What does Irish mean to you?

Suaimhneach

Irish is very close to my heart. I am not the best speaker of it, but I am improving. I love it because I feel somehow connected with my history, although I know they spoke, my ancestors that is, a completely diffrent Irish. I love to meet strangers and end up having full conversations in Irish and I am planing to carry on learning it in college.

What is it for you guys?

simu

I really dig it! I have the - totally subjective, of course as meanings assigned to sound patterns are completely arbitrary - impression that words in Irish are closer to the essence of the things or concepts being named than in other languages. Maybe because it is my 1st language and also due the fact that it stretches back so far in our history.

I also think that when you speak Irish with people, you see the world a little bit differently and these's a slightly different "buzz" (it's the same with all languages, though).

Suaimhneach

I find myself using Irish words instead of english because it better explains what I'm trying to say.

I'll trust you on speaking other languages. I speak a little bit of french, badly. I'll let you know when I come back from France in febuary.

I'm going to bring my kids up speaking both languages.

Gael

As a means to understanding and appreciating the culture and history of this country I consider it invaluable.
It the key to understanding almost every placename in this country and the vast bulk of our surnames. And I think an understanding of it helps you understand the nature of how Ireland has developed right into the 21st century.

And I include Anglo-Irish culture in that as much as anything. The English language and the culture associated with Ireland has been heavily influenced by Irish, in syntax and in vocabulary. Why even if you took an average Dubliner off the street, they may not be able to speak Irish itself in any real sense but then they might say "I do be going to work", which is Irish language grammar, despite the fact that they speak English. The list of such examples is endless. Ullysses, considered by some to be the greatest novel of the twentieth century is jammed packed with such Hiberbo-Irish as is anything written by Behan and some of Yeats. So an understanding and ability to speak and appreciate Irish is I believe as important to truely understand Anglo-Irish culture. Which in simple terms just makes life more interesting.
No one can deny English language culture's place in Ireland but, equally no one can deny the close relationship between English as it is spoken by the irish and the irish language.


And I concur that with Simu that i has it's own perpective on the world and that it has it's own unique way of communication, such as the way that emotions and physical conditions are "on" you in Irish. ie. Tá áthas orm" - "I am happy."

Added to that the facts that Irish has a longer history in Ireland than even English has in England and that it has the oldest written venacular in Western Europe bar Latin and Greek,only add to it cultural value and it's depth.

Yoda

I like Irish a lot. It pays the rent.

The Reaper

i fúckin love Irish
its who i am
what i am
what i love to do!

i fuúckin hate ppl who say they dont like it
i despise ppl who say it sudnt be in the leavin cert
of course it sud be its our fúckin Language u basterds
we sud get rid of english in the leavin cert, well not have it as a main subject

so Irish means an awful lot to me

Imposter

If ye all love Irish so much why isn't this thread in Irish?:D

Yoda

Is breá liom an Ghaeilge. Íocann sí an cíos.

simu

Déanann tú do chuid oibre go maith, a Yoda. Léigh mé An Aimsir Óg (ní cuimhin liom anois an é uimhir a haon nó a dó a bhí ann) agus cheapas go raibh an leagan amach déanta go han-slachtmhar.

Gleanndún

would ne1 b willing 2 help me learn irish? im only in my 2nd semester of it, so i could really use it. plus my teacher has a really bad accent, which doesnt help>.< i get that same special squishy heritage feeling inside 2, even tho im so far away from éirinn, so id really like 2 learnit well^^ i could teach u japanese in exchange if u like; its another cool old language, also much better than english. drop me a pm le do thoil!:D go raibh maith agat!

gleanndún

snickerpuss

I love speaking Irish, i love the sound of it and also because i feel i can express myself better as gaeilge. Speaking irish reminds me of being a kid and going to primary school through irish, and none of my family or friends outside school spoke it, but i loved it. Thats really sad but still. And now that im in a damn crummy english school i miss speaking irish like crazy. It bothers me. Bhí mé líofa uair amháin ach anois tá mé tar éis dearmad a dheanamh ar mo chuid gaeilge ar fad...beagnach! I will hopefully find some people to speak irish to and not forget it entirely!

Gleanndún

does ne1 kno of sum kinda chat room or sumthin where pp speak irish? cuz if there isnt 1 we should make 1. putting things--epecially electronix--into irish i think will help the comeback, an people like me tryin 2 learn, a whole lot. they should make irish computer games. imean, look at all that pseudo-tolkien fantasy crap they got out. wut if sum1 made a real fantasy game, based off of, say, irish culture and myths? u could probably get that on a best sellers list. then if they sold an irish version, that would rock, an prolly get sum pp 2 start usin it more. wuddya guys think, eh?

(p.s. sorry jesjes~_~)

Yoda

Abair rud éigin as Gaeilge, mar sin, a Ghleanndíúin.

Gleanndún

Originally posted by Yoda
Abair rud éigin as Gaeilge, mar sin, a Ghleanndíúin.

ach ní féidir liom yet labhair as ghaeigle. tá mé i mo 2nd semester only fós. if u help me, maybe after a while i will be able 2;)

David-[RLD]-

I love Irish. I used to hate it in primary school but since then I've taken a huge interest in it. I'm pretty crap at it but I still love it.

I love our country our language and our heritage. I'm in 5th year and most people say it's pointless blah blah blah. That really annoys me!!!:mad:

Gleanndún

i hear ya, its really obnoxious when pp do that. if no1 ever learnes it, of course no1'll ever speak it!>.<

luckat

I love Irish. It really embarrasses me that we haven't brought it back as the language regularly spoken (while keeping English fluent for business reasons).

The Finns did it. The Czechs did it. The Israelis did it. Most of Africa did it. So why don't we?

Yoda

Ní ansa. Bí á labhairt.

Hi Everyone

i cant stand it

Gleanndún

Originally posted by Yoda
Ní ansa. Bí á labhairt.

wuts this mean?

Yoda

Whoops, it needs a mutation in modern Irish. That's Ní hansa, an archaic literary phrase meaning "it is not difficult". It was a stock answer to early Irish FAQs. Anyone who ever did any Old Irish will have come across it.

Bí á labhairt means "speak it" lit 'be at her speaking'.

David-[RLD]-

Originally posted by Hi Everyone
i cant stand it

you sound like my friend.

"i can't stand irish because it sounds horrible. it's too hard. nobody speaks it anymore" etc etc the usual stuff.

everyone's entitled to their own opinions i suppose.... ( until i become Taoiseach :ninja: )

Gleanndún

Originally posted by Yoda
Whoops, it needs a mutation in modern Irish. That's Ní hansa, an archaic literary phrase meaning "it is not difficult". It was a stock answer to early Irish FAQs. Anyone who ever did any Old Irish will have come across it.

Bí á labhairt means "speak it" lit 'be at her speaking'.

cool, thanx:) táim ag learning fós. >.^

also, the modern mutation thing brings up something ive been brooding over. how do you guys feel about the way that the government has been changing, distorting, and "simplifying" the language in an effort to facilitate learning, trying to cater to those people always griping bout how hard irish is? a perfect example: the dative case. i like the dative case, why did they have to kill it? personally, i think thats its removal just complicates thing, because it left a bunch of remnants of "irregularities" which, i think most people will agree, just make language learning much more difficult. what do you guys think?

David-[RLD]-

Originally posted by Gleanndún
also, the modern mutation thing brings up something ive been brooding over. how do you guys feel about the way that the government has been changing, distorting, and "simplifying" the language in an effort to facilitate learning, trying to cater to those people always griping bout how hard irish is? a perfect example: the dative case. i like the dative case, why did they have to kill it? personally, i think thats its removal just complicates thing, because it left a bunch of remnants of "irregularities" which, i think most people will agree, just make language learning much more difficult. what do you guys think?

ugh. the government have mutilated the language completely. i say we put some people who know the original modern Irish before all this mutilation by the government in charge.
i say to hell with people who moan about the language being too hard. they're just lazy and don't give a damn about their culture or heritage.

english is harder than irish, so i think parents should raise their children i nGaeilge instead of i mBéarla

David-[RLD]-

the 'disappearing history' thread looks at this issue from a day-to-day point of view....

Gleanndún

the only thing that gripes my wagger is when they mutilate it, they do so in a way 2 try 2 make it closer 2 english. irish isn english, but if they keep it up it will be:mad: i kno personally in such cases as the dative i will simply not conform. my teacher left ireland b4 they set most of that up, so sumtimes she doesnt even kno the "modern" version, and so she always teaches the old way that she learned along with the government recommended "standard" and i hope she keeps it up!:D

my kidsll kno irish. béith gaedhilge acu go deimhin.^^