Dedicated to the Gaelic Language of the Isle of Man
Lessoonyn Meanagh

Intermediate Lessons

lesson 10: Vel Lught-thie ayd? - Any family?

We've used the words 'aym', at me; ayd, at you; echey, at him; and eck, at her, to express having something.

Vel Gaelg echey? Is there Manx at him?, Does he have any Manx?

Vel moddey ayd? Is there a dog at you? Do you have a dog?

Ta thie eck. There's a house at her. She has a house.

We can use this idiom to ask about someone's family, as well.

So I could ask, Vel shuyr ayd? Do you have a sister? Vel shuyr ayd?

Ta, ta shuyr aym. Vel braar ayd? Do you have a brother. Vel braar ayd?

Cha nel, cha nel braar aym. Vel paitçhyn ec Juan? Does Juan have children?

Ta, ta paitçhyn ec Juan. Vel paitçhyn ec Mary?

Cha nel, cha nel paitçhyn ec Mary.

We can combine that information with the numbers we learned as well. The word for three is tree, and the word for children is paitçhyn, so we can say Ta tree paitçhyn echey. There are three children at him, He has three children, Ta tree paitçhyn echey. [Ta tree paitçhyn echey.] ---------- Ta tree paitçhyn echey.

What if Mary had some children. We could ask Vel paitçhey ec Mary? Does Mary have a child, or Vel paitçhyn ec Mary? Does Mary have children?

Vel paitçhey ec Mary? Vel paitçhyn ec Mary?

Ta, ta shey paitçhyn ec Mary. Ta tree mec as tree inneenyn eck.

Ta shey paitçhyn ec Mary. Mary has six children. Ta tree mec, three sons, as tree inneenyn, three daughters, eck, at her. She has three sons and three daughters.

We can do the same with the numbers from three to ten. Ta jeih mec aym, I have ten sons, Ta jeih mec aym.

Ta shey inneenyn ayd as kiare mec echey. There are six daughters at yer and four sons at him. You have six daughters and he has four sons. Ta shey inneenyn echey as kiare mec echey.

What about one and two? Well, as we learned in the last lesson, when we count out we say nane, jees, tree. But when we're talking about something in particular, like a house or two dogs, then we use un for one and daa for two.

Un [un] ---------- un.

Daa [daa] ---------- daa.

With both un and daa we use the singular noun, and you'll notice a small change at the start of it, but don't worry about that. It's just the way Manx does it. So, Maralyn, vel paitçhyn ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa phaitçhey echey. Vel paitçhey ec Mary?

Ta, ta un phaitçhey echey. Vel mac ec Juan?

Ta, ta un vac echey, as un inneen.

We'll just run through those again. Vel paitçhyn ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa phaitçhey echey. Vel paitçhey ec Mary?

Ta, ta un phaitçhey echey. Vel mac ec Juan?

Ta, ta un vac echey, as un inneen.

Here are some more questions regarding family connections, and here we meet Tom and Jonee. If you remember, the word we used for lots of is 'ram' - we said 'ram Gaelg', lots of Manx, but here we're going to use it with members of Tom's family and Jonee's family.

Vel shuyraghyn ec Tom?

Ta, ta ram shuyraghyn echey, as un vraar. He has, he has many sisters and one brother. Ta, ta ram shuyraghyn echey, as un vraar. Vel braaraghyn ec Jonee?

Ta, ta ram braaraghyn eck, as daa huyr. She has, she has many brothers, and two sisters. Ta, ta ram braaraghyn eck, as daa huyr.

Ta ram shuyraghyn ec Tom as ta ram braaraghyn ec Jonee. The question is, how many? And the Manx for that is Quoid? And we simply use that with the singular noun. Quoid shuyr ec Tom? Literally, How many sister at Tom? Quoid shuyr ec Tom? Quoid braar ec Jonee? How many brother at Jonee? In other words, How many sisters does Tom have? How many brothers does Jonee have?

Quoid shuyr ec Tom, as quoid braar ec Jonee.

Ta shiaght shuyraghyn ec Tom as hoght braaraghyn ec Jonee.

Vel paitçhey ec Tom?

Cha nel, cha nel paitçhey ec Tom. Vel paitçhey ec Jonee.

Ta, ta queig paitçhyn eck: daa inneen as tree mec.

So Jonee has five children: two daughters and three sons. Ta queig paitçhyn ec Jonee: daa inneen as tree mec.

Vel mac ec Mary?
Ta, ta un vac eck. Vel mac ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa vac echey. Vel mac ec Jonee?
Ta, ta tree mec eck.

We'll use those same numbers, but with inneen, a daughter, this time.

Vel inneen ec Mary?
Ta, ta un inneen eck. Vel inneen ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa inneen echey. Vel inneen ec Jonee?

Ta, ta tree inneenyn eck.

And now we'll do the same thing with brothers and sisters. Vel braaraghyn ec Mary?

Ta, ta un vraar eck. Vel braar ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa vraar echey. Vel braar ec Jonee?

Ta, ta tree braaraghyn echey. Vel shuyr ec Mary?

Ta, ta un huyr eck. Vel shuyraghyn ec Juan?

Ta, ta daa huyr echey. Vel shuyr ec Jonee?

Ta, ta tree shuyraghyn eck.

Ansherbee, shen eh veih lessoon jeih

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