Articles

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, two symbols indicate initial mutations and are not traditionally written out:

• ^L means "triggers lenition" on the first consonant of the word that follows
• 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)

Tha	Mòrag	a'	draibhadh	an	càr	dearg
is.PRES	Mòrag	PROG	drive	the	car	red
"Mòrag is driving the red car."

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

	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 3: 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 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.

	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:

Pattern W

Form	Context
an t-	before vowel
am	before b, f, m, p
an	elsewhere

Pattern X

Form	Context
a'L	before b, c, g, m, p
anL	before "f"
an t-	before sV, sl, sn, sr
an	elsewhere

Pattern Y

Form	Context
na	before consonants
na h-	before vowels

Pattern Z

Form	Context
nam	before b, f, m, p
nan	elsewhere

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.
• Fisher, Muriel (2004) Scottish Gaelic: Level 1. Seattle: Each-Mara Publications