Difference between revisions of "Possessive Pronouns"

Revision as of 01:22, 6 April 2012

• for a definition see Possessive Pronoun (definition)

There are two ways to indicate possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their) in Gaelic. The first way, which is both more formal and indicates a less close relationships between the possessor and the possessed item, uses a pronoun that comes before the noun. The second way, which can be used for a closer relationship (and is, in fact far more common) is to combine the use of a noun and an adjective followed by an inflected form of the preposition aig

Prenominal possessive pronouns

Notes:

• ^L stands for lenition trigger, ^N stands for Eclipsis/nasalization trigger, ^H indicates the word prefixes an <h> in front of the following word. These letters are not written but are provided here as guides.
• am is used instead of an in front of words beginning with any labial consonant (i.e. <b, m, f, p>), eg. their table am bòrd
• before words beginning with vowels "mo" is reduced to mo', do is reduced to d', and a^L his is deleted.

Examples

Before words beginning with consonants

• my pig: mo mhuc
• your pig: do mhuc
• his pig: a mhuc
• her pig: a muc
• our pigs: àr mucan
• your (pl) pigs: ùr mucan
• their pigs: an mucan

Before words beginning with vowels

• my father: m'athair
• your father: d'athair
• his father: athair
• her father: a h-athair
• our father: àr n-athair
• your (pl) father: ùr n-athair
• their father: an athair

Possessive Pronouns using Aig

To express a closer relationship between the possessor and the possessum, a combination of an article, a noun, and accordingly inflected preposition, in this order, is used. The followings are such examples.

• my cat: an cat agam
• your cat: an cat agad
• his cat: an cat aige
• her cat: an cat aice
• our cat: an cat againn
• your (pl) cat: an cat agaibh
• their cat: an cat aca

See Also

• Genitive Case
• Sentential possession
• Aig (preposition)