Jelune hie mee dys South Stack (Ynys Lawd) faggys da Holyhead (Caergybi) rish caarjyn. Va laa breaw ayn as ta ny reayrtyn yindyssagh ayns shen. Erreish dooin shooyl as drappal mygeayrt y boayl, va barbecue ain.
De luan chuaigh mé go South Stack (Ynys Lawd) in aice le Holyhead (Caergybi) le chairde. Bhí lá breá ann agus tá na radhairc go hálainn ansin. I ndiaidh muid ag siúil agus ag dreapadh timpeall na háite, bhí beárbaiciú againn.
Ddydd Llun es i i Ynys Lawd ger Caergybi efo ffrindiau. Roedd y tywydd yn braf ac mae’r golygfeydd o fan ‘na yn ysblennydd. Ar ôl i ni cerdded a dringo o gwmpas y lle, mi wnaethon ni barbiciw.
I’m currently in the Isle of Man for the Cooish, a festival of Manx language and traditional music from the Isle of Man, Ireland and Scotland. Last night I went to an excellent concert in Peel which included the Arrane son Mannin (Song for Man) competition, and there’s a lecture in Manx (Leaght y Ghaaue) this evening.
Yesterday I met a Manx-speaking friend on the boat coming over and we talked Manx throughout the crossing. Well actually she did most of the talking and I contributed to the conversation whenever I could. It was the longest conversation I’ve ever had in Manx and I was pleased to find that I could understand almost everything, and even got the jokes.
My Manx tends to get mixed up with Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and even Welsh sometimes, but my friend is fluent in Irish, and speaks some Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, so this didn’t matter so much. We did try to stick to Manx most of the time though.
One of the things we were discussing was false friends between the Gaelic languages. For example, daoine means people in Irish, while in Manx dooiney means men, and the word for people is sleih, mooinjer or pobble. In Scottish Gaelic people is poball or sluagh, and men is daoine.
We also tried to translate Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody into Manx, though couldn’t remember all the words in English and weren’t sure of the Manx equivalents of some of the words we could remember.
Hie mee dys Lunnin yn jerrey shiaghtin shoh chaie dy ghoaill ayrn ayns cuirrey kiaull Sing for Water. Ta shin troggal argid da WaterAid, sheshaght yiastyllagh ta cooney sleih ayns çheeraghyn boght geddyn ushtey glen as slayntaghys. Hee mish ayns shen lesh yn sheshaght chiaullee pobble Bangor, as ghow shin arraneyn lesh 50 sheshaghtyn chiaullee elley voish Sostyn, Bretin, Nalbin as Nerin – mysh 700 jin yn clane. Hie yn cuirrey kiaull dy slane mie, as v’eh yindyssagh goaill arrane lesh whilleen sleih.
Honnick shin cosheeaght mooar, garey aile, çhentagyn as taghyryn elley Feailley yn Thaimish, as va traa yindyssagh ain.
Penwythnos
Mi es i i Lundain y penwythnos diwetha cymryd rhan mewn cyngerdd Sing for Water. Maen nhw’n codi arian am WaterAid, elusen sy’n helpu pobl mewn gwledydd tlawd cael dŵr glân ac iechydaeth. Mi es i efo rhan o’r Côr Cymuned Bangor, ac mi ganon ni efo 50 corau eraill o Loegr, Cymru, yr Alban ac yr Iwerddon – tua 700 o bobl. Roedd y cyngerdd yn dda iawn, ac roedd hi’n ardderchog canu efo cymaint o bobl.
Mi welon ni parêd mawr, gardd tân, tân gwyllt a digwyddiadau eraill Gŵyl y Tafwys, ac mi fwynheuon ni yn fawr iawn.
Shoh recortysyn ny arraneyn / Dyma recordiadau y caneuon:
Mi orffenes i ddrafft cyntaf fy nhraethawd hir Ddydd Llun yr wythnos hon, ac ar Ddydd Mawrth mi es i i Aberfal yng Nghernyw i weld fy mrawd a fy rheini. Mae fy mrawd newydd orffen ei daith o gwmpas y byd yn ei gwch hwylio Kika, ac ro’n ni’n yn Aberfal i’w groesawu o yn ôl. Mae’r lle yn hyfryd ac mi fwynheuon ni yn fawr.
Cornwall
I finished the first draft of my dissertation on Monday of this week, and on Tuesday I went down to Falmouth in Cornwall to see my brother and my parents. My brother has just finished his circumnavigation of the world in his yacht Kika, and we were in Falmouth to welcome him back. It’s a really nice place and we had a good time there.
I just got back to Bangor after spending a few days with my family down in Falmouth (Aberfal) in Cornwall (Kernow). My brother has just finished a circumnavigation of the globe in Falmouth four years after setting sail, and we went to welcome him back. His adventures are recounted on his blog.
While in Cornwall I was on the look out for any bits Cornish I could spot. There were plenty of Cornish flags and bumper stickers, some with Kernow on them, some of the leaflets about local attractions have place names in English and Cornish, and the Cornish motto, “One and all / Onan hag oll” appears in both languages on the Cornwall Council logo. One bookshop I visited had a few Cornish language courses and dictionaries, but apart from that, there was very little Cornish to be seen, and none whatsoever to be heard. There may be more Cornish around in other places, but the superficial impression I got was that Cornish is not as visible in Cornwall as Manx is in the Isle of Man.
Mi ddes i yn ôl o Iwerddon Nos Sadwrn. Mi fwynheues fy hunan yn fawr iawn yn siarad a chanu yn y Wyddeleg trwy’r wythnos efo hen ffrindiau a ffrindiau newydd. Ac mae fy Ngwyddeleg wedi gwella tipyn bach hefyd. Yfory dw i’n mynd i’r Eisteddfod yn y Bala efo Criw Bangor (côr y dysgwyr) ac byddan ni’n cystadlu efo 11 corau eraill.
Tháinig mé ar ais ó Éirinn oíche Sathairn. Bhain mé an-sult as a bheith ag caint agus ag ceol Gaeilge i rith na seachtaine leis séan cairde agus cairde nua. Agus tá mo chuid Gaeilge ag feabhsú freisin. Amárach tá mé ag dhul go dtí an Eisteddfod i mBala leis Criw Bangor (cór na foghlaimeoirí) agus rachaidh muid in iomaíocht leis 11 coir eile.
I got back from Ireland on Saturday night. I had a wonderful time there speaking and singing Irish all week with old friends and new friends, and my Irish has improved somewhat. Tomorrow I’m off to the Eisteddfod in Bala with Criw Bangor (the Welsh learners choir), and we’ll be competing with 11 other choirs.
Amárach tá mé ag dul chuig an scoil shamhraidh in Oideas Gael i nGleann Cholm Cile. Seo an tríú uair atá mé ansin ar an scoil shamraidh, agus an cúigiú uair atá i nGleann Cholm Cille. Beidh mé ansin ar feadh seachtaine, agus tá mé súil go mór leis.
Yfory dw i’n mynd i’r ysgol haf mewn Gwyddeleg a diwylliant yn Oideas Gael yn Glencolmcille. Dyma y trydedd tro imi bod yna am yr ysgol haf, ac y pumed tro imi bod yn Glencolmcille. Bydda i’n yna am wythnos, ac dw i’n edrych ymlaen yn fawr ato.
Tomorrow I’m off to Ireland for the summer school in language and culture at Oideas Gael in Donegal. This is the third time I’ve been to the summer school, and my fifth visit to Glencolmcille. I’ll be there for a week and am really looking forward to it.
Mi gyrrhaeddais yn ôl ym Mangor prynhawn ddoe, ac yna gyda’r nos es i i barti yn nhŷ fy nhiwtor. Mi fwynheais fy hunan yn fawr yn Ynys Manaw, mi gwrddais efo llawer o bobl sy’n siarad Manaweg, mi siaradais llawer o Fanaweg, ac mi weles cryn dipyn o’r ynys. Mi gasglais llawer o wybodaeth ar gyfer fy nhraethawd hir. Gobeithio bydda i’n ôl yna cyn bo hir.
Fiontair san Oileán Mhanann
Tháinig mé ar ais go Bangor tráthnóna inné, agus i ndiaidh sin chuaigh mé chun coisir san teach mo theagascóir. Bhain mé an-sult as mo chuairt san oileán, bhuail mé le go leor daoine atá Manainnis acu, labhair mé a lán Manainnis, agus chonaic mé mórán áiteanna ar an oileán. Bhailigh mé a lán eolas ar mo thráchtas chomh maith. Tá súil agam go mbeidh mé ar ais ansin roimh i bhfad.
Contoyrtysyn ayns Mannin
Haink mee er-ash dys Bangor fastyr jea, as ny yei shen hie’m dys possan ‘syn thie my ynseyder. Va taitnys vooar aym ayns Mannin, haink mee ny whail lesh ram Gaelgeyryn, loayr mee ram Gaelg, as honnick mee chooid vooar jeh’n ellan. Ren mee co-phadjer ram fys son yn traghtys aym. Ta treisht orrym dy vee’m er-ash ayns shen roish feer foddey.
Adventures in the Isle of Man
I arrived back in Bangor yesterday afternoon, and went to a party at my tutor’s place in the evening. I really enjoyed my visit to the the Isle of Man, I met a lot of Manx speakers, spoke a lot of Manx, and saw quite a bit of the island. I also collected plenty of information for my dissertation. I hope to be back there before long.
I’m on the Isle of Man at the moment doing some research for my dissertation on the revival of the Manx (Gaelic) language. I’m staying in Douglas (Doolish), the island’s capital, and plan to explore other parts of the island – it’s partly a holiday for me as well as a way to collect data.
One of the things I’m investigating is the use of Manx in public. On the ferry from Liverpool they used the Manx for good morning, moghrey mie, a few times in announcements, though that was the only Manx I heard yesterday. I also found some leaflets with collections of useful Manx phrases at the ferry terminal, including some with translations in French, German and Spanish.
When exploring Douglas today I noticed quite a few English/Manx bilingual street signs, and that most government departments, and some shops and other businesses have English and Manx names. So the public visibility of the language is quite high, but you only hear it spoken at certain times and in certain places, which is similar to the situation with Irish in Dublin. For example, today I sat in on a Manx conversation class that takes place every Tuesday lunchtime in a local pub. It was the first time I’d heard live Manx conversation, and somewhat to my surprise, I could understand almost everything they said, which is encouraging. My knowledge of Irish and Scottish Gaelic certainly helps.
Tomorrow I’ll be visiting the Manx medium primary school and talking to some of the teachers. I discovered today that most of the kids there only speak Manx in the school – outside school and at home the speak mainly or entirely in English, except in a few Manx-speaking families. I’ll find out more about this tomorrow.
