VOCABULARY

To make conversation easier, you need words that reduce or increase the force of adjectives. For example, it helps to be able to say that something is "fairly good" or that weather is "very cold".

One way to do this is by addition of a prefix. "An - " (ahn) means "very". It aspirates all consonants except "d, t, s". Examples:

an-bheag (AHN-vyuhg), very small

an-chiúin (AHN-HYOO-in), very quiet

an-deas (AHN-dyas), very pretty

an-tirim (AHN-TIR-im), very dry

an-saibhir (AHN-SEYE-vir), very rich

"Ró" (roh) means "too". It aspirates all consonants. Examples:

róbhaolach (roh-VWAY*-luhk*), too dangerous

róchaol (roh-K*AY*L), too narrow

ródheacair (roh-YAK-ir), too difficult

róthirim (roh-HIR-im), too dry

Separate words:

cuíosach (KWEE-sahk*), fairly

cineál (KIN-aw*l), somewhat

réasúnta (ray*-SOON-tuh), fairly, reasonably

____ go hiomlán (goh HUM-law*n), quite, entirely

measartha (MAS-uhr-huh), fairly, moderately

____ ar fad (er FAHD), quite, entirely

There are other and longer expressions for some of these meanings that are in better style and are more Irish, but they are more difficult, and we will not take them up here. An example is "Is beag nach bhfuil mémarbh", meaning, "I am almost dead", literally "It is little that I am not dead".

COMHRÁ(KOH-raw*)

Pádraig:Dia dhuit, a Liam. Hello, William.

Liam:Dia's Muire dhuit, a Phádraig. Conas tátúinniú? Hello, Patrick. How are you today?

Pádraig:Ó, táim cuíosach maith. Conas tátúféin? Oh, I'm fairly well. How are you?

Liam:Beagnach marbh leis an obair. Agus táan aimsir an-te (AHN-te). Nearly dead with the work. And the weather's very hot.

Pádraig:Ach níl sérothirim, ar aon chuma (er AY*N K*U-muh). But it's not too dry, anyway.

Liam:Bhísécineál tais (KIN-aw*l tash) inné. It was somewhat damp yesterday.

Pádraig:Tais ar fad. Beidh (be) sémeasartha fuar i gceann tamaill. Quite damp. It will be fairly cold in a while.

Liam:Táorainn bheith (ve) an-churamach in aimsir mar sin. We must be very careful in weather like that.

Pádraig:Táan ceart (kyart) agat. Bhían-slaghdán (AHN-sleye-DAW*N) orm ag an am seo anuraidh (eg un oum shuh uh-NOOR-ee). You are right. I had a terrible cold this time last year.

Note:"An - " can precede a noun, too, and give it an intensified meaning. "An-slaghdán" means an outstanding or bad cold. "An-scoláire" (AHN-skuh-LAW*-re) is an outstanding or excellent student.

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Irish Lesson 74	\|	Irish Lesson 75

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