This explanation from some marsupial has a handy colour chart:
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=833

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賢いふくろぐま
Seans Eile - free software to help you practice your Irish
Scéala na Wombait - Muddle-headed Memes and Musings

Chart is great, thanks.

So I think I'm starting to get a handle on lenition, and am now curious about prepositions. I figure its less annoying to the users of the forum if I just keep my questions in this thread. Let me know if I should start a new one.

Is it correct that bhfad means far and gar means near? And is it an okay approach to break each sentence down into individual words to try and understand it (that's what I've been doing).

E.g...

"Tá an cailín i bhfad ón teach."

Tá just seems to me to be a verb like "is." I'm not a linguist, so I'm not sure of the terminology, but it has seemed to me to indicate a state or an action.

An seems to mean what one of those articles describes as the definite article "the."

cailín = girl

i = her or she, depending

bhfad = far

ón I am not sure about, and why I ask the question above. Is it prepositional?

teach = house

So I read it linearally (not sure thats a word). I know you cant really do this but it has always been helpful to me to read it as its written instead of trying to read it like I read in english...

"Tá an cailín i bhfad ón teach" = Is the girl her far from (?) house = The girl is far from her house.

I realize I rambled a lot here, but I guess my question is, is that a valid way of approaching a sentence and is that the correct translation of that sentence?

Correct so far.


"i" means "in", "í" means "her" (the fada/accent mark makes a difference)


"fad" means length. "i bhfad" literally means "in length" or more loosely translated it means "far away." Note that eclipses comes into play here, "fad" becomes "i bhfad" (the word i adds the bh).


"ón" means "from the" (ó + an), a combination of the preposition ó (from) and the definite article an (the).


correct



Tá an cailín i bhfad ón teach = Is the girl in length from+the house = The girl is far from the house

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

Lo an behold, there's also a wombat explanation on that topic: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=829

Wombats are very explain-y. For a complete list of wombat explanations, see: viewforum.php?f=34

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賢いふくろぐま
Seans Eile - free software to help you practice your Irish
Scéala na Wombait - Muddle-headed Memes and Musings

So then can someone recommend a good online dictionary? The one I'm using seems less than perfectly reliable...

It depends what you are looking for. http://www.focal.ie is great for terminology, particularly the more modern stuff; http://www.focloir.ie is great, but not finished - still a work in progress (the three main dialects are represented in sound sometimes too); http://www.potafocal.ie is useful if you want to see words in use.

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(If at any time this gets annoying please tell me and I'll stop).

"Is deas liom bualadh leat."

This is a greeting, no?

deas = either pleasant/nice or right hand (either of which I guess could make sense given the context)

liom = with me

bualadh = strike/beat/pulse?

leat = with you?

Is pleasant with me strike with you?

My right hand strikes with yours?

FOCLÓIR GAEDHILGE AGUS BÉARLA
COMPILED AND EDITED BY REV. PATRICK S. DINNEEN, M.A.
PUBLISHED FOR THE IRISH TEXTS SOCIETY BY
M. H. GILL & SON, LTD.

Is deas liom bualadh leat.

Is – is
deas – nice
liom – with me
bualadh leat – meet with you

"It's nice to meet you."

* It looks like it might be time to invest in a good dictionary like Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Bualadh when accompanied by the preposition "le", or its prepositional pronouns "liom, leat.." etc.. means to meet with

i.e.

Bhuail sé liom he met me

Bhuail sé mé he struck me

Tá Seán ag bualadh liom Seán is meeting with me

Tá Seán ám (ag + mo) bhualdh Seán is striking me

Irish is a very prepositional based language.

Cian.

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

Is ag+mo pronounced ám?

I've always wondered about the quality of the vowel here - I don't have any knowledge of how it is pronounced myself - but 'am' in this meaning was, I thought/ either /am/ or /@m/, or possibly /im'/ before a slender vowel - but ám indicates it is a long vowel, and possibly a long back one?