Someone asked this question on Eoin's Bitey Shamrock forum, and I'm not finding an easy answer in Baldy, so I figured I'd ask here. How does one express negative numbers in Irish?

For example, in English I might say "It's 10 degrees outside, but it feels like -10." Or "3 - 5 = -3"

GRMA,

Redwolf

There's no negativity in Irish, it's all positive! (What a totally unhelpful answer!)

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Snort! I'll remember that the next time someone asks me for a "happy Irish love song!"

Looking at my examples above, I realize that I'd say them differently in English. For example, in the sentence, I'd pronounce "-10" as "minus 10" (as in "zero minus 10"), but in the equation I'd say "three minus five equals negative three."

Redwolf

Or, alternatively, "10 below [zero]", which I assume would correspond to "deich [gcéim] faoin reophointe" in Irish.

Reophointe? I guess it's another calque from English? (not your fault if dictionaries and sites are full of these focla contráilte) Déarfadh na Gaedheil "pointe reo", dar liom.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

In the States, "reophointe" (or "pointe reo") wouldn't work, because our "zero" is already 32 degrees below freezing.

Redwolf

So, "ten degrees below zero" is deich gcéim fén bpointe reo – That's good to know!

Actually, it's "10 degrees below freezing." That's fine if you're using Celsius, where the freezing point IS zero, but in Fahrenheit, the freezing point is 32, so "zero" is already considerably below freezing, and "10 below zero" even more so.

And yes, I wish the U.S. would switch to Celsius (if for no other reason than I hate always having to look up how to spell "Fahrenheit), but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Redwolf

That's right: point reo = freezing point
I'll keep that in mind whenever I run across it – Go raibh maith agat.

míneas a deich gcéim Celsius = -10 degrees Celsius, AFAIK