Irish Class, April 13, 2009
Rang Gaeilge, 13ú lá mí Aibreáin
Again most the lights in
the classroom were out this evening when I arrived. However, this time I was able to
find one of the building staff and get it fixed before class started. Much better!
(Looking at the cuts
on my left hand:)
I fought the saw, and the saw won.
Throid mé an sábh, agus
an sábh bhuaigh.
| scríob | scratch, scrape | f2 |
| scráib | scratch, scrape | f2 |
| sméar | (black)berry | f2 |
More on the special construction for the case of
Tá + verbal noun +
pronoun object
| mé → do mo | (lenited VN) | me (“for my”) |
| thú → do do | (lenited VN) | you (singular) (“for your”) |
| é → á | (lenited VN) | him (“for his”) |
| í → á | (no initial change VN) | her (“for her”) |
| muid → dár | (eclipsed VN) | us (“for our”) |
| sibh → do bhur | (eclipsed VN) | you (plural) (“for your”) |
| iad → á | (eclipsed VN) | them (“for their”) |
Tá tú do mo leanuint. |
You are following me | “You are for my following” |
Bhí sé á gceannach. |
He was buying them. | “He was for their buying.” do /go/ here. |
Important: All of this applies only to simple uses of bí,
not to modal contructs like “Tá orm….”
| Is féidir liom | I can … | |
| B’fheidir liom | I could | B’fheidir ← Ba fhéidir (copula) |
| b’fheidir | maybe, perhaps | |
Cleachtadh Aistrithe — Translation Exercise
-
A: Did you know it is Thomas’s birthday tomorrow?
An raibh a fhios agat go bhfuil lá breithe ag Tomás amarach?/
An raibh a fhios agat gur lá breithe Thomáis í amarach?gur dependent copula í copula construct. -
B: Yes, we’ll go out to the pub, as we do every year.
Bhí’s. Rachaid muid amach go dtí an teach tábhairne mar a
dhéanann muid gach bliain.Above is Connacht. C.O. rachaimid, dhéanaimid
Bhí’s Yes, I knew /vi:s/(not /vi:s’/)
Bhí’s ← Bhí a fhios agamTá’s Yes, I know mar like mar sin like that amach out (motion) amuigh out (stationary isteach in (motion) istigh in stationary Tá’s/Bhí’s is one the rare cases where you use more than just the verb to give
an affirmative answer. -
A: Will you be making a cake for him today?
An mbeidh tú ag déanamh císte dó inniu?císte cake m4 (festive) cáca cake m4 (more like bread). Don’t forget the fada! -
B: No. I’ll be making it for him the day after tomorrow, when I’m
sure I won’t see it again after drinking.
Ní bheidh. Beidh mé á dhéanamh dó arú amárach, nuair a bhfuil mé
cinnte nach bhfeicfidh mé arist é tar eis a bheith ag ól.á dhéanamh lenited because císte (& cáca) are masculine nouns tar éis after sometimes /he:s’/ a bheith was being Progressive form. A
period in time, not a point in time.tar eis a bheith ag ól “after being at drinking” -
A: Well, isn’t that a nice picture?
Bhuel, nach é sin pictiúr deas?nach negative interrogative copula (Also negative
dependent and relative copula)<!–
–>
<!–
–>
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 