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Foclóirí ~ Dictionaries
- focloir.ie
- Foclóir Nua Béarla-Gaeilge Fhoras na Gaeilge.
Foras na Gaeilge's New English-Irish Dictionary.
- teanglann.ie
- Leaganacha leictronacha de na mórfhoclóirí le cois uirlisí gramadaí agus foghraíochta.
Electronic versions of the major dictionaries as well as grammar and pronunciation tools.- Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill, 1977) [Irish–English Dictionary] [English]
- An Foclóir Beag (Ó Dónaill & Ua Maoileoin, 1991) [Irish–Irish Dictionary] [English]
- English–Irish Dictionary (de Bhaldraithe, 1959) [English]
- Bunachar Gramadaí ~ Grammar Database
- Bunachar Foghraíochta ~ Pronunciation Database
- tearma.ie
- An Bunachar Náisiúnta Téarmaíochta don Ghaeilge. (téarmaí teicniúla)
The National Terminology Database for Irish. (technical terms)- Sonraí
- Written by: Riarthóir
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Amais: 5035
The verbal noun following ag is the equivalent of the present participle (‑ing words) in English, e.g. “I am writing” Tá mé ag scríobh. This is similar to the old fashioned/dialect English of The Twelve Days of Christmas, e.g. “Twelve lords a‑leaping” or Bob Dylan’s “The times they are a‑changin’ ”. Like ag “at”, this a‑ also comes from a preposition (Middle/Old English an) meaning “on”. Other Celtic languages have a similar structure: Scottish Gaelic a’ sgrìobhadh, Welsh yn ysgrifennu, Cornish ow skrifa, Breton o skrivañ.
It can also be the equivalent of the English infinitive (verb with ‘to’ before it), e.g. “I like to write,” Is maith liom scríobh. “I’m trying to write a letter,” Tá mé ag iarraidh litir a scríobh.
It is also the noun that describes the activity of the verb. Often this is different in English, e.g. “marrying” vs. “marriage”, but often both are covered by the verbal noun in Irish ( pósadh). Is maith liom scríobh above means both “I like to write” and “I like writing”.
Verbal nouns, just like other nouns in Irish, have different kinds of endings which aren’t predictable from the verb stem. There is a limited list of endings, but you have to learn the form when you learn the verb. Many verbal nouns also have different endings in different dialects, e.g. feiceáil is feiscint in Munster.
This table is adapted from a few different sources including Learning Irish (Micheál Ó Siadhail), Gramadach gan Stró (Éamonn Ó Dónaill) & Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workbook (Nancy Stenson). A couple of (Conamara) dialect forms left in are in grey & between {}.
| Ending | Verb | Verbal Noun | Type of Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAIN TYPES | |||
| no ending—verb root (imperative) is used | díol¹ fás¹ foghlaim² íoc¹ ól¹ péinteáil¹ scríobh¹ snámh¹ |
All verbs ending in ‑(e)áil Group of mainly Type 1 (one syllable) verbs |
|
| ‑(e)adh /ə/ | bris¹ dún¹ glan¹ |
→ briseadh → dúnadh → glanadh |
The majority of Type 1 verbs (& only Type 1) |
| ‑(i)ú /uː/ | ciúnaigh² comhairligh² lagaigh² maslaigh² tanaigh² tosaigh² |
→ ciúnú [> ciúin ‘quiet’] → comhairliú [> comhairle ‘advice’] → lagú [> lag ‘weak’] → maslú [> masla ‘(an) insult’] → tanú [> tanaí ‘thin’] → tosú [> tosach ‘beginning’] |
A number of Type 2 verbs made from nouns & adjectives (no other verbs take this ending) |
| ‑t /tʹ/ | bain¹ ceil¹ cosain² imir² labhair² oscail² tiomáin¹ |
→ baint → ceilt → cosaint → imirt → labhairt → oscailt → tiomáint |
Type 1 & Type 2 verbs ending in slender l, n, r |
| slender ending made broad | ceangail² cuir¹ goil¹ siúil¹ taistil² |
→ ceangal → cur → gol → siúl → taisteal |
Mostly Type 1 verbs |
| MORE MARGINAL TYPES | |||
| ‑(e)amh /əv/ /əw/ /ə/ | seas¹ comhair¹ |
→ seasamh → comhaireamh |
A group of Type 1 verbs |
| ‑(a)í /iː/ | éirigh² suigh¹ luigh¹ guigh¹ |
→ éirí [> older éirighe] → suí [> older suidhe] → luí [> older luighe] → guí [> older guidhe] |
A group of Type 1 & 2 verbs that added ‑e in pre-1948 spelling. |
| ‑(e)ach /əx/ | scread¹ réitigh² ceannaigh² cumhdaigh² |
→ screadach → réiteach → ceannach → cumhdach |
Very few verbs |
| ‑(e)acht /əxt/ | fan¹ | → fanacht | Very few verbs |
| ‑(e)achtáil /əxtɑːlʹ/ | airigh² mair¹ |
→ aireachtáil → maireachtáil |
A group of verbs of Types 1 & 2 |
| ‑(e)achan /əxəɴ/ | dubhaigh² tiubhaigh² |
→ dúchan [> dubh ‘black’] → tiúchan [> tiubh ‘thick’] |
A small group of verbs formed from other words |
| ‑(e)áil /ɑːlʹ/ | fág¹ tóg¹ coinnigh² |
→ fágáil → tógáil → coinneáil |
Very few verbs of (mostly) Type 1 |
| ‑(e)an /əɴ/ | leag¹ lig¹ |
→ leagan → ligean |
Very few verbs of Type 1 |
| int /əɴʹtʹ/ | tuig¹ | → tuiscint | Very few verbs of Type 1 |
| ‑iúint /uːɴtʹ/ | feil¹ creid¹ oir¹ |
→ feiliúint → creidiúint → oiriúint |
A group of Type 1 verbs {optionally some Type 1 verbs with roots ending in /ʟʹ/ or /r/} |
| ‑im /əmʹ/ | tit¹ doirt¹ |
→ titim → doirtim |
Very few verbs of Type 1 |
| ‑eál /ɑːʟ/ | {coinnigh² | → coinneál²} | Very few verbs of Type 2 |
| ‑táil /tɑːlʹ/ | {cas¹ | → castáil¹} | Very few verbs of Type 1 |
| ‑e /ə/ | {guidh | → guidhe} | Very few verbs of Type 1 |
- Sonraí
- Written by: Seán Ó Séaghdha
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Amais: 172
In Irish English an extra vowel is sometimes inserted into a word, e.g. film pronounced fillum. This was probably inherited from the Irish language where it’s a regular feature when the letters L, N and R (in a short stressed syllable) are followed by some other consonants (B, BH, F, M, CH, G).
This helper vowel is either broad or slender, matching the surrounding consonants, but it’s an indistinct vowel, a ‘schwa’.
In the table, the examples are shown as they would be spelled if the extra vowel was written and in the International Phonetic Alphabet. In the IPA, slender consonants are shown by writing ´ after them.
| b | bh | f | m | ch | g | |
| l | Albain *Alabain /aːʟəbən´/ |
seilbh *seilibh /s´el´əw´/ |
deilbhfidh *deilibhfidh /d´el´əf´ə/ |
seilmide *seilimide /s´el´əm´əd´ə/ |
— | bolg *bolag /boʟəg/ |
| n | Banba *Banaba /baːɴəbə/ |
bainbh *bainibh /baːn´əw´/ |
— | ainm *ainim /æːn´əm´/ |
seanchaí *seanachaí /s´æːɴəxiː/ |
— |
| r | Bairbre *Bairibre /baːr´əb´r´ə/ |
seirbhís *seiribhís /s´er´əw´iːs´/ |
dearfa *dearafa /d´æːrəfə/ |
gorm *goram /gorəm/ |
dorcha *doracha /dorəxə/ |
dearg *dearag /d´æːrəg/ |
After a syllable with a long vowel sound (except /aː/ or /æː/), no extra vowel is added, e.g. téarma /t´eːrmə/, tairne /tɑːrɴ´ə/. Not all long vowels are marked with the síneadh fada ˊ —some that are always (or almost always) long do not have an accent in modern spelling (e.g. ua, ia, eo = úa, ía, eó), and vowels before RD, RL and RN can also be long, although this varies by dialect.
Some speakers may also insert a weak schwa vowel /ə/ between D & R and between M & L:
| simléar | *similéar /sʹimʹəlʹeːr/ |
OR | /sʹimʹlʹeːr/ |
| madraí | *madaraí /mɑ:dəriː/ |
OR | /mɑːdriː/ |
- Sonraí
- Written by: Riarthóir
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Amais: 146
RÉAMHRÁ
Aidhm an fhoclóra
Is é cuspóir don fhoclóir seo an chuid is coitianta de stór focal na Nua-Ghaeilge a thabhairt le chéile agus a mhíniú i mBéarla.
Cuireadh isteach na focail a raibh fianaise le fáil go bhfuil siad i ngnáthúsáid i dteanga an lae inniu. Lena chois sin cuireadh isteach focail áirithe as seanlitríocht na Nua-Ghaeilge nach n‑úsáidtear go coitianta anois, ach a mbeadh a mbrí ag teastáil ó lucht léite na litríochta sin. Cuireadh an nod Lit: le focail den aicme sin lena chur in iúl gur sa litríocht sin amháin a fuarthas iad. Mar an gcéanna, cuireadh Lit: le haon bhrí ar leith d’fhocal nach bhfuil le fáil anois ach sa tseanlitríocht, e.g. scanradh…1. Lit: Rout; scattering…2. Fright, etc.
Cuireadh isteach, freisin, a lán téarmaí teicniúla nua-aoiseacha nach mbeadh súil leo i ngnáthfhoclóir, toisc nach bhfuil foclóir mór téarmaíochta curtha le chéile fós sa teanga.
- Sonraí
- Written by: Seán Ó Séaghdha
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Ar fáil freisin: en-AU English
- Amais: 644
There are mixed opinions about Máiréad Ní Ghráda’s grammar exercise book Progress in Irish, but it remains very popular with many learners. On the negative side, it has no pictures, gives little context, explanation or answers to exercises and sometimes uses very unnatural language. On the other hand it does take the learner through the most important points of Irish grammar, generally working from simple sentences to more advanced concepts. It is also cheap and easily available. Below are some links that help flesh out the content of the book.
- Stuart Traill: How to find your way through the textbook “Progress In Irish” (index and notes)
- SimpsonIM: Grammar supplement to Progress in Irish (extensive grammar notes)
- Conradh na Gaeilge New England: Answers to the exercises
- Sonraí
- Written by: Riarthóir
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Amais: 2235
Hints on a noun’s gender
There is no foolproof way to tell the gender of every noun just by its normal form, but there are some strong patterns. The ones at the top of the tables below have no exceptions.
- Sonraí
- Written by: Riarthóir
- Catagóir: Acmhainní
- Amais: 1889