With St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, now is the perfect time to learn a few words and phrases in Irish.
The Irish language (an Ghaeilge) can be very off putting due to it’s alphabet, rules and pronunciation but you can say that about any language, so don’t worry and just have a go.
With my children, I drop words or phrases into the conversation as they are playing. When I studied linguistics at university, it was called ‘code switching.’ For example ‘Look! The shamrock is glas (green).’
Here are the words or phrases that I will be bringing into the conversation as my children play. I have put the phonetic pronunciation in the brackets to help.
Glas (gloss) – Green
Seamróg (sham-rogue) – Shamrock
Ádh (awe) – Luck
Cleas (class) – Trick
Pota óir (putha ore) – Pot of gold
Boinn óir (bwin ore) – Gold coins
Bogha báistí (bowah bawsh-chee) – Rainbow
Leipreacán (leprechaun) – Leprechaun
Lá Fhéile Pádraig faoi mhaise duit (law aylah Pawrick fwee vosha gwitch) – Happy St. Patrick’s Day