an Aibidil agus am Fuaimneachadh
(the alphabet and phonology)
(the definite article)
(pronouns)
Ainmear
(noun)
Buadhair
(adjective)
àireamh********
(numbers)
Roimhear
(preposition)
Gnìomhair
(verb)
Co-ghnìomhair
(adverb)
Naisgear
(conjunction)
Abairt*********
(phrases)
(proper nouns)
Lenition
Lenition is shown orthographically by the insertion of ⟨h⟩ after the lenitied letter, except with the letters ⟨l, n, r⟩ which do not show lenition orthographically. The ____ ⟨sg, sm, sp, st⟩ are never lenited
an adjective describing a feminine noun, eg. ⟨Màiri bheag⟩ ‘little Mary’
after the vocative particle ⟨a⟩’, eg. ⟨a Mhàiri!⟩ ‘Mary!’, ⟨a sheanair!⟩ ‘grandfather!’
after the negative particle ⟨cha⟩’, except verbs beginning with ⟨d, t⟩ eg. ⟨cha bhi⟩ ‘will not be!’, but ⟨cha tig⟩ ‘will not come’
after the adverb ⟨glè⟩ ‘very’, eg. ⟨glè bheag⟩ ‘very small’
after the adverb ⟨ro⟩ ‘too’, eg. ⟨ro bheag⟩ ‘too small’
after the adverb ⟨gun⟩ ‘without’, excepts words beginning with ⟨d, s, t⟩, eg. ⟨gun bhràthair⟩ ‘without a brother’ but ⟨gun taigh⟩ ‘without a house’
after the numeral ⟨aon⟩ ‘one’, eg. ⟨aon bhalach⟩ ‘one boy’, except with words beginning with ⟨d, s, t⟩ e.g. ⟨aon taigh⟩ ‘one house’ but not ⟨aon thaigh⟩
after the numeral ⟨dà⟩ ‘two’, eg. ⟨da thaigh⟩ ‘two houses’
after the pronouns ⟨mo, do, a⟩ ‘my, your, his’, eg. ⟨mo thaigh⟩ ‘two house’, ⟨do bhràthair⟩ ‘your brother’, ⟨a chàr⟩ ‘his car’
after certain prepositions, the noun is lenited.
NOUNS
Nouns are either masculine or feminine.
number: singular, dual and plural
Article
there is no indefinite article in Gaelic,
⟨càr⟩ ‘a car’, ⟨mac⟩ ‘a son’, ⟨taigh⟩ ‘a house’
The defintie article declines depending on whether the noun is
masculine;
feminine
singular or plural
case
and the initial letter of the noun
Prepositions
Simple prepositions
⟨chun⟩ + genitive, ‘to’
⟨thar⟩ + genitive, ‘over’
Compound prepositions which govern the genitive case
⟨a dh’ionnsaigh⟩ ‘towards’
⟨a-measg⟩ ‘among’
⟨airson⟩ ‘for’
⟨air beulaibh⟩ ‘in front of’
⟨air cùlaibh⟩ ‘behind’
⟨air mullach⟩ ‘on top of’
⟨mu choinneamh⟩ ‘opposite’
⟨mu dheidhinn⟩ ‘about’
⟨os cionn⟩ ‘above’
⟨ri taobh⟩ ‘beside’
⟨timcheall air⟩ ’round about’
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives generally follow the noun they describe, but the fllowing adjectives precede: ⟨deagh⟩ ‘good’, ⟨droch⟩ ‘bad’, ⟨fìor⟩ ‘real’ and ⟨seann⟩ ‘old’
attributive
Masculine singular: ⟨seo am balach beag⟩ ‘here is the little boy’
Feminine singular: ⟨seo an nighean bheag⟩ ‘here is the little girl’
Plural: ⟨seo na balaich bheaga⟩ ‘here are the little boys’
predicative
The adjective does not change when used in the predicative position
Masculine singular: ⟨tha am balach beag⟩ ‘the boy is small’
Feminine singular: ⟨tha an nighean beag⟩ ‘the glrl is small’
Plural: ⟨tha na balaich beag⟩ ‘the boys are small’
Abbreviations
| adjective | adj. | bua. | buadhair |
| adverb | adv. | cg. | co-ghnìomhair |
| comparative | comp. | coi. | coimeasach |
| conjunction | conj. | nasg. | naisgear |
| demonstrative adjective | adj.dem. | bua.comh. | buadhair comharraidh |
| determiner | det. | cinn. | cinntiche |
| exclamation | clsg. | clisgear | |
| feminine | f. | boir. | boireannta |
| feminine noun | nf. | ainb. | ainmear boireannta |
| genitive | gen. | gin. | ginideach |
| interrogative | cst. | ceisteach | |
| masculine | m. | fir. | fireannta |
| masculine noun | nm. | ainf. | ainmear fireannta |
| noun | n. | ain. | ainmear |
| number, numeral | num. | àir | àireamh |
| particle | part. | mfh. | mion-fhacal |
| phrase | abrt. | abairt | |
| plural | pl. | iol. | iolra |
| prefix | pref. | r-l. | ro-leasachan |
| preposition | prep. | roi. | roimhear |
| preposition + gentiive | prep.gen. | roi. le gin. | roimhear le ginideach |
| possessive pronoun | pron.poss. | rio.seil. | riochdair seilbheach |
| pronoun | pron. | rio. | riochdair |
| surname | surn. | sloinn. | sloinneadh |
| unchanging | na. | neo-atharrachail | |
| verb. | v. | gn. | gnìomhair |
| verbal noun | vn. | ag. | ainmear gnìomhaireach |
Glossary
| aibidil, -e, -ean, ainb. | alphabet |
| àichear, -eir, ainf. | negative |
| alt, uilt, -an, ainf. | article |
| caol | slender |
| connrag, -aige, -an, ainb. | consonant |
| fuaimreag, -aige, -an, ainb. | vowels |
| fuaimneachadh (?) | phonology |
| gràmar | grammar |
| guth, -a, -an, ainf.: guth spreigeach, guth fulangach | voice: active voice, passive voice |
| leathann | broad |
| stràc, -aic, -an, ainf.: stràc geur, stràc trom | accent, diacritic, stress mark: acute accent, grave accent |
| subsaig, -e, -ean, ainb.: | |
| suibseig, ainb.: | subject: |
| fàilte! | welcome! |
| ceud mìle faìlte | welcome! (lit. ‘a thousand welcomes’) |
| ciamar a tha thu (fhèin)? – tha mi gu math | how are you (yourself)? – I am well |
| ciamar a tha thu a’ faireachdainn? | how do you feel? |
| I know… | |
| seo m’ athair | this is my father |
| seo mo phiuthar | this is my sister |
| is aithne dhomh … – d’ athair / do mhàthair – do duine / do bhean | I know… – your father / mother – your husband / wife |
| càit’ a bheil? – air an – air cùl an – anns an | where is it? – on the – behind the – in the |
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