By Bob Carney
“Liebchen , Sweetheart, what watch? Ten watch. Such much?”
– From the movie Casablanca
I don’t watch a lot of television, but when I do I prefer older movies. The classic horror movies are my favorites, but I’m also a fan of Humphrey Bogart’s films, and Casablanca is one of his best.
I was watching the movie one night; when it came to the scene in Rick’s Cafe, where the older couple were celebrating their morning departure to America, and he asked his wife the time in the best English he could muster, I realized we’ve never discussed telling time in Irish before.
In our Speak Irish Cleveland class, we have a lot of fun with this. First we have to start with an understanding of basic numbers. We’ve talked about number systems before in the Irish language.
There is a set for counting things, another for counting people and a basic number system. The basic system is used for things such as phone numbers and addresses, or for just standing on the street corner counting out loud. I tend to get curious looks from passersby when I do that.
a náid (uh noyj) zero a sé (uh shay) six
a h-aon (uh hayn) one a seacht (uh shakht) seven
a dó (uh doe) two a h-ocht (uh hawkht) eight
a trí (uh tree) three a naoi (uh nee) nine
a ceathair (uh kya her) four a deich (uh jeh) ten
a cúig (uh koo-ig) five
a h-aon déag (uh hayn jayug) eleven a sé déag (uh shay jayug) sixteen
a dó dhéag (uh doe yayug) twelve a seacht déag (uh shakht jayug) seventeen
a trí déag (uh tree jayug) thirteen a h-ocht déag (uh hawkht jayug) eighteen
a ceathair déag (uh kya-her jayug) fourteen a naoi déag (uh nee jayug) nineteen
a cúig déag (uh koo-ig jayug) fifteen fiche (fih-huh) twenty
You probably noticed the a before all of the numbers up to the number 19, once we hit 20 we stop using it. We also pronounce the number twelve slightly differently from the rest of the numbers from eleven to nineteen.
That is a result of the grammatical rule of lenition that is being used on that number, notice the h following the d, that changes the pronunciation. For more on numbers, refer to www.iIrish.us and type in Speak Irish Counting.
(guh muh lesh-shkale. Kayn tahm ahtaw shay) Excuse me. What time is it?
We can also pose that question this way: Cén t-am é? Le do thoil. (kayn tahm ay leh duh hull). What time is it,Please? When answered, we should reply, Go raibh maith gat (gorra mah ah-gut), Thank you.
Telling time on the hour is very simple. Tá sé a h-aon a chlog (taw shay uh hayn uh khlugh), It’s one o’clock; Tá sé a trí a chlog (taw shay uh tree uh khlugh), It’s three o’clock.
Asking about time on the hour is also very easy, we simply change our version of the verb tá. An bhfuil a cuig a chlog? (ahn wiil uh koo-ig uh khlug?), Is it five o’clock? Níl. Tá sé a sé a chlog (neel. Taw shay uh shay uh khlug), No. It’s six o’clock.
We could also pose a negative question. Nach bhfuil a dó dhéag a chlog? (knock will uh doe yayug uh khlug?), Isn’t it twelve o’clock? Tá. (taw) Yes.
We can embellish our answer a little bit as well. Here are a few examples: Tá sé a ceathair a chlog anois (taw shay uh kya-her uh khlug uh nesh), It’s four o’clock now. Or, Tá sé a h-aon déag a chlog anois díreach (taw shay uh haynjayug uh khlug ah-nesh jee-rahkh), It’s eleven o’clock right now.
Tá sé a dó a chlog sa tráthnóna (taw shay uh doe uh khlug suh traw-no-na), It’s two o’clock in the afternoon. Ar maidin (air mah-jin) would be in the morning, and san oíche (sun ee-ha) would be at night.
Ceathrú (kya-hroo) a quarter; leathuair (lah-hooir) a half of an hour; Tar éis (tar aysh), after; and roimh (riv),means before. So if we combine some of these, we come up with: ceathrú roimh (kya-hroo riv), a quarter to; ceathrú tar éis (kya-hroo tar aysh), a quarter past; leathuair roimh (lah-hooir riv), a half of an hour till; leathuair tar éis (lah-hooir tar aysh), a half of an hour past.
When you’re referring to time in Irish, you can use either ag or ar to translate at: ag a sé a chlog (ahg uh shay ah khlug), at six o’clock or ar a sé a chlog (ahr uh shay uh khlug), at six o’clock. Of the two, ag is the easiest of the prepositions to use, as consonants that follow remain unchanged: ag ceathrú tar éis a dó (ahg kya-hroo tar aysh uh doe), at a quarter past two, but ar cheathrú tar éis a dó (ahr hya-hroo tar aysh uh doe) still means at a quarter past two, but requires lention, changing the pronunciation.
Cén t-am a éiríonn tú ar maidin? (kayn tahm uh eyereen too ahr mah-jin?), What time do you get up in the morning? Cén t-am a théann tú ag obair? (kayn tahm uh hyahn too ahg uh-ber?), What time do you go to work?
Tosaím ag obair ag a naoí a chlog. (tuh-seem ahg uh-ber uh nee uh khlug.) I start working at nine o’clock. Fágaim an obair tipeall a sé. (fohg-um ahn uh-ber uh shay.), I leave work around six.
Just as I encourage you to use your Cúpla Focal in everyday conversations, try using your Irish when looking at the time. With a little practice, it won’t take long to get it down.
To read more of Bob’s Speak Irish columns, click HERE
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*Bob Carney is a student of Irish language and history and teaches the Speak Irish Cleveland class held every Tuesday at PJ McIntyre’s. He is also active in the Irish Wolfhound and Irish Dogs organizations in and around Cleveland. Wife Mary, hounds Rían, Aisling Draoi, and terrier Doolin keep the house jumping. He can be reached at [email protected]
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