GH1510 Gaelic Reading for Beginners 1B

Earrann Leughaidh 2a: air a thogail às An Leabhar-latha Ùr le Mòrag Stiùbhart

[There are some notes below the passage: you may find it helpful to keep an eye on
these as you go along.]

Diciadain 16hm den Mhàrt

Halò.
A’ chiad seachdain san sgoil, dh’iarr an tidsear oirnn stòraidh bheag a sgrìobhadh
mur deidhinn fhèin. Bha againn ri beagan innse mun teaghlach againn, dè bu toil
leinn, dè nach bu toil leinn agus dè bha sinn airson a dhèanamh nuair a dh’fhàsadh
sinn mòr. A dh’innse na fìrinn, cha b’ e rud doirbh a bh’ ann – ann an dòigh. Seo an
stòraidh agamsa...

Mi fhèin
Is mise Anna. ’S e ainm mo sheanmhar a tha orm – màthair mo mhàthar. Tha mi a’
fuireach còmhla rim mhàthair. Chan eil piuthar no bràthair agam ach tha cat agam.
’S e Buidheagan a th’ air. Tha m’ athair ag obair thall thairis an-dràsta, ach bidh e a’
tighinn dhachaigh bho àm gu àm. Nuair a thig e dhachaigh aig àm na Càisge, tha
sinn a’ dol air saor-làithean. ’S dòcha gun tèid sinn dhan Spàinn no Florida. Dè as
toil leam? ’S toil leam a bhith a’ sgrìobhadh agus a’ leughadh. Tha tòrr leabhraichean
agam. ’S toil leam a bhith a’ sgioblachadh mo rùm, ged a tha fios a’m gu bheil sin car
annasach, agus is fìor thoil leam ball-coise, macaroni agus sgonaichean mo
sheanmhar. Dè nach toil leam? Cha toil leam daoine a bhios a’ gearan. Cha toil leam
snucair air an telebhisean – ’s tha gu leòr dheth ann – agus cha toil leam a bhith ag
iarnaigeadh. Chan eil mi uabhasach math air. ’S cha toil leam idir, idir, a bhith ag ithe
brochan, spionaids no mions. Nuair a dh’fhàsas mi mòr tha mi airson leabhraichean
a sgrìobhadh.

Anna Mhoireach
Notes
A’ chiad ~ the first [generally causes lenition, but we often do not
lenite ‘s’ after ‘d’]
Dh’iarr ~ the verb ‘to want’ or ‘to ask’ (someone to do something)
takes air
Mu dheidhinn ~ about... this is mur deidhinn, which is mu ar deidhinn =
about us
Tha agam ri ~ I have to [literally, the same idiom as in English, even
though the actual words are different]
Bu toil leam ~ you already know is toil leam: can you work out what
happens to the meaning when you change the is to bu?
Tha mi airson ~ I want to [again, similar to an English idiom: to be ‘for’
something]
Dh’fhàsadh ~ would grow
Fìrinn ~ truth
Dòigh ~ way
Seanmhair ~ even if you don’t know this word, can you work it out from
Anna’s explanation? Notice that there is no –i– when it
appears in the passage: can you think why this might be?
Rim = ri mo = with my
Thall thairis ~ abroad
Àm na Càisge ~ Easter time [do you know any words related to Càisg in
another language?]
Saor-làithean ~ holidays [literally, ‘free days’]: just as commonly, the
words are turned around: làithean-saora
Tèid ~ will go
As toil ~ is toil, but the is becomes as when it comes after a
relative word (such as dè) that would normally be followed
by a relative pronoun, a
Tòrr ~ many, a pile
Car ~ rather, quite
Annasach ~ strange [very commonly, these two words appear
together, as they do here: it is a useful little phrase to
learn: car annasach]
Fìor ~ true [but is used commonly as an intensifier = ‘really,
truly’]
Bhios ~ this is part of the future of the substantive verb tha: it is
the version that comes after a relative word; it simply
means ‘will be’ or ‘am, is, are’. In this passage, it is used
as the habitual/continuous present = ‘people who
complain’
Dheth ~ this is from the preposition de... [see p. 171 PG1]
Uabhasach ~ terrible [very commonly used as an intensifier, ‘terribly,
extremely’]

Spionaid and mions are both words you should be able to guess if you
sound them out