Welcome to Onward Language

The Irish language is a big part of Irish culture and nearly became a dead language while under British rule. Thankfully, Irish was taught in secret during these times, keeping it alive, and can now be seen both in and outside of Ireland, with the first Gaeltacht region outside of Ireland being founded in Tamworth, Ontario in Canada.

History

Irish is one of the oldest written languages in the world, first appearing in Ogham, early medieval alphabet, form in the 5th century. Irish is a Celtic language, meaning it is closely related to languages such as Scottish and Manx Gaelic. The language is believed to be first brought to Ireland by the early European settlers over 2,500 years ago. The oldest evidence of Irish is found in Ogham inscriptions from the 5th and 6th centuries, with Old Irish later written in the Latin alphabet, making it the oldest written vernacular language north of the Alps.

Irish Alphabet

Irish, as said above, originally was written in Ogham, but then transitioned into using the Latin alphabet. The traditional Irish alphabet is the same as the alphabet used in English except for 8 letters (j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z) not being used. All vowels (a, e, i, o and u) can also have fádas (á, é, í, ó and ú) added onto them. The addition of these fádas can change both the meaning and pronunciation of the word e.g. ban (Pronounced 'Ban'*)= female and bán (Pronounced 'Bawn*')= white, Briste (Pronounced Brishta*)= broken and bríste (Pronounced 'Breeshda'*)= trousers etc.. However, in the mid-20th century, An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, translated to 'The Official Standard' in English, was adopted as the "modern standard written form" of Irish. The introduction of this lead to changes such as the removal of inter-dialect silent letters, simplifying letter sequences, and modernized spelling to reflect modern pronunciation.

* = Can be pronounced differently in different regions in Ireland.

Fun Fact: Irish does not include basic words for "Yes" and "No".

Revival of the Irish language

In 2021s UNESCO's Atlas of World Languages, Irish was described as "definitely endangered", and there is a good reason for this. Although Irish is taught in schools from junior infants (4-5 years old) until 6th year (17-19 years old), not many people get a good grasp of the language. In April of 2022 there were 1,873,997 people who claimed to have some level of good Irish speaking skill, which is just under 40% of the population. This may sound like a lot of people but, as Irish is one of the national languages of Ireland, this is not a lot of speakers, especially when it is measured at a 'good level' of the language and not at a fluent level. Attempts to conserve this beautiful language include protecting the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas in Ireland, relying on schools to teach a good level of Irish to the next generation, and addressing historical events that impacted the amount of Irish speakers in Ireland e.g. the Great Famine (check out Onward History for more), to add encouragement to learn.

Why Irish doesn't have a pronunciation option on Translation apps

On most translation apps, Irish does not have a verbal pronunciation option. This may be due to many reasons, such as not enough data to base this on, but the main reason would most likely be the fact that there are many accents in Ireland that pronounce words differently. Ireland is known globally to have many different accents, and some think it is a joke, but in fact, Irish people can tell where your hometown is, if it is in their surrounding area, based purely on your accent, so it is in fact not a joke. This is why translation apps can not give verbal pronunciation to words.

Hiberno-English

Hiberno-English, is a type of English spoken in Ireland, and is influenced by both Irish language and culture. It first started when Ireland was taken over by England in the 12th century and Irish people were forced to speak English. This lead to new phrases that came from Irish words, culture, and structure. Today, Hiberno-English is just a part of every day life in Ireland and will always be a part of Irish culture.

Fun Fact: Irish is one of the oldest living European languages.

Hiberno-English phrases

  • Acting up            - Misbehaving
  • Banjaxed            - Broken without repair 
  • Class                   - Cool or very good
  • Deadly                - Brilliant
  • Flat out               - Very busy
  • Story?                  - Used to ask if there is anything going on in                                      general, similar to "Any news?" and "What's                                    the story?"
  • Taking the mick  - Not acting seriously
  • Well                      - Used throughout Ireland as a greeting, short                                   for "Are you well?" or "Hello".

Simple Irish sentences

  • An bhfuil Béarla/Gaeilge agat?

      (On will bear-lah/Gale-gah aguht?)            - Do you speak                                                                                               English/Irish?

  • Cad is ainm duit?(Cod is a-nim dit)            - What is your name?
  • Conas atá tú? (Kun-us a-taw too)               - How are you? 
  • Dia Dhuit (Dee-ah gwit)                               - Hello
  • Fáilte (Fall-cha)                                              - Welcome
  • Is mise [NAME] (Iss mish-eh [NAME])       - I am [NAME]
  • Le do thoil (Leh duh hull)                           - Please
  • Tá mé go maith, go raibh maith agat

      (Taw may guh mawh,

      Guh rev mah ah-gut)                                   - I am good/fine,                                                                                            thank you.

This is the typical pronunciation but words or phrases may be pronounced differently in different regions in Ireland.