Irish Nouns A Reference Guide

by Carnie, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780199213757
• ISBN10: 0199213755
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book presents the first comprehensive reference on noun declensions in Modern Irish. Whereas traditional descriptions of noun inflection are notoriously complex and filled with exceptions and irregularities, this reference guide provides a systematic and straightforward characterization of nominal paradigms, which also captures important generalizations about the inflection of nouns. Andrew Carnie proposes ten declension classes instead of the traditional five and separates off seven major types of plural formation. He provides fully inflected paradigms for 1200 nouns, and a reference list of 10,000 Irish nouns annotated with their new declension class, their plural type and the form of the genitive singular and common case (nominative) plural. The book also includes parallel information on the inflection of adjectives and prepositions. This unique reference tool will be invaluable not only to language researchers and authors, but to teachers and students of the language, whether they are native speakers or beginners.

Author Biography

Andrew Carnie is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona where he has taught since 1998, before which he held teaching positions at Harvard University, MIT, and the University of Michigan. His 1999 MIT PhD thesis was Non-Verbal Predication and Head Movement. He is the co-editor of The Syntax of Verb Initial Languages (OUP 2002) and author of the textbooks Syntax (Blackwell 2002) and Constituent Structure published in Oxford Surveys in Syntax and Morphology (OUP 2008).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. ix
A Note on Errata	p. x
Abbreviations	p. xi
Preliminaries	p. 1
A note on dialects	p. 1
What is case?	p. 1
What is a declension?	p. 3
What is gender?	p. 4
Plural types	p. 4
Initial consonant changes and prefixes	p. 5
Articles, mutations, gender, number, and case	p. 11
Prepositions with and without articles	p. 12
Mutations without determiners	p. 13
Broad/slender and vowel changes	p. 14
Syncope	p. 16
An important note about vocatives, rare plurals, and rare words	p. 17
Inflecting Irish Nouns: Singular Declensions	p. 19
All singular cases are the same	p. 22
Genitive formed by attenuation	p. 22
Attenuation with orthographic -i-	p. 23
Attenuation by orthographic vowel change	p. 24
Genitive formed by broadening	p. 26
Suffixation of Schwa /∂/ (-e or -a)	p. 26
Suffix -e (/∂/)	p. 27
Suffix -e and attenuate final consonant	p. 27
Orthographic vowel change and suffix -e	p. 27
Attenuation and suffix -e; irregular prepositional form	p. 28
Syncope and suffix -e	p. 29
Suffix -a	p. 29
Suffix -a with broadening	p. 30
Suffix -a plus broadening by orthographic vowel change	p. 30
Final irt → eartha, final airt → artha	p. 31
Delete t and suffix -a, broaden if necessary	p. 32
Final → aingt → aingthe	p. 32
Syncope and suffix -a	p. 33
Genitive ends in broad -d	p. 33
Genitive ends in -n	p. 34
Genitive formed with -each/-ach	p. 34
Suffix -each	p. 34
Suffix -ach and broaden	p. 35
Broadening, syncope and suffix -ach	p. 35
Suffix -each and syncope	p. 36
Common singular ending in -ch	p. 36
Attenuation of final - Vch	p. 36
-(e)ach →(a)í in the gs.	p. 38
-ú →(a)ithe	p. 38
Irregular nouns	p. 39
Inflecting Irish Nouns: Plural Types	p. 40
Attenuation	p. 40
Weak plural, attenuation with -i-	p. 41
Weak plural, attenuation by orthographic vowel change	p. 42
Forms ending in -ch; -(a)igh	p. 43
Suffix schwa /∂/ (orthographic -e or -a)	p. 44
Suffix -e broaden base for gp.	p. 44
Suffix -a	p. 44
Suffix -a and broadening	p. 45
Irregular forms with weak -a or -e suffix	p. 46
Suffix -e with syncope, attenuate if necessary	p. 46
Suffix -a with broadening if necessary	p. 47
Suffix -a and syncope	p. 47
Suffix -n and suffix -a	p. 47
Irregular forms with -a or -e suffix.	p. 48
suffixation of /i:/ (-(a)í)	p. 48
Suffix -í	p. 48
Suffix -d, suffix -í, and attenuate	p. 49
Syncope and suffix -í	p. 50
Delete final schwa, replace with /i:/ (-e →í)	p. 50
Suffix -aí	p. 50
Delete final schwa, replace with /i:/ (-a →aí)	p. 51
Change -(e)adh →(a)í and (e)ach →(a)í	p. 51
Delete final schwa of genitive, replace with /i:/ -e →í and -a →aí	p. 52
Irregular forms with -(a)í suffix	p. 52
Suffixation of -eanna, -anna, -onna, -nna	p. 52
Suffix -eanna	p. 53
Suffix -anna	p. 53
Suffix -anna with broadening	p. 53
Suffix -nna	p. 54
Suffix -onna	p. 54
Irregular forms with -(e)anna suffix	p. 54
Suffixation of -eacha, -acha, -ocha, -cha	p. 55
Suffix -eacha	p. 55
Suffix -eacha and syncope	p. 55
Suffix -acha	p. 56
Suffix -acha with broadening	p. 56
Suffix -acha with syncope and broadening	p. 57
Suffix -cha	p. 57
Suffix -ocha	p. 57
Irregular forms with -(e)acha	p. 58
Suffix -ta, -te, -tha, -the	p. 58
Suffix -(i)te, attenuate if necessary	p. 58
Delete final -e, suffix -te	p. 59
Suffix -ta, broaden if necessary	p. 59
Suffix -(i)the	p. 59
Shorten vowel, suffix -ithe/-the	p. 60
Suffix -tha, broaden if necessary	p. 60
Rare: Delete final syllable, suffix -te	p. 61
Rare: Suffix -(e)anta	p. 61
Other irregular forms with -ta/-te/-tha/-the	p. 61
Irregular Nouns	p. 62
Pronouns	p. 63
Verbal Nouns	p. 66
1,200 Irish Nouns	p. 77
10,000 Irish nouns	p. 145
The Declension of Adjectives	p. 281
Mutations	p. 281
Singular adjectival declension classes	p. 282
Plural types	p. 282
No change in the plural	p. 282
Suffixation of schwa /∂/ written as -e or -a	p. 283
Irregular adjectival plurals	p. 283
Common Patterns	p. 284
2,700 Adjectives	p. 284
Mapping Between Declensional Systems	p. 335
Traditional five-declension system New ten →declension system	p. 336
New ten-declension system → Traditional five -declension system	p. 337
Declension class predictable by ending of stem	p. 338
Plural type predictable on the basis of the stem ending	p. 339
The International Phonetic Alphabet and Irish	p. 340
Quick Reference Sheet	p. 346
References	p. 349
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