Articles
Article is a common name for what linguists typically call determiners. In English 'the' and 'a/an' are articles. 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). The definite article surfaces variously as an (article), am (article), a' (article)', nam (article), nan (article) or na (article) 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 nasalizaiton, although this is not indicated in writing.
The system is complex, so we give three different descriptions. Choose the one that suits you best.
Contents
Description 1: By gender and number
Masculine Singular Article
| before | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| f | b, m, p | c, g | sV, sl, sn, sr | d, t, l, n, r, sg, sm, sp, st | before vowels | |
| Nom/Acc (common case) | am | an | an t- | |||
| Dat | anL | a'L | an t- | an | ||
| Gen | ||||||
Feminine Singular Article
| before | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| f | b, m, p | c, g | sV, sl, sn, sr | d, t, l, n, r, sg, sm, sp, st | before vowels | |
| Nom/Acc (common case) | anL | a'L | an t- | an | ||
| Dat | ||||||
| Gen | na | na h- | ||||
Plural Article
| before | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| f, b, m, p | all other consonants | before vowels | ||||
| Nom/Acc (common case) | na | na h- | ||||
| Dat | ||||||
| Gen | nam | nan | ||||
Description 2: By form of the article
| Form | location |
|---|---|
| a'L | Feminine Nom/Acc Singular before "b, c, g, m, p" |
| Feminine Dative Singular before "b, c, g, m, p" | |
| Masculine Dative Singular before "b, c, g, m, p" | |
| Masculine Genitive Singular before "b, c, g, m, p" | |
| am | Masculine Nom/Acc Singular before "f, b, m, p" |
| an | Feminine Nom/Acc Singular before vowels and d, n, t, l, r, sg, sp, st, sm |
| Feminine Dative Singular before vowels and d, n, t, l, r, sg, sp, st, sm | |
| Masculine Dative Singular before vowels and d, n, t, l, r, sg, sp, st, sm | |
| Masculine Genitive Singular before vowels and d, n, t, l, r, sg, sp, st, sm | |
| Masculine Nom/Acc Singular before anything except vowels and "b, f, m, p" | |
| anL | Feminine Nom/Acc Singular before f |
| Feminine Dative Singular before f | |
| Masculine Dative Singular before f | |
| Masculine Genitive Singular before f | |
| an t- | Feminine Nom/Acc Singular before sV, sl, sn, sr |
| Feminine Dative Singular before sV, sl, sn, sr | |
| Masculine Dative Singular before sV, sl, sn, sr | |
| Masculine Genitive Singular before sV, sl, sn, sr | |
| Masculine Nom/Acc Singular before vowels | |
| na | Nom/Acc plural before consonants |
| Dative plural before consonants | |
| Feminine Genitive singular before consonants | |
| na h- | Nom/Acc plural before vowels |
| Dative plural before vowels | |
| Feminine Genitive singular before vowels | |
| nam | Plural Genitive before b, f, m, p |
| nan | Plural Genitive before other sounds |
Description 3: 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.
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | ||
| Nom/acc (common) | W | X | Y |
| Dative | X | ||
| Genitive | X | Y | Z |
Each of these abstract forms is realized the following ways, predictable from the phonology:
W
| Form | Context |
|---|---|
| an t- | before vowel |
| am | before b, f, m, p |
| an | elsewhere |
X
| Form | Context |
|---|---|
| a'L | before b, c, g, m, p |
| anL | before "f" |
| an t- | before sV, sl, sn, sr |
| an | elsewhere |
Y
| Form | Context |
|---|---|
| na | before consonants |
| na h- | before vowels |
Z
| Form | Context |
|---|---|
| nam | before b, f, m, p |
| nan | elsewhere |
External Links
References
Lamb, William (2003) Scottish Gaelic. Lincom-Europa.
