ar aghaidh
Irish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Irish ar agaid (“before, in front of”, literally “in front of the face of”), from Old Irish agad (“face”).[1]
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
ar aghaidh (plus genitive or possessive determiner, triggers no mutation)
- in front of, opposite, facing
- 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 4:
- hȧ šē əŕ m ai.
- [Sheas sé ar m’aghaidh.]
- He stood in front of me.
- ḱē n āc ə rø šē šin? əŕ ai ən cȧmpl̥ gāl̄də.
- [Cén áit a raibh sé sin? Ar aghaidh an teampaill gallda.]
- Where was that? Opposite the Protestant church.
Usage notes edit
Used with a possessive pronoun that agrees with the subject of the sentence, the prepositional phrase can be used as an adverb meaning “forwards, straight ahead”, for example Chuaigh mé díreach ar m’aghaidh (“I went straight ahead”); Tar ar d’aghaidh beagán (“Come forward a little bit”).
Inflection edit
Inflection of ar aghaidh
Person | Normal | Emphatic |
---|---|---|
1st person sing. | ar m'aghaidh | ar m'aghaidhse |
2d person sing. | ar d'aghaidh | ar d'aghaidhse |
3d sing. masc. | ar a aghaidh | ar a aghaidhsean |
3d sing. fem. | ar a haghaidh | ar a haghaidhse |
1st person pl. | ar ár n-aghaidh | ar ár n-aghaidhne |
2d person pl. | ar bhur n-aghaidh | ar bhur n-aghaidhse |
3d person pl. | ar a n-aghaidh | ar a aghaidhsean |
Adverb edit
Derived terms edit
- ceann ar aghaidh (“headlong; on purpose”)
References edit
- ^ Vendryes, Joseph (1959) Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien [Etymological lexicon of Old Irish] (in French), volume A, Dublin, Paris: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, pages 23-24
Further reading edit
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ar aghaidh”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ar aghaidh”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “ar aghaidh”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024