An Babaí Úr

Extra Notes on the Irish of Taisce Focal
Here are extra notes for Taisce Focal, covering grammar, speech patterns and occasional moments on the recording in which the reader departs from the written text. Those well-acquainted with the Irish of west Donegal may be surprised by some of the sounds on the CD. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, it must be remembered that the speakers on the CD are reading a text aloud and this has inevitably affected their pronunciation; the written word has affected the spoken word. Secondly, the dialect is not frozen, and young people especially are influenced by Standard Irish which they experience in school and in the media. Therefore, for the verb ‘show’, one can hear both /taispeán/ and the more local form /teisean/, and for the noun ‘present’ both the local form /pronntanas/ and the standard /bronntanas/ are to be heard.

See Ulster Irish: A Pronunciation Guide on this website if you want a beginner’s guide to the sounds of Donegal Irish. For a more in-depth account see Dónall P. Ó Baoill’s An Teanga Bheo: Gaeilge Uladh Baile Átha Cliath: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann. (ISBN 0-946452-85-7). See also Ciarán Ó Duibhín’s articles at http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/.

Róise and I hope these notes add to your enjoyment of Taisce Focal. They are the result of many moments in the office when my learner’s Irish struggled to comprehend Róise’s native Ranafast speech. I have inserted much material which I learned drip-feed fashion over many years in the Gaeltacht and in university. Hopefully this will speed up the learning process for you!
Gordon McCoy
Réamhrá
Page 8: éasgsúla: this should read éagsúla (corrected in the second edition).
An Babaí Úr
Page 9
cupa: this is the Donegal variant of cúpán.
tríú: both triú and the more distinctive form treas are now found in Ranafast. The latter is preserved in certain phrases.
buaidh is the Donegal variant of bua. The word is feminine in this dialect; the Standard form bua is masculine.
rinne Nuala tréaniarracht cur in iúl: the recording is closer to the way many would write this phrase – rinne Nuala tréaniarracht a chur in iúl. In Donegal speech the ‘a’ is often left out before the infinitive form of the verb in instances like this.
aon duine: this is pronounced as /nuine/.
comh: this is the Donegal variant of chomh.
cad é: this is pronounced with a slender ‘d’ as one word = /caidé/ or /goidé/.
cupla: the spelling reflects the pronunciation here – cúpla means a pair of twins.
chuig: note this is usually pronounced as /ig/.
fá choinne béile: purists insist that fá choinne should be used to express ‘to physically take’, although in Donegal speech it is often substituted for other meanings of the English word ‘for’.
inteacht: this is usually pronounced as /ineacht/.
a thógfas an cian díot: the inflections of de and do are both pronounced as do in Donegal Irish, but we decided to keep the inflections of de in the text as this is a common custom with Donegal writers.
cibé: speakers use different pronunciations for this word depending on the context in which it is used. If it means ‘whatever’ it is pronounced as /ce bith/ whereas if it means ‘anyhow’ (cibé ar bith) it is pronounced as /ca bith/.
an bhfuil: this is often pronounced as /bhuil/.

Page 10
tarrtháil: this is quite a common word e.g. rinne mé tarrtháil air ‘I came to his rescue’, ‘I got him out of a fix’.

ach ab é: also spelt as ach go bé, this is used rather than the Standard murach.
féin: the ‘f’ is pronounced as /h/ in Ulster Irish, except in cheana féin.
eagla: note the pronunciation as /iogla/, just as leag = / liog/ on page 20. Similarly, eaglais is pronounced as /ioglais/.
ag inse: the Standard verbal noun of inis is insint.

Page 11
chuala: this is often pronounced as /chula/ or /hula/.

níos fearr: note the pronunciation of the ea in fearr as an /e/ sound. This pronunciation was the original one in Old Irish, and also appears on the recording in the pronunciation of the prefix deá, as in deá-scéal and deá-chuma.
bhí a fhios aici an dóigh a raibh an béal ag dul aige: the reader felt it was natural to insert an ‘ar’ before the ‘an’ in this sentence. Although ag dul is the verbal noun of téigh, it is confused with gabháil, so is pronounced as /ag goil/.
sa: this is often pronounced as /insa/.
greim: note the pronunciation as the ei as an /i/. sound. This also occurs in meisce.
stiúgthaí is a shorter form of stiúgthaí leis an ocras.

Page 12
mar a bheadh deireadh an tsaoil ann: mar a bheadh is used more commonly than other comparative forms such as amhail is, cosúil le.

a chuid súl: on the recording /ar a chuid súile/ is heard, which is grammatically incorrect,

but it may reflect the reader’s impulse to introduce a strong plural form.

Page 13
chonacthas do Nuala: this means ‘it seemed to Nuala’.

braithstint: this is pronounced as /braithstean/ on the recording, which is another form of the word. The Standard verbal noun is brath.

An Sceanadh agus an Feannadh
Page 14
Note that sceanadh is pronounced as /scinú/, just as scian is pronounced /scin/.
chéanna: céanna is pronounced as /ciarna/.
Nuala an bhéadáin: note the use of the genitive case to indicate that Nuala is a gossiper. Similarly Séamus na blagaide means ‘baldy Séamus’.
údaí is a variant of úd, meaning ‘yonder’.
Page 15
dubh san aghaidh: a common phrase. Tá mé dubh san aghaidh ag inse duit means

‘I’m fed up telling you.’

diosca: the reader pronounces this as /díosca/, although this is unusual, perhaps because it is a borrowed word.
agus a chur ar aghaidh: this is read as /agus é a chur ar aghaidh/ on the recording. Both forms are acceptable, although the form on the recording will be more familiar to learners.
For the form using the possessive ‘a’, note an dtiocfadh leat a dhéanamh anois? on the same page. Many learners would expect to hear é a dhéanamh at the end of the question.

Note also ní ligfeadh an náire daoithe gan a n-ithe on pg. 21; again, we see the use of the possessive ‘a’, rather than the expected iad a ithe.

dhá: this is pronounced as /dheá/. Sometimes thirsty learners order a leathphionta in the Donegal Gaeltacht, only to receive dheá phionta for their trouble – gloine is used for ‘half-pint’, so a barman may interpret leath as /dheá/.
ar an tseilf bhuin ansin: a seilf buin is a bottom shelf and a seilf bairr is a top shelf.
tóin is not treated as an obscene word in Irish. One will hear fliuch tóin an gloine domh (‘give me a little taste’).
ar ndóighe: the Standard form is ar ndóigh.
Page 16
chuig a oifig féin: the recording sounds like /chuig a oifige féin/, although the genitive case is not required here. Note also the pronunciation of oifig – learners tend to say /ifig/.
clabhstar: this also means a clumsy person.
freagra: this is often pronounced as /freaghar/.
faill: native speakers often complain that learners overuse the word ‘am’ to express different concepts of time. The word faill is used to refer to an opportunity e.g. níl faill suí agam. The word iarraidh often refers to another attempt e.g. deán i gceart é an iarraidh seo; bain triail as iarraidh amháin eile.
péint de bhalla: péint den bhalla is also common.

Page 17
shaoithiúil: saoithiúil is pronounced as /saofuil/.

ag iarraidh: this is pronounced as /ig yurraí/ which differentiates it from ag éirí /ig írí/.
cén dóigh sin: people who like to separate the three main dialects of Irish as much as possible maintain that cén does not appear in Donegal Irish; they believe that cad é an is used all the time. This is not the case.
céillí: this is more common than the Standard ciallmhar.
Page 18
ar dtús: this is always pronounced as /ar tús/.
nach bhfuil tú ag déanamh: means ‘don’t you think’ or ‘consider’ e.g. níl mé ag déanamh go mbeidh sé ann. The pronunciation of déanamh as /deánú/ occurs when this particular meaning is expressed.

An Chéad Lá sa Phost
Page 19
níor dhóigh le Rita: ‘in Rita’s opinion’. Another example would be is dóigh liom go bhfuil sé ceart go leor.
bheadh sí: in the conditional mood in Ulster Irish the endings -adh/-odh become a ‘t’ sound before the personal pronouns sé/sí/sinn/sibh/siad as well as sin/seo/siúd.
fúthu: you will also hear /faofa/ in this dialect.
is dóiche: the Standard form of this is dócha.
níor chuir aon duine as ná uaidh do Rita: nó is usually used in a positive clause and ná in a negative clause. There is no difference in pronunciation in this dialect, as both vowels are unstressed.
rinne tú do bhealach: the pronunciation of rinne by the CD speaker may be influenced by the Standard or by the act of reading the word; rinne is pronounced as /rinn/ in this dialect.
Page 20
tháinig mé den bhus: this is a more common phrase than that used by learners – thuirling me den bhus. Note also nuair a tháinig siad den eitleán (pg. 45).
sásta: ‘handy’, in terms of buildings and facilities. For ‘handy’ in the home, on the desk etc. you can say: tá sé fá láimh agam, tá sé ar láimh agam or thig liom mo lámh a ligean air.
a dheas do: this is used more than the form preferred by learners, cóngarach do.
a chomhairle féin: you will also hear déan do chomhairle féin, meaning ‘do what you think is best.’
an ólann tú bainne agus siúcra: Just as you drink sugar in Irish, so sugar and milk is on your tea – ‘Ar mhaith leat siúcra ar do chuid tae?’ The word siúcra is usually pronounced as /siúchra/ or /siú(h)ra/.
Page 21
ar dhóigh inteacht: ‘in a way’. Dóigh is very common in Donegal Irish: ar dhóigh amháin nó ar dhóigh eile (‘in one way or another’); cad é an dóigh atá ort? (‘how are you?’); níl mé ar an dóigh is fearr inniu (‘I’m not feeling the best today’).

Page 22
anál: the Standard form is anáil.

a bholg buailte thiar ar a dhroim: a common expression in Donegal is tá mó bholg thiar ar mo dhroim (‘I’m starving’).
cad é a dúirt tú: Note that both ‘t’s are broad in pronunciation. This is an example of Sandi, the altering of sounds in words due to neighbouring sounds, including those in adjacent words. This process allows the tongue to remain in the same position when pronouncing a new sound. It is easier to say two broad ‘t’s than keep one broad and one slender. Note also that in Donegal Irish cuid de is pronounced with two broad ‘d’s. There are many examples of Sandhi on the recording.

Page 23
suaimhneas: this is pronounced as /suaineas/.

beaguchtach; commonly used to express a lack of confidence e.g. tháinig beaguchtach orm (‘I lost courage’).
beifear: the future autonomous tense of beidh, used when it is not necessary or desirable to indicate which persons are in question e.g. táthar ag rá go bhfuil tú sprionlaithe (‘they say you are stingy with money’).
Ar an Drabhlás
Page 24
i mbun na leabhar: older people in Ranafast tend to use leabharthach, an old genitive plural for leabhar.
siúil leat means ‘come on’ i.e. keep walking. Other examples of this use of leat are ‘bog leat!’ (‘move it!) , ‘léigh leat’ (keep on reading’) etc.

Page 25
acmhainn: this is pronounced as /acainn/.

dhéanfaidh sé fear eile duit: duit should read díot. In this case the spoken word has eclipsed the Standard written form, as ‘díot’ is never pronounced in this dialect. This phrase means metaphorically ‘it’ll put hairs on your chest.’
ar dheich mbomaite: this is used rather than ar deich mbomaite.
gasúraí: this can be heard as /gasraí/ in Donegal. The Standard plural form of gasúr is gasúir. The word gasúr means ‘boy’ in Donegal and ‘child’ in Conamara.
rompu: note the pronunciation as /ripu/. Similarly roimpi = /ripi/.
leathbhogtha: note this is pronounced as /leathbhoctha/. Similarly stiúgtha = /stiúcthaí/.
char éirigh siad comh súgach sin: the negative forms cha/char/ chan are characteristic of Scottish Gaelic and extinct dialects of East Ulster Irish. In Ranafast the cha form is used instead of ní to emphasize a point. In dialects further east, such as Gort an Choirce and Ros Goill, it is far more commonly used. It is a little more common in Gaoth Dobhair also, where I have heard cha mbeinn gaibhte leis sin ‘I couldn’t be bothered with that.’ Note that you cannot use the future tense with cha, so you will hear cha bhím ansin anocht ‘I won’t be there tonight’ and cha bhíonn sé i bhfad ‘he won’t be long’.
Page 26
ceann: this is pronounced as it dative form, /cionn/.

grágán is a bushy head of hair. Cíor do ghrágán means ‘comb that mop!’

Page 27
a cuid a sheasacht: similarly seas do chuid! means ‘buy your round!’

Ag an Chóisir
Page 28
níor cronaíodh: note the pronunciation is /crinú/. Donegal Irish often likes to have slender consonants in words beginning with ‘c’, ‘s’ ‘p’and ‘t’. Thus ciúnas = /ciúineas/, prátaí = /préataí/, scrúdú = /scriúdú/ etc.
Page 29
caoch and caol: note the distinctive pronunciation of ao by this speaker. This is called the unrounded ‘u’ and is used by older speakers of the dialect (incidentally, this is the pronunciation used by all speakers of Scottish Gaelic, whatever their age).
Page 30
eatarthu: note the pronunciation as /eatru/. Usually idir is pronounced as /eadar/.
ní bheinn gaibhte: the Standard past participle of gabh is gafa, just as tofa is the last participle of togh, although toighte can also be heard in Donegal.
ag cur bhuartha: in some common expressions nouns are aspirated after the verbal noun in Donegal e.g. ag baint mhónadh, ag baint fhéir, ag gabháil cheoil, ag imirt chardaí, ag cur choirce. Standard Irish only allows ag fáil bháis.

Page 31
tá sé ina chuilceach: in this context cuilceach means a lad with a bad reputation. The word can also be used to describe something that is a real nuisance e.g. tá sin ina chuilceach.

soc: this can also be used to describe the front of a car e.g. bainfidh sé an soc duit (díot).
gíog ná míog: this is pronounced as /giog n’ miog/.
ag déanamh athchognaidh: this is usually pronounced as /athchognadh/ in this phrase.
ag déanamh iontais dona: dona (‘to his’) is used instead of dá in this dialect. Note also that the ‘s’ in iontais is pronounced by the CD speaker as if it were broad because of the influence of the following broad consonant (see also pg. 68: ag déanamh iontais de). This is also true for ag tabhairt buíochais do (pg. 53). These are further examples of Sandi (see also the examples of neamhiontais on pgs. 38 and 46).

Cuairteoirí Lá Nollag
Page 33
conáilte: a simile using this word is tá mé comh conáilte leis na corra.
lena hiníon: this is pronounced as /lena níon/ on the recording as the Donegal word for ‘daughter’ does not begin with the letter ‘i’; the word has been traditionally spelt as nighean. This is also the form of the word used in Scotland.
tá súil agam: this is always pronounced with an intrusive ‘s’ as /tá súil’ s agam/.
ag smaointiú: the Standard verbal noun is smaoineamh.
Page 34
de na comharsain: this is pronounced as den comharsain on the recording; perhaps this is because comharsain also means ‘neighbourhood’ in Ranafast, whereas comharsanach (plural comharsain) means ‘neighbour’. The Standard nominative plural for comharsa is comharsana.
cíocrais: this is pronounced on the recording with an initial ‘t’, as is the custom in Ranafast.

Page 35
turcaithe: note the pronunciation as /turcaí/. The singular form of the word in Donegal Irish is turcach.

chonaic: this is usually pronounced as /chanaic/.
reáchtáil: this is more common than the Standard rith to express the concept of running.

Page 36
goitse: this is a very common colloquial usage; goitse agus déan cuideachta means ‘come and play’.

Page 37
dona chuid tuismitheoirí: note that the ‘d’ in chuid is broad. This is due to the influence of the following broad ‘t’ – another example of Sandhi.

An Mháthair Chleamhnais
Page 38
iomlán neamhiontais de: the ‘s’ is neamhiontais is pronounced by the CD speaker as if it were broad, because of the influence of the following ‘d’, which is broad because of the confusion of de and do. See also neamhiontais dár (pg. 46).
Page. 40
beidh na páistí isteach: isteach is used by itself – ag teacht is understood. See also bheadh sé isteach bomaite ar bith on pg. 43.

Doimhneacht na hOíche
Page 41
tábla na cisteanaí: traditionally cisteanach (Standard cistin) was declined as follows in Donegal Irish – nominative cisteanach, dative cistinigh (e.g. ‘sa chistinigh’) and genitive cisteanadh. Today there are two genitive forms, cisteanaí and cistineadh; the latter is favoured by older speakers.

Page 42
bhí Louis mall mar ba dhual dó: dual would not be aspirated in Donegal Irish after ba (or in Conamara or Scottish Gaelic); the form in the text is a Standard one. In Donegal Irish, ba does not aspirate ‘d’, ‘t’, or ‘s’, for example ba deas an radharc Joan (pg. 55) and ba doiligh Joan a shamhailt (pg. 56).

ciúnas: note the pronunciation as /ciúineas/.
chuach suas ina dhorn í: the reader has substituted ‘é’ for ‘í’ here, perhaps revealing a tendency to over generalise the masculine object pronoun.

Page 43
gurbh ise údar gach oilc: the CD speaker reads gurbh as /gur/ here.

Ag Ullmhú don tSaoire
Page. 44
leathuaire: leathuair is pronounced as /leafuair/.
ar ais: this appears as arís on the recording. This confusion occurred because both adverbs can become confused with one another in Ranafast.
cá bhfuil: this is often pronounced as /caul/.
ar mhullach an phriosa: mullach is used to indicate something that is placed above one’s head.
Page 45
mar a bheadh cearc aicíde ann: like a sick hen, someone who is cranky, tetchy, and would bite your head off. A similar way to express a lesser degree of prickliness is mar a bheadh cearc ghoir ann — someone like a brooding hen – running around in a bad mood, unable to concentrate, and on a short fuse.
thaispeáint: taispeáin is often pronounced as /teisean/ by older speakers of this dialect. The verbal noun can be pronounced locally as /a’ teisean/.
Page 48
foscail: the verbal noun is ag foscladh. The Standard forms are oscail and ag oscailt.

Dinnéar san Árasán
Page 51
dinnéar: this is pronounced as /dinnéir/ in this dialect.
fá dear: the Standard form of this is faoi deara.
ar chúl an chuisneora: this is pronounced as ar chúl na cuisneora on the recording although cuisneoir is masculine in Standard Irish. Perhaps this is because the word cuisneoir is unfamiliar to many native speakers who use the English equivalent, ‘fridge’.

Page 52
sa bhocsa brúscair: the ‘ú’ is pronounced in brúscar in this dialect.

lofa: this is pronounced as /lotha/.
Page 53
páipéir nuaíochta: the CD reader pronounces this as /páipéir nuaíochtaí/. It seems natural to him to try to pluralize nuaíochta.
feoilséantóir: the pronunciation as /feoilshéantóir/ seems more natural to native speakers.
Page 54
chead aici: this is often spelt as a chead aici as in bíodh a chead sin acu (‘let them!’)
San Otharlann
Page 55
otharlann: this is more common in the dialect than ospidéal.
mar a ba chuimhneach le hAifric é: the CD reader omitted the object pronoun ‘é’, probably as this would not be required in Donegal speech. This also happens on pg. 65 – thóg sí idir chorp agus chleiteacha (é) and pg. 66 – sháigh Cormac ina phóca (é). Since the é is unstressed, especially following a vowel, it is weakened or elided in speech.
cad é a déarfaidh mé léithe: both the Standard déarfaidh and the –s relative form déarfas are to be heard in Donegal today.

Page 56
an fhad sin: this is said in Donegal rather than a fhad sin in phrases like this.

Page 58
mo dhá láimh comh fada lena chéile: the CD speaker pronounces the lena as /le/, although lena is correct.
ag caitheamh mo chodach: the usual way of saying ‘eat your meal’ in this dialect is déan do chuid.


Pronntanas Aindí

Pg. 59-60

a chuid brístí/péire brístí/bríste: note both singular and plural forms of briste are in use.

Page 60
tarraingígí: note the pronunciation as /tarnaígí/.

Page 61
ná corraígí: the singular form is ná corraigh. This is usual way of saying to someone sitting, ‘Stay where you are. Don’t get up.’

An Fiaclóir
Page 63.
coinne: this can he heard as /coinneadh/ in this dialect.
Page 64
a cuid iongan: the more Standard form would be a cuid ingne.
ní thig a dhéanamh go n-imíonn an t-angadh: this would be seen by teachers as an example of Béarlachas, the influence of the English language on Irish. This is because in their view the verb imigh should be in the present subjunctive (go n-imí) or the future tense (go n-imeoidh). However, the use of the present continuous in cases like this is now very common among native speakers.
ag baint bhlaosc an chinn díthe: the word blaosc is not aspirated on the recording, although this is required in terms of Standard grammar.

An Chéad Lá ar Scoil
Page 65
crothnú: note the pronunciation as /croithnú/. Similarly crothnaím (‘I miss’) is pronounced as /crinam/.
bréid: a common word for ‘facecloth’ is bréid an aghaidh, with aghaidh being masculine rather than feminine, as it is in Standard Irish.
Page 66
seo chugam: this is pronounced as /siugam/.
ní bhfaighidh tú oráiste ná oráiste: the negative duplication of oráiste acts as an intensifier – ‘Not a hope in hell!’

Lá Fhéile Vailintín
Page 68
sa tsiúl: learners may be more familiar with ar siúl.
leis an Chéad Chogadh Dhomhanda: the ‘d’ in domhanda is not aspirated by the CD speaker as this seems unnatural in Donegal speech, but is required by Standard grammar.
mar is mó fearg a bhí air: fearg is correct in terms of Standard grammar, but in this case feirge is far more common in Donegal and Conamara speech.
Page 69
tuisleadh: although this is one variant of the Standard word tuisle, another variant /truisle/ can be heard on the recording.
Page 70
focla Uí Dhuibhir: the Standard plural form of focal is focail.
bail na madadh: this appears as bail na madaidh on the recording, although there are two correct forms, bail mhadaidh or bail na madadh.