The nominals of Irish include the nouns, the definite article, and the adjectives. The declension of these forms is discussed on this page. (For pronouns, see Irish morphology.) A noun, or noun substantive, is a part of speech (a word or phrase) that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality. ... An article is a word that is put next to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made to the noun. ... An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually making its meaning more specific. ... In linguistics, declension is a feature of inflected languages: generally, the alteration of a noun to indicate its grammatical role. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase with or without a determiner, such as you and they in English. ... The morphology of Irish is in some respects typical of an Indo-European language. ...

Nouns

Gender

Nouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine. While gender should be learned when the noun is learned, there are some rules that can be followed: All languages can use different nouns to differentiate between people of different biological or social gender, e. ...

In general, words ending in a broad consonant are masculine, while words ending in a slender consonant are feminine. The phonology of the Irish language varies from dialect to dialect. ... The phonology of the Irish language varies from dialect to dialect. ...

There are some exceptions, mostly dealing with specific endings and suffixes; for example, words ending in -óir/-eoir and -ín (with a slender /rʲ/ and /nʲ/ respectively) are masculine, while words ending in -óg/-eog (with a broad /g/) are feminine. This leads to some unexpected gender assignments, such as cailín 'girl' (masculine), and gasóg 'boy scout' (feminine). Suffix has meanings in linguistics, nomenclature and computer science. ...

Case

Irish has four cases: common (nominative), vocative, genitive, and dative. In linguistics, declension is a feature of inflected languages: generally, the alteration of a noun to indicate its grammatical role. ... The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun. ... The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed, found in Latin among other languages. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... The dative case is a grammatical case for nouns and/or pronouns. ...

Nominative

The nominative is used in the following functions:

1. Sentence subject

   Tá an cat ag ól. 'The cat is drinking.'

2. Sentence object

   Bhris Seán an fhuinneog. 'Seán broke the window.'

3. Predicate of the copula

   Is amadán é. 'He is an idiot.'

4. Object of the prepositions gan 'without' and go dtí 'up to'

   gan an t-airgead 'without the money'

   go dtí an t-am 'up to the time'

The word copula originates from the Latin noun for a link or tie that connects two different things. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with adposition. ...

Vocative

The vocative is used in direct address, and is always preceded by the particle a, which triggers lenition. (In spoken Irish this particle is often omitted, especially before a vowel sound.) The first declension is the only declension in which the vocative is distinct from the nominative. In linguistics, the term particle is often employed as a useful catch-all lacking a strict definition. ... Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterized by its initial consonant mutations. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-18, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

• Cá bhfuil tú, a mhic? 'Where are you, son?'
• A Sheáin, tar anseo! 'Seán, come here!'

Genitive

The genitive indicates possession and material of composition:

• hata an fhir 'the man's hat'
• clann na mná 'the woman's children'
• coinnleoirí an easpaig 'the bishop's candelabra'
• fáinne óir 'a ring of gold, a golden ring'
• bróga leathair 'shoes of leather, leather shoes'

The object of a verbal noun also requires the genitive: A verbal noun is a noun formed directly as an inflexion of a verb or a verb stem, sharing at least in part its constructions. ...

• ag caitheamh airgid 'spending money'

The object of a compound preposition is in the genitive. Formally, these prepositions are actually prepositional phrases.

• ar chúl an dorais 'behind the door' (lit. 'on the back of the door')
• ar feadh míosa 'one month long' (lit. 'for the duration of one month')
• ar son na hÉireann 'for Ireland's sake'

Dative

The dative is used with the object of most simple prepositions except gan and go dtí. In the standard language, the dative of a noun is identical to the nominative, but some dialects have distinct datives in the second and fifth declensions. Even in the standard language, Éire 'Ireland' has a distinct dative: Éirinn. A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ...

• ag an athair 'at the father'
• as an teach 'out of the house'
• ar an arán 'on the bread'
• in oráiste 'in an orange'
• go hifreann 'to hell'
• leis an airgead 'with the money'
• ó Éirinn 'from Ireland'

Declension

There are five recognized declensions in Irish. The makeup of the declensions depends on three factors:

1. the gender of the noun
2. the formation of the genitive singular
3. relation of genitive singular to nominative plural

The following chart describes the characteristics of each declension class:

First

The first declension is made up of masculine nouns. The nominative singular ends in a broad consonant, which is made slender in the genitive singular. The most common formation of the plural has the opposite pattern: the nominative ends in a slender consonant, the genitive in a broad consonant.

When /x/ in the gen. sing. and nom. pl. of a polysyllabic word is made slender, it also becomes voiced, thus: Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ...

• /x/ > /xʲ/ > /j/. /əj/ becomes /iː/, and is written -(a)igh.

Some nouns undergo a vowel change before the slender consonant of the genitive singular/nominative plural:

• ball, baill /baːl, bailʲ/ - an (internal) organ, component part
• bonn, boinn /buːn, biːnʲ/ - a sole, coin
• ceann, cinn /kʲaːn, kʲiːnʲ/ - a head
• fear, fir - a man
• iasc, éisc - a fish
• mac, mic /mak, mʲikʲ/ - a son (Note: The first consonant is made slender in the gen.sg./nom.pl. as well!)
• poll, poill /poːl, pailʲ/ - a hole

Many words of this declension form the plural with one of the endings -(a)í, -ta, -tha, -anna. These are known as "weak plural" endings, which means the genitive plural is identical to the nominative plural. Some examples:

• aonach, Gen. Sg. aonaigh, Pl. aontaí - a fair
• bealach, Gen. Sg. bealaigh, Pl. bealaí - a way
• carr /kaːr/, Gen. Sg. cairr /kaːr/, Pl. carranna /karənə/ - a car
• glór, Gen. Sg. glóir, Pl. glórtha - a voice
• leanbh, Gen. Sg. linbh, Pl. leanaí - a child
• néal, Gen. Sg. néil, Pl. néalta - a cloud
• rós, Gen. Sg. róis, Pl. rósanna - a rose
• samhradh, Gen. Sg. samhraidh, Pl. samhraí - a summer
• scéal, Gen. Sg. scéil, Pl. scéalta - a story
• toradh, Gen. Sg. toraidh, Pl. torthaí - fruit

Some nouns have a strong plural (a plural where the genitive is different from the nominative) in -a:

• ceart, Gen. Sg. cirt, Nom. Pl. cearta, Gen. Pl. ceart - a right
• cleas, Gen. Sg. clis, Nom. Pl. cleasa, Gen. Pl. cleas - a trick
• úll, Gen. Sg. úill, Nom. Pl. úlla, Gen. Pl. úll - an apple

Other weak plural formations are found in:

• bóthar, bóthair; bóithre - road
• breitheamh, breithimh; breithiúna - judge
• briathar, briathair; briathra - verb
• cloigeann, cloiginn; cloigne - skull
• doras, dorais; doirse - door
• ollamh, ollaimh; ollúna - professor
• solas, solais; soilse - light

Second

The second declension is made up of mostly feminine nouns, and features a nominative singular form that can end in either a broad or a slender consonant. The genitive singular ends in a slender consonant followed by -e. The most common plural form has a broad consonant followed by -a in the nominative, and a broad consonant alone in the genitive. The vocative is the same as the nominative, as is the dative in the standard language.

In Connacht it is often the case that all nouns of the second declension in the nom. sg. end with a slender consonant (e.g. bróig 'a shoe').

In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant alone (in effect the dative sg. is formed by dropping the -e from the genitive sg.), e.g. i mbróig 'in a shoe'. (Historically, Connacht nominative forms like bróig are descended from the old dative.)

When /x/ in the Gen. Sing. is made slender, it is also voiced, so /x/ > /xʲ/ > /j/. /əjə/ becomes /iː/, and is written -(a)í.

Polysyllabic words that end with a slender consonant take a weak plural in -í:

Many words in this declension form a weak plural with one of the endings -t(h)a,-te, -(e)acha or -eanna:

• áit, áite, áiteanna - place
• coill, coille, coillte /kailʲ, kelʲə, kailʲtʲə/ - forest
• iníon, iníne, iníonacha - daughter
• obair, oibre, oibreacha - work
• spéir, spéire, spéartha - sky
• tír, tíre, tírthe - country
• tonn, toinne, tonnta /tuːn, tinʲə, tuːntə/ - wave
• ubh, uibhe, uibheacha - egg

Other weak plural formations are found in:

• fiacail, fiacaile; fiacla - tooth
• gualainn, gualainne; guaillí - shoulder
• scian, scine; sceana - knife (NB irregular genitive singular)
• sliabh, sléibhe; sléibhte (m.) - mountain (note irregular genitive singular and masculine gender)

Third

The third declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by the genitive singular in -a. The majority of nouns in this class form the plural in -(a)í. The final consonant of the stem may be broad or slender: it retains its quality in the plural, but is always broad in the genitive singular.

Feminine nouns in -áint and -úint lose their t in the Gen. Sg.; those in -irt have -th- instead of -t- in the Gen. Sg.

• bagairt, bagartha, bagairtí (f.) - threat
• canúint, canúna, canúintí (f.) - dialect

Many words in this declension form the plural with one of the endings -anna or -acha:

• am, ama, amanna (m.) /aːm, amə, amənə/ - time
• anam, anama, anamacha (m.) - soul
• droim, droma, dromanna (m.) /driːmʲ, drumə, drumənə/ - back
• loch, locha, lochanna (m.) - lake
• troid, troda, troideanna (f.) - fight, struggle

Fourth

The fourth declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by a genitive singular that is identical in form to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The singular may end in a vowel or a consonant (usually the diminutive suffix -ín). The most common plural ending is -(a)í.

Many words of this declension form the plural with the following endings -tha/-t(h)e, -((e)a)nna or -((e)a)cha:

• ainmhí; ainmhithe (m.) - animal
• aturnae; aturnaetha (m.) - attorney
• baile; bailte (m.) - village
• bus; busanna (m.) - bus
• cliamhain; cliamhaineacha (m.) - son-in-law
• cneá; cneácha (f.) - wound, sore
• cnó; cnónna (m.) - nut
• cró; cróite (m.) - outhouse; eye of a needle
• dlí; dlíthe (m.) - law
• dosaen; dosaenacha (m.) - dozen
• ga; gathanna (m.) - ray, radius
• gé; géanna (f.) - goose
• léine; léine, léinte (f.) - shirt
• rá; ráite (m.) - saying
• rí; ríthe (m.) - king
• sloinne; sloinnte /slinʲə, slinʲə, sliːnʲtʲə/ (m.) - last name
• teanga; teangacha (f.) - language, tongue
• tine; tinte (f.) - fire

Other weak plural formations are found in:

• ainm; ainmneacha (m.) - name
• airí; airíona (m.) - characteristic, symptom
• aithne; aitheanta (f.) - commandment
• bruach; bruacha (m.) - bank (of river etc.)
• cine; ciníocha (m.) - race, tribe
• duine; daoine (m.) - person, human being
• gabha; gaibhne (m.) - blacksmith
• gnó; gnóthaí (m.) - business
• oíche; oícheanta (f.) - night
• teanga; teangacha (f.) - tongue, language

One noun in this class has a strong plural:

• bó, bó; ba, bó (f.) - cow

Fifth

The fifth declension is made up mostly of feminine nouns and is characterized by a genitive singular that ends in a broad consonant that has been added to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The most common plural is weak, formed by adding -a to the genitive singular.

In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant (in effect the dative sg. is formed by palatalizing the genitive sg.), for example, do phearsain 'to a person', ón gcathraigh 'from the city'. In Éire, Éireann 'Ireland' the dative Éirinn is still used in the standard language. Munster (Irish: An Mhumhain, IPA: ) is the southernmost province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. ... A literary language is a register of a language that is used in writing, and which often differs in lexicon and syntax from the language used in speech. ...

Some words form the genitive singular by changing the final consonant of the nominative singular to broad. The plural is then weak -eacha.

• abhainn, abhann, aibhneacha /aunʲ, aun, avʲnʲəxə/ - river
• athair, athar, aithreacha (m.) - father
• deartháir, dearthár, deartháireacha /dʲrʲahaːrʲ, dʲrʲahaːr, dʲrʲahaːrʲəxə/ (m.) - brother
• máthair, máthar, máithreacha - mother

Other weak plural formations are found in:

• bráthair, bráthar; bráithre (m.) - brother (monk), friar
• cara, carad; cairde /karə, karəd; kaːrdʲə/ (m.) - friend
• namhaid, namhad; naimhde (m.) - enemy
• Nollaig, Nollag; Nollaigí - Christmas

Some nouns have strong plurals; here the genitive singular and genitive plural have the same form:

• caora, caorach; caoirigh, caorach - sheep
• lacha, lachan; lachain, lachan - duck

Verbal nouns

The most productive verbal nouns end with -(e)adh (1st conjugation) or -(i)ú (2nd conjugation). These originally belonged to the third declension, but synchronically are best regarded as separate declensions. A verbal noun is a noun formed directly as an inflexion of a verb or a verb stem, sharing at least in part its constructions. ...

The 1st conjugation verbal noun in -(e)adh has a genitive singular in -te/-ta and a plural in -t(a)í.

• briseadh, briste; bristí - breaking
• moladh, molta; moltaí - praising; recommendation

The 2nd conjugation verbal noun in -(i)ú has a genitive singular in -(a)ithe and a plural in -(u)ithe. These endings are pronounced the same regardless of the spelling distinction.

• scrúdú, scrúdaithe; scrúduithe - examining, examination
• síniú, sínithe; sínithe - stretching

Irregular nouns

The following nouns are declined irregularly:

• bean, mná; mná, ban (f.) - woman
• deirfiúr, deirféar; deirfiúracha (f.) /dʲrʲefʲuːr, dʲrʲefʲeːr, dʲrʲefʲuːrəxə/ - sister
• deoch, dí; deochanna /dʲox, dʲiː, dʲoxənə/ (f.) - drink
• Dia, Dé; déithe (m.) - God
• lá, lae; laethanta (m.) - day
• leaba, leapa; leapacha (f.) - bed
• mí, míosa; míonna (f.) - month
• muir, mara; mara (f.) - sea
• olann, olla (f.) - wool
• talamh, talaimh (m.) or talún (f.); tailte - land
• teach, tí; tithe (m.) - house

Article

The definite article has two forms in Irish: an and na. Their distribution depends on whether the noun is singular or plural, the case of the noun, and the initial sound of the noun. Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzards 1996 performance released on video and CD. The video/DVD and CD performances were both recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England. ...

Dative (i) is used with den 'from the', don 'to the', and sa(n) 'in the'. Dative (ii) is used with other prepositions.

There is no indefinite article in Irish, so depending on context cat can mean 'cat' or 'a cat'. An article is a word that is put next to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made to the noun. ...

Adjective

Almost all adjectives in Irish can be used either predicatively or attributively. A predicative adjective is one that forms a part of the predicate, like red in the sentence The car is red. An attributive adjective directly modifies a noun, as in the red car. An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually making its meaning more specific. ...

A predicate adjective in Irish does not inflect:

• Tá an fear sin beag. 'That man is small.'
• Tá na fir sin beag. 'Those men are small.'
• Tá an bhean seo beag. 'This woman is small.'
• Tá na mná seo beag. 'These women are small.'

A predicate adjective expressing a value judgment is often precded by the particle go. This particle attaches an h to a following vowel.

• Tá mé go maith. 'I'm fine' (lit.'I am good.')
• Tá an scéal go holc. 'The story is bad.'
• Bhí an aimsir go hálainn. 'The weather was beautiful.'

An attributive adjective mostly follows the noun and is inflected:

• an fear beag 'the small man'
• an fhir bhig 'of the small man' (gen.)

There are three classes of declension of adjectives in Irish, which correspond to the first four declensions of nouns:

First/Second declension

Third declension

Fourth declension

This declension does not inflect.

Irregular adjectives

Notes

• The nominative plural undergoes lenition only if the noun ends with a slender consonant: cait bhacacha 'lame cats'.

Otherwise, the adjective in the nominative plural does not lenite: táilliúrí bacacha 'lame tailors'. Lenition is a kind of consonant mutation that appears in many languages. ...

• The long form of the genitive plural (e.g. bochta, bacacha, ciúine) is used when the noun has a weak plural, e.g.

máithreacha bacacha 'of lame mothers'. The short form (e.g. bocht, bacach, ciúin) is used when the noun has a strong plural, e.g. cat bacach 'of lame cats'.

• The dative has the same form as the nominative.
• The vocative has the same form as the nominative except in the masculine singular of the 1st/2nd declension, where it has the same form as the genitive.

Comparative

Irish adjectives have a comparative form equivalent to the comparative and to the superlative in English. The comparative does not undergo inflexion and is the same as the feminine singular genitive in regular and many irregular adjectives. In grammar the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another. ... In grammar the superlative of an adjective or adverb indicates that a member of a set transcends the other members in some way. ...

Regular formation

Irregular forms

Syntax of comparison

There are two constructions to express the comparative:

1) Copula + comparative form + subject + ná ('than') + predicate. The preterite of the copula causes lenition, while the present tense does not.

• Ba thréine Cáit ná Cathal. 'Cáit was stronger than Cathal.'
• Is airde Seán ná mise. 'Seán is bigger than me.'
• B'óige an madra ná an cat. 'The dog was younger than the cat.'
• Is fearr Gaeilge bhrise ná Béarla clise. 'Broken Irish is better than clever English.'

2) níos/níb(a) + comparative + ná + predicate. Níos is used if the sentence is in the present or future tense.

Níb(a), which triggers lenition, is used if the sentence is in the past tense. Níb is used before words starting with vowels and níba before those starting with consonants.

• Tá an ghrian níos gile ná an ghealach. 'The sun is brighter than the moon.'
• Beidh Peadar níos saibhre ná a athair. 'Peadar will be richer than his father.'
• D'éirigh Peadar níba shaibhre ná a athair. 'Peadar became richer than his father.'
• Bhí Seán níb airde ná mise. 'Seán was bigger than me.'

A superlative is expressed as a relative clause: noun + is/ba/ab + comparative form.

• an cailín is tréine 'the strongest girl' (lit. 'the girl who is the strongest')
• an cailín ba thréine 'the strongest girl' (lit. 'the girl who was the strongest')
• an buachaill is óige 'the youngest boy' (lit.'the boy who is the youngest')
• an buachaill ab óige 'the youngest boy' (lit.'the boy who was the youngest')

See also

• Irish dialects
• Irish initial mutations
• Irish language
• Irish morphology
• Irish orthography
• Irish phonology
• Irish syntax
• Irish verbs