Buntús na Gaeilge - People Fas Harvard - Harvard University

CEACHT A DÓ / LESSON TWO
Note that this is a descriptive rather than a prescriptive rule, and there is considerable variety of
usage even within one dialect. Non-lenition is best regarded as a strong tendency; lenited and nonlenited
forms co-exist in all dialects. Ó Siadhail points out that an attributive adjective is more
likely to be lenited than a noun (1989, 6.2.1(v)2).
§2.2. Adjectives following a masculine noun remain unchanged:
an fear maith the good man
§3. Forainmneacha Réamhfhoclacha: An Réamhfhocail le (Prepositional Pronouns: the
Preposition le `with')
One of the characteristic features of all Celtic languages is their use of so-called `prepositional
pronouns.' Prepositional pronouns are, in effect, conjugated prepositions, incorporating in one
word a pronoun and a preposition: English `with me' is expressed in a single word liom.
§3.1. Here is the conjugated paradigm of the preposition le `with':
LE `with'
liom with me linn with us
leat with you (sg) libh with you (pl)
leis with him leo with them
léi with her
Like the personal pronoun, the prepositional pronoun also has
emphatic forms, with similar endings:
liomsa linne
leatsa libhse
leis-sean leosan
léise
§3.2. Liom Féin
If the prepositional pronoun liom (etc) is followed by the word féin `self,' it has the meaning of
`by myself,' `alone':
Mise liom féin I alone, by myself.
§3.3. Prefixing `h'
Le does not cause mutation of a following consonant, but will prefix `h' to a word beginning with
a vowel:
house'), except when the noun is capitalized (an tÉireannach `the Irish person').
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