25 easy ‘teic’ terms you can try for Seachtain na Gaeilge


16 Mar 2017

Image: Teic na nGael

‘Teicneolaíocht’ (technology) is fun in any language and Seachtain na Gaeilge is the perfect excuse to try a ‘teic’ term or two.

Seachtain na Gaeilge is the yearly Irish language festival which runs from 1 March to Lá Fhéile Pádraig (St Patrick’s Day) and, this year, it comes with the motivational tag line, ‘Bain triail aisti’ encouraging everyone to give the Irish language a go.

It’s also Lá na Meán Sóisialta (Social Media Day) today (16 March) so, for us like-minded lovers of all things tech, there’s no better time to choose one or more of these teic terms to get you started.

  • Smartphone: fón póca
  • Laptop: ríomhaire glúine
  • Hardware: crua-earraí
  • Software: bogearraí
  • Open source: oscailte

Open source code is cód foinse oscailte, while free and open source software is bogearraí foinse oscailte agus saor in aisce.

  • Social media: na meáin shóisialta

Social media sites are suíomhanna meáin shóisialta.

  • Database: bunachar sonraí

Cloud database is bunachar sonraí néalbhunaithe.

  • Robot: róbat
  • Typing: clóscríobh
  • Computer science: ríomheolaíocht
  • Coding: códú
  • Embed: leabaigh
  • Analytics: anailísíocht
  • Encryption: criptiúchán
  • Email: ríomhphost or r-phost
  • Mobile: móibíleach

Fluent? Not yet, no doubt!

You can learn to say these words (or any other words as Gaeilge) with confidence by simply copying and pasting them into this pronunciation database to hear what they sound like aloud. You also have the option of choosing a dialect for pronunciation.

Choose Gaeilge

Choices are important and the biggest tech companies have been ensuring that Gaeilge is included on their platforms as a language option. For example, you can manage your Gmail can through Irish – simply change your socruithe (settings).

  • Loading: á lódáil
  • Inbox: bosca isteach
  • Google Drive: Tiomántán Google

Did you change your Facebook language to Pirate English on International Talk Like a Pirate Day? (That’s been 19 September every year since 2002, if you were wondering.) Well, you can now try Gaeilge when using Facebook on your desktop by changing the teanga (language).

  • News feed: fotha nuachta
  • Edit: cuir in eagar

Or maybe you’d like to try Twitter through Irish, which is also available on the desktop version. And now you can even include a cúpla focal for your leantóirí (followers).

  • Tweet: giolc
  • Hashtag: haischlib
  • Followers: leantóirí
  • Direct messages: teachtaireachtaí díreacha

Check out this list of Twitter users who tweet as Gaeilge if you’re looking to follow some.

Seachtain na Gaeilge has its own free app, which you can download at SnaG.ie. And you can always check that your mobile phone has an Irish language (teanga) option. If so, choose teic for #SnaG17 and let us know how you get on.

By Barbara Nic Dhonnacha

Barbara Nic Dhonnacha is the founder of Teic na nGael, the brand new home of teicneolaíocht (technology) on the web. The website is just getting started, and you can also follow Teic na nGael on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.