Gu (preposition)
- for other uses of do see Do (disambiguation)
- for a complete list of prepositions see Prepositions
Gaelic preposition, meaning roughly "for" or "to". It governs the dative case, and triggers lenition on following indefinite nouns.
Contents
Simple forms
- bare form: doL 'to a'
- definite form: donL 'to the'
Basic inflected forms
Like most prepositions, do can be inflected for person, number, and gender. For example, to say "to me", we use the single word dhomh.
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | dhomh | dhuinn | |
| 2nd | dhut/dhuit | dhuibh | |
| 3rd | Masc | dha | dhaibh |
| Fem | dhi | ||
Emphatic Inflected forms
Special emphatic forms are used if we want to emphasize the pronoun in the inflected preposition. (e.g. ormsa "on ME")
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | dhòmh-sa | dhuinn-ne | |
| 2nd | dhut-sa/dhuit-sa | dhuibh-se | |
| 3rd | Masc | dhà-san | dhaibh-san |
| Fem | dhì-se | ||
Possessive inflected forms:
There are three possible forms for combinations of the preposition with a possessive pronoun. There are forms without contraction, and two different kinds of contraction where one is lenited and the other is not
Uncontracted forms
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | do moL | do arN | |
| 2nd | do doL | do urN | |
| 3rd | Masc | do aL | do anN |
| Fem | do aH | ||
do am is used instead of do an "to their" in front of words beginning with the labial consonants <b>, <p>, <m>, and <f>
Lenited Contracted forms
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | dhamL | dharN | |
| 2nd | dhadL | dhurN | |
| 3rd | Masc | dhaL | dhanN |
| Fem | dhaH | ||
dham is used instead of dhan "to their" in front of words beginning with the labial consonants <b>, <p>, <m>, and <f>
Unlenited Contracted forms
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | domL | darN | |
| 2nd | dodL | durN | |
| 3rd | Masc | daL | danN |
| Fem | daH | ||
dam is used instead of dan "to their" in front of words beginning with the labial consonants <b>, <p>, <m>, and <f>
References
Mark, Colin (2004) The Gaelic-English Dictionary/Am Faclair Gàidhlig-Beurla. London: Routledge
Notes
In this document, as elsewhere, L indicates lenition and N indicates eclipsis, (prefixation of an n- before a word beginning with vowels, and a nasalization of the next consonant (not indicated in the orthography) and H indicates antilenition (the prefixation of h before words beginning with vowels).
