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Irish syntax
Irish syntax is rather different from that of most Indo-European languages, especially because of its VSO word order. Normal word orderThe normal word order in an Irish sentence is:
Only the verb and subject are obligatory; all other parts are optional (unless the primary or finite verb is transitive, in which case a direct object is required). In synthetic verb forms, the verb and subject are united in a single word, so that even one-word sentences are possible, e.g. Tuigim "I understand." An example sentence: (1) Labhraíonn speak.PRES Mícheál Mícheál Gaeilge Irish le with Cáit Cáit go PTC minic. often Mícheál often speaks Irish with Cáit. Questions and answersIrish has no words for "yes" and "no". The answer to a question contains a repetition (the same as in Latin) of the verb, either with or without a negative particle. For analytic forms, only the verb is given and the subject is not repeated. If a verb has different dependent and independent forms, the dependent form follows the interrogative or negative particle. The independent form is used where there is no particle. (2) An Q éisteann listen.PRES Seán Seán lena to his mháthair mother riamh? ever Does Seán ever listen to his mother?" (2.1) Éisteann. listen.PRES Yes, he does. (2.2) *Éisteann listen.PRES sé. 3S.M.CNJV (2.3) Ní not éisteann. listen.PRES No, he does not. (2.4) *Ní not éisteann listen.PRES sé. 3S.M.CNJV (3) Nach NEG.Q bhfuil EXIST.PRES.DEP tú 2S.CNJV ag at éisteacht listen.VN liom? to me Aren't you listening to me? (3.1) Táim. EXIST.1S.PRES Yes, I am. (3.2) Nílim. EXIST.1S.PRES.NEG No, I'm not. CommandsIn a command the imperative mood is used, and no subject is given. (4) Tabhair give.2SG.IMPR dúinn to us dhá two ghloine glasses fuisce whiskey.GEN le do thoil. please Please give us two glasses of whiskey. To express a negative command, the particle ná is used. This particle, which can be roughly translated "don't", causes neither eclipsis nor lenition, and attaches h to a following vowel. (5) Ná don't cailligí lose.2PL.IMP an the t-airgead. money Don't lose the money! (6) Ná don't habair tell.2SG.IMP leo to them é. 3S.M.DSJV Don't tell it to them! (7) Ná don't téimis go.1PL.IMP abhaile. home Let's not go home! Syntax of the verbal nounA progressive aspect can be formed by connecting the verbal noun to the existential verb with the progressive particle ag. (8) Tá EXIST.PRES Mícheál Mícheál ag at labhairt speak.VN Gaeilge Irish le with Cáit Cáit anois. now Mícheál is speaking Irish with Cáit now. The object of a verbal noun is in the genitive, if it is definite. (9) Tá EXIST.PRES Séamas Séamas ag at léamh read.VN an the nuachtáin. newspaper.GEN Séamas is reading the newspaper. If a nonfinite clause forms the complement of the verb, the verbal noun stands alone (without a preposition) in the clause. (10) D'éirigh be-successful.PRET liom with me breith catch.VN ar on an the liathróid. ball I succeeded in catching the ball. The direct object of a verbal noun complement precedes the verbal noun; the leniting particle a "to" is placed between them. Other complements follow. (11) Tá EXIST.PRES brath intention agam at me an the scian knife a to chur put.VN go PTC cúramach careful ar on an the mbord. table I intend to place the knife carefully on the table. Object pronounsGenerally, an object pronoun or a conjugated preposition stands at the end of a sentence in Irish. Compare this sentence: (12) D'inis tell.PRET sé 3S.M.CNJV an the scéal story do to Bhríd Bríd inné. yesterday He told the story to Bríd yesterday. with the two following sentences: (13) D'inis tell.PRET sé 3S.M.CNJV do to Bhríd Bríd inné yesterday é. 3S.M.DSJV He told it to Bríd yesterday. (14) D'inis tell.PRET sé 3S.M.CNJV an the scéal story inné yesterday di to her He told her the story yesterday. PassiveIrish commonly uses the impersonal form (also called the autonomous form) instead of the passive voice. (15) Buaileadh beat.IMPRS.PRET an the madra. dog Someone beat the dog/The dog was beaten. In the perfect, the passive voice is formed by using the passive participle with the existential verb. (16) Tá EXIST.PRES an the fhuinneog window briste broken (ag (by mo my dheartháir). brother) The window has been broken (by my brother). Stative verbsSome verbs describing the state or condition of a person form a progressive present with the existential verb plus 'in (my, your, his etc.)' plus the verbal noun. (17) Tá EXIST.PRES mé 1S i in mo my chodladh. sleep.VN I'm asleep. (18) An Q bhfuil EXIST.PRES.DEP tú 2S.CNJV i in do your.SG chónaí live.VN sa in the Ghearmáin? Germany Do you live in Germany? Forms meaning "to be"Irish, like Spanish and other languages, has two forms that can express the English verb "to be". The two forms perform different grammatical functions. Existential verb bíThe existential verb is bí. It is an irregular verb; see Irish verbs for its conjugation. Existence, condition or locationThis verb expresses the absolute existence of something, its condition, or its location. When accompanied by the adverb ann "there", it means "exist" or "there is/are". Otherwise, the verb is complemented by an adjective, an adverb or a prepositional phrase. (19) Tá EXIST.PRES Dia God ann. there God exists; There is a God. (20) Tá EXIST.PRES an the bosca box folamh. empty The box is empty. (21) Tá EXIST.PRES na the.PL húlla apple.PL ar on an the mbord. table The apples are on the table. DefinitionsA noun phrase alone cannot form the predicate of the existential verb. Instead, the noun complement is preceded by a form meaning "in my, in your, in his", etc. (22) Tá EXIST.PRES Seán Seán ina in his dhochtúir. doctor Seán is a doctor. The copula isThe Irish copula is not a verb but a particle, used to express a definition or identification. It may be complemented by a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, or a topicalized phrase. Because it is not a verb, it does not inflect for person or number, and pronouns appear in the disjunctive form. The copula, which has the realis form is, is used for identification and definition: Definition: X is a Y. Here, the word order is "Is-Y-(pronoun)-X". X is a definite noun or a pronoun. (23) Is COP.PRES fear man é. 3S.DSJV It/he is a man. (24) Is COP.PRES Sasanaigh English-person.PL iad. 3P.DSJV They are English. Identification: X is the Y. Here the word order is "Is-pronoun-X-Y", or "Is-pronoun-Y-X". There must always be a pronoun between a definite noun and the copula. It would be wrong to say *Is Seán an múinteoir, which would mean "The teacher is a Seán". (25) Is COP.PRES é 3S.M.DSJV Seán Seán an the múinteoir. teacher Seán is the teacher. To identify a first or second person pronoun with a definite noun, it is usual to use the longer form of the personal pronoun, which comes immediately after the copula:
The long form of the personal pronoun is very emphatic and stressed and often ejects the copula entirely. Thus, in the previous four examples, it is possible to leave out the copula, which will then be understood:
If a third-person pronoun with a definite noun is identified, the same construction may be used:
However, in the third person, that is perceived to be much more emphatic than in the first and second persons. The usual way to say "He is the teacher" is
in which the definite noun is flanked by two personal pronouns agreeing with it in gender and number. When saying "this is", or "that is", seo and sin are used, in which case is is usually dropped:
One can also add "that is in him/her/it", especially when an adjective is used if one wants to emphasise the quality: (30) Is COP.PRES fear man láidir strong atá EXIST.REL.PRES ann. in him He's a strong man. (31) Is COP.PRES cailín girl álainn beautiful atá EXIST.REL.PRES inti. in her She's a beautiful girl. That sometimes appears in Hiberno-English, translated literally as "that is in it" or as "so it is". The present tense of the copula can be used for the future:
The past tense of the copula can be used for the conditional:
The forms is and ba are not used after preverbal particles.
If the predicate is definite, the copula is followed by a disjunctive personal pronoun, which may be repeated at the end of the sentence.
If the predicate is indefinite, it follows the copula directly, with the disjunctive pronoun and subject coming at the end.
The copula can also be used to stress an adjective, as in the following instance: (37) Is COP.PRES breá nice an the lá day é. 3S.M.DSJV It's a nice day. TopicalizationTopicalization in Irish is formed by clefting: by fronting the topicalized element as the predicate of the copula, while the rest of the sentence becomes a relative clause. Compare Dúirt mise é "I said it" with Is mise a dúirt é "I said it." Other uses for the copulaThere are other set idiomatic phrases using the copula, as seen in the following examples. Here the predicate consists mostly of either a prepositional phrase or an adjective.
There are also the following constructions: (39) Is COP.PRES deacair difficult an the abairt sentence seo this a to thuiscint. understand-VN This sentence is hard to understand. (40) Is COP.PRES le with Cáit Cáit an the gluaisteán. car The car belongs to Cáit. (41) Is COP.PRES as from Baile Átha Cliath Dublin Máire. Máire Máire is from Dublin. Answering questions with copulaSince the copula cannot stand alone, the answer must contain either a part of the predicate or a pronoun, both of which follow the copula.
Omission of isIn all dialects, the copula is may be omitted if the predicate is a noun. (Ba cannot be deleted.) If is is omitted, the following é, í, iad preceding the noun is omitted as well.
Comparison of the existential verb and the copulaBoth the existential verb and the copula may take a nominal predicate, but the two constructions have slightly different meanings: Is dochtúir é Seán sounds more permanent: it represents something absolute about Seán; it is a permanent characteristic of Seán that he is a doctor. That is known as an individual-level predicate. In the sentence Tá Seán ina dhochtúir, one says rather that Seán performs the job of a doctor, he is a doctor at the moment, or he has become a doctor. That is known as a stage-level predicate. SubordinationMost complementizers (subordinating conjunctions) in Irish cause eclipsis and require the dependent form of irregular verbs. The word order in an Irish subordinate clause is the same as in a main clause. The types of subordination discussed here are: complementation, relative clauses, and wh-questions (which are formed as a kind of relative clause in Irish). ComplementationSyntactic complementationThe subordinate clause is a part of the main clause in a purely syntactic complementation. In Irish it is introduced by go "that" in the positive and nach "that... not" in the negative. (45) Deir say.PRES sé 3S.M.CNJV go that bhfuil EXIST.PRES.DEP deifir hurry air. upon him He says that he's in a hurry. (46) Chruthaigh prove.PRET sé 3S.M.CNJV nach that.NEG raibh EXIST.PRET.DEP taibhse ghost ann. there He proved that there was no ghost. Other examples of complex sentences using complementizers:
Conditional complementationA conditional clause gives the condition under which something will happen. In Irish there are two kinds of conditional clauses, depending on the plausibility of the condition. The particle má introduces a conditional clause that is plausible, also called a realis condition. Má causes lenition and takes the independent form of irregular verbs. Its negated form is mura and causes eclipsis. Preceding the preterite it is murar and causes lenition. If the condition of the clause is hypothetical, also called an irrealis condition or counterfactual conditional, the word dá is used, which causes eclipsis and takes the dependent form of irregular verbs. The negated equivalent is either mura or murach go, meaning roughly "if it were not the case that...". The verb in both clauses is in the conditional.
Other examples of conditionals are:
Relative clausesDirect relativeThere are two kinds of relative clauses in Irish: direct and indirect. Direct relative clauses begin with the leniting relativizer a and the independent form of an irregular verb is used. The direct relative is used when the relative pronoun is the subject or direct object of its clause.
The direct relative is also used in topicalizations, e.g.:
The direct relative is also used after the word uair "time":
Indirect relativeIndirect relative clauses begin with the eclipsing relativizer a (in the preterite with leniting ar); the dependent form of an irregular verb is used. The indirect relative is used to signify a genitive or the object of a preposition. In these cases, there is a resumptive pronoun in the relative clause.
The negative form of a relative clause, direct or indirect, is formed with the eclipsing relativizer nach, or, before the preterite, with the leniting relativizer nár.
Sometimes a direct relative clause can be ambiguous in meaning, leaving unclear if the relative is accusative or nominative:
If the accusative reading is intended, one could use an indirect relative with a resumptive pronoun:
Wh-questionsA wh-question begins with a word such as "who, what, how, when, where, why" etc. In Irish, such questions are constructed as relative clauses, in that they can be constructed as either direct or indirect. Direct relative wh-questionsQuestions with "who, what, how many, which, when" are constructed as direct relative clauses.
Indirect relative wh-questionsQuestions with prepositions (i.e. "on what?, with whom?") and questions with "why?" and "where?" are constructed as indirect relative clauses.
Clauses introduced by "how"There are two words for "how" in Irish: the word conas takes the direct relative clause, the phrase cén chaoi takes the indirect.
Complementary subordinate clauses in the form of a relative clauseSome complements in Irish take the form of a relative, in that they end in the relative particle a; both direct and indirect relative are found.
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