in this video we're going to look at the way Irish people speak the English language and as you'll
see the Irish language has certainly left its mark on it the English that we speak in Ireland
is called hiberno English but it's a form of English that has been expertly infiltrated by
the Irish language which has left its Mark with words verbs and grammar that give the English
we speak a certain Celtic flavor you see when the English invaded Ireland and colonized our land the
local Irish population had to figure out a way to understand our foreign overlords don't forget that
Irish was the dominant language on the island hundreds of years ago but this was ruthlessly
suppressed by the English so Irish people had to learn English but they translated in their own
way by learning and speaking English with certain Irish grammar rules and this can be seen today by
the way we say he has started so that would be the regular English language way of saying it in Irish
it's tá sé tar éis tosú so it literally means he's after starting so Tá sé is he is
as in present tense tar éis is the Irish words for after or afterwards and then tosú is the
verbal noun to start so it basically means start or starting tá sé tar éis tosú so in English I would say he's after
starting it's like we're speaking English but with certain Irish language parameters another feature
of hiberno English is the lack of a th sound like the th in that so I wouldn't pronounce it like
that I just said that this is another unbroken and unbreakable link with the mother tongue in Irish
there is no th sound as such so words like thosaigh tháinig & thart which means started came & around
are pronounced with a h sound thosaigh tháinig & thart the closest we have is a D sound as in the
Irish word Deireadh which means end deireadh so in hiberno English words like that this those &
them are a D sound in general and when it comes to the number three I pronounce it just like it
is in Irish in Irish it's a trí that's the Irish word for the number 3 a trí so in English I
just say it this way 3 kind of like the tree you'd see planted in the ground outside and not
three because to me that just sounds weird so it's three not three another feature of hiberno English
is the addition at the end of sentences of and I or and me and again this is living proof that the
Irish language lives on in hiberno English and it reminds us of what we once were and what we could
be in future for example I could say the following sentence he came in and I leaving he came in and I
leaving that would be my way of saying he came in just as I was leaving now if we look at the Irish
language way of saying it then it's word for word of the hiberno English language version
so that literally means word for word he came in and I leaving so tháinig sé he came isteach is
in agus mé and me or and I depending on what way you want to look at it and then ag imeacht is
the verbal noun for leaving ag imeacht tháinig sé isteach agus mé ag imeacht he came in an I leaving in
Irish we have the words bíonn and bím which are part of the present habitual tense which
is not a feature of regular English but it is a big big part of hiberno English it's
like describing something that takes place in the present tense but on an ongoing basis
so instead of me saying I am there every day I would say I do be there every day I do be
there every day let's look at this example which shows the present habitual tense and the and I
and me ending that I talked about a few moments ago bím an-mhall agus mé ag siúl
so word for word this means I do be so bím is like referring to me as
in I do be like doing something on an ongoing basis an-mhall means very slow
agus mé and me or and I ag siúl then means walking bím an-mhall agus mé ag siúl
in regular English that would translate into I am slow as I walk but in hiberno English I would say
it the following way I do be slow and I walking I do be slow and I walking in so you can clearly see
again that the hiberno English version is more or less word for word of what the Irish language
version is when you translate it over here's another example of the present habitual tense
that means they do be talking online as in they make a habit of it or they talk online on a
regular or an ongoing basis so that's the habitual present tense that's made its way into hiberno
English from the Irish language it's kind of like a supercharged version of the present tense
as any learner of Irish knows there is no word for yes or no instead we just answer based on
the question for example
an bhfuil tú réidh is the question are you ready
Tá mé réidh I am ready níl mé réidh I am not ready so you're not answering yes and no you're just
answering directly from the question that was asked an ndearna tú é did you do it?
rinne mé é I did it or ní dhearna mé é I didn't do it now it's important to State very
clearly that in hiberno English the words yes & no are very common and quite a normal part
of everyday conversation but you are also just as likely to hear questions answered by reference to
the way the question was asked in the first place are you ready I am ready or I am or I'm not ready
did you do it I did it I didn't do it in hiberno English you might well find some
double-syllable pronunciations that would just be single syllables in regular English for example I
say this word here as film you can hear a double syllable there to me it will be strange to say it
as a one-syllable word like film film it's more comfortable for me to say a film it's like an
extra vowel to help with the speech pattern that may go back to our Irish language days
it's possible that it could be connected to how common an/na are in Irish as linking words and key
parts of sentences because Irish has lots of eclipses and urú's which basically means
that some words change partially for example sa and an together turn into san that means in the
sa and an in the so these extra syllables could be a potential hangover from the
Irish language for example an-mhaith here means very good now you can also say that an-mhaithx3
it depends on the dialect but the way I said it there an-mhaith you'll notice that there's a little
extra vowel in there between the words an & mhaith some people might say Farm or worm with 2 syllables
whereas in regular English it might be just one syllable I would say a farm like this Farm farm
and I'd say worm like this worm worm now I'm not sure if two syllables are part of the way I say
farm and Worm but that's just the way I say them anyway so as you know the Irish language is all
around us it's all around us in our place names as I've touched on in numerous videos before it's
also around us in our personal names and as you will have learned in this video it's all around
us through the way we speak and listen to hiberno English so it's important to remember that it's
part of who we are and as part of who we always will be if you enjoyed this video don't forget to
give it a thumbs up I'll be back soon with another one thank you very much for watching slán go fóíll.