Comprehension
of spoken Irish
Read
aloud the following sentences, or have someone
who is familiar with the pronunciation guide
for these lessons read them to you. Try to picture
the meaning of each phrase and sentence as you
listen. Do not look at the Key in English or
Irish until you understand the meaning of all
the sentences or until you have listened to
them at least three times. Several tenses are
represented in the narrative type of passage:
HAW*-nig
may* uh-VWAHL-e goh mohk* in-YAY*. DOO-irt muh
K*AH-ruh luhm nahk* me-YUHK* far uh FWISHT uh
tyahk*t uh-REESH rev un law* nuh YEE-uh shin.
nee VOO-ir may* nuh LI-trahk*-uh uh rev SOO-il
uh-GUHM loh. MU-ruh me shee-uhd un-SHUH rev
i VWAHD, neel is uh-GUHM kahd is FAY*-dir luhm
uh YAY*N-uhv.
SHKREEF-hee
may* hig un REE-uhl-tuhs uh-REESH, ahk* neel
is uh-GUHM un NYAY*N-huhk* shin ay*n vwah.
Key
(Béarla): I came home early yesterday.
My friend told me that the postman wouldn't
be coming again before the next day. I didn't
get the letters that I had been expecting. If
they are not here before long, I don't know
what I can do.
I
will write to the government again, but I don't
know if that would do any good.
Key
(Irish): Tháinig mé abhaile go
moch inné. Dúirt mo chara liom
nach mbeadh fear an phoist ag teacht arís
roimh an lá ina dhiaidh sin. Ní
bhfuair mé na litreacha a raibh súil
agam leo. Mura mbeidh siad anseo roimh i bhfad,
níl a fhios agam cad is féidir
liom a dhéanamh.
Scríobhfaidh
mé chuig an rialtas arís, ach
níl a fhios agam an ndéanfadh
sin aon mhaith.
"is"
in sentences with "if"
To
say "if it were a boat" (as contrasted
with "if it is a boat", mas bád
é), the form is:
Dá
mba bhád é (daw* muh vwaw*d ay*).
"It
would be a boat" is "bá bhád
é", and placing of "dá"
before the phrase causes eclipsis of the "b"
sound in "ba".
This is the modh coinníollach, or conditional,
with "is".
Change
"I would like a newspaper" to "If
I wanted a newspaper, I would get it".
"Dá mba mhaith liom nuachtán,
gheobhainn é (daw* muh vwah luhm NOO-uhk-taw*n,
YOH-in ay*)
Other
examples:
Dá
mba é do hata é (daw* may* duh
HAH-tuh ay*); if it were your hat.
Dá
mba í Síle í, thabharfainn
di na nótaí (daw* mee SHEEL-uh
ee, HOOR-hin di nuh NOH-tee); if it were Síle,
I would give her the notes.
Dá
mb'fhear macánta Eoghan, chreidfinn é
(daw* mar muh-KAW*N-tuh OH-uhn, HYRET-hin ay*);
if Eoghan were an honest man, I would believe
him.
In
the last sentence, the "mba" runs
into the noun "fear". This is also
the case in a sentence like "Dá
mb'fhiu dom é, dhéanfainn é
(daw* myoo duhm ay*, YAY*N-hin ay*); if it were
worth my while, I would do it. "Is fiu
dom é (is fyoo duhm ay*) means "it
is worth my while".
For
another common example of this: Dá mb'fhéidir
liom é a dhéanamh, rachainn ann
(daw* MAY*-dir luhm ay* uh YAY*N-uhv, RAHK*-in
oun),if I could do it, I would go there.
To
say "if it were not a boat":
Murar
bhád é (MU-ruhr vwaw*d ay*).
If
the next word after "murar" begins
with an vowel or "f" followed by a
vowel, a "bh" (v* sound is added.
Examples of this:
Murarbh
é Feilim é, ní chreidfinn
é (MUR-erv ay* FEL-im ay*, nee HYRET-hin
ay*), if it weren't Feilim, I wouldn't believe
him.
Murarbh
fhéidir leat (MUR-erv AY*dir lat) an
obair a dhéanamh, gheobhainn duine eile;
if you weren't able to do the work, I would
get someone else.
This
completes almost the entire basic structure
of the modh coinníollach, except for
the indirect speech forms with "is",
which will be explained next week.
"Murach",
a useful word
Resembling
"mura" is the word "murach",
which is a short and convenient way to express
at least two ideas. It can convey the idea of
"except" and also "if it weren't
for". Read these examples carefully several
times to understand the form:
Rachainn,
murach (MU-rahk*) an aimsir the (he); I would
go if it weren't for the hot weather, or, I
would go but for the hot weather.
Bheadh
áthas orm, murach an scrúdú,
I would be happy if it weren't for the examination.
Bhíodar
anseo, murach Seán; they were here, except
for Sean.
Bhaileoimis
an t-airgead inné, murach go raibh an
aimsir chomh dona (vwahl-YOH-i-mish un TAR-i-guhd
in-YAY* MU-rahk* goh rev un EYEM-sheer hoh DUH-nuh),
we would have collected the money yesterday,
if the weather hadn't been so bad.
Notice
that the conditional and the regular, or indicative,
verb forms are in the same sentence in the last
example. This is allowable in many instances
in Irish, but at the beginning you should always
put both clauses in a conditional sentence in
either the conditional mood or in the regular
tense. Say "dá mbeadh chuirfinn
", for example, or "má tá
feiceann "
Vocabulary
for verbs
iompar
(UM-pir), ag iompar (eg UM-puhr), iompraíonn
sé (um-PREE-uhn shay*), iompróidh
sé (um-PROH-ee shay*); carry, carrying,
he carries, he will carry.
comhair
(KOH-ir), ag comhaireamh (uh KOH-ir-uhv), comhaireann
sé, comhairfidh sé (KOH-ir-hee
shay*); count, counting, he counts, he will
count.
suigh
(si), ina shuí (IN-uh hee), suíonn
sé (SEE-uhn shay*), suifidh sé
(SI-hee shay*); sit, sitting (in his sitting),
he sits, he will sit.
luigh
(li), ina luí (IN-uh lee), luíonn
sé (LEE-uhn shay*), luifidh sé
(LI-hee shay*); lie, lying (in his lying), he
lies, he will lie; this means "lie"
in the sense of recline or lie down.
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