Basics in Gaelic

''Note: This document was never publicly released in-game. It was taken from Pirka's inventory and transcribed to be put on the wiki for history preservation's sake''

Written by AnMadadhRua, Basics in Gaelic is a book which was found in Pirka's inventory after their departure from Elgeis. The book was made to help people understand the Gaelic language more.

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Basics in the Gaelic language as it is spoken in Ríochtaí na nGael

Preface:

In the following pages, an attempt will be made to provide basic phrases along with their pronunciations so that the reader may communicate in a simple way in the native tongue of Muintir Ríochtaí na nGael. The language taught in this book is that of Connacht in Ireland, since it is that dialect of gaelic which is most commonly spoken amoungst Muintir Ríochtaí na nGael. Throughout this book, the language will be referred to as "Gaelic" in English and "Gaeilge" in Gaelic. The use of the term Gaelic to refer to this language is deliberate- it has become commonplace to refer to this language as "Irish"- an attempt to seperate this speech from the speech of the gaels of scotland and the Isle of man. This distinction of Irish/Scots Gaelic/Manx Gaelic has no use amoungst gaelic speakers themselves.

Along with this, the language presented is as close as possible to the language as it is actually spoken, and the written standard is largely ignored.

Ceacht a hAon-

Basic greetings.

The most common way of greeting is to simple use "how are you", much as it is thoughout much of the anglosphere.

To say "How are you", you may say

Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? (Kayn khwee will too)

or more commonly

Cé' bhfuil tú?

(Kay will too?)

The "ay" or "é" mentioned here is the [e:] of IPA, or the long e found in many european languages.

More formally, one may use

Dia dhuit (Jee-ah ghwitch)

The kh of "chaoi" and the gh of "dhuit" are the unvoiced and voiced forms of the ch found in german "bach" or scottish and Irish english "loch" respectfully. In IPA, they are known as the unvoiced and voiced velar fricatives.

One may also say-

Bail ó dhia ort (Ball oh yee-rt) to one person and

Bail ó dhia oraí (Ball oh yee-ree) to several people.

If someone greets you with "Cé' bhfuil tú?"

then you may wish to respond with any number of phrases.

To say "I am well" you say

Tá mé go maith (Taw may guh mah).

To say I am bad, you can say

"Tá mé go dona" (Taw may go dunna)

or

"Tá mé go h-olc" (Taw may go hulk).

You could also say the following phrases to put some colour into your language.

Tá mé go breá (Taw may go braw)- I am fine

Tá mé thar barr (Taw may hawr bawr)- I am excellent.

Tá mé thar cinn (Taw may hawr kin) - I am fantastic

Tá mé go hait (Taw may guh hahtch)- I am great.

Ní hé inniubh is fhearr mé (Nee hay inyoo iss awr may) - Today isn't my day

Maith go leor (Mah guh lyowr) - Well enough

Coinneáil ag imeacht (Kunyawl gimmokht) - Keeping going

Beo ar éigean (Byow er aygen) - hanging in there.

Ceacht a dó-

Your name and where you're from.

There are many ways to say who you are.

A person may ask you, "Cé thú fhéin?" (Kay hoo hayn?)- Who's yourself?

"Cé thusa?" (Kay husa?) - Who're you?

"C'ainm t'ort?" (Kannim turt?)- What's your name?

To respond, you could state your name or say

X is ainm dhom (iss anim ghom) -X is my name

Mis' X (Mish) - I'm X

You may also be asked where you are from

Cé as thú (Kay as hoo?) - Where are you from

To respond, you may say where you're from, or in sentence form,

"Is as X mé" (Iss as X may) - I am from X.

Ceacht a trí-

Directions,

The direction system is far too complicated to be explained here, instead a series of must need directions and questions will be given.

"Cá'il X?" (Kawl) - Where is X?

in aice (lé) (naka (lay))- beside

Taobh thiar go X (Tee heer guh X) - behind X

Os comhair X (Us cowr) - In front of X

Os cionn X ( Ush cyun) - Above

Faoi X (Fwee) - beneath X

Anseo/Anseobh( on-show)- Here

Ansin (On-shin)- there

Ansiúd (On-shood) - Yonder/ way the fuck over there

Údaí thall (oo-dee hall) - Over there

Ceacht a ceithir

The weather

The final piece that will be taught in this book concerns the weather, since this is a common discussion piece amoungst Gaels.

Cé' chaoi bhfuil an uair inniubh? (Kay khwee'll noor nyoo?)- How's the weather today

Uair (oor) - weather

One could say "go maith" or "go holc" as we encountered earlier, or several other phrases

Olc an lá inniubh é (Ohlk on law nyoo eh) - It's a terrible day today

B'ait an lá inniubh é (Botch an law nyoo eh) it's a great day today

Tá sé ag cuir báisteach (Taw shay kur bawschokh)-It's raining

Tá an ghrian ag scaladh (Tawn yreen uh scahloo) - the sun is shining

Tá Galadh ann (Taw Galoo un) - There's a strong wind

Gaoth - normal wind

Tá stoirm ag tíocht(Taw sterum uh chee-ukht)- There's a storm coming

Final words-

Armed with the phrases and words included in this book you should be able to survive some time in Ríochtaí na nGael, and pick up more of the language from the locals.

The final phrase which will be taught in this book is this-

Céard é sin (Kayrd uh shin)- What's that.

The most important phrase there is.

Ádh mór!