‘An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge’ has been launched to great fanfare and producers hope it can change attitudes to our national language
Loanwords, or iasachtaí in Irish, have a history of conflict when it comes to our native language
At a pub door having a smoke, you will very likely be approached by some poor lad gasping for nicotine and trying to cadge a cigarette. My favourite such experience came when a well-spoken cadger sought to “borrow a fag”.
Curiously, he reminded me of the linguistic term “loanword”. It struck me that if posh language scholars, not to say dictionary writers, can get away with such blatant inaccuracy, why be so hard on an unfortunate seeking a smoke? Loanwords were back in the news this week as our first ever monolingual dictionary An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge was launched by scholars Cormac Bhreathnach and Pádraig Ó Mianáin. Bhreathnach summed up what is new about the enterprise – tá sé i nGaeilge amháin (it is in Irish only).
