Confused? I would be too. The language I'm speaking in in Irish, a Celtic dialect. I'm taking classes over here to learn the basics of the language, it's very difficult but enjoyable. The title of this blog "dia duit" means 'hello', and translates literally into 'May God bless you'. "Conas atá tú?" means 'how are you?'. I thought that whenever I blog I could include a little bit of what I've been learning. I'm getting tons of information on the Irish culture, identity, history and language every day, and as a representative of our big Irish clan, I figure it's my job to keep you all educated too. I'll conclude this small lesson by teaching you the responses to both of the phrases I used earlier. A typical greeting would look like this:
Hello!
Dia Duit! (May god bless you)
dee-ah dwit
Hello.
Dia is Muire duit. (May God and [The Virgin] Mary bless you)
dee-ah is Mwir-ah dwit
How are you?
Conas atá tú?
kunas ah-taaw two
I'm well.
Tá mé go maith.
taaw may guh mah
-or-
I'm not so well.
Nil mé go maith.
kneel may guh mah
The pronunciations are weird, aren't they? Whenever he has us speak out loud I always catch myself speaking with a French accent, which isn't entirely inappropriate since the language is so guttural. Anyways! Go forth and speak Irish. Here are some more pictures of town and campus.
O'Coneills has the best hot chocolate in town! (Seriously, it's liquid Hershey's)
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