Beginner's Irish with Online Audio

by Gabriel Rosenstock

Overview

The Irish language, also known as Irish Gaelic or Gaeilge, is spoken today by approximately a million people worldwide. It is also the basis of the Irish literary tradition, which is the oldest in Europe after Greek and Latin. Whether you want to connect to your Irish heritage or carry on a conversation when visiting the Gaeltachtai (small rural pockets in Ireland where Irish is the first language spoken), Beginner’s Irish with Online Audio is the perfect start!

Ideal for those new to Irish, learning at home or in the classroom, this guide includes a brief history of the Irish language; 10 carefully-paced and practical lessons with dialogues, vocabulary, and expressions; a guide to the Irish alphabet and pronunciation; and online MP3 audio files for free download featuring pronunciation by native speakers. The author uses the medium of poetry to enrich the reader’s study of Irish. Numerous examples from Irish literature and poetry, as well as common proverbs and sayings, help teach vocabulary and grammar in an engaging way. A chapter on Irish names and their origins and another on Geography and Tourism round out this unique guide to learning Irish.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780781813815
Publisher:	Hippocrene Books, Inc.
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Gabriel Rosenstock is a poet and the author/translator of over 160 books, including 13 volumes of poetry and a volume of haiku in Irish and English. A member of Aosdána (the Irish Academy of Arts and Letters), he has given readings in Europe, South, Central and North America, India, Australia, Japan and has been published in various leading international journals. He resides in Dublin, Ireland.

Table of Contents

A Brief History of the Irish Language 1

Irish Names 17

Geography and Tourism 26

Abbreviations 32

Irish Pronunciation 32

Lesson 1 Greetings 40

Lenition 41

Word Order 43

Looking Up Vocabulary 44

Numbers 44

Lesson 2 Introductions 46

The Verb "to be" 49

Languages 49

Place Names 50

Eclipse 50

Simple Prepositions with the Definite Article 51

Nouns 52

The Genitive 53

Declensions 54

Nouns in the Genitive 57

Lesson 3 Talking On the Phone 61

The Verb "to know" 62

Negation 62

Possessive Pronouns 62

Relative Clauses 62

Conditional Sentences 63

Approximation 63

Proverbs and Sayings 64

Lesson 4 Courtesies 69

Prepositional Phrases 70

Past Tense 70

Regular Verbs 70

Dinneenisms 74

Lesson 5 Directions 77

Adverbs of Direction 78

More Verbs 79

Irregular Verbs 82

The Verb "to be" 85

Lesson 6 In the Restaurant 87

Noun-centering 100

The Verb "mol" 101

The Suffix "sa" 102

Negation 102

The Word "faoi" 102

The Verb "to know" 102

Interrogative 103

Defective Verbs 103

More Verbs 103

Lesson 7 Time and Date 107

More Verbs 110

Verb Revision 116

Lesson 8 Professions 118

The Prefixes "an-" and "ro" 121

Lesson 9 Telling a Story 122

Grammar Notes 126

Lesson 10 Do Me A Favor 129

The Building Blocks of Irish (Prepositions) 129

Revisions 139

Audio Track List 146