PPP - Pronouns, prepositions and their pronunciation

In this section we'll try to give you a fairly comprehensive overview of the Gaelic prepositions - including some of the more obscure issues and a fresh view on some old friends.

But before we start, a quick anecdote about rules in language.

Linguists will tell you that some languages are PRO-drop languages and some are not. PRO stands for 'pronoun' and PRO-drop means that in some languages you're permitted to drop the pronoun in a sentence. Generally, this is allowed because the verb alone already marks the grammatical person (i.e. you, me, he, they etc.). Spanish is a PRO-drop language in which you can either say yo tengo una cebra or tengo una cebra and both mean "I have a zebra." On the other hand, linguists will tell you that English is not a PRO-drop language, never ever, ever. Or is it? This morning, I asked my partner a question: "have you ever used the word "prune" as an insult?" The answer came straight back: "might have done". Can YOU see a pronoun anywhere? I can't. Anyway, this isn't a blog, but I thought I'd remind us all that languages are unruly things. While there are rules that you can learn and follow, they rarely apply in 100% of cases. Still, 99% isn't bad either, is it?

For the most part, they're arranged in groups according to their first element, for example, for mu choinneimh, look under mu.

How to remember them? Wellll... I get asked that a lot. I've tried but it may not be everyone's cup of sùgh an eòrna - but just in case.

À

à	[a]
às an	[as əN(ʲ)]
asam	[asəm]
asad	[asəd]
às	[as]
aiste	[aʃdʲə]
asainn	[asɪNʲ]
asaibh	[asɪv]
asta	[asdə]

Aig

aig	[ɛgʲ]
aig an	[ɛgʲ əN(ʲ)]
agam	[agəm]
agad	[agəd]
aige	[ɛgʲə]
aice	[ɛçgʲə]
againn	[agɪNʲ]
agaibh	[agɪv]
aca	[axgə]

Aig + possessive pronoun

'gam	[gam]
'gad	[gəd]
'ga	[ga]
'ga (h-)	[ga (h)]
'gar (n-)	[gar (n)]
'gur (n-)	[gar (n)]
'gan	[gan]

Air

air	[ɛrʲ]
air an	[ɛrʲ əN(ʲ)]
orm	[ɔrɔm]
ort	[ɔRʃd]
air	[ɛrʲ]
oirre	[ɔRə]
oirnn	[ɔːRNʲ]
oirbh	[ɔrʲɪv]
orra	[ɔRə]

Ann an

More about ann an

ann an	[ãũN əN(ʲ)]
anns an	[ãũNs əN(ʲ)]
annam	[ũNəm]
annad	[ũNəd]
ann	[ãũN]
innte	[ĩːNʲdʲə]
annainn	[aNɪNʲ]
annaibh	[aNɪv]
annta	[ãũNdə]

Ann an + possessive pronoun

'nam	[nam]
'nad	[nad]
'na	[na]
'na (h-)	[na (h)]
'nar (n-)	[nar (n)]
'nur (n-)	[nar (n)]
'nan	[nan]

De

More about de

de	[də]
dhen (an)	[ʝɛnəN(ʲ)]
dhìom	[ʝĩə̃m]
dhìot	[ʝied]
dheth	[ʝe]
dhith	[ʝi]
dhinn	[ʝĩNʲ]
dhibh	[ʝiv]
dhiubh	[ʝu]

Do

do	[də]
dhan (an)	[ɣan], [ɣanəN(ʲ)]
dhomh	[ɣɔ̃]
dhut	[ɣuhd]
dha	[ɣa]
dhi	[ʝi]
dhuinn	[ɣɯ̃ĩNʲ]
dhuibh	[ɣɯiv]
dhaibh	[ɣaiv]

Eadar

eadar	[edər]
eadar an	[edər əN(ʲ)]
eadarainn	[edərɪNʲ]
eadaraibh	[edərɪv]
eatarra	[ehdəRə]

Fo

fo	[fɔ]
fon (an)	[fɔnəN(ʲ)]
fodham	[fo.əm]
fodhad	[fo.əd]
fodha	[fo.ə]
foidhpe	[foihbə]
fodhainn	[fo.ɪNʲ]
fodhaibh	[fo.ɪv]
fodhpa	[fohbə]

Gu

gu	[gu]
gun chun an	[gunəN(ʲ)] [xunəN(ʲ)]
thugam	[hugəm]
thugad	[hugəd]
thuige	[hɯgʲə]
thuice	[hɯçgʲə]
thugainn	[hugɪNʲ]
thugaibh	[hugɪv]
thuca	[huxgə]

Le

le	[le]
leis an	[leʃ əN(ʲ)]
leam	[ləm]
leat	[lahd]
leis	[leʃ]
leatha	[le.ə]
leinn	[lẽĩNʲ]
leibh	[leiv]
leotha	[lo.ə]

Mu

mu	[mə]
mun	[munəN(ʲ)]
umam	[ũməm]
umad	[ũməd]
uime	[ɯ̃imə]
uimpe	[ɯ̃imbə]
umainn	[ũmɪNʲ]
umaibh	[ũmɪv]
umpa	[ũːmbə]

O

o	[ɔ]
on	[ɔnəN(ʲ)]
uam	[uəm]
uat	[uəhd]
uaidhe	[uajə]
uaipe	[uəihbə]
uainn	[ũə̃ĩNʲ]
uaibh	[uəiv]
uapa	[uəhbə]

Ri

ri	[rʲi]
ris an	[rʲiʃ əN(ʲ)]
rium	[rʲum]
riut	[rʲuʰd]
ris	[rʲiʃ]
rithe	[rʲi.ə]
r(u)inn	[rɯ̃ĩNʲ]
r(u)ibh	[rɯiv]
riutha	[ru.ə]

Tro

tro	[trɔ]
tron an	[trɔnəN(ʲ)]
tromham	[trɔ.əm]
tromhad	[trɔ.əd]
troimhe	[trɔjə]
troimhpe	[trɔihbə]
tromhainn	[trɔ.ɪNʲ]
tromhaibh	[trɔ.ɪv]
tromhpa	[trɔ̃hbə]

Thar

thar	[har]
thar an	[har əN(ʲ)]
tharam	[harəm]
tharad	[harəd]
thairis air	[harʲɪʃ ɛrʲ]
thairte	[haRʃdʲə]
tharainn	[harɪNʲ]
tharaibh	[harɪv]
tharta	[haRʃdə]

Personal pronouns

mi	[mĩː]	[mi]
thu tu	[uː] [duː]	[u] [du]
e	[ɛː]	[ə]
i	[iː]	[i]
sinn	[ʃiːNʲ]	[ʃiNʲ]
sibh	[ʃiːv]	[ʃiv]
iad	[iəd]	[əd]

Personal pronouns with emphatic suffixes

mise	[mĩʃə]
thusa tusa	[usə] [dusə]
esan	[ɛsən]
ise	[iʃə]
sinne	[ʃiNʲə]
sibhse	[ʃiːvʃə]
iadsan	[iədsən]

Possessive pronoun

mo chù	[mə'xuː]
do chù	[də'xuː]
a chù	[ə'xuː]
a cù	[ə'kuː]
ar cù	[ər'kuː]
ur cù	[ər'kuː]
an cù	[əŋ'kuː]

Possessive pronoun with emphatic suffixes

mo chù-sa	[mə'xuːsə]
do chù-sa	[də'xuːsə ]
a chù-san	[ə'xuːsən]
a cù-se	[ə'kuːʃə]
ar cù-ne	[ər'kuːnə]
ur cù-se	[ər'kuːʃə]
an cù-san	[ən'kuːsən]

Possessive pronoun with initial vowel

m' anam	[manam]
d' anam	[danam]
anam	[anam]
a h-anam	[ə'hanam]
ar n-anam	[ər'nanam]
ur n-anam	[ər'nanam]
an anam	[ə'nanam]

Possessive pronoun with initial vowel and emphatic suffixes

m' anam-sa	[manamsə]
d' anam-sa	[danamsə]
anam-san	[anamsən]
a h-anam-se	[ə'hanamʃə]
ar n-anam-ne	[ər'nanamnə]
ur n-anam-se	[ər'nanamʃə]
an anam-san	[ə'nanamsən]