It’s the first day of the sixth week of the second semester at Maynooth University, which means that the half-term break that incorporates St Patrick’s Day (17th March) is approaching rapidly. It also means that we’re in the middle of Seachtain na Gaeilge, an annual international festival promoting the Irish language and culture, in Ireland and all around the world.
My own attempts to learn Irish have not been very successful, but I do think it’s a fascinating language and will definitely try harder when I have time (i.e. when I have retired). In lieu of being able to speak or write fluently as Gaeilge, I thought I’d share a short poem that illustrates many interesting features of the language, including: the modification of the noun Gaeilge to the adjective Ghaelige the different pronunciation of “s” when followed by a broad or slender vowel, the softening effect of “h” after a consonant, the modification of saoil (world) to tsaoil when preceded by the definite article an, the prepositional pronoun liom meaning “with me”, etc. etc. The title means “Speak the Irish language with me” – teanga is, literally, tongue.
P.S. The Irish word for “pedantry” is pedantraí…
In the Dark 