de + a = dá

I read it as: For (all) Sean's good i.e. however good Seán is .....

Other examples: Dá olcas é Sean... Dá laghad... Dá bhoichte...


ón chathair would work too (i gcanúint an tuaiscirt).


leis na buachaillí

28. Bhí a dhá chois greamaithe ar talamh le teann faitís.

I have no confidence in 'ar talamh' but have nothing better to suggest.

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By the way, thanks a mill for all the extra little tips along the way too. When these eighty questions are over and done with - if that ever happens - I will be referring back to this thread from time to time over a long period I think.

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and you are right since it should be "ar thalamh"...
It would work if we were allowed to add the article: "ar an talamh".

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

Yes, ar thalamh normally unless you mean 'on earth' which is ar talamh, but greamaigh goes with de

28. Bhí a dhá chois greamaithe den talamh le teann faitís.

"Don talamh" in almost all dialects

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

The only dialect I know of that differentiates between den and don is Cork Irish and Waterford Irish(to a certain extent): don (to the) and den (from/ off the)

i.e tabhair an leabhar san don bhuachaill- give the boy the book
i.e Thit an buachaill den rothar- the boy fell off the bike.

Don and den are fairly interchangeable everywhere else as Lughaidh said- both meaning "to the" and "from the". Don is also preferred in Kerry but den is not uncommon either. In Kerry don and den are nearly always proceeded by an eclipsing- don ngarsún, den ngarsún srl...

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

actually, it's not that they are interchangeable (people don't use "den" at all) : about 95% of the native speakers always use "do" instead of "de" and "don" instead of "den".

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Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

As you know, I tend to refer to standard Irish. In this case I first saw greamaithe de in the book Laochas by Séamus Ó Searcaigh. Specifically the story Clann Lir: 'D'fhág siad craiceann na gcos agus cluimhreach a n-uchta greamaithe de Charraig na Rón...'

The book describes Séamus Ó Searcaigh as 'Fear ón gCruit, an t-oileán amach ó chósta na Rosann i dTír Chonaill'.

I have seen greamaithe de written elsewhere many times since.

Searching Corpas na Gaeilge for greamaithe throws up: Seanchas ó Leac Chonaill agus ón Mhachaire: Amach le Pádraic ach ní raibh deifre ar bith ag pilleadh air agus d'fhág sé an bhean bhocht greamaithe den cheaig.

Those who refer to English might well assume it's greamaithe do. What about the native speakers? Would they pronounce don (dhon) and den in a similar way but write the words differently?

The text of Laochas has been highly standardized anyway.



someone from Tír Chonaill may write in standard Irish, or an editor is able to standardize what the author wrote.



in Tobar na Gaedhilge you'll find examples of both. Because some authors standardized their language, other didn't.



they'd write "de(n)" if they standardize their natural Irish, that's all. Otherwise they shouldn't, because in "de(n)" the d should be slender (according to the spelling itself), but as I said, 95% of native speakers use a broad d there, so if they write "de(n)", they simply not write what they say...

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