Graiméar na Gaedhilge/Part III Chapter VI

by Christian Brothers

CHAPTER VI.

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The Preposition.

602. As a general rule the simple prepositions govern a dative case, and precede the words which they govern: as,

Ṫáinig sé ó Ċorcaiġ.	He came from Cork.
Ṫug sé an t‑uḃall do’n ṁnaoi.	He gave the apple to the woman.

Exceptions. (1) The preposition idir, “between,” governs the accusative case: as, idir Corcaiġ agus Luimneaċ, between Cork and Limerick.

(2) Go dtí,^[1] meaning “to” (motion), is followed by the nominative case.

Ċuaiḋ sé go dtí an teaċ.   He went to the house.

(3) The preposition gan, “without," governs the dative in the singular, but the accusative in the plural: as,

Tá sé gan ċéill.	He is without sense.
Gan ár gcáirde.	Without our friends.

603. The words timċeall (around) ^[2] trasna or treasna (across), cois (beside), fad (along), ċum^[3] or ċun (towards), toisg (owing to), dála, dálta, and [iomṫúsa] (as to, or concerning), although really nouns, are used where prepositions are used in English. Being nouns, they are followed by the genitive case.

Ḃuail sé fad na sróine é.	He struck him along the nose.
An mbéiḋ tú ag dul ċum an aonaiġ i mbáraċ?	Will you be going to (towards) the fair tomorrow?
Do riṫ sé timċeall na h‑áite seo.	He ran around this place.
Do ċuadar trasna an ġuirt eorna.	They went across the field of barley.

For the so-called compound prepositions see par. 608, 6&c.

604. The prepositions i (in) and le (with) become ins and leis before the article: e.g., ins an leaḃar in the book; leis an ḃfear, with the man. In Munster ó (from), de (off, from), do (to), aige (= ag, at, with), and some others take s before the plural article—ó sna fearaiḃ, from the men; do sna buaiḃ, to the cows.

605. The simple prepositions cause aspiration when the article is not used with them: as, Ar ḃárr an ċnuic. On the top of the hill. Fuair sé ó ḟear an tiġe é. He got it from the man of the house.

Exceptions (1) The prepositions ag, at; le, with; as, out: go, to, cause neither aspiration nor eclipsis; as, Do ṫuit sé le Goll. He fell by Goll. Ċuaiḋ sé go Baile-Áṫa-Cliaṫ. He went to Dublin.

Gan, without, may aspirate or not.

(2) The preposition i or a, in, causes eclipsis even without the article: as, Ḃí sé i gCorcaiġ. He was in Cork.

606. The simple prepositions, when followed by the article and a noun in the singular number, usually cause eclipsis: as, ar an mbárr, on the top; ó ’n ḃfear, from the man; ’san mbaile, at home.

Exceptions. (1) The prepositions do,^[4] to, and de, of, off, from, when followed by the article, usually cause aspiration, though in some places eclipsis takes place. Aspiration is the more common practice: do ’n ḟear, to the man; de’n ṁnaoi, from the woman. They prefix t to s; as, Ṫug sé do’n tsagart é. He gave it to the priest. Sa (=ins an) usually aspirates in Munster; sa ḃosga ṁor, in the big box.

(2) When gan, without, is followed by the article it produces no change in the initial consonant following: as, gan an fíon, without the wine; but if the following noun be masculine and begin with a vowel, or be feminine beginning with s, t is prefixed: as, gan an t‑eun, without the bird; gan an tsúil, without the eye.

In the Northern dialect aspiration takes place after the preposition and the article.

607. When a simple preposition ending in a vowel comes before the possessive adjective a (his, her, or their), or the possessive ár, our, and ḃur, your, the letter n is inserted before the possessive: as, le n‑a láiṁ, by his hand; tré n‑a mbosaiḃ), through their palms; le n‑ár gcuid, with (or by) our portion; le nḃur dtoil, with your permission.

Except the prepositions do and de, which become d’.

Whenever go or le comes before any other word beginning with a vowel the letter h is usually inserted: as, ó ṁaidin go h‑oiḋċe, from morning till night; go h‑Albain, to Scotland; le h‑eagla, with fear. (See par. 29.)

608. In Irish certain nouns preceded by prepositions have often the force of English prepositions. As nouns they are, of course, followed by a genitive case, unless a preposition comes between them and the following noun, when the dative case naturally follows. Such locutions are styled in most grammars “Compound Prepositions,” and to account for their construction they give the rule “Compound Prepositions are followed by the genitive case.”

609. We give here a fairly full list of such phrases employed in Modern Irish.

i ḃfarraḋ,		along with; on the side of.
i ḃfiaḋnuise,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	in the presence of.
i láṫair,
os cóṁair,
os coinne,		before; face to face.
as uċt,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	for the sake of, for the love of
ar son,
ar sgáṫ,		under the pretext of.
i ḃfoċair,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	along with, in company with.
i dteannta,
i dtaoḃ,		concerning ; with regard to.
i gceann,		at the end of.
fé ḋéin,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	for, (in the sense of going for).
i gcoinne,
fé ḋéin,		towards,
i measg,		among, amongst.

ar aġaiḋ,		opposite.
i n‑aġaiḋ,		against.
ar feaḋ,		throughout (used of time).
le h‑easba,		for want of.
ar fud,		throughout (used of space)
i gcóir, (i gcoṁoir),		for, for the benefit of.
ar ċúl,		behind, at the back of.
i ndiaiḋ,		after (used of place).
tar éis, d’éis,		after (used of time).
i gcoinniḃ, i gcoinne,		against.
i gcúrsaiḋe,		concerning, about.
ċun,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	to, towards.
(ċum),
d’ ionnsaiḋe,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	towards.
d’ ionnsaiġiḋ,
le cois,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	beside, by the side of (a sea, a river, &c.)
cois,
i n‑eudan,		against,
do réir,		according to.
os cionn,		over, above.
tar ċeann,		beyond, in preference to.
le h‑ais,		beside, by the side of.
i gcaiṫeaṁ, i riṫ,		during.
i n‑aindeoin,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	in spite of.
i n‑aiṁḋeoin,
le h‑aġaiḋ,		for, for the use of.
i n‑aice,		near.

610.

Some of them are followed by Prepositions.

láiṁ le,		near, beside.
i n‑gar do,		near.
timċeall ar,		around (and touching).
mar ġeall an,		on account of.
mar aon le,		along with, together with.
i n‑éinḟeaċt le, i n‑aon-diġe le,	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	together with, at the same time as.

611.

Examples—(1) Nouns.

Do ċuir sé os cionn an dorais é.	He put it over the door.
Ċonnac i n‑aice an tobair iad	I saw them near the well.
Do riṫ an gaḋar i ndiaiḋ an tsionnaiġ.	The hound ran after the fox.
Cia ḃí i ḃfoċair Ṡeumais?	Who was along with James?
Do ṫug sé ḋom an capall so le h‑aġaiḋ an tsagairt.	He gave me this horse for the priest.
Tiocfad ar ais d’ éis an tsaṁraiḋ.	I shall come back after the summer.
Ní ḟuil leiġeas ar biṫ i n‑aġaiḋ an ḃáis.	There is no remedy against death.
Do ċuaiḋ sé fá ḋéin na gcapall.	He went for the horses.
Ar feaḋ an lae.	Throughout the day.
Ar fud na tíre.	Throughout the country.

Do réir an leaḃair seo.	According to this book.
Tá sé le cois na fairrge.	He is beside the sea.
Do ċuir sé an lúb timċeall ar mo ċeann.	He put the loop around my head.

612. (2) Pronouns.

Ṫáinig sé im ḋiaiḋ.	He came after me.
Ná téiġ ’na ndiaiḋ seo.	Do not go after these.
Cia ḃí ’na ḟoċair?	Who was along with him?
Deunfad é sin ar do ṡon.	I shall do that for your sake.
Ar ċeannuiġis é seo lem aġaiḋ?	Did you buy this one for me?
Ḃíos ar a n‑aġaiḋ.	I was opposite them.
Tá an ḟuiseóg os ár gcionn.	The lark is above us.
An raiḃ tú i n‑ár n‑aice (i n‑aice linn)?	Were you near us?
Ḃí sé i n‑aice liom.	He was near me.
Ṫáinig siad im aġaiḋ.	They came against me.

Translation of the Preposition “For.”

613. (a) When “for” means “to bring,” “to fetch,” use fá ḋéin, a g‑coinne, or ag iarraiḋ, followed by a genitive case; or ag triall ar: as,

Go for the horse.	Téiġ ag triall ar an gcapall.
He went for John.	Ċuaiḋ sé fé ḋéin Ṡeaġáin.

(b) When “for” means “to oblige,” “to please,” use do, followed by the dative case: as,

Do that for him.	Deun sin dó.
Here is your book for you.	’Seo ḋuit do leaḃar.

Use do to translate “for” in the phrases “good for,” “bad for,” “better for,” &c: as,

This is bad for you.   Is olc ḋuit é seo.

(c) When “for” means “for the use of,” use le h‑aġaiḋ, followed by a genitive case, or do with dative.

I bought this for the priest.	Ċeannuiġeas é seo le h‑aġaiḋ an tsagairt (do’n tsagart).
He gave me money for you.	Ṫug sé airgead dom led’ aġaiḋ.

(d) When “for” means “duration of time” use le, with the dative case, if the time be past, but ar feaḋ or go ceann, with the genitive case, if the time be future. In either case past and future are to be understood, not with regard to present time, but to the time of the action described.

(1)	He had been there for a year when I came.	Ḃí sé ann le bliaḋain nuair ṫáinig mé.
(2)	He stayed there for a year.	D’ f́an sé ann ar feaḋ (go ceann) bliaḋna

In the first sentence the year is supposed to be completed at the time we are speaking about, and is, therefore, past with regard to the time we are describing.

In the second sentence the time at which the action of staying (if we be allowed to use the word “action”) took place at the very beginning of the year that he spent there. The year itself came after the time we are describing; therefore it is future with regard to that time.

It will be a great assistance to the student to remember that ar feaḋ or go ceann are used when in the English sentence the fact is merely stated, as in sentence (2); and that le is used when a secondary tense ought to be used in the English sentence, as in sentence (1).

(e) When “for” means “for the sake of,” use ar son followed by a genitive case.

He toiled for a little gold.   Ṡaoṫruiġ sé ar son beagáin óir.

(f) When “for” is used in connection with “buying” or “selling,” use ar followed by a dative case.

He bought it for a pound.	Ċeannuiġ sé ar punt é.
I sold it for a shilling.	Ḋíolas ar sgilling é.

(g) “For” after the English verb “ask” is not translated in Irish.

He asked me for a book.	D’ iarr sé leaḃar orm.
Ask that man for it.	Iarr ar an ḃfear soin é.

(h) “For” after the word “desire” (dúil) is usually translated by i (=in): as, Desire for gold, dúil i n‑ór or, dúil ins an ór.

(i) The English phrase “only for” very often means “were it not for,” “had it not been for,” and is translated by muna mbiaḋ, followed by a nominative.

Only for John the horse would be dead now.

Mura mbeaḋ Seaġán do ḃeaḋ an capall marḃ anois.

614.

Note the following Examples.

I have a question for you.		Tá ceist agam ort.
To play for (a wager).		Imirt ar (ġeall).
To send for.		Fios do ċur … ar.
A cure for sickness.	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	Leiġeas i n‑aġaiḋ tinnis.  „   ar tinneas.
To wait for.		Fanaṁaint le.
For your life, don’t tell.		Ar d’ anam, ná h‑innis.
He faced for the river.		Ṫug sé a aġaiḋ ar an aḃainn.
They fought for (about) the Fiannship.		Ṫroideadar um an ḃFiannuiġeaċt.
Don’t blame him for it.		Ná cuir a ṁilleán air (its blame on him).
I have great respect for you.		Tá meas mór agam ort.
This coat is too big for me.		Tá an cóta so ró-ṁór ḋom.
What shall we have for dinner?		Caidé ḃias againn ar ár ndinneur?
It is as good for you to do your best.		Tá sé coṁ maiṫ agat do ḋíċeall do ḋeunaṁ.

615.

Translation of the Preposition “Of.”

(a) Whenever “of” is equivalent to the English possessive case, translate it by the genitive case in Irish.

The son of the man.	Mac an ḟir.
The house of the priest.	Teaċ an tsagairt.

There are cases in which the English “of,” although not equivalent to the possessive case, is translated by the genitive in Irish.

The man of the house.	Fear an tiġe.
A stone of meal.	Cloċ ṁine.

(b) Whenever “of” describes the material of which a thing is composed, or the contents of a body, use the genitive case.

A ring of iron.	Fáinne iarainn.
A cup of milk.	Cupán bainne.
A glass of water.	Gloine uisge.

(c) When “of” comes after a numeral, or a noun expressing a part of a whole, use de with the dative; but if the word after “of” in English be a personal pronoun, use one of the compounds of ag with the personal pronouns.

The first day of the week.	An ċeud lá de’n tseaċtṁain.
One of our hounds.	Ceann d’ ár ngaḋraiḃ.
Many of the nobles.	Mórán de na h‑uaisliḃ.
One of us was there.	Ḃí duine againn ann

Some of them.	Cuid aca.
One of these (persons).	Duine aca so.

A leaṫ is used for “half of it” or “half of them.”

(d) When “of” follows “which,” use de with nouns, and ag with pronouns.

Which of the men?	Cia (ciaca) de na fearaiḃ?
Which of us?	Cia againn?

(e) When “of” means “about” use timċioll or fá.

They were talking of the matter.   Ḃíodar ag caint timċioll an ruda.

(f) “Of” after the English verb “ask,” “inquire,” is translated by de.

Ask that of John.   Fiafruiġ sin de Seaġán.

(g) When “of” expresses “the means” or “instrument” use le or de.

He died of old age.	Fuair sé bás le sean-aois.
He died of hunger.	Fuair sé bás leis an ocras.
He died of a seven days’ sickness.	Fuair sé bás de galar seaċt lá.

(h)	Both of us.	Sinn araon.
	Both of you.	Siḃ araon.
	Both of them.	Siad araon, iad araon.

616.

Further Examples.

He is ignorant of Irish.	Tá sé ainḃfiosac ins an nGaeḋilig.
The like of him.	A leiṫéid (his like).
Such a thing as this.	A leiṫéid seo de rud.
Don't be afraid of me.	Ná bíoḋ eagla ort róṁam.
A friend of mine.	Cara ḋom.
A friend of yours.	Cara ḋuit.
A horse of mine.	Capall liom.
A horse of Brian’s.	Capall le Brian.
I have no doubt of it.	Ní ḟuil aṁras agam air.
A man of great strength.	Fear is mór neart.
Oisin of mighty strength and vigour.	Oisín ba ṫreun neart a’s luṫ.
(Ba is the past tense of is in the previous sentence.)
I think much of it.	Tá meas mór agam air.

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Notes

1. Go dtí is really a corrupted form of the old subjunctive mood of the verb tigim, I come; so that the noun after go dtí was formerly nominative case to the verb.
2. The meanings given in parenthesis are the usual English equivalents, not the real meaning of the words.
3. The m in this word is pronounced like n.
4. Go or go dtí is usually used for “to” when motion to is implied (the Latin acc. of motion). do is usually used for “to” when no motion is implied (the Latin dative).