Focail Mhuirneacha


Endearments

You are probably all familiar with the salutation, “a chara”, as in:

Literally, “a chara” means “o friend”. It's the vocative form of “cara”.

Here's a list of the vocative forms of some words of affection. They all mean more or less “darling”.

These terms of endearment can be used as is, or in various combinations or extended forms, such as:

Finally, a sociolinguistic observation: men may refer to one another as “"a stór”", “"a rún”" and “"a chroí”" without necessarily implying anything other than mild affection or friendly regard, along the lines of “my dear man”. Context counts for a lot.

2009-08-04 CPD