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| It is also common to end sentences with 'no?' or 'yeah?' | It is also common to end sentences with 'no?' or 'yeah?' | ||
| * "He's not coming today, no?" ''Níl |
* "He's not coming today, no?" ''Níl sé ag teacht inniú, nach bhfuil?'' | ||
| * "The bank's closed now, yeah?" ''Tá an banc dúnta anois, an bhfuil?'' | * "The bank's closed now, yeah?" ''Tá an banc dúnta anois, an bhfuil?'' | ||
Revision as of 19:59, 20 October 2003
Hiberno-English is the form of the English language used in Ireland.
The standard spelling and grammar are the same as British English but, especially in the spoken language there are some unique characteristics.
Vocabulary Derived From
- colleen (from cailín) girl (usually Irish)
- crack (from craic) fun, a good time. He's good crack.
- galore (from go leor) plenty, enough
- poteen (from poitín) hooch, bootleg alcoholic drink
- smashing (from is maith e sin) that's good
Grammar Derived From Irish Gaelic
Like other Celtic languages, Irish Gaelic has no words for "yes" and "no", instead the verb in a question is repeated in an answer. People in Ireland have a tendency to use this pattern of avoiding "yes" or "no" when speaking English:
- "Are you finished debugging that software?" "I am."
- "Is your mobile charged?" "It is."
Irish verbs have two present tenses, one indicating what is occurring at this instant and another being interrogative. For example, 'you are' is 'tá tú' (literally are you'), but 'are you' is 'an bhfuil tú?', roughly translated as 'do you be?'.
Irish speakers of English use a "does be/do be" (or "bes", although less frequently) construction to indicate this latter continuous present:
- "He does be coding every day."
- "They do be talking on their mobiles a lot."
- "They bes doing a lot of work at school."
Irish uses the same phrase tar eis to mean "after" and as a modifier on a verb to indicate that the activity is recently completed. As a result Irish people tend to use a construction where they use "after" as a verb modifier:
- "I am just after rebooting the computer just a few minutes ago."
It is also common to end sentences with 'no?' or 'yeah?'
- "He's not coming today, no?" Níl sé ag teacht inniú, nach bhfuil?
- "The bank's closed now, yeah?" Tá an banc dúnta anois, an bhfuil?
Irish English also always uses the "light l" sound, and the pronunciation of the letter 'h' as 'haitch' is standard.
Preservation of Older English usage
The verb "to avail of" is common in Ireland, meaning to choose or get: Customers can avail of our new service. The verb "mitch" is common in Ireland indicating playing truant from school. This word appears in Shakespeare, but is seldom used anymore in British English, although pockets of usage persist in some rural areas.