Caibidil a hOcht:The possessive pronouns (na hAidiachtaí Sealbhacha) |
adjectival possessive pronouns subst. possessive pronouns prepositions und possessive pronouns usage |
The possessive pronouns are counted as adjectives, because they can only operate adjectivally (with a further noun) and not as a noun (autonomously, without a further noun). (One needs auxilliary words to express the latter). This is where the term "aidiachtaí sealbhacha" instead of "forainmneacha sealbhacha".
English | general | L/E | contrast form | preceding a vowel | with a noun in the plural |
with a noun in the plural (contrast form) |
my | mo | L | mo ....sa/se | m' | mo chuid | mo chuid ....sa/se |
your | do | L | do ....sa/se | d' | do chuid | do chuid ....sa/se |
his | a | L | a ....san/sean | a | a chuid | a chuid ....san/sean |
ihr | a | - | a ....sa/se | a h.... | a cuid | a cuid ....sa/se |
our | ár | E | ár ....na/ne | ár n-.... | ár gcuid | ár gcuid ....na/ne |
your (pl.) | bhur | E | bhur .... sa/se | bhur n-.... | bhur gcuid | bhur gcuid ....sa/se |
ihr | a | E | a .... san/sean | a n-.... | a gcuid | a gcuid ....san/sean |
in Connemara instead of ár also ar,
instead of bhur also 'ur, instead of d'
also t' (e.g.: t'uncail = your uncle)
Sometimes instead of m' also mh' comes up
(mh'athair = my father)
In Ulster instead of bhur also mur
at least in the pronunciation ([mur]).
In Connemara there are also (except after mo and do) the following pronouns
seisean, sise, muide, sibhse, siadsan as
the contrast form (e.g.: ar leabhar muide = our book, 'ur gcarr sibhse =
your car). This stronger contrast is often necessary, because there all
possessive pronouns (except mo, do) sound the same: a, a, a, ar, 'ur, a (all.:
[@])
The usage of cuid ( = part)
preceding a consonant | preceding a vowel | plural | ||||
Englist | Irish | Irish emphatic | English | Irish | English | Irish |
my car | mo charr | mo charrsa | my uncle | m'uncail | my cars | mo chuid carranna |
your car | do charr | do charrsa | your uncle | d'uncail | your cars | do chuid carranna |
his car | a charr | a charrsan | his uncle | a uncail | his cars | a chuid carranna |
her car | a carr | a carrsa | her uncle | a huncail | her cars | a cuid carranna |
our car | ár gcarr | ár gcarrna | our uncle | ár n-uncail | our cars | ár gcuid carranna |
your car | bhur gcarr | bhur gcarrsa | your uncle | bhur n-uncail | your cars | bhur gcuid carranna |
their car | a gcarr | a gcarrsan | their uncle | a n-uncail | their cars | a gcuid carranna |
further examples:
mo leabhar = my book
mo leabharsa = my book
mo chuid leabhar = my books
mo chuid leabharsa = my books
mo chuid Gaeilge = my Irish
mo chuid Gaeilgese = my Irish
English | general | plural* |
mine | mo cheannsa | mo chuidse |
yours | do cheannsa | do chuidse |
his | a cheannsan | a chuidsean |
hers | a ceannsa | a cuidse |
ours | ár gceann-na | ár gcuidne |
yours | bhur gceannsa | bhur gcuidse |
theirs | a gceannsan | a gcuidsean |
* Plural form also for non-countable things in the singular. For persons muintir instead of cuid (mo mhuintirse = my (people))
Words like"mine", "yours" etc. , also subst. possessive pronouns, that do not
require an additional noun are not present in Irish.
In order to make statements like "mine", "yours", one uses the nouns ceann
("head") or cuid ("share") or muintir ("people").
By juxtaposition, ("my thing and yours") one simply repeats the noun ("mo rudsa
agus do rudsa").
examples:
Sin é mo cheannsa = That is mine.
Sin é mo chuidse = Those are mine.
mo leabharsa agus do leabharsa = my book
and yours
mo chuid leabharsa agus do chuidse = my
books and yours
mo chuid Gaeilge agus do chuidse = my Irish
and yours
Statements like "the book is mine" are not made with the possessive
pronouns, but with the preposition le as an expression
of ownership:
Is liomsa an leabhar = the book is mine.
Is leatsa an leabhar = the book is yours.
Is linne na bróga = the shoes are
ours.
Possessive pronominal forms of the prepositions:
Some prepositions fuse with following possessive pronouns. These would be those
ensing in a vowel as well as, in certain usages, also ar (in the sense
of after that).
- | de (of) | do (to) | faoi (under) | i (in) | le (with) | ó (from) | trí (through) | go (with) | ar (on) |
mo (my) | de mo | do mo | faoi mo | i mo | le mo | ó mo | trí mo | go mo | ar mo |
do (your) | de do | do do | faoi do | i do | le do | ó do | trí do | go do | ar do |
a (his) | dá | dá, á | faoina | ina | lena | óna | trína | gona | arna, ar a |
a (her) | dá | dá, á | faoina | ina | lena | óna | trína | gona | arna, ar a |
ár (our) | dár | dár | faoinár | inár | lenár | ónár | trínár | gonár | arnár, ar ár |
bhur (your)(pl.) | de bhur | do bhur | faoi bhur | in bhur | le bhur | ó bhur | trí bhur | go bhur | ar bhur |
a (their) | dá | dá, á | faoina | ina | lena | óna | trína | gona | arna, ar a |
In Munster, also in the 1st and 2nd persons one uses combinations:
lem, led, óm, ód, dom, dod, im, id, fém, féd, etc. instead of
le mo, le do, ó mo, ó do, do mo, do do, i mo, i do, faoi mo, faoi do.
e.g.: im leabhar < i mo leabhar = in my book
In Munster and Connacht there are in part also further combinations in the 2nd person plural due to the mostly vowel-centered pronunciation of bhur as [u:r] or [@]: le nbhur, ó nbhur, trí nbhur, etc. These do not apply as standard forms, because in the standard, the consonantal pronunciation [vu:r] is favoured. Only in bhur has remained in the standard, wherby here, "in" is to be seen as an alternative for the eclipsis in bhur.
Do (to): By usage as the object of the verbal nouns in
the progressive and passive tenses: á
instead of dá
e.g.: Tá mé á mholadh = I praise him. (lit.:
"am I to his praising")
If it does not occur with a verbal noun, then dá
instead of á
e.g.: Thug mé dá chara é = I gave it to his friend
(lit.: "gave I to his friend it")
In Connacht, one uses dhá in
both cases.
In Munster, there are also special forms in der progressive of the 1st
and 2nd person: am, ad, that most likely
actually belong to ag (otherwise dom, dod)
e.g.: Tá mé ad mholadh < Tá mé do
do mholadh = I praise you. (lit.: "am I to your praising")
Go (with): gona is like go, archaic
and is only here for the sake of completeness.
The common preposition go (to) does not used this form, instead
go dtí a = to his, but colloquially sometimes also combinations
like go dtína = to his).
Ar (on): arna precedes only the
verbal noun in the meaning "after", "after that". Otherwise always ar
a.
arna chur in eagar ag ... = published by... ("after-his laying in order
by...")
It is the rest of the archaic, eclipsis triggering preposition iar = after,
that falls together with a in modern Irish (iar n-a > iarna > arna).
The connecting consonant -n- in ina, óna,
faoina, etc. was originally only common after i, go and iar (> ar) , while
these prepositions triggered eclipsis (ans also n-prefix) (i n-a >
ina, go n-a > gona, iar n-a > arna).
With the other prepositions it was just added to the end (óna, faoina,
lena, trína)