This article is classified "Real"
A Hitchhiker of a certain region probably has all of the tools he would
need: his towel, a satchel, a notebook, pens, camera, and so on... Yet, a
cosmopolitan [1] hitchhiker would need one other tool: the language of the
region he is visiting!
Here is a quick introduction to the Irish [2] language, in case you are
ever in Ireland. Note: yes, I know a little bit about it. I spent two
summers learning as much as I could, so this is from experience. Still, I
may have made mistakes. If I did, email me and make me correct it!
This is presented in some dialogues, English first, Irish second.
The sequence ' followed by a letter means read the letter as if it had an
acute accent over it.
English
-------
Dick: Hello!
Jane: God and Mary with you! How are you today?
Dick: Very good, thank you. And you?
Jane: Good, thank you.
Irish
-----
Dick: Dia dhuit! (Jee-ah ghwich!)
Jane: Dia's Muire duit! Conas t'a t'u? (Jee-ahs mwir-rah ghwich!
kun-us taw too?)
Dick: T'a m'e go maith, go raibh maith agat. Agus t'u? (Taw me guh
muh, guh row moyh ah-gut. Aw-gus too?)
Jane: Go bre'a, go raibh maith agat. (Guh bree-ah, guh row moyh
ah-gut.)
English
-------
Dick: Hello! What is your name?
Mary: My name is Mary.
Dick: I'm pleased to meet you!
Irish
-----
Dick: Dia dhuit! Cad is ainm duit? (Jee-ah ghwich! kad iss an-im
ghwich?)
Mark: Muire is ainm dom. (Mwir-rah iss an-im dum.)
Dick: T'a 'athas orm bualadh leat! (Taw ah-has orm buh-lah lyat!)
English
-------
Dick: I'm hungry!
Dick: I'm thirsty!
Dick: I'm tired!
Dick: I'm...
Mary smacks Dick.
Dick: Owww... I'm sorry, Mary.
Irish
-----
Dick: T'a ocras orm! (Taw o-kras urm!)
Dick: T'a tart orm! (Taw tart urm!)
Dick: T'a tuirse orm! (Taw toor-sah urm!)
Dick: T'a... (Taw...)
Boiseogann s'e Dick.
Dick: Ouwww... T'a br'on orm, Muire. (Ouwww... Taw brun urm!)
Now, you should have a few basic phrases and should be able to survive in
most cases in Ireland among the Irish. Oh, another note: most of the
Irish nowadays only speak English but, thankfully, there are at least a
half-million people out there either speaking it or learning it right now.
Support the Irish language!
[1] Cosmopolitan: used in the sense of worldly, travelling a lot. Not the
women's magazine.
[2] Irish Language: called Gaeilge, a direct descendant of Gaelic.