This is one of the videos we spent some time with in class today. Although it was a leap in terms of vocabulary, it was fun to work with, and it’s great to see a video of Manx being spoken in a normal conversational setting (in The Albert Hotel in Port St. Mary, no less).

Adrian Cain, the Manx Language Officer, has posted several videos like this one on YouTube. They are a great resource for learners. Gura mie mooar ayd, Adrian.

Here’s a partial transcript of the video in Manx, with a translation. Please send any corrections! Also, the name of Adrian’s friend in the SuperManx shirt … who we just refer to as Carrey Adrian or CA in the transcript.

Adrian Cain: Dug oo shilley er peiagh erbee ec yn jerrey shiaghtyn, whooiney?

Did you visit anyone at the weekend, yessir?

Carrey Adrian (Adrian’s Friend): Cha dug, cha dug mee shilley er peiagh erbee.

I didn’t, I didn’t visit anyone at all.

AC: Ah. Cre mychione Jeheiney? Quoi hug oo shilley er Jeheiney?

Ah. What about Friday? Who did you visit/see on Friday?

CA: Hug mee shilley er my charrey Jeheiney.

I visited/saw my friend Friday.

AC: Oh mie, as c’raad hug oo shilley orroo?

Oh good, and where did you see them?

CA: Em, hug mee shilley orroo ayns Purt ny hInshey.

I visited/saw them in Peel.

AC: Feer vie, feer vie, mie dy liooar. As ren oo shappal Jesarn?

Very good, very good, good enough. And did you shop Saturday?

CA: Em, Ren. Ren mee shappal ayns Doolish Jesarn.

I did. I went shopping in Douglas Saturday.

AC: Feer vie, as cre hooar oo ayns Doolish?

Very well, and what did you get in Douglas?

CA: Hooar mee lioayr ny ghaa.

I got a book or two.

AC: Mie dy liooar. As dooar oo veg ec Shoprite Jesarn?

Good enough. And did you get anything in Shoprite Saturday?

CA: Hooar. Hooar mee ram reddyn ayns Shoprite Jesarn.

I did. I got lots of things in Shoprite Saturday.

AC: Oh, cre gollrish?

Oh, like what?

CA: Hooar mee bainney as eeym as arran as carraijyn …

I got milk and butter and bread and carrots …

AC: Oh …

CA: Dagh ooilley red, whoinney.

Everything, yessir.

AC: Mie dy liooar … (??) Agh cha dug oo shilley er money sleih ec yn jerrey shiaghtyn?

Good enough … (??) But you didn’t visit/see many people on the weekend?

CA: Em, cha dug, ach hug peiagh ny ghaa shilley orryms … ec yn jerrey shiaghtyn.

I didn’t, but a person or two visited ME (emphasis) … on the weekend.

AC: So, quoi hug shilley ort?

So, who visited/saw you?

CA: My chaarjyn, hug my chaarjyn shilley orm.

My friends, my friends visited me.

AC: Feer vie, yindyssagh.

Very good, excellent.

CA: Feer vie. As cre hooar oo ayns Shoprite yn çhiaghtyn shoh?

Very well. And what did you get in Shoprite this week?

AC: Well, hooar mee ushtey bea, as shen ooilley.

Well, I got whiskey, and that’s all.

CA: Ushtey bea … shen ooilley …

Whiskey … that’s all …

AC: Well, chan eh shen ooilley, hooar mee ushtey bea as bainney as shen ooilley.

Well, that wasn’t all, I got whiskey and milk and that was all.

CA: Nagh dooar oo bee erbee?

Didn’t you get food at all?

AC: Cha dooar. Cha dooar mee bee. Hooar mee bee ayns y Cho-op ayns Purt le Moirrey, t’ou toiggal.

I didn’t. I didn’t get food. I got food in the Co-op in Port St. Mary, you understand.

CA: Ta mee toiggal.

I understand.

AC: As  shen eh, hooar mee bee ayns ?? fastyr Jesarn.

And that’s it, I got food in ?? Saturday afternoon.

CA: Dug oo shilley er peiagh erbee?

Did you visit anyone at all?

AC: Hug mee shilley er Philly Gawne jea as shen eh, agh cha dug mee shilley er peiagh erbee elley ec yn jerrey shiaghtyn.

I visited Philly Gawne yesterday and that’s it, but I didn’t visit anyone else at all at the weekend.

CA: Oh ta mee toiggal. As dug peiagh erbee shilley ort?

Oh I understand. And did anyone at all visit you?

AC: Cha dug, cha dug peiagh erbee shilley orryms. Adrian boght, Adrian boght. Gura mie ayd.

No, No one at all visited me. Poor Adrian, poor Adrian. Thank you.

CA: She dy vea.

You’re welcome.

***

As shen eh! Va shen feer vie, nagh row?

Slane lhiu nish.

C'raad ta ny skianyn?

Our last Manx class met in a local restaurant — Pat Troy’s Thie Bee Yernagh — to learn how to talk about food and drink and perhaps order meal or a pint. I thought it would be fun to download the menu and “put some Manx on it.”

Jee bannee mee! That’s when I realized how bizarre the American menu has become.

You may have read about the recent survey that found many British people really believed they could buy pig wings and lamb drumsticks. That’s probably because they’ve been looking at American menus, which feature such oddities as chicken fingers or  “tenders.”

What happened to the traditional praaseyn as skeddan (potatoes and herring), braghtanyn (sandwiches) and burgeyryn (you know it!)? Well, eeast as spollagyn was on the menu, as well as burgeyryn dy liooar, but so were many unusual items, mostly fried.

For starters, would you like Maidjaghyn Mozarella? Or perhaps Fainaghyn Unnish? Or even Meir Chirkey? (Mozarella sticks, onion rings and chicken fingers.)

Graih veen! Vel accrys ort foast? (My goodness, are you still hungry?) Then try some Skianyn Buffalo.

The brunch menu was a bit easier to handle. Meat lovers could order the Anjeeal Yernagh, or Irish Breakfast: Slissagyn (rashers), pronnag (sausage), lhoob doo, lhoob bane (black and white pudding), daa ooh (two eggs).  Er ny hirveish lesh spollagyn (served with chips).

There were oohagan, too — omelets, with blennican (spinach), ooylyn ghraih (tomatos), unnishyn (onions), pibbyryn jiarg (red peppers), shalmaneyn (mushrooms), caashey Cheddar as Parmesan (Cheddar and Parmesan cheese) feill vuc as bagoon (ham and bacon).

By vie lhiat tuilley? Would you like more? Cre mysh (what about) …

Oohyn scoaldit (poached eggs), bereen phartanagh (crab cake) as aunlyn Hollandaise harrish soddag Hostynagh (and Hollandaise sauce over an English muffin).

I’m not sure about the translations for “crab cake” and “English muffin” — Help me, Manx scholars.

Top it all off with a helping of Greddan Gaelgagh, or “Gaelic Toast,” which I assume is much like French Toast, but perhaps with a slathering of ushtey bea rather than maple syrup.

Ta shen dy liooar, whooiney! Va mee accrysagh. Cha row mee jollyssagh!

For a look at other vocabulary we learned – download this list. The “Kiart-Bee dy Vrunch” or Brunch Menu is available here.

And as a  friend once told me, “Ate, Ate, Man! You’re desthroyin’ nothin’!”

This video from the Manx band Skeeal contains two Manx songs about Manannan — the figure from Celtic mythology for whom the island is named (Ellan Vannin – Manannan’s Island). The first is simply called “Manannan Song”, while the second is “Manannan Beg” – “Little Manannan”. Here are the lyrics to the first song, from Kiaull yn Theay 2:

C’raad ta’n Ree? T’eh er cheet veih Flaunys
Harrish y cheayn dys mullagh Varrool (2x)

C’red t’eh jannoo? T’eh jeeaghyn my heear,
Soie fo chay er mullagh Varrool (2x)

Qoui ta’n ree? Ta’n ree Manannan,
Ta cashtal echey er mullagh Varrool (2x)

It’s a simple song, and the lyrics include vocabulary we’ve covered in our class:

C’raad – Where? C’red – What? Quoi – Who?

Ta – the present form of the verb to be, “is” or “are”; T’eh – Ta eh or “He is”

Ree – King – as in “She mish Manannan, Ree Vannin” from the GaelgTube cartoon.

There are some good verbs here – çheet, coming; jannoo, doing; jeeaghyn, looking; soie, sitting.”

Some other important words: Harrish, over; Harrish y cheayn is “over the sea.”

Dys: to (as in “going to”). This sometimes is gys – gys or dys, makes no difference.

Ta Manannan goll dys mullagh Varool — Manannan is going to the top of Barrule, the mountain on Man where he has his home.

Compare that with Ta mee goll dys Doolish. “I’m going to Douglas.”

Flaunys — Heaven, Paradise, usually in Christian terms but in this case probably the Celtic Otherworld. The Isle of Man, interestingly, is often portrayed as an “otherworld” place in early Irish literature and folklore.

C’red t’eh jannoo? What is he doing? C’red t’ou jannoo? What are you doing?

Jeeaghyn (looking) my heear (westward — to the west). “I’m looking about” would be Ta mee jeeaghyn mygeart.

Soie is sitting – Soie sheese! Sit down!  Fo chay” means “under a mist” — Manannan could hide himself (and the island) under a mist.

Ta Ellan Vannin fo chay jiu — “the Isle of Man is under a mist today.”

Quoi ta’n ree? Who is the King? Ta’n ree Manannan — The king is Manannan.

Ta cashtal echey — “He has a castle,”  literally, “There’s a castle at him” …

… echey means “at him,” just as aym means “at me” and ayd means “at you”.

The second song “Manannan Beg,” refers to him as Manannan Beg Mac y Leir, or “Little Manannan son of Leir or Lír.”

The song asks Manannan’s blessings on the fishing boats:

Manannan Beg Mac y Leir, Manannan Beg Mac y Leir, bannee orrin as nyn maateyn, Manannan Beg Mac y Leir.
Mie goll magh as ny share çheet stiagh, Manannan Beg Mac y Leir. Lesh ny bioee as ny merriu ayn-jee, Manannan Beg Mac y Leir.

Some of the vocabulary:

Bannee orrin — bless us; as nyn maateyn — and the boats.

Mie goll magh as ny share çheet stiagh — Good going out and better coming in.

You’ll remember goll from goll as gaccan — “Going and grumbling.”

Magh and stiagh are “out” and “in” in terms of direction, or “outward” and “inward.”

Lesh is “with” – Lesh ny bioee – with the living; Lesh ny merriu – with the dead.

So lesh ny bioee as ny merriu ayn-jee is “With the living and the dead in them” – Meaning, I hope, the fishermen and the fish!

So who was Manannan and why and in what sense is he “king?” This lecture by Breesha Maddrell (a Manx scholar and member of Skeeal) examines the development of Manannan from an ancient Celtic deity (who probably got his name from the Isle of Man, rather than the other way around) to modern Manx cultural symbol.

Our Manx study group is growing with at least one new student joining us for our second year. We held the first class of spring toward the end of Toshiaght Arree and plan to hold two classes in March, April and May. We’re considering a special class in June – perhaps one extending over a weekend.

This past Saturday our advanced beginners gave our new beginner a lively introduction to Manx, as we reviewed the first four lessons of Bunchoorse Ghaelgagh, learned a bit about Manx spelling and the present tense of the verb “to be” and listened to the first lesson in Gaelg ayns Shiaghtyn. Our new member, Gene, already has some Irish, and he’s likely to make quick progress with us.

Gene was also introduced to Fynoderee, Manannan and Finn, via YouTube.

Our next class on March 13 will work on expressing likes and dislikes and expanding our vocabulary in preparation for a trip to the thie-lhionney or thie-bee March 27.

P.S. “Gaase” is a verbal noun, meaning “Growing” … Ta’n Kiarkyl gaase – The Circle is growing. Shen eh!

T ‘ad er ash! Manannan, Finn and Fynoderee return for Episode 2 and a fateful meeting with a hungry Buggane. This is the subtitled version of the video from GaelgTube, and a transcript of the Manx dialogue is attached here.

Listen for the following words and phrases:

Ta mee skee agglagh — I’m awfully tired

share — best

Cha nel mee geearee — I’m not wanting/seeking

Vel bargane ny ghaa ayn? — Is there a bargain or two?

C’red by vie lhiat? — What would you like?

My saillt — Please

A treih! — Oh woe! Alas!

Ta mee accrysagh agglagh — I’m awfully hungry

Dagh ooilley red — Everything

Thie lhionney, eisht? — Pub, then?

From the left, Kearsley, Pamela, Kristin, Kelly and Illiam.

We welcomed another Manx guest (and the word for guest is goaldagh) to our group for  our last class of 2010, Pamela Wood  Rand, second from left.

Born in Douglas and now living in the U.S., Pamela is the mother of Kiarkyl member Kearsley Walsh, at the far left, who is also Manx-born.

Pamela jumped right in and started learning with us as we reviewed the past year’s vocabulary and expressions and talked about Traa Nollick, who was buying nastaghyn Nollick, who’d already put up the Billey Nollick, and what they wanted from Jishag y Nollick. We listened to, but didn’t sing carvalyn Nollick, and had a wee jough y Nollick at our giense Nollick. After all that, were we ready for Nollick? Vel oo spotçhal?!

Gura mie mooar eu, Phamela! Tar er ash!

Now here’s some of the Christmas vocabulary we studied:

Nollick — Christmas

Nollick Ghennal — Happy or Merry Christmas

Traa Nollick — Christmas Time

Nastey Nollick — Christmas Gift; Nastaghyn — Gifts

Billey Nollick — Christmas Tree

Jishag y Nollick — Father Christmas (the man with the bag)

Carvalyn Nollick — Christmas Carols, especially Manx ones

Jough y Nollick — a Christmas Drink

Giense Nollick — Christmas Party

Vel oo aarloo son y Nollick? Are you ready for Christmas?

Vel oo spotçhal? Are you joking?

For more, download this Microsoft Word document we used in our class.

Nollick Ghennal, as Blein Noa Feer Vie!

Happy Christmas, and a Very Good New Year!

We’re continuing our sessions this fall, learning more about expressing likes and dislikes.

Mie lhiat …? Do you like? By vie lhiat …? Would you like?

One thing we all like is bereen — cake.

We held our tenth lesson Oct. 17, the day after Illiam’s birthday. Kearsley made a cake, or, we should say …

Va laa-ruggyree (birthday) ec Illiam, as ren (made) Kearsley berreen. Shoh eh:

 

Bereen Vanninagh dy jarroo!

We spent this class discussing likes and dislikes and reviewing previous lessons. We reviewed two lessons from “Gaelg ayns Shiaghtyn” (Manx in a Week), and watched both the original Manannan video and the recently released sequel! Va ‘d feer-vie, whooiney!

 

 

Ren Kearsley berreen - by yindyssagh eh!

By yindyssagh eh! – “It was wonderful.”

 

 

Shoh Illiam. Cre'n eash t'er? T'eh gaase beggan shenn nish ...

Cre’n eash t’er? How old is he? T’eh gaase beggan shenn nish … He’s getting a bit old now …

 

 

Nagh mie lhiat berreen?

Nagh mie lhiat … Don’t you like. Nagh mie lhiat berreen? Don’t you like cake?

For more on expressing likes and dislikes and how to talk about what other people like, see lesson 5 of the intermediate course on the LearnManx website.

Slane lhiu nish!

 

We spent one of our recent study sessions learning the vocabulary from this video – we’re looking forward to the sequel! T’eh yindyssagh! It’s chock full of good basic vocabulary for beginning learners – like us!



Listen for these words and phrases:

Kys t’ou? How are you?

Ta mee braew gura mie ayd, as uss hene? I’m fine, thanks, and yourself?

Cha nel mee gaggan. I’m not complaining.

Braew, braew, gura mie ayd. Very well, thanks.

Shoh my charrey … This is my friend …

C’raad t’ou cummal? Where do you live?

Ta mee cummal ayns … I live in …

Ta mee cummal ec … I live at …

Vel oo gobbrachey? Are you working?

Ta mee my haaue nish. I’m retired/out of work now.

Yindyssagh! Wonderful! Brilliant!

C’raad t’ou goll nish? Where are you going now?

Ta mee goll dys … I’m going to …

Cre’n fa? Why?

Ta mee geearree jough. I want a drink.

Vel oo kionnaghey? Are you buying?

Hee’m oo! I’ll be seeing you!

I’ll post a transcript here shortly.

Ta mee goll magh nish. Hee’m shiu!

— Illiam

The study group at work, gynsaghey Gaelg.

Today we held our Laa’l Pherick or St. Patrick’s Day celebration — an afternoon working on “taggloo thie oast”, or pub talk. It helps that our classroom is a former speakeasy in the attic of Bill and Kelly McCarthy’s offices in Old Town, Alexandria.

This afternoon we had several guests — including Alex Downie, a member of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man visiting Washington on behalf of the Manx government, as well as Jim Kneane, president of the Greater Washington Area Manx Society and a Manx learner himself.

Mr. Downie, who is in Washington attending an international conference, came with Manx learning materials for the study group — Gura mie mooar echey!

At this point, the group has covered the material in lessons 1-4 in Bun-choorse Gaelgagh and lessons 1-4 in LearnManx’s course for toshiaghteyryn (beginners). We reviewed what we’ve learned so far and then turned to “C’red by vie lhiat?”

We had some fun with Illiam and Kelly manning the bar and taking orders for “ushtey bea” and “feeyn jiarg.” Not too many takers for “pynt sharroo” today.

Glonney ny boteil?

The thie oast wasn’t lane dy veshtallee … but we did have a good time.

For more photos, check out our fan page on Facebook (Kiarkyl ny Gaelgey) and look for the “Gee as Giu ayns Gaelg” event.

Kearsley as Kristin - by vie lhieu feeyn jiarg.

Among the expressions we practiced: “Shoh slaynt!” – “Here’s health!” – followed by “Slaynt as shee!”, “Health and peace!”

In our next session we’ll work on Lessoon Queig and Lessoon Shiaght of Bun-choorse Gaelgagh and a bit of the Gaelg ayns Shiaghtyn! CD brought to us by Mr. Downie.

Slane lhiu nish!

Cre'n ennym t'urree? T'ee Manxie, our own Moddey Doo.

We met for our second session Feb. 28, working our way through lessons 3 and 4 of Bun-choorse Gaelgagh and going back over the first two lessons for review.

I’m happy to say that conversations in Manx broke out — no matter how simple they may have been! That’s the idea behind our group; to learn beggan er veggan and use what we know. (Beggan er veggan – “little by little.”)

Eventually, we’ll toiggal ny s’moo (understand more), though right now the expression of the day seems to be “Cha nel mee toiggal” (“I don’t understand”).

That was even more popular than “Cur paag dou nish!” in our first class.

After working on Lesson 2 and Lesson 3, we’d learned how to  greet people, ask their names and introduce ourselves. We then paired up for basic conversations along these lines:

Illiam: Fastyr mie, kys t’ou?

Kelly: Castreycair, gura mie ayd. Kys t’ou hene?

Illiam: Feer vie, gura mie ayd. Cre’n ennym t’ort?

Kelly: Ta ‘n ennym orm Kelly. Cre’n ennym t’ort?

… and so on around the table. Then we worked on asking who other people were, using:

Quoi shen? Quoi shoh? Cre’n ennym t’er? Cre’n ennym t’urree?

All this will be very useful when we meet on March 14 for an afternoon in the Thie Oast – the pub. In preparation, we should all complete lessons 2-4 on LearnManx.com, which deal with drinking, eating and taggloo thie-oast — pub talk.

Bannaghtyn!