[m a d r a]

is mé an síorsoirbhíoch!

[ThinkInsane]

What the hell kind of stupid language is that?

[m a d r a]

don't ask me. i just dropped sommit on the keyboard!

[ThinkInsane]

I wish I could still remember a bit more. It's been far to long, for sure. It's hell getting old, I tell ya.

[m a d r a]

tá a fhios agam! - tá an mheánaois ar mise féin fréisin

[jcadam]

That ancient language is dead. Get over it and speak English

[m a d r a]

Originally Posted by jcadam

That ancient language is dead. Get over it and speak English

feic as!

[Rev-O]

I only learned enough catchy phrases to get my ass kicked. No idea how to read or write it tho.

[ReggieX]

Erin go bragh!

[Kevin]

Oh freddled gruntbuggly thy micturations are to me as plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee. Groop I implore thee my foonting turlingdromes and I hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles, or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if i dont!

[m a d r a]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Oh freddled gruntbuggly thy micturations are to me as plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee. Groop I implore thee my foonting turlingdromes and I hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles, or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if i dont!

woo! - mediaeval irish eh? never knew you were such an eminent scholar

[von Wrangell]

13th century manuscript:

Þorgeirr blundr, systursonr Egils, var þar á þinginu ok hafði
gengit hart at liðveizlu við Þorstein. Hann bað Egil ok þá Þorstein koma sér til staðfestu út þangat á Mýrar; hann bjó áðr fyrir sunnan Hvítá, fyrir neðan Blundsvatn. Egill tók vel á því ok fýsti Þorstein, at þeir léti hann þangat fara. Egill setti Þorgeir blund niðr at Ánabrekku, en Steinarr fœrði bústað sinn út yfir Langá ok settisk niðr at Leirulæk. En Egill reið heim suðr á Nes eptir þingit með flokk sinn, ok skildusk þeir feðgar með kærleik.

Modern Icelandic:

Þorgeir blundur, systursonur Egils, var þar á þinginu og hafði
gengið hart að liðveislu við Þorstein. Hann bað Egil og þá Þorstein að koma sér til staðfestu út þangað á Mýrar; hann bjó áður fyrir sunnan Hvítá, fyrir neðan Blundsvatn. Egill tók vel á því og fýsti Þorstein, að þeir létu hann þangað fara. Egill setti Þorgeir blund niður að Ánabrekku, en Steinar færði bústað sinn út yfir Langá og settist niður að Leirulæk. En Egill reið heim suður á Nes eftir þingið með flokk sinn, og skildust þeir feðgar með kærleik.

Why change the language at all?

[m a d r a]

Originally Posted by von Wrangell

13th century manuscript:

<snip>

Modern Icelandic:

<snip>

Why change the language at all?

yeah. i've always thought it was a mistake when we got rid of ogham!


chugainn! - a chairde. ach sé leathaniagh le fáil go mbuaímid ar na gearmanaigh!

[Oisín]

Ní raibh a fhios agam go raibh gaeilgeoirí ar bith anseo, lasmuigh de ThinkInsane (mar go raibh a shíniú as Gaeilge sular chuir sé Laidin air). Go háirithe nach raibh a fhios agam go raibh Gaeilge go leor agatsa, a Mhaidrín—is iomaí dtráth gur léigh mé d'ainm, ach níor tháinig sé riamh in mo chionn gurbh fhéidir gur Ghaeilge a bhí ann, ní mé cén fáth é sin...

*osna*

Bhí mo chuid Gaeilge chomh maith sin cúpla blianta... ehh, ceithre mblianta ó shin. Nach mór an trua, 's iad na níthe is áille a ndeinimid dearmad orthu is tapaidh


Is maith an rud é na síorsoibhígh

[m a d r a]

Originally Posted by Oisín

...Bhí mo chuid Gaeilge chomh maith sin cúpla blianta... ehh, ceithre mblianta ó shin. Nach mór an trua, 's iad na níthe is áille a ndeinimid dearmad orthu is tapaidh ....

tuigim - orm féin is féidir liom nuachtáin a leamh [bíodh sin go an-mhall agus an foclóir in aice láimhe an t-am go léir ] ach is scéal éile [agus níos measa] nuair atá orm mo frásaí féin a dhéanamh. tá an stór focal agam an-bheag [mar a bhfeiceann tú ]

ach bhuel - "is fearr gaeilge briste ná béarla cliste" - mar á deirtear!

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Oisín

Ní raibh a fhios agam go raibh gaeilgeoirí ar bith anseo, lasmuigh de ThinkInsane (mar go raibh a shíniú as Gaeilge sular chuir sé Laidin air). Go háirithe nach raibh a fhios agam go raibh Gaeilge go leor agatsa, a Mhaidrín—is iomaí dtráth gur léigh mé d'ainm, ach níor tháinig sé riamh in mo chionn gurbh fhéidir gur Ghaeilge a bhí ann, ní mé cén fáth é sin...

*osna*

Bhí mo chuid Gaeilge chomh maith sin cúpla blianta... ehh, ceithre mblianta ó shin. Nach mór an trua, 's iad na níthe is áille a ndeinimid dearmad orthu is tapaidh


Is maith an rud é na síorsoibhígh

Dude,

How many freakin' languages do you know?
Obviously you speak Danish and English.
And you were in China studying so you know either Mandarin or Cantonese.
Now Gaelic? what are you, a linguist?

[m a d r a]

madra's ten things you never knew about irish

ten amazingly interesting pieces of gaelic trivia for those of you not able to follow the thread due to my faultless and grammatically advanced irish *cough* *cough* :

1. the word "whiskey" comes from the irish "uisce beatha" [pron. "whiskeh bah"] which means "water of life". so called because the ancients believed that; whilst anyone foolish enough to never drink whiskey will die and those who drink too much whiskey will also perish, anyone who drinks *just* the right amount will live forever. [sounds worthy of some serious research to me ]

2. the phrase "you dig?" used by blacks in earlier times actually comes from the irish "an dtuigeann thú?" [pron. "n diggen hoo"] - often shortened in conversation to "dtuigeann?" [pron. "diggen"] which means "do you understand?" it's thought to have been picked up by black slaves forced to work alongside irish prisoners, who'd been transported overseas by the english.

3. [as mentioned in another thread, funnily enough] the swearword "feck", as used by your favourite punk paddy macNNer, and made famous by the 'father ted' comedy series is an english spelling of the irish "feic" which actually means "to see", but is also slang for to nick or steal something [as in "he fecked that watch"]. it's believed that its recent connotation as an irish version of "fuck" came about when the irish heard the english using that word and were struck by the similarity with their own word "feic" - and seeing as how it already had one slang meaning, why not add another one...?

4. irish has no words for "yes" or "no". to answer a question in irish, you repeat the verb back to the questioner. so if you ask me "do you like posting crap in the lounge?" i either answer "like" if i do, or "don't like" if i don't. similarly, if you ask me "did you buy that new G7, then?" i'll answer "bought" if i did and "didn't buy" if i didn't. for situations where a generic "yes" or "no" is required, such as in "answer yes or no to the following questions...", "sea" [pron. "shah"] and "ní hea" [pron. "nyee-ha"] , meaning respectively "it is" and "it isn't" are used.

5. the most famous insult in irish is "póg mo thóin" [pron. "pogue mahone"] which means literally "kiss my hole" [ie. "kiss my arse"]. it was the original name of the band "the pogues" [although they spelt it phonetically as "pogue mahone"] until someone somewhere found out what it meant - but not before the band had made at least one or two television appearances under the original name.

6. the irish alphabet has only 18 letters. there is no j, k, q, v, w, x, y or z [although these are sometimes used in words borrowed from other languages]

7. USA in irish is "stáite aontaithe mheiriceá" [pron. "stoych-eh enty werry-kyaw"] or SAM, which may or may not [depending on who you believe] reveal the origins of the term "uncle sam"

8. "dublin" comes from the irish "dubh linn" [pron. "doov lin"] which means "blackpool", although [presumably to avoid confusion with the tacky english seaside resort of that name] in irish the city is known as "baile átha cliath" [pron. "blaw-cleea"] which means "the hurdle ford" ie. a spot were it must at one time have been possible to leap across the river liffey.

9. "madra" [pron. as it looks!] is irish for "dog" as are the words "gadhar" [pron. "guy-er"] and cú [pron. "coo"] although cú is better translated as "hound"

10. níl uimhir a deich ann!

[Kerrigan]

Everyone shut up! There will be no more Welsh or Gaelic or whatever the hell this is. You are British now, get used to it! ;D

[m a d r a]

pah! - the celts were writing literature, music and poetry while the english were still running round wi the arses hanging out of their trousers, getting the shite bate out of them by the romans!

[Cubeoid]

Go m a d r a !

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by m a d r a

ach bhuel - "is fearr gaeilge briste ná béarla cliste" - mar á deirtear!

Sin é, sin é! Sin é an rud a bhím do m'insint féin achan dtráth 'bhfuil orm úsáid a bhaint as mo chuid di...

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Dude,

How many freakin' languages do you know?
Obviously you speak Danish and English.
And you were in China studying so you know either Mandarin or Cantonese.
Now Gaelic?

Add to the list French, Spanish, Swedish, and Norwegian; plus basic knowledge (and much better comprehension) in German, Dutch, Icelandic, Latin, as well as Portuguese and Greek (I know bits and bobs of both, but just started—today, incidentally—to actually take propaedeutic classess in them); and that's about it.

(And I speak Mandarin, not Cantonese; I know very little Cantonese, and absolutely nothing about Cantonese tones, so what little I do know is mostly useless)

Edit: I take it you're not a Gaelic-speaker yourself. If you had been, you wouldn't have claimed I speak it; maul it, perhaps; butcher it, even. But nothing much better than that, I fear.

(And I hate this server, but that's nothing new. Took me a whole hour to get this one little addendum in. Urgh.)

what are you, a linguist?

No, but I hope to be one some day

Originally Posted by m a d r a

10. níl uimhir a deich ann!

Tá! Níl uimhir a cúig ann, rinn' tú dearmad air ansin. Má dtiocfaidh fearg an Vreeland (Fhreelaind?) ort, bhail, tú féin is ciontach leis!

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Everyone shut up! There will be no more Welsh or Gaelic or whatever the hell this is. You are British now, get used to it! ;D

“Labhair Béarla linn, agus brisfidh muid do bhéal”, a Shasanaigh mheata!

[wdlove]

Either way you are a success. Your thread got many posts.

[X-Ray]

As an English speaker, and not wanting to feel left out, I offer the following comment on your linguistic prowess: Soþ is þæt þu segst! Wel ðu writst.

[Oisín]

*bumpáileacht*

Mar atá idir an snáth frainceach agus an snáth gearmáinis ar an chéad leathanach ar an bhomaite, cheap mé gur chóir an snáth seo a ‘bhumpáil’ chomh maith – ’sea, ’sea, tá a fhios agam, níl cead seansnáthannaí mar an ceann seo a bhumpáil i ndiaidh tamall chomh fada leis seo.

Bhail, ní cuma liom – ní thuigfidh na ‘modannaí’ briathar den phost seo ar aon nós.

Só – an bhfuil gaeilgeoirí eile ann anseo na laethanta seo, taobh thall de mhadra agus CeapAerach (hóhó), beirt nach bhfuil ann níos mó is dóigh?

[turtle777]

-t

[Oisín]

^ Ní den tsort sin an bumpáileach a bhí in mo intinn, déanta na fírinne. Agus b’fhearr liom gan an tsort sin de bhumpáileach a bheith ar mo chionn-sa chomh maith.

[ghporter]

I think a large portion of the draw for this thread is that there is no online feature like BabelFish that handles Gaelic. You're all a bit snobby for excluding the rest of us too.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I think a large portion of the draw for this thread is that there is no online feature like BabelFish that handles Gaelic. You're all a bit snobby for excluding the rest of us too.

Tá foclóirí ann ar an Idirlíon.

[ghporter]

foclóirí ≠ BabelFish... Grammar and syntax are almost more important than words themselves.

[Oisín]

Is fíor sin, go háirithe i dteanga a bhfuil an ghraiméar agus an comhréir chomh neamhionann le graiméar nó comhréir an Bhéarla. / True, especially for a language where grammar and syntax is so different from English.

Ach tá foclóirí níos fearr ná dada ar bith. A fhad is a tá a fhios agam, níl aistritheoir ar bith le fáil ar an Idirlíon, níl ann ach na foclóirí. / But it’s better than nothing, and as far as I know, there really are no online translators available for Irish, only dictionaries.

[Atomic Rooster]

Just one good use for a skull.

[nonhuman]

For a second I though madra was back... Jerks.

[andi*pandi]

me too. ah well!

[Oisín]

^ & ^^ Tá brón orm. Ach tá a fhios agaibh cén áit a bhfaighfí é má tá in bhur n-intinn, nach bhfuil?

(^ & ^^ Sowwy. But you know where to find him if you want, right?)

[nonhuman]

What do you think I am? A stalker?

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

foclóirí ≠ BabelFish... Grammar and syntax are almost more important than words themselves.

If the BabelFish is in effect, discusses immediately very easily, theyn the terminal station. The truth this, is is shaped the language from the BabelFish more transparently and the world is a lot of and this for the labels.

[Oisín]

What do you think I am? A stalker?

*ag feiceáil go heaglach thar na guaillí*

*looks over shoulder, apprehensively*

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

If the BabelFish is in effect, discusses immediately very easily, theyn the terminal station. The truth this, is is shaped the language from the BabelFish more transparently and the world is a lot of and this for the labels.

Céard é sin? Ní snáth na fraincise é seo, an bhfuil a’s agat, a mhac?

[CharlesS]

My text BabelFished can it was worked so that it would read, but hey, all posts others in this cord will be randomly jargon obviously valid!

[Oisín]

As Gaeilge le do thoil (bhur dtoil)!