Prepositions
From Scottish Gaelic Grammar Wiki
For a definition of preposition see the page Preposition (definition)
Gaelic has both simple prepositions and complex ones. In this article you'll find first a list of all the prepositions, then at the bottom you'll find some useful charts about how prepositions inflect for person and number.
Contents
List of Gaelic Simple Prepositions
- aig 'at'
- air 'on'
- ann an/ anns/ ann 'in'
- à/às 'out of'/'from'
- bho 'from'
- chun 'to the' (in the sense of "as far as" but not "into"
- de (dheL/deL) 'of/off'
- do (doL) 'to/for'
- fo (foL) 'under'
- eadar 'between'
- far 'off' (does not
- gu (thun/chun) 'to'
- gun 'without'
- le 'with'
- mar 'like'/'as'
- Mu (preposition) 'about'
- o 'from'
- rè 'during' (does not
- ri 'to' (does not
- ro (roimh) 'before'
- thar 'over'/'beyond'
- tharsainn 'across'
- trìd 'through, on account of'
- tro (troimh) 'through'
| PREPOSITION | LENITES | CASE taken by following |
| aig 'at' | NO | DATIVE |
| air 'on' | NO | DATIVE |
| ann an/ anns/ ann 'in' | NO | DATIVE |
| à/às 'out of'/'from' (as in place of national origin) | NO | DATIVE |
| bho 'from' (as in source of movement) | YES | DATIVE |
| chun 'to the' (in the sense of "as far as" but not "into" | NO | GENITIVE |
| de (dheL/deL) 'of/off' | YES | DATIVE |
| do (doL) 'to/for' | YES | DATIVE |
| fo (foL) 'under' | YES | DATIVE |
| eadar 'between' | NO | ACCUSATIVE |
| far 'off' | NO | GENITIVE |
| gu (thun/chun) 'to' | NO | DATIVE |
| gun 'without' | YES (except the dental sounds <d,t,n,l,r,s>) | DATIVE or ACCUSATIVE (Dialectal variation) |
| le 'with' | NO | DATIVE |
| mar 'like'/'as' | ? | ? |
| Mu 'about' | YES | DATIVE |
| o 'from' | YES | DATIVE |
| rè 'during' | YES (only when the object is a definite plural) | GENITIVE |
| ri 'to' | NO | DATIVE |
| ro (roimh) 'before' | YES | DATIVE |
| thar 'over'/'beyond' | NO | GENITIVE |
| tharsainn 'across' | NO | GENITIVE |
| trìd 'through, on account of' | NO | GENITIVE |
| tro (troimh) 'through' | YES | DATIVE |
List of Gaelic Complex and Compound Prepositions
(List taken from Mark 2004:686 and Lamb 2003:49)
| CASE take by following noun | Preposition |
| ACCUSATIVE | ceangailte ri 'tied to' |
| coltach ri 'similar to' | |
| gu ruige 'as far as, up to' | |
| DATIVE | an coimeas ri 'compared to' |
| an taca ri 'next to' | |
| barrachd air 'in addition to' | |
| còmhla ri 'along with' | |
| cuide ri 'along with' | |
| faisg air 'close to' | |
| goirid air 'close to' | |
| làmh ri 'next to', 'compared to' | |
| maille ri 'along with' | |
| mun cuairt air 'around" | |
| seachad air 'past' | |
| suas ri 'up to' | |
| thairis air 'across' | |
| GENITIVE | a chum 'for the purpose of' |
| a dh'ionnsaigh 'towards' | |
| a rèir 'according to' | |
| a thaobh 'regarding' | |
| air cùlaibh 'behind' | |
| air feadh 'amongst' | |
| air muin 'on top of' | |
| air sgàth 'for the sake of' | |
| air son 'for'/'because' | |
| air tòir ' in pursuit of | |
| am fianais 'in the presence of' | |
| am measg 'among' | |
| an aghaidh 'against' | |
| an àite 'in place of' | |
| an ceann 'within' | |
| an coinneamh 'met with' | |
| an dèidh 'after' | |
| an làthair 'in the presence of' | |
| às aonais 'without' | |
| às eugmhais 'without' | |
| às leth 'on behalf of' | |
| às dèidh 'after' | |
| fa chomhair 'opposite' | |
| mu chomhair 'opposite' | |
| mu dheidhinn 'concerning' | |
| mu thimcheall 'regarding' | |
| mun cuairt 'around' | |
| os cionn 'above' | |
| ri taobh 'beside' |
List of Gaelic Adverbial Particles (intransitive prepositions)
- a-bhàn 'down', 'downwards'
- a-nìos 'up', 'upwards'
The Inflection of Gaelic Prepositions
Gaelic Prepositions inflect for person, number and gender when they take a pronoun as an object. For example if we were to say "at me", we use the inflected form "agam".
- A complete set of inflected form of the prepositions can be found at Prepositional Inflection
External Links
- An Coitcheann page on Prepositions: http://wikademy.wikispaces.com/Prepositions
References
- Mark, Colin (2004) The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Am faclair Gàidhlig-Beurla. London: Routledge
- Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. 2nd edition. Munich: Lingcom Europa
- Deiseal Earranta tta (2006) Reference Cards: Sealbhairean Roimhearach/Riochdairean Roimhearach.
