Appendix:Irish nouns
Irish has five[1] noun declensions, each with four cases (nominative,[2] vocative, genitive, dative), and singular and plural forms.[3] Noun endings are typified by broad and slender[4] consonants, and vowels; case endings are characterised by the broadening and slenderising of consonants, and the addition of suffixes.
The defining feature of each declension is the genitive singular.[5] The dative singular has distinctive features in some declensions.[6]
Plurals are categorised as weak if the genitive plural is the same as the nominative singular; and strong if the genitive plural is the same as the nominative plural. Weak plurals are formed by slenderising consonants, or adding the suffix ‑a.[7] Strong plural suffixes include ‑aí, ‑anna, ‑ta and ‑acha[8],[9] and a few nouns in -a/e with syncopation.[10] The dative plural ‑aibh[11] is non-standard, and considered archaic/dialectical.
The vocative has the same form as the nominative in the second to fifth declensions. In the first declension, it is slender in the singular and broad + a in the plural.
There are two genders in Irish, masculine and feminine. The gender of nouns in each declension is somewhat mixed, but there are clear patterns.[12]
Irish nouns undergo initial mutations.[13]
The definite article edit
The entry for the definite article an has a comprehensive declension table, including initial mutation rules.
As an example of the evolution of the article from Proto-Celtic, that of the nominative singular masculine, with t-prothesis before a vowel, can be given as: *sindos > *(s)ind > int > an t-.
The demonstrative sin retains the Proto-Celtic initial 's'. The 's' also appears in the Modern Irish contractions of i with the article: insan, sa(n), sna, as well as the dialectical desna, dosna, ósna.
There is no indefinite article in Irish.
Quick reference table edit
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | m | f [14] | m [15] & f [16] | m & f [17] | f & m [18] | |
| Singular | Nom | broad | consonant | consonant | vowel; ‑ín; [19] consonant |
‑il, ‑in, ‑ir; vowel |
| Voc | slender | - [20] | - | - | - | |
| Gen | slender | + e [21][22] | + a | - | broad; ‑(e)ach; vowel + ch, d, n | |
| Dat | - | slender [23] | - | - | slender gen | |
| Weak Plural [24] | Nom | slender; + a |
+ a [7] | + a [25] | + a [26] | [27] |
| Voc | + a | + a | + a | + a | ||
| Gen | - | broad [28] | - | - | ||
| Dat [11] | + aibh | + aibh | + aibh | + aibh | ||
Irregular nouns edit
The defining feature of each declension is the genitive singular. By this definition, a few nouns defy classification, notably:
The Caighdeán lists deoch and teach as irregular, but just a little digging shows them to be second declension nouns.
Multiple declension nouns edit
Some Irish nouns belong to more than one declension. There is a distinction to be made between historical/dialectical declension variants of a particular noun, and homonyms. A good example of the latter is eas (“waterfall”) from Old Irish es, and eas (“stoat”) from Old Irish nes.
The following is not meant as an exhaustive list.
| Noun | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Variant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aire | f, care m, minister |
m, chief | ||||
| aireamh | m | m | ploughman | |||
| altóir | f | f | altar | |||
| araí | f, appearance | f, bridle | ||||
| beatha | f | f | life | |||
| breitheamh | m | m | judge | |||
| cistin | f | f | kitchen | |||
| cleas | m | m | m, gang | trick | ||
| cnámh | m | m | bone | |||
| cónra | f | f | coffin | |||
| cré | f | f | earth | |||
| cruicéad | m (teanglann) | m (wiki) | cricket | |||
| cú | m | m | hound | |||
| cuisle | f | f | vein | |||
| dair | f | f | oak | |||
| dún | m, str | m, wk | fort | |||
| eas | m, str, waterfall m, wk, stoat |
|||||
| eorna | f | f | barley | |||
| féicheamh | m | m | creditor | |||
| gabha | m | m | smith | |||
| méid | f, size | m, amount | ||||
| rámh | m | m (rámha) | oar | |||
| ráth | m, str, fort f, str, shoal m, wk, guarantor |
|||||
| réal | m | f | sixpenny | |||
| ros | m, linseed | m, wooded headland | ||||
| srón | f | f | nose | |||
| talamh | m | f | land | |||
| úr | m, freshness | m, heath |
Wiktionary templates edit
Irregular:
{{ga-decl-f-irreg}}{{ga-decl-m-irreg}}{{ga-decl-m-irreg-nopl}}
For declension-specific templates, see the source list on About Irish, or under the relevant appendices.
Notes edit
- ^ Verbal nouns per se can be considered a class of their own; verbal nouns as substantive fall into the canonical classes
- ^ The accusative has the same form as the nominative, and together they are sometimes called "common"
- ^ Traces of PIE dual forms still exist, especially after dhá, and with the second declension nouns bos, bróg, cluas, cos and lámh
- ^ In the jargon, velarised and palatised
- ^ By this definition, a few nouns defy classification, notably bean, deirfiúr, Dia, lá, leaba, mí
- ^ Notably, 2nd and 5th
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rarely, the slender version in ‑e; e.g., súil, npl. súile
- ^ Slender versions are ‑í, ‑eanna, ‑te, ‑eacha; ‑ta/te may be aspirated to ‑tha/the
- ^ Certain nouns and noun endings are associated with particular plurals, see Irish Nouns
- ^ e.g. briathar, pl briathra, bráthair, pl bráithre
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 cf. Latin -ibus. Considered archaic/dialtectical. If *busannaibh were a form, it could be interpreted as (omni)bus‑anna‑ibus
- ^ e.g. all first declension nouns are masculine
- ^ Initial mutations are not discussed further here. Wiktionary declension templates include bare and initial-mutated forms, in the context of the article
- ^ There are three masculine nouns in the 2nd declension: im, sliabh, teach
- ^ Especially suffixes -éir, -óir, úir (cf. Latin -or)
- ^ Especially suffix ‑acht/‑aíocht; verbal nouns as substantive in ‑áil, ‑irt, ‑úint
- ^ Abstract nouns ending in a vowel
- ^ Male familial nouns, and the ordinals 20-90
- ^ Masculine, except for girls' names, e.g, Máirín
- ^ In this table, "-" means that the form is the same as the nominative singular
- ^ In this table "+" means that the preceding consonant should be broadened or slenderised, if necessary, to agree with the suffix. In this particular case (+ e), a broad consonant is slenderised
- ^ Genitive singular in í comes from nouns in ‑(e)ach: í < ighe
- ^ Formally, the genitive singular without the suffix -e
- ^ Strong-plural cases all have the same form
- ^ There are relatively few weak plurals in the third declension
- ^ There is only a couple of weak plurals in the fourth declension
- ^ There are some irregular plurals in the 5th declension, with genitive plural = genitive singular
- ^ An exception to the "weak plural" rule; e.g., súil, gpl. súl
- ^ Originally dearbh + siúr
- ^ Actually a verbal noun, where leapa < leabtha
- ^ Almost regular fifth declenstion, except that the radical ending, -úr, is broad
Categories edit
Appendices edit
External links edit
- An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, 2017
- A Grammar of the Irish Language, O'Donavan, 1845
- Irish declension on Wikipedia
- Irish declension on WikiBooks, with exercises
- Declension overview and guesser on Nualéargais
- Irish declension overview on Project Gutenberg