other place names in Irish are not so much longer than the English form, however. We will start withÉire (AY-re), meaning "Ireland." Make sure that you give proper length to the first vowel in the word, or it will sound like (E-ruh), which would be a different word entirely.

In the possessive case, "Éire" becomes "na hÉireann" (nuh HAY*R-uhn), again with a long "É" vowel. Learn these examples:

Poblacht na hÉireann (POH-blahk*t nuh HAY*R-uhn), the Republic of Ireland.

Banc na hÉireann (bahnk), the Bank of Ireland.

Muintir na hÉireann (MWIN-teer), the people of Ireland, or the Irish people.

In these examples, the word "na" means "the", and when used in this way tells you to put the word "the" first in the translation. Irish puts "an" in front of many place and country names. For example, France is "an Fhrainc" (un RAHNK). The Bank of France is "Banc na Fraince", with an "e" added to "Frainc" to show the possessive case.

Most Irish nouns keep their basic form when they follow prepositions like "ag, ar, le". A few change, however, and "Éire" is one of these. "In Ireland" is "inÉirinn" (in AY*R-in). "To Ireland" is "chuigÉirinn" (hig AY*R-in) or "go hÉirinn" (goh AY*R-in). The word "go", meaning "to", causes an "h" to go before a word beginning with a vowel.

Ireland has four provinces or "cúigí" (KOO-ig-ee). These are:

Cúige Connacht (KOO-ig-e KOHN-uhk*t), Connaught

Cúige Mumhan (KOO-ig-e MOO-uhn), Munster

Cúige Uladh (U-luh), Ulster

Cúige Laighean (LEYE-uhn), Leinster

Munster is sometimes called "an Mhumhain" (un VOO-in), and "in Munster" is "sa Mhumhain" (suh VOO-in). "In Connaught" can be "i gConnachta" (i GOHN-uhk*t-uh).

To say that you come from one of the provinces: "IsóChúige ___________ mé" (is oh K*OO-ig-e __________ may*).

For the United States of America, you can say "na Stáit" (nuh STAW*-it), the States, or "Stáit Aontaithe Meiriceá" (STAW*-it AY*N-tuh-he MER-i-kaw*), United States of America.

In a few weeks, we will take up names of towns and geographical features, so that you will be able to understand some of the Irish place names and begin to use Irish names wherever possible.

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Translation of sentences at the end of Lesson 50	\|	Vocabulary

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