Cailean Mark - <[email protected]>
 
Tip 52

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Last modified: September 9 , 2003
These are from the Gaidhlig-B Mailing List, courtesy of Cailean Mark

Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 20:32:10 +0100 From: Colin Mark <[email protected]> Subject: Tip of the Week 52 - Homework   A recent query about homework prompted this tip of the week.   An t-Albannach (Seonaidh MacÀdhaimh ) Tha Nic'illeRuaidh comasach ann an Spàinnis agus Gàidhlig agus tha i a' cur suim mhór ann an luach chànan eadar-dhealaichte. "Bidh mise an-còmhnaidh a' brosnachadh pàrantan bho chultaran eile gus a' chiad chànan a chumail ris a' chloinn aig an taigh. Gu tric, bidh mi a' cur leabhraichean-leughaidh ann an cànan an taighe dhachaidh mar obair-sgoile." The Scotsman (Johnnie Mackay) Reid / Gilroy / MacIlroy is competent in Spanish and Gaelic and she sets great store by the value of different languages. "I am always encouraging parents from other cultures to keep on using the first language with the children at home. Often, I send reading books in the language of the house home as homework / schoolwork." Nic'illeRuaidh is the feminine form of the surname Mac'illeRuaidh. You will often find 'colour' names in this form e.g.   Mac'illedhuibh Black Mac'illebhàin White / Whyte Mac'illechiar Kerr (Gray / Grey???) Mac'illebhuidh Bowie The spelling may vary quite a bit with these names just as they do in English e.g. Mac'IlleBhàin etc.   comasach = capable / competent + ann 'in'. But 'comasach air' is 'able to' as in ' Tha e comasach air sin a dhèanamh'. 'He can do that'.   a' cur suim mhór ann an ... 'Suim' has two main meanings. One is 'a sum' as in 'a sum of money', but we'll leave that aside for now. The other is 'regard' / 'respect' / 'esteem' etc. This may be used in various ways e.g.   cuir suim ann have esteem for / set store by etc. tha suim agam do 'I have regard for' etc. gabh suim ann place value in' etc.   chànan This is the genitive plural i.e. luach chànan = the value of languages   Bidh mise etc. Note that, with something that is habitual, the future tense is used i.e. I will be etc. Bidh (pron. bee) is the shortened version of 'bithidh' and is now more the common written form in unstressed positions. When saying 'yes', however, the form is always 'bithidh' the stressed form (pron. bee-ee)   pàrantan After the Verbal Noun 'brosnachadh' you would expect the genitive plural form 'phàrantan', and, indeed, some writers / speakers would use this. But this, like many other aspects of Gaelic, is changing.   Note the use of 'gus' in 'gus a' chiad chànan a chumail ris a' chloinn' 'gus' here means 'to, in order to, with the purpose of '.   cùm [rudeigin] ri [cuideigin] often means 'keep [someone] supplied with [something], often with the idea of 'ply' as in 'ply someone with money'.   Here 'keep at them with the language'.   More next time.   Cailean Cànan ar Cridhe 's ar Gaoil Am Marcair Dubh Is i a' Ghàidhlig Cànan mo Dhùthcha. URL: http://www.gaeldesign.com/colinmark

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