LESSON NINE -- AN NAOITHEAMH LEASAN
The Genitive Case and Surnames
One of the benefits of learning about the genitive case is finding out how Gaelic surnames work. Since every surname starting with "Mac" means "son of" something, the second part of the surname is always in the genitive case. Here are some common examples:
mac + Aodh, "fire" (?) = Mac Aoidh, "son of Aodh", "son of fire" (?)
(anglicized as MacKay; the Irish anglicization is Magee)mac + Aonghas, "Angus" = Mac Aonghais, "son of Angus"
(anglicized as MacInnes; the Irish anglicization is Guinness or Hennessey)mac + Calum, "Calum" = Mac Chaluim, "son of Calum"
(anglicized as MacCallum)mac + Conn, (Conn of the Hundred Battles) = Mac Cuinn, "son of Conn"
(anglicized as MacQueen)mac + Dòmhnall, "Donald" = Mac Dhòmhnaill, "son of Donald"
(anglicized as MacDonald, MacDonnell)mac + Eòghann, "Ewan" = Mac Eòghainn, "son of Ewan"
(anglicized as MacEwan, McEwen, McKeown etc.)mac + gille bàn, "fair lad" = Mac a' Ghille Bhàin, "son of the fair lad"
(anglicized as MacBean, MacBain, Bain etc.)mac + gille Eathain, "servant of John" = Mac Ghille Eathain, "son of the servant of John"
(anglicized as MacLean)mac + gobhann [m.], "blacksmith" = Mac a' Ghobhainn, "son of the smith"
(anglicized as McCowan, MacGowan, Smith etc.)mac + Niall, "Neil" = Mac Nèill, "son of Neil"
(anglicized as MacNeil)mac + sagart [m.], "priest" = Mac an t-Sagairt, "son of the priest"
(anglicized as MacTaggart, Taggart etc.)mac + saor [m.], "carpenter" = Mac an t-Saoir, "son of the carpenter"
(anglicized as MacIntyre)mac + tòiseach [m.], "chief" = Mac an Tòisich, "son of the chief")
(anglicized as MacIntosh)The word "clan" itself comes from Gaelic "clann", which means "children, offspring, descendants" and which despite its plural meaning is a singular (feminine) noun. The genitive case of "mac" is "mic", often abbreviated to "'ic", so that clans would be referred to as (e.g.) "Clann 'ic Dhòmhnaill", children of the son of Donald, "Clann 'ic Nèill", children of the son of Neil, etc.
Only men are designated with "Mac". Traditionally unmarried women have taken "Nic" (short for "nighean mhic", daughter of the son) instead; for example "Frangag Nic Eachairn", literally "Frances the daughter of the son of Eacharn", anglicized as "Frances McEachern". It used to be more common to refer to a married woman whose husband's name was (for example) MacAoidh (MacKay) as "bean Mhic Aoidh", wife of MacKay, rather than as NicAoidh, but this practice appears to be dying out.
Since Gaelic-speaking people often still live around people sharing the same surname, the clan name has been much less important to personal identity than the nickname and the patronymic. People would distinguish one Angus MacDonald from another by noting who their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grand-fathers were. For instance, one Angus might be Aonghas 'Ic Sheumais 'Ic Nèill 'Ic Thòmais (Angus, the son of James, the son of Neil, the son of Thomas) and the other Aonghas 'Ic Chaluim 'Ic Dhonnchaidh 'Ic Raghnaill 'Ic Sheumais (Angus, the son of Calum, the son of Duncan, the son of Ronald, the son of James).
Prepositions and their Cases
i) Prepositions with the Dative
Up till now most of the prepositions we've learned have caused the nouns following them to go into the dative case. This is true of le / leis ("with"), aig ("at"), air ("on"), ri / ris ("to"), do ("to"), ann an / anns an ("in"), á / as ("from"), de / de'n ("from"), and fo / fo'n ("under"). The remaining ones we haven't learned and which also take the dative case are:
mu -- about roimh -- before
troimh -- through bho / o -- from"Mu" and "bho" combine with the definite article to become "mu'n" and "bho'n". The modern spellings of "roimh" and "troimh" are "ro" and "tro", and these also combine with the article to form "ron" (before the) and "tron" (through the), respectively. However the older forms "roimh" and "troimh" are still in wide use.
The two forms "bho" and "o" (meaning "of") are interchangeable.
All of the above prepositions aspirate an indefinite noun:
mu phàirt -- about a part
troimh thìr -- through a land
roimh fhear -- before a man
bho chéilidh -- from a ceilidhThe prepositional pronouns for most of the above are rare, but those for "bho" or "o" are common and worth giving here:
(bh)uam -- from me
(bh)uat -- from you
(bh)uaithe -- from him
(bh)uaipe -- from her
(bh)uainn -- from us
(bh)uaibh -- from you
(bh)uapa -- from themE.g. the first line of the song "Cumha Cheap Breatainn" (the Lament for Cape Breton): "Chì mi bhuam, fada bhuam..." (I see from-me, far away from-me...)
ii) Prepositions with the NominativeThere are six of these:
mar -- like, as
eadar -- between
gun -- without
gu ruige -- to
gus -- until, as far as
seach -- past"Mar" and "gun" aspirate a following noun. The only one of these prepositions which combines with pronouns is "eadar":
eadarainn -- between us
eadaraibh -- between you
eatorra -- between them
iii) Prepositions with the GenitiveThere are four "simple" (one-word) prepositions which put the following noun into the genitive case:
thar -- across, over
chun / thun -- to, towards
ré -- during
trìd -- on account ofExamples:
an oidhche -- the night -->
ré na h-oidhche -- during the nightan abhainn -- the river -->
thar na h-aibhne -- across the riveram Mòd -- the Mod (a Gaelic festival or gathering) -->
chun a' Mhòid -- to the ModThe prepositional pronouns of "chun" are: thugam, thugad, thuige, thuice, thugainn, thugaibh, thuca. E.g.: "sgrìobh litir thugam", write a letter to me.
Compound Prepositions
The compound prepositions consist of two words and always (with the exception of "gu ruige" above) put the noun following into the genitive:
a dh'ionnsaigh -- towards
a-chum -- to, in order to
air beulaibh -- in front of
air cùl(aibh) -- behind
air feadh -- throughout
air son -- for, for the sake of (usually written "airson")
am measg -- amongst
an aghaidh -- against
an deidh -- after
as aonais -- without
a thaobh -- concerning, regarding
fa chomhair -- opposite
mu choinneamh -- opposite
mu dheidhinn -- about, concerning
mu thimcheall -- around
os cionn -- over, on top of
ri taobh -- besideHere are some examples. The ones in quotations are lines from songs.
air feadh na coille -- throughout the forest
mu thimcheall a' bhaile -- around the town
mu choinneamh na h-eaglaise -- opposite the church
ri taobh an taigh-òsda -- beside the hotel
air beulaibh an rathaid -- in front of the road"Beir an t-soraidh seo a dh'ionnsaigh Muile." -- Take this greeting to Mull.
"Uiseagan os cionn an t-sléibhe". -- Skylarks on top of the mountain.
As with normal prepositions, compound prepositions cannot be followed by the personal pronouns mi, thu, e, i, sinn, sibh, or iad. Instead they incorporate the pronoun in one of two ways. The most common way is to put the corresponding *possessive* pronoun between the two words of the compound, for example:mu dheidhinn -- concerning, about -->
mu mo dheidhinn -- about me
mu do dheidhinn -- about you
mu a dheidhinn -- about him
mu a deidhinn -- about her
mu ar deidhinn -- about us
mu ur deidhinn -- about you
mu an deidhinn -- about themNote that the possessives behave as they normally do: "a" meaning "him" aspirates "deidhinn" whereas "a" meaning "her" does not, etc.
Some of the compound prepositions that begin with a vowel (but not all) behave differently. They combine their first word with the possessive pronoun:
"an deidh", after -->
'nam dheidh -- after me
'nad dheidh -- after you
'na dheidh -- after him
'na deidh -- after her
'nar deidh -- after us
'nur deidh -- after you
'nan deidh -- after them"A dh'ionnsaigh" (to, towards) uses 'gam, 'gad, 'ga, 'gar, 'gur and 'gan instead of 'nam, 'nad, 'na, etc.
Copula
Gaelic has not one, but two verbs which correspond to the English verb "to be". One of these verbs is "bi" and its forms which we've looked at already (tha, bha, bidh, bhiodh, etc). "Bi" is normally used to join a noun to an adjective ("I am sick", "he is tall"), or to describe the action of a verbal noun ("they are running", "we are walking"). What "bi" cannot do is directly join a noun with another noun, to say that Thing A is Thing B, for instance "I'm Neil" or "he is the King" or "that was the end". In a sentence of this kind, "Thing A" is called the "subject" and "Thing B" is called the "predicate", and the verb that joins them is called the "copula". In Gaelic, the basic form of that copula verb is (coincidentally enough) "is". Sentences using "is" are typically subdivided for convenience. The first type is called the identification sentence and tells you *who* or *what* someone is. The subject in this kind of sentence is usually a personal pronoun and the emphatic forms are almost always used:
Is mise Niall. -- I am Neil.
Is tusa Iain. -- You are Iain.
Is ise Màiri. -- She is Mary.
Is esan an t-ollamh. -- He is the professor.
Is iadsan Sìne agus Calum. -- They are Jenny and Calum.However, when the subject is not a pronoun, but is a proper name or a noun preceded by a definite article or a possessive, "is" is followed by "e" ("Is e...", often abbreviated as "Se...") which comes before the subject:
Is e Dòmhnall an tidsear. -- Donald is the teacher.
Is e Anna mo phiuthar. -- Anna is my sister.
Is e Seumas an sagart againn. -- Seumas is our priest.
Is e m'athair am ministear. -- My father is the minister.
Is e an Tighearna mo bhuachaille. -- The Lord is my shepherd.When the subject is not a pronoun *or* a proper name *or* a definite noun, we keep "Is e" but add a relative clause to the copula:
Is e seinneadair a tha ann an Iain. -- Ian is a singer. (Literally: it's a singer that is in Ian).
Is e bàrd a tha ann am Màiri. -- Mary is a poet. (Literally: it's a poet that is in Mary).(This is obviously similar to the "Tha Iain 'na sheinneadair" and "Tha Màiri 'na bàrd" kinds of sentences we learned earlier). Since "ann an" is still a preposition, it cannot be followed by a pronoun but must use a combined form. These forms are annam ("in me"), annad ("in you"), ann ("in him"), innte ("in her"), annainn ("in us"), annaibh ("in you"), and annta ("in them"):
Is e oileanaich a tha annta. -- They are students. (Literally: it's students that are in them). Is e Ameireaganach a tha innte. -- She is an American. (Literally: it's an American that is in her).
A fourth kind of copula sentence involves an adjective as the predicate. Normally sentences using "bi" are reserved for joining nouns with adjectives, as mentioned earlier, but "is" is used when strong emphasis is required to convey the sense or for poetic effect, e.g.:
"Is beannaichte na daoine macanta". -- "Blessed are the meek." (lit: "the meek people")
This lends a sense of permanency that "tha" cannot give. The use of "is" with adjectives is also common in Gaelic song.
Copula Questions, Negative Form etc.
Questions involving the copula are asked using "an" ("am" before b, f, m, or p) or, for a negative question, "nach":
An ise Peigi? -- Is she Peggy?
Nach tusa Iain? -- Aren't you Iain?
An e Seonag do mhàthair? -- Is Seonag your mother?
Nach e Uilleam do bhràthair? -- Isn't William your brother?
An e tidsear a tha annad? -- Are you a teacher?
Nach e dotair a tha ann an Pòl? -- Isn't Paul a doctor?The negative form of "is" is "cha" (or "chan" before a vowel), which causes aspiration:
Cha mhise Calum. -- I am not Calum.
Chan e Seumas an tidsear. -- Seumas is not the teacher.
Chan e saor a tha annam. -- I am not a carpenter. (saor [m.])The normal "yes" answer to a copula question in the present tense is "Is e" or "Se". The normal "no" answer is "Chan e". However in questions where the subject is a pronoun, the "yes" is "is" plus the unemphatic form of the pronoun and "no" is "cha" plus the unemphatic form of the pronoun:
Q. An tusa Niall? -- Are you Neil?
A. Is mi. -- I am. A. Cha mhi. -- I am not.And so endeth the lesson. Keep an eye out for the reading, which will be sent separately.
Today's reading is two versions of the 23rd Psalm in Gaelic, the first of which is a version in plain prose taken from a Gaelic Bible, and the second of which is the psalm arranged for music (the tune is very similar to "Amazing Grace"). My reason for choosing these was to introduce some basic vocabulary and to explain it. Following both passages there are a collection of notes about some of the more interesting words.
In the vocabulary given at the right any unusual plural or genitive or dative forms will be marked with square brackets [pl], [gs] and [ds] respectively; for instance "eòin [pl] eun" means "eòin is the irregular plural of eun (a bird)". "Mara [gs] muir" means "mara is the irregular genitive singular of muir (sea)", etc. Prepositions that take the dative or genitive will be marked [+ d] and [+ s], respectively.
Salm 23
1. Is e an Tighearna mo bhuachaille; cha bhi mi ann an dìth. (dìth [f.], "need, deficiency")
2. Ann an cluainean glasa (cluain [f.], "meadow, plain") bheir e orm laighe sìos; (glas, "green, lush") (thoir air, "compel") làimh ri uisgeachan ciùine (sìos, "down") (làimh ri [+ g], "next to") treòraichidh e mi. (uisgeachan [pl] uisge) (treòraich, "lead, guide")
3. Aisigidh e m'anam; (aisig, "restore") (anam [m.], "soul") treòraichidh e mi air slighean (slighe [f.], "way, path, journey") na fìreantachd air sgàth a (fìreantachd [f.], "righteousness") ainme fhèin. (air sgàth [+ g], "for the sake of")
4. Seadh, ged shiubhail mi (seadh, "surely, indeed") tro ghleann sgàil a' bhàis, (siubhail, "travel") (tro = troimh) cha bhi eagal uilc orm, oir (sgàil [m.], "shadow") tha thusa maille rium; bheir (uilc [gs] olc [m.], "evil") (oir, "for") do shlat agus do lorg (maille ri, "along with") comhfhurtachd dhomh. (slat [f.], "rod") (lorg [f.], "staff") (comhfhurtachd [f.], "comfort")
5. Deasaichidh tu bòrd fa mo chomhair ann am fianais (ann am fianais [+ g], "in the presence of") mo naimhdean; dh'ung thu le (naimhdean [pl] nàimhaid [m.], "enemy") ola mo cheann; tha mo chupan (ung, "anoint") (ola [m.], "oil) a' cur thairis. (ceann [m.], "head") (cupan [m.], "cup") (cuir thairis, "overflow")
6. Gu cinnteach leanaidh math (lean, "follow") agus tròcair mi uile làithean (tròcair [f.], "mercy, compassion") mo bheatha; agus còmhnaichidh (uile, "all") (làithean [pl] latha) ann an taigh an Tighearna fad (còmhnaich, "dwell") mo làithean. (fad [+ g], "the length of")[Notes on selected vocabulary:
1) "buachaille" means only "shepherd" or "cowherd" in Scots Gaelic, but still means "boy" generally in Irish;
2) the word "cluain" meaning "meadow" gives two famous Irish place names, "Cluain Meala" (Meadow of Honey) -- Clonmel, and "Cluain Tairbh" (Bull Meadow) -- Clontarf.
3) "Glas" only means "green" with reference to grass; normally it means "grey". (Similarly "gorm" also means "green" with reference to grass (e.g. the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland) but for other objects it means only "blue"). The usual word for the colour green is "uaine".
4) The word "aisig" also means "ferry". It seems to have come from the Old Irish equivalent of "ais" (back) plus "ìoc" (pay); to restore is also to make restitution.
5) "Sgàth" came from "shadow" and also means "shelter" or "protection".
6) "Seadh" is a contraction of "Is eadh", meaning "it is". It's the closest Gaelic equivalent to the English word "yes". Its negative form is "chan eadh".
7) The verbal noun "a' siubhal" (travelling, journeying) also means "dying".
8) "Eagal" is from the Old Irish negative prefix é ("not") plus "gal", bravery.
9) "Lorg" also means a mark or a trace; "a' lorg" means "tracing, looking for".
10) "Deasaich" (prepare) is related to "deas", meaning "right" (as in "làmh dheas", right hand) and "south".
11) "Fianais" normally means "witness, testimony, evidence".
12) "Ung" is related through Latin to the English word "unctuous", having an oily manner.
13) "Thairis" is a prepositional pronoun form combining "thar" (across) with "e" (him, it). "A' cur thairis", which can also mean "capsizing", literally means "putting over it".
14) The word "beatha" (life) also appears in the surname variously spelt MacBeth, McVey, or MacVeigh -- "son of life".)And now for the musical version, which is somewhat different:
Salm XXIII
Is e Dia fhèin as buachaill' dhomh, Cha bhi mi ann an dìth; Bheir e fa-near gun laighinn (thoir fa-near, "consider") sìos (gun, "that") air cluainean glas' le sìth. (sìth [f.], "peace")
Is fòs ri taobh nan (fòs, "yet, still") aibhnichean (aibhnichean [pl] abhainn [f.], "river") Thèid seachad sìos gu mall, (mall, "slow") A tha e 'ga mo threòrachadh, gu mìn rèidh anns gach ball. (mìn, "tender, fine") (rèidh, "at peace") (ball [m.], "limb, part of the body") Tha 'g aiseag m'anam dhomh air ais, (air ais, "back again") 'S a' treòrachadh mo cheum (ceum [m.], "step") Air slighean glan' na (glan, "clean, pure") fìreantachd, Air sgàth dheagh ainme fhèin.
Seadh, fòs ged ghluaisinn (gluais, "move") eadhon trìd (eadhon, "even") ghlinn dorcha sgàil a' bhàis, (glinn [pl] gleann) Aon olc no urchuid a theachd (urchuid [f.], "harm, mischief") orm (teachd, "arrive") chan eagal leam 's cha chàs; (càs [m.], "dilemma, predicament")
Airson gu bheil thu leam (gu bheil, "that") a-ghnàth, (a-ghnàth, "always, habitually") Do lorg, 's do bhata treun, (bata [m.], "staff") Tha iad a' tabhairt (a' tabhairt = a' toirt, "giving") comhfhurtachd Is fuasglaidh dhomh am fheum. (fuasgladh [m.], "rescue") (feum [f.], "need, hardship") Dhomh dheasaich bòrd air beul (air beul = air beulaibh) mo nàmh: le ola dh'ung mo cheann; Cur thairis tha mo chupan fòs, Aig meud an làin a th'ann. (meud [m.], "quantity, amount") (làn [m.], "fullness") Ach leanaidh math is tròcair rium, an cian a bhios mi beò; (an cian, "as long as") Is còmhnaicheam an àros Dhè, (àros [m.], "house") (Dhè [gs] Dia, "God") Ri fad mo rè 's mo lò. (ré [f.], "time, space") (lò, variant of làtha)
Notes:
1) "Dia" (God) comes from the same ancient roots as "Deus", "diva", "divine", etc.
2) "Abhainn" (river) is an old Celtic word, and gave the river Avon in England its name.
3) "Ball" has a number of different meanings, including "limb", "member (of a family, society etc.)", "spot", or "object". "Air ball" means "on the spot" or "immediately".
4) "Càs" is related to the Latin "casus" (fall, accident).
5) "Fuasgladh" (rescue) literally means "opening" or "loosening".
6) "Beul" in Old Irish meant "mouth" or "front"; "air beulaibh" (in front of) is from the same root.
7) "Làn" (full, fullness) is distantly related to Latin "plenus". "Aig meud an làin a th'ann" literally means "at the amount of the fullness that is in it".
8) "Cian" is "a long time". Another way to say "forever" is "gu cian nan cian".
9) "Còmhnaicheam" is the verb "còmhnaich" (dwell, inhabit) plus the now mainly obsolete first-person suffix "-eam". Ultimately this is a relic of Irish grammar within the language; in modern SG you only see it in very formal contexts, like the religious one here. In the Bible "guidheam ort" (guidh, "beg, pray" + "-eam") is still used to mean "I pray you, I beseech you", etc.
10) "Àros" is a rare word for "house" in SG, but is better known in Irish as the name of the President's house: "Áras an Uachtaráin" or "the Áras" for short.