You may find out anErin go braghand asláinteor two thisSt . Patrick ’s Day , or try your circumstances atpronouncing some Irish names , but even on the most Irish of holidays , we do n’t hear much of the Irishlanguage — which is a shame : Irish is so different from English or any of the lyric we normally study in school , and so much about it is rather interesting and cool . Here are a few playfulness facts about Irish you should sleep together .
1. The name of the language is “Irish.”
Gaeilgeis the name of the nomenclature in Irish , and Irish is the name of the language in English . Sometimes the great unwashed will call it Irish Gaelic in order of magnitude to make certain they are n’t misunderstood to mean “ Irish English ” for Irish . They may also say Irish Gaelic to key out it from Gaelic , which have in mind Scottish Gaelic , a related but different spoken communication .
2. There’s no “yes” or “no” in Irish.
There are no word for “ yes ” or “ no ” in Irish , but that does n’t think there ’s no way to answer a question . You communicate “ yes ” and “ no ” with a verb form . The resolution to “ did they betray the home ? ” would be “ ( they ) sold ” or “ ( they ) did n’t sell . ” In Irish :
“ Ar dhíol sian an teach?”“Dhíol . ”“Níor dhíol . ”
3. Its word order is Verb Subject Object.
Sentences have Verb Subject Object order . So “ I visualize a razz ” would be “ Saw I a bird . ” “ I always verbalise Irish ” would be “ Speak I Irish always . ” This password order is relatively rare — only 9 percent of the humankind ’s languages habituate it .
4. The words for numbers depend on whether you’re counting humans or non-humans.
In add-on to one stage set of number for doing arithmetic or name to dates and times , Irish has a 2d set for count humans and a third set for counting non - world . Five child iscúigear páiste , but five horses iscúig chapall . ( Irish creature namesare also middling descriptive . )
5. The beginning of the word changes depending on the grammatical environment.
What ’s the word for “ woman ” ? Eitherbean , bhean , ormbean , depending whether it come after certain genitive pronouns ( my , your , his ) , or certain prepositions ( under , before , on ) , or sealed numbers , or a whole range of other conditions that determine which form of the word is right . Most languages people meditate command them to take different word endings , not beginning . Irish requires both . It ’s a bit of a challenge !
6. It only has 11 irregular verbs, though.
English has a lot more . More than 80 , and that ’s just count the commonly used ones .
7. It’s left an imprint on the English spoken in Ireland.
English idiom in many parts of Ireland show a parallel complex body part with their counterparts in Irish . “ I ’m after eat up my breakfast ” ( I just ate my breakfast ) , “ I gave out about the dread service ” ( I complained / told them off about the abominable service ) , and in some places , “ He does be make every day . ”
8. It’s possible (but not easy) to travel around Ireland only speaking Irish.
Filmmaker and native Irish speaker Manchán Magan made a documentaryNo Béarla(No English ) in which he traveled through Irelandonly speaking Irish , even when masses demanded he shift to English . Shopkeepers separate him to get lost , officials refused to help him , people on the street ignored him , but he maintain at it and found uncoerced speakers here and there . In any case , he survive the trip . Watch it above .
study More Articles About the Irish Language Here :
A version of this story appeared in 2013 ; it has been updated for 2023 .
