Irish language quiz.

Reeling from shame from the fact that them bloodies Trekkies have a quiz on this site before the nobel yet base, antique yet modern, limitless yet restrained Irish language, I have decided to compose my own Irish quiz, about various elements associated with the Irish language.

1 In what alphabet was the first Irish word written? What was that word?

2 Which letters in the Roman alphabet have never appeared in proper Irish orthography?

3 According to legend, what connection had Irish to the tower of Babel?

4 How many irregular verbs are there in Munster Irish?

5 In what century did the last native speaker of Dublin Irish die according to Dúchas agus Dóchas: an chaint sa chathair?

6 What was the name of Irish-Norse hybrid language spoken in the Hiberno-Norse towns at the turn of the last millenium?

7. What is the oldest surviving piece of literature in the Irish language? On what occasion was it written?

8. What's the first novel to be composed in Modern Irish?

9. What are the different conjugations of the word Bó?

10. According to legend who invented the Irish language, and who first spoke it in Ireland?

11. What has Irish got in common with Hebrew, Classical Arabic and Hawaiian?

12. What is significant about the word bríste in Irish, that is conversely true about the word trousers in English?

13. What does bhí leis leis leis leis mean?

14. List the words not of english origin in this sentence.

Jumpáil sé ar a bhicycle, is cycleáil sé síos an ród.

15. What is significant about auracept na n-éces among Western European languages?

16. Which monumental work of English literature, is claimed by James Carney to be based on an Irish folk tale?

17. Which Irish speaking island was home to three internationally renowned writers in the Irish language?

18. What does Béarla actually mean? What does iarmbérla allude to?

19. H.H. Asquith once used the Irish language against the independence movement. In what way?

20. What was unusual about Samuel Carsuel's translation of the Bible into Scots Gaelic?

riadach wrote:

Reeling from shame from the fact that them bloodies Trekkies have a quiz on this site before the nobel yet base, antique yet modern, limitless yet restrained Irish language, I have decided to compose my own Irish quiz, about various elements associated with the Irish language.

Ahem! We're Trekkers, riadach. Trekkies is derogative to our kind!

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1 In what alphabet was the first Irish word written? What was that word?

Ogham and hello?

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2 Which letters in the Roman alphabet have never appeared in proper Irish orthography?

X, W and Y?

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3 According to legend, what connection had Irish to the tower of Babel?

It was bought by Irish developers as an overseas property investment through Oceanico?

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4 How many irregular verbs are there in Munster Irish?

11

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5 In what century did the last native speaker of Dublin Irish die according to Dúchas agus Dóchas: an chaint sa chathair?

20th

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6 What was the name of Irish-Norse hybrid language spoken in the Hiberno-Norse towns at the turn of the last millenium?

7. What is the oldest surviving piece of literature in the Irish language? On what occasion was it written?

8. What's the first novel to be composed in Modern Irish?

9. What are the different conjugations of the word Bó?

10. According to legend who invented the Irish language, and who first spoke it in Ireland?

11. What has Irish got in common with Hebrew, Classical Arabic and Hawaiian?

We don't use the standard 26-letter alphabet.

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12. What is significant about the word bríste in Irish, that is conversely true about the word trousers in English?

Is it to do with singulars and plurals?

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13. What does bhí leis leis leis leis mean?

Níl a fhios agam.

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14. List the words not of english origin in this sentence.

Jumpáil sé ar a bhicycle, is cycleáil sé síos an ród.

sé, ar, a, síos.

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15. What is significant about auracept na n-éces among Western European languages?

I don't know what that is.

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16. Which monumental work of English literature, is claimed by James Carney to be based on an Irish folk tale?

Beowulf?

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17. Which Irish speaking island was home to three internationally renowned writers in the Irish language?

Blasket

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18. What does Béarla actually mean? What does iarmbérla allude to?

Language or foreign. One of those. iarmbérla, is that some word for West-Brit?

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19. H.H. Asquith once used the Irish language against the independence movement. In what way?

In a scene reminiscent of the Great Escape, he said, "go raibh míle" to some undercover Irish rebels. The rebels, unthinkingly, replied, "fáilte romhat" and Asquith's bobbys grabbed them and dragged them to the gaol.

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What was unusual about Samuel Carsuel's translation of the Bible into Scots Gaelic?

It's only half done?

Right, beidh shtab agam.
1. Roman (ogham was basicallt Roman)and the first word was probably a name.

2. K and Q.

3. We got all the best bits of the various languages. And what do you mean, legend?

4. Oh for crying out loud. For the sake of my Munster genes let there be eleven.

5. Was there ever a native speaker of Dublin Irish? Or even such a construct?

6. Dublin-Irish?

7. The Cathach. It was written because they felt like having a war.

8. Stumped.

9. Wot's a conjugation? Did I even spell it right?

10. I never heard this one. Lets go with Cessair for both.

11. Guess: a fondness for constructs like dom instead of do mé and agaibh instead of ag sibh.

12. Are they both French words?

13. Guh?

14. síos, the rest ar Latin.

15. Its bilingual title? Its extensive use of glosses?

16. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

17. I'll go for Tory Island.

18. Gosh, something about Béalra, 'word of mouth'? Iarmberla was the name Irish scholars gave to old-English, 'cos they knew at the time that one day it would be old.

19. He accomodated it, thus de-politicising it and depriving the independence movement of one of their greater symbols, thus allowing Catholicism to regain ground in the cultural makeup of the independence movement, ultimately making Ireland a very Catholic country indeed.

20. He kept reminding us that Mary was not the third part of the Trinity, as anti-Papist rhetoric had assured him we believed.

Ard-T you have 3 correct.

905 you have 1.

riadach wrote:

Ard-T you have 3 correct.

905 you have 1.

Go hiontach! Is there a prize?

riadach wrote:

Ard-T you have 3 correct.

905 you have 1.

I feel encouraged to have a crack even though my only Irish is emoticon

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

riadach wrote:

Ard-T you have 3 correct.

905 you have 1.

Go hiontach! Is there a prize?

Only if you get all 20 right. Then you get my respect, which is worth a lot of money :-)

riadach wrote:

Reeling from shame from the fact that them bloodies Trekkies have a quiz on this site before the nobel yet base, antique yet modern, limitless yet restrained Irish language, I have decided to compose my own Irish quiz, about various elements associated with the Irish language.

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1 In what alphabet was the first Irish word written? What was that word?

I will guess that it was ogham and agree with Ard Taoiseach that it was a name, as the Welsh ogham stones usually have names on them.

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2 Which letters in the Roman alphabet have never appeared in proper Irish orthography?

Guessing again: kxz

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3 According to legend, what connection had Irish to the tower of Babel?

Only language not spoken there ?

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4 How many irregular verbs are there in Munster Irish?

16

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5 In what century did the last native speaker of Dublin Irish die according to Dúchas agus Dóchas: an chaint sa chathair?

19th

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6 What was the name of Irish-Norse hybrid language spoken in the Hiberno-Norse towns at the turn of the last millenium?

Would it be Hiberno-Norse? Wadrefjord I think was the name now Waterford and looks sort of Norse.

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7. What is the oldest surviving piece of literature in the Irish language? On what occasion was it written?

Oh dear. Not a clue.

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8. What's the first novel to be composed in Modern Irish?

Not a clue about this either.

9. What are the different conjugations of the word Bó?

Not a clue. But what a nice onomatopeic (sp?) word.

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10. According to legend who invented the Irish language, and who first spoke it in Ireland?

Would be interested in this one. I remember from a P.ie thread that there was a language spoken here before Irish and no-one knows what it was.

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11. What has Irish got in common with Hebrew, Classical Arabic and Hawaiian?

Hmmm. Classical Arabic...

12. What is significant about the word bríste in Irish, that is conversely true about the word trousers in English?

Trousers is a plural for a singular object ? And there is no such thing as one trouser ?

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13. What does bhí leis leis leis leis mean?

Ní huigim.

14. List the words not of english origin in this sentence.

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Jumpáil sé ar a bhicycle, is cycleáil sé síos an ród.

ar sios an

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15. What is significant about auracept na n-éces among Western European languages?

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16. Which monumental work of English literature, is claimed by James Carney to be based on an Irish folk tale?

There are very few monumental works of English literature. Does the Hobbit count?

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17. Which Irish speaking island was home to three internationally renowned writers in the Irish language?

Cape Clear (wild uninformed guess)

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18. What does Béarla actually mean? What does iarmbérla allude to?

I thought it just meant foreign/alien tongue.

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19. H.H. Asquith once used the Irish language against the independence movement. In what way?

Cussing?

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20. What was unusual about Samuel Carsuel's translation of the Bible into Scots Gaelic?

The tiny number of copies printed ?

Whew. That was hard work.

riadach wrote:

Reeling from shame from the fact that them bloodies Trekkies have a quiz on this site before the nobel yet base, antique yet modern, limitless yet restrained Irish language, I have decided to compose my own Irish quiz, about various elements associated with the Irish language.

1 In what alphabet was the first Irish word written? What was that word?

Ogham. Ailm

riadach wrote:

2 Which letters in the Roman alphabet have never appeared in proper Irish orthography?

j, k, q, v, w, x, y & z

riadach wrote:

3 According to legend, what connection had Irish to the tower of Babel?

4 How many irregular verbs are there in Munster Irish?

5 In what century did the last native speaker of Dublin Irish die according to Dúchas agus Dóchas: an chaint sa chathair?

20th

riadach wrote:

6 What was the name of Irish-Norse hybrid language spoken in the Hiberno-Norse towns at the turn of the last millenium?

7. What is the oldest surviving piece of literature in the Irish language? On what occasion was it written?

8. What's the first novel to be composed in Modern Irish?

9. What are the different conjugations of the word Bó?

Is this a typo? Do nouns have conjugations?

riadach wrote:

10. According to legend who invented the Irish language, and who first spoke it in Ireland?

Fenius & Gaeidhel

riadach wrote:

11. What has Irish got in common with Hebrew, Classical Arabic and Hawaiian?

12. What is significant about the word bríste in Irish, that is conversely true about the word trousers in English?

Bríste is an irish word of English origin while Trousers is an English word of Irish origin.

riadach wrote:

13. What does bhí leis leis leis leis mean?

14. List the words not of english origin in this sentence.

Jumpáil sé ar a bhicycle, is cycleáil sé síos an ród.
sé (x2), ar, a, is, síos & an

riadach wrote:

15. What is significant about auracept na n-éces among Western European languages?

16. Which monumental work of English literature, is claimed by James Carney to be based on an Irish folk tale?

Waiting for Godot

riadach wrote:

17. Which Irish speaking island was home to three internationally renowned writers in the Irish language?

An Blascaod Mór

riadach wrote:

18. What does Béarla actually mean? What does iarmbérla allude to?

Béarla means language, iarmbérla means "old language"

riadach wrote:

19. H.H. Asquith once used the Irish language against the independence movement. In what way?

20. What was unusual about Samuel Carsuel's translation of the Bible into Scots Gaelic?

First book printed in Gaelic.

Cactus 0, coc is on four.

riadach wrote:

Reeling from shame from the fact that them bloodies Trekkies have a quiz on this site before the nobel yet base, antique yet modern, limitless yet restrained Irish language, I have decided to compose my own Irish quiz, about various elements associated with the Irish language.

1 In what alphabet was the first Irish word written? What was that word?

The answer is Greek. It's the word Bubina (the boyne) in Ptolemy's map of Western Europe.

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2 Which letters in the Roman alphabet have never appeared in proper Irish orthography?

As far as I can make out, it is w, q and z. X used to appear in words like tochsal (toxal) and lacsaine (laxaine). V has often appeared in words of foreign origin. K y and j appeared in the annals of the Inisfallen over a twenty year period.

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3 According to legend, what connection had Irish to the tower of Babel?

It was created from all the best parts of other languages to overcome the confusion of tongues.

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4 How many irregular verbs are there in Munster Irish?

13.

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5 In what century did the last native speaker of Dublin Irish die according to Dúchas agus Dóchas: an chaint sa chathair?

The 20th. In the mid 40's.

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6 What was the name of Irish-Norse hybrid language spoken in the Hiberno-Norse towns at the turn of the last millenium?

Gic-goc.

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7. What is the oldest surviving piece of literature in the Irish language? On what occasion was it written?

Amra Choluim Cille, by Dallán Forgaill on the occasion of Colmcill's death in 597.

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8. What's the first novel to be composed in Modern Irish?

Séadna by Peadar Ua Laoghaire.

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9. What are the different conjugations of the word Bó?

Bó bó buin bó ba bó buaibh ba.

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10. According to legend who invented the Irish language, and who first spoke it in Ireland?

Fennius and Aimhirgin.

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11. What has Irish got in common with Hebrew, Classical Arabic and Hawaiian?

They're all verb subject object languages. (Irish also shares prepositional pronouns with hebrew and arabic).

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12. What is significant about the word bríste in Irish, that is conversely true about the word trousers in English?

Bríste is an Irish borrowing from English for trousers, and whereas trousers is an English borrowing from Irish for trousers.

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13. What does bhí leis leis leis leis mean?

There was a bare thigh with him as well.

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14. List the words not of english origin in this sentence.

Jumpáil sé ar a bhicycle, is cycleáil sé síos an ród.

sé ar a is sé síos an ród.

Ród isn't an English word. It goes back to at least the sixth century in Irish.

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15. What is significant about auracept na n-éces among Western European languages?

It's the first non-latin grammar of any language.

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16. Which monumental work of English literature, is claimed by James Carney to be based on an Irish folk tale?

Beowolf. The instances that happen within beowulf, such as the stealing of the first born child, and swimming up the waterfall are to be found in an earlier Fenian legend.

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17. Which Irish speaking island was home to three internationally renowned writers in the Irish language?

Great Blasket, an Blascaod Mór.

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18. What does Béarla actually mean? What does iarmbérla allude to?

Language, as in bérla na féni and bérla na filed. It's a metathesis of Béalra, meaning stuff of the mouth. Iarmbérla could be Old language, or even Iron-language, and may refer to a non-q celtic language still spoken in Ireland in the Old Irish period.

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19. H.H. Asquith once used the Irish language against the independence movement. In what way?

The lack of one.

He once claimed that the Irish did not deserve independence because they did not have their own language.

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20. What was unusual about Samuel Carsuel's translation of the Bible into Scots Gaelic?

For all intents and purposes, it's in Irish. He had composed it in the canamhain which was the predominant literary language of Irish at that time. However, it was siginificantly different from Scots Gaelic, which made his bible virtually unintelligible to vernacular scots speakers at that time.

Riadach that was extremely interesting and difficult but easier than the Trekkie/er quiz !

I got the one about the letters of the alphabet right and the one about the ród agus bisticeail instead of rothar ! None of the others came to me and I picked up a bit of information too like the subject-verb-object (can you give examples where expressions in english are impossible in irish given these rules?) the Norse fact the Dublinese irish.

Is Bó a verb so? bó mé, bó sé etc.? What does it mean?

Are you sure the collapse of the tower of Babel had nothing to do with arguments over the Tuiseal Ginideach?

My new computer (only €370 in Tescos with windows basic ) is now in irish too !

Auditor #9 wrote:

Riadach that was extremely interesting and difficult but easier than the Trekkie/er quiz !

I got the one about the letters of the alphabet right and the one about the ród agus bisticeail instead of rothar ! None of the others came to me and I picked up a bit of information too like the subject-verb-object (can you give examples where expressions in english are impossible in irish given these rules?) the Norse fact the Dublinese irish.

I'm not sure I can.

There is one example that causes difficulty to many speakers.

That is the man who my father killed, sin an fear a mharaigh mo athair, could easily be misconstrued as that is that man who killed my father. However, one can overcompensate by saying sin an fear ar mharaigh m'athair é that is the man who my father killed him literally.

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Is Bó a verb so? bó mé, bó sé etc.? What does it mean?

No, its a noun. I meant to say decline, rather than conjugate.
.......... singular plural
nom bó ba
gen bó bó
dative buin buaibh
accusative bó ba

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Are you sure the collapse of the tower of Babel had nothing to do with arguments over the Tuiseal Ginideach?

My new computer (only €370 in Tescos with windows basic ) is now in irish too !

How did you get that.

riadach wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

My new computer (only €370 in Tescos with windows basic ) is now in irish too !

How did you get that.

I'm not really sure. You know when you get a new PC, Vista spends a bit of time warming up first and you can select time zone and language and I think I selected Irish thinking I was selecting Irish english.

Firefox is in Irish and everything! I don't understand nothing but I don't care ! Do you know anything about it? Does every piece of software have to be localised into every language now or what? Hardly. It's only the software done by volunteers - now that I notice it, Windows itself isn't only a few programs and google itself. I am assuming the Operating System is set to Irish language and any installable programs will see that and install the localised version of that.

Bill Gates didn't make Vista Fuinneoige itself as Gaeilge however.

I kinda lie - the clock shows Dé Ceadaoin Iúil etc. ...

riadach wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

riadach wrote:

Ard-T you have 3 correct.

905 you have 1.

Go hiontach! Is there a prize?

Only if you get all 20 right. Then you get my respect, which is worth a lot of money :-)

Ah, I thought it might be something like a copy of Peig or something. Star Trek is rich with prizeables, I'd imagine Irish is too.

It was a very hard quiz, for me anyway. There were a few I could have guessed.

I was dying to know what bhí leis leis leis leis meant.

Poor Bó bó buin bó ba bó buaibh ba. It sounds like an animal giving birth.

Well done Coc, who I think is the winner !

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

It was a very hard quiz, for me anyway. There were a few I could have guessed.

I was dying to know what bhí leis leis leis leis meant.

I know. It sounded like an LC Aural CD skipping in my head when I read it.

riadach, on the subject, of Irish, I have a question.

If president is to presidential and prime minister is to prime ministerial, what is Taoiseach to? Taoiseachtact or something?

Sir Gawain and the Green knight was the one question I was sure on. I strongly suspect I might be right on this; I think it's commonly accepted nowadays that elements of Gawain and the Green knight are based loosely on Fled Bricriu.

I don't remember a baby-snatching or a waterfall from my copy of Beowulf (translated by Heaney). Interesting theory though.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

riadach, on the subject, of Irish, I have a question.

If president is to presidential and prime minister is to prime ministerial, what is Taoiseach to? Taoiseachtact or something?

Taoiseachúil I would imagine.

905 wrote:

Sir Gawain and the Green knight was the one question I was sure on. I strongly suspect I might be right on this; I think it's commonly accepted nowadays that elements of Gawain and the Green knight are based loosely on Fled Bricriu.

I have read that too. However, one could then hide behind the word monumental

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I don't remember a baby-snatching or a waterfall from my copy of Beowulf (translated by Heaney). Interesting theory though.

I'm unsure about the baby-snatching element, as I do not recall the entire substance of the article. Perhaps it was a reference to a monster coming each night and slaying one man. However, there is an element of Beowulf where the hero is required to go through water into a lair of some sort. Most anglo-saxon philologists have determined this to be swimming up a waterfall, which Carney dismisses as drivel. However, in the Irish legend it is openly explained that it is an underwater cave.

riadach wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

riadach, on the subject, of Irish, I have a question.

If president is to presidential and prime minister is to prime ministerial, what is Taoiseach to? Taoiseachtact or something?

Taoiseachúil I would imagine.

I would have thought there is no Irish version of the English 'ministerial'.
But if there is maybe it would be something like Taoiseachaíocht.....?
My Irish is slightly rusty as it's been a good few years since I've had the opportunity to speak it all the time.

Ní dhearna mé ró-mhaith ansin a Riadaigh. Ní bhfuair mé ach thart ar sé nó seacht. Suimiúil faoin bhfocal ród dáileadh an scéil.

Líon mé isteach na freagraí sular thuig mé go raibh na freagraí cheana féin tugtha ansin ghlan mé mo náire.