Colin Mark. The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Гэльско-английский словарь

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5.2.2 Dependent form

i) Interrogative

an do bhreabadh tu? were you kicked? an do dh’fhàgadh iad? were they left?

an do dh’òladh e? was it drunk? an do fhreagradh i? was it

answered?

ii) Negative

cha do bhuaileadh mi I was not struck cha do dh’fhàgadh iad they were not

left

cha do dh’òladh e it was not drunk cha do fhreagradh i it was not

answered

iii) Negative interrogative

nach do bhreabadh e? wasn’t he kicked? nach do dh’fhàgadh iad? were they not

left?

nach do dh’òladh e? wasn’t it drunk? nach do fhreagradh i? wasn’t it

answered?

5.3 Future tense

5.3.1 Independent form

buailear mi I shall, will be struck fosglar e it shall, will be opened

òlar i it fem shall, will be drunk freagrar i it shall, will be answered

5.3.2 Dependent form

i) Interrogative

This is the same as the independent form preceded by the interrogative particle an

(am before verbs beginning with b, f, m or p).

an cuirear e? shall, will it be put? am brisear iad? will they be broken?

an òlar e? will it masc be drunk? am fosglar e? will it masc be

opened?

ii) Negative

cha chuirear e it will not be put chan òlar i it will not be drunk

cha tilgear e it will not be thrown cha fhreagrar i it will not be

answered

iii) Negative interrogative

nach cuirear e? shall, will it not be put? nach brisear iad? will they not be

broken?

nach buailear e? will he not be struck? nach fosglar e? will it not be

opened?

5.4 Imperfect / conditional tense

It should be noted that the forms shown in 5.4.1 and 5.4.2 below are rarely seen in

actual use.

5.4.1 Independent form

buail strike fosgail open

bhuailteadh mi I would be struck dh’fhosgailteadh e it would be

opened

bhuailteadh tu you would be struck dh’fhosgailteadh iad they would be

etc. etc. opened

Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb 632

òl drink freagair answer

dh’òltadh e it masc would be drunk fhreagairteadh e it would be

answer

dh’òltadh i it fem would be drunk fhreagairteadh iad they would be

etc. etc. answer

5.4.2 Dependent form

i) Interrogative

buail strike

am buailteadh mi? would I be struck?

am buailteadh tu? etc. would you be struck?

òl drink

an òltadh e? would it masc be drunk?

an òltadh i? etc. would it fem be drunk?

fosgail open

am fosgailteadh e? would it be opened?

ii) Negative

buail strike

cha bhuailteadh mi I would not be struck

cha bhuailteadh tu etc. you would not be struck

òl drink

chan òltadh e it masc would not be drunk

chan òltadh i etc. it fem would not be drunk

fosgail open

chan fhosgailteadh e etc. it would not be opened

iii) Negative interrogative

buail strike

nach buailteadh mi? would I not be struck?

nach buailteadh tu? etc. would you not be struck?

òl drink

nach òltadh e? would it masc not be drunk?

nach òltadh i? etc. would it fem not be drunk?

fosgail open

nach fosgailteadh e? would it not be opened?

5.5 Relative future form

There is not a special relative future form in the passive voice. The regular future tense is

used instead.

5.6 Imperative mood

buailtear mi may I be struck

buailtear thu may you be kicked

breabtar mi may I be kicked

òltar e may it be drunk

fosgailtear e etc. may it be opened

6.0 Past participle passive

The past participle passive is generally formed by adding te to the root irrespective of the

spelling rule:

buail strike buailte struck

fosgail open fosgailte open(ed)

633 Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb

This is used like an adjective:

bha e leònte he was wounded

bha an uinneag fosgailte the window was open

uinneag fhosgailte an open window

7.0 The verbal noun

7.1 Forms

Unlike the other parts of the regular verb, the Verbal Noun is not always formed in a reg-

ular and predictable way. The most common forms of the Verbal Noun are shown below.

7.1.1. The majority of verbs add adh to the root. This is done in a variety of ways

i) Simply adding adh or eadh according to the Spelling Rule:

leugh read leughadh reading till return tilleadh returning

ii) Broadening the ﬁnal vowel of the root before adding -adh:

buail strike bualadh striking ionnsaich teach ionnsachadh teaching

tòisich begin tòiseachadh beginning

iii) Dropping the ﬁnal vowel of the root before the consonants l, n or r and making

other necessary spelling adjustments according to the Spelling Rule:

fosgail open fosgladh opening coisinn earn cosnadh earning

ionaltair graze ionaltradh grazing

7.1.2 Some verbs ending in (a)ich add (e)achd to the root:

coisich walk coiseachd walking buannaich gain buannachd gaining

7.1.3 Examples of other verbal noun endings are shown below:

Root Verbal noun Meaning Root Verbal noun Meaning

tuig tuigsinn understand beuc beucaich bellow

fan fantainn stay mèil mèilich bleat

ceil ceiltinn hide laigh laighe lie

tog togail lift greas greasad hasten

tilg tilgeil throw caidil cadal sleep

seas seasamh stand èist èisteachd listen

feith feitheamh wait agair agairt claim

7.2 Usage

The Gaelic verbal noun is used in four main ways:

7.2.1 In some usages it resembles the English present participle, in which case it is

preceded by a’ (ag before vowels), with nouns governed by the participle being

in the genitive case, though this latter rule now generally applies only to

deﬁnite nouns

Bha na ﬁr ag obair anns an achadh.

The men were working in the ﬁeld (lit. the men were at working etc.)

Tha e a’ geàrradh an fhiodha.

He is cutting the wood (lit. he is at cutting of the wood)

Bha i a’ glanadh uinneag. (older form bha i a’ glanadh uinneige)

She was cleaning a window.

Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb 634

A few verbal nouns are preceded by the prepositional possessive adjectives of ann ie. nam,

nad etc. (formerly ’nam, ’nad etc. – see Appendix 3 Section 5.0).

bha e na chadal. he was sleeping.

tha i na seasamh. she is sitting.

bha a’ chlann nan ruith. the children were running.

bha an cù na laighe air an ùrlar. the dog was lying on the ﬂoor.

bha iad nan suidhe anns an doras. they were sitting in the doorway.

When the word governed by the verbal noun is a personal pronoun in English, the preposi-

tional possessive adjectives of aig i.e. gam., gad etc. are used (formerly ’gam., ’gad etc. –

see Appendix 3 Section 5.0).

Bha iad an còmhnaidh gam bhreabadh.

They were always kicking me. (lit. at my kicking)

When the personal pronoun refers to the subject of the sentence, the verb may have

a passive meaning.

Bha am bàta ga bhriseadh. The boat was being broken.

Tha a’ chlach ga togail. The stone is being lifted.

7.2.2 In some respects the verbal noun resembles the English inﬁnitive

mood in usage

In general, the verbal noun is preceded by a (a dh’ before vowels or fh followed by a vowel)

and lenited where possible.

cuir put a chur to put fuirich wait a dh’fhuireach to wait

òl drink a dh’òl to drink ruith run a ruith to run

But after auxiliary verbs and other intransitive verbs the verbal noun is usually unlenited

and on its own:

Feumaidh sinn falbh.

We must go.

Nouns governed by the verbal noun precede it:

Dh’iarr e orm an doras a dhùnadh.

He asked me to close the door.

Except when the verbal noun is preceded by a verb implying purpose:

Chaidh e a dhùnadh an dorais.

He went to close the door. (note that the noun is in the genitive case)

Verbal nouns may be preceded by an adjective or adjectival phrase:

Cha robh e comasach dhaibh dol (or a dhol or dhol) na b’fhaide.

It wasn’t possible for them to go [any] further.

When a personal pronoun is used in English a possessive adjective is used in Gaelic:

Tha e glè dhoirbh am faicinn.

It’s very difﬁcult to see them. (lit. it’s very difﬁcult their seeing)

Verbal nouns may be preceded by prepositions. Though the preposition may cause lenition

it does not cause a change of case:

Tha i math air fuineadh.

She is good at baking.

Cha b’urrainn dhut gun mothachadh dha.

You couldn’t help noticing it. (lit. you couldn’t without noticing to it)

Note that ri may cause the verbal noun to be passive:

Cha robh duine ri fhaicinn.

There wasn’t a man to be seen.

635 Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb

When an auxiliary verb preceding a verbal noun is passive, in the English version the

inﬁnitive is in the passive:

Feumar a thuigsinn gur h-e duine mòr a bh’ann.

It must be understood that he was a big man.

Faodar a ràdh gun robh i ceàrr.

It may be said that she was wrong.

7.2.3 The verbal noun, preceded by certain auxiliary verbs or by the preposition air or

an dèidh (both meaning ‘after’) is used to form compound tenses. The verbal

noun is usually unlenited when directly following air

Tha iad air tighinn dhachaigh mu dheireadh thall.

They have come home at long last.

Bha iad air tighinn dhachaigh mu dheireadh thall.

They had come home at long last.

Bhitheadh duine sam bith air an dearbh rud a dhèanamh.

Anyone would have done the very same thing.

As with 1 and 2 above, a possessive adjective is used where English uses a personal

pronoun:

Bha iad air a bhriseadh.

They had broken it. (lit. they were after its breaking)

7.2.4 The verbal noun is frequently used with all tenses of the verb rach ‘go’ to form a

passive voice

Chaidh an t-airgead a chall.

The money was lost. (lit. the money went to losing)

Thèid an uinneag a bhriseadh.

The window will be broken / The window will get broken.

Rachadh am bàthadh.

They would be drowned.

8.0 The irregular verbs

There are only ten irregular verbs in Gaelic. These are:

abair say faigh ﬁnd, get

beir bear rach go

cluinn hear ruig reach

dèan do, make thig come

faic see thoir give, take, bring

These irregular verbs are all given in full in the dictionary under the above entries. All

irregular forms are also given in their correct alphabetical position with a reference back

to the root of the verb as shown above.

9.0 Defective auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are verbs which are used along with other verbs, altering or extending the

meaning. Both regular and irregular verbs may be used as auxiliary verbs, and these usages

are shown under the approriate verb. The following, however, are defective verbs. That is,

only a few tenses are used.

Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb 636

The defective auxiliary verbs are:

feum must faod may

These both have only future and imperfect / conditional forms and are used with the

verbal noun or preceding a noun clause. The forms are given in full, with numerous

examples, in the dictionary under the above entries.

10.0 Other defective verbs

Defective verbs are verbs which have only some of their forms (usually the past tenses or

the imperative mood). The main defective verbs are:

arsa said theirig Go

siuthad! go on! thugad! look out!

thalla! go away! tiugainn / tugainn come along

trobhad come here, come on theab did almost

ar leam* I think / thought, it seems / seemed to me

*not a verb, strictly speaking.

These are all given in full in the dictionary with examples of usage.

637 Appendix 1: the Gaelic verb

Appendix 2: The Gaelic Noun

1.0 Introduction

Any attempt to categorise or deﬁne Gaelic nouns in detail could be likened to creating a

mosaic composed of a large number of coloured tiles. When viewed from a distance, the

mosaic appears to have an easily distinguishable pattern comprising a few, quite distinct

colours, but when examined more closely, is seen to contain very many tiles which have

more than one colour, and which are linked by those colours to one or more of the main

coloured areas of the pattern. Viewed closely in this way, the pattern is lost, and there

appears only to be confusion.

Therefore, to continue the simile, though it is possible to set out Gaelic nouns in a broad

pattern, the more accurate one tries to make the picture, the more confusing the ﬁnal result

appears, and the more the viewer’s attention is drawn from the overall pattern.

It is for this reason, in addition to considerations of space, that only a comparatively brief

outline of the noun is given, with some indication of the irregularities and variations that

are to be encountered.

All nouns in the main body of the dictionary are shown with their genitive singular and

nominative plural forms where these exist. It will be seen from the information given in

this appendix that this is all that is required, with regard to the great majority of nouns, to

deduce the remaining forms. Where irregularities occur, these are indicated. In this way, it

is hoped that, as the student progresses, he / she will be able, gradually and naturally, to

place these nouns in their correct positions in the pattern.

2.0 Noun types

Many attempts have been made in grammar books or primers to place Gaelic nouns in

Declensions or Orders, each ‘ordering’ being, apparently, different from the previous one.

It is with some trepidation, therefore, that I have created yet one more, though it is in the

earnest hope and belief that it will bring a measure of clarity and simpliﬁcation to the com-

plexity of the subject. In this outline I refer to Types rather than to Declensions or Orders.

The nouns have been placed in these Types to a large extent according to how the genitive

singular is formed and, to a lesser extent, according to how the plural is formed.

The Noun Types are shown in tables at the head of each section below. The abbrevia-

tions nom, gen and dat stand for nominative, genitive and dative cases respectively. It

should be noted that in Gaelic there is no difference in form between the nominative and

accusative cases, and it should be understood that the abbreviation nom and the form given

opposite it stand for both these cases.

2.1 Case

2.1.1 The nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases

The nominative case is, of course, used when the noun is the subject of the sentence, or is

in apposition to a preceding noun. The accusative case is used when the noun is the object

of the verb. It may also be used after a small number of prepositions. The genitive case

639 Appendix 2: the Gaelic noun

shows possession and is also used after some, mostly compound, prepositions. The dative

case is used with most simple prepositions. In order to avoid confusion, though every noun

in the dative case in the tables has been shown with a typical preposition, care has been

taken to choose examples where no lenition occurs.

2.1.2 The vocative case

Gaelic nouns have another case which has not been shown here. This is the vocative case

which is used when someone is being addressed. Since it is mainly used with people and,

to a lesser extent, animals, it has been omitted in order to simplify the tables. Basically, in

the singular masculine noun, the vocative case takes the same form as the genitive case

lenited* and is preceded by the particle a e.g. a bhalaich! boy! a Sheumais! James!

a chait! cat! The vocative case of feminine singular nouns has the same form as the sin-

gular nominative form, lenited* and preceded by the particle a e.g. a chailleach! old

woman! a chaileag! girl! Adjectives take the appropriate form e.g. a bhalaich bhig! little

boy! a chailleach ghòrach! foolish old woman!

In the plural, all nouns which have their genitive plural the same as the nominative sin-

gular (but lenited*) have the same form with a ﬁnal a afﬁxed e.g. a bhalacha! boys! a

chata! cats! Before a vowel or a silent combination of letters the introductory a is dropped

e.g. fheara! men! Nouns which have their genitive plural in the same form as the nomi-

native plural (but lenited*) have the vocative case in the same form e.g. a chaileagan! girls!

Again, the adjective takes the appropriate form e.g. a bhalacha beaga! little boys! a chata

matha! good cats! a chaileagan glice! wise girls!

It should be noted here that the exclamation mark is for demonstration purposes only,

and is not obligatory. Its use would depend on the tone employed e.g. A Sheumais, an

cuala tu sin? James, did you hear that? For more information on the use of the vocative

case with Proper Nouns, see Appendix 12 Proper Nouns Section 1.0.

* according to the rules with regard to lenition – see Appendix 8 Lenition.

Let us now examine each type separately. It should be noted that only the indeﬁnite noun

is shown here. The deﬁnite article and its effect on the noun is dealt with later.

2.2 Type 1 masculine

balach m. boy

Singular Plural

nom balach a boy balaich boys

gen balaich of a boy bhalach of boys

dat (le) balach (by) a boy (le) balaich (by) boys

Nouns of this type are masculine. This is a very common type, with the majority of mas-

culine nouns belonging to it.

The distinctive feature of this type of noun is that the genitive case is formed by the intro-

duction of the letter i into the last vowel (a process known as ‘slenderisation’). It should also

be noted that the nominative plural is the same as the genitive singular, and that the genitive

plural is the same as the nominative singular lenited. The dative singular and dative plural

cases are identical to the nominative singular and nominative plural cases respectively.

2.2.1 Some nouns in Type 1, however, suffer a vowel change when i is introduced

The accompanying table Table of Vowel Changes in Type 1 Nouns (Fig. 1) shows all the

possible vowel changes with representative examples.

For example, if we refer to the table we can see that the combination of the letters a ⫹ i

most commonly undergoes no change, as shown by the example cat which becomes cait

in the genitive, but may occasionally suffer a vowel change like that in which crann

changes to cruinn or in which falt changes to fuilt. In one case, as shown in the ‘odd

nouns’ at the bottom of the table, a⫹ i gives i as in mac which changes to mic.

à ⫹ I bàs bàis death fairly low

à ⫹ I càrn cùirn heap rare

a ⫹ I cat cait cat very common

a ⫹ I crann croinn mast rare

a ⫹ I falt fuilt hair rare

ea ⫹i each eich horse very common

ea ⫹ i breac bric trout very common

ia ⫹ i iasg èisg ﬁsh low but very

consistent

ua ⫹ i uan uain lamb low but very

consistent

ò ⫹ Ibrònbròingrief quite rare

ò ⫹ I bòrd bùird table rare

o ⫹ I corp cuirp body common

o ⫹ I lon loin elk quite rare

ao ⫹ i aol aoil lime low but

consistent

eò ⫹ i ceòl ciùil music very rare

ìo ⫹ i sìol sìl seed rare

u ⫹ I cùl cùil back low but

consistent

u ⫹ Ibunbuinbase low but

consistent

eu ⫹ i feur feòir grass low but

consistent

eu ⫹ i meug meig whey quite rare

eu ⫹ i eug èig death rare

Odd nouns: gèadh geòidh goose nèamh nèimh heaven

mac mic son

Vowel No Vowel Change Vowel Change Comments on

Combination Incidence

Figure 1 Table of vowel changes in Type 1 nouns.

641 Appendix 2: the Gaelic noun

2.2.2 Some variation also occurs in plural forms of Type 1 nouns, some of

which are more consistent than others

i) Polysyllabic nouns, and all verbal nouns ending in -adh, have their plural in -aidhean:

bacadh bacaidhean obstruction manadh manaidhean omen

ii) – while those ending in -eadh have a plural form ending in -idhean:

baisteadh baistidhean baptism cuireadh cuiridhean invitation

iii) All trades or occupations ending in -ear have a plural form in -an:

muillear muillearan miller saighdear saighdearan soldier

But most nouns ending in -ar tend to have this plural ending:

adhbhar adhbharan reason ùghdar ùghdaran author

– though it should be understood that many of the latter may be found with the

‘normal’ form of the plural e.g. adhbhair ‘reasons’.

iv) Similarly, many other Type 1 nouns tend to add -an to the plural:

inneal innealan machine prìosan prìosanan prison

einnsean einnseanan engine sèillean sèilleanan bee

bòtann bòtannan boot losgann losgannan frog / toad

v) A number of words, mostly imported from English, have a plural ending in -aichean:

càr càraichean car bàr bàraichean bar

ﬂùr ﬂùraichean ﬂower clas clasaichean class

2.2.3 As a g

eneral rule, Type 1 nouns which have the nominative plural different from

the genitive singular have the genitive plural the same as the nominative plural

(lenited, where possible, when indeﬁnite)

mhanaidhean of omens nam manaidhean of the omens

chuiridhean of invitations nan cuiridhean of the invitations

shaighdearan of soldiers nan saighdearan of the soldiers

mheadhanan of media nam meadhanan of the media

chàraichean of cars nan càraichean of the cars

However, there are many exceptions, and two forms may exist:

muinntir nan eilean the people of the islands

muinntir nan eileanan beaga the people of the small islands

2.3 Type 2(a) feminine

glas f. lock (of a door)

Singular Plural

nom glas a lock glasan locks

gen glaise of a lock ghlas (or ghlasan) of locks

dat (ann an) glais (in) a lock (ann an) glasan (in) locks

Type 2(a) nouns are all feminine. Like Type 1 they have a broad ﬁnal vowel into which i is

introduced to form the genitive case. In addition, there is an e augment. The dative case is

also slenderised. Other than a few irregular nouns, this is the only type of noun which under-

goes any change in the dative case. The plural is formed by adding an to the nominative sin-

gular form. Like Type 1 nouns, the genitive plural is like the nominative singular* lenited

(where possible) and, as in all nouns, the nominative and dative plurals are identical.

2.3.1 As in Type 1, the introduction of the i into the vowel may cause a vowel change

These are shown in Table of Vowel Changes in Type 2(a) Nouns (Fig. 2). It will be noted,

however, that not only is the number of possible changes less than for that of Type 1, but

that the general incidence is much less. It will be seen, for example, that a⫹ i rarely

changes, but that ea ⫹ i frequently becomes ei or i.