Goireasan Akerbeltz - Obair a' chleachdaiche [gd]

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2026-02-21T10:45:38Z

Akerbeltz: /* And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| sealastair || flag iris || sealastair, seileastair, seilistear, siolastar and eileastair and feileastair || soilestar/ailestar "flag iris" || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin salicastrum, an unidentified bog-plant. The Irish forms are similarly varied and include soileastar, siolastar, eileastram, feileastram and alastram
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne and of course Engl. Gascony
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Existentials or I think therefore I am

2026-02-13T17:56:59Z

Akerbeltz:

This is where you either start to love or hate the word ann. Existentials is a fancy word for "expressions that talk about the existence of things" although the use of ann goes a bit beyond that as we will see. And before we start, it is the "same" ann as the preposition in (click [[Ann an|here]] for more details), only with a somewhat different function.

Let's start with the easy bit first. Ann is used in Gaelic to express the notion of something existing, or not existing, as the case may be:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha mi ann || 1. I exist 2. I am there/here
|-
| a bheil Dia ann? || 1. Does God exist? 2. Is there a god? (the answer to both is no, by the way)
|-
| chan eil taibhsean ann || 1. Ghosts do not exist. 2. There are no ghosts.
|-
| 's e a tha ann... || Fact is ...
|-
| ann bho shean || in existence of old
|-
| an tu a th' ann? || is it you?
|-
| airgead ann no ás || money or no money
|-
|}

As you can see, there is more than one way to translate some of the above Gaelic statements. In Gaelic, the exact connotation has to be inferred from context, which isn't much of a problem, if you think about it. Thuirt Descartes "Tha smuaint annam is mar sin tha mi ann" translated as "I think therefore I am". Of course, it can't really mean anything, unless it's a novel in which Descartes is telling someone he is present. And in any case, to be honest, there isn't much of a difference between 'does God exist?' and 'is there a god?'.

Not that difficult so far. But ann also has another function which is a bit harder to pin down. In general terms, ann can be said to have an emphasising force. Let's look at some examples so you will know what I'm talking about:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Rinn mi ann e! || I've already done it!
|-
| Cha bhi e a' sabaid ann. || He will not be fighting at all.
|-
| Chan eil aithne aca air an té ann. || They don't know her at all.
|-
| An t-amadan a tha thu ann! || Fool that you are!
|-
| Tha taibhse anns an taigh ann! || There is a ghost in that house!
|-
|}

As you can see, although Gaelic uses the same construction in all the above examples, there are a number of different constructions we have to use in English.

The easiest way to deal with them is perhaps to translate the "extra" ann with it-exists and then see what is the most logical interpretation. No, I'm not running out of ideas - there are a number of things in Gaelic which just juxtapose two concepts and leave it to the listener to figure the most logical connection. Think of a construction like bhàsaich m' athair 's mi 'nam bhalach òg. Here, ann is best treated as emphasising the existence, or non-existence, of something or somebody.

So, the first example would be "did I it-exists it" - what I did really exists > I really did it. The second one would be "not will-be he fighting it-exists" - his fighting will not exist > he will not fight at all and "be ghost in the house it-exists" > a ghost does exist in that house.

This also explains the subtle difference between the following pairs of sentences:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha cù fon bhòrd || there is a dog under the table
|-
| tha cù ann fon bhòrd || there is a dog under the table
|-
| tha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear || there is a £50 voucher in the paper
|-
| tha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear ann || there is a £50 voucher in the paper
|-
|}

While the first variant of these Gaelic sentences simply makes a "neutral" statement about the existence of item X, the second variant emphasises the existence of item X, perhaps in response to someone doubting the fact or to express surprise of the fact. Possible scenarios would be the following:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Alasdair, bheil fhios a'd dè thachair rium an-diugh? Cheannaich mi am Pàipear Beag agus bha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear ann!
|-
| Bha mi aig Caisteal Urchadain sa mhadainn agus abair iongantas a bh' orm nuair a chunna mi an t-uilebheist air a' chladach! Cha robh mi a' creidsinn ann roimhe ach thà uilebheist anns an loch ann!
|-
|}

There is another construction which is connected to this use of ann for existentials. Most of you will be familiar with the constructions 's e X a tha annam and tha mi 'nam X - but you may not be aware of the subtle difference between them as most grammars tend to sidestep this issue.

The difference is one of disposition/inherent attribute and non-permanence. In less fancy terms, the first, 's e ..., is "permanent" and the second, tha e 'na..., is "transient". Let's look at some examples:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| 's e banaltram a tha innte || she is a nurse
|-
| 's e oileanach a tha ann || he is a student
|-
| 's e balach beag a tha ann || he is a little boy
|-
| tha i 'na draibhear bus || she is a bus driver
|-
| tha e 'na oileanach || he is a student
|-
| tha e 'na bhalach beag || he is a little boy
|-
|}

Didn't I say something about a difference? There is, but it's difficult to literally translate into English. It is best seen when you use the phrases above together, at least the first two:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha i 'na draibhear bus an-dràsda ach 's e banaltram a tha innte || she is a bus driver now but she really is a nurse
|-
| tha e 'na oileanach ach chan e oileanach a tha ann || he is a student but he isn't a student
|-
|}

The first sentence implies that Mrs. X trained as a nurse, and really wants to be one, but because the hospital closed she's temporarily working as a bus driver.

Our student is enrolled at university, and thus technically speaking a student, but isn't much of a scholar because he's as thick as two short planks and never goes to lectures.

If you think of ann in these examples stressing existence, it kind of makes sense - 's e oileanach a tha ann = be-he student that be exist - where you are essentially making a statement about existence twice!

Let's hope you're the latter!!

And one last thing, if you struggle to remember which is which, think of it this way, you're only asleep temportarily so tha mi 'nam chadal - so therfore the 'nam, 'nad, 'na etc construction is the one that implies impermanence.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Existentials or I think therefore I am

2026-02-13T17:39:16Z

Akerbeltz:

This is where you either start to love or hate the word ann. Existentials is a fancy word for "expressions that talk about the existence of things" although the use of ann goes a bit beyond that as we will see. And before we start, it is the "same" ann as the preposition in (click [[Ann an|here]] for more details), only with a somewhat different function.

Let's start with the easy bit first. Ann is used in Gaelic to express the notion of something existing, or not existing, as the case may be:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha mi ann || 1. I exist 2. I am there/here
|-
| a bheil Dia ann? || 1. Does God exist? 2. Is there a god? (the answer to both is no, by the way)
|-
| chan eil taibhsean ann || 1. Ghosts do not exist. 2. There are no ghosts.
|-
| 's e a tha ann... || Fact is ...
|-
| ann bho shean || in existence of old
|-
| an tu a th' ann? || is it you?
|-
| airgead ann no ás || money or no money
|-
|}

As you can see, there is more than one way to translate some of the above Gaelic statements. In Gaelic, the exact connotation has to be inferred from context, which isn't much of a problem, if you think about it. Thuirt Descartes "Tha smuaint annam is mar sin tha mi ann" translated as "I think therefore I am". Of course, it can't really mean anything, unless it's a novel in which Descartes is telling someone he is present. And in any case, to be honest, there isn't much of a difference between 'does God exist?' and 'is there a god?'.

Not that difficult so far. But ann also has another function which is a bit harder to pin down. In general terms, ann can be said to have an emphasising force. Let's look at some examples so you will know what I'm talking about:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Rinn mi ann e! || I've already done it!
|-
| Cha bhi e a' sabaid ann. || He will not be fighting at all.
|-
| Chan eil aithne aca air an té ann. || They don't know her at all.
|-
| An t-amadan a tha thu ann! || Fool that you are!
|-
| Tha taibhse anns an taigh ann! || There is a ghost in that house!
|-
|}

As you can see, although Gaelic uses the same construction in all the above examples, there are a number of different constructions we have to use in English.

The easiest way to deal with them is perhaps to translate the "extra" ann with it-exists and then see what is the most logical interpretation. No, I'm not running out of ideas - there are a number of things in Gaelic which just juxtapose two concepts and leave it to the listener to figure the most logical connection. Think of a construction like bhàsaich m' athair 's mi 'nam bhalach òg. Here, ann is best treated as emphasising the existence, or non-existence, of something or somebody.

So, the first example would be "did I it-exists it" - what I did really exists > I really did it. The second one would be "not will-be he fighting it-exists" - his fighting will not exist > he will not fight at all and "be ghost in the house it-exists" > a ghost does exist in that house.

This also explains the subtle difference between the following pairs of sentences:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha cù fon bhòrd || there is a dog under the table
|-
| tha cù ann fon bhòrd || there is a dog under the table
|-
| tha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear || there is a £50 voucher in the paper
|-
| tha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear ann || there is a £50 voucher in the paper
|-
|}

While the first variant of these Gaelic sentences simply makes a "neutral" statement about the existence of item X, the second variant emphasises the existence of item X, perhaps in response to someone doubting the fact or to express surprise of the fact. Possible scenarios would be the following:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Alasdair, bheil fhios a'd dè thachair rium an-diugh? Cheannaich mi am Pàipear Beag agus bha eàrlas £50 anns a' phàipear ann!
|-
| Bha mi aig Caisteal Urchadain sa mhadainn agus abair iongantas a bh' orm nuair a chunna mi an t-uilebheist air a' chladach! Cha robh mi a' creidsinn ann roimhe ach thà uilebheist anns an loch ann!
|-
|}

There is another construction which is connected to this use of ann for existentials. Most of you will be familiar with the constructions 's e X a tha annam and tha mi 'nam X - but you may not be aware of the subtle difference between them as most grammars tend to sidestep this issue.

The difference is one of disposition/inherent attribute and non-permanence. In less fancy terms, the first, 's e ..., is "permanent" and the second, tha e 'na..., is "transient". Let's look at some examples:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| 's e banaltram a tha innte || she is a nurse
|-
| 's e oileanach a tha ann || he is a student
|-
| 's e balach beag a tha ann || he is a little boy
|-
| tha i 'na draibhear bus || she is a bus driver
|-
| tha e 'na oileanach || he is a student
|-
| tha e 'na bhalach beag || he is a little boy
|-
|}

Didn't I say something about a difference? There is, but it's difficult to literally translate into English. It is best seen when you use the phrases above together, at least the first two:

{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| tha i 'na draibhear bus an-dràsda ach 's e banaltram a tha innte || she is a bus driver now but she really is a nurse
|-
| tha e 'na oileanach ach chan e oileanach a tha ann || he is a student but he isn't a student
|-
|}

The first sentence implies that Mrs. X trained as a nurse, and really wants to be one, but because the hospital closed she's temporarily working as a bus driver.

Our student is enrolled at university, and thus technically speaking a student, but isn't much of a scholar because he's as thick as two short planks and never goes to lectures.

If you think of ann in these examples stressing existence, it kind of makes sense - 's e oileanach a tha ann = be-he student that be exist - where you are essentially making a statement about existence twice!

Let's hope you're the latter!!

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Chaidh e dhan chéilidh is mi cho tinn or The mystery of the agus

2026-01-14T11:05:45Z

Akerbeltz: /* Tasol, i pinis */

I'm sure you've come across mysterious constructions with agus stuck right in the middle of them. Such a sentence could look like this: bha agam ri dol a dh'obair is mi cho tinn ris a' chù.

==Heck, another mindbender...==
For once, the explanation of how to translate this and how to use it is simple.

Gaelic allows the speaker to juxtapose two concepts in a sentence and link them together by using is or agus. It is then up to the listener to infer the meaning. Before you get out the baseball bat, that just means you take two phrases, connect them with is or agus, and leave the listener to determine the relationship between the two phrases. No kidding.

Take the two statements above: bha agam ri dol a dh'obair and bha mi cho tinn ris a' chù. The meaning of each of those sentences is clear. Now, connect them with agus (most commonly its short form 's), lose the second verb, whatever it is, and you get bha agam ri dol a dh'obair is mi cho tinn ris a' chù. The agus tells the listener "here are two statements, you figure how they are connected."

The nice thing about this is that you can make quite complex and varied statements using the same construction. The only problem is that you have to be careful you don't make statements which are too ambiguous. The above most likely translates as "I had to go to work even though I was so ill".

Using two different sentences, the connection changes - rinn mi mearachd and bha mi 'nam ghille òg. Put them together and you get rinn mi mearachd is mi 'nam ghille òg. This translates as "I made a mistake when I was (only) a young lad" simply because that's the most intuitive way in which these two concepts can be related to each other.

[[Faidhle:timeodanaos.jpg|thumb|right]]Without a given context, some of these sentences are more ambiguous than others. Consider bha mi a' tuiteam 'nam cadal is ceòl san t-seòmar eile. That could either mean that you were falling asleep because of the music (maybe it was jazz...) or that you were falling asleep but music in the other room kept you from actually sleeping. However, in speech, phrases without context are rare.

Gaelic isn't unique in having such a multi-function approach to the word "and". Latin et normally means "and" but it can also double up as "though, even if". As in the famous Latin expression timeō Danaōs '''et''' dōna ferentīs - "I fear the Danaans, even though they bring gifts". In German und "and" can also be used to put two events into a sequence, for example Er fuhr nach Thailand '''und''' ging schnorcheln means "he went to Thailand and (then) went snorkelling" with the implication that he did the snorkelling in Thailand. So German und here, like in Gaelic, juxtaposes two events which are somehow linked more closely than simply a list of events i.e. it's not the case our lucky friend went to Thailand and then, totally unrelated to his time in Thailand, went snorkelling.

==Isn't that the copula?==
No. Just as a reminder, the copula is the verb is that's used when the predicate is a noun or noun phrase, for example in is mise do nighean. There's an easy test to determine if is is the copula. If it's the copula, then we should be able to turn is into its past tense form bu. But, clearly a sentence like *rinn mi mearachd bu mhi 'nam ghille òg is ungrammatical. So it can not be the copula.

==How about the 's in adverbs, prepositions and so on?==
Yes. You're thinking of phrases like air sgàth ''''s''' gu bheil e beò - "because he is alive" or fiù ''''s''' na daoine a dh'fhalbh - "even the people who left". These can appear with the long form agus as air sgàth '''agus''' gu bheil e beò or fiù '''agus''' na daoine a dh'fhalbh, but the long form is much rarer than the short form.

Other examples would be:
* corr ''''s''' mìle bliadhna more than 1000 years
* tuilleadh ''''s''' a' chòir crùbagan too many crabs
* tha ''''s''' mise me too

==So how do I translate it?==
Well... obviously that depends upon the interpretation. It's one of those words you can't really give a list of translations for, beyond ''and''. It could be ''because'', it could be ''although'' or ''in spite of'' ... depends.

It's not that crazy. Other languages use the opposite method i.e. they just give you a blank and you have to imagine the conceptual link. Think of that quote by Julius Caesar, veni vidi vici. It's most commonly translated as ''I came, I saw '''and''' I conquered''. Now regardless of your Latin skills, I challenge you to find the Latin word for ''and'' (-que) in there.

Or an English expression like (say when talking about a headache) - ''it comes, it goes'' where you have to interpret these two phrases as being linked by ''and''. At least Gaelic gives you a headsup.

==[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/em_tasol Em tasol], [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pinis#Tok_Pisin i pinis]==
That's it really. Whenever you come across such an 's or agus in a place where you'd not expect one, think of it as an '''unspecified conceptual link'''.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Ann an

2025-08-02T09:23:59Z

Akerbeltz: /* Ah sandhi */

One of the more straightforward ones but let's look at the paradigm:
{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| mi || thu || e || i || sinn || sibh || iad
|-
| annam || annad || ann || innte || annainn || annaibh || annta
|-
| [aNəm / uNəm] || [aNəd] || [ãũN] || [ĩːNʲdʲə] || [ aNɪNʲ / uNɪNʲ] || [aNəv / uNəv] || [ãũNdə]
|-
|}
No, we haven't suddenly joined the dialects camp but the IPA pronunciations in brackets are so commonly heard that we have to mention them.

==What gives?==
For starters, begin with ann an [aNən], the word for "in". Even though it's written as two words, it's pronounced as if it were one word. That's the quick answer.

Here's the longer answer. If we look at Old Irish, we find that the word for "in" was simply in(d). In modern Irish, this has been retained, so we get in Éirinn - "in Ireland". And we already know that in Gaelic ann an is basically saying the same thing twice. In ann an, we have the third person ann meaning "there" or "in him" and the original "in" word - an. So technically we're saying in-in. Why you might rightly ask. Well, not entirely sure. The literature does not say much about this but it's probably something to do with an overkill of an forms in Gaelic. To start with, you have the definite article an - the. Then there's the possessive an - their. There's also the question particle an - an robh... And, in spoken speech, there are a profusion of other particles which come out as [ə]. As long as in(d), in Old Irish, stayed [ind], things were fine. But when the in(d) changed to an [ən], we were suddenly in trouble when a new an came to town.

You might ask - so what? It matters because you could end up with a phrase like an taigh without knowing whether that's supposed to mean "the house" or "in a house", and there's a big difference in meaning between those examples. So, to make sure the other person understands what you mean, you say the same thing twice. Belt and braces really. No, I'm not crazy, this is quite common in languages.

For example, in French, you could originally negate a verb just using ne: et se ce fere ne volez. At some point, people started to reinforce this ne with words like pas (step), grain (seed), mien (crumb), goutte (drop), and so on, depending on the context. Through time, only pas survived, probably because it was common in Parisian French. So, the new way of stating a negation was with a double negative ne...pas, for example, je ne comprends pas. The neat thing is that with pas well established, ne is losing out fast. This can be seen in the colloquial phrase je comprends pas which French people use, regularly. But, we're not here to talk about French.

In Gaelic, in very limited circumstances, you can drop the ann. Most often, this happens in written Gaelic, especially if it's vaguely poetic writing. But, in the spoken language, ann an dominates. In certain joined forms, which always show up together, such as am measg, an déidh, an aghaidh, an dùil, and so on, you also get just an. And lastly, before place names an also shows up relatively frequently, as in bha iad an Glaschu "they were in Glasgow". Basically, an is sufficient because no potential confusion will arise from that sentence. You can not come up with a meaningful sentence putting an "their" or an "the" in front of Glaschu - without sounding weird or wrong.

The primary use of ann an is really rather boring. It just means "in" and is used similarly in English:
{| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| ann an taigh || in a house
|-
| ann an Dùn Èideann || in Edinburgh
|-
| ann an Glaschu || in Glasgow
|-
| ann an cana || in a can
|-
|}

==Ah sandhi==
No, not a bloke from Glesga, it's a Sanskrit word for funny stuff that happens to sounds at word boundaries. Technically lenition is a form of sandhi.

So, I want to mention here that ann an, before labials (b, bh, p, m, f), changes to ann am [aNəm]. But, more importantly, the -n strengthens to a [N] or a [Nʲ] in front of vowels depending on whether the next vowel is broad or slender and jumps from the end of [aNəN ~ aNəNʲ] to the next word:
{| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| ann an Bealach || [aNəm bjaLəx] || in Balloch
|-
| ann am muga || [aNəm mugə] || in a mug
|-
| ann an ubhal || [aNə Nu.əL] || in an apple
|-
| ann an aisling || [aNə Naʃlɪŋʲgʰ] || in a dream
|-
| ann an Éirinn || [aNə NʲeːrʲɪNʲ] || in Ireland
|-
| ann an Ìle || [aNə Nʲiːlə] || in Islay
|-
|}
It's not quite as mad as it seems - think of English for a moment. You write "an apple" but if you say it reasonably fast, it comes out as "a napple". Incidentally, that's exactly what happened to the word nickname. Back in the 14th century, people used an ekename. But, at some point, some bright cookie (?!) figured that it must be "a nickname" rather than an ekename. Or the word "nuncle" which is "an uncle" fused together. Anyway.

In Manx, this has led to some amusing (well, from the Gaelic point of view) joined forms. For example, in Manx the word for Ireland is Nerin and the word for Scotland is Nalbyn.

==Let's add another complication==
It gets a bit more interesting when we add the definite article to ann an. For starters, it's apparent that there are three different forms that it can take: anns an, san and sa. Well, five if you count anns an t- and san t-, as extras:
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" width="25%" align="left" | Before
! scope="col" width="25%" align="left" | Example
! scope="col" width="25%" align="left" | Pronunciation
! scope="col" width="25%" align="left" | Meaning
|- valign="top"
| vowels, f || anns an Òban || [ãũNs ə Nɔːban] || in Oban
|-
| || anns an ola || [ãũns ə NɔLə] || in the oil
|-
| || anns an iris || [ãũNs ə Nʲirʲɪʃ] || in the magazine
|-
| || anns an fhìrinn || [ãũNs ə NʲirʲɪNʲ] || in the truth
|-
| b c g m p || anns a' bhàta || [ãũNs ə vaːhdə] || in the boat
|-
| || anns a' choire || [ãũNs ə xɔrʲə] || in the kettle
|-
| || anns a' phìob || [ãũNs ə fiːb] || in the pipe
|-
| s, sn, sl, sr || anns an t-sròn || [ãũNs əN trɔːn] || in the nose
|-
| || anns an t-sùil || [ãũNs əN tuːl] || in the eye
|-
| || anns an t-snàthad || [ãũNs əN traː.əd] || in the needle
|-
| d n t l || anns an taigh || [ãũNs əN tɤj] || in the house
|-
| || anns an dùn || [ãũNs əN duːn] || in the fortress
|-
| || anns an loch || [ãũNs əN Lɔx] || in the loch
|-
|}
Meaning? Well, the Old Irish word "in" fused with the definite article sind=the to give us the conjoined form issind, which also happened to prompt lenition. Actually, there were loads of different forms because Old Irish had three genders so it also had a feminine and neuter gender for sind and issind, plus a few extra cases. But that will do, for our purposes. This fusing process ultimately yielded the Irish sa(n) and Gaelic sa(n). Further change caused issind to drop the initial i- and the final -d - and the result was sin. Bingo. The -d only shows up in front of words which begin with an s - don't ask why. And through further alteration, the -d turned up as a t-, in modern Gaelic.

So, first riddle solved - the [[As t-samhradh or The mysterious t-|seemingly mysterious t-]], that shows up is not random at all, just a remainder of something very old.

But, back to san. Presumably, when Gaelic added the ann to an, it also did that in front of san, just to be consistent. So we could have gotten *ann san, but we didn't. For the same reason iss-ind runs of the tongue better than i-ssind, the s- crept back to the ann > anns an.

Since the older sa(n) did not have any competition the way an had, there was less pressure to add the ann to it. So, at least in spoken Gaelic, san and sa are just as common as anns an. Other than one exception, they work exactly the same way as anns an. The exception is that you can not have the short sa in front of s - so *sa t-sùil is not acceptable. However, it's fine with san so san t-sùil is acceptable.

In colloquial Gaelic, there's a further simplification: anns an is often shortened to [ãsə]. In this case, note that the nasalisation of the [ã] is very important because without nasalization it sounds exactly the same as ás a' [asə] - "out of".

What else? Notice in the plurals it shows up as anns na (h-), just as expected. It behaves just like the plural definite article so you get anns na beanntan "in the mountains", anns na h-ubhlan "in the apples", and so on.

==Idioms==
The only tricky part is that although the Gaelic ann an is often used when English uses "in", this is not always the case. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a regular pattern and these expressions just have to be learned. Here are a few examples:
{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| maol anns a' chlaisneachd || hard of hearing
|-
| cuir dàil anns a' chùis || delay the matter
|-
| anns an achlais || under the arms
|-
| cuir e anns an t-soitheach || put it into the dish
|-
| anns a' bheachd sin || of that opinion
|-
| anns a' chamhanaich || at dawn
|-
| anns an àm cheudna || at the same time
|-
| anns a' chladach || on the shore
|-
|}

==And the fun existentials==
What else? Well, (ann) an also provides us with existentials or, in other words, ways of saying that something exists, for example, 's e cù a tha ann "it is a dog" - which indicates that the dog exists. That's the main use for the conjugated forms annam, annad, ann, innte, annainn, annaibh, annta. For more on existentials, click [[Existentials or I think therefore I am|here]].

Our old friend "in" is also the source of the following conjoined forms
{| style="width: 60%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| 'nam / 'na mo || 'nad / 'na do || 'na || 'na (h-) || 'nar (n-) || 'nur (n-) || 'nan/'nam
|-
| in my || in your || in his || in her || in our || in your || in their
|-
|}
For example, Tha cù 'nad chàr "there is a dog in your car". All that has happened is that an has merged with the possessive pronouns mo, do, a, a, ar, ur, an/am to create blended forms.

The first two forms 'nam and 'nad occasionally show up as 'na mo and 'na do but they behave the same way. In many cases, that happens when the next word begins with a vowel. So, for example, you get tha cù 'na mo chàr and tha cù 'nam ospadal simply because it's a bit harder to say two consonants together.

That's it really so before I start wittering, I'll say oidhche mhath!

Hang on, there is one more thing we need to talk about but that's best done on a separate page on [[Stative Verbs or How to run in suspended animation|stative verbs]]
 
 
{{Teamplaid:Roimhearan}}

Expressions of Time

2025-04-04T21:24:58Z

Akerbeltz: /* The Days of the Week */

Temporal adverbial expressions - or how to say when something happened. To start, let's take a look at the choices we have:

==Adverbs of Time==
These are itsy words that you can add on to a phrase or sentence to tell people when something happened.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| a-bhòn-uiridh || an-uiridh || am bliadhna || an ath-bhliadhna1|| — || —
|-
| the year before last || last year || this year || next year|| — || —
|-
| a-bhòin-dé || an-dé || an-diugh || a-màireach || an-earar || an-eararais
|-
| the day before yesterday || yesterday || today || tomorrow || the day after tomorrow||three days from now
|-
| a-bhòn-raoir || an-raoir || a-nochd || an ath-oidhche|| — || —
|-
| the night before last || last night || tonight || tomorrow night || — || —
|-
|}
1Note that in terms of pronunciation, this is treated as a close compound i.e. it is reduced to /ə'NafləN/ by native speakers and almost never */ə'Na vliəNə/

This does not mean that you cannot say <year after next> in Gaelic, it just means that there is no single, easy word for it. Instead you have to employ periphrastic expressions.

{| style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| — || am bliadhna || an ath-bhliadhna
|-
| — || this year || next year
|-
| — || a-nochd || an ath-oidhche
|-
| — || tonight || tomorrow night
|-
| an t-seachdainn seo chaidh || an t-seachdainn-sa || an ath-sheachdain
|-
| last week || this week || next week
|-
|}

==The Days of the Week==

{| style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| DiLuain || DiMàirt || DiCiadain || DiarDaoin || DihAoine || DiSathairne || DiDòmhnaich
|-
| Monday || Tuesday || Wednesday || Thursday || Friday || Saturday || Sunday
|-
|}

Sunday is also called Latha na Sàbaid. Traditionally the usage between the two depends on your denomination. Catholics and Episcopalians use DiDòmhnaich and Presbyterians use Latha na Sàbaid. For non-denominational reasons, we prefer DiDòmhnaich because it fits in with the rest of the paradigm. Be sure to pronounce the long vowel in Sàbaid, otherwise it becomes Latha na Sabaid, 'the Day of Fighting'.

The prefix Di- is the equivalent of the English -day suffix. However, unlike English, it's the prefix that's modified to express the concepts of <Monday afternoon>, <Friday night> etc:

{| style="width: 95%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| madainn Luain || madainn Mhàirt || madainn Chiadain || madainn arDaoin || madainn hAoine || madainn Sathairne || madainnn Dòmhnaich
|-
| Monday morning || Tuesday morning || Wednesday morning || Thursday morning || Friday morning || Saturday morning || Sunday morning
|-
| feasgar Luain || feasgar Màirt || feasgar Ciadain || feasgar arDaoin || feasgar hAoine || feasgar Sathairne || feasgar Dòmhnaich
|-
| Monday afternoon || Tuesday afternoon || Wednesday afternoon || Thursday afternoon || Friday afternoon || Saturday afternoon || Sunday afternoon
|-
| oidhche Luain || oidhche Mhàirt || oidhche Chiadain || oidhche arDaoin || oidhche hAoine || oidhche Shathairne|| oidhche Dhòmhnaich
|-
| Monday night || Tuesday night || Wednesday night || Thursday night || Friday night || Saturday night || Sunday night
|-
|}

That's the theory anyway. But, in colloquial usage, you'll often hear people saying things like feasgar DihAoine, madainn DiMàirt, etc. The most common ones in colloquial usage are the expressions with oidhche such as oidhche Luain, oidhche Mhàrt, etc.

==The Months==
For memorisation purposes, it's useful to note that from September onwards all months are feminine in gender! There are alternate names for some of the months, but we strongly suggest you stick with the recommended ones. Learning a language is difficult enough without having to worry about having 5 different choices for one term.

{| style="width: 80%;"
|-
| Gaelic || Genitive || English || Alternate Names
|-
| Am Faoilteach (masc.) || ... an Fhaoiltich || January || Am Faoilleach (an Fhaoillich); Mìos Marbh; Deireadh-Geamhraidh
|-
| An Gearran (masc.) || ... a' Ghearrain || February ||
|-
| Am Màrt (masc.) || ... a' Mhàirt || March ||
|-
| An Giblean (masc.) || ... a' Ghiblein || April ||
|-
| An Céitean (masc.) || ... a' Chéitein || May || A' Mhàigh (fem.) (... na Màighe)
|-
| An t-Ògmhios (masc.) || ... an Ògmhiosa || June || Meadhan-Samhraidh
|-
| An t-Iuchar (masc.) || ... an Iuchair || July || Deireadh-Samhraidh; Mìos Buidhe
|-
| An Lùnastal (masc.) || ... an Lùnastail || August ||
|-
| An t-Sultain (fem.) || ... na Sultaine || September ||
|-
| An Dàmhair (fem.) || ... na Dàmhair || October ||
|-
| An t-Samhain (fem.) || ... na Samhna || November ||
|-
| An Dùbhlachd (fem.) || ... na Dùbhlachd || December || Mìos na Nollaig
|-
|}

The date in Gaelic is given in the form of ''the Xth day of the month''. A few examples:
{| style="width: 40%"
|-
| 1st March || A' chiad latha dhen Mhàrt
|-
| 24th June || An ceathramh latha ar fhichead dhen Ògmhios
|-
| 31st September || A' chiad latha deug ar fhichead dhen t-Sultain
|-
| 22nd December || An dàrna latha ar fhichead dhen Dùbhlachd
|-
|}

Individual years are said by giving the 'hundreds' first and then the 'tens', for example:

{| style="width: 40%"
|-
| 1272 || dà cheud deug * trì fichead is a dhà dheug
|-
| 1817 || ochd ceud deug * is seachd deug
|-
| 1995 || naoidh ceud deug ceithir fichead * is a cóig deug
|-
| 2000 || bliadhna dà mhìle
|-
| 2003 || dà mhìle * is a trì
|-
|}

Similar to English, B.C. and A.D. are expressed as R.C. standing for ro Chrìosd and A.D. standing for as déidh Chrìosd, for example,
347 B.C. is trì ceud dà fhichead is a seachd ro Chrìosd. Optionally, sa bhliadhna can be prefixed to any date for clarification, for example, sa bhliadhna naoi ceud deug trì fichead is a ceithir <in the year 1964>.

BCE? No, we don't use it, because it's pointless. It still uses the same date as a reference point so it's no less "offensive" (???) than B.C. or A.D. and just adds to the confusion.

==The Seasons==
The four seasons are expressed as follows. Notice that the short form of saying <in X> differs slightly from the long form!:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| spring || summer || autumn || winter
|-
| earrach (m) gen. & pl. earraich || an-samhradh (m) gen. samhraidh pl. samhraidhean || foghar (m) gen. foghair pl. foghairean || geamhradh (m) gen. geamhraidh pl. geamhraidhean
|-
| in spring || in summer || in autumn || in winter
|-
| as t-earrach || as t-samhradh || as t-fhoghar || anns a' gheamhradh
|-
| in the spring || in the summer || in the autumn || in the winter
|-
| anns an earrach || anns an t-samhradh || anns an fhoghar || anns a' gheamhradh
|-
|}

==The Holidays of the Year==
Note that while the word for day is normally ''latha'', in these special calendar dates this has shortened to ''Là''.

{| style="width: 90%;"
|-
| Faoi. 1 || Là na Bliadhna Ùire || New Year's Day || Callainn (fem) (...na Callainne); Nollaig Bheag (fem.) (... na Nollaig Bige)
|-
| Faoi. 6 || Là nan Trì Rìgh || Epiphany || Là Fhéill nan Rìgh; Féill an Taisbeanaidh
|-
| Gearr. 2 || Là Fhéill Brìghde || Candlemas || Là Fhéill Brìghde nan Coinnlean; Là Féill Moire nan Coinnlean
|-
| Gearr. 14 || Là Fhéill Bhaileintin || Valentine's Day ||
|-
| Gearr.|| Là na Bliadhna Ùire Sìnich || Chinese New Year ||
|-
| Gearr. || DiMàirt Inid || Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day ||
|-
| Gearr. || DiCiadain na Luaithre || Ash Wednesday ||
|-
| Gearr. || An Carghas (masc.) (... a' Charghais) || Lent ||
|-
| Màrt 1 || Là Dhàibhidh || St. David's Day ||
|-
| Màrt || Là na Màthar || Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday
|-
| Màrt 17 || Là Phàdraig || St. Patrick's Day || Là Fhéill Pàdraig
|-
| Màrt || Seachdain na Càisge || Holy Week ||
|-
| Màrt || DiDòmhnaich Tùrnais || Palm Sunday ||
|-
| Màrt || DiArdaoin a' Bhrochain Mhóir || Maundy Thursday || DiArdaoin Inid
|-
| Màrt || DihAoine na Ceusta || Good Friday ||
|-
| Màrt || A' Chàisg (fem.) (... na Càisge) || Easter ||
|-
| Màrt || DiSathairne na Càisge || Easter Saturday ||
|-
| Màrt || A' Chàisg Mhór || Easter Sunday || Là Guileagain; Là Bàs nan Uighean; DiDòmhnaich na Càisge
|-
| Màrt || DiLuain na Càisge || Easter Monday ||
|-
| Màrt || Co-fhad-tràth an Earraich || Vernal Equinox ||
|-
| Gibl. 1 || Là na Gogaireachd || April Fool's Day || Là Ruith na Cuthaige
|-
| Gibl. 23 || Là Fhéill Seòrais || St. George's Day ||
|-
| Céit. 1 || Là Bealltainn || May Day/Beltane ||
|-
| Céit. || Deasghabhail (fem.) (... na Deasghabhalach) || Ascension Day || DiArdaoin Freastail
|-
| Céit. || Caingis (fem. indef.) || Pentecost/Whit Sunday ||
|-
| Céit. || DiDòmhnaich na Trianaid || Trinity Sunday ||
|-
| Céit. || DiArdaoin Corp Crìosda || Corpus Christi Transfiguration
|-
| Céit. || Là Fhéill an Earraich || Spring Bank Holiday ||
|-
| Ògmh. || Là an Athar || Father's Day ||
|-
| Ògmh. 21 || Grianstad an t-Samhraidh Là Leth an t-Samhraidh || Summer Solstice Midsummer's Day
|-
| Iuch. 15 || Là Màrtainn Builg || St. Swithen's Day ||
|-
| Lùna. 1 || Lùghnasa || Lunasa (Harvest) ||
|-
| Lùna. || Là Fhéill an t-Samhraidh || Summer Bank Holiday ||
|-
| Sult. || Co-fhad-tràth an Fhoghair || Autumnal Equinox ||
|-
| Damh. 31 || Oidhche Shamhna || All Souls' Day/Hallowe'en ||
|-
| Damh. 31 Samh. 1 || Là Samhna || Samhain || Là Fhéill Samhna
|-
| Samh. 1 || Là nan Uile Naomh || All Saints' Day ||
|-
| Samh. 5 || Oidhche Ghuy Fawkes || Guy Fawkes' Night ||
|-
| Samh. 11 || Là nan Cuimhneachan || Rememberance Day ||
|-
| Samh. || DiDòmhnaich nan Cuimhneachan || Rememberance Sunday ||
|-
| Samh. || Aidbheint (fem.) (... na h-Aidmheint) || Advent ||
|-
| Samh. || A' Chiad Dòmhnaich dhen Aidmheint || Advent Sunday ||
|-
| Samh. || Là na Taingealachd || Thanksgiving || Là Buidheachais an Fhoghair; Là Taingealachd an Fhoghair
|-
| Samh. 30 || Là Chill Rìbhinn || St. Andrew's Day ||
|-
| Dùbh. 6 || Là Bodach na Nollaig || St. Nicholas' Day ||
|-
| Dùbh. 21 || Grianstad a' Gheamhraidh || Winter Solstice ||
|-
| Dùbh. || An Nollaig (fem.) (...na Nollaige) || Christmas
|-
| Dùbh. 24 || Oidhche nam Bannag || Christmas Eve || Oidhche na Nollaig
|-
| Dùbh. 25 || Là na Nollaig || Christmas Day || Là nam Bannag
|-
| Dùbh. 26 || || Boxing Day/St. Stephen's Day ||
|-
| Dùbh. 28 || Là Fhéill nan Leanabhan Neoichiontach || Feast of the Holy Innocents ||
|-
| Dùbh. 31 || Oidhche Challainn || Hogmanay/New Year's Eve ||
|-
|}

==Other Adverbs of Time==

Most adverbs are formed by the prepositon gu + ADJ, but there are a number of adverbs that have different formations:

{| style="width: 50%;"
|-
| a chaoidh || for ever (after)
|-
| a chlisgeadh || suddenly, abruptly
|-
| a dh'aithghearr || soon, in a short while
|-
| a dh'oidhche || by night, at night time
|-
| a ghnàth || habitually, always
|-
| a h-uile turas || every time
|-
| a h-uile uair || every time, always
|-
| a latha || by day, at daytime
|-
| ainneamh || seldom
|-
| (ann) an ceartair || 1) +FUT in a moment 2) +PAST just now
|-
| an-còmhnaidh || always, continually
|-
| an-dràsta || now (in a more broad sense)
|-
| an-sin || whereupon, then
|-
| air a' mhionaid || this moment, minute
|-
| air an uair || just now
|-
| air chionn do ... || by the time that ....
|-
| air ball || immediately, straightaway
|-
| air tùs || in the beginning, at first
|-
| air uairibh || sometimes, at times
|-
| (am) fad is a ... || while
|-
| am feadh || while, whilst
|-
| a-nis || now (i.e. something is the case now that wasn't before)
|-
| (ann) an tiota (beag) || in a twinkling, moment
|-
| anns a' bhad || immediately, on the spot
|-
| anns a' cheart àm || in the meanwhile
|-
| a-rithist || again
|-
| á seo suas || henceforward
|-
| bho àm gu àm || from time to time, occasionally
|-
| bho chionn aimsir || some time ago, long ago
|-
| bho chionn ghoirid || a short while ago
|-
| bho chionn treis || a while ago
|-
| bho seo a-mach || henceforth
|-
| car ùine || for a time, during a period
|-
| (cho) fad is a ... || as long as ...
|-
| fa dheòigh || at last
|-
| f(h)ad is a ... || while, during
|-
| fad na h-ùine || all the time
|-
| ge be uair || whenever, at whichever time
|-
| gach uair || whenever, every time
|-
| gu bràth || forever
|-
| gu cian nan cian || for ever and ever
|-
| gu grad || abruptly
|-
| gu minig || often
|-
| gu seo || thus far, so far
|-
| gu sìorraidh || for ever and ever
|-
| gu tric || often
|-
| gun dàil || immediately, without delay
|-
| iomadh uair || often, many times
|-
| leis sin || whereupon, with which
|-
| mu dheireadh thall || at long last
|-
| mu thràth (mar-thà) || already
|-
| nas motha || no more
|-
| ré tamaill || for a time
|-
| ri h-ùine || by and by, with time
|-
| thuige seo || thus far, so far
|-
| tràth 's a ... || when
|-
| uaireannan || at times, sometimes
|-
|}

In Gaelic, adverbs of time do not require a preposition as certain English expressions do. They're simply attached at the end of the phrase, e.g.:

{| style="width: 50%;"
|-
| I saw him yesterday. || Chunnaic mi e an-dé.
|-
| I will go there on Monday. || Théid mi ann DiLuain.
|-
| He spent a little while there. || Bha e ann greis.
|-
| We were there for a week. || Bha sinn ann seachdain.
|-
| She wants to go home for a month. || Tha i ag iarraidh a dhol dhachaigh mìos.
|-
| What did you do in the afternoon? || Dé rinn thu feasgar?
|-
| Wait a moment! || Fuirich tiota!
|-
|}

In particular, the most overused word in modern Gaelic should be avoided - airson.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The Three Bs

2025-04-04T10:49:10Z

Akerbeltz:

Every language has it's ''how do you spell that again?'' words. Even languages which don't bother with letters - in Cantonese for instance, there's a three way confusion over 己 (géi 'self'), 已 (yíh 'already') and 巳 (jih ... something related to the Chinese zodiac). And it all hinges on whether you start that swervy 乚 at the very top of the 'box', the middle or the bottom. Bah humbug...

Not to be outdone, Gaelic has such things too of course. Like the Three Bs - bidh, bi and bith - all pronouced [bi] though bidh when emphasized can be long [biː].

So how do you know which one to use? Fortunately, they all appear in different environments i.e. you can tell which spelling is needed if you consider where in the sentence it sits and what comes in front of it.

==bith==
This is very restricted in its use and appears, by and large in two scenarios:
* after the [[Habemus_infinitivum_necne#and_a_bhith|infinitive particle]] a. This causes lenition, resulting in a bhith and by and large, that only appears if there's a verbal noun following, for example a bhith ag ithe, a bhith ag èisteachd, a bhith a’ bualadh and so on.
* fixed particles/phrases and some phrasal verbs, where is functions as a normal verbal noun: a’ dol à bith 'going out of existence', sam bith 'that is in existence', bith-buan 'permanent existence'

==bidh==
This is also quite restricted. It's the so-called 'independent future' of the verb 'to be' and if you recall, independent in the context of Gaelic verbs by and large just means 'nothing sits in front'. So bidh is the one to go for if none of our an/chan/nach... particles sit in front: bidh seo math, bidh iad fuar, bidh mi a’ dol ann

Note that this may appear at the start of a subclause i.e. a sentence that sits within a sentence, but there's usually a very noticeable logical break, often with a comma or a conjunction like agus, ach...: ma thèid thu a Nis, bidh e fuar sa gheamhradh

This is the one which - when used very emphatically - can be written as bithidh

==bi==
This one is perhaps the most common one and appears in two distinct scenarios.
* as the 'dependent future' of the verb 'to be' which means that a grammatical particle has to come right before it - an, chan, nach.... For example: am bi thu fuar? cha bhi thu fuar nach bi thu fuar?
* the root/dictionary form and since that in Gaelic is the [[The Imperative or How to order people around|imperative]] i.e. when ordering around someone around, that's the scenario that you will find this in, by and large. Note that the imperative bi may be preceded by the particle na: bi sàmhach!, na bi gòrach!

That's it, off the top of my head - but if I've forgotten a scenario, let me know!

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The Three Bs

2025-04-04T10:47:06Z

Akerbeltz: /* bidh */

Every language has it's ''how do you spell that again?'' words. Even languages which don't bother with letters - in Cantonese for instance, there's a three way confusion over 己 (géi 'self'), 已 (yíh 'already') and 巳 (jih ... something related to the Chinese zodiac). And it all hinges on whether you start that swervy 乚 at the very top of the 'box', the middle or the bottom. Bah humbug...

Not to be outdone, Gaelic has such things too of course. Like the Three Bs - bidh, bi and bith - all pronouced [bi] though bidh when emphasized can be long [biː].

So how do you know which one to use? Fortunately, they all appear in different environment i.e. you can tell which spelling is needed if you consider where in the sentence it sits and what comes in front of it.

==bith==
This is very restricted in its use and appears, by and large in two scenarios:
* after the [[Habemus_infinitivum_necne#and_a_bhith|infinitive particle]] a. This causes lenition, resulting in a bhith and by and large, that only appears if there's a verbal noun following, for example a bhith ag ithe, a bhith ag èisteachd, a bhith a’ bualadh and so on.
* fixed particles/phrases and some phrasal verbs, where is functions as a normal verbal noun: a’ dol à bith 'going out of existence', sam bith 'that is in existence', bith-buan 'permanent existence'

==bidh==
This is also quite restricted. It's the so-called 'independent future' of the verb 'to be' and if you recall, independent in the context of Gaelic verbs by and large just means 'nothing sits in front'. So bidh is the one to go for if none of our an/chan/nach... particles sit in front: bidh seo math, bidh iad fuar, bidh mi a’ dol ann

Note that this may appear at the start of a subclause i.e. a sentence that sits within a sentence, but there's usually a very noticeable logical break, often with a comma or a conjunction like agus, ach...: ma thèid thu a Nis, bidh e fuar sa gheamhradh

This is the one which - when used very emphatically - can be written as bithidh

==bi==
This one is perhaps the most common one and appears in two distinct scenarios.
* as the 'dependent future' of the verb 'to be' which means that a grammatical particle has to come right before it - an, chan, nach.... For example: am bi thu fuar? cha bhi thu fuar nach bi thu fuar?
* the root/dictionary form and since that in Gaelic is the [[The Imperative or How to order people around|imperative]] i.e. when ordering around someone around, that's the scenario that you will find this in, by and large. Note that the imperative bi may be preceded by the particle na: bi sàmhach!, na bi gòrach!

That's it, off the top of my head - but if I've forgotten a scenario, let me know!

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The Three Bs

2025-04-04T10:46:10Z

Akerbeltz:

Every language has it's ''how do you spell that again?'' words. Even languages which don't bother with letters - in Cantonese for instance, there's a three way confusion over 己 (géi 'self'), 已 (yíh 'already') and 巳 (jih ... something related to the Chinese zodiac). And it all hinges on whether you start that swervy 乚 at the very top of the 'box', the middle or the bottom. Bah humbug...

Not to be outdone, Gaelic has such things too of course. Like the Three Bs - bidh, bi and bith - all pronouced [bi] though bidh when emphasized can be long [biː].

So how do you know which one to use? Fortunately, they all appear in different environment i.e. you can tell which spelling is needed if you consider where in the sentence it sits and what comes in front of it.

==bith==
This is very restricted in its use and appears, by and large in two scenarios:
* after the [[Habemus_infinitivum_necne#and_a_bhith|infinitive particle]] a. This causes lenition, resulting in a bhith and by and large, that only appears if there's a verbal noun following, for example a bhith ag ithe, a bhith ag èisteachd, a bhith a’ bualadh and so on.
* fixed particles/phrases and some phrasal verbs, where is functions as a normal verbal noun: a’ dol à bith 'going out of existence', sam bith 'that is in existence', bith-buan 'permanent existence'

==bidh==
This is also quite restricted. It's the so-called 'independent future' of the verb 'to be' and if you recall, independent in the context of Gaelic verbs by and large just means 'nothing sits in front'. So bidh is the one to go for if none of our an/chan/nach... particles sit in front: bidh seo math, bidh iad fuar, bidh mi a’ dol ann

Note that this may appear at the start of a subclause i.e. a sentence that sits within a sentence, but there's usually a very noticeable logical break, often with a comma or a conjunction like agus, ach...: ma thèid thu a Nis, bidh e fuar sa gheamhradh

==bi==
This one is perhaps the most common one and appears in two distinct scenarios.
* as the 'dependent future' of the verb 'to be' which means that a grammatical particle has to come right before it - an, chan, nach.... For example: am bi thu fuar? cha bhi thu fuar nach bi thu fuar?
* the root/dictionary form and since that in Gaelic is the [[The Imperative or How to order people around|imperative]] i.e. when ordering around someone around, that's the scenario that you will find this in, by and large. Note that the imperative bi may be preceded by the particle na: bi sàmhach!, na bi gòrach!

That's it, off the top of my head - but if I've forgotten a scenario, let me know!

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The Three Bs

2025-04-04T10:44:22Z

Akerbeltz: Chaidh duilleag le "Every language has it's ''how do you spell that again?'' words. Even languages which don't bother with letters - in Cantonese for instance, there's a three way..." a chruthachadh

Every language has it's ''how do you spell that again?'' words. Even languages which don't bother with letters - in Cantonese for instance, there's a three way confusion over 己 (géi 'self'), 已 (yíh 'already') and 巳 (jih ... something related to the Chinese zodiac). And it all hinges on whether you start that swervy 乚 at the very top of the 'box', the middle or the bottom. Bah humbug...

Not to be outdone, Gaelic has such things too of course. Like the Three Bs - bidh, bi and bith - all pronouced [bi] though bidh when emphasized can be long [biː].

So how do you know which one to use? Fortunately, they all appear in different environment i.e. you can tell which spelling is needed if you consider where in the sentence it sits and what comes in front of it.

bith
This is very restricted in its use and appears, by and large in two scenarios:
* after the [[Habemus_infinitivum_necne#and_a_bhith|infinitive particle]] a. This causes lenition, resulting in a bhith and by and large, that only appears if there's a verbal noun following, for example a bhith ag ithe, a bhith ag èisteachd, a bhith a’ bualadh and so on.
* fixed particles/phrases and some phrasal verbs, where is functions as a normal verbal noun: a’ dol à bith 'going out of existence', sam bith 'that is in existence', bith-buan 'permanent existence'

bidh
This is also quite restricted. It's the so-called 'independent future' of the verb 'to be' and if you recall, independent in the context of Gaelic verbs by and large just means 'nothing sits in front'. So bidh is the one to go for if none of our an/chan/nach... particles sit in front: bidh seo math, bidh iad fuar, bidh mi a’ dol ann
Note that this may appear at the start of a subclause i.e. a sentence that sits within a sentence, but there's usually a very noticeable logical break, often with a comma or a conjunction like agus, ach...: ma thèid thu a Nis, bidh e fuar sa gheamhradh

bi
This one is perhaps the most common one and appears in two distinct scenarios.
* as the 'dependent future' of the verb 'to be' which means that a grammatical particle has to come right before it - an, chan, nach.... For example: am bi thu fuar? cha bhi thu fuar nach bi thu fuar?
* the root/dictionary form and since that in Gaelic is the [[The Imperative or How to order people around|imperative]] i.e. when ordering around someone around, that's the scenario that you will find this in, by and large. Note that the imperative bi may be preceded by the particle na: bi sàmhach!, na bi gòrach!

That's it, off the top of my head - but if I've forgotten a scenario, let me know!

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Beagan gràmair

2025-04-04T10:18:42Z

Akerbeltz: /* Dialects and other Stuff */

Chan eil a' mhórchuid dhen roinn seo air a sgrìobhadh fhathast agus is e dìreach toiseach tòiseachaidh a tha seo, ach seo liosta dhe na rudan a bhios ann. Ged nach eil sinn a' dèanamh aoraidh do Dhia Briathrachais Cànanachais, thà sinn a' cleachdadh fhaclan teicnigeach - mura cleachd, bhiodh e duilich mìneachadh gu soilleir na tha sinn an dùil a ràdh. Ach na gabh dragh, gheibh thu mìneachadh dhen a h-uile bhriathar.

----
There is not much in this section yet as we are just starting out, but this is a list of things that eventually will be found here. This is definitely not a temple to the God of Grammatical Terminology, but we do use both grammar and technical terms because it would otherwise get very difficult to express the things we need to say clearly. But not to worry, you will find detailed explanations of every term used.

==Spot the difference with Akerbeltz ...==
In line with [http://www.akerbeltz.eu/booksg.html Blas na Gàidhlig] and other resources, we're now using a slightly easier form of the IPA for these pages. No, we haven't dumbed down, there's still the same amount of detail, there are just fewer squiggles. Here's a list of the symbols used which differ from "full" IPA. Everything else is the same.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Full IPA
!IPA light
|-
| <center>l̪ˠ</center>
| <center>L</center>
|-
| <center>n̪ˠ</center>
| <center>N</center>
|-
| <center>rˠ</center>
| <center>R</center>
|-
| <center>ʎ</center>
| <center>Lʲ</center>
|-
| <center>ɲ</center>
| <center>Nʲ</center>
|-
| <center>ɾ</center>
| <center>r</center>
|-
| <center>ɾʲ</center>
| <center>rʲ</center>
|-
|}

==On the Importance of Pronunciation and other Forewords==
*[[Can't I do pronunciation later? or Why children are different]]
*[[What's wrong with "imitated pronunciation" and how to read the IPA]]
*[[A printable pronunciation guide to Gaelic spelling]]
*[[A Word on Manx Spelling]]
*[[The Famous Sími or The Myth of International Words]]

==Phonetics or "What sounds does Gaelic have?"==
*[[Voiced vs Voiceless or Why does b sound like p but not really?]]
*[[Broad vs Slender]]
*[[Labials or Sounds made at your Lips]]
*[[Dentals or Sounds made at your Teeth]]
*[[Velars or Sounds further back]]
*[[Liquids or - L N R in Gaelic]]
*[[The History of L N and R]]
*[[Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó]]

==Phonology or "How do these sounds interact?"==
*[[Lenition and why that is your mothers fault]]
*[[The homo-organic rule or When not to lenite]]
*[[Nasalisation or When to speak through your nose]]
**[[Nasalisation 2 or Why am I married to ə NɯNʲə agam?|Nasalisation 2 or Why am I married to [ə NɯNʲə] agam?]]
*[[Answer Verbs or Thuirt vs Thubhairt and what's in it|Answer Verbs or ''Thuirt'' vs ''Thubhairt'' and what's in it]]
*[[Final devoicing or Why does naoidh sound like Nɯiç?|Final devoicing or Why does ''naoidh'' sound like [Nɯiç]?]]
*[[Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal|Prosthetic f, backformation or ''eagal'' and ''feagal'']]
*[[Intrusive T or Why we're writing sròn not *stròn|Intrusive T or Why we're writing ''sròn'' not ''*stròn'']]
*[[Compensatory lengthening and The secret of time]]
*[[B' àill leibh or fast speech|''B' àill leibh'' or fast speech]]
*[[B' àill leibh or fast speech 2|''B' àill leibh'' or fast speech 2]]
*[[Stress placement and Why going up is a bad thing]]
*[[Initial High Front Vowels or Where the j in eòrna comes from|Initial High Front Vowels or Where the [j] in ''eòrna'' comes from]]
*[[Svarabhakti or The Helping Vowel]]
*[[When to Pronounce Final h (and when not to)]]
*[[Vowel Length, Stress Placement and Compound Nouns]]
*[[Why Santa is krocking at your door]]

==Morphology or "How are words put together?"==
===The Verb System===
*[[The Imperative or How to order people around]]
*[[Éiridh e is ceannaidh e? or the Future tense]]
*[[Epistemic Modality or Do I HAVE to read this?]]
*[[Stative Verbs or How to run in suspended animation]]
*[[Habemus infinitivum necne]]
*[[To bi or not to bi]]

===The Noun System===
*[[The Case System or What the heck is a vocative?]]
*[[Possessives and syllabic structure or Ar n-Athair a tha air nèamh]]
*[[Dèan moch-éirigh mhór or The gender of verbal nouns]]
*[[Màthraichean-céile or Kinship]]
*[[As t-samhradh or The mysterious t-]]
*[[Genitives and Possessives]]
*[[How to gender a noun]]
*[[Ball gazing genitives]]
*[[Genitives in -(th)rach]]
*[[Plurals shmurals and how to predict them]]

===Adverbs & Demonstratives and other annoying little words===
*[[Adverbs or Thall 's a-bhos]]
*[[Demonstratives or An cat ud thall]]
*[[A h-uile? Na h-uile?? Càch??? Gach????]]
*[[Do Re Im or The History of the Prepositions]]
*[[PPP - Pronouns, prepositions and their pronunciation]]
*[[Interrogatives or Who the what why?]]
*[[The many functions of ə]]

===Numerals===
*[[Numerals or How to write a cheque in Gaelic]]
*[[The new-old numerals or Why this sucks]]
*[[Hoigh, an dithis agaibh! or Personal numerals]]

==Tense/Aspect or "The concept of time"==
*[[Expressions of Time]]

==Syntax or "How to make a sentence/phrase"==
*[[VSO and Master Yoda]]
*[[Adjective Ordering]]
*[[Chaidh e dhan chéilidh is mi cho tinn or The mystery of the agus]]
*[[Aig, air agus ann an or The severed head]]
*[[Experience vs Disposition or Tha mi sunndach]]
*[[Existentials or I think therefore I am]]

==Registers in Gaelic or "Cànan tà leath ri mo chridh"==
* [[So what's one of those?]]

==Dialects and other Stuff==
*[[Àilean and the Mystery Bog]]
*[[aːRd vs aːRʃd or Where the sh comes from]]
*[[Cross-linguistic semantics]]
*[[Feasgar math or how to start an argument]]
*[[Gàidhlig air Beurla]]
*[[Pre-aspiration or What the h in mac is about]]
*[[Pretty please?]]
*[[Scribes, Shorthand and How to Save on Parchment]]
*[[Sounds a bit like]]
*[[The Breaking of Long /e:/ or Feuchainn vs Fiachainn]]
*[[The Three Bs|The Three Bs - bidh, bi and bith]]

==The History of Gaelic==
*[[Minding Your Ps and Qs or Why Porcom is a Headache]]
*[[Jesus is life?]]
*[[Óðinn á yðr alla]]

==Explanation of Terms and Abbreviations used==
* [[The Fog of Terminology]]
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The homo-organic rule or When not to lenite

2025-02-01T09:12:01Z

Akerbeltz:

Every Gaelic textbook will teach you about lenition and when to expect it. They teach that there's lenition after feminine nouns, after the definite article in certain cases, and so on. These rules are "relatively" straightforward. But as we all know, there are certain exceptions to the rules so you have sgian mhór but sgian-dubh, an fhàinne but an duilleag, Dùn Bhreatainn but Dùn Dèagh, MacDhòmhnaill but MacCaluim, and the song goes mo nigheann donn. After such exceptions, you'll often find a list showing you that an does not lenite feminine nouns beginning with d or l, and that's followed with a statement that it just IS that way: Dùn Dèagh and not *Dùn Dhèagh.

Fortunately, there's an easy rule that Linguists call the homo-organic rule which involves "sounds made with the same organ". You could call it the Sgian-dubh Rule to make it easier to remember because the phrase, Sgian-dubh, demonstrates the rule in action. But, before we can understand this rule, we need to look at our mouth again and where we make sounds.

Broadly speaking, in Gaelic there are three important areas in your mouth where you make consonant sounds: at your lips (labial sounds), at your teeth (dental sounds), and at your velum (the place at the back of your throat where you would make a [k] sound).

{| style="width: 20%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Group 1 || (labials) || b, p, m, f
|-
| Group 2 || (dentals) || d, n, t, l, s
|-
| Group 3 || (velars) || c, g
|-
|}

Why do we have this rule? Because the rule in Old Gaelic was that whenever you had two sounds in the same group coming together, lenition was blocked, even if the grammatical rule stated "Lenite here, please!". So, let's look at some examples:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|- valign="top"
| Dù'''n Bh'''reatainn || n is in Group 2, b in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || Dù'''n D'''èagh || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| Ca'''msh'''ronach || m is in Group 1, s in Group 2 ⇨ Lenition || Cai'''mb'''eul || both m and b are in Group 1 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| Ma'''cDh'''òmhnaill || c is in Group 3, d in Group 2 ⇨ Lenition || MacGriogair, Ma'''cC'''aluim || both c and g are in Group 3 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| sgia'''n mh'''ór || n is in Group 2, m in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || sgia'''n-d'''ubh || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| air a'''n fh'''earann || n is in Group 2, f in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || air a'''n d'''uilleag || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|-
| A'''n Fh'''raing || n is in Group 2, f in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || air a'''n d'''eoch || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|-
|}

Of course, things are a bit more complicated. In modern Gaelic this rule has started to break down, bigtime, so it's not always applied. You'll find that this rule is most strictly adhered to with place names, surnames, and after the definite article. This rule is most intact with dental sounds (Group 2) yet infrequently applied with sounds from Group 1 and 3.

So, as a pointer to good "current" Gaelic, we suggest you adhere to these rules with surnames, place-names, the definite article an, the negation cha(n), and certain verbal forms like bhios, bhiodh and bu, but not elsewhere. Here are a few examples of what sounds like "good Gaelic" and what sounds like "odd Gaelic" to native speakers:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|- valign="top"
|-
| Definite article ||
|-
| in the nominative case || an deoch, an luchag, an drochaid, an tunnag ...
|-
| in the dative case || anns a' Ghleann Dubh, aig an duine ...
|-
| in the genitive case || an dorais, an taighe, an leanna ...
|-
| bu || bu dona, bu tioram, bu salach, bu nimheil ...
|-
| cha(n) ||
|-
| + future || cha tòisich, cha sàbhail, cha nochd ...
|-
| + personal pronoun || cha tu(sa), cha sinn(e), cha sibh(se)
|-
| bhios + thu || a bhios tu
|-
| bhiodh ||
|-
| + pronoun || b(h)iodh tu, b(h)iodh sinn, b(h)iodh sibh
|-
| Surnames || MacCaluim, MacGriogair, MacCriomain, MacGilleEathain ...
|-
| Placenames || Dun Dèagh, Bad Darach ...
|-
| Frozen Forms* || sgian-dubh, nighean donn ...
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> A frozen form is a phrase or word which preserves some feature which is no longer salient in the current form of the language. All languages have frozen forms. For example, English has frozen plurals for certain nouns such as ''mouse - mice, goose - geese''. These are remnants of an old way of forming the plural which is no longer active in modern English. Compare that with German, where the "Umlaut" is still very alive: Haus - Häuser, Maus - Mäuse, Gans - Gänse. And Gaelic has frozen plurals forms such as mac - mic, balach - balaich, eun - eòin, and so on.

Now you might have noticed that all the words above that are blocking lenition end in dentals (chan, bhios) or sounds which used to end in a dental (bhiodh). But what about bu? Good question. Something VERY ancient is going on here. In Old Irish, this used to be bad and up to the Irish spelling reform, this was written as badh or budh, in Irish. In Gaelic, this hasn't been written that way for a long time and the spoken sound had disappeared even before it was eliminated in writing. Nevertheless, the effects of this ancient -d form is still present in modern Gaelic.

Even though sgian-dubh is acceptable, because it's a frozen form, other phrases like *ad donn rather than ad dhonn have come to sound odd to native speakers and should be avoided.

While it does not necessarily concern you as a learner, i's an interesting issue for language planners when it comes to fixing orthography or forming neologisms. Which of the following options should be considered for standard usage - Sgoil Ghàidhlig Glaschu or Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu?

To a certain degree, this even applies to the lenited variants of these sounds, but only very infrequently, e.g. ath-thé vs. ath-té.

The reason for this rule is most likely laziness – if you have to make a d at your teeth and a dh at your velum, in quick succession, your tongue has to move around a lot – and your tongue is a lazy thing. Linguists debate this 'ease of articulation' concept - but it helps to make sense of this particular one.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

The homo-organic rule or When not to lenite

2025-02-01T09:11:15Z

Akerbeltz:

Every Gaelic textbook will teach you about lenition and when to expect it. They teach that there's lenition after feminine nouns, after the definite article in certain cases, and so on. These rules are "relatively" straightforward. But as we all know, there are certain exceptions to the rules so you have sgian mhór but sgian-dubh, an fhàinne but an duilleag, Dùn Bhreatainn but Dùn Dèagh, MacDhòmhnaill but MacCaluim, and the song goes mo nigheann donn. After such exceptions, you'll often find a list showing you that an does not lenite feminine nouns beginning with d or l, and that's followed with a statement that it just IS that way: Dùn Dèagh and not *Dùn Dhèagh.

Fortunately, there's an easy rule that Linguists call the homo-organic rule which involves "sounds made with the same organ". You could call it the Sgian-dubh Rule to make it easier to remember because the phrase, Sgian-dubh, demonstrates the rule in action. But, before we can understand this rule, we need to look at our mouth again and where we make sounds.

Broadly speaking, in Gaelic there are three important areas in your mouth where you make consonant sounds: at your lips (labial sounds), at your teeth (dental sounds), and at your velum (the place at the back of your throat where you would make a [k] sound).

{| style="width: 20%;" border="0" align="center"
|-
| Group 1 || (labials) || b, p, m, f
|-
| Group 2 || (dentals) || d, n, t, l, s
|-
| Group 3 || (velars) || c, g
|-
|}

Why do we have this rule? Because the rule in Old Gaelic was that whenever you had two sounds in the same group coming together, lenition was blocked, even if the grammatical rule stated "Lenite here, please!". So, let's look at some examples:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|- valign="top"
| Dù'''n Bh'''reatainn || n is in Group 2, b in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || Dùn Dèagh || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| Camshronach || m is in Group 1, s in Group 2 ⇨ Lenition || Caimbeul || both m and b are in Group 1 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| MacDhòmhnaill || c is in Group 3, d in Group 2 ⇨ Lenition || MacGriogair, MacCaluim || both c and g are in Group 3 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| sgian mhór || n is in Group 2, m in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || sgian-dubh || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|- valign="top"
| air an fhearann || n is in Group 2, f in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || air an duilleag || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|-
| An Fhraing || n is in Group 2, f in Group 1 ⇨ Lenition || air an deoch || both n and d are in Group 2 ⇨ No lenition
|-
|}

Of course, things are a bit more complicated. In modern Gaelic this rule has started to break down, bigtime, so it's not always applied. You'll find that this rule is most strictly adhered to with place names, surnames, and after the definite article. This rule is most intact with dental sounds (Group 2) yet infrequently applied with sounds from Group 1 and 3.

So, as a pointer to good "current" Gaelic, we suggest you adhere to these rules with surnames, place-names, the definite article an, the negation cha(n), and certain verbal forms like bhios, bhiodh and bu, but not elsewhere. Here are a few examples of what sounds like "good Gaelic" and what sounds like "odd Gaelic" to native speakers:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
|- valign="top"
|-
| Definite article ||
|-
| in the nominative case || an deoch, an luchag, an drochaid, an tunnag ...
|-
| in the dative case || anns a' Ghleann Dubh, aig an duine ...
|-
| in the genitive case || an dorais, an taighe, an leanna ...
|-
| bu || bu dona, bu tioram, bu salach, bu nimheil ...
|-
| cha(n) ||
|-
| + future || cha tòisich, cha sàbhail, cha nochd ...
|-
| + personal pronoun || cha tu(sa), cha sinn(e), cha sibh(se)
|-
| bhios + thu || a bhios tu
|-
| bhiodh ||
|-
| + pronoun || b(h)iodh tu, b(h)iodh sinn, b(h)iodh sibh
|-
| Surnames || MacCaluim, MacGriogair, MacCriomain, MacGilleEathain ...
|-
| Placenames || Dun Dèagh, Bad Darach ...
|-
| Frozen Forms* || sgian-dubh, nighean donn ...
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> A frozen form is a phrase or word which preserves some feature which is no longer salient in the current form of the language. All languages have frozen forms. For example, English has frozen plurals for certain nouns such as ''mouse - mice, goose - geese''. These are remnants of an old way of forming the plural which is no longer active in modern English. Compare that with German, where the "Umlaut" is still very alive: Haus - Häuser, Maus - Mäuse, Gans - Gänse. And Gaelic has frozen plurals forms such as mac - mic, balach - balaich, eun - eòin, and so on.

Now you might have noticed that all the words above that are blocking lenition end in dentals (chan, bhios) or sounds which used to end in a dental (bhiodh). But what about bu? Good question. Something VERY ancient is going on here. In Old Irish, this used to be bad and up to the Irish spelling reform, this was written as badh or budh, in Irish. In Gaelic, this hasn't been written that way for a long time and the spoken sound had disappeared even before it was eliminated in writing. Nevertheless, the effects of this ancient -d form is still present in modern Gaelic.

Even though sgian-dubh is acceptable, because it's a frozen form, other phrases like *ad donn rather than ad dhonn have come to sound odd to native speakers and should be avoided.

While it does not necessarily concern you as a learner, i's an interesting issue for language planners when it comes to fixing orthography or forming neologisms. Which of the following options should be considered for standard usage - Sgoil Ghàidhlig Glaschu or Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu?

To a certain degree, this even applies to the lenited variants of these sounds, but only very infrequently, e.g. ath-thé vs. ath-té.

The reason for this rule is most likely laziness – if you have to make a d at your teeth and a dh at your velum, in quick succession, your tongue has to move around a lot – and your tongue is a lazy thing. Linguists debate this 'ease of articulation' concept - but it helps to make sense of this particular one.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Habemus infinitivum necne

2024-09-04T17:14:15Z

Akerbeltz: /* So what about other languages then? */

No, not showing off, I had to ask a friend to correct my Latin (it's been a long time!) and there's a reason for the Latin phrase being added to the page because it loosely translates as ''We have an infinitive, or do we?''.

==First things first==
What's an infinitive and would it go with a glass of Château Musar? Probably yes, as to the latter. As to the former, it's actually hard to state exactly what it is because the definition of ''the infinitive'' varies slightly depending on which language you're looking at.

Coming at the infinitive from English, it is often described as the ''dictionary form'' (also called the ''citation form'') of a verb, an un-changed, un-inflected un-everythinged form of a verb (hence its name, ultimately from Latin infinitivus meaning, among other things, something like ''un-defined''). For example, ''to go, to sit, to sing, to throw...'' or by dropping the ''to'', simply ''go, sit, sing, throw...''. It gets more complicated than that but I want to sidestep the precise definition of the infinitive in English because it's a bit of a head-bender (and that's me you're talking to!) and because the English concept is not really a helpful concept for Gaelic, as we'll see.

Anyway, this thing called the infinitive crops up in many European languages. For example, in Spanish, the basic form of verbs (those ending in -ir, -er or -ar) is referred to as the infinitive and these are also the forms you look for in the dictionary, for example, morir "(to) die" or masticar "(to) chew". In German, the equivalent is -en, for example, bedienen "(to) serve", verschlimmbessern "(to) disimprove" or verniedlichen "(to) make cute". And so on.

==What's the attraction?==
Well, on the whole, the infinitive is the basis for inflection if the language in question has an inflection system. In English, ignoring irregular verbs, if you know ''(to) place'' then you know that by adding ''-(e)d'' you get the past, by adding ''-(e)s'' you get the he/she/it forms (''he/she/it places'') and by adding ''-ing'' you get the participle (''placing'').

In some languages, you can also use infinitives to make ungrammatical but somewhat intelligible sentences if you're not fluent. So something like "I place money here yesterday" or "Ich lesen Buch" (''I read book''), while not grammatical, can be understood. Infinitives are one of the first verb forms taught to students of English, German, Spanish or French because they allow you to say a lot relatively fast, with relative ease.

But just because Germanic and Romance languages have weaponised the infinitive, does that hold true for all languages?

==So what about other languages then?==
Depends. Some languages outside the Indo-European family entertain the idea of an infinitive. Others go even further and do not inflect at all - such as Cantonese where the verb 生 (''sāang'' "to give birth") does not change at all, and it can also be a noun. As a verb, it takes no endings, no prefixes, no suffixes, no he/she/it -s ... nothing like that. You can add particles after a verb

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| perfective with focus on present state || 佢生'''咗''' kéuih sāaang '''jó'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PERF she gave birth (in the past)
|-
| perfective with focus on completion || 佢生'''完''' kéuih sāang '''yùhn'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth over she gave birth (and she's done with giving birth)
|-
| experiential || 佢生'''過''' kéuih sāang '''gwo'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth go.past she has given birth (so she knows what it's like)
|-
| progressive || 佢生'''緊''' kéuih sāang '''gán'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PROG she is giving birth (right now)
|-
| continuative || 佢生'''落去''' kéuih sāang '''lohk heui'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth down go.away she is still giving birth (i.e. she has been in labour for a long time)
|-
|}

But native speakers tend to see these as independent words, not some form of inflection of ''sāang''.

And then there are languages which entertain neither concept. Many Native American languages have nothing even vaguely approaching an English infinitive and indeed have no such thing as an un-inflected verb at all. You might ask, what happens in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_language Lakhóta] dictionary? No sweat. Lakhóta considers the most basic form of a verb to be the 3rd person singular. So, while an English dictionary will list ''(to) sing'', Lakhóta will list lowáŋ "he/she/it sings". Because if you look at the whole shebang, you'll see this is the form with the least amount of 'bits' stuck on:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| wa'''lowáŋ'''
| I sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''
| you sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''
| he/she/it sings
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''
| we two sing
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''pi
| we (more than two) sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''pi
| you (plural) sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''pi
| they sing
|-
|}

Before you ask, '''lowáŋ''' is not an infinitive because it's not uninflected i.e. it's not a bare verb form, it is inextricably linked to the third person he/she/it. I could get more technical but that's not the point here. Either way it's very different from ''(to) read''.

Which brings us to Gaelic and the Gaelic dictionary in which the most un-inflected, un-changed and basic form of a verb is considered to be the ''singular imperative'', the form you use to order one person around.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| leugh!
| read!
|-
| seinn!
| sing!
|-
| geàrr!
| cut!
|-
|}

Once you know the singular imperative form (yes, there is a plural imperative in Gaelic, so leugh! orders one person to read, if you want to order a whole classroom full of people to read, you say leugh'''aibh'''!), you can derive all but one of the required verb forms by applying a set of rules. Again, we're ignoring irregular verbs. So, as an example, using geàrr! you get the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| gearraidh
| to form the independent future of a verb, add -(a)idh to the imperative and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearras
| to form the relative future of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)as at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr-
|-
| ghearramaid
| to form the conditional of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)amaid at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr-
|-
| geàrrte
| to form the past participle of a verb add -te at the end and because -eàrr- is not followed by a vowel, it remains long
|-
|}

And so on. It's a fairly long list but on the whole entirely predictable.

The only form that is not predictable is the verbal noun. So just by looking at geàrr, it's hard to guess how to say "cutting". It could be gearradh or gearrachdainn or gearramh or gearrail or gearrachd, and so on. While there are preferred forms common to many areas, in this case gearradh, there is usually a lot of variation between dialects. So, while one area says gearradh, another might prefer gearrachdainn. That isn't as confusing as it may sound because it's almost always clear from the word order that a word is or isn't a verbal noun and many people are fairly used to hearing different endings for verbal nouns.

==Get to the darned infinitive already==
Patience, my young [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padawan padawan]... If you equate the English infinitive with "the basic form of a verb that's listed in a dictionary" then you already know that this does not apply to Gaelic since Gaelic uses the imperative singular for this purpose.

But, there's a bit more to this story, because you're probably thinking of expressions like tha mi a' dol '''a bhualadh''' cù "I am going '''to hit''' a dog" or bu toigh leam '''a dhol''' a Ghlaschu "I want '''to go''' to Glasgow".

I've written before that it's important to distinguish between '''how something is constructed''' and '''how it's translated'''. On the surface, both those forms looks like infinitives because the English translations have "to go" and the Gaelic has the handy little word a which in the dictionary means "to".

Yes, a means "to", except you probably ignored the bit where it says "prep(osition)", or something like that. So, let's analyse our Gaelic sentence, word for word:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going '''to hit''' a dog
|-
|}

Unfortunately, the a in front of bhualadh is not an infinitive particle or anything like that. It's the reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)", the same do that forms dhomh/dhut/dha/dhi. However, in Modern Gaelic, after a verb of motion, such as dol, you don't use the full form do but rather the reduced form a. So, a clearer translation would be:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going to'''(wards)''' hitting a dog
|-
|}

You're probably already comfortable with that construction if we swap the bhualadh with a place name or event, for example:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || mhòd
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.mod
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' a mòd
|-
|}

...and in doing that you most likely wouldn't bat an eyelid. Well, they're the same a (« do "to(wards)").

Of course, the fact that in translation it '''looks''' like an English infinitive does not help. But, if instead of saying "going to hitting a dog" you say "going towards hitting a dog" it might be a bit more apparent.

===Miss, miss!===
Yes, I was getting to that. And it's "Sir, Sir!" if you please...😉 There is a pattern that grammar books mention in conjunction with "expressions of motion". Consider this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to speak to him
|-
|}

A novice might be tempted to invoke the dratted infinitive here. But, take a gold star if you already spotted that this is actually the same as the examples further up where a does not mark an infinitive but is just the worn down form of the preposition do. The most obvious sign of this is the fact that before vowels and fh you get a dh' which is exactly what do. The infinitive particle (which we'll meet shortly) never comes with this extra dh'.

So translating more clearly, the above two are really identical to constructions you're already familiar with using place-names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'Alba ||
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || Scotland ||
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' Scotland
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || Bheàrnaraigh ||
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || Berneray ||
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' Berneray
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' speak to him
|-
|}
Yes, I know the last two aren't great English but I'm making a grammatical point about Gaelic.

==But what about that other one?==
I was getting there. So there are sentences like the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to buy''' a book
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 's || urrainn || dhomh || cù || (a)1 || fhàgail
|-
| COP || ability || to.me || dog || INF || LEN.leaving
|-
| colspan="6" | I am able '''to leave''' a dog
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || fhaod || mi || cù || (a)1 || ithe
|-
| NEG.COP || permit || I || dog || INF || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I am not allowed '''to eat''' a dog
|-
|}
1the infinitive particle a is notionally there but in pronunciation it is dropped because the next word begins with a vowel (in spoken Gaelic) and thus also commonly dropped in writing too

These are called modal constructions which is not a very intuitive or self-explanatory name. Unfortunately, we're stuck with it. A modal construction contains a modal verb or expresses a modal concept. Don't frown, I'm getting there. Basically, modal concepts are expressions of wanting, being able to or having to do something. In English, they are mostly simple verbs: ought, must, should, could, want, desire, wish, love... In Gaelic, there are some which are just simple verbs, like feum and faod. However, Gaelic mostly uses modal constructions that are roundabout ways of stating things like wanting, necessity, possibility, probability, or ability such as: bu toigh leam, tha agam ri, 's urrainn dhomh etc.

Ok, now this is where you must pay '''very''' close attention to the difference between an ''infinitive'' and an ''infinitive('''-like''') construction''.

English has a '''''genuine''' infinitive'', the un-changed and basic form of verbs: (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like, and so on. You can use the infinitive in English to derive other verb forms: like » likes; liked; liking; liketh. Or, you can use it to make English sentences with infinitive constructions such as "I like '''to read'''".

Still with me? OK, so what we have in those Gaelic sentences are '''infinitive(-like) constructions'''. They are called infinitive-like because they get '''translated''' into English by using an English infinitive form. But look again at the verbs in the Gaelic sentences. Yes, they're just verbal nouns, ''reading'' and ''going'' with an
a slapped in front of them. Indeed, this a is called an '''infinitive particle''' (marked INF above) because of its function, but that's as far as it goes. Unlike in English, it is not followed by a verb in the infinitive form but rather followed by a verbal noun. The infinitive particle a causes lenition and you may want to check out the page on [[The many functions of ə]].

Perhaps easier with more colours and in a visual way, so here is a schematic of how infinitives operate in many Indo-European languages. They either involve just an uninflected, unchanged true infinitive verb ('''dark yellow''') or possibly in addition an infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') to form a genuine infinitive construction ('''dark red''').

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (English) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''I'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | would
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | like
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''to'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''buy'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | a
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''book'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (German) infinitive'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Ich'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | entschied
| align=center style="border:none;" | ein
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''Buch'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''zu'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''kaufen'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (French) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Je'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | voudrais
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''acheter'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''livre'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (Spanish) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Me'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | gustaría
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''comprar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''libro'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

In just one kind of construction (sentences with inversion i.e. modal sentences where there is a direct object) Gaelic has something that resembles this. But if you look closely, what looks like an infinitive is made up of totally different things - there is a genuine infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') but where all the other languages have a type of verb (without any endings or fancy stuff like that), Gaelic uses a noun ('''dark green'''). It's like the difference between a pork roast and a seitan roast, both are roasts and may look similar but they're not made from the same things and thus aren't quite the same thing. The result is an infinitive-like ('''pink''') construction.

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| colspan="2" align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''infinitive-like construction'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | Bu
| align=center style="border:none;" | toigh
| align=center style="border:none;" | leam
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''leabhar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | '''a'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''cheannach'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | verbal noun
|-
|}

So, the Gaelic resembles an infinitive-like construction, and the English translation uses an infinitive, but neither of these two things mean that Gaelic has a basic, un-changed, un-inflected form of the verb that you can use like (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like.

For convenience, here's a full table showing how the '''infinitive particle''' a and the '''preposition''' a (the reduced form of do) behave regarding lenition and dh':
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" |a (infinitive particle)
! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" |effect on verbal noun
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" |example
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |a (reduced form of do "towards")
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |effect on verbal noun (or noun)
! scope="col" style="width: 450px;" |example
|-
| a || a/à » - || bu toigh leam lìon amaladh || a (do) || a » dh'a || thig a dh'Alba (do dh'Alba) ; thig a dh'amaladh
|-
| a || b » bh || bu toigh leam creag a bhualadh || a (do) || b » bh || thig a Bharraigh (do Bharraigh) ; thig a bhualadh
|-
| a || c » ch || bu toigh leam leabhar a chàradh || a (do) || c » ch || thig a Chàrlabhagh (do Chàrlabhagh) ; thig a chàradh
|-
| a || d » dh || bu toigh leam doras a dhùnadh || a (do) || d » dh || thig a Dhiùranais (do Dhiùranais) ; thig a dhùnadh
|-
| a || e/é/è » - || bu toigh leam ceòl éisteachd || a (do) || e/é/è » dh' || thig a dh'Éisteal (do dh'Éisteal) ; thig a dh'èisteachd
|-
| a || f » fh || bu toigh leam doras fhosgladh || a (do) || f » dh'fh || thig a dh'Fhionnsbhagh (do dh'Fhionnsbhagh) ; thig a dh'fhosgladh
|-
| a || g » gh || bu toigh leam doras a ghlanadh || a (do) || g » gh || thig a Ghiogha (do Ghiogha) ; thig a ghlanadh
|-
| a || i/ì » - || bu toigh leam creag ìsleachadh || a (do) || ì » dh' || thig a dh'Ìle (do dh'Ìle) ; thig a dh'ìsleachadh
|-
| a || l » l [Lʲ » l] || bu toigh leam creag a leigeil || a (do) || l » l [Lʲ » l] || thig a Leòdhas (do Leòdhas) ; thig a leigeil
|-
| a || m » mh || bu toigh leam cù a mharbhadh || a (do) || m » mh || thig a Mhealabost (do Mhealabost) ; thig a mharbhadh
|-
| a || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || bu toigh leam doras a neartachadh || a (do) || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || thig a Nòsdaidh (do Nòsdaidh) ; thig a neartachadh
|-
| a || o/ó/ò » - || bu toigh leam uisge òl || a (do) || o/ó/ò » dh' || thig a dh'Ormasairigh (do dh'Ormasairigh) ; thig a dh'òl
|-
| a || p » ph || bu toigh leam lìon a phasgadh || a (do) || p » ph || thig a Phaibeal (do Phaibeal) ; thig a phasgadh
|-
| a || r » r [R » r] || bu toigh leam pàipear a ragachadh || a (do) || r » r [R » r] || thig a Ratharsair (do Ratharsair) ; thig a ragachadh
|-
| a || s » sh || bu toigh leam cù a shàrachadh || a (do) || s » sh || a Shasainn (do Shasainn) ; thig a shàrachadh
|-
| a || t » th || bu toigh leam creag a thilgeil || a (do) || t » th || thig a Thiriodh (do Thiriodh) ; thig a thilgeil
|-
| a || u/ù » - || bu toigh leam doras ùrachadh || a (do) || u/ù » dh' || thig a dh'Uibhist (do Uibhist) ; thig a dh'ùrachadh
|-
|}

So there is a bit of an overlap, on the face of it, but as you can very clearly see, they're not the same.

Just to drive home the difference about what something IS and how you translate it, here's an illustrative example closer to home. In English, you say ''I am going home'' using the present tense verb ''am'' and the progressive ''going''. But in the same setting, in German you have to say Ich gehe nach Hause. Does that mean gehe is a progressive? No. German has a sort-of progressive (gehend) but doesn't use it much, certainly not like English does. Instead, German uses a straight present tense here (gehe) and no progressive. So while in translation between English and German a present progressive is used in place of a straight present, that does NOT mean that gehe is therefore a progressive or that ''going'' is a present tense. What something IS and how you translate it are two very different things...

===Prep is everything===
There is a special case scenario. If you get a modal construction which has a verbal noun in it which is followed by a preposition, then you don't get fronting or even lenition or anything, it pretty much is a case of just stringing the words together:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd''' || '''ri''' || ACDC
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening || against || ACDC
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen to ACDC
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Am || faod || mi || '''coimhead''' || '''air''' an || telebhisean?
|-
| INTERR || may || I || watching || on the || television
|-
| colspan="7" | May I watch television?
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn''' || '''ri''' || Calum
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking || against || Calum
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk to Calum
|-
|}

It's not really part of the infinitive hullabaloo but just as a recap, when there is no object, then it's just the unchanged verbal noun in modal constructions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd'''
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Faodaidh || mi || '''coimhead'''
|-
| may || I || watching
|-
| colspan="7" | I may (am permitted to) watch
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn'''
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk
|-
|}

===A word on relatives===
No, not the kind that visits and drinks your alc, but relative clauses. Let's take the sentence from above (I would like '''to buy''' a book) and make it "the book" which will help make the form more transparent:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || an || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || the || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to buy''' the book
|-
|}

When you turn that into a relative clause, the words move around, but the a stays the same:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || leabhar || a || bu || toigh || leam || a || cheannach
|-
| the || book || REL || COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || cheannach
|-
| colspan="8" | The book I would like '''to buy'''
|-
|}
So we've picked up a relative particle which does nothing except link the an leabhar bit with the bu toigh leam a cheannach bit, but other than that, no change really. Fortunately the place where "the book" goes in the sentence is the same as in English, so it's not too much of a mind-bender.

==But I have a book which says this is an infinitive==
As the Germans say: Paper is patient. It will hold E=mc² just the same as an election leaflet by a political party promising a land of milk and honey, hope and glory and pink Brexit unicorns.

There are two important points to be aware of regarding the particle a. First, there are many different particles in Gaelic which are just written and spoken as a. One has to learn the specific uses of each a and keep their meanings and uses apart. Second, many people writing about grammar have come from a university background where traditionally the description of grammar (of any language) is, or was, heavily influenced by Latin and Greek grammar. Like a pair of shades, the Latin and Greek formulas kind of colour your vision, without your thinking about the coloured tint. I experienced the same issue when I ran into Native American languages for the first time. I discovered there were very few concepts of European grammars that were helpful.

So, one can be prone to see the Latin and Greek categories in languages that don't have those categories. There can be a tendency to try and force-fit these concepts and then explain things that do not fit as "exceptions". For example, in unit 95, from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks (an excellent book except for this unit), you are told that:

:''Infinitives are used with the following auxiliary verbs and idioms:

:''(a) the modal verbs feum and faod''
:''(b) modal idioms expressing obligation''
:''(c) a number of idioms expressing 'wanting, liking, hoping, capability, remembering, obligation, managing'''
:''(d) verbs expressing motion or intent''
:''(e) the verb sguir 'cease'''

This list unfortunately conflates at least three different things, which is not helpful. To begin, (a), (b) and (c) are really the same thing. They present a long way of saying "modal verbs and expressions" - which is both shorter and more correct because there are other modal verbs in addition to feum and faod.

The (d) examples kind of refer both to (a)-(c), regarding ''intent'', and the expressions of motion which we have already examined. The (d) examples, in Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks, are really instances of "motion", already discussed, which operate using a, the reduced form of do "to(wards)":

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chaidh || Iain || a || cheannach
|-
| (PAST).go || Iain || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.buying
|-
| colspan="4" | Iain went '''to buy''' (« '''towards''')
|-
|}

It is blatantly obvious, in this (d) example, that a is not an infinitive particle but the preposition do/a "towards":
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thàinig || Anna || a || dh'fhaicinn
|-
| (PAST).come || Ann || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.seeing
|-
| colspan="4" | Ann came '''to see''' (« '''towards''' seeing)
|-
|}

The combination of dh' appearing alongside lenition is classic behaviour for do "to(wards)". Compare these sentences, of the type you may be familiar with:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thoir || an || leabhar || do || dh'Fhionnlagh
|-
| give || DEF.ART || book || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Finlay
|-
| colspan="5" | give the book '''to(wards)''' Finlay
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thug || e || ubhal || do || dh'Fhearchar
|-
| PAST.give || he || apple || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Fergus
|-
| colspan="5" | he gave an apple '''to(wards)''' Fergus
|-
|}

And (e) is again a misreading of the a that appears in sguir constructions. Some verbs simply take certain prepositions, and sguir normally takes de. So the a, in the case of sguir, is just the worn down form of the partitive particle de. So, here's a re-analysis of the example from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || a || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

The above is the shortened version of:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || de || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks goes on, in unit 95a, to talk about ''Indirect objects of infinitives'' even though there is not a hint of anything infinitive-like in the Gaelic examples. The only reason this unit has been given that heading is because the English translations use infinitives. In Gaelic, it's just the verbal noun being employed:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || bruidhinn || ri || Seumas
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || speaking|| against || James
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to speak''' to James
|}

Unfortunately, because the translation of this is "I would like '''to speak''' to James", this is incorrectly labelled an infinitive.

===Isn't the infinitive particle just a possessive pronoun?===
Good question. I would say no, simply because if it was a possessive, one would expect a difference between masculine and feminine objects; compare a chù "his dog" vs a cù "her dog". But the infinitive particle, unlike the possessive pronouns, always lenites the verbal noun after it.

Of course, there is the special case of having a pronoun as an object, i.e. something like "I want to hit '''you'''", in modal expressions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || do || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || your || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to hit''' you
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || chòir || dhut || mo || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || right || to.you || my || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | You ought '''to hit''' me
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || am || faicinn
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || their || seeing
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to see''' them
|-
|}

Over time, it's conceivable that the pattern of the third person masculine possessive pronoun has resulted in creating some sort of generalized infinitive-like pattern, i.e.:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || phòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || his || LEN.marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' him
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || pòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || her || marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' her
|}
But, overall, it makes no difference because one just has to learn these patterns the way they are today.

==What about a dhol, a bhith and a thighinn?==
Well, it wouldn't be Gaelic if there wasn't an odd one. Normally, if there is no object you just place the verbal noun after the modal verb or expression, such as:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || seinn
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || singing
|-
| colspan="4" | I would like to sing
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| faodaidh || tu || falbh
|-
| may || you || going
|-
| colspan="3" | You may go
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || urrainn || dhomh || snàmh
|-
| NEG || ability || to.me || swimming
|-
| colspan="4" | I cannot swim
|-
|}

But if the verbal noun happens to be dol or bith (and in some dialects tighinn), the infinitive particle, a, gets put in front of dol, bith (and tighinn), causing them to lenite:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || dhan || sgoil
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to.the || school
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to go''' to school
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || thighinn || dhachaigh || a-rithist
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.coming || homewards || again
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to come''' home again
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || caomh || leat || a || bhith || ag || éisteachd?
|-
| INTERR || gentle || with.you || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | would you like '''to be''' listening?
|-
|}

Just those two, or three, if you include tighinn. Don't ask me why.

Of course, you can combine the uses of do, worn down to a:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to go to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

===and ''a bhith''?===
Nice try, but no, a bhith is not an infinitive, just an infinitive-like form. Bith is just a verbal noun, the equivalent of English "being", rather than "to be". It's quite obvious from expressions such as bith-bhuan or a' dol á bith that it's a verbal noun, even though it is not possible to use it with ag. The form *a' bith is not an option.

But, in terms of use, bith behaves like a verbal noun, except that bith has to be followed by ag/a' plus another verbal noun.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || bhith || ag || ithe
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like to eat (lit. I would like '''to be''' eating)
|-
|}

Since I can't say this often enough, I'll state it again even though this page is not about correct idiomatic usage: don't over-use this, it's not a common construction. As a rule of thumb, if you use a bhith more than once on half an A4 page of written Gaelic, you're probably over-using it.

==In a word==
Practically speaking, these are the points to remember:
# Don't go hunting for references to the infinitive in Gaelic. You're wasting your time. There is nothing approaching any kind of basic, infinitive verb form in Gaelic. That's just the way it is.
# The dictionary form of a Gaelic verb is the singular imperative (order/command form).
# After a verb of motion, most commonly a' dol, the a is a reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)".
# In inverted phrases, such as bu toigh leam leabhar a leughadh, the a is the infinitive particle plus a verbal noun. That a is often ''translated'' into English using an English infinitive form; however, that does '''not''' make Gaelic have an infinitive it can call its own.

So, the whole hunt for a Gaelic infinitive is fuelled mainly
* by learners hoping for a quick fix,
* by linguists (in the old days) trying to squeeze all languages into the corset of grammatical terms that work in Latin and Greek,
* and by various people looking at an English sentence and thinking "English has an infinitive here, so Gaelic must have one too".

Simples!

Now, what's [[Inversion|inversion]]?

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Ceanglaichean

2024-07-25T09:14:49Z

Akerbeltz: /* A' cleachdadh na Gàidhlig */

'Ga thogail / Under construction

Seo dhuibh taghadh de làraichean inntinneach.

==Learning Gaelic==
===[https://www.faclair.com Am Faclair Beag]===
A searchable Gaelic English dictionary with lots of extra features like sound files. Be sure to check out our [https://www.faclair.com/Help/Help.html#TheStars dialect maps] which will help you cut down the guesswork about which words are still in use and where.

===[http://www.igaidhlig.net iGàidhlig]===
A one stop shot for all the Gaelic software there is. Yes, it's in the ''Learning Gaelic'' section, you'd be amazed how much you can learn by repetitive viewing!

===[http://learngaelic.net/ LearnGaelic]===
A new Gaelic hub for learners with lots of materials, including a very useful map of Gaelic classes and courses around the globe.

==A' cleachdadh na Gàidhlig==
===[http://www.ambaile.org.uk/gd/ Am Baile]===
Tasglann air leth de ghoireasan a bhuineas do dhualchas is eachdraidh na Gàidhealtachd 's nan Eilean.

===[http://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/ BBC Alba - Na Naidheachdan]===
Faigh naidheachdan o fheadh na h-Alba 's an t-saoghail air an làrach seo, ann an sgrìobhadh, air an uèirleas no air iPlayer no air a' bhogsa fhèin.

===[http://www.cainntmomhathar.com/ Cainnt mo Mhàthar]===
Tasg-lann Chanadach le iomadh clàradh de Ghàidheil Alba Nuaidh.

===[https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/ Tobar an Dualchais]===
Tha tasglann Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba a' dol digiteach mean air mhean agus tha e loma làn de stuthan mìorbhaileach!

==Rudan eile==
===[http://tourism.euskadi.net/en/ Euskal Herria]===
Ma tha thu an dà chuid airson tadhal air an dùthaich as annasaiche san Roinn-Eòrpa agus faighinn a-mach mar a chumar beò cànan àrsaidh san 21mh linn, thoir sgrìob a Dhùthaich nam Basgach!

===[http://www.tg4.ie/ TG4]===
'S e sin an seanail Gaeilge. Ma tha blasad de Ghaeilge agad, gheibh thu iomadh prògram inntinneach ann agus 's urrainn dhut coimhead orra air an lìon, ged nach fhaigh thu iad air saideal as aonais pacaid a' Mhuirich ud <osna>.

===Linguae-Celticae===
Bha goireasan air leth air an làrach-lìn aig Kurt ach chaidh an làrach à bith air sgàth adhbhar air choireigin ach leis gun robh iad cho feumail, tha sinn a' cur nam faidhlichean PDF aig Kurt ri làimh an-seo:

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 01 Aird nam Murchan Ed II.pdf|Vol. 01 Àird nam Murchan]]

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 02 Barraigh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 02 Barraigh]]

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_03_Uibhist_a_Deas_Ed_II.pdf|Vol. 03 Uibhist a Deas]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 04 Iar Thuath Chataibh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 04 Iar-thuath Chataibh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 05 Uibhist a Tuath Ed II.pdf|Vol. 05 Uibhist a Tuath]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 06 Na Hearadh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 06 Na Hearadh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 07 Na Lochan Ed II.pdf|Vol. 07 Na Lochan]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 08 Uig Ed II.pdf|Vol. 08 Ùig]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 09 Loch Bhraoin Gearrloch Ed II.pdf|Vol. 09 Loch Bhraoin - Geàrrloch]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 10 A Chomraich Loch Aillse Ed II.pdf|Vol. 10 A' Chomraich - Loch Aillse]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 11 Trondairnis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 11 Tròndairnis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 12 Port Righ Sleite Ed II.pdf|Vol. 12 Port Rìgh - Slèite]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 13 An Taobh Siar Nis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 13 An Taobh Siar - Nis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 14 Am Bac An Rubha Ed II.pdf|Vol. 14 Am Bac - An Ruba]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 15 Steornabhagh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 15 Steòrnabhagh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 16 Ile Diura Colbhasa Ed II.pdf|Vol. 16 Ìle - Diùra - Colbhasa]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 17 Apainn Lios Mor Ed II.pdf|Vol. 17 Apainn - Lios Mòr]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 18 Latharna a Deas Ed II.pdf|Vol. 18 Latharna a Deas]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 19 Loch Abar an Ear Ed II.pdf|Vol. 19 Loch Abar an Ear]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 20 Muile Tiriodh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 20 Muile - Tiriodh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 21 Baideanach Narann Ed II.pdf|Vol. 21 Bàideanach - Narann]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 22 Cataibh an Ear Ed II.pdf|Vol. 22 Cataibh an Ear]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 23 Inbhirnis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 23 Inbhir Nis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 24 Taobh Sear Rois Ed II.pdf|Vol. 24 Taobh Sear Rois]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 25 Dal Riada Cinn Tire Ed II.pdf|Vol. 25 Dail Riada - Cinn Tìre]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 26 Comhal Bod Ed II.pdf|Vol. 26 Comhghall - Bòd]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 27 Peairt Sruighlea Ed II.pdf|Vol. 27 Peairt - Sruighlea]]

[[:File:Bibliography Gaidhlig Local Studies-a.pdf|Bibliography]]

 
 
{{Seoladaireachd}}

Ceanglaichean

2024-07-25T09:14:23Z

Akerbeltz: /* Learning Gaelic */

'Ga thogail / Under construction

Seo dhuibh taghadh de làraichean inntinneach.

==Learning Gaelic==
===[https://www.faclair.com Am Faclair Beag]===
A searchable Gaelic English dictionary with lots of extra features like sound files. Be sure to check out our [https://www.faclair.com/Help/Help.html#TheStars dialect maps] which will help you cut down the guesswork about which words are still in use and where.

===[http://www.igaidhlig.net iGàidhlig]===
A one stop shot for all the Gaelic software there is. Yes, it's in the ''Learning Gaelic'' section, you'd be amazed how much you can learn by repetitive viewing!

===[http://learngaelic.net/ LearnGaelic]===
A new Gaelic hub for learners with lots of materials, including a very useful map of Gaelic classes and courses around the globe.

==A' cleachdadh na Gàidhlig==
===[http://www.ambaile.org.uk/gd/ Am Baile]===
Tasglann air leth de ghoireasan a bhuineas do dhualchas is eachdraidh na Gàidhealtachd 's nan Eilean.

===[http://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/ BBC Alba - Na Naidheachdan]===
Faigh naidheachdan o fheadh na h-Alba 's an t-saoghail air an làrach seo, ann an sgrìobhadh, air an uèirleas no air iPlayer no air a' bhogsa fhèin.

===[http://www.cainntmomhathar.com/ Cainnt mo Mhàthar]===
Tasg-lann Chanadach le iomadh clàradh de Ghàidheil Alba Nuaidh.

===[http://indigenoustweets.com/gd/ Indigenous Tweets]===
Tha an goireas seo a' cruinneachadh liosta de dhaoine a chuireas a-mach tweets sa Ghàidhlig agus innsidh e dhut dè cho gnìomhach 's a tha iad, dè an ceudad de tweets Gàidhlig agus rudan mar sin.

===[https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/ Tobar an Dualchais]===
Tha tasglann Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba a' dol digiteach mean air mhean agus tha e loma làn de stuthan mìorbhaileach!

==Rudan eile==
===[http://tourism.euskadi.net/en/ Euskal Herria]===
Ma tha thu an dà chuid airson tadhal air an dùthaich as annasaiche san Roinn-Eòrpa agus faighinn a-mach mar a chumar beò cànan àrsaidh san 21mh linn, thoir sgrìob a Dhùthaich nam Basgach!

===[http://www.tg4.ie/ TG4]===
'S e sin an seanail Gaeilge. Ma tha blasad de Ghaeilge agad, gheibh thu iomadh prògram inntinneach ann agus 's urrainn dhut coimhead orra air an lìon, ged nach fhaigh thu iad air saideal as aonais pacaid a' Mhuirich ud <osna>.

===Linguae-Celticae===
Bha goireasan air leth air an làrach-lìn aig Kurt ach chaidh an làrach à bith air sgàth adhbhar air choireigin ach leis gun robh iad cho feumail, tha sinn a' cur nam faidhlichean PDF aig Kurt ri làimh an-seo:

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 01 Aird nam Murchan Ed II.pdf|Vol. 01 Àird nam Murchan]]

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 02 Barraigh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 02 Barraigh]]

[[:Faidhle:Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_03_Uibhist_a_Deas_Ed_II.pdf|Vol. 03 Uibhist a Deas]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 04 Iar Thuath Chataibh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 04 Iar-thuath Chataibh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 05 Uibhist a Tuath Ed II.pdf|Vol. 05 Uibhist a Tuath]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 06 Na Hearadh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 06 Na Hearadh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 07 Na Lochan Ed II.pdf|Vol. 07 Na Lochan]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 08 Uig Ed II.pdf|Vol. 08 Ùig]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 09 Loch Bhraoin Gearrloch Ed II.pdf|Vol. 09 Loch Bhraoin - Geàrrloch]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 10 A Chomraich Loch Aillse Ed II.pdf|Vol. 10 A' Chomraich - Loch Aillse]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 11 Trondairnis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 11 Tròndairnis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 12 Port Righ Sleite Ed II.pdf|Vol. 12 Port Rìgh - Slèite]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 13 An Taobh Siar Nis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 13 An Taobh Siar - Nis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 14 Am Bac An Rubha Ed II.pdf|Vol. 14 Am Bac - An Ruba]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 15 Steornabhagh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 15 Steòrnabhagh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 16 Ile Diura Colbhasa Ed II.pdf|Vol. 16 Ìle - Diùra - Colbhasa]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 17 Apainn Lios Mor Ed II.pdf|Vol. 17 Apainn - Lios Mòr]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 18 Latharna a Deas Ed II.pdf|Vol. 18 Latharna a Deas]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 19 Loch Abar an Ear Ed II.pdf|Vol. 19 Loch Abar an Ear]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 20 Muile Tiriodh Ed II.pdf|Vol. 20 Muile - Tiriodh]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 21 Baideanach Narann Ed II.pdf|Vol. 21 Bàideanach - Narann]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 22 Cataibh an Ear Ed II.pdf|Vol. 22 Cataibh an Ear]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 23 Inbhirnis Ed II.pdf|Vol. 23 Inbhir Nis]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 24 Taobh Sear Rois Ed II.pdf|Vol. 24 Taobh Sear Rois]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 25 Dal Riada Cinn Tire Ed II.pdf|Vol. 25 Dail Riada - Cinn Tìre]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 26 Comhal Bod Ed II.pdf|Vol. 26 Comhghall - Bòd]]

[[:File:Gaidhlig Local Studies Vol 27 Peairt Sruighlea Ed II.pdf|Vol. 27 Peairt - Sruighlea]]

[[:File:Bibliography Gaidhlig Local Studies-a.pdf|Bibliography]]

 
 
{{Seoladaireachd}}

Habemus infinitivum necne

2024-05-10T12:25:18Z

Akerbeltz: /* So what about other languages then? */

No, not showing off, I had to ask a friend to correct my Latin (it's been a long time!) and there's a reason for the Latin phrase being added to the page because it loosely translates as ''We have an infinitive, or do we?''.

==First things first==
What's an infinitive and would it go with a glass of Château Musar? Probably yes, as to the latter. As to the former, it's actually hard to state exactly what it is because the definition of ''the infinitive'' varies slightly depending on which language you're looking at.

Coming at the infinitive from English, it is often described as the ''dictionary form'' (also called the ''citation form'') of a verb, an un-changed, un-inflected un-everythinged form of a verb (hence its name, ultimately from Latin infinitivus meaning, among other things, something like ''un-defined''). For example, ''to go, to sit, to sing, to throw...'' or by dropping the ''to'', simply ''go, sit, sing, throw...''. It gets more complicated than that but I want to sidestep the precise definition of the infinitive in English because it's a bit of a head-bender (and that's me you're talking to!) and because the English concept is not really a helpful concept for Gaelic, as we'll see.

Anyway, this thing called the infinitive crops up in many European languages. For example, in Spanish, the basic form of verbs (those ending in -ir, -er or -ar) is referred to as the infinitive and these are also the forms you look for in the dictionary, for example, morir "(to) die" or masticar "(to) chew". In German, the equivalent is -en, for example, bedienen "(to) serve", verschlimmbessern "(to) disimprove" or verniedlichen "(to) make cute". And so on.

==What's the attraction?==
Well, on the whole, the infinitive is the basis for inflection if the language in question has an inflection system. In English, ignoring irregular verbs, if you know ''(to) place'' then you know that by adding ''-(e)d'' you get the past, by adding ''-(e)s'' you get the he/she/it forms (''he/she/it places'') and by adding ''-ing'' you get the participle (''placing'').

In some languages, you can also use infinitives to make ungrammatical but somewhat intelligible sentences if you're not fluent. So something like "I place money here yesterday" or "Ich lesen Buch" (''I read book''), while not grammatical, can be understood. Infinitives are one of the first verb forms taught to students of English, German, Spanish or French because they allow you to say a lot relatively fast, with relative ease.

But just because Germanic and Romance languages have weaponised the infinitive, does that hold true for all languages?

==So what about other languages then?==
Depends. Some languages outside the Indo-European family entertain the idea of an infinitive. Others go even further and do not inflect at all - such as Cantonese where the verb 生 (''sāang'' "to give birth") does not change at all, and it can also be a noun. As a verb, it takes no endings, no prefixes, no suffixes, no he/she/it -s ... nothing like that. You can add particles after a verb

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| perfective with focus on present state || 佢生'''咗''' kéuih sāaang '''jó'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PERF she gave birth (in the past)
|-
| perfective with focus on completion || 佢生'''完''' kéuih sāang '''yùhn'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth over she gave birth (and she's done with giving birth)
|-
| experiential || 佢生'''過''' kéuih sāang '''gwo'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth go.past she has given birth (so she knows what it's like)
|-
| progressive || 佢生'''緊''' kéuih sāang '''gán'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PROG she is giving birth (right now)
|-
| continuative || 佢生'''落去''' kéuih sāang '''lohk heui'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth down go.away she is still giving birth (i.e. she has been in labour for a long time)
|-
|}

But native speakers tend to see these as independent words, not some form of inflection of ''sāang''.

And then there are languages which entertain neither concept. Many Native American languages have nothing even vaguely approaching an English infinitive. They use a system where there is no such thing as an un-inflected verb. You might ask, what happens in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_language Lakhóta] dictionary? No sweat. Lakhóta considers the most basic form of a verb to be the 3rd person singular. So, while an English dictionary will list ''(to) sing'', Lakhóta will list lowáŋ "he/she/it sings". Because if you look at the whole shebang, you'll see this is the form with the least amount of 'bits' stuck on:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| wa'''lowáŋ'''
| I sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''
| you sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''
| he/she/it sings
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''
| we two sing
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''pi
| we (more than two) sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''pi
| you (plural) sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''pi
| they sing
|-
|}

Before you ask, '''lowáŋ''' is not an infinitive because it's not uninflected i.e. it's not a bare verb form, it is inextricably linked to the third person he/she/it. I could get more technical but that's not the point here. Either way it's very different from ''(to) read''.

Which brings us to Gaelic and the Gaelic dictionary in which the most un-inflected, un-changed and basic form of a verb is considered to be the ''singular imperative'', the form you use to order one person around.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| leugh!
| read!
|-
| seinn!
| sing!
|-
| geàrr!
| cut!
|-
|}

Once you know the singular imperative form (yes, there is a plural imperative in Gaelic, so leugh! orders one person to read, if you want to order a whole classroom full of people to read, you say leugh'''aibh'''!), you can derive all but one of the required verb forms by applying a set of rules. Again, we're ignoring irregular verbs. So, as an example, using geàrr! you get the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| gearraidh
| to form the independent future of a verb, add -(a)idh to the imperative and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearras
| to form the relative future of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)as at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr-
|-
| ghearramaid
| to form the conditional of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)amaid at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr-
|-
| geàrrte
| to form the past participle of a verb add -te at the end and because -eàrr- is not followed by a vowel, it remains long
|-
|}

And so on. It's a fairly long list but on the whole entirely predictable.

The only form that is not predictable is the verbal noun. So just by looking at geàrr, it's hard to guess how to say "cutting". It could be gearradh or gearrachdainn or gearramh or gearrail or gearrachd, and so on. While there are preferred forms common to many areas, in this case gearradh, there is usually a lot of variation between dialects. So, while one area says gearradh, another might prefer gearrachdainn. That isn't as confusing as it may sound because it's almost always clear from the word order that a word is or isn't a verbal noun and many people are fairly used to hearing different endings for verbal nouns.

==Get to the darned infinitive already==
Patience, my young [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padawan padawan]... If you equate the English infinitive with "the basic form of a verb that's listed in a dictionary" then you already know that this does not apply to Gaelic since Gaelic uses the imperative singular for this purpose.

But, there's a bit more to this story, because you're probably thinking of expressions like tha mi a' dol '''a bhualadh''' cù "I am going '''to hit''' a dog" or bu toigh leam '''a dhol''' a Ghlaschu "I want '''to go''' to Glasgow".

I've written before that it's important to distinguish between '''how something is constructed''' and '''how it's translated'''. On the surface, both those forms looks like infinitives because the English translations have "to go" and the Gaelic has the handy little word a which in the dictionary means "to".

Yes, a means "to", except you probably ignored the bit where it says "prep(osition)", or something like that. So, let's analyse our Gaelic sentence, word for word:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going '''to hit''' a dog
|-
|}

Unfortunately, the a in front of bhualadh is not an infinitive particle or anything like that. It's the reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)", the same do that forms dhomh/dhut/dha/dhi. However, in Modern Gaelic, after a verb of motion, such as dol, you don't use the full form do but rather the reduced form a. So, a clearer translation would be:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going to'''(wards)''' hitting a dog
|-
|}

You're probably already comfortable with that construction if we swap the bhualadh with a place name or event, for example:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || mhòd
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.mod
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' a mòd
|-
|}

...and in doing that you most likely wouldn't bat an eyelid. Well, they're the same a (« do "to(wards)").

Of course, the fact that in translation it '''looks''' like an English infinitive does not help. But, if instead of saying "going to hitting a dog" you say "going towards hitting a dog" it might be a bit more apparent.

===Miss, miss!===
Yes, I was getting to that. And it's "Sir, Sir!" if you please...😉 There is a pattern that grammar books mention in conjunction with "expressions of motion". Consider this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to speak to him
|-
|}

A novice might be tempted to invoke the dratted infinitive here. But, take a gold star if you already spotted that this is actually the same as the examples further up where a does not mark an infinitive but is just the worn down form of the preposition do. The most obvious sign of this is the fact that before vowels and fh you get a dh' which is exactly what do. The infinitive particle (which we'll meet shortly) never comes with this extra dh'.

So translating more clearly, the above two are really identical to constructions you're already familiar with using place-names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'Alba ||
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || Scotland ||
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' Scotland
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || Bheàrnaraigh ||
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || Berneray ||
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' Berneray
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' speak to him
|-
|}
Yes, I know the last two aren't great English but I'm making a grammatical point about Gaelic.

==But what about that other one?==
I was getting there. So there are sentences like the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to buy''' a book
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 's || urrainn || dhomh || cù || (a)1 || fhàgail
|-
| COP || ability || to.me || dog || INF || LEN.leaving
|-
| colspan="6" | I am able '''to leave''' a dog
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || fhaod || mi || cù || (a)1 || ithe
|-
| NEG.COP || permit || I || dog || INF || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I am not allowed '''to eat''' a dog
|-
|}
1the infinitive particle a is notionally there but in pronunciation it is dropped because the next word begins with a vowel (in spoken Gaelic) and thus also commonly dropped in writing too

These are called modal constructions which is not a very intuitive or self-explanatory name. Unfortunately, we're stuck with it. A modal construction contains a modal verb or expresses a modal concept. Don't frown, I'm getting there. Basically, modal concepts are expressions of wanting, being able to or having to do something. In English, they are mostly simple verbs: ought, must, should, could, want, desire, wish, love... In Gaelic, there are some which are just simple verbs, like feum and faod. However, Gaelic mostly uses modal constructions that are roundabout ways of stating things like wanting, necessity, possibility, probability, or ability such as: bu toigh leam, tha agam ri, 's urrainn dhomh etc.

Ok, now this is where you must pay '''very''' close attention to the difference between an ''infinitive'' and an ''infinitive('''-like''') construction''.

English has a '''''genuine''' infinitive'', the un-changed and basic form of verbs: (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like, and so on. You can use the infinitive in English to derive other verb forms: like » likes; liked; liking; liketh. Or, you can use it to make English sentences with infinitive constructions such as "I like '''to read'''".

Still with me? OK, so what we have in those Gaelic sentences are '''infinitive(-like) constructions'''. They are called infinitive-like because they get '''translated''' into English by using an English infinitive form. But look again at the verbs in the Gaelic sentences. Yes, they're just verbal nouns, ''reading'' and ''going'' with an
a slapped in front of them. Indeed, this a is called an '''infinitive particle''' (marked INF above) because of its function, but that's as far as it goes. Unlike in English, it is not followed by a verb in the infinitive form but rather followed by a verbal noun. The infinitive particle a causes lenition and you may want to check out the page on [[The many functions of ə]].

Perhaps easier with more colours and in a visual way, so here is a schematic of how infinitives operate in many Indo-European languages. They either involve just an uninflected, unchanged true infinitive verb ('''dark yellow''') or possibly in addition an infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') to form a genuine infinitive construction ('''dark red''').

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (English) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''I'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | would
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | like
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''to'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''buy'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | a
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''book'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (German) infinitive'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Ich'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | entschied
| align=center style="border:none;" | ein
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''Buch'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''zu'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''kaufen'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (French) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Je'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | voudrais
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''acheter'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''livre'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (Spanish) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Me'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | gustaría
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''comprar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''libro'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

In just one kind of construction (sentences with inversion i.e. modal sentences where there is a direct object) Gaelic has something that resembles this. But if you look closely, what looks like an infinitive is made up of totally different things - there is a genuine infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') but where all the other languages have a type of verb (without any endings or fancy stuff like that), Gaelic uses a noun ('''dark green'''). It's like the difference between a pork roast and a seitan roast, both are roasts and may look similar but they're not made from the same things and thus aren't quite the same thing. The result is an infinitive-like ('''pink''') construction.

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| colspan="2" align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''infinitive-like construction'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | Bu
| align=center style="border:none;" | toigh
| align=center style="border:none;" | leam
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''leabhar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | '''a'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''cheannach'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | verbal noun
|-
|}

So, the Gaelic resembles an infinitive-like construction, and the English translation uses an infinitive, but neither of these two things mean that Gaelic has a basic, un-changed, un-inflected form of the verb that you can use like (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like.

For convenience, here's a full table showing how the '''infinitive particle''' a and the '''preposition''' a (the reduced form of do) behave regarding lenition and dh':
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" |a (infinitive particle)
! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" |effect on verbal noun
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" |example
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |a (reduced form of do "towards")
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |effect on verbal noun (or noun)
! scope="col" style="width: 450px;" |example
|-
| a || a/à » - || bu toigh leam lìon amaladh || a (do) || a » dh'a || thig a dh'Alba (do dh'Alba) ; thig a dh'amaladh
|-
| a || b » bh || bu toigh leam creag a bhualadh || a (do) || b » bh || thig a Bharraigh (do Bharraigh) ; thig a bhualadh
|-
| a || c » ch || bu toigh leam leabhar a chàradh || a (do) || c » ch || thig a Chàrlabhagh (do Chàrlabhagh) ; thig a chàradh
|-
| a || d » dh || bu toigh leam doras a dhùnadh || a (do) || d » dh || thig a Dhiùranais (do Dhiùranais) ; thig a dhùnadh
|-
| a || e/é/è » - || bu toigh leam ceòl éisteachd || a (do) || e/é/è » dh' || thig a dh'Éisteal (do dh'Éisteal) ; thig a dh'èisteachd
|-
| a || f » fh || bu toigh leam doras fhosgladh || a (do) || f » dh'fh || thig a dh'Fhionnsbhagh (do dh'Fhionnsbhagh) ; thig a dh'fhosgladh
|-
| a || g » gh || bu toigh leam doras a ghlanadh || a (do) || g » gh || thig a Ghiogha (do Ghiogha) ; thig a ghlanadh
|-
| a || i/ì » - || bu toigh leam creag ìsleachadh || a (do) || ì » dh' || thig a dh'Ìle (do dh'Ìle) ; thig a dh'ìsleachadh
|-
| a || l » l [Lʲ » l] || bu toigh leam creag a leigeil || a (do) || l » l [Lʲ » l] || thig a Leòdhas (do Leòdhas) ; thig a leigeil
|-
| a || m » mh || bu toigh leam cù a mharbhadh || a (do) || m » mh || thig a Mhealabost (do Mhealabost) ; thig a mharbhadh
|-
| a || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || bu toigh leam doras a neartachadh || a (do) || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || thig a Nòsdaidh (do Nòsdaidh) ; thig a neartachadh
|-
| a || o/ó/ò » - || bu toigh leam uisge òl || a (do) || o/ó/ò » dh' || thig a dh'Ormasairigh (do dh'Ormasairigh) ; thig a dh'òl
|-
| a || p » ph || bu toigh leam lìon a phasgadh || a (do) || p » ph || thig a Phaibeal (do Phaibeal) ; thig a phasgadh
|-
| a || r » r [R » r] || bu toigh leam pàipear a ragachadh || a (do) || r » r [R » r] || thig a Ratharsair (do Ratharsair) ; thig a ragachadh
|-
| a || s » sh || bu toigh leam cù a shàrachadh || a (do) || s » sh || a Shasainn (do Shasainn) ; thig a shàrachadh
|-
| a || t » th || bu toigh leam creag a thilgeil || a (do) || t » th || thig a Thiriodh (do Thiriodh) ; thig a thilgeil
|-
| a || u/ù » - || bu toigh leam doras ùrachadh || a (do) || u/ù » dh' || thig a dh'Uibhist (do Uibhist) ; thig a dh'ùrachadh
|-
|}

So there is a bit of an overlap, on the face of it, but as you can very clearly see, they're not the same.

Just to drive home the difference about what something IS and how you translate it, here's an illustrative example closer to home. In English, you say ''I am going home'' using the present tense verb ''am'' and the progressive ''going''. But in the same setting, in German you have to say Ich gehe nach Hause. Does that mean gehe is a progressive? No. German has a sort-of progressive (gehend) but doesn't use it much, certainly not like English does. Instead, German uses a straight present tense here (gehe) and no progressive. So while in translation between English and German a present progressive is used in place of a straight present, that does NOT mean that gehe is therefore a progressive or that ''going'' is a present tense. What something IS and how you translate it are two very different things...

===Prep is everything===
There is a special case scenario. If you get a modal construction which has a verbal noun in it which is followed by a preposition, then you don't get fronting or even lenition or anything, it pretty much is a case of just stringing the words together:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd''' || '''ri''' || ACDC
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening || against || ACDC
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen to ACDC
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Am || faod || mi || '''coimhead''' || '''air''' an || telebhisean?
|-
| INTERR || may || I || watching || on the || television
|-
| colspan="7" | May I watch television?
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn''' || '''ri''' || Calum
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking || against || Calum
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk to Calum
|-
|}

It's not really part of the infinitive hullabaloo but just as a recap, when there is no object, then it's just the unchanged verbal noun in modal constructions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd'''
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Faodaidh || mi || '''coimhead'''
|-
| may || I || watching
|-
| colspan="7" | I may (am permitted to) watch
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn'''
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk
|-
|}

===A word on relatives===
No, not the kind that visits and drinks your alc, but relative clauses. Let's take the sentence from above (I would like '''to buy''' a book) and make it "the book" which will help make the form more transparent:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || an || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || the || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to buy''' the book
|-
|}

When you turn that into a relative clause, the words move around, but the a stays the same:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || leabhar || a || bu || toigh || leam || a || cheannach
|-
| the || book || REL || COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || cheannach
|-
| colspan="8" | The book I would like '''to buy'''
|-
|}
So we've picked up a relative particle which does nothing except link the an leabhar bit with the bu toigh leam a cheannach bit, but other than that, no change really. Fortunately the place where "the book" goes in the sentence is the same as in English, so it's not too much of a mind-bender.

==But I have a book which says this is an infinitive==
As the Germans say: Paper is patient. It will hold E=mc² just the same as an election leaflet by a political party promising a land of milk and honey, hope and glory and pink Brexit unicorns.

There are two important points to be aware of regarding the particle a. First, there are many different particles in Gaelic which are just written and spoken as a. One has to learn the specific uses of each a and keep their meanings and uses apart. Second, many people writing about grammar have come from a university background where traditionally the description of grammar (of any language) is, or was, heavily influenced by Latin and Greek grammar. Like a pair of shades, the Latin and Greek formulas kind of colour your vision, without your thinking about the coloured tint. I experienced the same issue when I ran into Native American languages for the first time. I discovered there were very few concepts of European grammars that were helpful.

So, one can be prone to see the Latin and Greek categories in languages that don't have those categories. There can be a tendency to try and force-fit these concepts and then explain things that do not fit as "exceptions". For example, in unit 95, from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks (an excellent book except for this unit), you are told that:

:''Infinitives are used with the following auxiliary verbs and idioms:

:''(a) the modal verbs feum and faod''
:''(b) modal idioms expressing obligation''
:''(c) a number of idioms expressing 'wanting, liking, hoping, capability, remembering, obligation, managing'''
:''(d) verbs expressing motion or intent''
:''(e) the verb sguir 'cease'''

This list unfortunately conflates at least three different things, which is not helpful. To begin, (a), (b) and (c) are really the same thing. They present a long way of saying "modal verbs and expressions" - which is both shorter and more correct because there are other modal verbs in addition to feum and faod.

The (d) examples kind of refer both to (a)-(c), regarding ''intent'', and the expressions of motion which we have already examined. The (d) examples, in Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks, are really instances of "motion", already discussed, which operate using a, the reduced form of do "to(wards)":

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chaidh || Iain || a || cheannach
|-
| (PAST).go || Iain || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.buying
|-
| colspan="4" | Iain went '''to buy''' (« '''towards''')
|-
|}

It is blatantly obvious, in this (d) example, that a is not an infinitive particle but the preposition do/a "towards":
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thàinig || Anna || a || dh'fhaicinn
|-
| (PAST).come || Ann || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.seeing
|-
| colspan="4" | Ann came '''to see''' (« '''towards''' seeing)
|-
|}

The combination of dh' appearing alongside lenition is classic behaviour for do "to(wards)". Compare these sentences, of the type you may be familiar with:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thoir || an || leabhar || do || dh'Fhionnlagh
|-
| give || DEF.ART || book || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Finlay
|-
| colspan="5" | give the book '''to(wards)''' Finlay
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thug || e || ubhal || do || dh'Fhearchar
|-
| PAST.give || he || apple || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Fergus
|-
| colspan="5" | he gave an apple '''to(wards)''' Fergus
|-
|}

And (e) is again a misreading of the a that appears in sguir constructions. Some verbs simply take certain prepositions, and sguir normally takes de. So the a, in the case of sguir, is just the worn down form of the partitive particle de. So, here's a re-analysis of the example from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || a || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

The above is the shortened version of:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || de || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks goes on, in unit 95a, to talk about ''Indirect objects of infinitives'' even though there is not a hint of anything infinitive-like in the Gaelic examples. The only reason this unit has been given that heading is because the English translations use infinitives. In Gaelic, it's just the verbal noun being employed:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || bruidhinn || ri || Seumas
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || speaking|| against || James
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to speak''' to James
|}

Unfortunately, because the translation of this is "I would like '''to speak''' to James", this is incorrectly labelled an infinitive.

===Isn't the infinitive particle just a possessive pronoun?===
Good question. I would say no, simply because if it was a possessive, one would expect a difference between masculine and feminine objects; compare a chù "his dog" vs a cù "her dog". But the infinitive particle, unlike the possessive pronouns, always lenites the verbal noun after it.

Of course, there is the special case of having a pronoun as an object, i.e. something like "I want to hit '''you'''", in modal expressions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || do || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || your || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to hit''' you
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || chòir || dhut || mo || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || right || to.you || my || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | You ought '''to hit''' me
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || am || faicinn
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || their || seeing
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to see''' them
|-
|}

Over time, it's conceivable that the pattern of the third person masculine possessive pronoun has resulted in creating some sort of generalized infinitive-like pattern, i.e.:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || phòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || his || LEN.marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' him
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || pòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || her || marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' her
|}
But, overall, it makes no difference because one just has to learn these patterns the way they are today.

==What about a dhol, a bhith and a thighinn?==
Well, it wouldn't be Gaelic if there wasn't an odd one. Normally, if there is no object you just place the verbal noun after the modal verb or expression, such as:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || seinn
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || singing
|-
| colspan="4" | I would like to sing
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| faodaidh || tu || falbh
|-
| may || you || going
|-
| colspan="3" | You may go
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || urrainn || dhomh || snàmh
|-
| NEG || ability || to.me || swimming
|-
| colspan="4" | I cannot swim
|-
|}

But if the verbal noun happens to be dol or bith (and in some dialects tighinn), the infinitive particle, a, gets put in front of dol, bith (and tighinn), causing them to lenite:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || dhan || sgoil
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to.the || school
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to go''' to school
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || thighinn || dhachaigh || a-rithist
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.coming || homewards || again
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to come''' home again
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || caomh || leat || a || bhith || ag || éisteachd?
|-
| INTERR || gentle || with.you || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | would you like '''to be''' listening?
|-
|}

Just those two, or three, if you include tighinn. Don't ask me why.

Of course, you can combine the uses of do, worn down to a:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to go to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

===and ''a bhith''?===
Nice try, but no, a bhith is not an infinitive, just an infinitive-like form. Bith is just a verbal noun, the equivalent of English "being", rather than "to be". It's quite obvious from expressions such as bith-bhuan or a' dol á bith that it's a verbal noun, even though it is not possible to use it with ag. The form *a' bith is not an option.

But, in terms of use, bith behaves like a verbal noun, except that bith has to be followed by ag/a' plus another verbal noun.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || bhith || ag || ithe
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like to eat (lit. I would like '''to be''' eating)
|-
|}

Since I can't say this often enough, I'll state it again even though this page is not about correct idiomatic usage: don't over-use this, it's not a common construction. As a rule of thumb, if you use a bhith more than once on half an A4 page of written Gaelic, you're probably over-using it.

==In a word==
Practically speaking, these are the points to remember:
# Don't go hunting for references to the infinitive in Gaelic. You're wasting your time. There is nothing approaching any kind of basic, infinitive verb form in Gaelic. That's just the way it is.
# The dictionary form of a Gaelic verb is the singular imperative (order/command form).
# After a verb of motion, most commonly a' dol, the a is a reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)".
# In inverted phrases, such as bu toigh leam leabhar a leughadh, the a is the infinitive particle plus a verbal noun. That a is often ''translated'' into English using an English infinitive form; however, that does '''not''' make Gaelic have an infinitive it can call its own.

So, the whole hunt for a Gaelic infinitive is fuelled mainly
* by learners hoping for a quick fix,
* by linguists (in the old days) trying to squeeze all languages into the corset of grammatical terms that work in Latin and Greek,
* and by various people looking at an English sentence and thinking "English has an infinitive here, so Gaelic must have one too".

Simples!

Now, what's [[Inversion|inversion]]?

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Habemus infinitivum necne

2024-05-10T12:20:18Z

Akerbeltz: /* So what about other languages then? */

No, not showing off, I had to ask a friend to correct my Latin (it's been a long time!) and there's a reason for the Latin phrase being added to the page because it loosely translates as ''We have an infinitive, or do we?''.

==First things first==
What's an infinitive and would it go with a glass of Château Musar? Probably yes, as to the latter. As to the former, it's actually hard to state exactly what it is because the definition of ''the infinitive'' varies slightly depending on which language you're looking at.

Coming at the infinitive from English, it is often described as the ''dictionary form'' (also called the ''citation form'') of a verb, an un-changed, un-inflected un-everythinged form of a verb (hence its name, ultimately from Latin infinitivus meaning, among other things, something like ''un-defined''). For example, ''to go, to sit, to sing, to throw...'' or by dropping the ''to'', simply ''go, sit, sing, throw...''. It gets more complicated than that but I want to sidestep the precise definition of the infinitive in English because it's a bit of a head-bender (and that's me you're talking to!) and because the English concept is not really a helpful concept for Gaelic, as we'll see.

Anyway, this thing called the infinitive crops up in many European languages. For example, in Spanish, the basic form of verbs (those ending in -ir, -er or -ar) is referred to as the infinitive and these are also the forms you look for in the dictionary, for example, morir "(to) die" or masticar "(to) chew". In German, the equivalent is -en, for example, bedienen "(to) serve", verschlimmbessern "(to) disimprove" or verniedlichen "(to) make cute". And so on.

==What's the attraction?==
Well, on the whole, the infinitive is the basis for inflection if the language in question has an inflection system. In English, ignoring irregular verbs, if you know ''(to) place'' then you know that by adding ''-(e)d'' you get the past, by adding ''-(e)s'' you get the he/she/it forms (''he/she/it places'') and by adding ''-ing'' you get the participle (''placing'').

In some languages, you can also use infinitives to make ungrammatical but somewhat intelligible sentences if you're not fluent. So something like "I place money here yesterday" or "Ich lesen Buch" (''I read book''), while not grammatical, can be understood. Infinitives are one of the first verb forms taught to students of English, German, Spanish or French because they allow you to say a lot relatively fast, with relative ease.

But just because Germanic and Romance languages have weaponised the infinitive, does that hold true for all languages?

==So what about other languages then?==
Depends. Some languages outside the Indo-European family entertain the idea of an infinitive. Others go even further and do not inflect at all - such as Cantonese where the verb 生 (''sāang'' "to give birth") does not change at all, and it can also be a noun. As a verb, it takes no endings, no prefixes, no suffixes, no he/she/it -s ... nothing like that. You can add particles after a verb

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| perfective with focus on present state || 佢生'''咗''' kéuih sāaang '''jó'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PERF she gave birth (in the past)
|-
| perfective with focus on completion || 佢生'''完''' kéuih sāang '''yùhn'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth over she gave birth (and she's done with giving birth)
|-
| experiential || 佢生'''過''' kéuih sāang '''gwo'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth go.past she has given birth (so she knows what it's like)
|-
| progressive || 佢生'''緊''' kéuih sāang '''gán'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth PROG she is giving birth (right now)
|-
| continuative || 佢生'''落去''' kéuih sāang '''lohk heui'''
|-
| || he/she/it birth down go.away she is still giving birth (i.e. she has been in labour for a long time)
|-
|}

But native speakers tend to see these as independent words, not some form of inflection of ''sāang''.

And then there are languages which entertain neither concept. Many Native American languages have nothing even vaguely approaching an English infinitive. They use a system where there is no such thing as an un-inflected verb. You might ask, what happens in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_language Lakhóta] dictionary? No sweat. Lakhóta considers the most basic form of a verb to be the 3rd person singular. So, while an English dictionary will list ''(to) sing'', Lakhóta will list lowáŋ "he/she/it sings". Because if you look at the whole shebang, you'll see this is the form with the least amount of 'bits' stuck on:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| wa'''lowáŋ'''
| I sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''
| you sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''
| he/she/it sings
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''
| we two sing
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''pi
| we (more than two) sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''pi
| you (plural) sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''pi
| they sing
|-
|}

Before you ask, '''lowáŋ''' is not an infinitive because it's not uninflected i.e. it's not a bare verb form, it is inextricably linked to the third person he/she/it. I could get more technical but that's not the point here. Either way it's very different from ''(to) read''.

Which brings us to Gaelic and the Gaelic dictionary in which the most un-inflected, un-changed and basic form of a verb is considered to be the ''singular imperative'', the form you use to order one person around.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| leugh!
| read!
|-
| seinn!
| sing!
|-
| geàrr!
| cut!
|-
|}

Once you know the singular imperative form (yes, there is a plural imperative in Gaelic, so leugh! orders one person to read, if you want to order a whole classroom full of people to read, you say leugh'''aibh'''!), you can derive all but one of the required verb forms by applying a set of rules. Again, we're ignoring irregular verbs. So, as an example, using geàrr! you get the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| gearraidh
| to form the independent future of a verb, add -(a)idh to the imperative and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearras
| to form the relative future of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)as at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearramaid
| to form the conditional of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)amaid at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| geàrrte
| to form the past participle of a verb add -te at the end and because -eàrr- is not followed by a vowel, it remains long
|-
|}

And so on. It's a fairly long list but on the whole entirely predictable.

The only form that is not predictable is the verbal noun. So just by looking at geàrr, it's hard to guess how to say "cutting". It could be gearradh or gearrachdainn or gearramh or gearrail or gearrachd, and so on. While there are preferred forms common to many areas, in this case gearradh, there is usually a lot of variation between dialects. So, while one area says gearradh, another might prefer gearrachdainn. That isn't as confusing as it may sound because it's almost always clear from the word order that a word is or isn't a verbal noun and many people are fairly used to hearing different endings for verbal nouns.

==Get to the darned infinitive already==
Patience, my young [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padawan padawan]... If you equate the English infinitive with "the basic form of a verb that's listed in a dictionary" then you already know that this does not apply to Gaelic since Gaelic uses the imperative singular for this purpose.

But, there's a bit more to this story, because you're probably thinking of expressions like tha mi a' dol '''a bhualadh''' cù "I am going '''to hit''' a dog" or bu toigh leam '''a dhol''' a Ghlaschu "I want '''to go''' to Glasgow".

I've written before that it's important to distinguish between '''how something is constructed''' and '''how it's translated'''. On the surface, both those forms looks like infinitives because the English translations have "to go" and the Gaelic has the handy little word a which in the dictionary means "to".

Yes, a means "to", except you probably ignored the bit where it says "prep(osition)", or something like that. So, let's analyse our Gaelic sentence, word for word:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going '''to hit''' a dog
|-
|}

Unfortunately, the a in front of bhualadh is not an infinitive particle or anything like that. It's the reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)", the same do that forms dhomh/dhut/dha/dhi. However, in Modern Gaelic, after a verb of motion, such as dol, you don't use the full form do but rather the reduced form a. So, a clearer translation would be:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going to'''(wards)''' hitting a dog
|-
|}

You're probably already comfortable with that construction if we swap the bhualadh with a place name or event, for example:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || mhòd
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.mod
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' a mòd
|-
|}

...and in doing that you most likely wouldn't bat an eyelid. Well, they're the same a (« do "to(wards)").

Of course, the fact that in translation it '''looks''' like an English infinitive does not help. But, if instead of saying "going to hitting a dog" you say "going towards hitting a dog" it might be a bit more apparent.

===Miss, miss!===
Yes, I was getting to that. And it's "Sir, Sir!" if you please...😉 There is a pattern that grammar books mention in conjunction with "expressions of motion". Consider this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to speak to him
|-
|}

A novice might be tempted to invoke the dratted infinitive here. But, take a gold star if you already spotted that this is actually the same as the examples further up where a does not mark an infinitive but is just the worn down form of the preposition do. The most obvious sign of this is the fact that before vowels and fh you get a dh' which is exactly what do. The infinitive particle (which we'll meet shortly) never comes with this extra dh'.

So translating more clearly, the above two are really identical to constructions you're already familiar with using place-names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'Alba ||
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || Scotland ||
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' Scotland
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || Bheàrnaraigh ||
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || Berneray ||
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' Berneray
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' speak to him
|-
|}
Yes, I know the last two aren't great English but I'm making a grammatical point about Gaelic.

==But what about that other one?==
I was getting there. So there are sentences like the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to buy''' a book
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 's || urrainn || dhomh || cù || (a)1 || fhàgail
|-
| COP || ability || to.me || dog || INF || LEN.leaving
|-
| colspan="6" | I am able '''to leave''' a dog
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || fhaod || mi || cù || (a)1 || ithe
|-
| NEG.COP || permit || I || dog || INF || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I am not allowed '''to eat''' a dog
|-
|}
1the infinitive particle a is notionally there but in pronunciation it is dropped because the next word begins with a vowel (in spoken Gaelic) and thus also commonly dropped in writing too

These are called modal constructions which is not a very intuitive or self-explanatory name. Unfortunately, we're stuck with it. A modal construction contains a modal verb or expresses a modal concept. Don't frown, I'm getting there. Basically, modal concepts are expressions of wanting, being able to or having to do something. In English, they are mostly simple verbs: ought, must, should, could, want, desire, wish, love... In Gaelic, there are some which are just simple verbs, like feum and faod. However, Gaelic mostly uses modal constructions that are roundabout ways of stating things like wanting, necessity, possibility, probability, or ability such as: bu toigh leam, tha agam ri, 's urrainn dhomh etc.

Ok, now this is where you must pay '''very''' close attention to the difference between an ''infinitive'' and an ''infinitive('''-like''') construction''.

English has a '''''genuine''' infinitive'', the un-changed and basic form of verbs: (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like, and so on. You can use the infinitive in English to derive other verb forms: like » likes; liked; liking; liketh. Or, you can use it to make English sentences with infinitive constructions such as "I like '''to read'''".

Still with me? OK, so what we have in those Gaelic sentences are '''infinitive(-like) constructions'''. They are called infinitive-like because they get '''translated''' into English by using an English infinitive form. But look again at the verbs in the Gaelic sentences. Yes, they're just verbal nouns, ''reading'' and ''going'' with an
a slapped in front of them. Indeed, this a is called an '''infinitive particle''' (marked INF above) because of its function, but that's as far as it goes. Unlike in English, it is not followed by a verb in the infinitive form but rather followed by a verbal noun. The infinitive particle a causes lenition and you may want to check out the page on [[The many functions of ə]].

Perhaps easier with more colours and in a visual way, so here is a schematic of how infinitives operate in many Indo-European languages. They either involve just an uninflected, unchanged true infinitive verb ('''dark yellow''') or possibly in addition an infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') to form a genuine infinitive construction ('''dark red''').

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (English) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''I'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | would
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | like
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''to'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''buy'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | a
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''book'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (German) infinitive'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Ich'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | entschied
| align=center style="border:none;" | ein
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''Buch'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''zu'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''kaufen'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (French) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Je'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | voudrais
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''acheter'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''livre'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (Spanish) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Me'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | gustaría
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''comprar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''libro'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

In just one kind of construction (sentences with inversion i.e. modal sentences where there is a direct object) Gaelic has something that resembles this. But if you look closely, what looks like an infinitive is made up of totally different things - there is a genuine infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') but where all the other languages have a type of verb (without any endings or fancy stuff like that), Gaelic uses a noun ('''dark green'''). It's like the difference between a pork roast and a seitan roast, both are roasts and may look similar but they're not made from the same things and thus aren't quite the same thing. The result is an infinitive-like ('''pink''') construction.

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| colspan="2" align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''infinitive-like construction'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | Bu
| align=center style="border:none;" | toigh
| align=center style="border:none;" | leam
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''leabhar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | '''a'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''cheannach'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | verbal noun
|-
|}

So, the Gaelic resembles an infinitive-like construction, and the English translation uses an infinitive, but neither of these two things mean that Gaelic has a basic, un-changed, un-inflected form of the verb that you can use like (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like.

For convenience, here's a full table showing how the '''infinitive particle''' a and the '''preposition''' a (the reduced form of do) behave regarding lenition and dh':
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" |a (infinitive particle)
! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" |effect on verbal noun
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" |example
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |a (reduced form of do "towards")
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |effect on verbal noun (or noun)
! scope="col" style="width: 450px;" |example
|-
| a || a/à » - || bu toigh leam lìon amaladh || a (do) || a » dh'a || thig a dh'Alba (do dh'Alba) ; thig a dh'amaladh
|-
| a || b » bh || bu toigh leam creag a bhualadh || a (do) || b » bh || thig a Bharraigh (do Bharraigh) ; thig a bhualadh
|-
| a || c » ch || bu toigh leam leabhar a chàradh || a (do) || c » ch || thig a Chàrlabhagh (do Chàrlabhagh) ; thig a chàradh
|-
| a || d » dh || bu toigh leam doras a dhùnadh || a (do) || d » dh || thig a Dhiùranais (do Dhiùranais) ; thig a dhùnadh
|-
| a || e/é/è » - || bu toigh leam ceòl éisteachd || a (do) || e/é/è » dh' || thig a dh'Éisteal (do dh'Éisteal) ; thig a dh'èisteachd
|-
| a || f » fh || bu toigh leam doras fhosgladh || a (do) || f » dh'fh || thig a dh'Fhionnsbhagh (do dh'Fhionnsbhagh) ; thig a dh'fhosgladh
|-
| a || g » gh || bu toigh leam doras a ghlanadh || a (do) || g » gh || thig a Ghiogha (do Ghiogha) ; thig a ghlanadh
|-
| a || i/ì » - || bu toigh leam creag ìsleachadh || a (do) || ì » dh' || thig a dh'Ìle (do dh'Ìle) ; thig a dh'ìsleachadh
|-
| a || l » l [Lʲ » l] || bu toigh leam creag a leigeil || a (do) || l » l [Lʲ » l] || thig a Leòdhas (do Leòdhas) ; thig a leigeil
|-
| a || m » mh || bu toigh leam cù a mharbhadh || a (do) || m » mh || thig a Mhealabost (do Mhealabost) ; thig a mharbhadh
|-
| a || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || bu toigh leam doras a neartachadh || a (do) || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || thig a Nòsdaidh (do Nòsdaidh) ; thig a neartachadh
|-
| a || o/ó/ò » - || bu toigh leam uisge òl || a (do) || o/ó/ò » dh' || thig a dh'Ormasairigh (do dh'Ormasairigh) ; thig a dh'òl
|-
| a || p » ph || bu toigh leam lìon a phasgadh || a (do) || p » ph || thig a Phaibeal (do Phaibeal) ; thig a phasgadh
|-
| a || r » r [R » r] || bu toigh leam pàipear a ragachadh || a (do) || r » r [R » r] || thig a Ratharsair (do Ratharsair) ; thig a ragachadh
|-
| a || s » sh || bu toigh leam cù a shàrachadh || a (do) || s » sh || a Shasainn (do Shasainn) ; thig a shàrachadh
|-
| a || t » th || bu toigh leam creag a thilgeil || a (do) || t » th || thig a Thiriodh (do Thiriodh) ; thig a thilgeil
|-
| a || u/ù » - || bu toigh leam doras ùrachadh || a (do) || u/ù » dh' || thig a dh'Uibhist (do Uibhist) ; thig a dh'ùrachadh
|-
|}

So there is a bit of an overlap, on the face of it, but as you can very clearly see, they're not the same.

Just to drive home the difference about what something IS and how you translate it, here's an illustrative example closer to home. In English, you say ''I am going home'' using the present tense verb ''am'' and the progressive ''going''. But in the same setting, in German you have to say Ich gehe nach Hause. Does that mean gehe is a progressive? No. German has a sort-of progressive (gehend) but doesn't use it much, certainly not like English does. Instead, German uses a straight present tense here (gehe) and no progressive. So while in translation between English and German a present progressive is used in place of a straight present, that does NOT mean that gehe is therefore a progressive or that ''going'' is a present tense. What something IS and how you translate it are two very different things...

===Prep is everything===
There is a special case scenario. If you get a modal construction which has a verbal noun in it which is followed by a preposition, then you don't get fronting or even lenition or anything, it pretty much is a case of just stringing the words together:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd''' || '''ri''' || ACDC
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening || against || ACDC
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen to ACDC
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Am || faod || mi || '''coimhead''' || '''air''' an || telebhisean?
|-
| INTERR || may || I || watching || on the || television
|-
| colspan="7" | May I watch television?
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn''' || '''ri''' || Calum
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking || against || Calum
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk to Calum
|-
|}

It's not really part of the infinitive hullabaloo but just as a recap, when there is no object, then it's just the unchanged verbal noun in modal constructions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd'''
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Faodaidh || mi || '''coimhead'''
|-
| may || I || watching
|-
| colspan="7" | I may (am permitted to) watch
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn'''
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk
|-
|}

===A word on relatives===
No, not the kind that visits and drinks your alc, but relative clauses. Let's take the sentence from above (I would like '''to buy''' a book) and make it "the book" which will help make the form more transparent:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || an || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || the || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to buy''' the book
|-
|}

When you turn that into a relative clause, the words move around, but the a stays the same:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || leabhar || a || bu || toigh || leam || a || cheannach
|-
| the || book || REL || COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || cheannach
|-
| colspan="8" | The book I would like '''to buy'''
|-
|}
So we've picked up a relative particle which does nothing except link the an leabhar bit with the bu toigh leam a cheannach bit, but other than that, no change really. Fortunately the place where "the book" goes in the sentence is the same as in English, so it's not too much of a mind-bender.

==But I have a book which says this is an infinitive==
As the Germans say: Paper is patient. It will hold E=mc² just the same as an election leaflet by a political party promising a land of milk and honey, hope and glory and pink Brexit unicorns.

There are two important points to be aware of regarding the particle a. First, there are many different particles in Gaelic which are just written and spoken as a. One has to learn the specific uses of each a and keep their meanings and uses apart. Second, many people writing about grammar have come from a university background where traditionally the description of grammar (of any language) is, or was, heavily influenced by Latin and Greek grammar. Like a pair of shades, the Latin and Greek formulas kind of colour your vision, without your thinking about the coloured tint. I experienced the same issue when I ran into Native American languages for the first time. I discovered there were very few concepts of European grammars that were helpful.

So, one can be prone to see the Latin and Greek categories in languages that don't have those categories. There can be a tendency to try and force-fit these concepts and then explain things that do not fit as "exceptions". For example, in unit 95, from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks (an excellent book except for this unit), you are told that:

:''Infinitives are used with the following auxiliary verbs and idioms:

:''(a) the modal verbs feum and faod''
:''(b) modal idioms expressing obligation''
:''(c) a number of idioms expressing 'wanting, liking, hoping, capability, remembering, obligation, managing'''
:''(d) verbs expressing motion or intent''
:''(e) the verb sguir 'cease'''

This list unfortunately conflates at least three different things, which is not helpful. To begin, (a), (b) and (c) are really the same thing. They present a long way of saying "modal verbs and expressions" - which is both shorter and more correct because there are other modal verbs in addition to feum and faod.

The (d) examples kind of refer both to (a)-(c), regarding ''intent'', and the expressions of motion which we have already examined. The (d) examples, in Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks, are really instances of "motion", already discussed, which operate using a, the reduced form of do "to(wards)":

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chaidh || Iain || a || cheannach
|-
| (PAST).go || Iain || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.buying
|-
| colspan="4" | Iain went '''to buy''' (« '''towards''')
|-
|}

It is blatantly obvious, in this (d) example, that a is not an infinitive particle but the preposition do/a "towards":
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thàinig || Anna || a || dh'fhaicinn
|-
| (PAST).come || Ann || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.seeing
|-
| colspan="4" | Ann came '''to see''' (« '''towards''' seeing)
|-
|}

The combination of dh' appearing alongside lenition is classic behaviour for do "to(wards)". Compare these sentences, of the type you may be familiar with:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thoir || an || leabhar || do || dh'Fhionnlagh
|-
| give || DEF.ART || book || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Finlay
|-
| colspan="5" | give the book '''to(wards)''' Finlay
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thug || e || ubhal || do || dh'Fhearchar
|-
| PAST.give || he || apple || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Fergus
|-
| colspan="5" | he gave an apple '''to(wards)''' Fergus
|-
|}

And (e) is again a misreading of the a that appears in sguir constructions. Some verbs simply take certain prepositions, and sguir normally takes de. So the a, in the case of sguir, is just the worn down form of the partitive particle de. So, here's a re-analysis of the example from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || a || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

The above is the shortened version of:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || de || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks goes on, in unit 95a, to talk about ''Indirect objects of infinitives'' even though there is not a hint of anything infinitive-like in the Gaelic examples. The only reason this unit has been given that heading is because the English translations use infinitives. In Gaelic, it's just the verbal noun being employed:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || bruidhinn || ri || Seumas
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || speaking|| against || James
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to speak''' to James
|}

Unfortunately, because the translation of this is "I would like '''to speak''' to James", this is incorrectly labelled an infinitive.

===Isn't the infinitive particle just a possessive pronoun?===
Good question. I would say no, simply because if it was a possessive, one would expect a difference between masculine and feminine objects; compare a chù "his dog" vs a cù "her dog". But the infinitive particle, unlike the possessive pronouns, always lenites the verbal noun after it.

Of course, there is the special case of having a pronoun as an object, i.e. something like "I want to hit '''you'''", in modal expressions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || do || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || your || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to hit''' you
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || chòir || dhut || mo || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || right || to.you || my || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | You ought '''to hit''' me
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || am || faicinn
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || their || seeing
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to see''' them
|-
|}

Over time, it's conceivable that the pattern of the third person masculine possessive pronoun has resulted in creating some sort of generalized infinitive-like pattern, i.e.:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || phòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || his || LEN.marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' him
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || pòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || her || marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' her
|}
But, overall, it makes no difference because one just has to learn these patterns the way they are today.

==What about a dhol, a bhith and a thighinn?==
Well, it wouldn't be Gaelic if there wasn't an odd one. Normally, if there is no object you just place the verbal noun after the modal verb or expression, such as:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || seinn
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || singing
|-
| colspan="4" | I would like to sing
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| faodaidh || tu || falbh
|-
| may || you || going
|-
| colspan="3" | You may go
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || urrainn || dhomh || snàmh
|-
| NEG || ability || to.me || swimming
|-
| colspan="4" | I cannot swim
|-
|}

But if the verbal noun happens to be dol or bith (and in some dialects tighinn), the infinitive particle, a, gets put in front of dol, bith (and tighinn), causing them to lenite:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || dhan || sgoil
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to.the || school
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to go''' to school
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || thighinn || dhachaigh || a-rithist
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.coming || homewards || again
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to come''' home again
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || caomh || leat || a || bhith || ag || éisteachd?
|-
| INTERR || gentle || with.you || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | would you like '''to be''' listening?
|-
|}

Just those two, or three, if you include tighinn. Don't ask me why.

Of course, you can combine the uses of do, worn down to a:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to go to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

===and ''a bhith''?===
Nice try, but no, a bhith is not an infinitive, just an infinitive-like form. Bith is just a verbal noun, the equivalent of English "being", rather than "to be". It's quite obvious from expressions such as bith-bhuan or a' dol á bith that it's a verbal noun, even though it is not possible to use it with ag. The form *a' bith is not an option.

But, in terms of use, bith behaves like a verbal noun, except that bith has to be followed by ag/a' plus another verbal noun.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || bhith || ag || ithe
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like to eat (lit. I would like '''to be''' eating)
|-
|}

Since I can't say this often enough, I'll state it again even though this page is not about correct idiomatic usage: don't over-use this, it's not a common construction. As a rule of thumb, if you use a bhith more than once on half an A4 page of written Gaelic, you're probably over-using it.

==In a word==
Practically speaking, these are the points to remember:
# Don't go hunting for references to the infinitive in Gaelic. You're wasting your time. There is nothing approaching any kind of basic, infinitive verb form in Gaelic. That's just the way it is.
# The dictionary form of a Gaelic verb is the singular imperative (order/command form).
# After a verb of motion, most commonly a' dol, the a is a reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)".
# In inverted phrases, such as bu toigh leam leabhar a leughadh, the a is the infinitive particle plus a verbal noun. That a is often ''translated'' into English using an English infinitive form; however, that does '''not''' make Gaelic have an infinitive it can call its own.

So, the whole hunt for a Gaelic infinitive is fuelled mainly
* by learners hoping for a quick fix,
* by linguists (in the old days) trying to squeeze all languages into the corset of grammatical terms that work in Latin and Greek,
* and by various people looking at an English sentence and thinking "English has an infinitive here, so Gaelic must have one too".

Simples!

Now, what's [[Inversion|inversion]]?

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Masculine nouns

2024-04-09T21:02:07Z

Akerbeltz: /* Proper nouns */

Gaelic has 4 cases (we will leave the discussion of whether the vocative is a case in Gaelic to the linguists): the nominative, the dative, the genitive and the vocative case. Hurk?

==Cases==
===The nominative===
Literally the "naming" case. The nominative presents the basic form of a noun which is the word that a dictionary gives you or that you use when naming something, e.g. an taigh, am balach, a' chaileag etc. In Gaelic, subjects of a sentence are in the nominative case. It's referred to by some as the "Naming Case" or the "Nominal Case", probably because they think that Latinate words might cause the brain to overheat. In any case, we believe grammar is difficult enough without having 5 terms for the same thing so we stick with the most established term - the nominative.

===The dative===
Literally the "giving" case. Never mind other languages here; in Gaelic, simple prepositions are followed by the dative case, e.g. fo, do, de, bho, le, ri, aig, ann an etc. Because prepositions are used with the dative case, it is sometimes referred to as the "prepositional case". Again, we'll stick with the established word, dative, and not bother that linguists argue about whether today's Gaelic dative isn't really a dative anymore.

===The genitive===
Literally the "creating" case. Well, in Gaelic the genitive is used for various things. For one, it expresses possession (akin to the English "possessive 's"), e.g. taigh mo mhàthar, bean an taighe etc. The genitive case also takes the function of the English particle 'of' as in 'house of horror', 'Queen of Scots' - taigh an uabhais, Ban-rìghinn nan Albannach. In Gaelic, it also forms compound nouns, e.g. gloine fìona (a wineglass) vs. gloine fìon (a glass (full) of wine). The genitive case is referred to by some as the "possessive" case - but do we really need yet another term?

===The vocative===
Literally the "calling" case - which is what it does. In Gaelic, you use the vocative case when directly addressing someone or something, e.g. when shouting someone's name to get their attention, when addressing an audience, or when you're drunk and talking to a lamp-post: a Mhórag! a lampa-shràid!

==Number==
What else? Ah, number. English makes a distinction between singular (the cat) and plural (15 cats). In addition, Gaelic has a dual distinction which means the noun will take on one shape for one [X], two [X] and more than two [X] - bròg, dà bhròig, trì brogan.

==Definiteness==
Definite and indefinite: an indefinite noun is a noun that indicates a member of a group of things without telling you exactly which member. For example, 'a cat' could be any moggie on or off this planet. However, if you say 'the cat sat on the mat' you must have previously mentioned which cat you mean or it must be otherwise clear, from the context, which specific cat you're referring to, for example, a cat from a specific novel. In Gaelic, the definite article that precedes a definite noun changes its shape depending on the noun, case, gender and number: a', na, nan, nam... Proper nouns are always considered definite, so Calum and Èideann are [[The_Fog_of_Terminology#proper_noun|proper nouns]] even though there are many Calums in this world and at least two Dùn Èideanns (look for Dunedin in New Zealand).

==Balach==
Right, now lets look at our first noun: Balach. It's masculine, it forms its plural by means of slenderisation, which is important, and has b as its initial consonant. It's important to notice initial consonants because they influence the choice of definite article.

===balach beag - masculine indefinite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|Nominative ||'''balach beag''' '''a small boy''' do nothing ||'''balaich bheaga''' '''small boys''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive ||'''taigh balaich bhig''' '''a house of a small boy''' lenite the adjective and slenderise it ||'''taigh bhalach beaga''' '''a house of small boys''' nouns followed by an indefinite noun in the plural cause lenition; the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative ||'''air balach beag''' '''on a small boy''' do nothing ||'''air balaich bheaga''' '''on small boys''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

===am balach beag - masculine definite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|Nominative ||'''am balach beag''' '''the small boy''' the definite article is an2 ||'''na balaich bheaga''' '''the small boys''' the definite article is na; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|Genitive ||'''taigh a' bhalaich bhig''' '''a/the house of the small boy'''3 the definite article is an4; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both ||'''taigh nam balach beaga''' '''a/the house of the small boys''' the definite article is nan5; the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|Dative ||'''air a' bhalach bheag''' '''on the small boy''' the definite article is an4; lenite noun and adjective ||'''air na balaich bheaga''' '''on the small boys''' the definite article is na; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|Vocative ||'''a bhalaich bhig!''' '''Oh, small boy!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a bhalachaibh beaga!''' '''Oh, small boys!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite the noun; nouns that slenderise for plural add -(a)ibh; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}
Oh joy, footnotes again...

1 -e if they end in a slender consonant e.g. glic > glice

2 The article is an, except in front of the labials b, p, f, m (sounds made at the lips) where this assimilates to am.

3 Gaelic has a rule that states that in any definite noun phrase, the definite article may only occur once and only in front of the last noun. This means that unlike English, where 'the house of the small boy' is grammatical, in Gaelic, you may only use an (well, a' in this case) in front of balaich. As a result, in Gaelic, you cannot distinguish 'a house of the small boy' from 'the house of the small boy' and have to rely on context to determine whether the first noun is definite or indefinite.

4 The article is an, but before all lenitable consonants, except f where it remains an, an is reduced to a'. However, keep in mind the homo-organic rule which prevents the lenition of d, n, t, l:

a' + m>mh, b>bh, p>ph, c>ch, g>gh

5 The article is nan, except in front of the labials b, p, f, m (sounds made at the lips) when nan assimilates to nam (same as in 2).

A general footnote: Basically, anything that happens to the noun, happens to the adjective. Thus, if the noun slenderises, in most cases, the adjective will slenderise. Lenition caused by the definite article "jumps" with the result that "jumping lenition" will affect every noun and adjective in that noun phrase until you reach the next part of the sentence, e.g. air a' bhalach bheag tana mhodhail.

Also, in a noun-adjective compound, like coileach-dubh, both elements are declined as if they were seperated, e.g. taigh a' choilich-dhuibh. If it's a compound where the adjective precedes the noun, as in glas-bheinn, the adjective undergoes lenition, but takes no other changes, while the noun is declined regularly and determines the gender of the compound, e.g. na glas-faoileige, dhan ghlas-fhaoleig etc.

==Clachan==
Our next noun is Clachan. It's masculine, it forms its plural by means of adding a suffix, an, and has c as its initial consonant. It's important to notice the initial consonant because it influences the choice of definite article:

===clachan beag - masculine indefinite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''clachan beag''' '''a small village''' do nothing || '''clachanan beaga''' '''small villages''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh clachain bhig''' '''a house of a small village''' lenite the adjective and slenderise it || '''taigh chlachanan beaga''' '''a house of small villages''' if a noun is followed by an indefinite plural noun, the indefinite plural noun takes lenition; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air clachan beag''' '''on a small village''' do nothing || '''air clachanan beaga''' '''on small villages''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

===an clachan beag - masculine definite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''an clachan beag''' '''the small village''' the definite article is an2 || '''na clachanan beaga''' '''the small villages''' the definite article is na; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh a' chlachain bhig''' '''a/the house of the small village'''3 the definite article is an4; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''taigh nan clachanan beaga''' '''a/the house of the small villages''' the definite article is nan5; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air a' chlachan bheag''' '''on the small village''' the definite article is an4; lenite noun and adjective || '''air na clachanan beaga''' '''on the small villages''' the definite article is na; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a chlachain bhig!''' '''Oh, small village!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a chlachan beaga!''' '''Oh, small villages!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite the noun; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1; with nouns that form their plural with an ending, the vocative plural has the same form as the nominative plural
|-
|}
1 -e if they end in a slender consonant e.g. glic > glice

2 The article is an, except that in front of the labials b, p, f, m (sounds made at the lips) this assimilates to am.

3 Gaelic has a rule that states that in any definite noun phrase, the definite article may only occur once, and only appear in front of the last noun. This means that unlike English, where 'the house of the small village' is grammatical, in Gaelic, you may only get an in front of clachan. As a result, you cannot distinguish 'a house of the small village' from 'the house of the small village'; therefore, in Gaelic, you have to rely on context to determine whether the first noun is definite or indefinite.

4 The article is an, but before all lenitable consonants, except f where it remains an, an is reduced to a'. However, keep in mind the homo-organic rule which prevents the lenition of d, n, t, l:

a' + m>mh, b>bh, p>ph, c>ch, g>gh

5 The article is nan, except in front of the labials b, p, f, m (sounds made at the lips) where it assimilates to nam (same as in 2).

==Each==
Our next noun is each. It's masculine, it forms its plural by means of slenderisation and has an initial vowel:

===each beag - masculine indefinite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''each beag''' '''a small horse''' do nothing || '''eich bheaga''' '''small horses''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh eich bhig''' '''a house of a small horse''' lenite the adjective and slenderise it || '''taigh each beaga''' '''a house of small horses''' the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air each beag''' '''on a small horse''' do nothing || '''air eich bheaga''' '''on small horses''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

===an t-each beag - masculine definite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''an t-each beag''' '''the small horse''' the definite article is an t-2 || '''na h-eich bheaga'''3 '''the small horses''' the definite article is na h-3; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh an eich bhig''' '''a/the house of the small horse'''4 the definite article is an4; lenite and slenderise the adjective || '''taigh nan each beaga''' '''a/the house of the small horses''' the definite article is nan; the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air an each bheag''' '''on the small horse''' the definite article is an4; lenite the adjective || '''air na h-eich bheaga''' '''on the small boys''' the definite article is na h-; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a eich bhig!'''5 '''Oh, small horse!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a eichibh beaga!''' '''Oh, small horses!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite the noun; nouns that slenderise for plural add -(a)ibh; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

1 -e if they end in a slender consonant e.g. glic > glice

2 The definite article is an t- before vowels. This is commonly described as the article prefixing t- to nouns beginning with a vowel, but this t- is actually part of the definite article.

3 The definite article is na h- before vowels. This is commonly described as the article prefixing h- to nouns beginning with a vowel, but this h- is actually part of the definite article.

4 Gaelic has a rule stating that in any definite noun phrase, the definite article may only occur once and in front of the last noun. This means that unlike English, where 'the house of the small horse' is grammatical, you may only use an t- in front of each in Gaelic. As a result, in Gaelic, you cannot distinguish 'a house of the small horse' from 'the house of the small horse' so you have to rely on context to determine whether the first noun is definite or indefinite.

5 Before vowels, the a is not pronounced, but should be written

==Eilean==
The next noun is eilean. It's masculine, it forms its plural by adding an ending and it has an initial vowel:

===eilean beag - masculine indefinite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''eilean beag''' '''a small island''' do nothing || '''eileanan beaga'''1 '''small islands''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh eilein bhig''' '''a house of a small island''' lenite the adjective and slenderise it || '''taigh eileanan beaga''' '''a house of small islands''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air eilean beag''' '''on a small island''' do nothing || '''air eileanan beaga''' '''on small islands''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

===an t-eilean beag - masculine definite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''an t-eilean beag''' '''the small island''' the definite article is an t-2 || '''na h-eileanan beaga''' '''the small islands''' the definite article is na h-3; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh an eilein bhig''' '''a/the house of the small island''' the definite article is an4; lenite and slenderise the adjective || '''taigh nan eileanan beaga''' '''a/the house of the small islands''' the definite article is nan5; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air an eilean bheag''' '''on the small island''' the definite article is an4; lenite noun and adjective || '''air na h-eileanan beaga''' '''on the small islands''' the definite article is na h-; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a eilein bhig!''' '''Oh, small island!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a eileanan beaga!''' '''Oh, small islands!''' the vocative particle is a; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural; with nouns that form their plural with an ending, the vocative plural has the same form as the nominative plural1
|-
|}

1 -e if they end in a slender consonant e.g. glic > glice.

2 The definite article is an t- before vowels. This is commonly described as the article prefixing t- to nouns beginning with a vowel, but this t- is actually part of the definite article.

3 The definite article is na h- before vowels. This is commonly described as the article prefixing h- to nouns beginning with a vowel, but this h- is actually part of the definite article.

4 Gaelic has a rule that states that in any definite noun phrase, the definite article may only occur once and in front of the last noun. This means that unlike English, where 'the house of the small island' is grammatical, you may only use an in front of eilein, in Gaelic. As a result, in Gaelic, you cannot distinguish 'a house of the small island' from 'the house of the small island' and have to rely on context to determine whether the first noun is definite or indefinite.

5 Before vowels, the a is not pronounced, but should be written.

==Saor==
Next up is saor. It's masculine, it forms its plural by means of slenderisation, and it has an initial s:

===saor beag - masculine indefinite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''saor beag''' '''a small joiner''' do nothing || '''saoir bheaga''' '''small joiners''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh saoir bhig''' '''a house of a small joiner''' lenite the adjective and slenderise it || '''taigh shaor beaga''' '''a house of small joiners''' nouns followed by an indefinite noun in the plural cause lenition; the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air saor beag''' '''on a small joiner''' do nothing || '''air saoir bheaga''' '''on small joiners''' after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

===an saor beag - masculine definite noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''an saor beag''' '''the small joiner''' the definite article is an || '''na saoir bheaga''' '''the small joiners''' the definite article is na; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh an t-saoir bhig''' '''a/the house of the small joiner'''2 the definite article is an t-3; lenite and slenderise the adjective || '''taigh nan saor beaga''' '''a/the house of the small joiners''' the definite article is nan; the genitive plural of nouns that slenderise for plural is like the nominative singular; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air an t-saor bheag''' '''on the small joiner''' the definite article is an t-3; lenite the adjective || '''air na saoir bheaga''' '''on the small joiners''' the definite article is na; after a noun that slenderises for plural, lenite adjectives; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a shaoir bhig!''' '''Oh, small joiner!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a shaoraibh beaga!''' '''Oh, small joiners!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite the noun; nouns that slenderise for plural add -(a)ibh; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural1
|-
|}

1 -e if they end in a slender consonant e.g. glic > glice

2 Gaelic has a rule that states that in any given definite noun phrase, the definite article may only occur once and in front of the last noun. This means that unlike English, where 'the house of the small joiner' is grammatical, you may only use an t- in front of saoir, in Gaelic. As a result, in Gaelic, you cannot distinguish 'a house of the small joiner' from 'the house of the small joiner' and have to rely on context to determine whether the first noun is definite or indefinite.

3 The definite article is an t- before s+vowel, sl, sn, sr. This is commonly described as the article prefixing t- to nouns beginning with a vowel, but this t- is actually part of the definite article. The s- is eclipsed by this t, i.e. the two words are pronounced as if the s- wasn't there at all, so air an t-saor is pronounced as [ɛɾʲ ən t̪ɯːɾ]. This happens in all cases except before sp/sg/sd. However, the easiest way to remember this is to say that it happens in all cases where the resulting word is "pronounceable" and *tp/tg/td are not possible pronunciations in Gaelic.

==Compound nouns==
So, what happens with compound nouns? Well, to begin, we need to recognize that there are two kinds, loose compounds and close compounds, and then try to answer the question of what constitutes a compound, in Gaelic. According to Faclair na Pàrlamaid, close compounds are hyphenated nouns; however, for Gaelic, that is not very helpful as there is much confusion as to which words are and are not hyphenated.

Actually, the distinction is relatively easy, well, for a native speaker. Two nouns form a close compound if there is stress shift. Consider the two nouns gloine fìon 'a glass (full) of wine' as opposed to gloine-fìona 'a wineglass'. We start with remembering that every Gaelic word has word stress on the first syllable, which is the case both in gloine and fìon, in the first example, gloine fìon. However, in the second example, you can tell that these two words have fused by listening to the stress pattern and, for gloine-fìona, the only stress that is heard is the one on -fìona.

You get the same thing in other languages. For example, in English, when whirl + pool come together (both have word stress), to form whirlpool, only one word stress remains. Similar stress changes occur with paper + cut > paper-cut, bull + shit > bullshit and minimal pairs like 'a Frenchman' and 'a French man', 'a rolling pin' and 'a rolling-pin', and 'a holiday' and 'a holy day'.

This is a bit tricky for a learner, but it's the only foolproof way of telling a loose compound from a close compound. Consider a few more examples before progressing. As you can see, where Gaelic has a close compound, English often has a single word rather than two (e.g sgian-arain vs breadknife). Also, you get lenition in close compounds whereas you don't in loose compounds (the stressed syllables are in bold):

{| style="width: 50%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="50%"|'''loose compound'''
|width="50%"|'''close compound'''
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| '''mac mi'''nisteir the son of a minister || Mac'''Dhòmh'''naill MacDonald
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| '''la'''tha '''ni'''gheadaireachd washing day || Di'''Luain''' Monday
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| '''dùn cloi'''che a fortress made of stone || sgian-'''a'''rain a breadknife (sgian arain would be a knife made of bread!)
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| '''là'''rach '''tai'''ghe the ruins of a house || làrach-'''lìn''' a website
|-
|}

Notice that the second noun behaves much like an adjective, so, after a masculine noun, the gender of the preceding noun never causes the second noun to lenite. Of course, lenition my still occur on the second noun if the first noun slenderises (e.g. coileach-fraoich > coilich-fhraoich) or if the article imposes lenition on the whole noun compound (e.g. air a' choileach-fhraoich).

==Close compounds==
So how DO you decline a close compound? The general rule is that the second noun is always in the genitive and undergoes lenition after the article, when appropriate. The second masculine noun slenderises for plural while the first noun is regularly declined. And, if the second noun is in the plural, it is always lenited. That follows the general rule that a plural noun, following another noun, is lenited. All the footnotes given above still apply to compound nouns but haven't been stated again:

===muileann-gaoithe beag - masculine indefinite close-compound noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''muileann-gaoithe beag''' '''a small windmill''' do nothing || '''muileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''small windmills''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh muilinn-ghaoithe bhig''' '''a house of a small windmill''' slenderise the adjective and the first noun and lenited the second noun || '''taigh mhuileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''a house of small windmills''' nouns followed by an indefinite noun in the plural cause lenition; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air muileann-gaoithe beag''' '''on a small windmill''' do nothing || '''air muileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''on small windmills''' one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|-
|}

===am muileann-gaoithe beag - masculine definite close-compound noun===
{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|Case
|width="40%"|Singular
|width="40%"|Plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''am muileann-gaoithe beag''' '''the small windmill''' the definite article is am || '''muileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''the small windmills''' the definite article is na; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh a' mhuilinn-ghaoithe bhig''' '''a/the house of the small windmill''' the definite article is an; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''taigh nam muileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''a/the house of the small windmills''' the definite article is nan; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air a' mhuileann-ghaoithe bheag''' '''on the small windmill''' the definite article is an; lenite noun and adjective || '''air na muileannan-gaoithe beaga''' '''on the small windmills''' the definite article is na; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a mhuilinn-ghaoithe bhig!''' '''Oh, small windmill!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both || '''a mhuileannan-gaoithe beaga!''' '''Oh, small windmills!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite the noun; one syllable adjectives add -a in the plural; with nouns that form their nominative plural with an ending, the vocative plural has the same form as the nominative plural
|-
|}

==Proper nouns==
Still more? Yes, but hang in there, we've almost got it. What's still left is the treatment of proper nouns. Like
Pàdraig Bàn MacDhòmhnaill.

{| style="width: 50%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="20%"|'''Case'''
|width="80%"|'''Proper noun'''
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || '''Pàdraig Bàn MacDhòmhnaill''' '''Fair Patrick MacDonald'''
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || '''taigh Phàdraig Bhàin MhicDhòmnaill''' '''Fair Patrick MacDonald's House''' lenite and slenderise all words
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || '''air Pàdraig Bàn MacDhòmhnaill''' '''on fair Patrick MacDonald''' nothing
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || '''a Phàdraig Bhàin MhicDhòmhnaill''' '''Fair Patrick MacDonald!''' the vocative particle is a; lenite noun and adjective and slenderise both
|-
|}

Footnotes? Just a few. If you get a double name like Pàdraig Aonghas, both of them slenderise and lenite in the vocative e.g. a Phàdraig Aonghais! or a Dhonnchaidh Mhurchaidh!

==Place names==
The last nouns to examine are proper names that are place names. The two kinds of place names are called opaque place names and transparent place names. Opaque placenames are the ones that do not have any obvious meaning e.g. Leòdhas, na Hearadh, Glaschu whereas transparent place names make sense (by giving a little bit of descriptive information) such as Dùn Éideann, Machair Aonghais, Dùn Bheagan, Meall nan Caorach - and of course semi-opaque ones like An t-Eilean Sgiathanach, but one thing at a time.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="1" align="center" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
|width="10%"|'''Case'''
|width="30%"|'''Shawbost'''
|width="30%"|'''Dunvegan'''
|width="30%"|'''Oban'''
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Nominative || Siabost || Dùn Bheagan || An t-Òban
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Genitive || muinntir Shiaboist || Muinntir Dhùn Bheagain || Muinntir an Òbain
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Dative || ann an Siabost || ann an Dùn Bheagan || anns an Òban
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| Vocative || a Shiaboist! || a Dhùin Bheagain! || (a) Òbain!
|-
|}

For the most part, proper names such as place names behave like normal nouns. However, here are a few pointers:

* In the genitive, placenames behave just like a string of common nouns. They slenderise the last element in names like Dùn Bheagan > Dhùn Bheagain, An t-Eilean Sgiathanach > an Eilein Sgiathanaich and they only show genitive markings on the last noun. Unlike common nouns they also lenite their initials.

* In the vocative (should one need it) placenames behave as if they were common nouns.

* Opaque placenames are those for which the meaning is not immediately obvious. For example, Achadh Bàn has an immediately obvious meaning. However, with Sruighlea, you won't know by looking at it what it means. Opaque placenames obey the rules of lenition but generally not slenderisation. But for some final elements, such as -bost or -bhagh, which occur a lot, it's possible for the last syllable to slenderise, i.e. muinntir Shiaboist, rather than *Shiabost.

==The PDF==
There is one for the [http://akerbeltz.org/images/6/6b/Na_Tuislean_seann_n%C3%B2s_.pdf traditional or conservative pattern] and another for the [http://akerbeltz.org/images/4/41/Na_Tuislean_n%C3%B2s_%C3%B9r_.pdf normal or colloquial pattern].

==See also==
* [[Feminine nouns]]
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2024-01-27T12:24:45Z

Akerbeltz: /* Add a pinch of madness... */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| sealastair || flag iris || sealastair, seileastair, seilistear, siolastar and eileastair and feileastair || soilestar/ailestar "flag iris" || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin salicastrum, an unidentified bog-plant. The Irish forms are similarly varied and include soileastar, siolastar, eileastram, feileastram and alastram
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2024-01-27T12:24:08Z

Akerbeltz: /* Add a pinch of madness... */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| sealastair || flag iris || sealastair, seileastair, seilistear, siolastar and eileastair and feileastair || soilestar/ailestar || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin salicastrum, an unidentified bog-plant. The Irish forms are similarly varied and include soileastar, siolastar, eileastram, feileastram and alastram
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2024-01-27T12:22:22Z

Akerbeltz: /* Add a pinch of madness... */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| sealastair || flag iris || sealastair, seileastair, seilistear, siolastar and eileastair and feileastair || soilestar || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin salicastrum, an unidentified bog-plant. The Irish forms are similarly varied and include soileastar, siolastar, eileastram, feileastram and alastram
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2024-01-27T12:17:43Z

Akerbeltz: /* I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s? */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2024-01-27T12:16:59Z

Akerbeltz: /* I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s? */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Latin salicastrum || unknown bog-plant || sealastair/eileastair/feileastair/seileastair/seilistear/siolastar || soileastar/siolastar/eileastram/feileastram/alastram
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

To bi or not to bi

2023-12-14T19:12:23Z

Akerbeltz: /* So this excludes... */

So you're tearing your hair a bit over whether to pick tha or is for a sentence, why everyone keeps giving you rules that don't quite work and why oh why in the first place should you have to pick?

First off, "why" is a legitimate question if you're curious as to the history. We'll set that aside for now. ''Why-oh-why does Gaelic need two of these'' on the other hand is less legit as a question. It's a bit like telling a date you *LOVE* them but they really need to do something about their nose... Their nose is part of what makes them them and if you can't live with the nose, then perhaps your dating for the wrong reasons... So this tha/is (it's technically bi vs is by the way) is just part of what makes Gaelic special. Not the same as French and Spanish. Part of its charm. So learn to live with it or even better, love it.

==To business==
It's not actually a hugely difficult rule but there are a few grammatical concepts you need to master before the rule becomes simple and universal. I'll simplify slightly so please no definition nitpickers!

1. What's a subject?
Well, in the grammatical sense, it's the main actor of a sentence, the thing or person carrying out the main action. It can be a name (e.g. Jamila), a noun (e.g. drongo), a pronoun (e.g. she):
'''Jamila''' went to the shop.
In the absence of the '32, '''Jamie''' decided to open a bottle of the '35.
The flipping '''drongo''' learned how to mimic my alarm clock.
'''She''' is a space pirate.

2. What's a predicate?
Setting aside the main verb, the predicate is the bit of the sentence that tells you something about the subject. In English, which was [[VSO and Master Yoda|Subject-Verb-Object]] word order, it usually is the bit that comes after the verb. It's what comes after you've answered the question of ''who or what did it?'' and ''did what?'':
Jamila went '''to the shop'''.
In the absence of the '32, Jamie decided '''to open a bottle of the '35'''.
The flipping drongo learned '''how to mimic my alarm clock'''.
She '''is a space pirate'''.

Not hugely difficult, admit it!

==Yeah but how does that help me?==
Patience, I'm setting the scene.

So when you have verbs like ''learned'', ''decided'' or ''went'', the question of whether you need bi or is doesn't arise because your main verb will be ''learn'', ''decide'', ''go'' and so on. The conundrum only arises when you run into ''am, are, is, was, were etc''. Don't scoff, this narrows down the number of cases where you have to go hunt for the predicate.

The rule is this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| If the predicate of a sentence is a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, you need is ('s/bu/b'). In all other cases, you need a form of bi (tha, bha, bidh...)
|-
|}

The first two are really easy. Look for the subject and verb and then check if the next word. If it's a name or pronoun, case closed:
*I(S) was(V) '''Hamlet''' » '''Hamlet''' is a name, so we need is: '''Bu''' Hamlet mi.
*They(S) are(V) '''Jamie, Donalda and Mary''' » ''Jamie, Donalda and Mary'' are names, so we need is: '''’S''' e Seumaidh, Donalda agus Màiri a th’ annta.
*Frank(S) will be(V) '''me''' » '''me'' is a pronoun, so we need is: '''’S''' e mise a bhios ann am Frang
*Jamila(S) is(V) '''her''' » ''her'' is a pronoun, so we need is: '''’S''' e Jamila ise.

The next case, noun, isn't too hard either. The important thing to remember is to ignore articles (a, an, the), numbers (one, two...) and possessives (my, your, his...):
*I(S) was(V) '''a teacher''' » we ignore ''a'', ''teacher'' is a noun, so we need is: '''Bu''' thidsear mi.
*They(S) were(V) '''my teachers''' » we ignore ''my'', ''teachers'' is a noun, so we need is: '''B’''' iadsan na tidsearan agam.
*Jamila(S) will be(V) '''two pirates''' » we ignore ''two'', ''pirates'' is a noun, so we need is: '''’S''' e dà spùinneadair-mara a bhios ann an Jamila.

The last case is a little more tricky because it can be quite long, a noun phrase. But essentially that's a phrase built around a noun. Here's a classic example:
*This(S) is(V) '''the house that Jack built'''. Technically that whole thing there is the predicate and technically, that makes it a noun phrase rather than just a plain noun. But you can see how it's all piled up on top of ''house'' so that makes it a noun at heart, so we need is: '''’S''' e seo an taigh a thog Jack.

==So this excludes...==
Well, most other things, for example adjectives:
*Donalda(S) is(V) '''amazing''' » ''amazing'' is not a name or pronoun, so we need bi: '''Tha''' Dòmhnall mìorbhaileach.

One important one that is potentially confusing is prepositional phrases. That's a bit of sentence that's built around a noun but starts with a preposition (on, at, through...). Those do not count as nouns or noun phrases, not the way Gaelic looks at it:
*Donald(S) is(V) '''''on'' the truck''' » even though ''truck'' is a noun, the predicate starts with a preposition, so this does not count as a noun or noun phrase, so we need bi: '''Tha''' Dòmhnall air an làraidh.

This is also the reason for the seeming exception in sentences like Tha mi 'nam oileanach. If you translate this literally i.e. ''I am in my student'', then you see why you need tha here: it's because ''in my student'' is a prepositional phrase. So it's not an exception, it's just that in this particular construction, Gaelic does not align with English in the way something is expressed at all. Not that it should have to of course but in sentences where you have to decide between these two Gaelic verbs bi and is, English and Gaelic mostly pattern the same way, I took the liberty of explaining the way this works from the English point of view. It's just easier to work out for most learners at that stage.

==Anything else?==
There's a few additional points I'll add at a later point (mainly the exception you get in so-called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleft_sentence cleft-sentences] like bu mhór am beud), but in essence, this is it.

In case you were wondering, the reason why most other explanations don't work well is because they try to sidestep the issue of what a predicate is. But unfortunately, the question of the nature of the predicate is what determines whether you need bi or is so there will be plenty of cases where these other workaround rules just don't work.

I've done you a summary as a flow chart (feel free to copy/save/share):

[[Faidhle:tha vs is.png]]

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

To bi or not to bi

2023-12-14T19:11:33Z

Akerbeltz: /* Yeah but how does that help me? */

So you're tearing your hair a bit over whether to pick tha or is for a sentence, why everyone keeps giving you rules that don't quite work and why oh why in the first place should you have to pick?

First off, "why" is a legitimate question if you're curious as to the history. We'll set that aside for now. ''Why-oh-why does Gaelic need two of these'' on the other hand is less legit as a question. It's a bit like telling a date you *LOVE* them but they really need to do something about their nose... Their nose is part of what makes them them and if you can't live with the nose, then perhaps your dating for the wrong reasons... So this tha/is (it's technically bi vs is by the way) is just part of what makes Gaelic special. Not the same as French and Spanish. Part of its charm. So learn to live with it or even better, love it.

==To business==
It's not actually a hugely difficult rule but there are a few grammatical concepts you need to master before the rule becomes simple and universal. I'll simplify slightly so please no definition nitpickers!

1. What's a subject?
Well, in the grammatical sense, it's the main actor of a sentence, the thing or person carrying out the main action. It can be a name (e.g. Jamila), a noun (e.g. drongo), a pronoun (e.g. she):
'''Jamila''' went to the shop.
In the absence of the '32, '''Jamie''' decided to open a bottle of the '35.
The flipping '''drongo''' learned how to mimic my alarm clock.
'''She''' is a space pirate.

2. What's a predicate?
Setting aside the main verb, the predicate is the bit of the sentence that tells you something about the subject. In English, which was [[VSO and Master Yoda|Subject-Verb-Object]] word order, it usually is the bit that comes after the verb. It's what comes after you've answered the question of ''who or what did it?'' and ''did what?'':
Jamila went '''to the shop'''.
In the absence of the '32, Jamie decided '''to open a bottle of the '35'''.
The flipping drongo learned '''how to mimic my alarm clock'''.
She '''is a space pirate'''.

Not hugely difficult, admit it!

==Yeah but how does that help me?==
Patience, I'm setting the scene.

So when you have verbs like ''learned'', ''decided'' or ''went'', the question of whether you need bi or is doesn't arise because your main verb will be ''learn'', ''decide'', ''go'' and so on. The conundrum only arises when you run into ''am, are, is, was, were etc''. Don't scoff, this narrows down the number of cases where you have to go hunt for the predicate.

The rule is this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| If the predicate of a sentence is a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, you need is ('s/bu/b'). In all other cases, you need a form of bi (tha, bha, bidh...)
|-
|}

The first two are really easy. Look for the subject and verb and then check if the next word. If it's a name or pronoun, case closed:
*I(S) was(V) '''Hamlet''' » '''Hamlet''' is a name, so we need is: '''Bu''' Hamlet mi.
*They(S) are(V) '''Jamie, Donalda and Mary''' » ''Jamie, Donalda and Mary'' are names, so we need is: '''’S''' e Seumaidh, Donalda agus Màiri a th’ annta.
*Frank(S) will be(V) '''me''' » '''me'' is a pronoun, so we need is: '''’S''' e mise a bhios ann am Frang
*Jamila(S) is(V) '''her''' » ''her'' is a pronoun, so we need is: '''’S''' e Jamila ise.

The next case, noun, isn't too hard either. The important thing to remember is to ignore articles (a, an, the), numbers (one, two...) and possessives (my, your, his...):
*I(S) was(V) '''a teacher''' » we ignore ''a'', ''teacher'' is a noun, so we need is: '''Bu''' thidsear mi.
*They(S) were(V) '''my teachers''' » we ignore ''my'', ''teachers'' is a noun, so we need is: '''B’''' iadsan na tidsearan agam.
*Jamila(S) will be(V) '''two pirates''' » we ignore ''two'', ''pirates'' is a noun, so we need is: '''’S''' e dà spùinneadair-mara a bhios ann an Jamila.

The last case is a little more tricky because it can be quite long, a noun phrase. But essentially that's a phrase built around a noun. Here's a classic example:
*This(S) is(V) '''the house that Jack built'''. Technically that whole thing there is the predicate and technically, that makes it a noun phrase rather than just a plain noun. But you can see how it's all piled up on top of ''house'' so that makes it a noun at heart, so we need is: '''’S''' e seo an taigh a thog Jack.

==So this excludes...==
Well, most other things, for example adjectives:
*Donalda(S) is(V) '''amazing''' » ''amazing'' is not a name or pronoun, so we need bi

One important one that is potentially confusing is prepositional phrases. That's a bit of sentence that's built around a noun but starts with a preposition (on, at, through...). Those do not count as nouns or noun phrases, not the way Gaelic looks at it:
*Donald(S) is(V) '''''on'' the truck''' » even though ''truck'' is a noun, the predicate starts with a preposition, so this does not count as a noun or noun phrase, so we need bi.

This is also the reason for the seeming exception in sentences like Tha mi 'nam oileanach. If you translate this literally i.e. ''I am in my student'', then you see why you need tha here: it's because ''in my student'' is a prepositional phrase. So it's not an exception, it's just that in this particular construction, Gaelic does not align with English in the way something is expressed at all. Not that it should have to of course but in sentences where you have to decide between these two Gaelic verbs bi and is, English and Gaelic mostly pattern the same way, I took the liberty of explaining the way this works from the English point of view. It's just easier to work out for most learners at that stage.

==Anything else?==
There's a few additional points I'll add at a later point (mainly the exception you get in so-called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleft_sentence cleft-sentences] like bu mhór am beud), but in essence, this is it.

In case you were wondering, the reason why most other explanations don't work well is because they try to sidestep the issue of what a predicate is. But unfortunately, the question of the nature of the predicate is what determines whether you need bi or is so there will be plenty of cases where these other workaround rules just don't work.

I've done you a summary as a flow chart (feel free to copy/save/share):

[[Faidhle:tha vs is.png]]

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T21:19:46Z

Akerbeltz:

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || bò, cò, còig, Eòghann, fòn, leòbag, mò, mòr, ò, òbh òbh, Tòmas and -obhl/òbhl-, -oghn/òghn- clusters e.g. gòbhlach, fòghnaidh, ròghnadh
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T13:36:07Z

Akerbeltz:

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || bò, cò, còig, Eòghann, fòn, leòbag, mò, mòr, ò, òbh òbh, Tòmas and -obhl/òbhl-, -oghn/òghn- clusters e.g. gòbhlach, fòghnaidh, ròghnadh
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T13:35:47Z

Akerbeltz:

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || bò, cò, còig, Eòghann, fòn, leòbag, mò, mòr, ò, òbh òbh, Tòmas
|-
| words with /oː/ || -obhl/òbhl-, -oghn/òghn- clusters e.g. gòbhlach, fòghnaidh, ròghnadh
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Beagan gràmair

2023-11-02T13:32:35Z

Akerbeltz: /* Phonetics or "What sounds does Gaelic have?" */

Chan eil a' mhórchuid dhen roinn seo air a sgrìobhadh fhathast agus is e dìreach toiseach tòiseachaidh a tha seo, ach seo liosta dhe na rudan a bhios ann. Ged nach eil sinn a' dèanamh aoraidh do Dhia Briathrachais Cànanachais, thà sinn a' cleachdadh fhaclan teicnigeach - mura cleachd, bhiodh e duilich mìneachadh gu soilleir na tha sinn an dùil a ràdh. Ach na gabh dragh, gheibh thu mìneachadh dhen a h-uile bhriathar.

----
There is not much in this section yet as we are just starting out, but this is a list of things that eventually will be found here. This is definitely not a temple to the God of Grammatical Terminology, but we do use both grammar and technical terms because it would otherwise get very difficult to express the things we need to say clearly. But not to worry, you will find detailed explanations of every term used.

==Spot the difference with Akerbeltz ...==
In line with [http://www.akerbeltz.eu/booksg.html Blas na Gàidhlig] and other resources, we're now using a slightly easier form of the IPA for these pages. No, we haven't dumbed down, there's still the same amount of detail, there are just fewer squiggles. Here's a list of the symbols used which differ from "full" IPA. Everything else is the same.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Full IPA
!IPA light
|-
| <center>l̪ˠ</center>
| <center>L</center>
|-
| <center>n̪ˠ</center>
| <center>N</center>
|-
| <center>rˠ</center>
| <center>R</center>
|-
| <center>ʎ</center>
| <center>Lʲ</center>
|-
| <center>ɲ</center>
| <center>Nʲ</center>
|-
| <center>ɾ</center>
| <center>r</center>
|-
| <center>ɾʲ</center>
| <center>rʲ</center>
|-
|}

==On the Importance of Pronunciation and other Forewords==
*[[Can't I do pronunciation later? or Why children are different]]
*[[What's wrong with "imitated pronunciation" and how to read the IPA]]
*[[A printable pronunciation guide to Gaelic spelling]]
*[[A Word on Manx Spelling]]
*[[The Famous Sími or The Myth of International Words]]

==Phonetics or "What sounds does Gaelic have?"==
*[[Voiced vs Voiceless or Why does b sound like p but not really?]]
*[[Broad vs Slender]]
*[[Labials or Sounds made at your Lips]]
*[[Dentals or Sounds made at your Teeth]]
*[[Velars or Sounds further back]]
*[[Liquids or - L N R in Gaelic]]
*[[The History of L N and R]]
*[[Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó]]

==Phonology or "How do these sounds interact?"==
*[[Lenition and why that is your mothers fault]]
*[[The homo-organic rule or When not to lenite]]
*[[Nasalisation or When to speak through your nose]]
**[[Nasalisation 2 or Why am I married to ə NɯNʲə agam?|Nasalisation 2 or Why am I married to [ə NɯNʲə] agam?]]
*[[Answer Verbs or Thuirt vs Thubhairt and what's in it|Answer Verbs or ''Thuirt'' vs ''Thubhairt'' and what's in it]]
*[[Final devoicing or Why does naoidh sound like Nɯiç?|Final devoicing or Why does ''naoidh'' sound like [Nɯiç]?]]
*[[Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal|Prosthetic f, backformation or ''eagal'' and ''feagal'']]
*[[Intrusive T or Why we're writing sròn not *stròn|Intrusive T or Why we're writing ''sròn'' not ''*stròn'']]
*[[Compensatory lengthening and The secret of time]]
*[[B' àill leibh or fast speech|''B' àill leibh'' or fast speech]]
*[[B' àill leibh or fast speech 2|''B' àill leibh'' or fast speech 2]]
*[[Stress placement and Why going up is a bad thing]]
*[[Initial High Front Vowels or Where the j in eòrna comes from|Initial High Front Vowels or Where the [j] in ''eòrna'' comes from]]
*[[Svarabhakti or The Helping Vowel]]
*[[When to Pronounce Final h (and when not to)]]
*[[Vowel Length, Stress Placement and Compound Nouns]]
*[[Why Santa is krocking at your door]]

==Morphology or "How are words put together?"==
===The Verb System===
*[[The Imperative or How to order people around]]
*[[Éiridh e is ceannaidh e? or the Future tense]]
*[[Epistemic Modality or Do I HAVE to read this?]]
*[[Stative Verbs or How to run in suspended animation]]
*[[Habemus infinitivum necne]]
*[[To bi or not to bi]]

===The Noun System===
*[[The Case System or What the heck is a vocative?]]
*[[Possessives and syllabic structure or Ar n-Athair a tha air nèamh]]
*[[Dèan moch-éirigh mhór or The gender of verbal nouns]]
*[[Màthraichean-céile or Kinship]]
*[[As t-samhradh or The mysterious t-]]
*[[Genitives and Possessives]]
*[[How to gender a noun]]
*[[Ball gazing genitives]]
*[[Genitives in -(th)rach]]
*[[Plurals shmurals and how to predict them]]

===Adverbs & Demonstratives and other annoying little words===
*[[Adverbs or Thall 's a-bhos]]
*[[Demonstratives or An cat ud thall]]
*[[A h-uile? Na h-uile?? Càch??? Gach????]]
*[[Do Re Im or The History of the Prepositions]]
*[[PPP - Pronouns, prepositions and their pronunciation]]
*[[Interrogatives or Who the what why?]]
*[[The many functions of ə]]

===Numerals===
*[[Numerals or How to write a cheque in Gaelic]]
*[[The new-old numerals or Why this sucks]]
*[[Hoigh, an dithis agaibh! or Personal numerals]]

==Tense/Aspect or "The concept of time"==
*[[Expressions of Time]]

==Syntax or "How to make a sentence/phrase"==
*[[VSO and Master Yoda]]
*[[Adjective Ordering]]
*[[Chaidh e dhan chéilidh is mi cho tinn or The mystery of the agus]]
*[[Aig, air agus ann an or The severed head]]
*[[Experience vs Disposition or Tha mi sunndach]]
*[[Existentials or I think therefore I am]]

==Registers in Gaelic or "Cànan tà leath ri mo chridh"==
* [[So what's one of those?]]

==Dialects and other Stuff==
*[[Àilean and the Mystery Bog]]
*[[aːRd vs aːRʃd or Where the sh comes from]]
*[[Cross-linguistic semantics]]
*[[Feasgar math or how to start an argument]]
*[[Gàidhlig air Beurla]]
*[[Pre-aspiration or What the h in mac is about]]
*[[Pretty please?]]
*[[Scribes, Shorthand and How to Save on Parchment]]
*[[Sounds a bit like]]
*[[The Breaking of Long /e:/ or Feuchainn vs Fiachainn]]

==The History of Gaelic==
*[[Minding Your Ps and Qs or Why Porcom is a Headache]]
*[[Jesus is life?]]
*[[Óðinn á yðr alla]]

==Explanation of Terms and Abbreviations used==
* [[The Fog of Terminology]]
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T13:32:03Z

Akerbeltz:

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || bò, cò, còig, Eòghann, fòn, leòbag, mò, mòr, ò, òbh òbh, Tòmas
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T13:25:42Z

Akerbeltz:

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || bó, có, cóig, Eóghann, fón, leóbag, mó, mór, ó, óbh óbh, Tómas
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Accent bereavement or how to live without é and ó

2023-11-02T13:25:20Z

Akerbeltz: Chaidh duilleag le "Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and m..." a chruthachadh

Since it came up the other day again, I've finally made time to explain how one can work around the loss of é and ó in GOC. It's actually not that hard and my guess is, while nobody bothered explaining that on any page of any of the ultra-thin GOC publications, that was probably their gut reasoning for ditching it.

So to begin with, in Old and Middle Irish, long /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ most likely already co-existed as sounds. But only the acute accent (´) - though it often looked more like a macron (e.g. ē) was used to mark length.

Fast forward to Scottish Gaelic, so some time between the arrival of the Dal Riada and the 12th centruy onwards, because the difference between /eː/ and /ɛː/ and long /oː/ and /ɔː/ is now very clearly there, some writers start differentiating them in writing, continuing to use the acute for /eː/ é and /oː/ ó but innovating the use of the grave for /ɛː/ è and /ɔː/ ò. Which, incidentally, eventually also became the norm for the other long vowel letters ì à ù too.

Fast forward again to 20th century and GOC decides to drop the acute. Stepping around whether that was a good idea or not, I want to focus instead on how to work around that. Because however you spell them, clearly Gaelic still has all four sounds, /eː/ vs /ɛː/ and /oː/ vs /ɔː/. Of course native speakers know which word has which sound, but what do you do as a learner, now the acute is largely dead in Scotland?

Fortunately the answer is relatively simple: by a process of elimination. There are relatively few words in Gaelic which have /ɛː/ and /oː/, which means that if you learn which two dozen or so words have /ɛː/ and /oː/, you then know that any other word is almost guaranteed to have /eː/ and /ɔː/.

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0"
! scope="col" width="15%" |
! scope="col" width="85%" |
|-
| words with /ɛː/ || bèicear, e, gnè, mè(ilich), mèinn, mèirleach, sèimh, sgèimh, snèip, stèisean
|-
| words with /oː/ || 
|-
|}

Note that this applies to inflected forms too, so bèicear, bhèicear, bèiceir etc. I didn't list those because it would just make the table messy.

There is some variation between dialects but by and large that's it, learn those few words and you'll never be confused again by the lack of an acute!

Incidentally, because this comes up now and then, the reason the [https://www.faclair.com Faclair Beag] retains the acutes is not because we're on some mission to resurrect the acute BUT we know a lot of learners use the dictionary and using the acute just makes it easier for them to quickly identify whether it's one or the other.

 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2023-10-01T12:40:39Z

Akerbeltz: /* Errr and backformation? */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be … wait for it … a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2023-10-01T12:38:53Z

Akerbeltz: /* And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be - a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || 閥 faht || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2023-09-30T18:05:48Z

Akerbeltz: /* And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be - a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs/Vasconia || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon/Gasconia, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Habemus infinitivum necne

2023-09-08T17:10:28Z

Akerbeltz: /* Miss, miss! */

No, not showing off, I had to ask a friend to correct my Latin (it's been a long time!) and there's a reason for the Latin phrase being added to the page because it loosely translates as ''We have an infinitive, or do we?''.

==First things first==
What's an infinitive and would it go with a glass of Château Musar? Probably yes, as to the latter. As to the former, it's actually hard to state exactly what it is because the definition of ''the infinitive'' varies slightly depending on which language you're looking at.

Coming at the infinitive from English, it is often described as the ''dictionary form'' (also called the ''citation form'') of a verb, an un-changed, un-inflected un-everythinged form of a verb (hence its name, ultimately from Latin infinitivus meaning, among other things, something like ''un-defined''). For example, ''to go, to sit, to sing, to throw...'' or by dropping the ''to'', simply ''go, sit, sing, throw...''. It gets more complicated than that but I want to sidestep the precise definition of the infinitive in English because it's a bit of a head-bender (and that's me you're talking to!) and because the English concept is not really a helpful concept for Gaelic, as we'll see.

Anyway, this thing called the infinitive crops up in many European languages. For example, in Spanish, the basic form of verbs (those ending in -ir, -er or -ar) is referred to as the infinitive and these are also the forms you look for in the dictionary, for example, morir "(to) die" or masticar "(to) chew". In German, the equivalent is -en, for example, bedienen "(to) serve", verschlimmbessern "(to) disimprove" or verniedlichen "(to) make cute". And so on.

==What's the attraction?==
Well, on the whole, the infinitive is the basis for inflection if the language in question has an inflection system. In English, ignoring irregular verbs, if you know ''(to) place'' then you know that by adding ''-(e)d'' you get the past, by adding ''-(e)s'' you get the he/she/it forms (''he/she/it places'') and by adding ''-ing'' you get the participle (''placing'').

In some languages, you can also use infinitives to make ungrammatical but somewhat intelligible sentences if you're not fluent. So something like "I place money here yesterday" or "Ich lesen Buch" (''I read book''), while not grammatical, can be understood. Infinitives are one of the first verb forms taught to students of English, German, Spanish or French because they allow you to say a lot relatively fast, with relative ease.

But just because Germanic and Romance languages have weaponised the infinitive, does that hold true for all languages?

==So what about other languages then?==
Depends. Some languages outside the Indo-European family entertain the idea of an infinitive. Others go even further and do not inflect at all - such as Cantonese where the verb 生 (''sāang'' "to give birth") does not change at all, and it can also be a noun. As a verb, it takes no endings, no prefixes, no suffixes, no he/she/it -s ... nothing like that. You can add particles after a verb

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| perfective with focus on present state || 佢生'''咗''' kéuih sāaang '''jó'''
|-
| || she gave birth (in the past)
|-
| perfective with focus on completion || 佢生'''完''' kéuih sāang '''yùhn'''
|-
| || she gave birth (and she's done with giving birth)
|-
| experiential || 佢生'''過''' kéuih sāang '''gwo'''
|-
| || she has given birth (so she knows what it's like)
|-
| progressive || 佢生'''緊''' kéuih sāang '''gán'''
|-
| || she is giving birth (right now)
|-
| continuative || 佢生'''落去''' kéuih sāang '''lohk heui'''
|-
| || she is still giving birth (i.e. she has been in labour for a long time)
|-
|}

But native speakers tend to see these as independent words, not some form of inflection of ''sāang''.

And then there are languages which entertain neither concept. Many Native American languages have nothing even vaguely approaching an English infinitive. They use a system where there is no such thing as an un-inflected verb. You might ask, what happens in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_language Lakhóta] dictionary? No sweat. Lakhóta considers the most basic form of a verb to be the 3rd person singular. So, while an English dictionary will list ''(to) sing'', Lakhóta will list lowáŋ "he/she/it sings". Because if you look at the whole shebang, you'll see this is the form with the least amount of 'bits' stuck on:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| wa'''lowáŋ'''
| I sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''
| you sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''
| he/she/it sings
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''
| we two sing
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''pi
| we (more than two) sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''pi
| you (plural) sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''pi
| they sing
|-
|}

Before you ask, '''lowáŋ''' is not an infinitive because it's not uninflected i.e. it's not a bare verb form, it is inextricably linked to the third person he/she/it. I could get more technical but that's not the point here. Either way it's very different from ''(to) read''.

Which brings us to Gaelic and the Gaelic dictionary in which the most un-inflected, un-changed and basic form of a verb is considered to be the ''singular imperative'', the form you use to order one person around.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| leugh!
| read!
|-
| seinn!
| sing!
|-
| geàrr!
| cut!
|-
|}

Once you know the singular imperative form (yes, there is a plural imperative in Gaelic, so leugh! orders one person to read, if you want to order a whole classroom full of people to read, you say leugh'''aibh'''!), you can derive all but one of the required verb forms by applying a set of rules. Again, we're ignoring irregular verbs. So, as an example, using geàrr! you get the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| gearraidh
| to form the independent future of a verb, add -(a)idh to the imperative and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearras
| to form the relative future of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)as at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearramaid
| to form the conditional of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)amaid at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| geàrrte
| to form the past participle of a verb add -te at the end and because -eàrr- is not followed by a vowel, it remains long
|-
|}

And so on. It's a fairly long list but on the whole entirely predictable.

The only form that is not predictable is the verbal noun. So just by looking at geàrr, it's hard to guess how to say "cutting". It could be gearradh or gearrachdainn or gearramh or gearrail or gearrachd, and so on. While there are preferred forms common to many areas, in this case gearradh, there is usually a lot of variation between dialects. So, while one area says gearradh, another might prefer gearrachdainn. That isn't as confusing as it may sound because it's almost always clear from the word order that a word is or isn't a verbal noun and many people are fairly used to hearing different endings for verbal nouns.

==Get to the darned infinitive already==
Patience, my young [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padawan padawan]... If you equate the English infinitive with "the basic form of a verb that's listed in a dictionary" then you already know that this does not apply to Gaelic since Gaelic uses the imperative singular for this purpose.

But, there's a bit more to this story, because you're probably thinking of expressions like tha mi a' dol '''a bhualadh''' cù "I am going '''to hit''' a dog" or bu toigh leam '''a dhol''' a Ghlaschu "I want '''to go''' to Glasgow".

I've written before that it's important to distinguish between '''how something is constructed''' and '''how it's translated'''. On the surface, both those forms looks like infinitives because the English translations have "to go" and the Gaelic has the handy little word a which in the dictionary means "to".

Yes, a means "to", except you probably ignored the bit where it says "prep(osition)", or something like that. So, let's analyse our Gaelic sentence, word for word:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going '''to hit''' a dog
|-
|}

Unfortunately, the a in front of bhualadh is not an infinitive particle or anything like that. It's the reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)", the same do that forms dhomh/dhut/dha/dhi. However, in Modern Gaelic, after a verb of motion, such as dol, you don't use the full form do but rather the reduced form a. So, a clearer translation would be:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going to'''(wards)''' hitting a dog
|-
|}

You're probably already comfortable with that construction if we swap the bhualadh with a place name or event, for example:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || mhòd
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.mod
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' a mòd
|-
|}

...and in doing that you most likely wouldn't bat an eyelid. Well, they're the same a (« do "to(wards)").

Of course, the fact that in translation it '''looks''' like an English infinitive does not help. But, if instead of saying "going to hitting a dog" you say "going towards hitting a dog" it might be a bit more apparent.

===Miss, miss!===
Yes, I was getting to that. And it's "Sir, Sir!" if you please...😉 There is a pattern that grammar books mention in conjunction with "expressions of motion". Consider this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to speak to him
|-
|}

A novice might be tempted to invoke the dratted infinitive here. But, take a gold star if you already spotted that this is actually the same as the examples further up where a does not mark an infinitive but is just the worn down form of the preposition do. The most obvious sign of this is the fact that before vowels and fh you get a dh' which is exactly what do. The infinitive particle (which we'll meet shortly) never comes with this extra dh'.

So translating more clearly, the above two are really identical to constructions you're already familiar with using place-names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'Alba ||
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || Scotland ||
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' Scotland
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || Bheàrnaraigh ||
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || Berneray ||
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' Berneray
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' speak to him
|-
|}
Yes, I know the last two aren't great English but I'm making a grammatical point about Gaelic.

==But what about that other one?==
I was getting there. So there are sentences like the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to buy''' a book
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 's || urrainn || dhomh || cù || (a)1 || fhàgail
|-
| COP || ability || to.me || dog || INF || LEN.leaving
|-
| colspan="6" | I am able '''to leave''' a dog
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || fhaod || mi || cù || (a)1 || ithe
|-
| NEG.COP || permit || I || dog || INF || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I am not allowed '''to eat''' a dog
|-
|}
1the infinitive particle a is notionally there but in pronunciation it is dropped because the next word begins with a vowel (in spoken Gaelic) and thus also commonly dropped in writing too

These are called modal constructions which is not a very intuitive or self-explanatory name. Unfortunately, we're stuck with it. A modal construction contains a modal verb or expresses a modal concept. Don't frown, I'm getting there. Basically, modal concepts are expressions of wanting, being able to or having to do something. In English, they are mostly simple verbs: ought, must, should, could, want, desire, wish, love... In Gaelic, there are some which are just simple verbs, like feum and faod. However, Gaelic mostly uses modal constructions that are roundabout ways of stating things like wanting, necessity, possibility, probability, or ability such as: bu toigh leam, tha agam ri, 's urrainn dhomh etc.

Ok, now this is where you must pay '''very''' close attention to the difference between an ''infinitive'' and an ''infinitive('''-like''') construction''.

English has a '''''genuine''' infinitive'', the un-changed and basic form of verbs: (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like, and so on. You can use the infinitive in English to derive other verb forms: like » likes; liked; liking; liketh. Or, you can use it to make English sentences with infinitive constructions such as "I like '''to read'''".

Still with me? OK, so what we have in those Gaelic sentences are '''infinitive(-like) constructions'''. They are called infinitive-like because they get '''translated''' into English by using an English infinitive form. But look again at the verbs in the Gaelic sentences. Yes, they're just verbal nouns, ''reading'' and ''going'' with an
a slapped in front of them. Indeed, this a is called an '''infinitive particle''' (marked INF above) because of its function, but that's as far as it goes. Unlike in English, it is not followed by a verb in the infinitive form but rather followed by a verbal noun. The infinitive particle a causes lenition and you may want to check out the page on [[The many functions of ə]].

Perhaps easier with more colours and in a visual way, so here is a schematic of how infinitives operate in many Indo-European languages. They either involve just an uninflected, unchanged true infinitive verb ('''dark yellow''') or possibly in addition an infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') to form a genuine infinitive construction ('''dark red''').

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (English) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''I'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | would
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | like
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''to'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''buy'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | a
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''book'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (German) infinitive'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Ich'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | entschied
| align=center style="border:none;" | ein
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''Buch'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''zu'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''kaufen'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (French) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Je'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | voudrais
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''acheter'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''livre'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (Spanish) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Me'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | gustaría
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''comprar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''libro'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

In just one kind of construction (sentences with inversion i.e. modal sentences where there is a direct object) Gaelic has something that resembles this. But if you look closely, what looks like an infinitive is made up of totally different things - there is a genuine infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') but where all the other languages have a type of verb (without any endings or fancy stuff like that), Gaelic uses a noun ('''dark green'''). It's like the difference between a pork roast and a seitan roast, both are roasts and may look similar but they're not made from the same things and thus aren't quite the same thing. The result is an infinitive-like ('''pink''') construction.

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| colspan="2" align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''infinitive-like construction'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | Bu
| align=center style="border:none;" | toigh
| align=center style="border:none;" | leam
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''leabhar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | '''a'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''cheannach'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | verbal noun
|-
|}

So, the Gaelic resembles an infinitive-like construction, and the English translation uses an infinitive, but neither of these two things mean that Gaelic has a basic, un-changed, un-inflected form of the verb that you can use like (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like.

For convenience, here's a full table showing how the '''infinitive particle''' a and the '''preposition''' a (the reduced form of do) behave regarding lenition and dh':
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" |a (infinitive particle)
! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" |effect on verbal noun
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" |example
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |a (reduced form of do "towards")
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |effect on verbal noun (or noun)
! scope="col" style="width: 450px;" |example
|-
| a || a/à » - || bu toigh leam lìon amaladh || a (do) || a » dh'a || thig a dh'Alba (do dh'Alba) ; thig a dh'amaladh
|-
| a || b » bh || bu toigh leam creag a bhualadh || a (do) || b » bh || thig a Bharraigh (do Bharraigh) ; thig a bhualadh
|-
| a || c » ch || bu toigh leam leabhar a chàradh || a (do) || c » ch || thig a Chàrlabhagh (do Chàrlabhagh) ; thig a chàradh
|-
| a || d » dh || bu toigh leam doras a dhùnadh || a (do) || d » dh || thig a Dhiùranais (do Dhiùranais) ; thig a dhùnadh
|-
| a || e/é/è » - || bu toigh leam ceòl éisteachd || a (do) || e/é/è » dh' || thig a dh'Éisteal (do dh'Éisteal) ; thig a dh'èisteachd
|-
| a || f » fh || bu toigh leam doras fhosgladh || a (do) || f » dh'fh || thig a dh'Fhionnsbhagh (do dh'Fhionnsbhagh) ; thig a dh'fhosgladh
|-
| a || g » gh || bu toigh leam doras a ghlanadh || a (do) || g » gh || thig a Ghiogha (do Ghiogha) ; thig a ghlanadh
|-
| a || i/ì » - || bu toigh leam creag ìsleachadh || a (do) || ì » dh' || thig a dh'Ìle (do dh'Ìle) ; thig a dh'ìsleachadh
|-
| a || l » l [Lʲ » l] || bu toigh leam creag a leigeil || a (do) || l » l [Lʲ » l] || thig a Leòdhas (do Leòdhas) ; thig a leigeil
|-
| a || m » mh || bu toigh leam cù a mharbhadh || a (do) || m » mh || thig a Mhealabost (do Mhealabost) ; thig a mharbhadh
|-
| a || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || bu toigh leam doras a neartachadh || a (do) || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || thig a Nòsdaidh (do Nòsdaidh) ; thig a neartachadh
|-
| a || o/ó/ò » - || bu toigh leam uisge òl || a (do) || o/ó/ò » dh' || thig a dh'Ormasairigh (do dh'Ormasairigh) ; thig a dh'òl
|-
| a || p » ph || bu toigh leam lìon a phasgadh || a (do) || p » ph || thig a Phaibeal (do Phaibeal) ; thig a phasgadh
|-
| a || r » r [R » r] || bu toigh leam pàipear a ragachadh || a (do) || r » r [R » r] || thig a Ratharsair (do Ratharsair) ; thig a ragachadh
|-
| a || s » sh || bu toigh leam cù a shàrachadh || a (do) || s » sh || a Shasainn (do Shasainn) ; thig a shàrachadh
|-
| a || t » th || bu toigh leam creag a thilgeil || a (do) || t » th || thig a Thiriodh (do Thiriodh) ; thig a thilgeil
|-
| a || u/ù » - || bu toigh leam doras ùrachadh || a (do) || u/ù » dh' || thig a dh'Uibhist (do Uibhist) ; thig a dh'ùrachadh
|-
|}

So there is a bit of an overlap, on the face of it, but as you can very clearly see, they're not the same.

Just to drive home the difference about what something IS and how you translate it, here's an illustrative example closer to home. In English, you say ''I am going home'' using the present tense verb ''am'' and the progressive ''going''. But in the same setting, in German you have to say Ich gehe nach Hause. Does that mean gehe is a progressive? No. German has a sort-of progressive (gehend) but doesn't use it much, certainly not like English does. Instead, German uses a straight present tense here (gehe) and no progressive. So while in translation between English and German a present progressive is used in place of a straight present, that does NOT mean that gehe is therefore a progressive or that ''going'' is a present tense. What something IS and how you translate it are two very different things...

===Prep is everything===
There is a special case scenario. If you get a modal construction which has a verbal noun in it which is followed by a preposition, then you don't get fronting or even lenition or anything, it pretty much is a case of just stringing the words together:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd''' || '''ri''' || ACDC
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening || against || ACDC
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen to ACDC
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Am || faod || mi || '''coimhead''' || '''air''' an || telebhisean?
|-
| INTERR || may || I || watching || on the || television
|-
| colspan="7" | May I watch television?
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn''' || '''ri''' || Calum
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking || against || Calum
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk to Calum
|-
|}

It's not really part of the infinitive hullabaloo but just as a recap, when there is no object, then it's just the unchanged verbal noun in modal constructions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd'''
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Faodaidh || mi || '''coimhead'''
|-
| may || I || watching
|-
| colspan="7" | I may (am permitted to) watch
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn'''
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk
|-
|}

===A word on relatives===
No, not the kind that visits and drinks your alc, but relative clauses. Let's take the sentence from above (I would like '''to buy''' a book) and make it "the book" which will help make the form more transparent:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || an || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || the || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to buy''' the book
|-
|}

When you turn that into a relative clause, the words move around, but the a stays the same:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || leabhar || a || bu || toigh || leam || a || cheannach
|-
| the || book || REL || COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || cheannach
|-
| colspan="8" | The book I would like '''to buy'''
|-
|}
So we've picked up a relative particle which does nothing except link the an leabhar bit with the bu toigh leam a cheannach bit, but other than that, no change really. Fortunately the place where "the book" goes in the sentence is the same as in English, so it's not too much of a mind-bender.

==But I have a book which says this is an infinitive==
As the Germans say: Paper is patient. It will hold E=mc² just the same as an election leaflet by a political party promising a land of milk and honey, hope and glory and pink Brexit unicorns.

There are two important points to be aware of regarding the particle a. First, there are many different particles in Gaelic which are just written and spoken as a. One has to learn the specific uses of each a and keep their meanings and uses apart. Second, many people writing about grammar have come from a university background where traditionally the description of grammar (of any language) is, or was, heavily influenced by Latin and Greek grammar. Like a pair of shades, the Latin and Greek formulas kind of colour your vision, without your thinking about the coloured tint. I experienced the same issue when I ran into Native American languages for the first time. I discovered there were very few concepts of European grammars that were helpful.

So, one can be prone to see the Latin and Greek categories in languages that don't have those categories. There can be a tendency to try and force-fit these concepts and then explain things that do not fit as "exceptions". For example, in unit 95, from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks (an excellent book except for this unit), you are told that:

:''Infinitives are used with the following auxiliary verbs and idioms:

:''(a) the modal verbs feum and faod''
:''(b) modal idioms expressing obligation''
:''(c) a number of idioms expressing 'wanting, liking, hoping, capability, remembering, obligation, managing'''
:''(d) verbs expressing motion or intent''
:''(e) the verb sguir 'cease'''

This list unfortunately conflates at least three different things, which is not helpful. To begin, (a), (b) and (c) are really the same thing. They present a long way of saying "modal verbs and expressions" - which is both shorter and more correct because there are other modal verbs in addition to feum and faod.

The (d) examples kind of refer both to (a)-(c), regarding ''intent'', and the expressions of motion which we have already examined. The (d) examples, in Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks, are really instances of "motion", already discussed, which operate using a, the reduced form of do "to(wards)":

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chaidh || Iain || a || cheannach
|-
| (PAST).go || Iain || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.buying
|-
| colspan="4" | Iain went '''to buy''' (« '''towards''')
|-
|}

It is blatantly obvious, in this (d) example, that a is not an infinitive particle but the preposition do/a "towards":
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thàinig || Anna || a || dh'fhaicinn
|-
| (PAST).come || Ann || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.seeing
|-
| colspan="4" | Ann came '''to see''' (« '''towards''' seeing)
|-
|}

The combination of dh' appearing alongside lenition is classic behaviour for do "to(wards)". Compare these sentences, of the type you may be familiar with:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thoir || an || leabhar || do || dh'Fhionnlagh
|-
| give || DEF.ART || book || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Finlay
|-
| colspan="5" | give the book '''to(wards)''' Finlay
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thug || e || ubhal || do || dh'Fhearchar
|-
| PAST.give || he || apple || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Fergus
|-
| colspan="5" | he gave an apple '''to(wards)''' Fergus
|-
|}

And (e) is again a misreading of the a that appears in sguir constructions. Some verbs simply take certain prepositions, and sguir normally takes de. So the a, in the case of sguir, is just the worn down form of the partitive particle de. So, here's a re-analysis of the example from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || a || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

The above is the shortened version of:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || de || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks goes on, in unit 95a, to talk about ''Indirect objects of infinitives'' even though there is not a hint of anything infinitive-like in the Gaelic examples. The only reason this unit has been given that heading is because the English translations use infinitives. In Gaelic, it's just the verbal noun being employed:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || bruidhinn || ri || Seumas
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || speaking|| against || James
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to speak''' to James
|}

Unfortunately, because the translation of this is "I would like '''to speak''' to James", this is incorrectly labelled an infinitive.

===Isn't the infinitive particle just a possessive pronoun?===
Good question. I would say no, simply because if it was a possessive, one would expect a difference between masculine and feminine objects; compare a chù "his dog" vs a cù "her dog". But the infinitive particle, unlike the possessive pronouns, always lenites the verbal noun after it.

Of course, there is the special case of having a pronoun as an object, i.e. something like "I want to hit '''you'''", in modal expressions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || do || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || your || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to hit''' you
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || chòir || dhut || mo || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || right || to.you || my || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | You ought '''to hit''' me
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || am || faicinn
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || their || seeing
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to see''' them
|-
|}

Over time, it's conceivable that the pattern of the third person masculine possessive pronoun has resulted in creating some sort of generalized infinitive-like pattern, i.e.:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || phòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || his || LEN.marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' him
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || pòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || her || marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' her
|}
But, overall, it makes no difference because one just has to learn these patterns the way they are today.

==What about a dhol, a bhith and a thighinn?==
Well, it wouldn't be Gaelic if there wasn't an odd one. Normally, if there is no object you just place the verbal noun after the modal verb or expression, such as:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || seinn
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || singing
|-
| colspan="4" | I would like to sing
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| faodaidh || tu || falbh
|-
| may || you || going
|-
| colspan="3" | You may go
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || urrainn || dhomh || snàmh
|-
| NEG || ability || to.me || swimming
|-
| colspan="4" | I cannot swim
|-
|}

But if the verbal noun happens to be dol or bith (and in some dialects tighinn), the infinitive particle, a, gets put in front of dol, bith (and tighinn), causing them to lenite:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || dhan || sgoil
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to.the || school
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to go''' to school
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || thighinn || dhachaigh || a-rithist
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.coming || homewards || again
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to come''' home again
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || caomh || leat || a || bhith || ag || éisteachd?
|-
| INTERR || gentle || with.you || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | would you like '''to be''' listening?
|-
|}

Just those two, or three, if you include tighinn. Don't ask me why.

Of course, you can combine the uses of do, worn down to a:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to go to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

===and ''a bhith''?===
Nice try, but no, a bhith is not an infinitive, just an infinitive-like form. Bith is just a verbal noun, the equivalent of English "being", rather than "to be". It's quite obvious from expressions such as bith-bhuan or a' dol á bith that it's a verbal noun, even though it is not possible to use it with ag. The form *a' bith is not an option.

But, in terms of use, bith behaves like a verbal noun, except that bith has to be followed by ag/a' plus another verbal noun.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || bhith || ag || ithe
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like to eat (lit. I would like '''to be''' eating)
|-
|}

Since I can't say this often enough, I'll state it again even though this page is not about correct idiomatic usage: don't over-use this, it's not a common construction. As a rule of thumb, if you use a bhith more than once on half an A4 page of written Gaelic, you're probably over-using it.

==In a word==
Practically speaking, these are the points to remember:
# Don't go hunting for references to the infinitive in Gaelic. You're wasting your time. There is nothing approaching any kind of basic, infinitive verb form in Gaelic. That's just the way it is.
# The dictionary form of a Gaelic verb is the singular imperative (order/command form).
# After a verb of motion, most commonly a' dol, the a is a reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)".
# In inverted phrases, such as bu toigh leam leabhar a leughadh, the a is the infinitive particle plus a verbal noun. That a is often ''translated'' into English using an English infinitive form; however, that does '''not''' make Gaelic have an infinitive it can call its own.

So, the whole hunt for a Gaelic infinitive is fuelled mainly
* by learners hoping for a quick fix,
* by linguists (in the old days) trying to squeeze all languages into the corset of grammatical terms that work in Latin and Greek,
* and by various people looking at an English sentence and thinking "English has an infinitive here, so Gaelic must have one too".

Simples!

Now, what's [[Inversion|inversion]]?

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Habemus infinitivum necne

2023-09-08T17:09:20Z

Akerbeltz: /* Get to the darned infinitive already */

No, not showing off, I had to ask a friend to correct my Latin (it's been a long time!) and there's a reason for the Latin phrase being added to the page because it loosely translates as ''We have an infinitive, or do we?''.

==First things first==
What's an infinitive and would it go with a glass of Château Musar? Probably yes, as to the latter. As to the former, it's actually hard to state exactly what it is because the definition of ''the infinitive'' varies slightly depending on which language you're looking at.

Coming at the infinitive from English, it is often described as the ''dictionary form'' (also called the ''citation form'') of a verb, an un-changed, un-inflected un-everythinged form of a verb (hence its name, ultimately from Latin infinitivus meaning, among other things, something like ''un-defined''). For example, ''to go, to sit, to sing, to throw...'' or by dropping the ''to'', simply ''go, sit, sing, throw...''. It gets more complicated than that but I want to sidestep the precise definition of the infinitive in English because it's a bit of a head-bender (and that's me you're talking to!) and because the English concept is not really a helpful concept for Gaelic, as we'll see.

Anyway, this thing called the infinitive crops up in many European languages. For example, in Spanish, the basic form of verbs (those ending in -ir, -er or -ar) is referred to as the infinitive and these are also the forms you look for in the dictionary, for example, morir "(to) die" or masticar "(to) chew". In German, the equivalent is -en, for example, bedienen "(to) serve", verschlimmbessern "(to) disimprove" or verniedlichen "(to) make cute". And so on.

==What's the attraction?==
Well, on the whole, the infinitive is the basis for inflection if the language in question has an inflection system. In English, ignoring irregular verbs, if you know ''(to) place'' then you know that by adding ''-(e)d'' you get the past, by adding ''-(e)s'' you get the he/she/it forms (''he/she/it places'') and by adding ''-ing'' you get the participle (''placing'').

In some languages, you can also use infinitives to make ungrammatical but somewhat intelligible sentences if you're not fluent. So something like "I place money here yesterday" or "Ich lesen Buch" (''I read book''), while not grammatical, can be understood. Infinitives are one of the first verb forms taught to students of English, German, Spanish or French because they allow you to say a lot relatively fast, with relative ease.

But just because Germanic and Romance languages have weaponised the infinitive, does that hold true for all languages?

==So what about other languages then?==
Depends. Some languages outside the Indo-European family entertain the idea of an infinitive. Others go even further and do not inflect at all - such as Cantonese where the verb 生 (''sāang'' "to give birth") does not change at all, and it can also be a noun. As a verb, it takes no endings, no prefixes, no suffixes, no he/she/it -s ... nothing like that. You can add particles after a verb

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| perfective with focus on present state || 佢生'''咗''' kéuih sāaang '''jó'''
|-
| || she gave birth (in the past)
|-
| perfective with focus on completion || 佢生'''完''' kéuih sāang '''yùhn'''
|-
| || she gave birth (and she's done with giving birth)
|-
| experiential || 佢生'''過''' kéuih sāang '''gwo'''
|-
| || she has given birth (so she knows what it's like)
|-
| progressive || 佢生'''緊''' kéuih sāang '''gán'''
|-
| || she is giving birth (right now)
|-
| continuative || 佢生'''落去''' kéuih sāang '''lohk heui'''
|-
| || she is still giving birth (i.e. she has been in labour for a long time)
|-
|}

But native speakers tend to see these as independent words, not some form of inflection of ''sāang''.

And then there are languages which entertain neither concept. Many Native American languages have nothing even vaguely approaching an English infinitive. They use a system where there is no such thing as an un-inflected verb. You might ask, what happens in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_language Lakhóta] dictionary? No sweat. Lakhóta considers the most basic form of a verb to be the 3rd person singular. So, while an English dictionary will list ''(to) sing'', Lakhóta will list lowáŋ "he/she/it sings". Because if you look at the whole shebang, you'll see this is the form with the least amount of 'bits' stuck on:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| wa'''lowáŋ'''
| I sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''
| you sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''
| he/she/it sings
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''
| we two sing
|-
| uŋ'''lowáŋ'''pi
| we (more than two) sing
|-
| ya'''lowáŋ'''pi
| you (plural) sing
|-
| '''lowáŋ'''pi
| they sing
|-
|}

Before you ask, '''lowáŋ''' is not an infinitive because it's not uninflected i.e. it's not a bare verb form, it is inextricably linked to the third person he/she/it. I could get more technical but that's not the point here. Either way it's very different from ''(to) read''.

Which brings us to Gaelic and the Gaelic dictionary in which the most un-inflected, un-changed and basic form of a verb is considered to be the ''singular imperative'', the form you use to order one person around.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| leugh!
| read!
|-
| seinn!
| sing!
|-
| geàrr!
| cut!
|-
|}

Once you know the singular imperative form (yes, there is a plural imperative in Gaelic, so leugh! orders one person to read, if you want to order a whole classroom full of people to read, you say leugh'''aibh'''!), you can derive all but one of the required verb forms by applying a set of rules. Again, we're ignoring irregular verbs. So, as an example, using geàrr! you get the following:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| gearraidh
| to form the independent future of a verb, add -(a)idh to the imperative and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearras
| to form the relative future of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)as at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| ghearramaid
| to form the conditional of a verb beginning with b/c/d/g/m/p/s/t, lenite the initial letter and add -(e)amaid at the end and because -eàrr- is now followed by a vowel, it shortens to -earr
|-
| geàrrte
| to form the past participle of a verb add -te at the end and because -eàrr- is not followed by a vowel, it remains long
|-
|}

And so on. It's a fairly long list but on the whole entirely predictable.

The only form that is not predictable is the verbal noun. So just by looking at geàrr, it's hard to guess how to say "cutting". It could be gearradh or gearrachdainn or gearramh or gearrail or gearrachd, and so on. While there are preferred forms common to many areas, in this case gearradh, there is usually a lot of variation between dialects. So, while one area says gearradh, another might prefer gearrachdainn. That isn't as confusing as it may sound because it's almost always clear from the word order that a word is or isn't a verbal noun and many people are fairly used to hearing different endings for verbal nouns.

==Get to the darned infinitive already==
Patience, my young [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padawan padawan]... If you equate the English infinitive with "the basic form of a verb that's listed in a dictionary" then you already know that this does not apply to Gaelic since Gaelic uses the imperative singular for this purpose.

But, there's a bit more to this story, because you're probably thinking of expressions like tha mi a' dol '''a bhualadh''' cù "I am going '''to hit''' a dog" or bu toigh leam '''a dhol''' a Ghlaschu "I want '''to go''' to Glasgow".

I've written before that it's important to distinguish between '''how something is constructed''' and '''how it's translated'''. On the surface, both those forms looks like infinitives because the English translations have "to go" and the Gaelic has the handy little word a which in the dictionary means "to".

Yes, a means "to", except you probably ignored the bit where it says "prep(osition)", or something like that. So, let's analyse our Gaelic sentence, word for word:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going '''to hit''' a dog
|-
|}

Unfortunately, the a in front of bhualadh is not an infinitive particle or anything like that. It's the reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)", the same do that forms dhomh/dhut/dha/dhi. However, in Modern Gaelic, after a verb of motion, such as dol, you don't use the full form do but rather the reduced form a. So, a clearer translation would be:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || bhualadh || cù
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.hitting || dog
|-
| colspan="7" | I am going to'''(wards)''' hitting a dog
|-
|}

You're probably already comfortable with that construction if we swap the bhualadh with a place name or event, for example:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| tha || mi || a' || dol || a || mhòd
|-
| be.PRES.IND || I || at || going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.mod
|-
| colspan="6" | I am going to'''(wards)''' a mòd
|-
|}

...and in doing that you most likely wouldn't bat an eyelid. Well, they're the same a (« do "to(wards)").

Of course, the fact that in translation it '''looks''' like an English infinitive does not help. But, if instead of saying "going to hitting a dog" you say "going towards hitting a dog" it might be a bit more apparent.

===Miss, miss!===
Yes, I was getting to that. And it's "Sir, Sir!" if you please...😉 There is a pattern that grammar books mention in conjunction with "expressions of motion". Consider this:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to speak to him
|-
|}

A novice might be tempted to invoke the dratted infinitive here. But, take a gold star if you already spotted that this is actually the same as the examples further up where a does not mark an infinitive but is just the worn down form of the preposition do. The most obvious sign of this is the fact that before vowels and fh you get a dh' which is exactly what do. The infinitive particle (which we'll meet shortly) never comes with this extra dh'.

So translating more clearly, the above two are really identical to constructions you're already familiar with using place-names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'Alba ||
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || Scotland ||
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' Scotland
|-
| Thàinig || Iseabail || a || dh'fhaicinn || film
|-
| came || Ishbel || to'''(wards)''' || seeing || film
|-
| colspan="5" | Ishbel came to'''(wards)''' see a film
|-
|}

or

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || Bheàrnaraigh ||
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking ||
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' Berneray
|-
| Dh'fhalbh || iad || a || bhruidhinn || ris
|-
| PAST.leave || they || to'''(wards)''' || speaking || against.him
|-
| colspan="5" | They went to'''(wards)''' speak to him
|-
|}
Yes, I know the last two aren't great English but I'm making a grammatical point about Gaelic.

==But what about that other one?==
I was getting there. So there are sentences like the following:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to buy''' a book
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 's || urrainn || dhomh || cù || (a)1 || fhàgail
|-
| COP || ability || to.me || dog || INF || LEN.leaving
|-
| colspan="6" | I am able '''to leave''' a dog
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || fhaod || mi || cù || (a)1 || ithe
|-
| NEG.COP || permit || I || dog || INF || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I am not allowed '''to eat''' a dog
|-
|}
1the infinitive particle a is notionally there but in pronunciation it is dropped because the next word begins with a vowel (in spoken Gaelic) and thus also commonly dropped in writing too

These are called modal constructions which is not a very intuitive or self-explanatory name. Unfortunately, we're stuck with it. A modal construction contains a modal verb or expresses a modal concept. Don't frown, I'm getting there. Basically, modal concepts are expressions of wanting, being able to or having to do something. In English, they are mostly simple verbs: ought, must, should, could, want, desire, wish, love... In Gaelic, there are some which are just simple verbs, like feum and faod. However, Gaelic mostly uses modal constructions that are roundabout ways of stating things like wanting, necessity, possibility, probability, or ability such as: bu toigh leam, tha agam ri, 's urrainn dhomh etc.

Ok, now this is where you must pay '''very''' close attention to the difference between an ''infinitive'' and an ''infinitive('''-like''') construction''.

English has a '''''genuine''' infinitive'', the un-changed and basic form of verbs: (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like, and so on. You can use the infinitive in English to derive other verb forms: like » likes; liked; liking; liketh. Or, you can use it to make English sentences with infinitive constructions such as "I like '''to read'''".

Still with me? OK, so what we have in those Gaelic sentences are '''infinitive(-like) constructions'''. They are called infinitive-like because they get '''translated''' into English by using an English infinitive form. But look again at the verbs in the Gaelic sentences. Yes, they're just verbal nouns, ''reading'' and ''going'' with an
a slapped in front of them. Indeed, this a is called an '''infinitive particle''' (marked INF above) because of its function, but that's as far as it goes. Unlike in English, it is not followed by a verb in the infinitive form but rather followed by a verbal noun. The infinitive particle a causes lenition and you may want to check out the page on [[The many functions of ə]].

Perhaps easier with more colours and in a visual way, so here is a schematic of how infinitives operate in many Indo-European languages. They either involve just an uninflected, unchanged true infinitive verb ('''dark yellow''') or possibly in addition an infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') to form a genuine infinitive construction ('''dark red''').

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (English) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''I'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | would
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | like
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''to'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''buy'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | a
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''book'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center|
| align=center|
| colspan="2" align=center| '''the (German) infinitive'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Ich'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | entschied
| align=center style="border:none;" | ein
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''Buch'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''zu'''
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | '''kaufen'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | is a type of verb
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #c00000;" | infinitive verb
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (French) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Je'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | voudrais
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''acheter'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''livre'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|- style="border:none;"
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
| align=center|
| align=center| '''the (Spanish) infinitive'''
| align=center|
| align=center style="color:#00b050;" |
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''Me'''
| align=center style="border:none;" | gustaría
| align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | '''comprar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | un
| align=center style="border:none;" | '''libro'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | is a type of verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | pronoun
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" | infinitive verb
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #c00000;border-right:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" | common noun
|-
|}

In just one kind of construction (sentences with inversion i.e. modal sentences where there is a direct object) Gaelic has something that resembles this. But if you look closely, what looks like an infinitive is made up of totally different things - there is a genuine infinitive particle ('''dark orange''') but where all the other languages have a type of verb (without any endings or fancy stuff like that), Gaelic uses a noun ('''dark green'''). It's like the difference between a pork roast and a seitan roast, both are roasts and may look similar but they're not made from the same things and thus aren't quite the same thing. The result is an infinitive-like ('''pink''') construction.

{| style="border-spacing:0;width:50%;"
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" |
| colspan="2" align=center style="border-top:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''infinitive-like construction'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" | Bu
| align=center style="border:none;" | toigh
| align=center style="border:none;" | leam
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | '''leabhar'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | '''a'''
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | '''cheannach'''
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | is a type of noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | is a type of particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | is a type of noun
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | ↑
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | ↑
|-
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border:none;" |
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:none;" | common noun
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-right:none;" | infinitive particle
| align=center style="border-top:none;border-bottom:2.25pt solid #ff8181;border-left:none;border-right:2.25pt solid #ff8181;" | verbal noun
|-
|}

So, the Gaelic resembles an infinitive-like construction, and the English translation uses an infinitive, but neither of these two things mean that Gaelic has a basic, un-changed, un-inflected form of the verb that you can use like (to) sit/eat/drink/run/read/like.

For convenience, here's a full table showing how the '''infinitive particle''' a and the '''preposition''' a (the reduced form of do) behave regarding lenition and dh':
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 50px;" |a (infinitive particle)
! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" |effect on verbal noun
! scope="col" style="width: 250px;" |example
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |a (reduced form of do "towards")
! scope="col" style="width: 120px;" |effect on verbal noun (or noun)
! scope="col" style="width: 450px;" |example
|-
| a || a/à » - || bu toigh leam lìon amaladh || a (do) || a » dh'a || thig a dh'Alba (do dh'Alba) ; thig a dh'amaladh
|-
| a || b » bh || bu toigh leam creag a bhualadh || a (do) || b » bh || thig a Bharraigh (do Bharraigh) ; thig a bhualadh
|-
| a || c » ch || bu toigh leam leabhar a chàradh || a (do) || c » ch || thig a Chàrlabhagh (do Chàrlabhagh) ; thig a chàradh
|-
| a || d » dh || bu toigh leam doras a dhùnadh || a (do) || d » dh || thig a Dhiùranais (do Dhiùranais) ; thig a dhùnadh
|-
| a || e/é/è » - || bu toigh leam ceòl éisteachd || a (do) || e/é/è » dh' || thig a dh'Éisteal (do dh'Éisteal) ; thig a dh'èisteachd
|-
| a || f » fh || bu toigh leam doras fhosgladh || a (do) || f » dh'fh || thig a dh'Fhionnsbhagh (do dh'Fhionnsbhagh) ; thig a dh'fhosgladh
|-
| a || g » gh || bu toigh leam doras a ghlanadh || a (do) || g » gh || thig a Ghiogha (do Ghiogha) ; thig a ghlanadh
|-
| a || i/ì » - || bu toigh leam creag ìsleachadh || a (do) || ì » dh' || thig a dh'Ìle (do dh'Ìle) ; thig a dh'ìsleachadh
|-
| a || l » l [Lʲ » l] || bu toigh leam creag a leigeil || a (do) || l » l [Lʲ » l] || thig a Leòdhas (do Leòdhas) ; thig a leigeil
|-
| a || m » mh || bu toigh leam cù a mharbhadh || a (do) || m » mh || thig a Mhealabost (do Mhealabost) ; thig a mharbhadh
|-
| a || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || bu toigh leam doras a neartachadh || a (do) || n » n [N/Nʲ » n] || thig a Nòsdaidh (do Nòsdaidh) ; thig a neartachadh
|-
| a || o/ó/ò » - || bu toigh leam uisge òl || a (do) || o/ó/ò » dh' || thig a dh'Ormasairigh (do dh'Ormasairigh) ; thig a dh'òl
|-
| a || p » ph || bu toigh leam lìon a phasgadh || a (do) || p » ph || thig a Phaibeal (do Phaibeal) ; thig a phasgadh
|-
| a || r » r [R » r] || bu toigh leam pàipear a ragachadh || a (do) || r » r [R » r] || thig a Ratharsair (do Ratharsair) ; thig a ragachadh
|-
| a || s » sh || bu toigh leam cù a shàrachadh || a (do) || s » sh || a Shasainn (do Shasainn) ; thig a shàrachadh
|-
| a || t » th || bu toigh leam creag a thilgeil || a (do) || t » th || thig a Thiriodh (do Thiriodh) ; thig a thilgeil
|-
| a || u/ù » - || bu toigh leam doras ùrachadh || a (do) || u/ù » dh' || thig a dh'Uibhist (do Uibhist) ; thig a dh'ùrachadh
|-
|}

So there is a bit of an overlap, on the face of it, but as you can very clearly see, they're not the same.

Just to drive home the difference about what something IS and how you translate it, here's an illustrative example closer to home. In English, you say ''I am going home'' using the present tense verb ''am'' and the progressive ''going''. But in the same setting, in German you have to say Ich gehe nach Hause. Does that mean gehe is a progressive? No. German has a sort-of progressive (gehend) but doesn't use it much, certainly not like English does. Instead, German uses a straight present tense here (gehe) and no progressive. So while in translation between English and German a present progressive is used in place of a straight present, that does NOT mean that gehe is therefore a progressive or that ''going'' is a present tense. What something IS and how you translate it are two very different things...

===Prep is everything===
There is a special case scenario. If you get a modal construction which has a verbal noun in it which is followed by a preposition, then you don't get fronting or even lenition or anything, it pretty much is a case of just stringing the words together:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd''' || '''ri''' || ACDC
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening || against || ACDC
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen to ACDC
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Am || faod || mi || '''coimhead''' || '''air''' an || telebhisean?
|-
| INTERR || may || I || watching || on the || television
|-
| colspan="7" | May I watch television?
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn''' || '''ri''' || Calum
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking || against || Calum
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk to Calum
|-
|}

It's not really part of the infinitive hullabaloo but just as a recap, when there is no object, then it's just the unchanged verbal noun in modal constructions:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Bu || toil || leam || '''éisteachd'''
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to listen
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Faodaidh || mi || '''coimhead'''
|-
| may || I || watching
|-
| colspan="7" | I may (am permitted to) watch
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Cha || bu || chòir || dhut || '''bruidhinn'''
|-
| NEG || COND || right || to.you || speaking
|-
| colspan="7" | You should not talk
|-
|}

===A word on relatives===
No, not the kind that visits and drinks your alc, but relative clauses. Let's take the sentence from above (I would like '''to buy''' a book) and make it "the book" which will help make the form more transparent:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || an || leabhar || a || cheannach
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || the || book || INF || buying
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to buy''' the book
|-
|}

When you turn that into a relative clause, the words move around, but the a stays the same:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || leabhar || a || bu || toigh || leam || a || cheannach
|-
| the || book || REL || COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || cheannach
|-
| colspan="8" | The book I would like '''to buy'''
|-
|}
So we've picked up a relative particle which does nothing except link the an leabhar bit with the bu toigh leam a cheannach bit, but other than that, no change really. Fortunately the place where "the book" goes in the sentence is the same as in English, so it's not too much of a mind-bender.

==But I have a book which says this is an infinitive==
As the Germans say: Paper is patient. It will hold E=mc² just the same as an election leaflet by a political party promising a land of milk and honey, hope and glory and pink Brexit unicorns.

There are two important points to be aware of regarding the particle a. First, there are many different particles in Gaelic which are just written and spoken as a. One has to learn the specific uses of each a and keep their meanings and uses apart. Second, many people writing about grammar have come from a university background where traditionally the description of grammar (of any language) is, or was, heavily influenced by Latin and Greek grammar. Like a pair of shades, the Latin and Greek formulas kind of colour your vision, without your thinking about the coloured tint. I experienced the same issue when I ran into Native American languages for the first time. I discovered there were very few concepts of European grammars that were helpful.

So, one can be prone to see the Latin and Greek categories in languages that don't have those categories. There can be a tendency to try and force-fit these concepts and then explain things that do not fit as "exceptions". For example, in unit 95, from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks (an excellent book except for this unit), you are told that:

:''Infinitives are used with the following auxiliary verbs and idioms:

:''(a) the modal verbs feum and faod''
:''(b) modal idioms expressing obligation''
:''(c) a number of idioms expressing 'wanting, liking, hoping, capability, remembering, obligation, managing'''
:''(d) verbs expressing motion or intent''
:''(e) the verb sguir 'cease'''

This list unfortunately conflates at least three different things, which is not helpful. To begin, (a), (b) and (c) are really the same thing. They present a long way of saying "modal verbs and expressions" - which is both shorter and more correct because there are other modal verbs in addition to feum and faod.

The (d) examples kind of refer both to (a)-(c), regarding ''intent'', and the expressions of motion which we have already examined. The (d) examples, in Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks, are really instances of "motion", already discussed, which operate using a, the reduced form of do "to(wards)":

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chaidh || Iain || a || cheannach
|-
| (PAST).go || Iain || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.buying
|-
| colspan="4" | Iain went '''to buy''' (« '''towards''')
|-
|}

It is blatantly obvious, in this (d) example, that a is not an infinitive particle but the preposition do/a "towards":
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thàinig || Anna || a || dh'fhaicinn
|-
| (PAST).come || Ann || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.seeing
|-
| colspan="4" | Ann came '''to see''' (« '''towards''' seeing)
|-
|}

The combination of dh' appearing alongside lenition is classic behaviour for do "to(wards)". Compare these sentences, of the type you may be familiar with:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thoir || an || leabhar || do || dh'Fhionnlagh
|-
| give || DEF.ART || book || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Finlay
|-
| colspan="5" | give the book '''to(wards)''' Finlay
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| thug || e || ubhal || do || dh'Fhearchar
|-
| PAST.give || he || apple || to'''(wards)''' || dh'.LEN.Fergus
|-
| colspan="5" | he gave an apple '''to(wards)''' Fergus
|-
|}

And (e) is again a misreading of the a that appears in sguir constructions. Some verbs simply take certain prepositions, and sguir normally takes de. So the a, in the case of sguir, is just the worn down form of the partitive particle de. So, here's a re-analysis of the example from Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || a || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

The above is the shortened version of:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| sguir || iad || de || chaoineadh
|-
| (PAST).stop || they || PARTITIVE || LEN.crying
|-
| colspan="4" | they stopped crying (lit. they stopped from crying)
|-
|}

Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks goes on, in unit 95a, to talk about ''Indirect objects of infinitives'' even though there is not a hint of anything infinitive-like in the Gaelic examples. The only reason this unit has been given that heading is because the English translations use infinitives. In Gaelic, it's just the verbal noun being employed:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || bruidhinn || ri || Seumas
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || speaking|| against || James
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like '''to speak''' to James
|}

Unfortunately, because the translation of this is "I would like '''to speak''' to James", this is incorrectly labelled an infinitive.

===Isn't the infinitive particle just a possessive pronoun?===
Good question. I would say no, simply because if it was a possessive, one would expect a difference between masculine and feminine objects; compare a chù "his dog" vs a cù "her dog". But the infinitive particle, unlike the possessive pronouns, always lenites the verbal noun after it.

Of course, there is the special case of having a pronoun as an object, i.e. something like "I want to hit '''you'''", in modal expressions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || do || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || your || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to hit''' you
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || chòir || dhut || mo || bhualadh
|-
| COND.copula || right || to.you || my || LEN.hitting
|-
| colspan="5" | You ought '''to hit''' me
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || am || faicinn
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || their || seeing
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to see''' them
|-
|}

Over time, it's conceivable that the pattern of the third person masculine possessive pronoun has resulted in creating some sort of generalized infinitive-like pattern, i.e.:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || phòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || his || LEN.marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' him
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toil || leam || a || pòsadh
|-
| COND.copula || pleasant || with.me || her || marrying
|-
| colspan="5" | I would like '''to marry''' her
|}
But, overall, it makes no difference because one just has to learn these patterns the way they are today.

==What about a dhol, a bhith and a thighinn?==
Well, it wouldn't be Gaelic if there wasn't an odd one. Normally, if there is no object you just place the verbal noun after the modal verb or expression, such as:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || seinn
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || singing
|-
| colspan="4" | I would like to sing
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| faodaidh || tu || falbh
|-
| may || you || going
|-
| colspan="3" | You may go
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| chan || urrainn || dhomh || snàmh
|-
| NEG || ability || to.me || swimming
|-
| colspan="4" | I cannot swim
|-
|}

But if the verbal noun happens to be dol or bith (and in some dialects tighinn), the infinitive particle, a, gets put in front of dol, bith (and tighinn), causing them to lenite:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || dhan || sgoil
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to.the || school
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to go''' to school
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || thighinn || dhachaigh || a-rithist
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.coming || homewards || again
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like '''to come''' home again
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| an || caomh || leat || a || bhith || ag || éisteachd?
|-
| INTERR || gentle || with.you || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || listening
|-
| colspan="7" | would you like '''to be''' listening?
|-
|}

Just those two, or three, if you include tighinn. Don't ask me why.

Of course, you can combine the uses of do, worn down to a:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || dhol || a || Ghlaschu
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.going || to'''(wards)''' || LEN.Glasgow
|-
| colspan="7" | I would like to go to'''(wards)''' Glasgow
|-
|}

===and ''a bhith''?===
Nice try, but no, a bhith is not an infinitive, just an infinitive-like form. Bith is just a verbal noun, the equivalent of English "being", rather than "to be". It's quite obvious from expressions such as bith-bhuan or a' dol á bith that it's a verbal noun, even though it is not possible to use it with ag. The form *a' bith is not an option.

But, in terms of use, bith behaves like a verbal noun, except that bith has to be followed by ag/a' plus another verbal noun.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| bu || toigh || leam || a || bhith || ag || ithe
|-
| COND || agreeableness || with.me || INF || LEN.being || PARTICIPLE || eating
|-
| colspan="6" | I would like to eat (lit. I would like '''to be''' eating)
|-
|}

Since I can't say this often enough, I'll state it again even though this page is not about correct idiomatic usage: don't over-use this, it's not a common construction. As a rule of thumb, if you use a bhith more than once on half an A4 page of written Gaelic, you're probably over-using it.

==In a word==
Practically speaking, these are the points to remember:
# Don't go hunting for references to the infinitive in Gaelic. You're wasting your time. There is nothing approaching any kind of basic, infinitive verb form in Gaelic. That's just the way it is.
# The dictionary form of a Gaelic verb is the singular imperative (order/command form).
# After a verb of motion, most commonly a' dol, the a is a reduced form of the preposition do "to(wards)".
# In inverted phrases, such as bu toigh leam leabhar a leughadh, the a is the infinitive particle plus a verbal noun. That a is often ''translated'' into English using an English infinitive form; however, that does '''not''' make Gaelic have an infinitive it can call its own.

So, the whole hunt for a Gaelic infinitive is fuelled mainly
* by learners hoping for a quick fix,
* by linguists (in the old days) trying to squeeze all languages into the corset of grammatical terms that work in Latin and Greek,
* and by various people looking at an English sentence and thinking "English has an infinitive here, so Gaelic must have one too".

Simples!

Now, what's [[Inversion|inversion]]?

 
{{BeaganGramair}}

Prosthetic f, backformation or eagal and feagal

2023-09-05T15:53:14Z

Akerbeltz: /* Add a pinch of madness... */

Prosthetic sounds are nothing unusual in the… ah OK, right you are. A prosthetic sound is a "random" sound that gets stuck in front, the middle or at the end of a word to make it conform better with the sound rules of whichever language.

Many languages do this, such as Spanish. Spanish phonology has a rule saying that no word may begin with [sp] [st] or [sk]. However, there are words in Spanish which either have these initials historically or have them from loan words coming into Spanish. To get around this problem, Spanish phonology says "prefix [e]" … so Latin spīritus, scola, stabilis become espirito, escuela, and estable. Similarly ''Scandinavia, spot'' and ''Stockholm'' become Escandinavia, espot, and Estocolmo.

==Errr and backformation?==
Backformation means that speakers of a language take a native or adopted word and re-analyse it, as it were. This often happens in loanwords or native words whose meaning has become opaque. Opaque, when a linguist uses the word, means that the meaning is not clear from just looking at the word. For example, you can look at the word ''drumstick'' and figure that it's a stick that's used with a drum. But no matter how hard you stare at a hot ''toddy'', chances are you won't figure it comes from a Hindi word for a palm-tree.

Where was I? Ah, backformation. English, for example, adopted the French word for cherries, cerise from Latin ceresia, both mass nouns which means there is no singular form. But because English has a very prominent ''-s'' plural, English speakers figured that the ''s'' must obviously be a plural. So, if many of those little fruits are ''cherries'', one must obviously be - a cherry. This is called backformation. Gaelic does that too, but because it has the phenomenon of lenition at the beginning of words, unlike English, it tends to create backformations at the beginning of words.

Now, Gaelic phonology does not forbid words beginning with a vowel (don't laugh, some languages have no words beginning with vowels!) but it does have something like prosthetic sounds. Most notably [f]. In the case of Gaelic this comes about when native speakers re-interpret words beginning with a vowel as "a word which has lenited X". However, there is more than just one backformation. Let's have a quick look at what can happen:

{| style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! scope="col" width="20%" |
! scope="col" width="80" |
|- valign="top"
| [h] ⇨ [t], [d] or [s] || because lenited [t] or [s] yields [h], failing that, you drop it. [d] is rare, possibly via [t].
|- valign="top"
| [ð] ⇨ [d] || because lenited [d] used to yield [ð]
|- valign="top"
| [θ] ⇨ [t] or [s] || because lenited [t] used to yield [θ] and presumably when that linguistic memory faded, [s] in the same way German speakers often pronounce it [s]
|- valign="top"
| [v] ⇨ [u] or [b] || because lenited [b] yields [v] or failing that, sounds a bit like [u]
|- valign="top"
| [j] ⇨ [g] || because lenited [g] yields [ʝ]. This happens in words with a soft onset which is an almost [j] sound, as in English iota, which to Gaelic ears sounds like the word begins with gh th or dh
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [f] || because lenited [f] is silent - and this is by far the most common one, and about the only one, still active in modern Gaelic
|- valign="top"
| initial vowel ⇨ [t], [s] or [ʃ] || Because the masculine article in front of a vowel is an t- and the t- is sometimes wrongly attached to the noun itself. In rare cases, via t » t-s » this might become [s] or [ʃ]
|-
| [sw] ⇨ [sb] || This is rare but works on the basis that [sw] is not a permissible initial in Gaelic but the phonetically close [sb] is, i.e. a simple de-lenition of [w] ⇨ [b]
|}

There are more, but those are the most common ones.

===Examples===
Examples to your heart's content, most of them are loanwords, except the ones beginning with f + vowel from Old Irish. Note that in most cases it's almost impossible to tell if a loan was from Scots or English, so they're usually listed together unless it's very clearly a Scots word. English can also stand for Old or Middle English. It's not that relevant to this topic, so I'm taking a shortcut!

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 35%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 15%;" | Manx
|-
| Brythonic linn || pool, lake (cf. Welsh llyn || '''Gleann''' Iucha ''Linlithgow'' with linn being re-interpreted as lenited and slenderised ghlinn || ||
|-
| Latin ferculum || dish for serving food || searcal ''choice part of meat'' || searcal ''dish; tidbit'' ||
|-
| Latin fundus || foundation || bonn; fonn || bonn ||
|-
| Latin Ianuarius || January || Gèanair, Gion-bhair, Gineamhair || Eanáir ||
|-
| Latin jocosus || droll || geocach ''itinerant, vagrant'' (original meaning referred to a town crier/street performer)|| geocach ||
|-
| Latin iūdaeus || Jew || || Giúdach ||
|-
| Latin theōrica || theory || teòirig Old Irish teoiricecht || teoiric ||
|-
| Latin Thūlē or Greek Thȳlē || Thule || Tìle though this may already have had initial /t/ when borrowed from Latin. It depends largely on the exact pronunciation in the giver language at the time || Tuile ||
|-
| Latin vāgīna || vagina || faighean || faighin || fine
|-
| Latin vanus || empty || fànas || fánas ''gap'' || faanys ''gap''
|-
| Latin vēlum || veil || fial || fial || 
|-
| Latin vesper || evening || feasgar || feascar ''vesper'' || fastyr
|-
| Latin (in) vetere lege || (in) old law || peitearlach || ||
|-
| Latin vicus || village || fìch || fích || 
|-
| Latin vigilia || vigil || féill || féill || feaill
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || fìon || fíon || feeyn
|-
| Latin vulpēs || fox (possibly ''whelp/hvelpr'') || uilp || ||
|-
| Norse eyrr || gravel bank || tiùrr || ||
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || tabh, also '''tabh'''-bhéist, ''seal''; '''tabh'''-uan ''seal pup''|| ||
|-
| Norse háfr || hand-net || tàbh/àbh || tábh, abhadh ||
|-
| Norse hár + bolstaðr || high + farm || Tàbost || ||
|-
| Norse haugr || howe, mound || '''Togha''' Mòr/Beag, '''Togh'''sgaig || ||
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || failm/ailm || ||
|-
| Norse hjalt + land || hilt + land || Sealtainn || Sealtainn ||
|-
| Norse hlíð || gap (in a fence) || (cachai)leith || ||
|-
| Norse hnúkr || knoll || cnuachd || ||
|-
| Norse hǫll || hall || talla || (halla) || (halley)
|-
| Norse holmr || holm, small island || tolm, An Talm ''Holme'' || tolmán ||
|-
| Norse hóp || small land-locked bay|| tòb/òb1 || ||
|-
| Norse hvalr || whale || '''Bhàla'''saigh, ''Valasay''; '''Bhàl'''aigh, ''Vallay'' || ||
|-
| Norse hvarf || turning || Am Parbh, An Carbh ''Cape Wrath'' || ||
|-
| Norse jarl || || iarla || iarla || eearley
|-
| Norse þeisti || black guillemot || taibhse || ||
|-
| Norse þerna || tern || *teàrn » steàrn(ag) || *tearn » stearnal ||
|-
| Norse þili (or poss. OE deal) || wainscot || déile || tile ||
|-
| Norse þingvǫllr || assembly field There are even examples of delenition in Scots here: Dingwall, Tinwald, Tingwall || Cnoc an '''Tiongal'''airidh ''Tiongal'', Eilean '''Thing'''eartsaigh ''Eilean Thinngartsaigh'' || || Tinvaal
|-
| Norse þópta/þófta || thwart || tobhta || tochta, tafta || thowt, taft
|-
| Norse Þórkætill || Thor's cauldron (name) || Torcall || ||
|-
| Norse Þórir || Thorir (name) || '''Tòr'''asdal, '''Tor'''sa || ||
|-
| Norse Þórmóðr || Thor's courage (name) || Tormod || ||
|-
| Norse Þorolf || Thor's wolf (name) The English form ''Torulf'' is a rare case of backformation in English. || || Torolbh ||
|-
| Norse þorskr || cod || trosg || trosc ||
|-
| Norse Þrasi || Thrasi (name) || '''Tros'''araidh || ||
|-
| Norse þræll || slave, serf || tràill, '''Tràill'''igil || tráill ||
|-
| Norse Þrondr || Thrond/Trond (name) || '''Trònd'''airnis, '''Trannt'''ail || ||
|-
| Norse Þrum || Thrum (name) || '''Truim'''isgearraidh || ||
|-
| Norse þurs || giant, ogre || tursa (tursaichean/tursachan) || ||
|-
| Norse þytr || whistling sound || '''sitr'''ich || '''seitrigh'''im ||
|-
| Norse svartbakr || black-backed gull || farspag/arspag; farspach || ||
|-
| Norse vaðill || ford || fadhail || || 
|-
| Norse vágr || bay || bàgh/-bhagh/-bhaigh || || baie
|-
| Norse vík || bay, cove || ùig || ||
|-
| Norse víkingr || viking || || Ó h'''Uiginn''' ''Higgins'', uiging ''pirate fleet'' ||
|-
| Norse vindauga || window || uinneag/fuinneag || fuinneóg || uinnag
|-
| Norse Vörðufjall || ward-fell || || || Barrool
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || frac/fracas/fracaid || raic || 
|-
| Old Irish abra || eyelid || fabhra/abhra || fabhra/abhra ||
|-
| Old Irish acallam || addressing, conversing || agallamh || agallamh || taggloo
|-
| Old Irish (f)acus || nearness || fagas || fogas || faggys
|-
| Old Irish adba || den, lair || ''sadhbh''aidh || ||
|-
| Old Irish aicill || preparing, readiness || faicill || faichill || 
|-
| Old Irish aicsiu || seeing || faic(s)inn || feicsin(t) || fakinagh
|-
| Old Irish áinne || ring || fàinne/àinne || fáinne || fainey
|-
| Old Irish airiugad || perceiving || faireachadh || aireachtáil || 
|-
| Old Irish all || cliff || faill/aill; mac-alla/mac-talla (cf. Norse fjall which itself got borrowed in place names as -bhal, for example Ceapabhal) and mac-alla in Gaelic, which then either via the old aspiration of -c- as /kʰ/ or backformation of -alla as -talla has yielded mac-talla) || aill/faill; macalla || mactullagh
|-
| Old Irish allas || sweat || fallas/allas || allas ||
|-
| Old Irish anad || staying, remaining || fanachd, fantainn etc || fanacht || tannaghtyn
|-
| Old Irish ásaim || I grow || fàs || fás || aase
|-
| Old Irish atúd || kindling || fadadh/adadh || fadú || foaddey
|-
| Old Irish ecla || fear || eagal/feagal || feagla/eagla || aggle
|-
| Old Irish ed || distance, interval || eadh/feadh || feadh || feayn-
|-
| Old Irish (f)íarfaigid || inquire || fiafraich/feòraich || fiafraigh || 
|-
| Old Irish filliud || folding || filleadh/pilleadh || filleadh || filley/pilley
|-
| Old Irish étáil || gain, wealth || eudail/feudail || éadáil || 
|-
| Old Irish fogal || pillaging || othail/fothail || fothal || 
|-
| Old Irish forud || shelf, bench || àradh/fàradh || || aarey
|-
| Old Irish fuiseóg/uiseóg || lark || uiseag/fuiseag || fuiseog || ushag
|-
| Old Irish ilur || eagle || iolaire/fiolaire || iolar || urley
|-
| Old Irish nóinín || daisy || neòinean/eòinean/feòinean || nóinín || neaynin/eaynin
|-
| Old Irish omhtann || thistle || fothannan || || onnane
|-
| Old Irish osclaicim || I open || fosgail || foshil || foshil
|-
| Old Irish rádharc || vision, view || radharc/fradharc || radharc || reayrt
|-
| Old Irish taidbse || ghost || taibhse/aibhse || taibhse ||
|-
| Old Irish uacht || cold (n.) || fuachd || fuacht || feayght
|-
| Old Irish úaig || sew || fuaigh || fuaigh || fuailley
|-
| Old Irish uar || cold (adj.) || fuar || fuar || feayr
|-
| Old Irish uath || hate || fuath/uath || fuath ||
|-
| Old Irish urusa || easy || furasta || furasta ||
|-
| French jeune || young || '''diùn'''-laoch ''young hero'' || ||
|-
| Welsh Gwgan || gwg "frown" || || Úgán "Wogan" ||
|-
| Scots ''hough'' || || toch/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots ''swele'' || swaddle || spéileadh/spaoileadh || ||
|-
| Scots '''''swear'''ing'' || swearing || '''speur'''adh || ||
|-
| Scots ''webster'' || weaver || buabastair || ||
|-
| Scots ''yair'' || fishing weir || geàrr || geárr ||
|-
| English ''ad'''vantage''''' || || || buntáiste ||
|-
| English ''churn'' || || ciùrn || ||
|-
| English ''flat'' || || blad- || ||
|-
| English ''flatter'' || || || bladar (?) ''flatter'' ||
|-
| English ''haar'' || || càrr || ||
|-
| English ''hackle'' (?) || || sisteal || siostal ||
|-
| English ''haggis'' || || taigeis || (hagaois) || (haggish)
|-
| English ''haggle'' || || taglainnich || ||
|-
| English ''hail'' || goal || tadhal || ||
|-
| English ''handsel'' || || sainnseal || ||
|-
| English ''Harold'' || || Arailt || Arailt ||
|-
| English ''harlot'' || || tàrlaid || ||
|-
| English ''hasp'' || || deasp/iosp/easpach || ||
|-
| English ''hatch'' (n.) || || saitse || haiste, aiste ||
|-
| English ''halberd'' || || taileabart/aileabart || halbard ||
|-
| English ''hay'' (n.) || || saoidh(e) || ||
|-
| English ''heckle'' (n.) || || seiceal || seiceal ||
|-
| English ''hoe'' || || tobha || ||
|-
| English ''hogshead'' || || tocasaid || oigiséid ||
|-
| English ''hoist'' || || soidhseadh || ||
|-
| English ''hops'' || || top/sop/op || || ob
|-
| English ''hubbub'' || || || siobob || 
|-
| English jib || || sioba/seibe || gib ||
|-
| English ''jot'' (poss. L. iota)2 || a bit || tiota2 || giota ||
|-
| English ''joust'' || || || giústáil ||
|-
| English ''osprey'' || || || fáspróg/ospróg ||
|-
| English ''palfrey'' || || falaire/alaire || falaire ||
|-
| English ''thaft'' || || tobhta || tochta ||
|-
| English ''thank'' || || taing || ||
|-
| English ''thole'' || || || dola ''thole-pin'' || tholley ''thole-pin''
|-
| English ''thousand'' || || sùstan "busy" || ||
|-
| English ''thrang'' || || trang "busy" || trang(láil) ||
|-
| English ''throat'' || || || || troat
|-
| English ''throne'' || || "busy" || trón || troyn
|-
| English ''tuck(er)'' || stretch cloth (i.e. fulling) || tùcadair/ùcadair/fùcadair || úcadair || tucker
|-
| English ''use/usage'' || (Possibly)3 || ùsaigeadh/ùisneachadh || úsáid ||
|-
| English ''vassal'' || || basaille || basáille ||
|-
| English ''vault'' || || buailt || ||
|-
| English ''venturing'' || || meantraig || ||
|-
| English ''verdict'' || || || béirdict ||
|-
| English ''vervain'' || || bearbhain || beirbhéine ||
|-
| English ''vestry'' || || beastraidh || beistri/beistéir ||
|-
| English ''vicar'' || || || biocáire ||
|-
| English ''vice'' || (tool) || bidhis || bís || baise
|-
| English ''victuals'' || || biotailt/biteal(t) || || 
|-
| English ''vigil'' || || || bigil, uigil ||
|-
| English ''village'' || || || biláiste ||
|-
| English ''vinegar'' || || binigear/minigear || biniger ||
|-
| English ''viol'' || || biol || bíol || biall
|-
| English ''viscount'' || || biceas || bíocúnta ||
|-
| English ''voyage(r)'' || || bàidse/bàidsire || ||
|-
| English ''waggon'' || || baighein || báigin ||
|-
| English ''walewort'' || || mulabhar/mulart || ||
|-
| English ''wall'' || || balla || balla || boal
|-
| English '''''waist'''coat'' || || beasta || ||
|-
| English ''waistcoat'' || || siosacot/siostacot || bástchóta ||
|-
| English ''ward'' || || bàrdaig/bàrdainn ''warning'' || barda, bárdaim ||
|-
| English ''wardship'' || || ''warning'' || bárdéis ||
|-
| English ''ware(s)'' || || bathar, bàirig || ||
|-
| English ''warn/warning'' || || bàrnaigeadh, bàirligeadh || ||
|-
| English ''warrants'' || || barantas ''guarantee'' || barántas || barrant
|-
| English ''wear'' || || || || baarail
|-
| English ''weevil'' || || uaimheal || || 
|-
| English ''well'' || || buthail ''recess'' || ||
|-
| English ''welt'' || || balt || bálta || quelt
|-
| English ''whack'' || || || faic ''anything'' ||
|-
| English ''wheel'' || || cuidheall || faoileáil (?) || queeyl
|-
| English ''wherry'' || || curaidh || || 
|-
| English ''whig'' || || A' Chuigse ''Whigs'' || uig/fuig, An Fuig ''Whigs'' || quig
|-
| English ''Wight'' || Wight || || Inis '''Iocht''' ''Isle of Wight'', Muir n'''Icht''' ''The English Channel'' || 
|-
| English ''whinger'' || whinyard || cuinnsear || || 
|-
| English ''whip'' || || cuip || fuip || kip
|-
| English ''whisk'' || || '''fusg'''an || ||
|-
| English ''whisker'' || || || foisgear ||
|-
| English ''whisk(e)y'' || || || fuisce ||
|-
| English ''whisper'' (probably) || || || '''piosar'''nach ||
|-
| English ''whist'' || || || fuist || quiss
|-
| English ''whores'' || || '''siùrs'''ach (sing.) || siursach/siortach/piurtach (sing.) || 
|-
| English ''wick'' || || buaic || || bite (?)
|-
| English ''win'' || || '''buinn'''ig || || 
|-
| English ''William'' || || Uilleam || Uilliam || Illiam
|-
| English ''wish'' || || || || bwooishagh
|-
| English ''witch'' || || buidseach || buitseach || buitçh/buitçheraght
|-
| English ''woad'' || || || bód ||
|-
| English ''woodcock'' || || fudagag/udacag/budagoc || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || furmailt/burmaid || ||
|-
| English ''wormwood'' || || mormanta || mormónta ||
|-
| English ''worsted'' || || bursaid || mustairt ||
|-
| English ''wrack'' || || bruig || ||
|-
| English ''yacht'' || || geat || ||
|-
| English ''Yankee'' || || '''Geang'''ach || geál ||
|-
| English ''yawl'' || || geòla || ||
|-
| English ''yeast'' || || giost/giosg || giosta || jiastyn/jastee
|-
| English ''y(e)oman'' || || '''gìoman'''ach || '''gíomán'''ach ||
|-
| English ''yoke'' || || geòc ''yoke'' but also geòcaire etc (semantic shift from ''yoke'' to ''throat, neck'') || geoc || jokal
|-
|}
1 So basically some areas dropped the h- and some turned it to t-, which is also the explanation for those awful spellings with t-H or weird t- initials you sometimes see on Gaelic street signs like An t-Òb/Muinntir an t-Òb (Leverburgh on Harris for example). It's nothing of the sort, it's just a case of tòb i.e. the place is actually called An Tòb - which makes muinntir an Tòb a totally regular form without any need for grammatical contortions. 
2 Although tiota in Gaelic is conceivable a case of the t of the definite article latching onto the noun i.e. an t-iota > an tiota. But with Irish giota clearly a backformation, it could equally be iota > *thiota > tiota. 
3 It depends on the timing - modern English has a /j/ at the start of ''use'' but the original loan from Norman French us did not have this initial /j/. So if it is a really old loan, the ù just represents English /u/. If it's a more recent loan, it's a backformation of /ju/ » /uː/.

===What on eart?===
On occasion, this also took place in the middle or at the end of a word, though much more rarely:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Source
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Meaning
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Gaelic
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Irish
! align="left" style="width: 20%;" | Manx
|-
| English broth || || bro'''t''' || bra'''t''' || broi'''t'''
|-
| English ''Cromwell'' || || Crom'''b'''ail/Crom'''b'''alach || Crom'''b'''eoil || 
|-
| English ''privet'' || || prio'''b'''aid though it's not entirely clear if this was deliberately backformed || || 
|-
|}

Of course in Hiberno English (the English spoken in Ireland), this particular change is so common it's practically the default i.e. wherever in the word English has a /θ/, you get dental /t̪/ and where English has /ð/ you get dental /d̪/, so not only does ''three'' become ''tree'' but also ''math'' becomes ''mat''.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 30%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | English
! align="left" style="width: 50%;" | Hiberno-English
|-
| English cloth || *clot
|-
| English earth || *eart
|-
| English lethal || *letal
|-
| English math || *mat
|-
| English thick || *tick
|-
| English third || *tird
|-
| English this || *dis
|-
|}

===I thought Gaelic had words with f and p or indeed s?===
Yes, it does, but initial f seems to occupy a strange space, perhaps because it is the only initial that actually lenites to zero (linguist speak for "it lenites and leaves no sound trace") and because p itself lenites to /f/. As a result, there is a regular merry-go-round between words with f, p and initial vowels - and on occasion even m:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
|-
| Latin fenestra || window || || seinistir
|-
| Latin feretrum || bier || eileatrom, eileadram || eileatram
|-
| Latin fūstis || || sùist || súiste
|-
| Latin marculus || small hammer || fairce/fairche || fairce/fairche/farcha
|-
| Latin parochia || parish || fairche || fairche
|-
| Norse floti || fleet || plod || plod
|-
| Norse hjálm || helm || palmair (via failm) || '''pailm'''aire/'''failm'''aire
|-
| Norse páll || hoe or spade || fàl || fál
|-
| Norse wrek || wreck || prac/'''prac'''as || 
|-
| English fencing || || || '''pions'''óireacht
|-
| English ferret || || peireid || 
|-
| English fine/fining || || paighne / paighneachadh || 
|-
| English Flemish (language) || || || Pléimis
|-
| English floating || || plodadh || 
|-
| English (the) flux || || || pluicis
|-
| English flour || || plùr || plúr
|-
| English flower || || '''plùir'''ean || plúr/plúirín
|-
| English Frances || || || Proinseas
|-
| English fry || || '''praigh'''ig || '''priáil'''te
|-
| English frying pan || || praidheapan || 
|-
| English mint || || pionnt || 
|-
| English pewter || || fleòdar/pleòdar || 
|-
| English pheasant || || || piasún
|-
| English physician || || || pisicidhe
|-
| English powder || || pùdar/fùdar || púdar/fúdar
|-
| Spanish patata/batata (poss. via a 3rd language) || || || fata
|-
|}

===Add a pinch of madness...===
Even without turning to loanwords, this can get downright crazy when you throw the effects of nasalization and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing rebracketing] into the equation. The Old Irish root of the word nettle is nenaid which eventually yields neannt + ag. But this is where the fun starts. Because this is very common with the definite article, an neanntag quickly results in people thinking of this as an eanntag. Which some folk of course mis-interpret as a case of an fheanntag, giving rise to feanntag. Not to be outdone, some folks took an neanntag and considered it to be the result of nasalization i.e. they assumed the word had to be an deanntag. The only ones missing for a full set are *teanntag and *peanntag!

There are several other close contenders for the Top Morpher prize though:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Modern Gaelic
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Variants
! align="left" | Root
! align="left" | Source language
! align="left" | Notes
|-
| builmean || bubble (Scots ''bummel'' being a by-form of bubble) || puilmean, fuilmean, cuilmean || ''bummel'' || Scots/English (?) || The c- form is either backformed p » c or the whole root may be based on an undocumented *uilmean
|-
| deodha || hemlock || a-teodha, a-theodha, de-theodha, i-teodha || dedga || Old Irish || Historically this root seems to have referred to various plants, in particular the centaury, henbane and hemlock. All Scottish Gaelic incidents of this root collected in actual field-work (Lhuyd ettiô, DASG, Dieckhoff tetheotha) gloss it as hemlock. Dineen and O'Reilly gloss deodha as 'henbane', which may be the source of various entries in Scottish Gaelic dictionaries which gloss some of the forms of deodha as 'henbane'. Deriving deodha from dedga is fairly trivial, what's slightly more perplexing is the set of suffixes it seems to have picked up, even though between them they just represent confusion of d as an t-
Old Irish glosses give dedga/deadhgha as meaning 'centaury' but note that this was an ambiguous term in older usage referring at least to two distinct plant families, centaurea or centaurium. Henbane is rare in Scotland, especially in Gaelic-speaking areas, so the name may have transferred from an earlier plant to the much more common hemlock.
|-
| de-tibheach || gullet || fe-tibheach, i-tibheach, le-tibheach, tibheach || díbechán, dimechán || Old Irish || the derivation of díbechán, dimechán itself is not clear but either way, the dí probably first led to re-analysis of the d as being an t-, resulting in i-tibheach, which then easily would have resulted in re-analysed fe-tibheach. The le- form is rather unusual. Suggestions?
|-
| fadag-chruaidh || weather-gall || adag-chruaidh, badag-chruaidh, fadadh-cruaidh, fadag-ruadh || ? || ? || These are clearly related but it's hard to say what the underlying form is. There is one form, ceanna-cruaidh which seems to suggest cruaidh as part of the root but it could equally be that's the underlying form here is something like *ceannag-rua(i)dh. Which might hint at these all having ruadh as the second element i.e. fadag as fada + ag ("stump"?) plus ruadh i.e. "red stump" (red/yellow being quite dominant in rainbows).
|-
| failm || tiller || ailm || hjálm "helm" || Norse || the derived form failmadair has a de-lenited form palmadair and the form talman ("rudder bar") is also almost certainly related.
|-
| falmaire || hake || talmadan and colmaire (including Irish colmóir) || kolmúli "coal snout" || Norse || The o «» a variation (cf fola/fala could easily yield *calmair(e) and from there *almair(e) and finally falmair(e). The form talmadan makes makes it look a tad shaky though. Compare also Danish kulmule
|-
| feachaireachd|| horseplay, based on eachaire "equerry" || peachaireachd || ech "horse" || Old Irish || though the root seems fairly obvious, *eachaireachd is actually unattested
|-
| feaman || tail, stump (ultimately from the same root as feamainn) || eaman, seaman || femman "seaweed"|| Old Irish || presumably via *teaman or directly via an t-eaman
|-
| feanntag || nettle || eanntag, deanntag, neanntag || nenaid "nettle"|| Old Irish || oddly enough, the form closest to Old Irish, neanntag, is very rare today
|-
| feilmigear|| ridgeling || seilmigear, teilmigear || ? || || and I haven't got a clue what the underlying word is for once!
|-
| maighdeag || a cowrie (lit. small maiden because, well, google a picture and use your imagination) || baighdeag, caighdeag, faighdeag, paighdeag || maigd- "maid-"|| Old Irish || The caighdeag form is decidedly odd, though it's possibly a p » c backformation OR hyper-correction of nasalisation (though with is being a feminine noun, that makes this less likely)
|-
| muir-bhuachaille || diver (bird) || mura-bhuachaille, muna-bhuachaille, buna-bhuachaille, bura-bhuachaille, burbhailleach || muir "sea" + búachaill "cowherd/servant/boy/guardian" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but muir- seems to be the only likely derivation (see also muir-chlach)
|-
| muir-chlach || shingle beach || mura-chlach, bura-chlach (mul-chlach, mol-chlach) || muir "sea" + cloch "stone" || Old Irish || A little conjectural but considering muir-bhuachaille above, muir- seems to be the only likely derivation. The forms mol-chlach/mul-chlach could be either down to a different derivation vial mol shingle or they're also muir- with the mol-/mul- being a form of folk etymology.
|-
| naosg || snipe || faosg || naescu "snipe"|| Old Irish || *aosg oddly enough does not seem to be attested
|-
| neamhanan || tormentil || neamhanan, eamhan, leamhnach || niamnait'' || Old Irish ||
|-
| neòinean || daisy || nòinean, neòineag, neònan, neònag, eòinean, eòineag, eòintean, feòinean || nóin'' || Old Irish || Ultimately from Latin nōna (hōra), the ''ninth hour'' which coincided with midday and thus came to mean noon. So the derivation in terms of meaning is very similary to that of ''daisy'' which comes from Old English dæġes ēage ''day's eye'' i.e. the sun.
|-
| peucag || peacock || eucag || ''peacock'' || Scots/English ||
|-
| pullag || pulley || fullag/fulag and ullag/ulag || ''pulley'' || Scots/English || though there's probably two different roots here, one derived via English 'pulley' and the other via the root ullamh 'ready'.
|-
| sail-chuach || related to salach, so something like "filthy bowl" originally || dail-chuach, fail-chuach || sal- + cuach "violet"|| Old Irish || Presumable we're looking at an t-sail-chuach giving an dail-chuach via eclipsis and via an unattested *tail-chuach » *ail-chuach we get fail-chuach. Ay dios...
|-
| seillean|| bee || teillean || ? || || the root of this word is not clear.
|-
| triullasg|| astray/awry || friollasg/iollasg || ? || || don't ask me what the root is
|-
|}

When it comes to verbal nouns, rebracketing can lead to some interesting ... detours due to the historic -g in ag/a':
*ràdh/gràdha, selling
*reic/creic, selling
*ulfhart(aich)/gulfhart(aich)/sgulfhartaich, howling

Now in theory it's conceivable that a word like gulfhart could morph into something even weirder such as *dulfhart (via /g/ » /ɣ/ » /d/) which could conceivably result in *tulfhart (via re-analysis of *dulfhart as *an tulfhart) but to date, I haven't spotted one. But I'll keep looking. But sgulfhartaich where there g from the particle ag has picked up a prosthetic s- isn't bad for starters.

So English may excel at punning but there's nothing quite like the interplay between lenition, nasalization and rebracketing in Goidelic languages to delight the phonologist and to drive etymologists to substance abuse...

===How about without?===
Sure, that works too, depending on the combination of sounds, an offending initial can also just get dropped:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin habitus || dress, attire || eabaid/abaid || aibíd || 
|-
| Latin hecticus || hectic (in the medical sense) || èiteag || || 
|-
| Latin Hilarius || (name) || Mac'''Ealair''' || || 
|-
| Latin hora || hour || uair || uair || oor
|-
| Norse haf || sea, ocean || abh || || 
|-
| Norse hattr || hat || ad || háta (prob. via Middle English ''hat'') || edd
|-
| Norse hábura || rowlock || || adhbhar ||
|-
| Norse hálsa || slacken || allsadh/abhsadh || ||
|-
| Norse Hildulfr || || Iondolbh || ||
|-
| Norse hlunnr || oar-handle || lunn || ||
|-
| Norse hǫmull || swingle-tree|| amall || ||
|-
| Norse hóss || river mouth || ós || ||
|-
| Norse hrams-á || ramsons river || || || Rhumsaa
|-
| Norse hrókr || croaker; rook || ròc(as) || rúcach ||
|-
| Norse hrosshvalr || walrus || rosualt/ruashual/rochuaid || rosualt ||
|-
| Norse hrúga || peat-stack || ruc || ||
|-
| Norse hrukka || wrinkle || roc, rug || roc, ruc ||
|-
| Norse hrútr || ram || rùt(a) || ||
|-
| Norse húfr || hull || || ub (prow) ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || uilbh/ulbh || ||
|-
| Norse ulfr || wolf || ulfhart (possibly) || ||
|-
| Norse vindáss || windlass || unndais || undás, unlas ||
|-
| English ''haddock'' || || adag || cadóg/hadóg/feadóg || addag
|-
| English ''handspike'' || || annspach/annspeic || || 
|-
| English ''Harlaw'' || hard + law || Àrla || ||
|-
| English ''harness'' || || àirneis || ||
|-
| English ''harpy'' || || arpag || airp ||
|-
| English ''herald(ry)'' || || earraid(eas) || ||
|-
| English ''hood'' || || || úda ||
|-
| English ''Hugo'' || || || Úgha ||
|-
| English ''Judas'' || || || údas ||
|-
|}

Most likely the Gaelic words for St Kilda and St Kildans also belong in this category. There is Hiortach, Iortach and Tiortach but nobody is exactly sure as to which one is the underlying one. Oddly enough, there is no attested form with a C- or Ch- (odd because one of the main theories of the origin of the place names revolves around the Norse word kelda "well, spring" - though there are other, phonetically more convincing ones such as the theory of it being linked to Norse hjǫrtr "hart, stag").

===And yes, Welsh is just as much fun===
Because this remodelling of sounds is not even exclusively Goidelic. Welsh and the other Brythonic languages do it too, with their own twist (having 3 mutations helps):
On occasion, even the permissible fricative f- turns into, well, other stuff, through the same process:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Welsh
! align="left" | Cornish
! align="left" | Breton
|-
| Latin februārius || February || Chwefror || Hwevrel || C'hwevrer
|-
| Latin habēna || rein || afwyn || ||
|-
| Latin ianuārius || January || || Genver || Genver
|-
| Latin mespilum || medlar || || || mesper, gwesper
|-
| Latin vāgina || sheath || gwain || gweyn || gouin
|-
| Latin venēnum || poison || gwenwyn || || gwenon
|-
| Latin Veneris || Friday || Gwener || (dy') Gwener || Gwener
|-
| Latin verbum || verb || berf || || 
|-
| Latin vestis || vest || gwest || || 
|-
| Latin vīcus || village || gwig || || gwig
|-
| Latin vīnum || wine || gwin || gwin || gwin
|-
| Latin vīpera || viper || gwiber || || gwiber
|-
| Latin viridis || green || gwyrdd || gwer || gwer, gwyrdh
|-
| Latin vitrum || glass || gwydr || gweder || gwer
|-
| Latin vīverra || ferret || gwiwer || || gwiñver
|-
| Anglo-Saxon wealhstōd || interpreter || gwalstod || ||
|-
| Norman French vilein || peasant || milain/bilain || || bilen
|-
| English vicar || || bicar || ||
|-
| English quail || || chwail || ||
|-
| English ware(s) || || gwâr || gawara || gwara
|-
| English waste || || gwast || gwastya || (v.) gwastañ
|-
| English wipe || || chweip || || 
|-
|}

===And French, Italian, Spanish and so on as a matter of fact===
[[Faidhle:gaufrier.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Isn't that just a waffle?]]
Even outside Celtic this is not unheard of. People just don't think about it.

Many Romance languages borrowed foreign words (especially Frankish words, Frankish being a West-Germanic language which was eventually supplanted by Old Dutch and Old French) beginning with /w/ with a /g/ and /θ/ with a /t/. Basque, due to a lack of f at one point, strengthened loanwords from Romance languages to b or p:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Language
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Borrowed into
! align="left" | Word borrowed as & meaning
|-
| Frankish *þorp || settlement; gathering of people|| French || trop (too much)
|-
| Frankish *þwahilu || cloth || French || toaille (towel)
|-
| Frankish *wad || ford || French || gué (ford)
|-
| Frankish *waddi || pledge || French || gage (pledge)
|-
| Frankish *waidon || (v.) graze || French || guéder (v. sate)
|-
| Frankish *waigaro || a lot || French || guère (hardly)
|-
| Frankish *wafel || (n.) waffle || Old French > French || walfre > gaufre
|-
| Frankish *wahtōn || (v.) watch (for) || French || guetter, guette (watch for)
|-
| Frankish *waidanjan || get food || Italian || guadagnare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *walha || non-Germans, foreigners || French || Gaule (Gaul*) and via French also Spanish Gales (Wales)
|-
| Frankish *walhlaup || (v. gallop) || French || galoper (v. gallop)
|-
| Frankish *want || glove || Catalan || guant (glove)
|-
| Frankish *wardon || (v.) guard || Italian || guardare (earn)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || French || guérir, guérison (v. cure)
|-
| Frankish *warjan || protect || Italian || guarire (get better)
|-
| Frankish *warnjan || protect || Italian || guarnire (v. garnish)
|-
| Frankish *waskan || (v.) wash || Italian || guazzare (v. wallow)
|-
| Frankish *wastil || nourishment || French || gâteau (cake)
|-
| Frankish *wenkjan || vacillate || French || guincher (v. boogie)
|-
| Frankish *werra || war || French || guerre, guerroyer (war)
|-
| Frankish *weron || adorn || French || guirlande (garland)
|-
| Frankish *wespa || wasp || French || guêpe (wasp)
|-
| Frankish *wid-malve || marshmallow || French || guimauve (marshmallow)
|-
| Frankish *wigila || ruse || French || guile (deception)
|-
| Frankish *wīhsela || sour cherry || French || guigne (sour cherry)
|-
| Frankish *Willahelm || William || French || Guillaume (William)
|-
| Frankish *wimpil || headscarf || French || guimpe (wimple, gimp etc)
|-
| Frankish *wingjan || wink || French || guigner (v. eye)
|-
| Frankish *wīsan || fashion, manner || French || guise (way)
|-
| Frankish *wīpan || (v.) wrap || French || guiper, guipure (cover with silk)
|-
| Frankish *wītan || know || French || guide, guider (v. guide)
|-
| Frankish *withthja (influenced by Latin vitica) || osier || French || guiche (strap)
|-
| Frankish *wrakjō || servant, boy || French || garçon (boy)
|-
| Frankish *wrist || instep || French || guêtre (gaiter)
|-
| French voiture || car || (Northern) Basque || boitura (car)
|-
| Gothic waida || woad || French || guède (v. dye)
|-
| Gothic wīmon || leap || French || guimbarde (Jew's harp)
|-
| Middle High German Welfen || Guelphs || Italian || Guelfi (dynasty)
|-
| Middle High German Wibellingen || Ghibelline || Italian || Ghibellini (dynasty)
|-
| Latin faba || bean || Basque || baba (bean)
|-
| Latin fāgu || beech || Basque || pago/bago (beech)
|-
| Latin ficu || fig || Basque || piku (fig)
|-
| Latin fīlum || thread || Basque || biru (thread)
|-
| Latin fortis || strong || Basque || bortitz (strong)
|-
| Latin fricātū || rubbing down || Basque || perekatu (v. caress)
|-
| Latin Vascōnēs || Basques || French/Gascon || Gascon, incl. the derived surname Gascoigne
|-
| Latin vigilāre || (v.) watch || Basque || '''begira'''tu (watch)
|-
| Latin vīpera || snake || French || guivre, givre (snake)
|-
| Latin viscum (influenced by Frankish *wīhsala) || mistletoe || French || gui (mistletoe)
|-
| Latin voluntātem || will || Basque || borondate (will)
|-
| Norse vík || bay || French || guichet (gate, wicket etc)
|-
| Norse vinda || (v.) wind || French || guinder (v. hoist)
|-
| Nahuatl ahuacamolli** || avaocado sauce || Spanish || guacamole
|-
| Nahuatl huacalli || calabash tree || Spanish || guacal (calabash tree)
|-
| Nahuatl huaxin || white leadtree || Spanish || guaje (white leadtree)
|-
| Nahuatl huexolotl || turkey || Spanish || guajolote (turkey)
|-
| Nahuatl huīpīlli || woman's blouse || Spanish || güipil/guaypil (traditional Mexican woman's blouse)
|-
| Romance verde || green || Basque || berde (green)
|-
| Spanish fraile || brother || Basque || praile (friar)
|-
| Spanish Francia || France || Basque || Prantzia (France)
|-
| Spanish fundamento || foundations || Basque || puldamentu (foundations)
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The similarity to Latin Gallia is a coincidence, these are two different roots. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki>Nahuatl hu represents /w/

I don't want to go overboard with examples but just to make the point, you can find this kind of thing all over the planet. Say European loanwords in Asian languages, often related to /f/ or /v/ sounds which often don't exist in the native sound system or are not allowed in certain positions (initially, finally etc):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Target language
! align="left" | Term
! align="left" | Meaning
|-
| Dutch fabriek || factory || Indonesian || pabrik || factory
|-
| Dutch verboden || prohibited || Indonesian || perboden || prohibit
|-
| Dutch voorloper || precursor || Indonesian || pelopor || frontrunner
|-
| Dutch vrijman || outlaw || Indonesian || preman || gangster
|-
| English bus || || Thai || บัส bát || bus
|-
| English lift || || Cantonese || 𨋢 līp || lift, elevator
|-
| English offside || || Cantonese || 噏西 āp sāi || offside
|-
| English valve || || Cantonese || || valve
|-
| French vacances || holidays || Japanese || バカンス bakansu || holidays
|-
| Portuguese falso || false || Indonesian || palsu || fake
|-
| Portuguese festa || festival || Indonesian || pesta || party
|-
| Portuguese varanda || veranda || Indonesian || beranda || veranda
|-
| Portuguese veludo || velvet || Japanese || ビロード birōdo || velvet
|-
| Portuguese '''vi'''dro || glass || Japanese || '''ビー'''玉 '''bī'''dama || marbles
|-
| Portuguese viola || violin || Indonesian || biola || violin
|-
|}

==Or cheat==
Returning to Gaelic, cheating works too of course, just as an aside. This happens particularly with loanwords which have an initial h. Initial h does make a regular appearance in Gaelic - but only in certain grammatical contexts, such as the genitive of feminine nouns or the plural if there's a definite article, for example doras na '''h'''-eaglaise or na '''h'''-ùbhlan. So in some cases, when Gaelic borrowed words which began with h, it slaps an extra article on which wasn't there in the language it borrowed from. For example:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
|-
| Norse hǫfn || harbour || '''Na H'''ann
|-
| Norse haugr || mound || '''Na H'''ogha Bheag
|-
| Norse hérað || type of administrative unit || '''Na H'''earadh
|-
| Scots ''Foxhole'' || || '''A' Bh'''ogsolla
|-
|}

Often, like in Na Hogha Bheag, you're left with a word which obeys the sound rules of Gaelic but has what looks like shifty grammar (you'd expect *Na Hogha Beaga) which is often a telltale sign of a fricative-initial loanword that was squeezed into a corset to make it sound ok.

==But why are there so many place-names with initial h?==
Good question. I'm making an educated guess here but I think it's because place names, in the past, mostly occurred in the genitive or dative. Today we put up roadsigns and have lists of place names but that's a fairly recent thing. When you're actually talking 'normally', usually place names don't appear in grammatical isolation like that. And in Gaelic, that puts the place name into a leniting environment. Let's use Glaschu as an example. You can be 'in' Glasgow, which is probably the only non-leniting example: ann an Glaschu. But if you're going to Glasgow, you're a' dol a Ghlaschu and the people or shops of Glasgow are muinntir Ghlaschu and bùithtean Ghlaschu.

So ignoring the modern past-time of writing, even a native Gaelic place name like Toirbheartan would very often have a (spoken) initial /h/: a' dol a '''Th'''oirbheartan, muinntir '''Th'''oirbheartan and so on. Plus most prepositions one is likely to use in front of a place-name (bho, do (a), tro, ro) cause lenition (the main exception being à but which is, incidentally, less common statistically than the others).

So in context, place names like the examples below don't jar as much in the ears of a native as some others might.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Anglicised as
|-
| Norse hár + klettr || high + cliff || Hàcleit || Habost
|-
| Norse heastr + staðr || horse + farm || Heasta (with nearby Allt na Heasta) || Heaste
|-
| Norse horna + fjall || horn + mountain || Hòrnabhal || Horneval
|-
| Scots haugh + kirk || || Hacraig || Halkirk
|-
|}

==Simplifly, simplify==
No, languages don't always simplify stuff because otherwise we'd all be going round pointing at stuff saying 'uh' and nothing else. But let's leave that topic for another article. Another thing that effectively hides the origins of many Gaelic words is the simplification of certain sounds, either because this change happened throughout the language anyway or because it was necessary to adjust the sounds to fit the language (like the th > t change above).

For example, a language internal process changed many nd/nt sounds to nn and lt/ld to ll. You're probably aware of the coltas/collas issue. That's just an instance of a language internal simplification of lt to ll, nothing to do with English.

So here are some fun examples:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 70%;" border="0" align="center"
! align="left" | Source
! align="left" | Meaning
! align="left" | Gaelic
! align="left" | Irish
! align="left" | Manx
|-
| Latin argentum || silver || airgead "money" || airgead || argid
|-
| Latin candela || candel || coinneal || coinneal || cainle
|-
| Latin hic '''pāx''' datur || peace* || pòg "kiss" || póg || paag
|-
| Norse eyland || island || eilean || oileán || ellan
|-
| Old Irish cruind || round || cruinn || cruinn || cruinn
|-
| Scots/English ''doctor'' || || dotair || dochtúir || 
|-
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>part of the old Celtic liturgy where peace was given just before Communion, involving a symbolic kiss

==Let's talk about your sister==

A particularly bizarre example of this is the Gaelic word for ''sister'' because it went through this several times:
# Indo-European used swesōr.
# Proto-Celtic used swesūr - Proto-Celtic, as in before Brythonic (Welsh 'n all that) and Goidelic (Gaelic 'n all that) split.
# Old Irish used siur AND fiur. OK, this requires some explaining. In the days before Old Irish, the words for ''my, your'' and ''his'' already caused lenition. So far so good, but this meant that Proto-Celtic swesūr became hwesūr, just like leniting s today. But as the hw never sat well with the language (a bit like ''thing'' becoming ''fing'' in London) it soon turned into an f, but ''our, your (pl.), their'' didn't, and didn't lenite. So, by the time we arrived at Old Irish, unlenited ''our/your/their sister'' had become ar siur, far siur, a siur, but lenited ''my/your/his sister'' had become mo fiur, do fiur, a fiur. Yes, slightly confusing.
# To get from Early Irish fiur/siur to the modern forms, we now have to go via the genitive forms for Gaelic (something which did not happen in Irish - don't sigh). So modern Irish just continues with the old roots using deirfiúr "sister" from deirbh fiur "true sister" and fiúr "kinswoman" (because two words are better than one…).
# However, Scottish Gaelic grabs the old genitives, fethar/sethar, and muscles them into piuthar. The p appears, of course, because f is quite obviously lenited p. Now why didn't you think of that before? 😂

Anyway, to get back to the point, this is the reason why you will hear some Gaelic speakers pronounce certain words with f and some without. It's a process that's still in the middle of happening, so until the language decides on whether it will stick with eagal or adopt feagal, you can take your pick about which one you prefer. It makes no difference, either way, as both are good Gaelic words.
 
 
{{BeaganGramair}}