perhaps: ...tá mé ag tnúth go mór leis an Aoine seo.

I'm sure I've always heard A Mhic Uí Whoever, but I can't answer your question, Breandán.

The surname Mac an Bhreatnaigh surprises me. I was always taught that Walsh (Welsh) was simply Breatnach - an adjective, just like the surname Caomhánach. The more I read about surnames, however, the more I realise how complicated the issue of translation is.

Thank you everyone for all your help!!!!!!

Ciara x

Perhaps, if it were ... tá mé ag tnúth go mór leis an Aoine seo chugainn. ?

But in that case I still think ... tá mé ag tnúth go mór le Dé hAoine seo chugainn would be better.


According to Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostaí (GGBC) (10.8):

(1) Scooby is correct that it should be A Mhic rather than A Mhac (unless Caoimhín's article specifically said a Mhac?);

(2) For Mac Mathúna (and other Mac surnames not containing Mac an) you have two choices for the "Mr." form in the nominative: an Mathúnach or Mac Uí Mhathúna;

(3) For Mac Mathúna (and other Mac surnames not containing Mac an) you have three choices for the "Mr." form in the vocative: a Mhic Uí Mhathúna or a Mhic Mhathúna or a Mhathúnaigh (GGBC has an here but surely this is a typo, based on the Ó Briain example at the top?);

(4) Mac Lochlainn is specifically mentioned in a list in GGBC as "Sloinnte atá ar aon dul le Mac Mathúna" ("Family names that have the same construction as Mac Mathúna");

(5) For surnames with Mac an, such as Mac an Bhaird nominative "Mr." form is Mac an Bhaird, vocative is a Mhic an Bhaird; and

(6) Breatnach is a special case. Nominative "Mr." form can be either an Breatnach or Mac an Bhreatnaigh. Vocative "Mr." form can be either a Bhreatnaigh or a Mhic an Bhreatnaigh.

That's according to GGBC.

A Chaoimhín, does your article explicitly give the vocative form A Mhac Mhic an Bhaird or was it ambiguous and possibly meant to be A Mhic an Bhaird instead?


Ciara could we get some background on the name Miadhachlughain from you, please? Where did it come from? How is it used? Is it a nickname or user name? Or is it a surname/family name? Is it yourself? or someone else? Male or female?

I don't think we can really nail the translation until we have all of the relevant information.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

I don't think you can say "le De hAoine", since the form with "De" is an adverb. 'Twould have to be "leis an Aoine...". However, the ungrammatical likes of "De hAoine ata ann inniu"/"go (dti) De hAoine" etc. are often to be heard from native speakers -your average native speaker probably being somewhat hazy on yon grammatical technicalities - so no doubt "le De hAoine" is said too. But if it is, it shouldn'toughta be And my fadas have gone AWOL -keyboard problems again.

There are buttons for the síntí fada above the reply box.

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

GRMA. Rinne mé dearmad de sin uilig. Mar a dúirt mé cheana féin, ní shílím go bhfuil "le Dé hAoine" ceart ó thaobh na gramadaí de.

Sílim nach bhfuil sé ceart fosta.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Go raibh maith agaibh. Bhí aimhreas orm nach bhfuil le Dé hAoine* ceart agus sin é an fáth a gcuir mé mar cheist é i dtosach. An bhfuil an beirt agaibh sásta go bhfuil leis an Aoine ceart i gcás mar é seo a bhfuil lá áirithe ("this Friday") i gceist agus nach bhfuil brí "on Fridays/every Friday" leis, mar sin?

(Thanks, guys. I had a suspicion le Dé hAoine* wasn't correct, which was why I posed it as a question in the first place. Do both of you also think leis an Aoine is fine in this case pointing to a specific Friday ("this Friday") rather than than "on Fridays/every Friday", then?)

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

For those who were following this thread and wondering what the answer to the unresolved question was, Bríd provided the following answer in another thread (here):

So, just as i gcónaí can mean "still" or "always" depending on whether the verb is tá or bíonn, an Aoine can mean "a particular Friday" or "every Friday" depending on the tense of the verb.

_________________
Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).