Beagan gràmair

Chan eil a' mhórchuid dhen roinn seo air a sgrìobhadh fhathast agus is e dìreach toiseach tòiseachaidh a tha seo, ach seo liosta dhe na rudan a bhios ann. Ged nach eil sinn a' dèanamh aoraidh do Dhia Briathrachais Cànanachais, thà sinn a' cleachdadh fhaclan teicnigeach - mura cleachd, bhiodh e duilich mìneachadh gu soilleir na tha sinn an dùil a ràdh. Ach na gabh dragh, gheibh thu mìneachadh dhen a h-uile bhriathar.

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There is not much in this section yet as we are just starting out, but this is a list of things that eventually will be found here. This is definitely not a temple to the God of Grammatical Terminology, but we do use both grammar and technical terms because it would otherwise get very difficult to express the things we need to say clearly. But not to worry, you will find detailed explanations of every term used.

Spot the difference with Akerbeltz ...

In line with Blas na Gàidhlig and other resources, we're using a slightly easier form of the IPA for these pages these days. No, we haven't dumbed down, there's still the same amount of detail, there are just fewer squiggles. Here's a list of the symbols used which differ from "full" IPA. Everything else is the same.

Full IPA	IPA light
l̪ˠ	L
n̪ˠ	N
rˠ	R
ʎ	Lʲ
ɲ	Nʲ
ɾ	r
ɾʲ	rʲ

On the Importance of Pronunciation and other Forewords

• Can't I do pronunciation later? or Why children are different
• What's wrong with "imitated pronunciation" and how to read the IPA
• A printable pronunciation guide to Gaelic spelling
• A Word on Manx Spelling
• The Famous Sími or The Myth of International Words

Phonetics or "What sounds does Gaelic have?"

• Voiced vs Voiceless or Why does b sound like p but not really?
• Broad vs Slender
• Labials or Sounds made at your Lips
• Dentals or Sounds made at your Teeth
• Velars or Sounds further back
• Liquids or - L N R in Gaelic
• The History of L N and R

Phonology or "How do these sounds interact?"

• Lenition and why that is your mothers fault (see also 2.)
• The homo-organic rule or When not to lenite
• Nasalisation or When to speak through your nose
• Nasalisation 2 or Why am I married to [ə n̴̪uɲə ag̊am]?
• Answer Verbs or Thuirt vs Thubhairt and what's in it
• Final devoicing or Why does <naoi> sound like [n̴̪ɯiç]?
• Prosthetic F, backformation or Eagal vs feagal
• Intrusive T or Why we're writing sròn not *stròn
• Compensatory lengthening and The secret of time
• B' àill leibh or Fast speech
• B' àill leibh or fast speech 2
• Stress placement and Why going up is a bad thing
• Initial High Front Vowels or Where the [j] in Eòrna comes from
• Svarabhakti or The Helping Vowel
• When to Pronounce Final h (and when not to)

Morphology or "How are words put together?"

The Verb System

• The Imperative or How to order people around
• Éiridh e is ceannaidh e? or the Future tense
• Epistemic Modality or Do I HAVE to read this?
• Stative Verbs or How to run in suspended animation

The Noun System

• The Case System or What the heck is a vocative?
• Possessives and syllabic structure or Ar n-Athair a tha air nèamh
• Déan moch-éirigh mhór or The gender of verbal nouns
• Màthraichean-céile or Kinship
• As t-samhradh or The mysterious t-
• Genitves and Possessives
• Genitives in -(th)rach

Adverbs & Demonstratives and other annoying little words

• Adverbs or Thall 's a-bhos
• Demonstratives or An cat ud thall
• A h-uile? Na h-uile?? Càch??? Gach????
• De do rium rium or How to crack prepositions
• Do Re Im or The History of the Prepositions
• PPP - Pronouns, prepositions and their pronunciation

Numerals

• Numerals or How to write a cheque in Gaelic
• The new-old numerals or Why this sucks
• Hóigh, an dithis agaibh! or Personal numerals

Tense/Aspect or "The concept of time"

• Expressions of Time

Syntax or "How to make a sentence/phrase"

• VSO and Master Yoda
• Adjective Ordering
• Chaidh e dhan chéilidh is mi cho tinn or The mystery of the agus
• Aig, air agus ann an or The severed head
• Experience vs Disposition or Tha mi sùnndach
• Existentials or I think therefore I am

The Corpus or "Confusing Words"

• Àilean and the Mystery Bog

Dialects and other Stuff

• Pre-aspiration or What the [h] in <mac> is about
• The Breaking of Long /e:/ or Feuchainn vs Fiachainn
• /aːɾd̪̊/vs /aːɾd̪̊/ or Where the <sh> comes from
• Scribes, Shorthand and How to Save on Parchment

The History of Gaelic

• Minding Your P's and Q's or Why Porcom is a Headache