Lesson 5: ‘Tá’ in the Past and Future Tense / ‘Tá’ san Aimsir Chaite agus Fháistineach

Past tense of ‘tá’

As with the present tense, ‘tá’ has only one form for the past: bhí. The interrogative form is an raibh? (was / were there?). The negative form is ní raibh. The interrogative negative form is nach raibh? (wasn’t / weren’t there?). These forms do not vary by pronoun (although in the South bhíomar is often used instead of bhí muid).

Bhí mé go maith . (I was all right.)
Ní raibh sé fliuch. (It wasn’t wet.)
An raibh Peadar ansin inné? (Was Peter there yesterday?)
Nach raibh Máire ansin inné? (Wasn’t Mary there yesterday?)

Here too, the answer to a question implies repeating the verb. A ‘yes’-answer would just be bhí. A ‘no’- answer would be ní raibh:

An raibh tú sa bhaile sa tráthnóna? (Were you at home in the afternoon?) - Ní raibh, bhí mé ar scoil. (No, I was at school.)
Nach raibh sí tuirseach? (Wasn’t she tired?) - Bhí. (Yes.)

The past tense is often associated with expressions of time like, for instance (cf. De Bhál 50):

inné (yesterday)
arú inné (the day before yesterday)
aréir (last night)
arú aréir (the night before last)
an tseachtain / mhí seo caite (last week / month)
anuraidh (last year)
le déanaí (recently)
tamall / cúpla soicind / cúpla nóiméad / cúpla lá ó shin ( a while / a couple of second / a couple of minutes / a couple of days ago)
ar maidin (this morning)

Futre tense of ‘tá’

The future tense form of ‘tá’ is beidh, regardless of person. Its interrogative form is an mbeidh? and the negative ní bheidh. The interrogative negative form is nach mbeidh?. Remember that an and nach cause eclipsis while ní causes aspiration).

Beidh mé ansin. (I’ll be there.)
An mbeidh Ciarán tuirseach? (Will Ciaran be tired?)
Nach mbeidh siad sona? (Won’t they be happy?)
Ní bheidh sin maith. (That won’t be good.) (cf. McEwan)

The future tense is often associated with expressions of time like, for instance (cf. De Bhál 55):

amárach (tomorrow)
an tseachtain / mí / bhliain seo chugainn (next week / month / year)
anocht (tonight)
ar ball (soon)
as seo amach (from now on)
go deo arís (ever again)
i gceann cúpla bliain (in a couple of years)
i gceann tamall (after a while)
sula i bhfad (before long)

Lesson 4: ‘Tá’ in the Present Tense / ‘Tá’ san Aimsir Láithreach

In Irish there are two verbs ‘to be’. One of them is tá, used to describe state or location of a person or thing (i.e. temporary qualities). This verb is normally used to join a noun with an adjective. The other verb ‘to be’ is a copula used when referring to permanent qualities. Its forms and useage will be discussed later on.

The present tense forms of ‘tá’ are:

(1) In the affirmative:

tá mé (I am)
tá tú (you are [singular])
tá sé (he is, it is)
tá sí (she is, it is)
tá muid (we are)
tá sibh (you are [plural])
tá siad (they are)

Here are some examples with these forms:

Tá muid fuar. (We are cold.)
Tá sé buí. (It is yellow.)
Tá tú álainn. (You [singular] are beautiful.)
Tá siad deas. (They are nice.)
Tá sí maith. (She is good.)
Tá sibh óg. (You [plural] are young.)
Tá mé beag. (I am little.)
Tá Niall sona. (Neil is happy.) (cf. McEwan)

Remarks. (1) This verb has only one form for all persons: tá. However, in the South of Ireland, táim is used instead of ‘tá mé’ and táimid instead of ‘tá muid’. (2) The pronouns in Irish to be used with verbs are:

mé
tú
sé [masc] / sí [fem.]
muid
sibh
siad

Remark. Irish has special forms for the English ‘you’ when referring to one person or to several ones. They are: tú when speaking to one person and sibh when speaking to several people.

(2) The form to be used in the interrogative is an bhfuil. It contains the eclipsing question word an and aspecial form of the verb: bhfuil. The form of ‘tá’ in the negative is is níl. The interrogative-negative form is nach bhfuil, containing the eclipsing negative question word nach and the form bhfuil. These forms are common for all persons.

Here some examples with these forms.

An bhfuil tú tinn? (Are you ill?) - Níl mé tinn. (I'm not ill.)
An bhfuil sibh sásta? (Are you [pl.] satisfied?) - Níl muid sásta. (We are not satisfied.)
Nach bhfuil sé fuar inniu? (Isn't it cold today?) - Níl, tá sé te. (No, it is warm.)
Nach nhfuil siad anseo? (Aren't they here?) - Níl, tá siad ansin (No, they are there.)

Since, in Irish there are no ‘yes’ or ‘no’ words, answering a question implies repeating the verb:

An bhfuil sé fuar innu? (Is it cold today?) - Tá. (Yes.) - Níl. (No.)
Nach bhfuil sibh gnóthach? (Aren't you busy?) - Níl. (no.) - Tá. (Yes.)

Practice

Fill in the blanks below with the correct forms of the verb ‘tá’.

(1) ... [aff.] muid anseo gach lá. (2) ... [neg.] Máirtín ansin. (3) ... [int.] siad ansin anois? (4) ... [aff.] Cáit ansin freisin. (5) ... [neg.] sí ansin freisin. (6) ... [int. neg.] siad go maith? (7) ... [aff.] mé anseo. (8) ... [neg.] muid anseo. (9) ... [int. neg.] sí sa seomra? (10) ... [aff.] teach ansin. (11) ... [int.] duine ar bith ansin? (12) ... [neg.] duine ar bith ann anois. (13) Ach ... [int.] Cáit ann? (14) ... [neg.] Cáit ann anois. (15) ... [aff.] doras anseo. (16) ... [int. neg.] tú sa bhaile anocht? (17) ... [neg.]. ... [aff.] mé ag obair anocht.

Key

Dictionary

Lesson 3: Initial Mutations

Initial mutations are changes of sound that occur to the beginning of words caused by a preceding word, such as an article or a preposition. Since Irish is a Celtic language, it shares this characteristic with other Celtic languages (such as Scottish Gaelic or Welsh). These mutations are (1) lenition (or aspiration) , (2) eclipsis and (3) prefixing. Lenition and eclipsis are two important ways in which grammatical relations are shown in Irish. The situations when such initial changes occur will be discussed in the lessons to follow, in each particular case.

(1) Lenition (Aspiration) / Séimhiú

Lenition is rendered by the addition of an h‑ after the lenited consonant. Such combinations of consonants with ‘h’ are pronounced as in the following examples (with broad and slender versions in each case). In the system of transcription adopted here (see Lesson 1), lenition is rendered by a [´] sign placed after the cosonant.

• bhád [wa:d]
• bhí [v´i:]
• chat [xat]
• cheol [x´o:l]
• dhoras [γorās]
• dhíol [γ´i:l]
• fhíon [i:n]
• fhón [o:n]
• ghrá [γra:]
• gheansaí [γ´ansi:]
• mháthair [wa:hār´]
• mhí [v´i:]
• phunt [funt]
• phíosa [fi:sā]
• shonas [honās]
• shioc [h´ik]
• thábla [ha:blā]
• theach [h´iāh]

Remarks. (1) The pairs of combinations ‘bh’ - ‘mh’, ‘dh’ - ‘gh’ and ‘sh’ - ‘th’ share the same pronunciation. (2) The combination ‘fh’ is always silent.

Lenition does not happen in the case of non‑aspirable consonants (l, n, r), naturally, but also when a pair of the letters d, l, n, t, s (easily remembered as the consonants in ‘d-e-n-t-a-l‑s’) come together, as in:

bean deas
an tír

(2) Eclipsis / Urú

Irish also has another set of consonant combinations at the beginning of words that result from an initial mutation called eclipsis. When eclipsed, voiceless consonants are voiced and voiced ones are nasalised. Practically, in every case of eclipsis, the first consonant is pronounced whereas the second one is ignored. Such combinatuions of consonants are pronounced as in the following examples (with broad and slender versions in each case):

• na mbán [nā ma:n]
• i gcarr [ā ga:r]
• i ndán [ā na:n]
• an bhfuil [ā wil´]
• a bhfile [āv´il´ā]
• i ngairdín [ā ηa:rd´i:n´]
• na bplátaí [nā bla:ti:]
• i dteach [ā d´ax]

Vowels are eclipsed by n‑, as in n‑áit [na:t´], or n‑éan [n´e:n], etc.

(3) Prefixing

Besides lenition and eclipsis, another initial change of a word is prefixing. In Irish there are two prefixes: prefix h- and prefix t-. An h‑ is used to break up a sequence of two vowels occurring between two words. Prefix t- is added to a noun when preceded by an article.

(4) Spelling of initial mutations

When the word begins with a vowel, the eclipse n‑, and the prefix t‑ are separated from the word by a hyphen: ceol na n‑éan (the song of the bird), an t‑am (the time).

The prefix h‑ is directly added to the word: ní hé (it isn’t), a dhá hiníon (her two daughters).

When the words are capitalised, or even when fully written in capitals, the letters of the eclipse and of the prefixes will not be capitalised and will no longer have a hyphen: i gCorcaigh or gCORCAIGH (in Cork), ár nAthair (our Father), an tEarrach (the spring), Dé hAnoine (on Friday)

Lesson 2: Consonants

Except for ‘h’, all Irish consonants have two variants, called broad (or velarised) and slender (or palatalised). Basically, broad consonants are pronounced with a [w] off‑glide, and slender consonants are pronounced with a [j] off‑glide. The distinction between broad and slender consonants is very important, as they may belong to words with different meanings.

Broad consonants are always written with the letters a, o, or u flanking them, as b in bó [bo:] (cow) or buí [bi:] (yellow).

Slender consonants are always written with the letters i or e flanking them as b in beo [b´o:] (life, alive) or bí [b´i:] (be, exist).

In speech, the difference between ‘beo’ and ‘bó’ is only the y‑glide heard in ‘beo’ [bjo] but the meaning of the words is different: ‘life’ and ‘cow’, respectively. Likewise, the difference between ‘bí’ and ‘buí’ is only the w‑glide heard in ‘buí’ [bwi] but the meanings are also different: ‘be’ and ‘yellow’, respectively.

As a result of the need to show the broad or slender quality of all consonants unambiguously, a consonant in the middle of a word cannot be flanked on one side by an ‘i’ and on the other by an ‘a’. Therefore, the golden rule of spelling in Irish is caol le caol agus leathan le leathan (i.e. slender with slender and broad with broad), referring to the necessity that consonants or groups of consonants should be flanked on each side by the same type of vowel – with some rare exceptions, such as: Gaeltacht, laethúil (daily).

The pronunciation of Irish consonants (velarised or palatalised) is not very different from that of their English counterparts. However, some slender consonants, as the ones below have specific sounds:

• d (slender) is pronounced [d´] in the North, as in deoch [d´ox]. Its pronunciation is similar to ‘ge’ in the English name ‘George’ .
• n (slender) is pronounced [n´] as in nead [n´ad], Its pronunciation is similar to the French pronunciation of ‘gn’ in ‘signe’.
• s (slender) is pronounced [s´] as in seo [s´o]. Its pronunciation is similar to the palatalised ‘sh’ in the English ‘shield’.
• t (slender) is pronounced [t´] in the North as in teach [t´ax]. Its pronunciation is similar to ‘ch’ in the English ‘chin’.

Lesson 1: Word Stress. Vowels

The pronunciation of Irish may look quite bewildering at the beginning. However, it is quite regular, implying that the same letter or combination of letters will always have the same pronunciation. This lesson and the following two ones are meant to acquaint you with the way such associations of letters with sounds are pronounced.

In order to render the pronunciation of certain Irish words, the IPA system will be used between square brackets for the broad transcription of sounds. However, there are two exceptions: (1) is rendered here as [ā]) and (2) slender consonants are marked by placing the symbol [´] after them, e.g. [b´], [k´], [d´], whereas broad consonants are left unmarked, e.g. [b], [k], [d] , as in the An Gúm dictionaries Foclóir Póca (Baile Átha Cliath: Rialtas na hÉireann, 1986) and Foclóir Scoile (Baile Átha Cliath: Rialtas na hÉireann, 1994).

Word Stress

Except for a few common words with an unstressed prefix, and according to the main pattern of accentuation, all words are strongly accented on the first syllable. However, especially in Munster Irish, if a polysyllabic word contains a long vowel in a non‑initial syllable, this vowel will be stressed, e.g. ‘Aibreán’ [a´b´r'a:n] April). Many speakers of Irish outside the Gaeltacht areas have adopted this usage.

Some words in Irish are always stressed on the second syllable, such as: abhaile (at home), amach (out), amárach (tomorrow), amuigh (out, outside), anois (now), anseo (here), ansin (there), aréir (last night), arís (again), iníon (daughter), inné (yesterday), inniu (today), isteach (in), istigh (inside), tráthnóna (afternoon, evening), pianó (piano), tobac (tobacco).

Vowels

Irish has both short vowels and long vowels. The long vowels are generally indicated in writing by an acute accent / in Irish: síneadh fada.

(1) The long vowels are:

• á, pronounced [a:] as in tá [ta:]. This sound, graphically rendered as [a:], is actually pronounced [æ:] in the North and [a:] in the South.
• é, pronounced [e:] as in sé [s´e:]. The é is pronounced [e:] rather like the French ‘é’, or like the German ‘eh’.
• í, pronounced [i:] as in sí [s´i:],
• ó, pronounced [o:] as in bó [bo:]. The ó is pronounced [o:] rather like the French ‘au’, or the German ‘oh’.
• ú, pronounced [u:] as in tú [tu:],

(2) There are three combinations of vowels that are always pronounced as long vowels, even though they do not have the acute accent:

• ae, pronounced [e:] as in lae [le:]. The pronunciation is similar to é.
• ao, pronounced [i:] or [e:] , lao [li:] or [le:]. This combination is pronounced [i:] in the North and [e:] in the South. The pronunciation is similar to í or é.
• eo, pronounced [o:] as in ceol [k´o:l]. The pronunciation of this combination rhymes with ‘hole’. The pronunciation is similar to ó.

(3) The short vowels are:

• a, pronounced [a] as in mac [mak]. It is similar to the ‘a’ in English ‘father’.
• e, pronounced [e] as in te [t´e]. It is similar to the English ‘e’.
• ea, pronounced [a] as in bean [b´an]. It is similar to the ‘a’ in English ‘cat’.
• i, pronounced [i] as in in [in]. It is similar to the English ‘i’.
• o, [pronounced o] as in cos [kos]. It is similar to the English ‘u’ when short.
• u, pronounced [u] as in rud [rud]. It is similar to the ‘u’ in English ‘put’.

Remark. Short vowels differ from long vowels in one important respect. Short vowels are given their full pronunciation only in the first syllable of a word. In every other syllable, they are all reduced to the neutral sound of English vowels when unstressed, as in ‘but’ (i.e. the schwa, rendered here as [ā]). Thus the Irish word for Irish, ‘Éireannach’, is pronounced ['e:r´ānāx]. But in Irish the neutral vowel is often not pronounced before or after any other vowel.

(4) There are two important diphthongs in Irish, both written using a combination of vowels and consonants:

• [ai] chiefly rendered as: (a) adh, pronounced [ai] as in Tadhg [taig] and (b) agh(a), pronounced [ai] as in aghaidh [ai]. The pronunciation is similar to the English ‘eye’.
• [au] chiefly rendered as: (a) abh(a), pronounced [au] as in abhann [aun]. The pronunciation of this diphthong rymes with the English ‘clown’. (b) amh(a), pronounced [au] as in samhradh [saurā].