Difference between revisions of "Articles"

Revision as of 22:11, 3 June 2012

Definition

Article is a special kind of determiners. In English the and a/an are articles. They typically indicate if we are talking about some specific referent (e.g. 'the table'), or some item that hasn't been identified with a specific referent in the discourse (e..g a table). There are two major kinds of articles: definite and indefinite.

Indefinite Articles in Gaelic

In Gaelic the indefinite article is silent (e.g. leabhar 'a book') -- the exception being the indefinite genitive, where there is no overt article, but the noun is lenited (Lamb 2003: 29) (e.g.. XXX)

Definite Articles in Gaelic

The definite article surfaces variously as an, am, a', nam, nan or na depending upon the case, gender, and number of the noun it modifies and depending upon which consonant the following word begins with.

Throughout the following symbols indicate initial mutations and are not traditionally written out ^L means "triggers lenition", Articles ending in -n or -m often trigger voicing of the following consonant through Eclipsis, although this is not indicated in writing.

The system is complex, so we give four different descriptions. Choose the one that suits you best.

Description 1: By Case

This description is based on that found in Fisher (2004).

Common Case (Nominative/Accusative)

The common case form of the article is used with a noun in subject and object positions.

Singular Masculine Common Case

Before	form	Example
vowels	an t-	an t-òran
labials	am	am bòrd
all other sounds	an	an càr

(table based on Fisher (2004)

Singular Feminine Common Case

Before	form	Example
labial and velar stops (b, p, g, c) and m	a'L	a' phòg
f	anL	an fhaoileag
s followed by vowels, l, n, r	an t- (i.e. anT)	an t-seachdain
all other sounds	an	an sgian

(table based on Fisher (2004)

Plurals of both genders in the common case

Before	form	Example
consonants	na	na gillean
Vowels	na h- (i.e. anH)	na h-ubhlan

(table based on Fisher (2004)

Genitive Case

The genitive is used to indicate an object that is a possessor.

The masculine singular genitive pattern is identical to the feminine common case pattern, and dative case forms.

Singular Masculine Genitive

Before	form	Example
labial and velar stops (b, p, g, c) and m	a'L	a' bhòrd
f	anL	an fhuachd
s followed by vowels, l, n, r	an t- (i.e. anT)	an tsluaigh
all other sounds	an	an taighe

(table based on Fisher (2004)

The feminine genitive is identical to common case plural

Feminine Singular Genitive

Before	form	Example
consonants	na	na muc
Vowels	na h- (i.e. anH)	na h-adhairce

(table based on Fisher (2004)

The plural of genitive uses some variety of Nan/Nam:

Plural Genitive of both Genders

Before	form	Example
labial consonants	nam	nam bocsaichean
All other sounds	nan	nan taighean

(table based on Fisher (2004)

Dative Case

The dative case is found after many prepositions. The dative singular of both genders is identical to the feminine singular common case (and the masculine singular genitive).

Singular of both genders in the dative

Before	form	Example
labial and velar stops (b, p, g, c) and m	a'L	a' bhòrd
f	anL	an fhios
s followed by vowels, l, n, r	an t- (i.e. anT)	an t-sùil
all other sounds	an	an taigh

(table based on Fisher (2004)

The plurals are identical to the common case:

Plurals of both genders in the dative

Before	form	Example
consonants	na	na gillean
Vowels	na h- (i.e. anH)	na h-ubhlan

(table based on Fisher (2004)

Description 2: By gender and number

Masculine Singular Article

Feminine Singular Article

Plural Article

Description 3: By form of the article

Description 4: An Abstract Analysis

The following description is based on the insightful description found at [[1]]. The symbols in the next chart are abstract! You need to translate them using the guides that follow.

Each of these abstract forms is realized the following ways, predictable from the phonology:

Pattern W

Pattern X

Pattern Y

Pattern Z

External Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_(grammar)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determiner_(class)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definiteness

References

• Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. Lincom-Europa.
• [Muriel Fisher|Fisher, Muriel]] (2004) Scottish Gaelic: Level 1." Seattle: Each-Mara Publications