XPost: sci.lang, rec.puzzles, alt.usage.english   
   From: peter@pmoylan.org.invalid   
      
   On 25/05/24 16:46, Ruud Harmsen wrote:   
   > Fri, 24 May 2024 10:21:57 +1000: Peter Moylan   
   >  scribeva:   
   >   
   >> On 24/05/24 05:15, Ruud Harmsen wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> See Google Translate:   
   >>> Ar an tríú lá is fiche de mí Bealtaine, scríobh Ross Clark.   
   >>> On the twenty -third day of May, Ross Clark wrote.   
   >>>   
   >>> Word for word:   
   >>>   
   >>> On   
   >>> The   
   >>> Third   
   >>> day   
   >>> is   
   >>> twenty   
   >>> of   
   >>> Month   
   >>> May,   
   >>> Ross Clark wrote   
   >>   
   >> It's true that the most common use of Irish "is" is as a copula, just as   
   >> in English. However, there is a second meaning of "is": it can mean "and".   
   >>   
   >> I have no idea why three-and-twenty is expressed with "is" rather than   
   >> "agus". I would be interested to hear from anyone who knows.   
   >   
   > It's a reduced form of agus, in that sense, says Wiktionary:   
   > https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/is#Irish   
      
   Thanks. I like that explanation.   
      
   --   
   Peter Moylan                         http://www.pmoylan.org   
   Newcastle, NSW   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)