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Why do these words get a "h"?

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  • 25-06-2012 10:25pm
    #1
    MaryKirwan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 92 ✭✭


    "Tá an sneachta ina bhrat bhog bhán ar fud an ghairdín".

    The three b words get a "h" as well as garden. How come? o_O

    Oh, and when do you use "má" vs. "más"?


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    #2
    Enkidu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭Enkidu


    MaryKirwan wrote: »
    "Tá an sneachta ina bhrat bhog bhán ar fud an ghairdín".

    The three b words get a "h" as well as garden. How come? o_O

    Oh, and when do you use "má" vs. "más"?
    All for totally different reasons.

    Bhrat - because it comes after "a" meaning "its/his", e.g. a charr = his car

    bhog and bhán - brat comes after the preposition "i" meaning in. Words in Irish follow different rules when they come after prepositions, one of these rules is that all adjectives that follow the noun get a h (in Connacht it's only if the noun is feminine that this happens).

    fud an ghairdín - Here we are literally saying "the area of the garden" or "the garden's area". The area is possessed by the garden. When a masculine noun possesses another one in Irish, it gets a h after the article "an".

    má is just if, and used before every verb except one.

    más is if, when used with the copula verb "is" Más = Má + is. So,

    Má rithim.... = If I run.... (without má => Rithim....)
    Más fear thú = If you are a man. (Without Má => Is fear thú)


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    #3
    MaryKirwan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 92 ✭✭MaryKirwan


    Más fear thú = If you are a man. (Without Má => Is fear thú)[/QUOTE]

    Thank you :) Just one more question... o_o What about the "h" in "thú"? Why does that get a "h"?

    Grammar is not my forte.


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    #4
    Insect Overlord
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,873 Mod ✭✭✭✭Insect Overlord


    MaryKirwan wrote: »
    Thank you :) Just one more question... o_o What about the "h" in "thú"? Why does that get a "h"?

    Grammar is not my forte.

    It wouldn't get the "h" in written Irish, but it would be spoken. Similarly, duit in "dia duit" is pronounced as "dh" but not written as such.


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    #5
    MaryKirwan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 92 ✭✭MaryKirwan


    Insect Overlord wrote: »
    It wouldn't get the "h" in written Irish, but it would be spoken. Similarly, duit in "dia duit" is pronounced as "dh" but not written as such.

    D: I'm not sure I'll ever understand grammar in Irish. It melts my brain.


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    #6
    Gumbi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,698 ✭✭✭Gumbi


    Insect Overlord wrote: »
    It wouldn't get the "h" in written Irish, but it would be spoken. Similarly, duit in "dia duit" is pronounced as "dh" but not written as such.

    It can be written as Dia dhuit, I'm almost certain it's in the dictionary. You can write thú too, I think it's a rule that was just dropped in the CO, (or a revision of it) though I'm not 100% sure on that.


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    #7
    Gumbi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,698 ✭✭✭Gumbi


    MaryKirwan wrote: »
    D: I'm not sure I'll ever understand grammar in Irish. It melts my brain.

    It's really not that bad :) It's probably down to English being ridiculously informal in terms of grammar that you feel that.


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    #8
    Enkidu
    Registered Users Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭Enkidu


    MaryKirwan wrote: »
    Thank you :) Just one more question... o_o What about the "h" in "thú"? Why does that get a "h"?
    thú is the accusative (object) form of tú. It's like é for sé.

    Bhuail sé Seán = He hit Seán

    Bhuail Seán é = Seán hit him

    Bhuail tú Seán = You hit Seán

    Bhuail Seán thú = Seán hit you

    That is what was historically correct. However today, in Standard Irish, you don't write thú, it's always tú. In modern dialects you commonly write/say thú only after vowels, only in Munster dialects would you say thú commonly even after consonants.

    As for "Dia Dhuit", it is a grammatical rule in Munster Irish (that the Standard dropped) that forms of the preposition "de" and "do" are lenited after vowels.


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