Irish morphology

Irish morphology

The morphology of Irish is in some respects typical of an Indo-European language. Nouns are declined for number, and case, and verbs for person and number. Nouns are classified by masculine or feminine gender. Other aspects of Irish morphology, while typical for a Celtic language, are not typical for Indo-European, such as the presence of inflected prepositions and the initial consonant mutations.

The discussion of Irish morphology has been split up into four articles. On this page, the pronouns, inflected prepositions, and numbers are discussed. Irish nouns, adjectives, and the definite article are discussed on the page on Irish nominals. Irish verbs are discussed at Irish verbs. The initial mutations are dealt with on a separate page.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Irish do not inflect for case, but there are three different sets of pronouns used: conjunctive forms, disjunctive forms, and emphatic forms (which may be used either conjunctively or disjunctively)

Conjunctive forms

The normal word order in Irish is verb-subject-object (VSO). The forms of the subject pronoun directly following the verb are called "conjunctive":

The forms "thusa", "eisean" and "ise" are disjunctive forms, while "tusa", "seisean" and "sise" are conjunctive forms.

The word _ga. "féin" (IPA|/fʲeːnʲ/ or IPA|/heːnʲ/) "-self" can follow a pronoun, either to add emphasis or to form a reflexive pronoun.

: _ga. Rinne mé féin é. "I did it myself.": _ga. Ar ghortaigh tú thú féin? "Did you hurt yourself?": _ga. Sinn Féin is thus "We Ourselves"

Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns cause different initial consonant mutations. _ga. "mo" "my" lenites; _ga. "m’" precedes vowels: _ga. mo chara "my friend": _ga. m'fheirm "my farm": _ga. m'athair "my father"

_ga. "do" "your (sg.)" lenites; _ga. "d’" precedes vowels: _ga. do chara "your friend": _ga. d'fheirm "your farm": _ga. d'athair "your father"

_ga. "a" "his" lenites: _ga. a chara "his friend": _ga. a fheirm "his farm": _ga. a athair "his father"

_ga. "a" "her" takes the radical of a consonant and adds an _ga. "h" to a vowel: _ga. a cara "her friend": _ga. a feirm "her farm": _ga. a hathair "her father" _ga. "ár" "our" eclipses: _ga. ár gcara "our friend": _ga. ár bhfeirm "our farm": _ga. ár n-athair "our father"

_ga. "bhur" "your(pl.)" eclipses: _ga. bhur gcara "your friend": _ga. bhur bhfeirm "your farm": _ga. bhur n-athair "your father"

_ga. "a" "their" eclipses: _ga. a gcara "their friend": _ga. a bhfeirm "their farm": _ga. a n-athair "their father"The forms _ga. "a" and _ga. "ár" can also blend with certain prepositions:

Numbers

Cardinal numbers

There are three kinds of cardinal numbers in Irish: disjunctive numbers, nonhuman conjunctive numbers, and human conjunctive numbers.

Disjunctive numbers

"One" as a pronoun is rendered with _ga. "duine" (lit. "person") with people. The other "personal" numbers can also be used pronominally, e.g.:: _ga. Tá cúigear páiste agam; tá duine acu breoite. "I have five children; one of them is sick.": _ga. Tá seisear sa seomra. "Six people are in the room."

Higher numbers are done as with the nonhuman conjunctive numbers: _ga. "trí pháiste déag", "fiche páiste", etc.

Ordinal numbers


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Irish declension — The declension of Irish nouns, the definite article, and the adjectives is discussed on this page. (For pronouns, see Irish morphology.)NounsGenderNouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine. While gender should be learned …   Wikipedia

  • Irish language — This article is about the modern Goidelic language. For the form of English as it is spoken in Ireland, see Hiberno English. For the cant based partly on English and partly on Irish, see Shelta. Irish Gaeilge Pronunciation [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] …   Wikipedia

  • Old Irish — Goídelc Pronunciation [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] Spoken in Ireland, Isle of Man, western coast of Great Britain …   Wikipedia

  • Ulster Irish — Note: This page uses the IPA to transcribe Irish. Readers familiar with other conventions may wish to see International Phonetic Alphabet for Irish for a comparison of the IPA system with those used in learners materials. The three dialects of… …   Wikipedia

  • Munster Irish — Note: This page uses the IPA to transcribe Irish. Readers familiar with other conventions may wish to see International Phonetic Alphabet for Irish for a comparison of the IPA system with those used in learners materials. The three dialects of… …   Wikipedia

  • Connacht Irish — Note: This page uses the IPA to transcribe Irish. Readers familiar with other conventions may wish to see International Phonetic Alphabet for Irish for a comparison of the IPA system with those used in learners materials. The three dialects of… …   Wikipedia

  • Primitive Irish — Infobox Language name=Primitive Irish states=Ireland, western Great Britain, the Isle of Man familycolor=Indo European fam1=Indo European fam2=Celtic fam3=Insular Celtic fam4=Goidelic iso2=cel script=Ogham extinct=Evolved into Old Irish about the …   Wikipedia

  • Lemma (morphology) — In morphology and lexicography, a lemma (plural lemmas or lemmata) is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of words (headword). In English, for example, run, runs, ran and running are forms of the same lexeme, with run… …   Wikipedia

  • Colloquial Welsh morphology — The morphology of the Welsh language shows many characteristics perhaps unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages: Irish,… …   Wikipedia

  • Welsh morphology — The morphology of the Welsh language shows many characteristics perhaps unfamiliar to speakers of English or continental European languages like French or German, but has much in common with the other modern Insular Celtic languages: Irish,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”