LESSON EIGHT -- AN T-OCHDAMH LEASAN
Genitive Case
Article + Genitive
Genitive Plural
Irregular Plurals, Nominative & Genitive
Verbal Noun, Direct Object
"under", "of"
[N.B. Starting with this lesson, the Gaelic readings will be posted separately].
So far the cases we've identified have been the "dative", which determines the changes made to nouns which follow a preposition, and the "vocative", which determines the changes made to nouns when they are being directly addressed. The "default" case of nouns, the form they normally have in dictionaries for example, is known as the "nominative case" or "common form"; nouns are always in the nominative when they're used as the subject of a sentence and almost always when they're used as an object. Unless otherwise specified, a noun given as vocabulary in these lessons is always in the nominative case.
The only other case in Gaelic we haven't learned is the "genitive". The main function of the genitive is to indicate possession, for example where English would put an apostrophe plus "s" at the end of a word (e.g. "man's", "Calum's", "water's" etc.). As with the plural, there are a number of ways to indicate the genitive depending on the word itself. Fortunately, most Gaelic nouns fall into groups which help you to find out what their vocative, dative, genitive, and nominative plural forms all are, because nouns tend to change in a consistent way throughout their cases.
Hugo's Gaelic grammar identifies five general ways to form the genitive, and this is the classification I've decided to use.
i) Type 1 -- Nouns with Slenderization; Masculine Nouns only
Nouns can either slenderize by adding "i" after the final vowel if that vowel is broad (as we learned to do last lesson with the vocative) or they can change their internal vowels altogether. The latter process is rarer and obviously more complicated so we'll deal with it later. For the time being here are some examples of "simple" slenderization in the genitive:
Nominative: cat -- cat
Genitive: cait -- cat's [or] of a cat
Example: biadh cait -- cat's foodNom: balach -- boy
Gen: balaich -- boy's [or] of a boy
Ex: ad balaich -- a boy's hatNom: aran -- bread
Gen: arain -- bread's [or] of bread
Ex: pìos arain -- a piece of bread
ii) Type 2: Slenderization plus final "e"; Feminine Nouns onlyFor this case too, only "simple" slenderization (adding final "i") is given for now.
Nom: cluas -- ear
Gen: cluaise -- ear's [or], of an ear
Ex: fàinne cluaise -- earring (fàinne [f.], "ring")Nom: sgoil -- school
Gen: sgoile -- school's [or] of school
Ex: maighistear sgoile -- school teacher
iii) Type 3: Adding final "a"; Both Masculine and Feminine NounsNom: pìob [f.] -- pipe
Gen: pìoba -- pipe's [or] of a pipe
Ex: ceòl pìoba -- pipe musicNom: loch [m.] -- lake
Gen: locha -- lake's [or] of a lake
Ex: uisge locha -- lake water
iv) Type 4: Loss of final vowel(s), plus addition of (e)ach; Feminine Nouns onlyNom: obair -- work
Gen: obrach -- of work
Ex: latha obrach -- work day, day of workNom: litir -- letter
Gen: litreach -- letter's [or] of a letter
Ex: bocsa litreach -- letter box
v) Type 5: No Change. Masculine and Feminine Nouns both.Nom: baile -- town
Gen: baile -- town's [or] of a town
Ex: meadhon baile -- centre of a townNom: duine -- man
Gen: duine -- man's [or] of a man
Ex: beatha duine -- life of a manNotes:
1) Type 1 and 2 nouns are by far the most common;
2) type 5 is used for all nouns ending in -chd and also for loan-words from English;
3) the final -e in type 2 nouns is increasingly being dropped in contemporary Gaelic.
i) Masculine Nouns
The article undergoes its own changes in the genitive. Before a masculine noun, "an" is still used for "the", and it has the same effect as "an" does in the dative -- that is, it becomes "a'" before b, c, g, m, and p and aspirates the noun; it aspirates a noun beginning with f; it becomes "an t-" before sl, sn, sr, or s followed by a vowel; and has no effect on nouns beginning with other letters:
Nom. bodach -- old man
Gen. bodaich -- of an old man -->
còta a' bhodaich -- the old man's coatNom. Sasannach -- Englishman
Gen. Sasannaich -- of an Englishman -->
ainm an t-Sasannaich -- the name of the EnglishmanNom. fuineadair -- baker
Gen. fuineadair -- of a baker -->
bùth an fhuineadair -- the baker's shopNom. rathad -- road
Gen. rathaid -- of a road -->
taobh an rathaid -- the side of the roadIn the example above you'll notice that "the name of the Englishman" is translated as "ainm an t-Sasannaich", whereas you would expect "ainm" (name) to have a definite article in front of it as well. The reason why it doesn't is because there is a rule in Gaelic dealing with sentences constructed like "the X of the Y", e.g. "the top of the mountain", "the breaking of the dawn", etc. In sentences of this kind only the second "the" can be translated in Gaelic. So "taobh an rathaid", for instance, can mean either "a side of the road" or "the side of the road". This rule is rigidly observed in Gaelic and is applied regardless of the gender of the nouns in question.
ii) Feminine Nouns
All feminine nouns in the genitive take "na" as their definite article, except those beginning with vowels which take "na h-". These have no effect of their own on the following nouns.
Nom. craobh -- tree
Gen. craoibhe -- of a tree -->
duilleagan na craoibhe -- the leaves of the treeNom. eaglais -- church
Gen. eaglaise -- of a church -->
doras na h-eaglaise -- the door of the church
The definite article before the genitive plural is "nan" (or "nam" before b, f, m, or p) regardless of gender.
The formation of the genitive plural itself depends on the noun's nominative plural. Last lesson we distinguished the two general ways in which plurals are formed -- by adding suffixes (such as "-an" or "-ean") and by internal changes (such as slenderization). Nouns of the first kind, those that add suffixes, have a genitive plural that is the same as their nominative plural. Nouns of the second kind, those that form plurals through internal changes, have a genitive plural that is the same as their nominative *singular*:
i) Examples of Suffix Plurals:
Nom. Singular: caileag -- girl
Nom. Plural: caileagan -- girls
Gen. Plural: caileagan -- of the girls (same as Nom. Plural) -->
taigh nan caileagan -- the girls' houseNom. Singular: baile -- town
Nom. Plural: bailtean -- towns
Gen. Plural: bailtean -- of the towns (same as Nom. Plural) -->
meadhanan nam bailtean -- the centres of the towns
ii) Examples of Internal Plurals:Nom. Singular: òran -- song
Nom. Plural: òrain -- songs
Gen. Plural: òran -- of the songs (same as Nom. Singular) -->
faclan nan òran -- the words of the songsNom. Singular: Gaidheal -- Gael, Gaelic-speaker
Nom. Plural: Gaidheil -- Gaels, Gaelic-speakers
Gen. Plural: Gaidheal -- of the Gaels (same as Nom. Singular) -->
ceòl nan Gaidheal -- the music of the Gaels
Irregular Plurals, Nominative & Genitive
A few of the most common ones:
Nom. Sing. Nom. Plural Gen. Plural
bean (woman, wife) mnathan ban
cù (dog) coin con
bó (cow) bà bó
beinn (mountain) beanntan beann(tan)
duine (man, person) daoine daoine
mac (son) mic mac
i) Pronouns
When a pronoun is the direct object of a verbal noun in Gaelic, it takes a different form and comes before the verbal noun. The new form is a shortened combination of "aig" plus the possessive pronoun, so in effect instead of saying "he is hitting me" or "they will be meeting him", the construction would be "he is at my hitting" and "they will be at his meeting", respectively.
aig + mo = 'gam -- at my a
ig + do = 'gad -- at your
aig + a = 'ga -- at his
aig + a = 'ga -- at her
aig + ar = 'gar -- at our
aig + ur = 'gur -- at your
aig + an/am = 'gan/'gam -- at theirWhen these come before a verbal noun, the "ag" or "a'" is dropped. The object pronoun behaves like a normal possessive pronoun, aspirating or adding "h-" or "n-" to the verbal noun the same way the normal possessives do to regular nouns:
a' bualadh -- hitting
Bha iad 'ga bhualadh. -- They were hitting him. (lit: they were at his hitting)a' faicinn -- seeing
Bidh Màiri 'gar faicinn. -- Mairi will be seeing us. (lit: Mary will be at our seeing)ag iarraidh -- asking, wanting
Chan eil iad 'ga h-iarraidh. -- They don't want her. (lit: they're not at her wanting)
ii) Regular NounsI said earlier that a direct object was almost always in the nominative case. The only exception to this is the direct object of a verbal noun, which always goes into the genitive:
Nominative: leabhar
Genitive: leabhair
Tha mi a' leughadh an leabhair. -- I am reading the book.Nominative: òran
Genitive: òrain
Bha iad a' seinn an òrain. -- They were singing the song.Nominative: pìob
Genitive: pìoba
Bidh mi a' cluich na pìoba. -- I'll be playing the pipe.
"Fo" (under) and "de" (of) both aspirate a following noun and put it in the dative case. When combined with a definite article they become "fo'n" and "de'n", respectively; however you may also see the newer spellings "fon" and "dhen".
Since most of the uses of the English word "of" are rendered by the genitive case in Gaelic, the word "de" is mainly used when describing one "of" a certain quantity of things, e.g.:
aon de na balaich -- one of the boys
té de na boireannaich -- one of the women
(té [f.], "one (woman)") (boireannach [m.], "a female")The prepositional pronouns of "de" are: dhiom, dhiot, dheth, dhith, dhinn, dhibh, and dhiubh. Of these, "dheth" (of him) and "dhiubh" (of them) are most common.
The following song, "Oran America" (Song (to) America), is widely considered to have been the first Gaelic song ever written in North America. The author was a Mrs. MacRae from Kintail, who had emigrated from Kintail in Scotland to the Carolinas in the mid 18th-century, after Culloden. The song takes the form of a lullaby to her child, and contains the vivid impressions of an immigrant newly arrived in a strange land. People who remained in Kintail eventually learned of MacRae's song, and took it to Cape Breton when they themselves emigrated to the New World in the early 19th century.
When reading the lyrics of a Gaelic song it helps to take into account the changes that are made for the sake of euphony. Grammar itself can be condensed or distorted, but usually the main changes are to vocabulary. Verbal nouns tend to lose their "a'" or "ag"; nouns ending in a vowel sometimes lose that vowel; "agus" becomes "'us" or even just "s"; "a" disappears after "nuair"; etc. However, with practice the context makes the meaning clear. An English translation follows the song.
(Oran America)
Déan cadalan sàmhach, a chuilean (déan cadalan, "sleep") mo rùin; (sàmhach, "quiet") (cuilean [m.], "pup") Déan fuireach mar tha thu, (rùn [m.], "darling") an-dràsd' 'san àit' ùr; (déan fuireach, "remain") (mar, "as") Tha òganaich againn làn beairteis (àite [m.], "place") (ùr, "new") 'us mùirn, (òganach [m.], "young man") 'S ma bhios thu 'nad aire 's (làn, "full") (beartas [m.], "wealth") leat feareigin dhiubh. (mùirn [f.], "affection") (ann an aire, "careful") (feareigin, "(some)one") Gur th'ann an America tha sinn (gur th'ann, "that it is" (emphatic)) an-dràsd, Fo dhubhar na coille nach teirig (dubhar [m.], "shade") (teirig, "go") gu bràth, (gu bràth, "for ever") Nuair dh'fhalbhas an dùdlachd 's (dùdlachd [f.], "depth of winter") a thionndas am blàths, (tionndaidh, "turn") (blàths, "warmth") Bidh cnothan 'us ubhlan 's an (cnò [f.], "nut") (ubhal [m.], "apple") t-siùcar a' fàs. (siùcar [m.], "sugar")
Tha sinne mar Innseanaich (Innseanach [m.], "Indian") cinnteach gu leòr, (cinnteach, "sure") (gu leòr, "enough") Fo dhubhar nan craobh cha bhi aon againn beò, (beò, "alive") Coin-alladh 'us béistean ag (coin-alladh, "wolves") éigheach 's gach froig, (béist [f.], "beast") (éigh, "roar") Tha sinne 'nar n-éiginn o'n (froig [f.], "hole, den") thréig sinn Rìgh Deòrs'. (éiginn [f.], "difficulty, distress") (tréig, "leave, forsake") (Rìgh Deòrs', "King George", i.e. Great Britain) Gur beag orm fhéin cuid de na (gur beag orm, "I have no esteem for") treud a tha ann, (treud [m.], "herd, mob") Le 'n còtaichean sgàrlaid 's (còta [m.], "coat") (sgàrlaid, "red") ad mhór air an ceann, (ceann [m.], "head") Le 'm briogaisean fada 'dol (briogais(ean) [m.], "trousers") seachad an glùin, (fada, "long") (glùn [f.], "knee") Chan fhaic sinn an t-osan 's e (chan fhaic, "won't see") bochdainn sin leinn. (osan [m.], "kilt socks") (bochdainn [f.], "affliction, loss") Mo shoraidh an-dràsd' gu Ceann- (soraidh [f.], "greeting, farewell") t-Sàile nam bó, (Ceann an t-Sàile, "Kintail") Far 'n d'fhuair mi òg m'àrach (far, "where") (àrach [m.], "upbringing") 'nam phàisde beag òg, (pàisde [m.], "child") Bhiodh òigearan sgoinneil air (òigear [m.], "young man") bhonnaibh ri ceòl, (sgoinneil, "worthy, decent") 'Us nighneagan dualach 's an (air bhonnaibh, "on (their) feet") gruaidh mar an ròs. (nighneag [f.], "girl") (dualach, "curly-haired") (gruaidh [f.], "cheek") (ròs [m.], "rose") Nuair thigeadh am foghar a-staigh (foghar [m.], "autumn, harvest") oirnn bhiodh sunnd, (sunnd [m.], "delight") Bheirt' fiadh as an fhireach (bheirte, "was seized") 'us bradan as grunnd; (fiadh [m.], "deer") Na soithichean-sgadan 'tighinn (fireach [m.], "moor") dhachaidh fo shiùil, (bradan [m.], "salmon") Le 'n òigearan sgairteil nach (grunnd [m.], "the depth") taiseadh ri smùid. (soitheach-sgadan, "herring-boat") (dhachaidh, "homewards") (fo shiùil, "under sail") (sgairteil, "energetic") (tais, "soften") (ri smùid, "against the spray")
(Translation: Sleep peacefully, my cub, my darling, / Stay as you are in this new place, / The lads here are full of wealth and affection, / and if you are careful one of them will be yours. / It is in America that we are now, / In the darkness of forests that never end, / When the depth of winter leaves and the warmth returns, / There'll be nuts and apples and sugar growing. / We are like Indians surely enough, / Under the darkness of the trees there'll be none of us alive, / Wolves and beasts howling in each den, / We are in great difficulty since we left (the realm of) King George. / I care little for those people that are here, / With redcoats and a big hat on their heads, / With long trousers going past the knee, / We never the see the kilt socks [i.e. the Highland garb] and that's distressing to us. / My greeting now to Kintail of the cattle, / Where I got my upbringing and I a child at the time, / Excellent young men would be on their feet to the music / and curly-haired girls with cheeks like the rose. / When autumn would come upon us all would be happy, / Deer was taken from the moor and salmon from the depths, / The herring-boats coming home under sail / With the young men undaunted by the spray.)