Prepositions made easier
Tricky one. They are very old words/forms. It's been a long time since they were first formed and they involve things, like the Old Irish accusative, which have been dead for a long time. So, there's no foolproof way of giving you a simple guide which tells you how you can just form them on the spot.
However, there are a few pointers that we can give you.
Broadly speaking, you can group modern Gaelic preposition into 5 categories - Regular, Mostly Regular, 3rd Person S, Labial in Root, and Decidedly Weird. We have grouped them this way because this allows you to learn them in groups and perhaps memorise some of rules. We'll also explain their history further down and historical explanation may also help some of you to understand these pesky little buggers.
Regular
Root | Analysed preposition | Full form |
---|---|---|
ag- | -(a)m | agam |
ag- | -(a)d | agad |
ag- | slenderisation & -e | aige |
ag- | slenderisation, hardening & -e | aice |
ag- | -(a)inn | againn |
ag- | -(a)ibh | agaibh |
ag- | harden & -a | aca |
Following the same pattern:
Root | Analysed preposition | Full form |
---|---|---|
thug- | -(a)m | (th)ugam |
thug- | -(a)d | (th)ugad |
thug- | slenderisation & -e | (th)uige |
thug- | slenderisation, hardening & -e | (th)uice |
thug- | -(a)inn | (th)ugainn |
thug- | -(a)ibh | (th)ugaibh |
thug- | harden & -a | (th)uca |
The variants ugam, ugad... and chugam, chugad... follow the same pattern.
Mostly Regular
Root | Analysed preposition | Full form |
---|---|---|
ann | -(a)m | annam |
ann | -(a)d/t | annad |
ann | same as root | ann |
ann | slenderise, -(t)e | innte |
ann | -(a)inn | annainn |
ann | -(a)ibh | annaibh |
ann | -(t)a | annta |
Following the same pattern:
Root | Analysed preposition | Full form |
---|---|---|
ann- dhì- |
-(a)m | orm dhìom |
ann- dhì- |
-(a)d/t | ort dhìot |
ann- dhì- |
same as root | air (irr.) dheth |
ann- dhì- |
slenderise, -(t)e | oirre (irr.) dhith |
ann- dhì- |
-(a)inn | oirnn dhinn |
ann- dhì- |
-(a)ibh | oirbh dhibh |
ann- dhì- |
-(t)a | orra dhiubh |
The most striking feature of this group is that it uses the root form for the 3rd person singular masculine. The other bit to watch out for with air is that the root slenderises in the plural. And we get innte because the root used to be int-. But more of the history later.
The prepositions in brackets are other/older spellings of these that are still kicking about. They fit the paradigm much better, although GOC abolished them, so non-nonchalantly. <sigh>
3rd Person s
The next group is also fairly regular, but different because the 3rd person singular masculine adds an -s to the root:
-(a)m -(a)d/-(a)t ROOT + [ʃ] -(th)e + slenderise -(a)inn -(a)ibh -(th)a
as-am
as-ad
as-(s)
ais-te
as-ainn
as-aibh
as-ta
asam
asad
as
aiste
asainn
asaibh
asta
ROOT: le- le
le-am le-at le-is lei-the le-inn le-ibh leo-tha
leam
leat
leis
leatha (cf léithe)
leinn
leibh
leotha
ROOT: ri- ri
ri-am ri-at ri-(i)s ri-the ri-(i)nn ri-(ibh) riu-tha
rium
riut
ris
rithe
ruinn (<rinn)
ruibh (<ribh)
riutha
ROOT: thar- thar
thar-am thar-ad thair-is thair-te thar-ainn thar-aibh thar-ta
tharam
tharad
thairis (air)
thairte
tharainn
tharaibh
tharta
As you can see, this bunch is mostly regular except for ás, which has [s] instead of the expected [ʃ] and the 3rd person singular feminine leatha which is a bit weird. The Irish form léithe fits the paradigm perfectly though, not that that is any consolation to us.
Again, i gets inserted so the caol ri caol rule isn't broken.
Almost there. There next group we decided to call Labial in Root because they - surprise - all contain a labial (b, m, f):
Group & Endings
LABIAL IN ROOT
ROOT: tromh- tro
-(a)m -(a)d/-(a)t ROOT + [e] -pe + slenderise -(a)inn -(a)ibh -pa
tromh-am
tromh-ad
troimh-e
troimh-pe
tromh-ainn
tromh-aibh
tromh-pa
tromham
tromhad
troimhe
troimhpe
tromhainn
tromhaibh
tromhpa
ROOT: romh- ro
romh-am romh-ad roimh-e roimh-pe romh-ainn romh-aibh romh-pa
romham
romhad
roimhe
roimhpe
romhainn
romhaibh
romhpa
ROOT: ua- o
ua-m ua-t uai-the uai-pe ua-inn ua-ibh ua-pa
uam
uat
uaithe
uaipe
uainn
uaibh
uapa
ROOT: fodh- fo
fodh-am fodh-ad fodh-a foidh-pe fodh-ainn fodh-aibh fodh-pa
fodham
fodhad
fodha
foidhpe
fodhainn
fodhaibh
fodhpa
ROOT: um- mu
um-am um-ad uim-e uim-pe um-ainn um-aibh um-pa
umam
umad
uime
uimpe
umainn
umaibh
umpa
Nothing much to add about this group really. As you'll see later on, that weird -p- isn't part of the ending but rather a very old part of the root that crops up, now and then. But, let's finish this off first and take a look at the Decidedly Weird Group - luckily there's only one preposition - unfortunately it's also perhaps the most common one:
Group & Endings analysed preposition normal form
WEIRD ROOT: dh(u)- do
-mh -t -a -i -inn -ibh -aibh
dh-omh
dhu-t
dh-a
dh-i
dhu-inn
dhu-ibh
dh-aibh
dhomh
dhut
dha
dhi
dhuinn
dhuibh
dhaibh
As you can see, compared to the other ones, do is really weird. Historical notes aside, unfortunately, there isn't much else we can add that might help you, except a general note perhaps. For adults, learning a new language invariably involves learning stuff by heart. If you were doing Basque you'd have to cope with over 12.000 forms for the two verbs 'to be' and 'to have' alone. So, learning the few irregular verbs of Gaelic and these few prepositions really isn't that bad. It's worthwhile putting in the effort because they are REALLY common. Having to pause before coming out with the correct conjugated preposition does mark you as a learner!
On to the history then for the curious minds ...
Roimhearan |
᚛ á - aig - air - ann an - de ⁊ a - do ⁊ a - eadar - fo - gu - le - mu - o ⁊ bho - os ⁊ fos - ri - tro - thar ᚜ |