De ⁊ A - Eachdraidh nam mùthaidhean

Susanharris 04:17, 27 dhen Dàmhair 2013

2013-10-27T04:17:47Z

Akerbeltz: Akerbeltz moved page DE ⁊ A to De ⁊ A

2013-05-02T22:40:26Z

Akerbeltz moved page DE ⁊ A to De ⁊ A

Akerbeltz 22:29, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T22:29:34Z

Akerbeltz 20:58, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:58:04Z

Akerbeltz 20:57, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:57:35Z

Akerbeltz 20:56, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:56:38Z

Akerbeltz 20:55, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:55:15Z

Akerbeltz 20:55, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:55:05Z

Akerbeltz 20:54, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:54:58Z

Akerbeltz 20:54, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013

2013-05-02T20:54:47Z

@@ Loidhne 1: / Loidhne 1: @@
-You will probably have come across this somewhat odd looking preposition already - it occurs quite a lot in the written language and perhaps even more often in the spoken language.  You may also have come across authors of grammar books lamenting its existence going back as far as the year dot.
+You'll probably have come across <span style="color: #008000;">a</span> - this somewhat odd looking preposition already. It occurs quite a lot in the written language and perhaps even more often in the spoken language. You may also have come across authors of grammar books lamenting its existence going back as far as the year dot.
-The reason they are lamenting is down to the fact that in colloquial speech Gaelic has merged two preposition - de and do into a.  But there is little point in closing your eyes to reality - this funny a is here to stay so we have to learn how to deal with it.  Here's a few examples to begin with:
+The reason they're lamenting comes down to the fact that in colloquial speech Gaelic has merged two prepositions - <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> and <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> into <span style="color: #008000;">a</span>. But there's little point in closing your eyes to reality - this funny <span style="color: #008000;">a</span> is here to stay, so we have to learn how to deal with it. Here are a few examples to begin with:
 {| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
@@ Loidhne 23: / Loidhne 23: @@
 |}
-First, let us take a look at how on earth you get from <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> and <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> to a schwa.  Quite easily actually if you remember a) that function particles lead a precarious life and that b) lenition is rife in the Celtic languages.
+First, let's look at how on earth you get from <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> and <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> to a schwa. Actually, it's quite easy if you remember first, that function particles lead a precarious life, and second, that lenition is rife in the Celtic languages.
 {| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
@@ Loidhne 32: / Loidhne 32: @@
 |-
 |}
-More or less like that anyway.  It's not 100% clear cut because as you can see in the third example above, <span style="color: #008000;">do + a</span> gets merged into <span style="color: #008000;">dh'</span>.  The legitimate question to ask here is how a language can merge two words which mean opposite things.  The reason is context.
+Anyway, things went more or less like. It's not 100% clear cut because, as you can see in the third example above, <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> + <span style="color: #008000;">a</span> gets merged into <span style="color: #008000;">dh'</span>. Here, the legitimate question to ask is how a language can merge two words which mean opposite things. The reason is context.
-Languages rely heavily on context and what is known as "knowledge of the world" to encode meaning.  Take one on Groucho Marx' famous quotes: "I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas".  This sentence is funny because it can have two meanings - either that you were wearing the pyjamas or that the elephant was in your pyjamas.  Because you're watching a Marx Brothers movie, you expect a joke so it's potentially ambiguous.  But if you were telling this story to a friend who knows you do a lot of game hunting in Africa, he will infer that you were wearing your own pyjamas when you shot the poor pachyderm. Or take the sentence "Frank believed that he would succeed".  Who will succeed, Frank or some other chap?  You can't really tell, but then again, language is seldom completely without context.
+Languages rely heavily on context and what is known as "knowledge of the world" to encode meaning. Take one of Groucho Marx' famous quotes: "I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas". This sentence is funny because it can have two meanings - either that you were wearing your pyjamas or that the elephant was in your pyjamas. Because you're watching a Marx Brothers movie, you expect a joke so it's potentially ambiguous. But, if you were telling this story to a friend who knows you do a lot of game hunting in Africa, he will infer that you were wearing your own pyjamas when you shot the poor pachyderm. Or take the sentence "Frank believed that he would succeed". Who will succeed, Frank or some other chap? You can't really tell, but then again, language is seldom completely without context.
-Which is exactly what is happening here.  Take the first example - <span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e a dh'Éirinn</span>.  There is only one logical solution as to what the intended meaning is, namely that the intended meaning is to.  Simply because you couldn't make a sentence like *<span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e de dh'Éirinn</span> without getting funny looks in the pub.  Take another one - <span style="color: #008000;">cha robh dad a thìde agam</span>.  It can only be an underlying <span style="color: #008000;">de</span>, because otherwise it just doesn't make any sense.  That is why spoken Gaelic can afford to merge these two words.
+Which is exactly what is happening here. Take the first example - <span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e a dh'Éirinn</span>. There is only one logical solution as to what the intended meaning is, namely that the intended meaning is "to". Simply because you could not make a sentence like *<span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e de dh'Éirinn</span> without getting funny looks in the pub.  Take another one - <span style="color: #008000;">cha robh dad a thìde agam</span>.  It can only be an underlying <span style="color: #008000;">de</span>, otherwise it just does not make sense. Context is the reason why spoken Gaelic can afford to merge these two words.
-So it's perfectly ok to use this a, especially in spoken Gaelic and even in written Gaelic.  If the outcome is ambiguous and you want to be 100% certain you don't get misunderstood, you can use de or do as appropriate.
+So, it's perfectly OK to use this <span style="color: #008000;">a</span>, especially in spoken Gaelic and even in written Gaelic. If the outcome is ambiguous and you want to be 100% certain you are not misunderstood, you can use <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> or <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> as appropriate.
 <br />
 <br />
 {{Teamplaid:Roimhearan}}

@@ Loidhne 5: / Loidhne 5: @@
 {| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e a dh'Éirinn</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">he went to Ireland</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">chaidh e a dh'Éirinn</span> || he went to Ireland
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">thig a Chanada</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">come to Canada</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">thig a Chanada</span> || come to Canada
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">thug e duais dh'athair</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">he gave a prize to his father</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">thug e duais dh'athair</span> || he gave a prize to his father
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">gu leòr a dh'ùbhlan</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">enough (of) apples</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">gu leòr a dh'ùbhlan</span> || enough (of) apples
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">a bheag a dh'ùbhlan</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">a few (of) apples</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">a bheag a dh'ùbhlan</span> || a few (of) apples
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">càil a dh'fhios</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">any (of) knowledge</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">càil a dh'fhios</span> || any (of) knowledge
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">dad a thìde</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">any (of) time</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">dad a thìde</span> || any (of) time
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">a latha 's a dh'oidhche</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">by day and night</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">a latha 's a dh'oidhche</span> || by day and night
 |-
 |}

@@ Loidhne 39: / Loidhne 39: @@
 So it's perfectly ok to use this a, especially in spoken Gaelic and even in written Gaelic.  If the outcome is ambiguous and you want to be 100% certain you don't get misunderstood, you can use de or do as appropriate.
+<br />
+<br />
 {{Teamplaid:Roimhearan}}

@@ Loidhne 27: / Loidhne 27: @@
 {| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
 |-
-| do [dɔ] || ⇨ || dha [ɣa] || ⇨ || dha [ɣə] || ⇨ || a [ə]
+| <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> [dɔ] || ⇨ || <span style="color: #008000;">dha</span> [ɣa] || ⇨ || <span style="color: #008000;">dha</span> [ɣə] || ⇨ || <span style="color: #008000;">a</span> [ə]
 |-
-| de [dʲe] || ⇨ || dhe [ʝe] || ⇨ || dhe [ʝə] || ⇨ || a [ə]
+| <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> [dʲe] || ⇨ || <span style="color: #008000;">dhe</span> [ʝe] || ⇨ || || || <span style="color: #008000;">a</span> [ə]
 |-
 |}

@@ Loidhne 2: / Loidhne 2: @@
 The reason they are lamenting is down to the fact that in colloquial speech Gaelic has merged two preposition - de and do into a.  But there is little point in closing your eyes to reality - this funny a is here to stay so we have to learn how to deal with it.  Here's a few examples to begin with:
 {| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
@@ Loidhne 26: / Loidhne 25: @@
 First, let us take a look at how on earth you get from <span style="color: #008000;">do</span> and <span style="color: #008000;">de</span> to a schwa.  Quite easily actually if you remember a) that function particles lead a precarious life and that b) lenition is rife in the Celtic languages.
-do [d̪̊ɔ] > dha [ɣa] > dha [ɣə] > a [ə]
+{| style="width: 40%;" border="0" align="center"
+|-
-de [d̊ʲe] > dhe [ʝe] > dhe [ʝə] > a [ə]
+| do [dɔ] || ⇨ || dha [ɣa] || ⇨ || dha [ɣə] || ⇨ || a [ə]
+|-
 More or less like that anyway.  It's not 100% clear cut because as you can see in the third example above, <span style="color: #008000;">do + a</span> gets merged into <span style="color: #008000;">dh'</span>.  The legitimate question to ask here is how a language can merge two words which mean opposite things.  The reason is context.

← Mùthadh nas sine	Mùthadh on 22:40, 2 dhen Chèitean 2013
(Gun diofar eatarra)

@@ Loidhne 10: / Loidhne 10: @@
 | <span style="color: #008000;">thig a Chanada</span> <span style="color: #008000;">come to Canada</span>
 |-
-| <span style="color: #008000;">thug e duais dh'athair</span> || ⇨ || <span style="color: #008000;">he gave a prize to his father</span>
+| <span style="color: #008000;">thug e duais dh'athair</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">he gave a prize to his father</span>
 |-
 | <span style="color: #008000;">gu leòr a dh'ùbhlan</span> || <span style="color: #008000;">enough (of) apples</span>