Irish Translation Forum

Hey all

what does "A chara" mean and how is it pronounced?

also- if anyone has any common Irish farewells they'd like to share (with pronunciations please cos im rubbish) id much appreciate it!

thanks a lot

Flav

It means friend or mate.

uh CHAruh (I think) CH as in Scottish LOCH

Flav wrote:Hey all

what does "A chara" mean and how is it pronounced?

also- if anyone has any common Irish farewells they'd like to share (with pronunciations please cos im rubbish) id much appreciate it!

thanks a lot

Flav

it's used as a form of address, similar to the "dear" in "Dear _____," in friendly letters in english.

it is pronounced uh CHAruh. there is no english equivalent to the "ch" in "chara". it sounds like a very breathy "h" in english.

Yep to both the above. It's the vocative form of the word "cara," meaning "friend." You'd use this form when addressing someone and, as someone else said, it's used in the salutation of a letter in the same way we'd used "dear" ("A Sheáin, a chara") is the equivalent of "Dear John").

Redwolf

páidín wrote:

Flav wrote:Hey all

what does "A chara" mean and how is it pronounced?

also- if anyone has any common Irish farewells they'd like to share (with pronunciations please cos im rubbish) id much appreciate it!

thanks a lot

Flav

it's used as a form of address, similar to the "dear" in "Dear _____," in friendly letters in english.

it is pronounced uh CHAruh. there is no english equivalent to the "ch" in "chara". it sounds like a very breathy "h" in english.

This person is from Manchester in the UK and would know how Loch is pronounced.

you can use "a chairde" too when you're talking to more than one person

Cymro-Breatnach wrote:

páidín wrote:

Flav wrote:Hey all

what does "A chara" mean and how is it pronounced?

also- if anyone has any common Irish farewells they'd like to share (with pronunciations please cos im rubbish) id much appreciate it!

thanks a lot

Flav

it's used as a form of address, similar to the "dear" in "Dear _____," in friendly letters in english.

it is pronounced uh CHAruh. there is no english equivalent to the "ch" in "chara". it sounds like a very breathy "h" in english.

This person is from Manchester in the UK and would know how Loch is pronounced.

well, it's really not the same. "ch" found in the middle of a word is pronounced differently than "ch" at the beginning. "ch" in the middle sounds like scots, but "ch" at the beginning has a slight but distinctly different sound.

or at least that what aillil said once.

it more depends on if the neighbouring vowels are broad or slender

any other greetings/farewells for me? cheers for the help people!

Méabh wrote:it more depends on if the neighbouring vowels are broad or slender

err, slender and broad show their ugly faces again...