LESSON THREE  --  AN TREAS LEASAN

Prepositions
The "Case" System
Possessive Adjectives
Idioms using "aig"
  i) Possession
  ii) Knowledge
  iii) Acquaintance
Idioms using "air"

Prepositions

Some common Gaelic prepositions are:

aig  --  "at"             air  --   "on"
le   --   "with"         à  --      "from"

 
Nouns which follow these prepositions and which have no definite article are unchanged by them: 

port       --   a port, a harbour -->
aig port   --   at a port

beinn      --   a mountain -->
air beinn  --   on a mountain

peann      --   a pen -->
le peann   --   with a pen

muileann   --   a mill -->
à muileann --   from a mill

 
Another common preposition is "do", which means "to".  When followed by a noun with no definite article, it aspirates it.  Before a noun beginning with a vowel, it adds "dh'":

Glaschu    --  Glasgow -->
do Glaschu --  to Glasgow

taigh      --  house -->
do thaigh  --  to a house

Inbhir Nis        --  Inverness -->
do dh'Inbhir Nis  --  to Inverness

 
However, when these prepositions are followed by a noun that does have the definite article "an", the noun and even the preposition itself may change.  "Aig" and "air" stay the same before "an", but "le" becomes "leis", "à" becomes "as" and "do" becomes "do'n" or "dhan": 

aig rathad      --   at a road --> 
aig an rathad   --   at the road

air tràigh      --   on a beach --> 
air an tràigh   --   on the beach

le duine        --   with a man --> 
leis an duine   --   with the man

à sgoil         --   from a school --> 
as an sgoil     --   from the school

do leabhar-lann   --   to a library --> 
dhan leabhar-lann [or]
do'n leabhar-lann --   to the library

 
Additionally, the preposition "ann an" (in) which was introduced last lesson changes to "anns an" before a definite noun: 

ann an togalach   --    in a building --> 
anns an togalach  --    in the building

 
The changes undergone by the nouns following a preposition plus "an" are as follows:

a)  All nouns (whether masculine or feminine) beginning with b, c, g, m, or p which come after a preposition and an article are aspirated and their article changes to "a" followed by an apostrophe (except after "dhan" or "do'n", in which case it disappears altogether):

am bòrd [m.]    -- the table -->
air a' bhòrd    -- on the table

a' chreag [f.]  -- the rock -->
aig a' chreag   -- at the rock

an geata [m.]   -- the gate -->
do'n gheata     -- to the gate

am monadh [m.]  -- the moor -->
as a' mhonadh   -- from the moor

a' phìob [f.]   -- the pipe -->
leis a' phìob   -- with the pipe


b) Nouns beginning with "f" aspirate and have the article "an":

am feur [m.]    -- the grass -->
air an fheur    -- on the grass
 

c) Nouns followed by "sn", "sr", "sl", or "s" followed by a vowel, keep "an" but add "t-" to the noun:

an sliabh [m.]   --  the mountain -->
aig an t-sliabh  --  at the mountain

an t-sràid [f.]  --  the street -->
air an t-sràid   --  on the street

an seòmar [m.]   --  the room -->
anns an t-seòmar --  in the room
 

d) All other nouns are unchanged, but note that masculine nouns beginning with a vowel that normally have "t-" in front of them drop it here:

an sgian [f.]    --  the knife -->
leis an sgian    --  with the knife

an t-eilean [m.] --  the island -->
as an eilean     --  from the island  [etc.]

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The "Case" System

The above changes to nouns are made to show grammatical change -- in this case, to show that a noun is coming after a preposition rather than being used as a subject or direct object.  This is because Gaelic uses a "case system" to show these kinds of change; a Gaelic word can change depending on its position in the sentence and based on what it is being used for.  This concept is usually foreign to English-speakers because the English language hasn't had a full case system for several centuries. But even in English, traces of it still remain -- when for instance we put an apostrophe plus "s" after a word to show possession, e.g. "cat" --> "cat's", we are putting that word in a different case.

There are four cases in Gaelic.  The "nominative" case is the default; a noun used as subject or object in a sentence is said to be in the nominative.  The "dative" case is used after a preposition followed by the definite article, which is what we've learned in this lesson.  The "genitive" case is used to show possession.  The "vocative" case is used to address people.  Other languages with cases sometimes have many more; there are at least fourteen in Finnish, for example.

The case changes can sometimes be confusing, but luckily there's a definite link between the nominative and the dative in Gaelic: every noun in the dative case behaves like a feminine noun in the nominative case.  In other words, feminine nouns in the dative don't change; only masculine nouns do, by behaving the same as the feminine ones.  If you look at the feminine nouns given in the examples above you'll see that they're the same whether or not they have a preposition in front of them.
 

Possessive Adjectives

     The Gaelic possessive adjectives correspond to the English words "my", "your", "his" etc. and affect the following noun in various ways:
 
 

Gaelic	English	Effect on Following Word
mo	my	aspirates; becomes "m'" before a noun beginning with a vowel
do	your [singular]	aspirates; becomes "d'" before a noun beginning with a vowel
a	his, its	aspirates
a	her, its	no aspiration; puts "h-" before a noun beginning with a vowel
ar	our	no aspiration; puts "n-" before a noun beginning with a vowel
ur	your [plural]	no aspiration; puts "n-" before a noun beginning with a vowel
an / am	their	no aspiration

(Note: "an" becomes "am" before nouns beginning with b, f, m, or p).

Here are some examples showing the effect of the above adjectives on the words "taigh" (house) and "athair" (father):
 

mo thaigh     --     my house              m'athair   --  my father
do thaigh     --   your house              d'athair   --  your father
a thaigh      --    his house              a athair   --  his father
a taigh       --    her house              a h-athair --  her father
ar taigh      --    our house              ar n-athair -- our father
ur taigh      --   your house              ur n-athair -- your father
an taigh      --  their house              an athair   -- their father
 

Because the possessives "a" tend to be omitted in spoken Gaelic, and  because "an / am" looks so much like the definite article, these forms are sometimes dropped in favour of a less ambiguous way of expressing possession involving "aig" (see below).  

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Idioms using "aig"
 

i) Possession
Another way of expressing possession or the concept of "having" something in Gaelic is to use "aig" and a form of the verb "tha" to say that something is "at" someone:
 
     Tha taigh aig Mórag.        --          Morag has a house.      (literally: there is a house at Morag)
     Bha an leabhar aig Eòghan.  --    Ewan had the book.      (literally: the book was at Ewan)


When the word "aig" comes before the pronouns "mi", "thu", "e", "i", "sinn", "sibh", or "iad", it combines with the pronoun to form something called a "prepositional pronoun" that is very common in Gaelic: 

aig + mi   =   agam      --    "at me"
aig + thu  =   agad      --    "at you"
aig + e    =   aige      --    "at him", "at it"
aig + i    =   aice      --    "at her", "at it"
aig + sinn =   againn    --    "at us"
aig + sibh =   agaibh    --    "at you"
aig + iad  =   aca       --    "at them"

 
For example:

Tha cat aca.  --                                     They have a cat.        (cat [m.])
Chan eil teaghlach aig Dòmhnall.  --     Donald doesn't have a family.      (teaghlach [m.])
Cha robh bean agam aig an àm sin. --    I didn't have a wife at that time.   (àm [m.], "time")
Bidh partaidh againn a-màireach.  --    We'll have a party tomorrow.        (partaidh [m.])

 
Using these forms after a definite noun gives the same sense as a possessive adjective:
 
         mo thaigh    =    an taigh agam     --    my house       (literally: "the house at-me")
         an leabhar   =    an leabhar aca    --    their book        (literally: "the book at-them")
 
ii) Knowledge

As well as having no verb "to have", Gaelic has no verb "to know".  To say that person A knows something about thing B, we say that "its knowledge is at ("aig") person A on ("air") thing B":
 
        Tha a fhios agam.          --   I know.   (fios [m.], "knowledge")   (literally: its knowledge is at-me)
        Tha a fhios agam air sin.  --   I know about that.   (literally: its knowledge is at-me on that)

 
iii) Acquaintance

The above construction is mainly used for knowing facts about things.  For acquaintance or familiarity with people or things we use "aithne" ([f.], "acquaintance").
 

Tha aithne agam air Sìne.   --   I know [i.e. am acquainted with] Jenny.
                                                     (literally: acquaintance is at-me on Jenny)

Tha aithne aige air an leabhar sin.  -- He knows about [i.e. is familiar with] with that book.
                                                                 (literally: acquaintance is at-him on that book)

  

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Idioms using "air"
 

Like "aig", "air" also combines with the personal pronouns to form prepositional pronouns: 

air + mi   =  orm      --   "on me"
air + thu  =  ort      --   "on you"
air + e    =  air      --   "on him"
air + i    =  oirre    --   "on her"
air + sinn =  oirnn    --   "on us"
air + sibh =  oirbh    --   "on you"
air + iad  =  orra     --   "on them"

 
The principal use of these is in idioms like the one we met above involving "acquaintance":

      Tha aithne aig Seumas air Màiri.  --   James knows Mary.
      Tha aithne aig Seumas oirre.      --      James knows her.

 
In addition, "air" is used to convey the idea of someone's feelings or emotions:

   Tha bron orm.      --    I am sad.   (bròn [m.], "sorrow")   (literally: sorrow is on-me)

 
Similarly: 

Bha cìanalas air an duine.  --  The man was homesick.   (cìanalas [m.], "homesickness")
Cha bhi eagal oirnn.        --     We won't be afraid.     (eagal [m.], "fear")
Tha acras orm.              --          I'm hungry.     (acras [m.], "hunger")
Bha iongantas orra.         --      They were astonished.    (iongantas [m.], "wonder", "surprise")

 
Romantic sentiments fall into this category:

Tha gaol aig Peadar air Ceit.  --   Peter loves Kate.   (gaol [m.])
Tha gaol agam ort.             --          I love you.