Buntús na Gaeilge - People Fas Harvard - Harvard University

CEACHT A DÓ / LESSON TWO
Liam: Is maith. Is fearr liom an bia sa bhaile, ach is maith liom gach rud eile anseo. Is breá liom mo
chúrsaí.
AN CEACHT GRAMADAÍ
§1. An tAlt (The Article)
There is no indefinite article in Irish. To say `a book', we simply say leabhar; `a good book' is
leabhar maith.
The definite article, feminine and masculine, is an (na in the plural):
leabhar a book
an leabhar the book
The definite article can affect the first letter of the noun it modifies. This phenomenon, called
initial mutation, occurs in a wide variety of contexts, and is typical of all Celtic languages. The
most common mutation is the séimhiú `lenition.' This mutation (sometimes also called
`aspiration') is realized in a majority of the consonants involved as fricatization:
Séimhiú (Lenition)
Lenition affects the voiced plosives `b' `d' `g', the unvoiced plosives
`p' `t' `c', the labial `m', and the fricatives `f' and `s'. It is marked by
inserting `h' after those letters:
bhean pheann mhac léinn
dhoras theach fhuinneog
ghasúr cheann shráid
Lenition also affects the pronunciation of the liquids `l' `n' `r', but
this is not represented in writing. Lenition does not affect vowels or
the consonants / consonant clusters h, sc, sp, st, sm.
§1.1. The definite article causes lenition of feminine nouns:
bean a woman
an bhean the woman
fuinneog a window
an fhuinneog the window
If a feminine noun begins with a vowel, there is no change, since vowels cannot be lenited:
an obair the work
If a feminine noun begins with an `s' (including `sr' `sn' or `sl' but NOT `sc' `sp' `st' `sm'), the
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