Gle Mvah!
Well, I'm teaching myself Scottish Gaelic. Don't get too excited because it's what I do for five minutes before falling asleep at night in bed, my bedtime reading. And I'm doing it for no reason other than to better read the old tales and music from that land I love so much, that I'm drawn so strongly to. I have piles of Celtic folklore and tales and don't even know how to pronounce the places and names. I decided to remedy that and its been fun. I'm no expert, heck I am barely capable, but between books and Youtube on my iphone in bed it's not so hard to get into a thing these days. I thought I'd share a basic greeting conversation through my two Scottish critters here: Gibson and Monday, both from ol' Alba (that's Scotland in, well, Scottish). I have the proper spelling first and how to pronounce it in the parenthesis. And if you want to hear it all spoken and explained, click this link here.Gibson: Ciamar a tha sibh? ( Kimeer a har shiff)
Monday: Tha gu math. Ciamar a tha sibh, fein? (Ha goo mah. Kimeer a har shiff, fee-in)
Gibson: Gle Mvah!! Tapadh leigbh!(Glay Vah! Tapa lef!)
Translation:
Gibson: How are you?
Monday: I am well. How are you?
Gibson: Very well! Thank you!
Bonus phrase! m' math cu! (mmm mah coo)
Translation: my good dog (male dog, female would be m' math chu)
Yes, I'm a nerd.
posted by Jenna at 6:16 PM
13 Comments:
Hey! Be a nerd, just rock it in a hot librarian kind of way! Nothing wrong with a girl who loves to learn- otherwise we'd all still be in the kitchen, rather than running our very own farms! ;-)
I ken you are just doing it to understand Jaime better:)
oooooo, good luck, not an easy one to learn.
I copied this and put it on my fridge(shrine). My Irish and Scottish and Welsh roots said it was OK.
Thanks for the pronunciations. I would be garbling up some bastardized elocution otherwise.
I watched the instructional video. Wow, I'm of Scottish decent and would love to have someone to speak it with. My grandmother used to tell us stories in Gaelic, and we understood them somehow. We always celebrated Robert Burns day, too! Too bad I didn't pursue it back then.
You're not a nerd at all!! You are learning all that you can in your spare time and that is commendable. I have often told my husband that the only place that I have a real desire to visit is Scotland. Maybe in a past life, you lived there ~ I feel drawn to it too. That may explain your love of sheep & spinning wool. Enjoy your new adventure (learning Gaelic) and have a good night.
OMG This would be so cool to train my therapy dog or any dog new commands. No one would know what I'm saying to her and no one else would be able to give her commands. Very cool
Nerds have more fun. I've secretly wanted to learn the Gaelic since reading Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series.
Beag air bheag.
Beag air bheag! indeed!
how great is this site?
http://learngaelic.net/beginner/bairb.jsp
On my wedding band it says mo anam cara... For me it's so true...
Interesting! I tried learning Irish Gaelic... Just to forewarn you, the Celtic languages are rough. It really helps if you find a native speaker (I studied linguistics in college, and I speak French and studied numerous others, so I think I have a fair view on the subject! ;D) Also, I'm not sure if Scottish Gaelic is the same way, but beware of big differences between dialects!
Love it. That "how are you? i'm well, thanks" exchange is the only Gaelic that I remember that my grandfather taught me and it was the only bit that he remembered from his relatives on PEI. I've always aspired to learn more too!
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