Sex as Gaeilge
Language Log: No word for sex in Irish?
Right, like I'd waste several years of my life studying a language that didn't have a word for sex. Living language, indeed! LOL.
I think Geoff Pullum's advice from the end of the post bears repeating: "Whenever you hear someone starting to say something like 'The X have no word for Y,' or 'The X have N different words for Y.' never listen to them, and always check your wallet to make sure it's still there."
3 Comments:
According to the Ó Dónaill "Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla" Irish-English dictionary.
gnéas, m. (gs -éis, pl. ~anna) Sex
gnéasach, a1 Sexual
Sorry, I'm an idiot.
I posted the previous before reading the linked article.
As far as Irish not having Yes and No, officially that is true but the speakers of the language regularly use Tá and Níl in very much the way you would expect. If there is no specific verb form in context to agree with sometime you'll hear "is ea" (pronounced "sha").
Also, be sure to check out Radió na Gaeltachta, the Irish Language radio station (free on the web) http://www.rte.ie/rnag/
(I'm not native to the language but learning slowly.)
Hope this clarifies.
Thanks for your comments, Ross. I am *well* aware of the propensity to answer tá/níl-- my professors used to get after me for doing that all the time! Half the time I was trying so hard to translate in my head that I'd forget the verb or the syntax of the sentence and just go "uh... tá?"
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