"Tá damhán alla ar an leabhar."
Translation:There is a spider on the book.
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Shouldn’t the correct translation be “Burn the book with the flames of hell”?
1487
Or use another book to squash the spider.
Pressing...burning...as long as the result is the same.
am i hearing clipped audio, or is 'ar' actually pronounced 'ed' and effectively connected to 'an' in everyday speech? (I hear, "tar du-wan alla ed-en yow-ah')
I came to this discussion to ask this exact question. I’m hearing “ag” and “ar” the same in the VERY few questions that actually have audio (even the ones that indicate that there is audio).
Two things are against me here:
1). It’s a very new language to me, and I haven’t picked up the nuances of the way it’s spoken, AND
2). I don’t hear well, even when I’m listening to English (the only language I know). My wife tells me all the time that I need hearing aids, but that would mean admitting that I’m getting old (I’m pushing 50)...I’m just not ready to admit that just yet!
The speaker is saying the phrase naturally and not slowed down. We tend to mash words together when we talk wherever we can. Also, it’s not “ed” that you’re hearing. She is tapping her “r” sound. A tap is a small trill, if that helps?
I heard 'ed' there, also, so I got it wrong. Just from the pronunciation, I couldn't figure out what she was saying.
I thought the same and played it several times and finally with quality headphones. She is gently rolling the r and gives a at, et or ed sound. I think they call it the lost r sound so something.
Just to avoid any confusion, I had to use my wife’s name for this account - I tried to use the app under my name, and I didn’t find it useful at all.
Heck, I’m still looking for the “tips and tricks” section people refer to - I haven’t found a sign of it yet.
The Tips and Tricks are at the web page, if you are using a phone or mobile device, they won't show up.. :/ I'm 54 and have hearing loss in the higher registers...ugh, I feel ya on that... Slan!
I wonder if we have a choice of voices on the website? It could be that a deeper voice would help you guys.
The exercises were recorded by a live speaker. There is only one speaker available on Duolingo.
People who do Duolingo on a phone or mobile device can log into the website on that device and access the Tips & Notes in the web browser on their phones.
The "yow-ah" bit appears to be a dialect issue: I am learning Munster Irish and would definitely hear the "l" in local classes. The dictionary website teanglann.ie has a pronunciation tab where you can hear many words pronounced in the three different main dialects: the Duolingo speaker is using Connacht Irish as far as I can hear.
Would "A spider is on the book" be a correct sentence, or is does it strictly translate to "there is a. . ."?
why isn't 'leabhar' eclipsed in this example, given that it's preceded by a preposition + definite article? I'm going crazy here.
(DNTLS), …when one word ends in one of these letters and the following word begins with one there's usually no eclipse, so 'n' from "an" followed by 'l' from "leabhar" therefore no eclipse. You can sometimes guess where eclipses and lenition probably should happen just by speaking a sentence really fast like people in Ireland do with no gaps between words just a constant stream. That's why eclipses and lenition happen I suspect: it's a bit like taking a smoothing plane to a language so that words flow together easy and very fast.
It's got nothing to do with DNTLS - DNTLS is a lenition rule, and lenition only applies to b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s and t. You can't lenite l, n or r.
Eclipsis only applies to b, c, d, f, g, p and t. You can't eclipse l, m, n, r or s.
leabhar isn't eclipsed because you can't eclipse words that start with the letter l.
You could start with the Irish Pronunciation Guide that is stickied at the top of the Irish Discussion Topics.
In particular, watch Karen Reshkin's Sounds and Spelling of Irish / Fuaimniú & Litriú na Gaeilge
I really do not hear the definite article after multiple repeats. I hear, "Tà damhan alla ar leabhar." What am I missing?
The tip of the tongue is in the same location to pronounce the n in an and the l in leabhar, so there is no gap between the two sounds, and the n sounds pretty obvious to me.
