The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164413   Message #3933968
Posted By: GUEST,Wellsy
28-Jun-18 - 11:24 PM
Thread Name: Help with coupla Irish song words
Subject: Help with coupla Irish song words
I'm learning some of the gaselic verses of "For ireland I'd not tell her name". Been learning the pron. from a speaker from the Connemara Gaeltacht. But a couple of things have us stumped.
Firstly, there's a line ' Is deise ro mhor ins an mhnaoi'.

That last word - my Gaeilge friend is not familiar with it. It's obviously an archaic or regional inflection of some other word. I've looked it up in online irish dictionaries without success. He reckons it'd be "W-NEE", and admits that's awkward even for a native speaker

Correct ? And, can I replace it with something which will also make sense and roll off the tongue more easily. I'm not too worried about purism, as these really old songs are rarely set in stone. There seem to always be alternate spellings, pronunciations and even words.

Thanks

Wellsy, Queensland, Australia