Scottish Gaelic
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Table 5.11: Traditional noun-phrase inflection in ScG
Nom. sg. Gen. sg. Dat. sg.
Masculine ‘the little dog’ Art. Noun Adj. an c` u beag a’ choin bhig a’ ch` u bheag
Feminine ‘the Art. Noun a’ chearc na circe a’ chirc
little hen’ Adj. bheag bige bhig
(After MacAulay, 1992: 162)
5.5.1.1
Lenition
As in Irish, the initial mutation of l-, r- and n- is not noted in spelling and has ceased to be distinctive in many varieties of ScG. In general, lenition has become less frequent in contemporary varieties (MacAulay, 1992: 241). Lenition may be blocked between dentals, but this seems to be the case almost only in set phrases.28 Table 5.12 illustrates the effects of lenition in ScG. 5.5.1.2
h-prefixing
As in Irish, the prefixing of h- to vowel-initial words as a mark of hiatus can be used to mark semantic distinctions, as in the third-person singular possessive (a h-athair ‘her father’ vs. a athair ‘his father’). 5.5.1.3
Article
Table 5.13 shows how gender agreement between the article and the noun is marked. The following should be noted: 1. As in Irish, masculine nouns beginning with a vowel have a t- prefixed in the nominative singular masculine: each (m.) ‘horse’ : an t-each ‘the horse’. 2. The notation a(n)L+T represents the leniting form of the article, which is normally reduced to /@/ (e.g. f. a’ chailleach ‘the old woman’). Dentals t, d, l, n, r do not undergo lenition after the article (e.g. an 28
Cf. Clann D` omhnaill ‘Clan Donald’ (traditional denomination of a family) vs. clann Dh` omhnaill ‘Donald’s children’ (Gillies, 1993: 167f., 177).