Manchán Magan, writer and broadcaster spoke to Claire Byrne about the magic of nature as Gaeilge and how to embrace it.
Using the word bat as an example, sciathán leathair literally translates as 'leather wings', a perfect illustration of how we see the animal.
The word for squid is particularly interesting, máthair shúigh, literally translates as a sucking mother, based on how a mother squid lives her life.
When it comes to describing animals, Manchán says it much of how we perceive colour is built into the Irish language. Iora rua translates as a red squirrel and Iora glas as a grey squirrel, even though glas is often used for green as Gaeilge. Glas is generally used for a natural shade of grey, whereas uaine is used for a more artificial type of green, similar to the green used around St. Patrick's Day.
Tá Manchán ar dhuine d'Ambasadóirí Sheachtain na Gaeilge agus tá focail cheolmhara a thaitníonn leis á roghnú gach lá do Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Tá siad ar fad le feiceáil anseo.
