sibh

Irish

Alternative forms

• ibh

Etymology

From Old Irish sib (compare Scottish Gaelic sibh, Manx shiu, from Proto-Celtic *swiswis (compare Welsh chwichwi), a reduplicated form of *swīs (“you, ye”) (see Old Irish síi), from Proto-Indo-European *wos.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ʃɪvʲ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /ʃɪbʲ/ (as if spelled sib)

Pronoun

sibh (emphatic form sibhse, conjunctive and disjunctive)

1. you (plural), ye/you

   Bhí sibh ansin. ― You were there.

   Cloisim sibh. ― I hear you.

Usage notes

• Unlike many European languages, Modern Irish does not distinguish between "familiar" and "polite" second-person pronouns. Sibh is used to address two or more people, regardless of how well known those people are to the speaker. It is no longer used to address one single person.
• The emphatic form sibhse is also used as the vocative: Haigh sibhse! — "Hey you (all)!"

See also

Irish personal pronouns

Number	Person (and gender)	Conjunctive (emphatic)	Disjunctive (emphatic)	Possessive determiner
Singular	First	mé (mise)		mo L m' before vowel sounds
	Second	tú (tusa)1	thú (thusa)	do L d' before vowel sounds
	Third masculine	sé (seisean)	é (eisean)	a L
	Third feminine	sí (sise)	í (ise)	a H
	Third neuter	—	ea	—
Plural	First	muid, sinn (muidne, muide), (sinne)		ár E
	Second	sibh (sibhse)1		bhur E
	Third	siad (siadsan)	iad (iadsan)	a E

^L Triggers lenition ^E Triggers eclipsis ^H Triggers h-prothesis

¹ Also used as the vocative

The reflexive is formed by adding féin to the relevant pronoun: e.g. "myself" = mé féin, "yourselves" = sibh féin.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “sibh”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “sib”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “tú”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish sib. Cognates include Irish sibh and Manx shiu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃiv/, /ʃu/

Pronoun

sibh

1. ye, you (polite and/or plural)

See also

Scottish Gaelic personal pronouns

	simple		emphatic
	singular	plural	singular	plural
First person	mi	sinn	mise	sinne
Second person	thu, tu1)	sibh	thusa, tusa1)	sibhse
Third person m	e	iad	esan	iadsan
Third person f	i		ise
*) sibh and sibhse also act as the polite singular pronouns. **) To mark a direct object of a verbal noun, the derivatives of gam are used. 1) used when following a verb ending in -n, -s or -dh.

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “sibh”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “sib”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language