Foghlaim Dé hAoine

I had a lesson last night and learned the following phrase that I think could become one of my favourites.

Tá mo chroí istigh ann!

Yeah, that "ch" is a bit challenging. It's not ch-like-church. It's more ch-like-chutzpah.

So, if someone were to say to me:

An dtaitníonn camogie leat?
I would defintely have to answer Tá mo chroí istigh ann!

Awhile back, I wrote a book report and was correct on the correct spelling of scríobh in the past tense. I went with shcrioíbh because my little brain was stuck on the séimhú rule. (Basically, it seems like when it doubt in Irish, cram an h in there.) I was corrected by John and Fence, but no one was sure why the h did not belong.

I promised to ask my teacher, which I did, but I've never had my notebook next to my computer and have always been too lazy to hunt it down and let you all know. But now, a convergence of circumstances has me at the laptop with the notebook. I can with great authority say that the letter "S" doesn't always take the séimhú, namely in the following letter combinations:

• Sc


• Sl


• Sn


• St

The handy rule my teacher gave me is a common-sense idea - if it looks too hard to say, there's no séimhú.



File under: Gaeilge