Sengoidelc: Old Irish For Beginners

Irish Studies, Syracuse University Press

by David Stifter

David Stifter’s Sengoídelc (SHAN-goy-thelg) provides a comprehensive introduction to Old Irish grammar and metrics. As an introductory text to the Irish language spoken around the eighth century C.E., this essential volume, covering all aspects of the grammar in a clear and intuitive format, is ideally suited for use as a course book or as a guide for the independent learner. This handbook also will be an essential reference work for students of Indo-European philology and historical linguistics. Stifter leads the novice through the idiosyncrasies of the language, such as initial mutations and the double inflection of verbs. Filled with translation exercises based on selections from Old Irish texts, the book provides a practical introduction to the language and its rich history. Sengoídelc opens the door to the fascinating world of Old Irish literature, famous not only for the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cúailnge) and its lyrical nature poetry but also as a major source for the political and legal history of Ireland. Stifter’s step-by-step approach and engaging style make his book an ideal tool for both the self taught individual and the classroom environment. It will be of interest to beginning students of Old and Middle Irish, to scholars of Irish history, Celtic culture, and comparative linguistics, and to readers of Irish literature.

Genres: Language, Reference, History, Irish Literature, Ireland

391 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2006

Reviews

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also saved me for my old Irish midterm

[Juliana Haught · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I can't really say I've *read* this book because it's an instructional and reference book on old Irish. I've used the book, and found it fascinating. A few years ago my daughter took it over and I've pretty much just given it to her. A terrific book for linguaphiles.

[Bean Couture · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books on language! I love learning about historical language reconstruction, and this book somehow made it fun to go step by step and learn how they think Old Irish was pronounced. Highly recommend for language lovers.

[Jennifer Thorne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a great time with this! It gets difficult quite quickly, but the chapters are laid out logically, and I'm finding it easy enough to break down into manageable chunks.

[Differengenera · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is obviously the standard, but it is very very philological and an awful lot of the conjugations are being provided for the purposes of taxonomising endings rather than what I presume anyone reading this book outside of an academic context would be doing, which is trying to read sagas in the original, or deepening their understanding of the ancestry of the language as spoken. I can't imagine anyone would ever have a use for the dual prepositional case of the word 'ounce' or the vocative of 'prayer' for example.

all to say that even with decent Irish and some knowledge of the grammar I found it very hard going. presume people who can read that pronunciation notation would have an easier time. fascinating to see those many instances in which old Irish writing reads more like the way native speakers (of Gaeilge 'nua') today use it, e.g. 'calideb' for sword, 'dénum' for doing