Part 2.2 Notes about Part 2.1
Ayrn 2.2 Notyn mychione Ayrn 2.1

Manx ‘ch’
In Manx, ‘ch’ is pronounced in one of three ways:

(i) like ‘ch’ in English ‘cherry’ (in which case it’s often written with a cedilla (squiggle) on the ‘c’):
çheet (chitt) = coming
yn çhamyr (in-CHAAM-er) = the room

(ii) like a soft ‘h’ sound:
Cha s’aym (ha-SIMM) = I don’t know.
choud’s (howdz) = as long as; while

(iii) like ‘ch’ in Scottish ‘loch’:
feer choon (feer-KHOODN) = very narrow

To avoid confusion, it’s best to use the cedilla (ç) when ‘ch’ is pronounced as in English.


Combinations ‘oa’ and ‘oay’.
These are generally pronounced like ‘aw’ in English ‘raw’:
moal (mawl) = slow; miserable
boayl (bawl) = a place

Combination ‘dd’.
This sounds like English ‘th’ in ‘that’:
greddan (GRETH-an) = grill
foddee (FUTH-ee) = maybe, perhaps

Combination ‘th’
This is NOT pronounced as in English. Say ‘t’ with your tongue striking your upper teeth with some force:
thalloo (TOL-oo) = land
thie (tie) = a house
Manx hasn’t got the English ‘th’ sound as in ‘thin’, so don’t say ‘thigh’ for ‘thie’!


It’s particularly easy to talk about things that happened in the past in Manx.
You just have to know that ren means ‘did’ or ‘made’. You then use ren with the appropriate verbal noun. All English verbal nouns end in ‘-ing’ - an example is ‘sleeping’:
cadley (KADD-la) = sleeping
Ren oo cadley (RENN-oo-KADD-la) = You slept (‘You did sleeping’)

To ask the question ‘Did you sleep?’, in written Manx you just put in a question mark. In spoken Manx, you raise your voice to show you’re asking a question:
Ren oo cadley? = Did you sleep?

To make the whole thing negative, just put Cha in front:
Cha ren oo cadley = You didn’t sleep.

You can use ren with any verbal noun:
Cha ren Kirree goll = Kirree didn’t go.
Ren y lught-thie coayl gowaltys = The family lost a farm.

There are other (shorter) ways of saying what we did in the past:
Haink ee (HENK-ee) = She came.
‘She came’ can also be Ren ee çheet (renn-ee-CHITT).
If you are mainly interested in speaking Manx, it’s best to use the ren form first and learn the other forms later. In this way you can reach fluency faster. Why try and ignore the great advantage of having a simpler way of doing things!


Va means ‘was’ or ‘were’. Sometimes, you can think of va as meaning ‘there was’ or ‘there were’. Looking at some examples:
Va Kirree aalin = Kirree was beautiful.
Va’n thalloo bog = The land was soft.
Va mee skee = I was tired.

If we’re asking questions, we don’t use va. And look at the answers:
Row Kirree aalin? = Was Kirree beautiful?
Va =Yes.

Row Ealee skee? = Was Ealee tired?
Cha row = No.

For negatives:
Cha row mee skee = I wasn’t tired.
Cha row y thalloo bog = The land wasn’t soft.


Just like ta, you can use va with verbal nouns:
Va’n shaner aym gra... (van-SHANN-err-imm-GRAA) = My grandfather was saying...
Notice the difference between Va’n shaner aym gra... and Ren yn shamer aym gra..= My grandfather said...

If you want to order someone to be something or other, you say (or shout): Bee!
Bee mie! = Be good!
Bee daaney! = Be daring!

To make it negative, put ny in front:
Ny bee daaney! (na-bee-DAAN-a) = Don’t be rude! / Don’t be daring!

Technically, order-words (like ‘Be!’) are called imperatives. In Manx, the imperative is often called the stem of a verb.


Look at this:
ayr my voir (AIR-ma-VAWR) = the father of my mother
This is a real Celtic feature - three words in Manx equivalent to five words in English (if we don’t use the more normal English ‘my mother’s father’).
Instead of ayr my voir, we could have yn ayr jeh my voir (the father of my mother), which is fine.
But there are heavy penalties for saying yn ayr my voir - we don’t need the yn here!

There are plenty of examples of what might be called ‘the Celtic 1-2-3’ in Manx placenames:
Cronk ny Mona = The Hill of the Peat
Port-e-Vullen (Purt y Vwyllin) = The Port of the Mill

Manx (like Gaelic in general) rejoices in having three words for ‘up’ and three words for ‘down’. It all depends on whether your moving or not (changing altitude). Think of the stem ‘-eose’ (say ‘ooss’) as being associated with ‘above’ and the stem ‘-eese’ (‘eess’) as being associated with ‘below’.
Then think of ‘s’ and ‘sh’ sounds at the beginning as associated with motion towards:
goll seose (gull-SOOSS) = going up
goll sheese (gull-SHEESS) = going down

Next, think of ‘n’ at the beginning as associated with motion from:
çheet neose (chitt-NOOSS) = coming from above = coming down
çheet neese (chitt-NEESS) = coming from below = coming up

Finally, think of ‘h’ at the beginning as associated with no change in altitude:
Ta mee heose (TAMM-ee-HOOSS) = I’m up above/I’m upstairs.
Ta mee heese (TAMM-ee-HEESS) = I’m down below/I’m downstairs.