Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Seán Mac Cionnaith's "Focal i bhFocas": Léirmheas Dátheangach

Is stórchiste dátheangach é. Is maith liom mar sin ábalta foghlaim crífhocal a bhainneann le fréamhacha focal agamsa. Cheannaigh mé an leabhar seo na blianta ó shin. Ach, dhearmaid mé chuige!

Inseoidh agat faoi an leagan amach an stórchiste anois. Tosaíonn sé leis an réamhrá fada. Is dara roinnt réamhrá eile do dhaoine óga. Leann léaráid leagan amach na leathanach dátheangach. Cruinníonn eagarthóir dhá liosta aibítreach croífhocal Gaeilge agus Béarla leis cialla gaolmhara dhátheangacha. Críochnaíonn sé leis treoirlínte ar úsaid na n-innéascanna Gaeilge-Béarla agus Béarla-Gaeilge agus frithchiallaigh chroífhocal ann.

Is leathanaigh chomhchiallachaí croí leabhair é. Osclóidh tú thar dhá céad leathanaigh leis focail go leor. Gheobhaidh tú focal bhunleibhéal oiriúnach leis glas, an focal mheánleibhéal leis gorm, agus focal uasleibhéal leis dubh.

Feicfidh tú croífhocal ansin. Leífidh tú sampla úsáide an phríomfhocail fós ann. Scríobhfaidh Uas Mac Cionnaith an fhoirm dheimhnitheach, an fhoirm diúltach, agus an fhoirm cheisteach na briothar. Tá fréamh na briathra leis aimsirí, ainm briathartha, agus aidiacht bhriarthartha briathair ann. Ár ndóigh, tabharfaidh séisean féin aistriúchan Béarla gach uair!

Líonann scríbhneoir an stórchiste seo aigesean leis ainmfocail agus aidiachtaí. Deir sé againn go bhfuil "ceithre chineál aicme eolais curtha ar fáil ar chroífhocail i gcorp an téacs, mar atá: i) comhchiallaigh croífhocal [. . .]; ii) bailiúchán focal a liostálann samplaí bunaithe ar bhunchiall an chroífhocail [. . .]; iii) liostaí nathanna cainte, cora cainte, abairtíní agus samplaí eile a bhaineann le téama an-ghinearálta croífhocail áirithe [. . .]; iv) eolas gramadaí ar chroífhocail agus comheolas eile." (xvii)

Measaim go mbeadh an leabhar dathúil seo níos fóirsteanach go minic agat. B'fhéidir, dúnfaidh tú "Focal i bhFocas" leis cúil nua-focail agatsa féin a tuigeadh. Is mian liomsa go mbeadh a déanta ina clúdach go crua. Ní bhfaighidh sé láidir maith go mbeidh ag caite gach lá nó ina seomra scoile i measc paistí!

Bheannófaí an leabhar seo le Coiscéim. Is foilsitheoir é leabhair Gaeilge ó Bhinn Éadair in aice leis Baile Átha Cliath. Tá deacair a léamh eolas sin acu, freisin. Is suíomh ar an ghreasan an-ghránna é.

Séan Mac Cionnaith's "Focal i bhFocas": ("A Word in Focus"): Bilingual Review.

It's a bilingual thesaurus [=a clever treasure of two tongues"]. It pleases me since I am able to learn core-words that gather information regarding roots of words. I bought this book years ago. But, I forgot about it!

I will tell you about the layout of the thesaurus now. It starts with an long preface. The second section is another introduction for young people. A bilingual layout diagram follows. The editor gathers two alphabetical lists of Irish and English core-words with associated meanings in two languages. It finishes with guidelines for the use of indexes Irish-English and English-Irish and antonyms of core words there.

The heart of the book's synonyms. You'll open over two hundred pages with many words. You'll find a basic suitable word in green, the middle level in blue, and an upper level in black.

You'll see a core-word there. You will read a sample of usage of the main verb there too. Mr. Mac Cionnaith will write the positive form, the negative form, and the question form of the main verb. There's a root of the verb with tenses, verbal noun, and verbal adjective of a verb. Of course, he himself will give an English translation every time!

The writer fills this thesaurus of his with nouns and adjectives. He says to us that there's "four kinds of information given on pages of the core words, namely: i) synonyms of core words; ii) a collection of words that list examples based on the basic meaning of lists of sayings, phrases, adages and other examples that relate to the very general theme of a particular core word; iv) grammatical information and other related information about a core word."

I reckon that this beautiful book may be often very fitting for you. Perhaps, you will close "Focal i bhFocas" with a hoard of new words for yourself to understand. For me I wish that it'd be made in a hardcover. It will not get strong enough to be carried every day or in the school-room among children!

One could buy this book from Coiscéim. It's a publisher of Irish-language books from Howth near Dublin. It's difficult to read their information, still. It's a very ugly site on the web.

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