Caibidil a hOcht:

The possessive pronouns (na hAidiachtaí Sealbhacha)


adjectival possessive pronouns
subst. possessive pronouns
prepositions und possessive pronouns
usage

The possessive pronouns are counted as adjectives, because they can only operate adjectivally (with a further noun) and not as a noun (autonomously, without a further noun). (One needs auxilliary words to express the latter). This is where the term "aidiachtaí sealbhacha" instead of "forainmneacha sealbhacha".

adjectival possessive pronouns (with a noun)

English general L/E contrast form preceding a vowel with a noun
in the plural
with a noun
in the plural (contrast form)
my mo L mo ....sa/se m' mo chuid mo chuid ....sa/se
your do L do ....sa/se d'  do chuid do chuid ....sa/se
his a L a ....san/sean a a chuid a chuid ....san/sean
ihr a - a ....sa/se a h.... a cuid a cuid ....sa/se
our ár E ár ....na/ne ár n-.... ár gcuid ár gcuid ....na/ne
your (pl.) bhur E bhur .... sa/se bhur n-.... bhur gcuid bhur gcuid ....sa/se
ihr a E a .... san/sean a n-.... a gcuid a gcuid ....san/sean

in Connemara instead of ár also ar, instead of bhur also 'ur, instead of d' also t' (e.g.: t'uncail = your uncle)
Sometimes instead of m' also mh' comes up (mh'athair = my father)
In Ulster instead of bhur also mur at least in the pronunciation ([mur]).
In Connemara there are also (except after mo and do) the following pronouns seisean, sise, muide, sibhse, siadsan as the contrast form (e.g.: ar leabhar muide = our book, 'ur gcarr sibhse = your car). This stronger contrast is often necessary, because there all possessive pronouns (except mo, do) sound the same: a, a, a, ar, 'ur, a (all.: [@])

The usage of cuid ( = part)

examples
 
preceding a consonant preceding a vowel plural
Englist Irish Irish emphatic English Irish English Irish
my car mo charr mo charrsa my uncle m'uncail my cars mo chuid carranna
your car do charr do charrsa your uncle d'uncail your cars do chuid carranna
his car a charr a charrsan his uncle a uncail his cars a chuid carranna
her car a carr a carrsa her uncle a huncail her cars a cuid carranna
our car ár gcarr ár gcarrna our uncle ár n-uncail our cars ár gcuid carranna
your car bhur gcarr bhur gcarrsa your uncle bhur n-uncail your cars bhur gcuid carranna
their car a gcarr a gcarrsan their uncle a n-uncail their cars a gcuid carranna

further examples:
mo leabhar = my book
mo leabharsa = my book
mo chuid leabhar = my books
mo chuid leabharsa = my books
mo chuid Gaeilge = my Irish
mo chuid Gaeilgese = my Irish

substantive possessive pronouns

English general plural*
mine mo cheannsa mo chuidse
yours do cheannsa do chuidse
his a cheannsan a chuidsean
hers a ceannsa a cuidse
ours ár gceann-na ár gcuidne
yours bhur gceannsa bhur gcuidse
theirs a gceannsan a gcuidsean

* Plural form also for non-countable things in the singular. For persons muintir instead of cuid (mo mhuintirse = my (people))

Words like"mine", "yours" etc. , also subst. possessive pronouns, that do not require an additional noun are not present in Irish.
In order to make statements like "mine", "yours", one uses the nouns ceann ("head") or cuid ("share") or muintir ("people").
By juxtaposition, ("my thing and yours") one simply repeats the noun ("mo rudsa agus do rudsa").

examples:
Sin é mo cheannsa = That is mine.
Sin é mo chuidse = Those are mine.
mo leabharsa agus do leabharsa = my book and yours
mo chuid leabharsa agus do chuidse = my books and yours
mo chuid Gaeilge agus do chuidse = my Irish and yours

Statements like "the book ist mine" are not made with the possessive pronouns, but with the preposition le as an expression of ownership:
Is liomsa an leabhar = the book is mine.
Is leatsa an leabhar = the book is yours.
Is linne na bróga = the shoes are ours.

prepositions und possessive pronouns

Possessive pronominal forms of the prepositions:
Some prepositions fuse with following possessive pronouns. These would be those ensing in a vowel as well as, in certain usages, also ar (in the sense of after that).
 
- de (of) do (to) faoi (under) i (in) le (with) ó (from) trí (through) go (with) ar (on)
mo (my) de mo do mo faoi mo i mo le mo ó mo trí mo go mo ar mo
do (your) de do do do faoi do i do le do ó do trí do go do ar do
a (his) dá, á faoina ina lena óna trína gona arna, ar a
a (her) dá, á faoina ina lena óna trína gona arna, ar a
ár (our) dár dár faoinár inár lenár ónár trínár gonár arnár, ar ár
bhur (your)(pl.) de bhur do bhur faoi bhur in bhur le bhur ó bhur trí bhur go bhur ar bhur
a (their) dá, á faoina ina lena óna trína gona arna, ar a

In Munster, also in the 1st and 2nd persons one uses combinations:
lem, led, óm, ód, dom, dod, im, id, fém, féd, etc. instead of
le mo, le do, ó mo, ó do, do mo, do do, i mo, i do, faoi mo, faoi do.
e.g.: im leabhar < i mo leabhar = in my book

In Munster and Connacht there are in part also further combinations in the 2nd person plural due to the mostly vowel-centered pronunciation of bhur as [u:r] or [@]: le nbhur, ó nbhur, trí nbhur, etc. These do not apply as standard forms, because in the standard, the consonantal pronunciation [vu:r] is favoured. Only in bhur has remained in the standard, wherby here, "in" is to be seen as an alternative for the eclipsis in bhur.

Do (to): By  usage as the object of the verbal nouns in the progressive and passive tenses: á instead of
e.g.: Tá mé á mholadh = I praise him. (lit.: "am I to his praising")
If it does not occur with a verbal noun, then instead of á
e.g.: Thug mé chara é = I gave it to his friend (lit.: "gave I to his friend it")
In Connacht, one uses dhá in both cases.
In Munster, there are also special forms in der progressive of the 1st and 2nd person: am, ad, that most likely actually belong to ag (otherwise dom, dod)
e.g.: Tá mé ad mholadh < Tá mé do do mholadh = I praise you. (lit.: "am I to your praising")

Go (with): gona is like go, archaic and is only here for the sake of completeness.
The common preposition go (to) does not used this form, instead go dtí a = to his, but colloquially sometimes also combinations like go dtína = to his).

Ar (on): arna precedes only the verbal noun in the meaning "after", "after that". Otherwise always ar a.
arna chur in eagar ag ... = published by... ("after-his laying in order by...")
It is the rest of the archaic, eclipsis triggering preposition iar = after, that falls together with a in modern Irish (iar n-a > iarna > arna).

The connecting consonant -n- in ina, óna, faoina, etc. was originally only common after i, go and iar (> ar) , while these prepositions triggered eclipsis (ans also n-prefix) (i n-a > ina, go n-a > gona, iar n-a > arna).
With the other prepositions it was just added to the end (óna, faoina, lena, trína)

usage of the possessive pronounss

  1. general belongings:  as in German/English,
    e.g.: mo charr = my car
  2. Ownership: poss.pron.+ object + féin,
    e.g.: mo theach féin = my own house (lit.: "my house myself")
  3. with demonstrative pronouns (only 3rd Person in the sense of "his")
    e.g: Tá sí ina theach sin = She is there in his house (lit.: "is she in-his house there")
  4. with ceann , cuid: s.o. (plural forms, subst. possessive pronouns)
  5. als genitive of the personal pronoun, e.g.:
  6. with state of being verbs (like standing, living, lying, sitting, sleeping) with the preposition i,
    e.g.: tá sé ina chónai i....= he lives in.... (lit. "he is in-his living in...")
  7. classification with i: e.g: tá mé i mo dhochtuir = I'm a doctor (see also classification clauses without the copula)
  8. In expressions like "as a threesome", "as a foursome" with the preposition i and the appropriate personal number
    e.g.: i m'aonar = (I) alone ("by lonesome"), inár tríúr = (we) as a threesome, in bhur seachtar = (you) as a sevensome
  9. The possessive pronouns of the 3rd person masculine a (= "his") with the grad. abstract noun in the meaning "how",
    e.g.: a fheabhas í = a fheabhas atá sí = how good she is (lit.: "his goodness, that-is she")
    also in combination with cá (cá + a > = "how?") and de (de + a > = "however")
    e.g.: cá fheabhas í = how good is she?, dá fheabhas í = however good she is.
  10. The possessive pronouns are not used in certain cases.
    Instead of that, the article and a form of the preposition ag is used (often shorthand and contrast forms, often in a relative clause):
  11. It is also not used in the address form.
    Instead of that, one uses only the vocative particle .
    e.g.: a chara = my friend!

suas
navigation bar
Gramadach na Gaeilge
Heimseite
© Lars Braesicke 1999 / 2000

Valid HTML 4.0!