Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

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Polygot2017
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by Polygot2017 »

I thought I would try and write a little introduction and say a bit about myself in Gaelic, instead of writing posts about grammar etc. This might eventually be turned into a video, hence the references to that. Also the part in brackets about lesson might eventually be used on Facebook etc for if/when I start teaching languages privately, I'm not trying to self-promote here (not Gaelic lessons I must add, as I'm nowhere near good enough for that lol). This has been a really tough slog to write this lot. Please could the experienced people here correct my mistakes (and I may need the odd phrase or 2 translated too)?

I will start with the English outline that I've tried to tr*nsl*t*:

Hello and good evening everyone/everybody and welcome to my first video in Scottish Gaelic. My name is Neil, and I am a musician and polyglot from the UK/Britain. I was born in London and grew up in England, but I now live in Inverness in Scotland. Inverness is a small city in the north of Scotland, and I have been living here about 2 years.

As a musician/for music, I play the guitar, keyboards/piano and I also sing. I like many types of music, but I prefer rock music, and I play in a rock and blues band here in Scotland too.

I also like to learn languages, and I currently speak English, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, German, French and Japanese. I have been to many different places in the world, and my inspiration for learning languages started when I was travelling. I hope that I can learn many more languages in the future. I started my website and blog in order to help and inspire more people to learn languages too. I hope you like it.

(Right now, I teach language lessons in Inverness and the surrounding areas. If you want to learn English, Spanish, German or French, I offer private lessons in these languages. My method is simple and easy to follow, and I can help you learn and improve the speaking, reading, writing and grammar.

So if you would like lessons with me, you can contact me via Facebook, or call me on....)

Ok so, thanks for watching my video. I hope to make some more videos in Gàidhlig soon, (and I will tell you a bit more about myself and discuss different subjects in more detail). But for now, goodbye and see you all again soon.

.....And now in Gàidhlig:

Hallo agus feasgar math a h-uile duine agus fàilte gu mo ciad video anns a Gàidhlig. Is/'S mise Neil, agus tha mi neach-ciùil agus iol-chainnteach ('polyglot') o an Rìoghachd Aonaichte/Breatann/a Bhreaton Mhòr. Rugadh mi ann an Lunnain, agus thogadh mi ann an Sassan, ach tha mi a' fuireach ann an Inbhir-Nis a-nis/an-dràsta. Tha Inbhir-Nis cathair beag anns an tuath de Alba, agus tha mi air a bhidh a' fuireach an seo mu thuaiream dà bliadhnaichean.

Mar neach-ciùil, tha mi a' cluiche giotàr, piàno, meur-chlàr/clàr-iuchrach agus tha mi a' seinn cuìdeachd. Tha mi a' cluiche ann an còmhlan roc agus blues an seo ann an Alba. Is toigh leam iomadh/iomadach/móran seòrsa de ceòl, ach s'fheàrr leam leam ceòl roc.

Cuìdeachd, is toigh leam ionnsachadh cànanain, agus a-nis tha Beurla, Spàinnis/Spàinntis, Fraingis, Gearamailtis, Gàidhlig agus Seapanais agam. Mo brosnachadh ag ionnsachadh cànanain do thòisich nuair a bha mi shubhail. Tha mi an dòchas gum bi ag ionnsachadh tuilleadh chànanan anns an àm ri teachd cuìdeachd. Thòisich mi mo làrach-lìn agus bloga a los a/a chum a bhith a' cuideachadh agus deachdadh neachluchd/pearsachn ag ionnsachadh cànanain cuìdeachd. Tha mi an dòchas gu bheil (you like it).

(An-dràsta, tha mi a' teagasg cànanain ann an Inbhir Nis agus am Gàidhealtachd. Ma tha sibh ag iarraidh ionnsachadh Buerla, Spàinnis/Spàinntis, Fraingis na/no Gearamailtis, tha mi a' tairgsean/tabhach leasanan anns na cànanain seo. Tha mo modh/dòigh furasta a' tuigsinn, agus urainn dhobh do cuideachadh agus ionnsachadh am bruidhinn, leughadh, sgrìobhadh agus gràmar.

Ma bu toigh leibh leasan le mise, 's urrain dhut cuir fios air mise ann an Facebook, na mo fòn/fònaig ann....)

Ok, tapadh leibh do a' coichead mo video. Tha mi an dòchas gum bi urrainn dhobh dèanamh tuilleadh videothan anns a' Gàidhlig a dh'aithgheàrr/ann an aithghearrach. Ach do an-drasta, mar sin leigh agus chimi a-rithist sibh dh'aithgheàrr/ann an aithghearrach.
Last edited by Polygot2017 on Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:54 pm, edited 8 times in total.


Polygot2017
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by Polygot2017 »

I need a bit of help on the following:

1) Is 'mac-màthar' correct for 'everyone'/'everybody', when saying 'hello everyone' etc, or is there a better word for this?

2) Which of these is the best word for 'musician' - 'ceòladair' or 'neach-ciùil ?

3) I'm wondering what's the best word to use for 'inspiration' - brosnachadh, brosnadh or brosnachdainn?

4) For the word 'now', I've always wondered whether 'a-nis' and 'an-dràsta' mean basically the same thing and if they're simply interchangeable. What would be best for telling someone where you live now?

5) Which of these is the best word for 'city' - 'cathair' or 'mòr-bhaile' ?

6) I need the Gaelic term for 'rock music', is 'ceòl de rock' correct?

7) I'll try and tr*nsl*t* the sentence 'I have been to many different places in the world'', but first I am unsure about the 'I have been to...' part. I know that 'càit an deach sibh?' is 'where did you go?''/'where have you been?', and that 'chaidh mi' is 'I went', but what about 'I have been to...'?

8) I need to know how to say 'and I will tell you a bit more about myself and discuss different subjects in more detail'. I could just leave this out, or perhaps attempt a tr*nsl*t**n myself, for the sake of learning.

I'll ask any other questions in due course, so thanks for your help.
Last edited by Polygot2017 on Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
akerbeltz
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by akerbeltz »

1) Is 'mac-màthar' correct for 'everyone'/'everybody', when saying 'hello everyone' etc, or is there a better word for this?
Use a h-uile duine instead of mac-màthar for now. You can only use a h-uile mac-màthar when talking about people in the 3rd person.
2) Which of these the best word for 'musician' - 'ceòladair' or 'neach-ciùil ?
Check the maps in Faclair Beag, neach-ciùil is way more common.
3) I'm wondering what's the best word to use for 'inpiration' - brosnachadh, brosnadh or brosnachdainn?
Again, check the maps 8-) when in doubt and without internet/time, go with -achadh if there's an -achadh
4) For the word 'now', I've always wondered whether 'a-nis' and 'an-dràsta' mean basically the same thing and if they're simply interchangeable. What would be best for telling someone where you live now?
They're not interchangeable. A-nis is more restricted than an-dràsta; use a-nis when something is the case that was not the case before. For example:
Bha mi tinn ach tha mi nas fhearr a-nis.
Fosgail an uinneag an-dràsta.


5) Which of these is the best word for 'city' - 'cathair' or 'mòr-bhaile' ?
Cathair

6) I need the Gaelic term for 'rock music', is 'ceòl de rock' correct?
That would me music made from seaweed growing on rocks :lol: Ceòl roc. It's in the Faclair Beag 8-)
7) I'll try and tr*nsl*t* the sentence 'I have been to many different places in the world'', but first I am unsure about the 'I have been to...' part. I know that 'càit an deach sibh?' is 'where did you go?''/'where have you been?', and that 'chaidh mi' is 'I went', but what about 'I have been to...'?
Apply the KISS principle. Bha mi ann an... or Chunnaic mi... At this stage, I would recommend that 9/10 times when you're really unsure about how to say something to go back and see if you can carry more or less the same meaning with a simpler sentence.
8) I need to know how to say 'and I will tell you a bit more about myself and discuss different subjects in more detail'. I could just leave this out, or perhaps attempt a tr*nsl*t**n myself, for the sake of learning.
Try what I suggested under 7. Break up long sentences. Ach cha robh sin dona mar chiad oidhirp, cum ort.
Polygot2017
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by Polygot2017 »

akerbeltz wrote:Check the maps in Faclair Beag

Again, check the maps 8-) when in doubt and without internet/time, go with -achadh if there's an -achadh
Ok will do in future, thanks for the reminder.
akerbeltz wrote:They're not interchangeable. A-nis is more restricted than an-dràsta; use a-nis when something is the case that was not the case before. For example:
Bha mi tinn ach tha mi nas fhearr a-nis.
Fosgail an uinneag an-dràsta.
I was thinking that 'a-nis' is more like 'now' in general, whereas 'an-drasta' is something you're doing right now in this very moment. Is that not the case? Your definition makes sense, though I'm still unsure which one to use for 'I live in...' when I've been here about 2 years.
akerbeltz wrote:6) I need the Gaelic term for 'rock music', is 'ceòl de rock' correct?
That would me music made from seaweed growing on rocks :lol: Ceòl roc. It's in the Faclair Beag 8-)
Ah ok :P It was an (un)educated guess - I didn't expect 'rock music' to be in a Gaelic dictionary!
akerbeltz wrote:Apply the KISS principle. Bha mi ann an... or Chunnaic mi... At this stage, I would recommend that 9/10 times when you're really unsure about how to say something to go back and see if you can carry more or less the same meaning with a simpler sentence.
Ok will do, thanks.
akerbeltz wrote:Ach cha robh sin dona mar chiad oidhirp, cum ort.
Móran taing. Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.

I've edited the original post to reflect the points you've helped me with, but will get to some more questions tomorrow perhaps on some other bits I found tricky. Oidhche mhath leat!
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Unread post by akerbeltz »

I was thinking that 'a-nis' is more like 'now' in general, whereas 'an-drasta' is something you're doing right now in this very moment.
No.
Is that not the case? Your definition makes sense, though I'm still unsure which one to use for 'I live in...' when I've been here about 2 years.
Well normally you wouldn't add "now" to "I live in Upper Coll" unless you were contrasting it with where you were before, so
Tha mi a' fuireach ann an Col Uarach [I live there, no comment on whether I lived elsewhere too or was born there etc]
Tha mi a' fuireach ann an Col Uarach a-nis [telling you I lived somewhere else before]
Ah ok :P It was an (un)educated guess - I didn't expect 'rock music' to be in a Gaelic dictionary!
It wasn't a bad one but just amusingly wrong. The Faclair Beag is quite contemporary, we have selfie and totalitarianism alongside seaweed growing on rocks and the word for a drink taken to celebrate the birth of a child 8-)
Móran taing. Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.
'S e do bheatha :priob:
Polygot2017
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by Polygot2017 »

Alright, here we go with some further questions:

1) I'm wondering, when I describe myself with 'I'm a musician and polyglot', is it correct to use 'Tha mi (neach-ciùil agus iol-chainnteach)', or do I use 'Is mise (neach-ciùil agus iol-chainnteach)'. I've been going through 'Scottish Gaelic In 3 Months and it says there are 2 forms of 'to be', using 'tha' vs 'is', and says 'when the predicate is a noun, use is, and when the predicate is anything else, use tha'.

On the other hand, for describing myself as a musician and polyglot, could I also use the same structure as telling people what my job/profession is? In 'Speaking Our Language', they use ’S e nurs a th’ annam ('I'm a nurse'), ’S e tidsear a th’ annam ('I'm a teacher'), etc, so following on from that logic, would it be correct for me to say 'S e neach-ciùil agus iol-chainnteach a th' annam' ?

Is 'S e....a th' annam' some form of 'to be', or if not what does it mean? I know it's roughly 'I am' but not sure exactly.

2) Starting a the 2nd paragraph, I want to begin with 'As a musician (I play guitar, etc...)'. I looked up 'as' and found 'Mar', so is 'Mar neach-ciùil' correct here?

3) For the word 'keyboard' (as in the musical instrument), I'm wondering which of these is best - 'meur-chlàr' or 'clàr-iuchrach'. I couldn't see much difference in use between these in the maps in Faclair. I'm hoping these mean keyboard as in musical instrument, not the keyboard on a computer, or do they mean both?

4) I'm wondering whether 'còmhlan de rock agus blues' is correct for 'rock and blues band'.

5) I've seen 2 different versions for 'Spanish' (as in the language, not nationality) - 'Spàinnis' and 'Spàinntis', again not much difference in the pins. really. Which would sound most natural?

6) In the sentence 'I like many types of music', I'm wondering about 'many types of (music)'....is it correct to use 'iomadh/iomadach/móran seòrsa de...' for this? 'Móran' seems to be more widely used according to the pins, but still quite a lot in the western islands use 'iomadh' and 'iomadach' apparently.

Ok I'll leave the questions there for now as don't want to bombard you with too many at once. Will get to the others later.
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Unread post by akerbeltz »

1) I'm wondering, when I describe myself with 'I'm a musician and polyglot'
Is mise is mainly for giving your name at your stage. There are other uses for this construction but leave those for now. For giving an occupation, tha mi nam thidsear or 's e tidsear a th' annam are what you want. There is a small difference between the two traditionally.
2) Starting a the 2nd paragraph, I want to begin with 'As a musician (I play guitar, etc...)'. I looked up 'as' and found 'Mar', so is 'Mar neach-ciùil' correct here?
That's fine.
3) For the word 'keyboard' (as in the musical instrument), I'm wondering which of these is best - 'meur-chlàr' or 'clàr-iuchrach'.
Meur-chlàr is more common I'd say, though mostly music folk I reckon would use the English word. At this stage, don't hesitate to stick in English loan-nouns. Native speakers do it and until you have a good grip on the other stuff, specialized terminology can wait.
4) I'm wondering whether 'còmhlan de rock agus blues' is correct for 'rock and blues band'.
Without de cause otherwise we're back to seaweed but fine otherwise.
5) I've seen 2 different versions for 'Spanish' (as in the language, not nationality) - 'Spàinnis' and 'Spàinntis', again not much difference in the pins.
In such cases you can assume it's a dialect issue, go with your favourite version and stick to it.
6) In the sentence 'I like many types of music', I'm wondering about 'many types of (music)'....is it correct to use 'iomadh/iomadach/móran seòrsa de...' for this? 'Móran' seems to be more widely used according to the pins, but still quite a lot in the western islands use 'iomadh' and 'iomadach' apparently.
They're not quite the same. Think of mòran as "a lot of something" and iomadh/iomadach as "a great variety of something". Out of iomadh/iomadach, just pick your favourite.
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Unread post by GunChleoc »

Here are corrections for the first paragraph. Ask your questions about it before we move on to the second?

Halò agus feasgar math a h-uile duine agus fàilte dhan chiad video agam anns a' Ghàidhlig. Is/'S mise Neil, agus 's e neach-ciùil a th' annam agus iomadh cànan agam. Tha mi às an Rìoghachd Aonaichte/à Breatann/à Breatann Mhòr. Rugadh mi ann an Lunnainn agus thogadh mi ann an Sassainn ach tha mi a' fuireach ann an Inbhir Nis a-nis. 'S e cathair bheag ceann a tuath Alba a th' ann an Inbhir-Nis agus tha mi air a bhith a' fuireach an seo mu thuaiream dà bhliadhna.
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Facal-toisich anns a Gàidhlig/Introduction in Gaelic

Unread post by Polygot2017 »

GunChleoc wrote: Here are corrections for the first paragraph. Ask your questions about it before we move on to the second?
Móran taing! Yeah, taking it one paragraph at a time makes sense. Here are my questions:

1) I always thought 'welcome to' was 'fàilte gu', so is 'dhan....agam' simply another way of saying that, and could I use either to introduce a video/speech?

2) I take it 'ceann a tuath Alba' means roughly 'in the far north of Scotland', or does it just mean 'in the north of'?

3) I know akerbeltz mentioned in my thread about tenses that the perfect tenses are rarely used in Gàidhlig, but I take it it's ok to use the present continuous tense here - 'tha mi air a bhith a' fuireach an seo...' for 'I have been living...'?

4) For '2 years', I don't use the plural form 'bliadhnaichean'?

5) I know that 'mu thuaiream' means 'about' in the sense of 'approximately', but what about if I wanted to say 'I'd like to tell you a bit about myself' or 'I want to talk about (music, etc) today' - would I use some different form of 'about' for this?
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Unread post by GunChleoc »

1) gu with an article becomes chun + genitive, but that's pretty formal, so most people use do/dha instead nowadays.

2) You use "ceann" with deas and tuath, and "taobh" with any direction. It's just one of these usage things.

3) Yes, that's OK, but I think you could lose the "air a bhith" - "tha mi a' fuireach an-seo" is sufficient.

4) Because Gaelic used to have a dual tense http://akerbeltz.org/index.php?title=Nu ... _in_Gaelic

5) You'd use just "mu" or "air" . you can drop the "thuaiream" in this sentence too if you want - mu dhà bhliadhna
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Unread post by Polygot2017 »

GunChleoc wrote: 1) gu with an article becomes chun + genitive, but that's pretty formal, so most people use do/dha instead nowadays.

2) You use "ceann" with deas and tuath, and "taobh" with any direction. It's just one of these usage things.

3) Yes, that's OK, but I think you could lose the "air a bhith" - "tha mi a' fuireach an-seo" is sufficient.

4) Because Gaelic used to have a dual tense http://akerbeltz.org/index.php?title=Nu ... _in_Gaelic

5) You'd use just "mu" or "air" . you can drop the "thuaiream" in this sentence too if you want - mu dhà bhliadhna
Ok. Móran taing! You can move on to the next paragraph whenever you're ready.
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Unread post by GunChleoc »

Mar neach-ciùil, tha mi a' cluiche giotàr, piàno, meur-chlàr/clàr-iuchrach agus tha mi a' seinn cuideachd. Tha mi a' cluiche ann an còmhlan roc agus blues an seo ann an Alba. Is toigh leam iomadh/iomadach/móran seòrsa de ceòl, ach 's fheàrr leam leam ceòl roc.

Some notes:

- iomadh/iomadach seòrsa, but móran sheòrsaichean
-. It would me more idiomatic to use "cluichidh mi" and "seinnidh mi/nì mi seinn" in the first sentence.
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Unread post by Polygot2017 »

GunChleoc wrote:Mar neach-ciùil, tha mi a' cluiche giotàr, piàno, meur-chlàr/clàr-iuchrach agus tha mi a' seinn cuideachd. Tha mi a' cluiche ann an còmhlan roc agus blues an seo ann an Alba. Is toigh leam iomadh/iomadach/móran seòrsa de ceòl, ach 's fheàrr leam leam ceòl roc.

Some notes:

-. It would me more idiomatic to use "cluichidh mi" and "seinnidh mi/nì mi seinn" in the first sentence.
Ok - so 'cluichidh mi' and 'seinnidh mi' are the future tense form used as the habitual present tense, then? Could I also use 'Bidh mi a' cluiche' and 'bidh mi a' seinn' here, as I believe this is also the future tense as the habitual present?

As for 'nì mi seinn', I have no idea what tense this grammatical structure is.
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Unread post by GunChleoc »

Your analysis is correct.

nì is the future tense of "dèan" and also used to express capability/something that you do regularly.
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Unread post by Polygot2017 »

GunChleoc wrote: Your analysis is correct.

nì is the future tense of "dèan" and also used to express capability/something that you do regularly.
Oh yeah I forgot that 'to do' is an irregular verb in Gaelic. I've made a mental note of nì. Ok so we can move on to the next paragraph whenever you can, thanks.
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