Consain Chaola na Gaeilge

Bhí go leor cloiste agam faoi chonsain chaola na Gaeilge ach ní raibh a fhios agam go dtí le déanaí ceard go díreach a bhí i gceist leo.

Shíl mé, mar shampla gurb é 'bow-hir' an fuaimniú ar 'bóthair' – ach ní amhlaidh atá.

D'fheastal mé ar ghaelscoileanna ach ní chuimhin liom gur dúradh aon rud linn fúthu. Is amhlaidh a bhí sé agus mé ag déanamh cúrsa gramadaí mar chuid de ard-dioplómá cumarsáide in OÉG.

Rinne mé cuardach ar líne le míníu a fháil ar fhuaim na gconsan seo ach níor tháinig mé ar rud ar bith úsáideach, níl IPA agam.

Ar aon chaoi tá leigheas aimsithe agam ar an gceist seo leis na fuaimrianta ar focloir.ie

R caol

Brú 'bóthar' agus 'bóthair'.

http://www.focloir.ie/en/dictionary/ei/road?q=road

L caol

Brú 'súl' agus 'súil'.

http://www.focloir.ie/en/dictionary/ei/eye?q=eye

Níor tháinig mé ar shamplaí do na consain eile go fóill.

(Ní saineolaí mé ar chúrsaí gramadaí mar sin má tá botún éigin déanta agam leis an bpost leis abair liom le bhur dtoil!)

The strange absence of Bible stories from the gay marriage debate

The referendum on same-sex marriage to be held next year seems destined to be acrimonious and highly contested.

Already the 'Pantigate' episode has prompted threats of legal action, compensation payments and claims of attempts to silence opinions on both sides of the debate.

The central issue in the affair revolves around the role being played by homophobia in the debate.

Some have claimed that opposition to same-sex marriage is by definition homophobic, a view that has provoked much outrage in opponents of the measure.

Rather than making blanket statements which leave no room for further debate, a more revealing approach would be to examine whether there are any arguments against same-sex marriage that are not based on homophobia.

Another feature of the debate so far is the total absence of any reference to religious doctrine by devout Catholics who oppose same-sex marriage.

Instead their opposition is based on the “won't someone please think of the children” principle.

Apparently marriage is all about the kids and as gay couples can't conceive children together they have no right to get married.

Where this convenient definition of marriage comes from is another question, personally I would define marriage as a public declaration of love and commitment between a couple. Whether that couple go on to have children is beside the point.

Opponents of same-sex marriage also claim that gay couples are not as good at parenting as a male-female couples. Research showing otherwise is duly dismissed.

One thing we can be clear on however is that the Catholic Church, most Christian denominations (and many other religions) are unambiguously homophobic.

The official line of the Catholic Church on the subject is: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' ”

The 'Sacred Scripture' includes the Old Testament tale of Sodom and Gomorrah. This story begins with the visit of two magical creatures known as 'angels' to a man called Lot in the city of Sodom. The men of the city (all of them, apparently) took a shining to these two visitors and declared that they wanted to have sex with them. Being a righteous man Lot was absolutely horrified by this idea, so he offered his two daughters to the mob so they could “do what you like with them”, i.e. to gang rape them.

(This is not the only questionable sexual episode involving Lot and his daughters, for details on incest between them see Genesis19: 30-38).

Anyway, the men of Sodom declined the offer, but the two angels were able to stop them from entering the house by casting some sort of spell that blinded them. They then advised Lot to leave the city with his family and to never to look back. Then someone called 'The Lord' destroyed the city and all its people with burning sulphur from the sky. Lot escaped but his wife was not so fortunate, she looked back at the city and was instantly turned into salt.

It seems from the story that 'The Lord' is a remarkable individual. He can conjure sulphur and turn the constituent parts of the human body into sodium chloride. Plus he has a 'The' in his name.

This tale forms the basis of the Catholic Church's opposition to homosexuality, today, as well as the 'religious convictions' and 'genuinely held beliefs' we have heard so much of. This includes the complaints that people are being oppressed because they can't discriminate against gay people due to these beliefs.

The Bible condemns homosexuality, but if anyone actually read the book you would quickly notice the large number of behaviours that are also forbidden, including eating shellfish, wearing clothes made of two fabrics, getting a tattoo or working on the Sabbath.

One rule which may be relevant depending on how heated the referendum debate gets is that under no circumstances can a woman grab the genitals of a man who is fighting her husband. If she does her hand is to be chopped off.

The Bible also contains a wide range of immoral behaviours that are condoned or encouraged by God (which, by the way, includes Jesus), including murder, genocide, rape and slavery.

Why Christian churches cherry-pick the Bible's condemnation of homosexual people and ignore numerous other condemnations in the Sacred Scriptures, like the one about the testicle-grabbing wives, is a question I would love to hear answered.

None of this would matter but for the impact Christian teachings have had on the laws of this country, including teachings based on an anti-gay fairytale written 2,500 years ago.

It also leaves me wondering why supporters of the Catholic Church who are against same-sex marriage do not cite their church's views on homosexuality ('grave depravity', 'intrinsically disordered', etc) when opposing the reform, instead of relying entirely on dubious secular arguments.

One possibility is that they don't share these views, i.e. their opposition to same-sex marriage is totally unrelated to the religious opposition to same-sex marriage their church has.

Hopefully we will have an answer to this puzzle before the referendum takes place next year.

Aon Ghéilleadh! – Gaeilge úsáidte ag an Protestant Coalition

Tá Gaeilge úsáidte ag an Protestant Coalition ar leathanach Facebook an pháirtí dílseachta conspóidí.

Cén fáth a deirim go bhfuil siad conspóideach? Sa chéad dul síos seo páirtí atá tar éis tacaíocht a léiriú d'ionsaithe ar an PSNI, nó an PSNIRA mar a ghlaonn siad orthu go minic. 

Is é Jim Dowson, iarbhall den pháirtí faisisteach, an BNP, duine de na bunaitheoirí. Bhunaigh sé páirtí fíordheis eile, Britain First, chomh maith, agus tá ceangal láidir idir an dá ghrúpa.

Mar aon le sin tá rabhaidh déanta go minic ag an PC go bhfuil baol ann go rachaidh dílseoirí i mbun 'cogaíochta' má leantar le cúrsaí mar atá ó thuaidh. 

Creideann siad chomh maith go bhfuil Facebook i mbun comhcheilg frith-Phrotastúnach agus frith-Dhílseachta toisc go bhfuil ceanncheathrú an chomhlachta lonnaithe i mBaile Átha Cliath.

Mar sin, is páirtí antoisceach lán le gealta é an Chomhghuallaíocht Phrotastúnach. Ach más féidir le páirtí mar seo an Ghaeilge a úsáid is léir nach baol í an teanga don fhéiniúlacht Aontachtach.

Chuir an páirtí físéan faoi Léigear Dhoire ar an leathanach Dé hAoine (9ú Lúnasa) ach ní raibh gach duine sásta go raibh sé i nGaeilge (tuigtear gur cuireadh clár faisnéise faoin léigear i mBéarla ar an leathanach níos déanaí).

“I prefer the English translation rather than this Leprechaun language…NO SURRENDER,” a dúirt John MacLaughlin.

Dúirt an Chomhghuallaíocht áfach go bhfuil Gaeilge ag Protastúnaigh in Albain.

“tens of thousands of Scottish Protestants speak the Gaelic!!” arsa an páirtí.

Níor ghlac an tUasal MacLaughlin leis an dearcadh seo.

“Maybe so but we are in Northern Ireland and the majority speak the English language. Far too many times we see the likes of bbc and the media use this leprechaun language on the t.v. and in the papers. Everybody to their own but I shall not be using it as 99% of my friends wouldn’t understand me,” ar seisean.

Scríobh an Protestant Coalition ‘aon ghéilleadh’ ar an snáithe níos deanaí, an t-aistriúchán ar ‘no surrender’ atá ag Google Translate.

Leiríonn suirbhé ar antuairisceoir.com nach gcuireann sé seo isteach ar phobal na Gaeilge. De réir na dtorthaí is déanaí tá 1% (duine amháin go dtí seo) den tuairim gur le náisiúntóirí amháin an teanga agus tá 3% (beirt) idir dá chomhairle. Creideann 96% (68 vóta) go bhfuil an ceart ag gach duine an Ghaeilge a úsáid.

 www.twitter.com/colmobroin

 

Anti-Semitic material on Irish ‘Freeman’ website

Just over a week ago I’d never heard of the ‘Freeman’ movement. I now wish I could say the same, as it is disappointing to discover that there are people in Ireland who believe in such rubbish.

‘Freemen’ are essentially a cult-like group that claims citizens do not have to obey civil law. It sprang from the US Sovereign Citizens movement which believes in similar nonsense. 

It is interesting to note how ‘freemen’ in different countries adapt different pseudo-legal arguments to prove the same point (that  they don't have to comply with civil law), for example much emphasis is placed on the Magna Carta in the UK while in Ireland the collective tribe-based Brehon Law is put forward as being superior in some way to our current legal system.

More detailed explanations of the ludicrous claims of the Freeman movement can be read here and here.

Another interesting aspect of the movement is the widespread belief in conspiracy theories. One of the most common ones is the claim that a tiny secretive cabal of politicians and bankers are seeking to enslave humanity in an oppressive global ‘New World Order’.  This is apparently being done by a whole host of real and imagined organisations like the Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Bilderberg group, the Rothschild family etc.

Having had some knowledge of the Sovereign Citizens I was aware that there is an anti-Semitic variant of the NWO theory which claims that Jewish people are controlling this alleged attempt at world domination.

So I decided to search the websites of the leading Freeman group in Ireland, Tír na Saor, and its internet radio station, to see if any of their users subscribed to this particular theory.

Here is what I found:

*The notorious Nazi propaganda film, ‘The Eternal Jew’, made by Joseph Goebbels in 1940 prior to the commencement of the Holocaust.

*Other vile anti-Semitic videos with delightful titles such as ‘A Devil in Disguise’ and ‘Synagogue of Satan – Beginners Guide to the Jewish Question’.

*Claims that the US Federal Reserve (Central Bank) is a ‘private counterfeiting organization run by Jewish bankers’.

 

*A post on the site commemorating anti-Jewish postage stamps issued in 1941 by the pro-Nazi puppet government in Serbia depicting “a strong and victorious Serbia crushing an evil Masonic-Communist-Jewish plot for world domination." The post also contains an article by US Neo-Nazi William Pierce on the NATO-Serbian conflict in 1998 which he describes as an attempt “to use White Americans to kill White Europeans in order to advance the Jews' schemes.”

*Comments claiming that 'Jewish People' killed the Russian Royal family in 1918 “because they warned the world of the enslavement of the world from the Jews.”

*Praise  for Russian President Vladimir Putin for opposing ‘oligarchs’ Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky who are ‘both Jews just by chance.’

*An article uploaded on the Tír na Saor internet radio website written by recently deceased ultra-conservative Catholic writer Deirdre Manifold claiming that Jewish bankers orchestrated the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia,

and

*A video of an anti-Semitic speech by US Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

By the way, I have also found two anti-Semitic comments on the website forum of the new political party Direct Democracy Ireland, which has extensive links to the Freeman movement.

Comments on the party's online forum state that ‘Zionist Jewish bankers’ control central banks around the world while another claims that ‘rothschild zionists are out to murder the lot of us and future generations.’

I have also found evidence that an activist with Direct Democracy Ireland has posted anti-Semitic material on the internet.

All in all it’s a pretty shocking state of affairs that DDI and Tír na Saor would allow such offensive, hate-filled bigotry on their websites.

Neither organisation has responded to emails I sent them with questions about this disgusting anti-Semitic material.

Sorry, I’ll never be mature enough to honour British war criminals

Apropos of James McClean, here is the BBC reporting last month on the ‘controversy’ surrounding the visit by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine in Toyko to honour Japan’s war dead.

 

The Yasukuni Shrine is the Japanese equivalent of the British Poppy, both “honour” their countries’ war dead, but as much as both may try to ignore the facts, these war dead include people who committed crimes against humanity.

There are some differences between here and there however.

*China and Korea actually protest anytime a Japanese politician visits the shrine.

*Korea was part of the Japanese Empire for 35 whole years.

*AFAIK people in the Korean media don’t ask if Koreans are ‘mature’ enough to honour Japan’s war dead or Koreans who fought in the Japanese Army.

 

If anyone wants to honour Irish people who fought in WWI wear an anti-war white poppy, otherwise you’re honouring British war criminals, something I’ll never be mature enough to do I’m sorry to say.

Réiteach simplí ar fhadhb an ‘ch’

Rinne mé gné-alt do Ghaelscéal le déanaí faoin méid a bheadh i ndán don Ghaeilge dá mba rud é go raibh an tuar a rinne an Staidéar Cuimsitheach cruinn – sé sin nach mbeidh an Ghaeilge mar phríomhtheanga na nGaeltachtaí is láidre i gceann 10-15 bliain.

 

Shíl roinnt daoine go raibh an seanscéal á phlé againn – ‘Tá an Ghaeltacht ag fáil bháis, caithfidh muid rud éigin a dhéanamh faoi!’, ach ní hé sin a méid a bhí ar bun. Bhí muid ag cothú díospóireachta faoin méid a tharlódh don teanga mura mbeadh pobal Gaeltachta ann amach anseo.

Ceann de na ceisteanna a phléadh ná caighdeán na Gaeilge san am atá le teacht. Léirigh Máire Ní Neachtain ó Ollscoil Luimnigh imní faoi chúrsaí foghraíochta, an consan caol agus an ‘ch’ ach go háirithe.

Níl an fhuaim sin sa Bhéarla agus ní féidir le go leor daoine atá tar éis an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim í a rá go nádúrtha. Gan é ní féidir idirdhealú a dhéanamh idir foclaí ar nós ‘cuir’ agus ‘chuir’, ‘cheannaigh’ agus ‘ceannaigh’ srl.

Tá réiteach simplí agam ar an bhfadhb áfach. Is féidir le foghlaimeoirí foghraíocht Uladh a úsáid ó thaobh an ‘ch’ seachas foghraíocht Chonnacht nó Mumhan.

Tá ‘ch’ na nUltach i bhfad níos boige ná ‘ch’ na gConnachtach nó na Mumhanach.

Is cur cíos garbh é seo dar ndóigh ach don chuid is mó bíonn an ‘c’ beagnach ciúin sa ‘ch’ agus fuaimnítear an ‘h’ amháin.

Smaoinigh ar an mbealach a deir Conallaigh ‘chuaigh’ ‘teach’, ‘isteach’, ‘achan’ srl. 

Éist leo anseo.

Dá bhrí sin, má tá muid ag iarraidh go mbeadh foghlaimeoirí Gaeilge ag rá an ‘ch’ le foghraíocht dhúchasach amach anseo is féidir foghraíocht 'ch' Uladh a chur chun cinn!

Mar fhocal scoir, ní hé an ‘ch’ an t-aon "fhadhb" foghraíochta atá ag Éireannaigh. Ní féidir le formhór na nÉireannach ‘th’ an Bhéarla a rá toisc nach bhfuil sé le fáil sa Ghaeilge. De bharr seo ní féidir idirdhealú a dhéanamh idir foclaí ar nós ‘thought’ agus ‘taught’, ‘three’ agus ‘tree’, nó go deimhin féin, ‘third’ agus ‘turd’!

Ainneoin seo is beag duine a deireadh sa lá atá inniu ann go bhfuil droch-Bhéarla ag Éireannaigh, ach sin scéal eile.

Caint bheo Bhaile Átha Cliath ón 16ú Céad

Foilsíodh leabhar dar teideal The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge le Andrew Borde in 1547. Bhí eolas ann faoi roinnt theangacha, an Ghaeilge ina measc. Tá giotaí cainte ón leabhar le fáil in Leabhrann Laighinigh le Daithí Ó hÓgáin, nach maireann.

Dar leis an mbéaloideasóir iomráiteach ba rídhealraitheach gur i mBaile Átha Cliath a bailíodh é. Tá idir uimhreacha agus abairtí ann agus mheas Ó hÓgáin gur bailíodh iad ó níos mó ná cainteoir amháin. Tá roinnt eolais faoi chanúint na ngiotaí níos faide síos.

Tá leaganacha Borde faoi leaganacha Uí Ógáin.

An ólthá deoch, sir. Dé ‘bheatha ‘un an bhaile

(Anoha dewh, sor? De wan wely)

Canas ‘tá tú?’ ‘Tá mé go maith, go raibh maith agat

(Kanys stato? Tam a goomah gramahagood).

Sir, bhfuil Gaeilig agat? Tá suim agam dhi.

(Sor, woll galow oket? [Syr, can you speak Iryshe?] Tasyn agomee).

A chailín, tar anseo – tabhair deoch!

(Kalyn, tarin chow, toor dewh!)

A bhean an tí, ‘bhfuil bia maith agat? Tá go leor.

(Benitee, wyl beemah hagoot? Sor, tha gwyler).

A bhean an tí, tabhair arán! A fhear an tí, tabhair fíon!

(Benytee, toor haran! Farate, toor fyen!)

A chailín, tabhair cáis! A bhean an tí tabhair feoil!

(Kalyn, toor case! Benyte, toor foeule!).

Tabhair iasc! Déanfa’ go subhach!

(Toor yeske! Teena go sowgh!)

Gá ‘fhad as seo go Port Láirge? Míle a haon ar fhichid.

(Gath haad o showh go part laarg? Myle hewryht)

Gá mhéid buille a’ chlog? Sé bhuille a’ chlog.

(Gaued bowleh glog? She wyllya glog)

Gá fhad go racha muid ‘un ar suipéir?

(Gahad rah moyd aner soper?)

Tabhair cuntas dúinn, a bhean an tí. Íocfa’ tú trí pingine.

(Toor countes doyen, benitee. Yeke ke to tre pyniny)

Gathain a racha’ muid a chodladh? Anois féin.

(Gah hon rah moyd holowh? Nish feene)

Oíche mhaith sir! Sor duit sor duit [soraidh duit]!

(Ih may, sor! Sor doyt, sor doyt!)

1 - hewen

2 - dow
3 - tree
4 - kaar
5 - quiek
6 - seh
7 - showght
8 - howght
9 - nygh
10 - deh

11 - hewnek
12 - dowek
13 - tredeek
14 - kaardeek
15 - quiekdeek
16 - sehdeek
17 - showdeek
18 - howghtdeek
19 - nythdeek
20 - feh

21 - ‘haon fichead (hewn feet)

22 - dó fichead (dowfeet)
23 - trí fichead (trefeet)
30 - deich fichead (dehfeet)
40 - daichead (‘eayet)
50 - deich agus daichead (dewhegesdayth)
60 - trí fichid (trefeet)
100 - keede

Dar le Daithí Ó hÓgáin tá foghraíocht thuaisceartach le brath sna focail seo – aon, dó, fiche, daichead, deoch, baile, seo, oíche mhaith, soraidh duit.

Tá foghraíocht thuaisceartach nó lár tíre ag na focail seo  - ceathair, íocfá tú,  racha muid, ár.

Tá samplaí a réitíonn le deisceart Laighin nó oirthear Mumhan freisin – naoi, deoch, déag, céad.

‘Buille a chlog’ a dúradh sa cheantar céanna chomh maith.

Rud spéisiúil eile ná go bhfuil dhá leagan den fhocal ‘agat’ – ‘oket’ (lár-tíre) agus ‘agoot’ (Mumhan).

Tá abairt amháin a mhéascan dhá chanúint – ‘Dé ‘bheatha ‘un an bhaile’. Tá cuma deisceartach ar an tús ach cuma tuaisceartach ar an gcuid eile.

Is cosúil, mar sin, gur meascán mearaí a bhí sa Ghaeilge a labhraíodh i mBaile Átha Cliath san 16ú Céad – Plus ça change!