Dear ZandB
My daughter will be competing in her first Oireachtas this year and I have one nagging question: How do you pronounce the pesky thing? I gave up pronouncing things like “An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha” years ago and it’s common knowledge that nobody can pronounce any of the words in the acronym TCRG and ADCRG without falling flat on their face.
Please help!
Distraught Feis Mom
Dear Distraught Feis Mom,
You are not alone.
If you want a good laugh, write the word “Oireachtas” on a three by five card and show it to total strangers in the street while asking them, “How do I pronounce this?” You’ll probably get a few strange looks, maybe some spare pocket change, and as many different answers as people you asked.
My daughter will be competing in her first Oireachtas this year and I have one nagging question: How do you pronounce the pesky thing? I gave up pronouncing things like “An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha” years ago and it’s common knowledge that nobody can pronounce any of the words in the acronym TCRG and ADCRG without falling flat on their face.
Please help!
Distraught Feis Mom
Dear Distraught Feis Mom,
You are not alone.
If you want a good laugh, write the word “Oireachtas” on a three by five card and show it to total strangers in the street while asking them, “How do I pronounce this?” You’ll probably get a few strange looks, maybe some spare pocket change, and as many different answers as people you asked.
Try the same thing at your next Feis (pronounced Fesh).
There are more ways to pronounce Oireachtas than front-yard appliance displays in Mississippi!
But take heart!
There is an acceptable variant in the pronunciation of “Oireachtas” within the southern region.
In the English language, some words occasionally lose a syllable or two in order to make a word easier to pronounce. This omission of syllables or sounds in spoken words is called "elision" Some examples of common “elided” words are:
Laboratory
Temperature
Vegetable
Sometimes, syllables and sounds are dropped from the beginning of the word which is called "aphesis". Now aphesis is more common in regional American dialects than in the more conservative Standard English which is a lot fussier about things of this nature. Although many American dialects feature aphesis, it has reached the highest level of the art in the southern dialects where it yields such pronunciations as tater for potato, possum for opossum and even skeeter for mosquito.
In this regard, an alternative pronunciation of “Oireachtas”, following accepted southern dialectal convention, would be:
ROCK-tus
Keep things simple I always say.
But take heart!
There is an acceptable variant in the pronunciation of “Oireachtas” within the southern region.
In the English language, some words occasionally lose a syllable or two in order to make a word easier to pronounce. This omission of syllables or sounds in spoken words is called "elision" Some examples of common “elided” words are:
Laboratory
Temperature
Vegetable
Sometimes, syllables and sounds are dropped from the beginning of the word which is called "aphesis". Now aphesis is more common in regional American dialects than in the more conservative Standard English which is a lot fussier about things of this nature. Although many American dialects feature aphesis, it has reached the highest level of the art in the southern dialects where it yields such pronunciations as tater for potato, possum for opossum and even skeeter for mosquito.
In this regard, an alternative pronunciation of “Oireachtas”, following accepted southern dialectal convention, would be:
ROCK-tus
Keep things simple I always say.
And for you folks having problems with spelling "Oireachtas", there is a simple Mnemonic (pronounced just like pneumonia except with a "nick" on the end instead of "nee-ah" and there's no "moan", its more like a "mon" as in "Hey mon!")
As I was saying, there is a simple Mnemonic Device or "memory aid" to help you remember how spell Oireachtas in the phrase: "Oh I REACH To A Star".
And now, for a limited time, there's an Mnemonic T-Shirt for those that really have the "Rocktus Spirit"
1 comments:
My husband pronounces it
a rat's ass
other husbands just refer to it as
ching, ching
(the cash register drawer sound)
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