Lessoon Hoght as Kiare Feed: Sy Vritaan Foast

Lesson Eighty-Eight: Still in Brittany


hoght as kiare feed (HAWKH-azz-KAYR-feed) - eighty-eight ('eight and four twenties')
sy Vritaan (sa-vritt-AAN) - in Brittany

Like other languages, Manx uses the definite article ('the' in English) with the names of most countries:

y Vritaan (a-vritt-AAN) - Brittany
y Rank (a-RANK) - France
y Spaainey (a-SPAAN-ya) - Spain

There are exceptions - for instance:

Sostyn (SAWSS-tin) - England
Bretin (BRETT-in) - Wales

Remember that 'sy' (pronounced 'sa') is short for 'ayns y' (UNNSS-a), meaning 'in the'.

Co-loayrtys (ko-LAWRT-uss) - Conversation

Ean: Jagh shiu dys y feailley Celtiagh syn Oriant?
Peddyr: Cha jagh. Cha row shin ayn ec y traa kiart.
Ean: Ta mee credjal dy vel ram kiaulleeaght as jough goll ec y feailley shen.
Peddyr: Ta, son shickyrys. Va mee ayn keayrt dy row.

jagh shiu? (JAKH-shoo) - did you go?

Instead of saying 'Jagh shiu?', Ean could have said 'Ren shiu goll?'
(renn-shoo-GULL). In this case, Peddyr's answer would have been
'Cha ren' (ha-REN) instead of 'Cha jagh' (ha-JAKH) - 'Did not go'.

feailley (FAIL-ya) - festival
Celtiagh (KELL-chakh) - Celtic
syn Oriant (sin-ORR-ee-ant) - in Lorient

The literal meaning of 'Cha row shin ayn' (ha-ROW-shin-AWN) is
'We were not in'. In standard English, this is 'We were not there' or 'We were not present'.

ec y traa kiart (EGG-a-traa-K'YART) - at the right time
credjal (KREDJ-al) - believing
jough (jawkh) - drink
keayrt dy row (KEERT-the-ROW) - once, one time