Manx/Lessoon 2

Lessoon 2: C'raad t'ou cummal? Lesson 2: Where do you live?

Tasht-fockle
''For now, it is good to just be familiar with the more common countries and the one you are from. At least be able to recognise the country and city names for now rather than memorise how to write them.''

Some basic words:
 * guilley - boy
 * caillin - girl
 * dooinney - man
 * ben - woman
 * moddey - dog
 * kayt - cat
 * carr - car
 * etlan - aeroplane
 * bluckan - ball
 * cabbyl - horse

At first, these Manx words might come at you with difficulty to memorise it, especially if you have not had any language learning experience in the past. It is recommended that you make up ways for you to remember words from English words you already know. For example, a way to remember dooinney (man) is "The man thinks he is dooin it, yeah ", or for caillin (girl), " Caillin sounds like a girl's name, Caitlin". Even if they sound stupid, these are very helpful ways to learn vocabulary.

Also, try writing these words, and any phrases you've learnt up until now, 5 to 10 times each on a paper. If it seems too hard, just remember how well you already speak English and the vocabulary you have built up. You can do it!

Yn art as arraghey (The article and mutation)
There is no indefinite article in Manx, meaning there is no way of saying a or an. Thus, the word ennym could mean name or a name.

There is, however, a definite article in Manx. (There is actually a singular and plural form of the in Manx, though for now we will learn the singular). The Manx word for the is Yn. You might have seen this already in a few country names.

When yn is preceded by Ta, then it is contracted and the y drops. Like in the last chapter we learnt Ta'n ennym orrym which means My name is or literally The name on me is. Ta'n = ta + yn.

Yn effects the first consonant of the noun it is motifying, if it is a feminine noun. This is where mutation comes into play in the Manx language. The table below shows the Aspirated mutation or sometimes referred to as a soft mutation, which is undergone in feminine nouns which are preceded by yn.

NOTE: that when the noun, even if feminine, begins with a J, D, T, or Çh, then it does not undergo mutation. Also note that only feminine nouns undergo this mutation. Masculine nouns do not change when preceded by Yn, so it is important to know your gender of nouns.

Let's take a look at some examples:


 * Mongoil, Yn Vongoil - Mongolia, the Mongolia
 * ben, yn ven - woman, the woman
 * ennym, yn ennym - name, the name
 * Çheen, yn Çheen - China, the China

This system might be hard to memorise at first. Luckily, there is a system in English to remember these rules. There is a short phrase to memorise in English, it goes:

Several tired children howling Big muddy van Car key chain Dark giant ghost Poor photograph Quiet whistle Jolly youth Fox ox

and J D T Çh just don't take the change

You can now compose simple sentences in Manx. Let's try a few. Try covering the English and guess what the Manx sentence means:

'''T'ee ben. Ta'n ven braew.''' - She is a woman. The woman is fine. Ta'n moddey guilley. - The dog is a boy. '''Craad ta'n dooinney cummal? Ta'n dooinney cummal ayns Doolish.''' - Where does the man live? The man lives in Douglas.

Çheeraghyn (Countries)
You may have noticed some countries have the definite article, Yn before it. This means the in Manx, and is used quite often when referring to country names. It's like how we sometimes say in English, The USA, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom. The only difference is that in Manx, unless at the beginning of the sentence, the article is lower cased. For example:

Ta mee cummal ayns yn Velg - I live in Belgium Ta'n Rank braew - France is good. ''You wouldn't really use braew. It is just shown as an example'' Vel oo cummal ayns yn Eeslyn? - Do you live in Iceland?

Çhyndaa
Translate the following words from Manx to English.