Irish Translation Forum

I know there are different dialects to the Irish Gaelic.

Looking on a Gaelic Map

Connaught- in the South

Ulster- in the West

Munster- in the east

Leinster- in the Middle.

Which dialect is the most popular? If this website uses Connaught, is that the one most widely used? Is Connaught the proper way to speak gaelic?
If you speak one form rather than another does that say something about you?


Recently I was corrected for using Sionnach as fox. He used Madra Rue.
They were both right,but different dialects.

Curious?

All dialects are welcome here (it helps the learning process)

Agus- Ulster (North)
Munster (South)
Connaught (West)
Leinster (East)
.....

Keep on rocking in the free world

CelticRobin wrote:I know there are different dialects to the Irish Gaelic.

Looking on a Gaelic Map

Connaught- in the South

Ulster- in the West

Munster- in the east

Leinster- in the Middle.

Which dialect is the most popular? If this website uses Connaught, is that the one most widely used? Is Connaught the proper way to speak gaelic?
If you speak one form rather than another does that say something about you?


Recently I was corrected for using Sionnach as fox. He used Madra Rue.
They were both right,but different dialects.

Curious?

There really isn't a 'Leinster' dialect per se. Ulster, Munster, Connaught, and Standard, all of which you'll see used here. I try to stick as closely to standard as I can, but it's just a preference.

Ian MacCaba wrote:All dialects are welcome here (it helps the learning process)

Agus- Ulster (North)
Munster (South)
Connaught (West)
Leinster (East)
.....

Keep on rocking in the free world

Fine! The old Neil is always present!

CelticRobin wrote:
Which dialect is the most popular? If this website uses Connaught, is that the one most widely used? Is Connaught the proper way to speak gaelic?
If you speak one form rather than another does that say something about you?


Recently I was corrected for using Sionnach as fox. He used Madra Rue.
They were both right,but different dialects.

Curious?

Actually, the person who corrected you was just plain WRONG. It's "madra rua," not "madra rue." And, as we told you in your previous post, BOTH "sionnach" and "madra rua" are correct...neither is "more correct" than the other. It's not even a dialect thing...there are two words for "fox," and you'll see both. That's true in English too, by the way...there's often more than one way to say the same thing.

By the same token, no one dialect is "more correct" than any other. That would be like saying the English spoken in New York is more correct than the English spoken in Texas! There is a "standard Irish" that's taught to kids in school, but that was developed more for the ease of having a standard curriculum, not because there's any "one, true, way."

Also, FWIW, the language is Irish, or Irish Gaelic. If you just say "Gaelic," people will think you mean Scottish Gaelic, which is a different language.

Redwolf

(Mac Tíre Rua nó Faolchú Rua...is cuma liomsa!)

I agree with you Redwolf. You are right.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being political incorrect by speaking
one form or another. The fact that they have different names, like connaught and munster, well, it threw me a bit.

Thank you to everyone for your help. I will continue with my lessons now.

JSmith13 wrote:There really isn't a 'Leinster' dialect per se. Ulster, Munster, Connaught, and Standard, all of which you'll see used here. I try to stick as closely to standard as I can, but it's just a preference.

Not entirely right, there is, or at least was a Leinster dialect, though it died out in the mid 20th century.

When speaking you should use whatever dialect you want, though when writing it can only be considered correct to use the official standard.

Look at it this way, do you write formal English using local idioms or sayings or make your spelling reflect your accent? No. Same is the (or should be, though many seem to take umbrage) the case in Irish.

Usually though this only really affects grammar and the lexicon in Irish remains the same in all dialects, though preference is given to certain words over others.

-jp

jamesnp wrote:, though when writing it can only be considered correct to use the official standard.

Look at it this way, do you write formal English using local idioms or sayings or make your spelling reflect your accent? No. Same is the (or should be, though many seem to take umbrage) the case in Irish.

No...that's not correct.

Ar an + seimhiú etc. are 100% correct also to write.

Conor wrote:

jamesnp wrote:, though when writing it can only be considered correct to use the official standard.

Look at it this way, do you write formal English using local idioms or sayings or make your spelling reflect your accent? No. Same is the (or should be, though many seem to take umbrage) the case in Irish.

No...that's not correct.

Ar an + seimhiú etc. are 100% correct also to write.

Yeah, I know. It's part of the official standard. Didn't say it wasn't?
http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_i ... cts_id=969

-jp

jamesnp wrote:When speaking you should use whatever dialect you want, though when writing it can only be considered correct to use the official standard.

I'd tend to disagree with that statement. It's not like English, where it's OK to say yis, ye, or y'all when chatting with your friends, but you'd better use "you" for a business letter. In Irish, it's OK to use your dialect for formal situations, although you'd naturally want to avoid truly obscure words and phrases. The most important thing is to be consistent.

For example, I'm taking a diploma course in Irish through the University of Galway, but it's taught in classrooms around the Gaeltacht. It's perfectly OK to use Ulster Irish in our exam papers and essays. But if I'm going to write "tcíodh siad" in one paragraph, I'd better not write "d'fhéachaidís" in the next. Both are OK, both mean the same thing, but stick with one way or the other.