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- "Ceapaire agus bainne."
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I understand that a sandwich and milk sound proper but is the translation, "a sandwich and a milk" not also correct?
I'm thinking as if I were ordering a lunch at a café and I would say, "I'll have a sandwich and a milk please."
1454
Most people would probably ask for a glass or a bottle of milk rather than "a milk". It just sounds weird, which is probably why it wasn't accepted.
In a restaurant setting, asking for “a milk” is fairly common, at least in North America — much as asking for “a coffee”, “a soda” (or “a pop”), “a hot chocolate”, etc. is.
I think that's actually still a grammatical error even though it's commonly used, though. I'm saying that because it makes no sense to describe a quantity of milk as "one milk" without defining that quantity, since it is a liquid and isn't inherently quantified. Everyone knows you mean "a glass of milk", even though it's been shortened to "a milk" - but if they didn't it wouldn't make sense. An ounce of milk? A pound of milk? A swimming pool of milk?
That said, I don't think the Irish version is concerned with that, since the word "a" doesn't really translate, but is rather implied where appropriate (at least as far as comprehending it from an anglophone perspective goes). Unless I'm not really understanding that, which is totally possible.
Yes, context is important in this case, which is why I’d qualified its acceptability to “a restaurant setting … at least in North America”.
Oh, after following these two words through many leasons, I am finally hearing the pronunciation for the first time
After five months using Duolingo on my mobile, I've finally realized that notes and comments can be found using my desktop. I've been attending school with no schoolmaster!
My mom used to say "milk and biscuits" but if you prefer a sandwich what can I do?
Sandwich and milk is actually something very common in Ireland. Many Irish people eat it. :)
Haha, no that was a little joke. That phrase reminds me go to bed, my used to say "Milk and biscuits" and that is a common habit.
does nn usually sound as ñ in the south? Is it tied only to certain following vowels?
A slender nn typically sounds like Spanish ñ ; its pronunciation is slender when its neighboring vowels are slender (viz e, é, i, or í ).
On some audios people roll the 'r' in most words, not only ceapaire, is that a regional thing or should it be done?
A roll (i.e. an alveolar trill, such as in Spanish perro [“dog”]) is unusual; an alveolar tap (such as in Spanish pero [“but”]) is the standard pronunciation for the Irish R.
Many English speakers call both "rolling Rs" because they're both not English Rs
Then many English speakers would be mistaken regarding the tapped R — there’s no roll involved with a tap. (US English speakers would be familiar with an alveolar tap as the “D-sounding T” in words like “batter”, which often sounds like “badder” to speakers of other English dialects.)
Because the word for "the" is not there. If there is no article, then the indefinite article is assumed. If you add "the," then the entire context is changed.
I always thought that bainne was spelt with a fada on the 'a'! Guess that's an unexpected thing learned!
This is just so different from the Germanic and Romance branches of the IE language family x0 I'm already feeling a bit overwhelmed and I haven't even passed the basics yet. I'm of [half] Irish descent (my paternal ancestor came to New York in 1867 as O'Cainnan [sp?] -- anglicized to Cannon, or so the story goes) so I naturally feel that it's my duty to try to stick it out, but the pronunciation's killing me -_- Does anyone know of a reliable source for Irish pronunciation?
There are three Irish surnames that have been anglicized as “Cannon” — one is Ó Canáin (from south Connacht), the second is Ó Cananáin (from Co. Donegal), and the third is Mac Canann (from Cos. Monaghan and Armagh). All three are derived from cano (“wolf cub”).
It's overwhelming, I am currently going through this phase with Irish, but when you think about it, English is as messed up for pronunciations/spelling (e.g. to this day I still don't know why "few" rhymes with "sue" but not with "sew") :)
I have found 2 good written sources that explain pronunciation in detail for beginners:
- Lesson 1 of "Learning Irish" by Míchéal Ó Siadhail (also use Appendix I of this book, and the Table of Sounds in the cover)
- Unit 1 of "Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workbook" by Nancy Stenson
Siadhail's explanations contain IPA pronunciations, explanations on how to position the tongue and lips, and have audio resources (CD or tapes). The Appendix is a good reference to print out in the early stages when you doubt everything.
Stenson's chapter explains in more details the "why" of spelling/pronunciation, helping to solidify those rules. She lists a few exceptions we encounter early on in the Duolingo lessons as well (for example, I found out why mná is pronounced "mrá" by the Duolingo lady in the audio).
[…] English is as messed up for pronunciations/spelling (e.g. to this day I still don’t know why “few” rhymes with “sue” but not with “sew”) :)
Blame mainly goes to the Great Vowel Shift. Much of English spelling (for words of a certain age) reflects pronunciations as they were before the Shift. In the case of “sue”, which is a Latinate word, both it and French suivre have a common ancestor.
Oh no, you're absolutely right about English having an absurdly difficult vocabulary and loose (at best) set of spelling standards. I guess this must be what it's like for a non Germanic language speaker to learn English =S Thank you very much for the references ^^ I'll be sure to check them out on Amazon once I'm home.
When i entered A sandwich and milk it said the answer was "A sandwich and a milk" and marked me wrong
How do I access this site? I used to be able to from the app, but have just received this via email. ???
