I guess ChatGPT's good enough for this

I got curious to see whether ChatGPT could do something for me. There's an Irish song that I put up a while back, "Mo Ghile Mear," and while I knew ChatGPT could easily come up with the original Gaelic lyrics (and the English translation), I tasked it with giving me an American-English phonetic rendition of the Gaelic for people who might want to memorize the sounds of the song so as to be able to ape the phonetics and sing with native singers. You might think that an English translation of the Gaelic would be enough to give you a good sense of the song's import, but that not quite the same as breaking the song down into its basic semantic elements and understanding it that way. I didn't ask ChatGPT to provide a word-for-word translation of the song, but maybe that'll be my next request.

Here's my exchange with ChatGPT:

Can you give me the original-language lyrics for "Mo Ghile Mear," please?

Certainly! "Mo Ghile Mear" is a traditional Irish song that has been performed and recorded by many artists over the years. Here are the original lyrics:

Gaelic:

Mo ghile mear 's an bhfearr a bhí in Éirinn,
Mo ghile mear 's ní bhfuaireas féin é'n téin'
Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo ghile mear

Véarsa 1:

Bímse buan ar buairt gach ló,
Ag caoi go cruaidh 's ag tuar na ndeor,
Mar scaoileadh uaim an buachaill beó,
's ní mairfidh a chéile mé 'na dhiaidh.

Véarsa 2:

'Sé mo laoch mo ghile mear
'Sé mo shaor, mo bhean ar tóir;
Eire go léir, 's fá welcome rómhar
Sluaite as gach aoinne os chionn mo dhóigh.

Véarsa 3:

A bhui le Rí na bhFeart go bhfeiceam,
Mura mbeam beo ina dhiaidh ach seachtain;
Gráinne Mhaol ag teacht thar saile,
Óglaigh armtha léi mar gharda.

Véarsa 4:

'Sé an té atá ísle gach aon duine,
'Tá Géibheann beo nó bás ar buile;
Gael iad féin do chur i gcéill,
'S ní fhágfaidh siad go dtí réir gur teilg ead ar fud na tíre.

Translation:

My gallant lad, the best in Ireland,
My gallant lad, I have not found him yet.
Since he went far away, my gallant lad,
I have been constantly in distress.

Verse 1:

I am continually sad and weeping,
As I release the living lad from my grasp,
And I will not be his equal anymore.

Verse 2:

He is my champion, my gallant lad,
My deliverer, the one I seek;
Welcome to all of Ireland,
And to everyone who passes my way.

Verse 3:

May the King of Miracles see us,
If we live more than a week after;
Gráinne Mhaol coming over the sea,
With her armed warriors as her guard.

Verse 4:

The one who is low among all,
Geibheann alive or dead in fury;
The Gaels themselves to pretend,
And they will not leave until they have scattered throughout the country.

 

For the original Gaelic of the above song, can you give me an American-English phonetic rendering so that I can memorize the sounds and sing the song even if I don't understand everything word for word? (Thank you for the English translation, by the way, but it's not the same as a word-for-word understanding of the lyrics. I don't mean to be ungrateful.)

Absolutely! Here's an American-English phonetic rendering of the Gaelic lyrics for "Mo Ghile Mear":

Muh yil-uh mahr 's un vir-uh vee in AY-rin,
Muh yil-uh mahr 's nee VOOR-ish fayn ay'n chayn,
Oh KOO-uh in gayn muh yil-uh mahr.

Verse 1:

BEEM-suh boon er boort gakh loh,
Uhg kee guh khroo-uh s uhg toor nuh nyohr,
Mar skwee-luh oom un BOO-uh-khul byoh,
Snee MAR-hee uh kay-luh may na yee-uhkh.

Verse 2:

SHAY muh lee-uhk muh yil-uh mahr,
SHAY muh hair, muh ven er tore;
AIR-uh guh layr, s faw WEL-kum roh-var
SLOO-uh-teh os guhkh AYN-yuh os kyuhn muh ghoh-ig.

Verse 3:

Uh VEE leh REE nuh VART guh VEK-uhm,
MUH-ruh meh-uhm byoh in-uh gyn-uhkh uhk shak-tahn;
GRAHN-ya MAWL eg TAH-kt hahr SAHL-yeh,
Oh-glee ur-muh lay mee-uhr gahr-duh.

Verse 4:

SHAY un tay uh TEES-luh gakh AYN duyn,
TAH GAY-vuhn byoh noh BAHS er booy-luh;
GAY-uhl ee-ud fayn duh khur i gkyel,
Snee AH-gaw-fee shee-ud guh dti ray-r gur chayl-uhd er fud nuh TEE-ruh.

 

Thank you!

You're welcome! Have fun singing the song!

See how polite I was? When the AI overlords appear, I want to be remembered for my politesse. (Of course, by virtue-signaling this way, I might be signing my death warrant.)

Maybe I'll memorize the sounds of the song. Will I perform it on video for my readers, perhaps uploading my version to YouTube? Ha! Probably not. I can't sing, and after my stroke, I find it exceedingly difficult to hold even the simplest of tunes.