Mo Sgrìobhaidhean

[virtualvinodh]

Hello folks...

I'm trying to write at least few sentences a day in Gàidhlig.

To kickstart, I wrote the following in the FB page of Gaelic singer Joy Dunlop as a response to her status.

Gàidhlig

'S e album uabhasach math a tha ann na faileasan. 'S glè thoil leam na h-òrain - "Ma phòsas mi idir" agus "'S fhada an sealladh". Tha mi minig gan cluintinn còmhla ri 'ur n-òrain eile ann an Spotify.

Beurla

Reflections is a wonderful album. I really like the songs - "Ma phòsas mi idir" & "'S fhada an sealladh". I often hear them along with your other songs in Spotify.

---

Retrospectively thinking, should it be "air Spotify" ?

V

[virtualvinodh]

Joy wrote back

mìle taing dhut Vinodh - tha mi toilichte gu bheil an clàr a' còrdadh riut 's gur toil leat na h-òrain

I suppose this means : Thousand thanks to you Vinodh. I am happy that you are enjoying the Album and that you like the songs.

V

[virtualvinodh]

Just an imagined conversation:

Màmaidh: A Sheumis, Càit' a bheil thu ? Nach eil thu gam chluintinn ? A Sheumis !
Seumas: Tha. Tha. Bha mise gur cluintinn. Nach eil sibhse gam fhaicinn ?
M: Chan eil, A Sheumis. Tha Màmaidh glè sgìth. Chan eil Màmaidh a' cluich falach-fead riut. Tha Màmaidh anns a' chidsin.
S: Uill, Tha fhios aig Seumas !.
M: Èist ! Thig thugam an-dràsta !
S: Chan eil sibh a' cluich rium. Chan eil sibh sùgradh.
S: OK ma-thà. Tha mi a' tighinn thugaibh.

S: Tha mi an-seo !

M: Dè bha thu a' dèanamh an-sin ? Bha mi a' cluintinn starban.
S: Nach eil fhios agaibh ?
M: Ma tha fhios agam, carson a tha mi gad fhaighneachd ?
S: Chan eil fhios agam. Tha mi 'n dochas gu bheil fhios agaibh.

M: Suidh ! Dèan do obair-dachaigh.

V

[poor_mouse]

a Sheumis >> a Sheumais
dochas >> dòchas

[virtualvinodh]

a Sheumis >> a Sheumais
dochas >> dòchas

Tapadh Leibh

V

[virtualvinodh]

Màrtainn: An tusa Sìne a tha ann ?
Sìne: Tha. 'S mise a tha ann.
Màrtainn: Halò. Ciamar a tha thu, a Shìne ? 'S mise Màrtainn.
Sìne: Tha gu math. Tapadh leat. Ciamar a tha thu fhèin, a Mhartainn ?
M: Meadhanach math. Tapadh leat. Càite às a bheil thu ?
S: Tha mi às a' Chuimrigh.
M: Glè mhath. A bheil Cuimris agad ?
S: Tha. Tha Cuimris beagan agam.
M: Bendigedig. 'S e dùthaic bheag a tha anns a' Chuimrigh. Ach tha i glè bhrèagha. Bha mi ag obair an-seo.
S: A bheil ? Cuin a bha thu ag obair anns a' Chuimrigh ?
M: 'o chionn faisg air dà bhliadhna. Tha mi ag obair ann an Sasann a-nis.
S: An e obair ùr a tha agad ? A bheil an t-obair a' còrdadh riut ?
M: Tha. 'S toil leam an t-obair seo. Mur eil an t-obair a' còrdadh rium, carson a tha mi ag obair an-seo idir ?
S: Ceart gu leòr. Tha mi a' tuigsinn gur toil leatsa do obair.
M: Ceart ma-thà. A bheil thu ag iarraidh leann no uisge-beatha ?
S: uisge-beatha.

Beurla

Màrtainn: Are you Jane ?
Sìne: Yes. I am .
Màrtainn: Hello. How are you, Jane ? I am Martin.
Sìne: I am good. Thanks. How are you (yourself) Martin ?
M: Reasonably well. Thanks. Where are you from ?
S: I am from Wales.
M: Great. do you have Welsh ?
S: Yes. I have a little Welsh.
M: Bendigedig. Wales is a small country. But it is very fine. I was working there.
S: Is it ? When were you working in Wales ?
M: Around 2 years ago. I am working in England now.
S: Is that a new job that you have ? Do you enjoy the work ?
M: Yes. I like that work. If I don't enjoy the work. why am I working there at all ?
S: Right indeed. I understand that you indeed like your work.
M: Right then. Do you want beer or whisky ?
S: Whisky.

[GunChleoc]

Good usage of gam/gad etc. Agus fhuair thu freagairt o Joy, glè mhath!

cluinntinn means "hear", for "listen", it's better to use "èisteachd ri". Also, time expressions tend to go at the end:

Tha mi ag èisteachd riutha còmhla ri 'ur n-òrain eile ann an Spotify gu minig.

or even better, because you do this generally and aren't doing it just right now:

Èistidh mi riutha còmhla ri 'ur n-òrain eile ann an Spotify gu minig.

Watch out for the double nn's in cluinntinn.

===========================================================

Chan eil sibh a' cluich còmhla rium

sùgradh is a verb, you will need an adjective, e.g. tlachdmhor. Or change the grammar accordingly

carson a tha mi gad fhaighneachd . faighneachd doesn't do with this structure. cheasnachadh would, but that's more in the sense of interrogation. carson a tha mi a' faighneachd dhiot?

Dèan d' obair-dachaigh

===========================================================

I will have to look at the last one some other time, feumaidh mi falbh a-nis.

[virtualvinodh]

Tapadh Leibh

V

[GunChleoc]

Glè mhath

Rud no dhà:

Màrtainn: An tusa Sìne a th' ann? (the a th' ann is used when you already know someone, as in: oh, it's you? or: is it you?)
Sìne: 'S mi. 'S mise Sìne.
M: Meadhanach math. Tapadh leat. Cò às a tha thu ? (You mixed this up with "Càite a bheil thu?")
S: Tha. Tha beagan Cuimris agam.
M: Bendigedig. 'S e dùthaich bheag a tha anns a' Chuimrigh. Ach tha i glè bhrèagha. Bha mi ag obair an-siud.
S: An robh? Cuin a bha thu ag obair anns a' Chuimrigh ?
M: 'o chionn faisg air dà bhliadhna. Tha mi ag obair ann an Sasainn a-nis.
M: Tha. 'S toil leam an t-obair seo. Mur eil an t-obair a' còrdadh rium, carson a tha mi ag obair an-seo idir ? (obair is feminine. The last sentence would be better in the conditional tense, but let's leave that for later)
S: Ceart gu leòr. Tha mi a' tuigsinn gur toil leatsa d' obair.

[virtualvinodh]

Míle taing dhuibh airson ceartachadh mo chòmhradh !

Thousand thanks to you for correcting my conversation !

M: Meadhanach math. Tapadh leat. Cò às a tha thu ? (You mixed this up with "Càite a bheil thu?")

My Gaelic teacher (who is from Harris) told that, "Cò às a tha thu" is the Lewis variant, and that it is essentially ungrammatical (but idiomatic). She specifically stressed that, "Càite às a(m) bheil thu" is the proper way to ask the question.

Is it not so ?

V

[Seonaidh]

Love it! I don't know how familiar you are with English, but let's try an interesting paraphrase here:-

"My English teacher (who is from Fife) told us that, "Where are you from" is the Edinburgh variant, and that it is essentially ungrammatical (but idiomatic). She specifically stressed that, "Where's ye fae" is the proper way to ask the question."

In other words, I suspect your teacher may be somewhat "partisan" towards Gàidhlig Na Hearadh. In Gaelic as she is wrote today, one would be unlikely to come across anything other that "Cò às a tha thu?". Whether it is technically "grammatical" or not is singularly irrelevant: it is de facto "grammatical" as that is what people (usually) write.

No doubt there is an appeal here to some "rule" such as the "...ris a bheil e a' bruidhinn" (with whom he is speaking), although these days it's quite common to hear "a tha e a' bruidhinn ris" (who he's speaking with). Languages develop over time and Gaelic is no exception, innit?

[GunChleoc]

'S e do bheatha

airson mo chòmhradh a cheartachadh - Note how stuff switches places here, I don't know if you have learned the grammar for that yet.

M: Meadhanach math. Tapadh leat. Cò às a tha thu ? (You mixed this up with "Càite a bheil thu?")

My Gaelic teacher (who is from Harris) told that, "Cò às a tha thu" is the Lewis variant, and that it is essentially ungrammatical (but idiomatic). She specifically stressed that, "Càite às a(m) bheil thu" is the proper way to ask the question.

If she is a native speaker, you can trust her judgement that her phrase is correct. "Cò às a tha thu" is the phrase that is usually taught and definitely not ungrammatical though. I guess there's a bit of competition between Hearaich and Leòdhasaich going on here

@ a Sheonaidh: snap!

[virtualvinodh]

Love it! I don't know how familiar you are with English, but let's try an interesting paraphrase here:-

"My English teacher (who is from Fife) told us that, "Where are you from" is the Edinburgh variant, and that it is essentially ungrammatical (but idiomatic). She specifically stressed that, "Where's ye fae" is the proper way to ask the question."

In other words, I suspect your teacher may be somewhat "partisan" towards Gàidhlig Na Hearadh. In Gaelic as she is wrote today, one would be unlikely to come across anything other that "Cò às a tha thu?". Whether it is technically "grammatical" or not is singularly irrelevant: it is de facto "grammatical" as that is what people (usually) write.

So if I do use "Càite às ...", will it appear dialectal or just plain ungrammatical to the native users ?

V

[virtualvinodh]

'S e do bheatha

airson mo chòmhradh a cheartachadh - Note how stuff switches places here, I don't know if you have learned the grammar for that yet.

Thanks !

If she is a native speaker, you can trust her judgement that her phrase is correct. "Cò às a tha thu" is the phrase that is usually taught and definitely not ungrammatical though. I guess there's a bit of competition between Hearaich and Leòdhasaich going on here

She is a native speaker that's why I usually go by whatever she says (even if they are not usually found in textbooks or say something totally contrary)

V

[GunChleoc]

Yes, go with the expressions she gives you. You have a chance to learn an actual dialect rather than a dialect mix like me.