#conamara

[fascinatingeurope]

🇮🇪 🎨 Vintage travel poster of the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland promoting the line from Galway to Clifden in the Connemara region (Irish: Conamara). Designed by Hugo d'Alesi ca. 1900.

[uritur-infelix]

Irish-language speakers in Connemara call these flowers "Deora Dé", or "tears of God".

[nibmoss]

an cheathrú rua, gaillimh

carraroe, galway

[kevin-ar-tuathal]

(Leagan Gaeilge na postála seo 🤗:)

Tá thart ar cúig rialacha le maireachtáil ar an saol seo, agus is iad siúd ná:

1. Bíodh trí phroinnte / bhéilí sa lá agat. 🍉

2. Bíodh deoch gan alcól i gcónaí agat. 🫖🧃🍻

3. Ná trust pébí a cheapanns tú fút féin / faoi do shaol i ndiaidh 8 nó 9 a chloig san oíche. 😖🌃😴

4. Déan ruidín beag dhuit féin chuile lá. 🌱

5. Bíodh teagmháil agat leis Na Beo uair amháin sa lá ar a laghad (m. sh. daoine, cait, madaí, laghairteanna, na héin, 7rl.) 😆🐱🐶🦎🐓🦬

Agus an riail rúnda, riail a 6:

6. Munarbh fhéidir leat chuile riail anseo thuas a dhéanamh, déan an méid agus is féidir leat. 🤗

there are like five rules to life and those rules are

1. eat 3 meals a day

2. always have a non alcoholic drink with you

3. never trust anything you think about your life after 8-9pm

4. do a little something for urself every day

5. interact with a Beast at least once a day (human, feline, canine, lizard, bird, etc)

and the secret 6th rule:

6. if you can't do all of those rules, just do the ones you can

[theaologies]

Bye Europa Clipper hope you find some funky octopus aliens up there

[finnlongman]

Today in "my modern Irish is Ulster Irish but my medieval Irish is Munster Irish", I discovered I pronounce acallam as if it were agallamh (agaloo), but I pronounce immacallam as immagaluv. I have no idea why my brain gives one an -uv ending and one an -oo ending, but it's just one more fun detail about having horrible frankengaeilge.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

nothing makes me feel old like watching TV shows aimed at 12-year-olds

[kevin-ar-tuathal]

☝️ É seo!

Tá Róisín Seoighe iontach, grá mo chroí í 🎊

since a ton of people are getting into music as gaeilge because of hozier, can i recommend my fave artist, róisín seoighe? she's a native irish speaker and language ambassador whose lyrics often involve the preservation of irish culture and deep rage against colonization. níl mé marbh ("i'm not dead") makes me cry like a baby and sin do lamh ("reach out") makes me want to burn all of colonialism down. she's also done several collabs with imlé, another EXCELLENT irish language band that does modern-feeling rock and dance music! my fave of their collabs right now is ÉAD ("jealous").

both artists have less than 1,700 monthly listeners on spotify simply because they sing in irish & they deserve more bc their music Really Is Excellent. translations of many songs are google-able & when there Aren't english translations, it's really good practice for people learning irish!

[duine-aiteach]

Fascinating. Apparently Word doesn’t like me a) writing alternatively in English and Irish, and b) Irish, as it changed the language in the second line to German and the third line to French. I have the proofing tools for English (Ireland, UK and US) installed as well as Irish and French.

[jonsilverstone]

Here, have a video of me as a guest for a band my Irish Language teacher is the founder of (he's the one playing the feadóg). Frankly, playing and singing with Conamara Chaos is a dream come true, especially given how much I look up to Radvan Markus... :D

And apparently this will not be the last time I'm there as a guest so... perhaps see you at a future concert...

[partyhorn]

Adventures at Conamara Construction

[kevin-ar-tuathal]

"Caithfidh mé é a dhéanamh"

Is cainteoir le Gaeilge Chonamara mé (Cois Fharraige, le bheith fírinneach) agus bíonn 4 ceithre shiolla á rá agam-sa nuair a deirim an abairt seo:

"Caithfidh/ mé é a/ dhéan/ -amh"

Ar nós:

"Caidh/ mé~adh/ dhéan/ -adh"

🤗✨🤗

I'm working on a new video, and I'd love to hear what people think the answer is. Unfortunately I can't tell you the subject of the video, it's top secret :)

[kevin-ar-tuathal]

"Béarlachas"

I've been meaning to write this post for some time now. As a person from the Galltacht (English-speaking Ireland) living and working in the Gaeltacht (Irish-language Ireland), and operating most of my life through the medium of Irish, I can honestly say that English-language Ireland, Second Language speakers of Irish and Learners of Irish tend to have a really skewered understanding of a) what Béarlachas is, b) the different forms it takes and c) what effects/damage/meaning each of its forms holds.

Contents of this post:

•Perceptions of Béarlachas

•Loanwords Vs Béarlachas

•Different Languages, Different Sounds

•Language Purity Vs Language Planning

•Conclusion

Perceptions of "Béarlachas"

Outside of the Gaeltacht, most people's understanding of "Béarlachas", or "Anglicisation" in Irish (which I am deliberately putting between inverted commas!), is the use of so-called "English-language words" in Irish. The usual list people like to list off include:

• Fón

• Teilifís

• Giotár

• Raideo

• Zú* (see Language Purity Vs Language Planning below)

• Carr*

*The ironic thing about the last item being that 'carr' (the word for a personal vehicle) is older than the English-language word 'Car' 🚗.

Second language learners with a bit more exposure to the language deride native speakers, particularly speakers from Conamara, for "using English words and adding '~áil' at the end to make a verb". Several examples being:

• Gúgláil (Google-áil)

• Sioftáil (Shift-áil)

• Sortáil (Sort-áil)

• Péinteáil (Paint-áil)

• Vótáil (Vote-áil)

• Focáilte (F*ck-áilte)

• Supósáilte (Suppose-áilte)

(⚠️NB: it is HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT that I spelt these words in these specific ways in Irish - to be explained below!⚠️)

Other so-called "English language words" in Irish include:

• Veain • Seit • Onóir • Ospidéal • Aláram • Cóta • Plaisteach • Leictreach, 7rl, 7rl...

And what about: "Halla" or "Hata" ??

Loanwords Vs Béarlachas

Before I explain where I'm going with this, I am going to introduce some words that have their origins in other languages, like:

"Seomra" from the Middle French "chambre".

"Séipéal" from the Middle French "chappelle".

"Eaglais" from the Greek "ekklesiastes".

"Pluid" from the Scots "plaide".

"Píopa" from Vulgar Latin "pipa".

"Corcra" from Latin "Purpura" (from before Irish had the sound /p/!)

"Cnaipe" from the Old Norse "knappr".

"Bád" from Anglo-Saxon "bāt".

ALL of these words, like the ones above, came into Irish via the most natural means a language acquires new words: language contact.

The reason WHY the word gets adopted is usually -and this is very important - the word is for something that the culture of the language Borrowed From already has, which is introduced to the language Borrowed Into.

For clarification, what I am trying to say is that languages NATURALLY oppose cultural appropriation by crediting the culture they got a word from by using their word for it...

I.E. "Constructing" a new "pure" word for an item that has come from another culture, is, in effect, a form of cultural appropriation - which is why institutions such as Alliance Française and Íslensk málstöð are at best puritanical, and at worst xenophobic*.

*There is nuance here - there is a difference between institutional efforts to keep a language "pure" (re: those such right-wing English/British and American opinionists who claim that the English language itself is endangered 🙄), and language planning (which also falls under the remit of Íslensk málstöð).

Furthermore, there is also such thing as "dynamic borrowing". This is where technically a language has adopted a word from another language, but has changed its meaning/adapted it to its own need. Let us take two Irish language words for example: "Iarnród" and "Smúdáil"

Iarnród is made up by two words taken from the English language: Iarann, from English language "iron" and Ród, from English-language "road".

Together, these two words mean the English-language term "Railway" - but English has never had the term "Iron Road" to refer to this object.

Similarly, Smúdáil comes from the English-language word "smooth". Only adapted to Irish, and adding the Irish-language verb suffix creates a word which means "to iron (clothing)". 😱

Different Languages, Different Sounds

Every single language on this planet has its own sound system, or "phonology". It is VERY rare for a new sound to be introduced into a different language, and some languages are MUCH more sensitive to what speakers of another language would consider a "subtle" difference, or not a difference at all.

Now...

IRISH HAS DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF SOUNDS AS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!!!!!!

(^roughly ~ish) I am making this simplistic statement to DRIVE home the fact that what English-language speakers and Learners of Irish hear as "the same as the English", Irish speakers hear a SIGNIFICANT phonetic difference.

All consonants in Irish [B, bh, c, ch, d, dh, f, fh, g, gh, h, l, ll, m, mh, n, nn, p, ph, r, rr, s, sh, t, th] - and YES, séimhiú-ed consonants and double consonants count as separate consonants - EACH have at least TWO distinct sounds. Ever heard of that old rhyme "Caol le caol, leathan le leathan"? Well, the reason why it exists ISN'T to be a spelling tip - it's to show how to pronounce each consonant in a word - which of the two distinct sounds to say.

What I mean to say by this is that, when we adopt a word into Irish, we aren't just "grabbing the word from English and hopping a few fadas on it"; we are SPECIFICALLY adapting the word to the Irish language phonetic system.

I.E. when an Irish language speaker is saying the word "frid" THEY ARE NOT USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORD "fridge" !!!

The sounds used in the English-language word belong to the English language, and the sounds used in the Irish-language word belong to the Irish language.

As a linguist I get very passionate about this distinction - the AMOUNT of times I have come across a self-important Irish language "learner" from the East of the country come to a Gaeltacht and tell native speakers that they are not using the "official" or "correct" version of a word in Irish just GRATES me to no end. PARTICULARILY as these so-called "learners" cannot hear, or typically have made NO effort to understand phonetic differences between the two languages. (Though honestly, on that point, I cannot wholely blame them - it is a fault on Irish language education as a whole that the differences in sound are hardly, if ever, mentioned, let alone taught!)

Language Purity Vs Language Planning

Moving on, as I mentioned earlier, it is very rare for a sound to be adapted into a new language. As many Irish language speakers and learners know, there is no /z/ sound in (most of the dialects of) Irish.

And yet, somehow, the official, modern translation given for the Irish language for "Zoo" is ...

Zú

Whenever I think on this given translation, I am always reminded of a good friend of mine, a lady from Carna, who used to always talk about "Súm" meetings she used to go on to talk with friends and family during COVID.

This woman only speaks English as a second language, having only ever learnt it at school and only ever used it in professional environments. She does not have the sound /z/, and as such, pronounces words that HAVE a "z" in them as /s/ sounds, when speaking in Irish OR in English.

As such, I often wonder how An Coiste Téarmaíochta can be so diligent in creating and promoting "Gaelic" words for new things, such as "cuisneoir" instead of "frid"; "guthán" instead of "fón" (which is actually pronounced "pón" in Conamara, as that suits the sound system of that dialect better); or "treochtú" instead of "treindeáil" ... And then turn around and introduce sound and sound combinations such as /z/ in "Zú" and /tv/ and /sv/ in "Tvuít" and "Svaedhpáil" 🤢

It's such this weird combo of being at the same time puritanical with regard to certain words, dismissive in regards to vernacular communities, and ignorant with regards to basic linguistic features of the language.

(Especially when, i mbéal an phobail, there are already such perfectly acceptable terms for these kinda words, like Gairdín na nAinmhithe for "Zú; Tuitéar and Tuít for "twitter" and "tweet"; and Faidhpeáil for "Svaedhpáil".)

Conclusion

This really prescriptivist approach by Irish language institutions needs to end. Not only is it not addressing or engaging with the Irish language as it is spoken by vernacular communities, it is creating this really twisted dynamic between second-language Irish speakers who apparently "know better" than first-language and native speakers of Irish.

This is what "Béarlachas" is. Not the natural adaption of words from a language with which Irish in the present day has most contact with. Not the dynamic inventions of native speakers, and even Second-language-as-vernacular speakers, utilising all the linguistic features available to them, whether that be their own dialects of Irish, English, or whatever OTHER languages/dialects are available to them.

"Béarlachas" is the brute enforcement of English language mentalities and an obsession with "purity" onto Irish, a language that has FOREVER adopted and integrated words, features and people into itself.

Gaeilge, like Éire of old, like the Ireland I want to be part of today, is open, inclusive, non-judgemental - knowing where it is coming from, and knowing that its community is its strength and key to how it has and will survive!

[primordialsoundmeditation]

I would love to live

Like a river flows,

Carried by the surprise

Of its own unfolding.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Fluent, from the book, Conamara Blues

Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Isle of Skye, Scotland - 2024

Photo: © Ann Cahill

#johnodonohue #johnodonohuequote

[kaizey]

Ceol comhaimseartha as Gaeilge (Contemporary irish language music recommends)

Many foriegners looking more into more music as gaeilge following from Unreal Unearth and have been asked afew times about it. So Im gon give afew recommendations

Seo Linn - Folk/Indie/Soft Rock group formed in Conamara and have a good range of sounds ranging from newer covers of our most popular folk songs (Óró sé do bheatha abhaile , Siúil a Rúin and Mo ghile mear are among the best) and are a good intro point

IMLÉ - More of a collection of artists who bring different sound styles together and topics in their lyrics. Honestly, just take the entireity of the self-titled album as a taster

Róisín Seoighe - A great soloist and someone who transfers aspects of Canadh Sean Nós into a newer format. Alot of her work and songs touch on the state of Gaeilge (Níl mé marbh and Sín do lamh).

Kneecap - One of the more well-known, atleast over here. A rap trio from Belfast/Derry, and alot of their lyrics and flow focuses much more on the specific experience of both millenial life and Gaeilgeoirí and An Ghaeilge in the North, and what its actually like trying to engage with society through our language when half of the the governmental institution has contempt for its existence. CEARTA, one of their singles, has still stayed a sort of aintiún (anthem) for language rights up here in the North. Also, heavy heavy anti-colonialism, mar sin craic Mhaith (see their JOE.ie interview). Otherwise, some of ther best works you might like are Cearta, Bouncers agus Gael-Gigolos

TG Lurgan - A sort of summer school/learning scheme that started out of the Connemara Gaeltacht, meant to help irish learners pick up the more natural flow specifically by learning through music. Nearly all of the music is sung by school kids and leading musicians with the majority being covers of pop songs. So you can find the lyrics online easily, and can be a helpful way for people trying to learn how to deal with the lack of real word-for-word translation ó Ghaeilge go Béarla.

This is just a handful of artists, and the first handful rarely scrape over 2000 streams a month. Modern irish music is still very much a niche in its own way, miserably so even on our island. Theres no shortage of music you can find being made by newer artists though, even if ceol as gaeilge only makes up some of their work

Tá súil agam go bhfaighidh tú roinnt a mbaineann tú taitneamh astu, agus má tá tú ag foghlaim, go gcabhraíonn sé leat

[an-spideog]

-dar

I'm gonna talk about an interesting feature of Conamara Irish, for a change, but of course I'm gonna tie it back in with Munster Irish (my beloved) In munster, you often conjugate the verb to represent the person rather than adding a pronoun to it. E.g. bhíos (bhí mé), chuireamair (chuir muid), bhailíodar (bhailigh siad)

This happened in the other dialects too, the pronouns being used there is an innovation, though the pronouns are much more common now for the non-munster dialects. What's interesting though, is that in Conamara, the -dar (they) ending is still used sometimes, but has in some ways morphed into a pronoun of its own since it's not only being used in the past tense (like in munster), but is also used in other tenses:

Tádar - They are

Bíonn dar - They do be

Nuair a thiocfas dar arís - When they come again

I'll have a look for some clips of this and try and reblog with them if I can find them.

PS dar here is plural, it's not a new gender neutral singular pronoun, though if you wanna use it like that go ahead, since Irish doesn't really have a gender neutral singular pronoun

PPS source for those examples was An Teanga Bheo - Conamara by Séamas Ó Murchú