Lagiolraí agus tréaniolraí
Weak and strong plurals
Is féidir ainmfhocail na Gaeilge a rangú i ngrúpaí de réir neart critéar éagsúil, mar shampla de réir inscne nó de réir díochlaontaí. Rangú eile atá an-úsáideach, agus an-éasca ag an am céanna, ná rangú idir lagiolraí agus tréaniolraí.
Irish nouns can be divided into groups according many different criteria, for example according to gender or according to declensions. Another division which is very useful and at the same time very easy is the division between weak and strong plurals.
Is féidir teacht ar ghinideach iolra d'ainmfhocal go héasca ach a fhios a bheith agat cé acu lagiolra nó tréaniolra atá ag an ainmfhocal. Más lagiolra atá aige, beidh an ginideach iolra mar a gcéanna leis an ainmneach uatha (mar shampla, an fear > hataí na bhfear). Más tréaniolra atá aige, beidh an ginideach iolra mar a gcéanna leis an ainmneach iolra (mar shampla, na tránna > gaineamh na dtránna).
It is very easy to obtain the genitive plural of a noun if you know whether the noun has a weak or strong plural. If it has a weak plural, its genitive plural will be the same as nominative singular [for example, (the man) > (the men's hats)]. If it has a strong plural, its genitive plural will be the same as its nominative plural [for example, (the beaches) > (the sand of the beaches)].
Lagiolraí
Weak plurals
Gach focal a bhfuil lagiolra aige, tá foirm a ghinidigh iolra díreach mar a gcéanna lena ainmneach uatha. Is féidir ainmfhocail le lagiolraí a aithint go héasca ach féachaint ar an chríoch atá ag a ainmneach iolra.
Every word that has a weak plural, its genitive plural is exactly the same as its nominative singular. Nouns with weak plurals can be spotted easily by looking at its ending in the nominative plural.
-
Tá lagiolraí ag na hainmfhocail go léir a gcríochnaíonn a n-ainmneach iolra ar chonsan caol. Mar shampla:
All nouns whose nominative plural ends with a slender consonant have weak plurals. For example:
A
B
B
A
ainmneach uatha
nominative singular
ginideach uatha
genitive singular
ainmneach iolra
nominative plural
ginideach iolra
genitive plural
an fear
the man
an fhir
of the man
na fir
the men
na bhfear
of the men
an cat
the cat
an chait
of the cat
na cait
the cats
na gcat
of the cats
an leabhar
the book
an leabhair
of the book
na leabhair
the books
na leabhar
of the books/p>
an taoiseach
the Prime Minster
an taoisigh
of the Prime Minister
na taoisigh
the Prime Ministers
na dtaoiseach
of the Prime Miniters
an focal
the word
an fhocail
of the word
na focail
the words
na bhfocal
of the words
Faightear na hainmfhocail ar fad seo sa chéad díochlaonadh agus tá siad go léir firinscneach. Leanann siad go léir an patrún A-B-B-A, sé sin le rá gurb ionann an t-ainmneach uatha agus an ginideach iolra (A-A), agus gurb ionann an ginideach uatha agus an t-ainmneach iolra (B-B).
All these noun are found in the first declension and they are all masculine. The follow the pattern A-B-B-A, that is to say that their nominative singular is the same as their genitive plural (A-A) and that their genitive singular is the same as their nominative plural (B-B).
-
Tá lagiolraí ag na hainmfhocail go léir a gcríochnaíonn a n-ainmneach iolra ar -a. Mar shampla:
All nouns whose nominative plural ends with -a also have weak plurals. For example:
A
B
C
A
ainmneach uatha
nominative singular
ginideach uatha
genitive singular
ainmneach iolra
nominative plural
ginideach iolra
genitive plural
an chos
the foot
na coise
of the foot
na cosa
the feet
na gcos
of the feet
an lámh
the hand
na láimhe
of the hand
na lámha
the hands
na lámh
of the hands
an t-úll
the apple
an úill
of the apple
na húlla
the apples
na n-úll
of the apples
an ceart
the right
an chirt
of the right
na cearta
the rights
na gceart
of the rights
an leabharlann
the library
na leabharlainne
of the library
na leabharlanna
the libraries
na leabharlann
of the libraries
Faightear na hainmfhocail seo ar fud na ndíochlaontaí. Tá cuid acu baininscneach agus cuid acu firinscneach. Leanann siad go léir an patrún A-B-C-A, sé sin le rá gurb ionann an t-ainmneach uatha agus an ginideach iolra (A-A), ach nach ionann an ginideach uatha agus an t-ainmneach iolra (B-C).
These nouns are found across all declensions. Some of them are feminine and some masculine. They follow the pattern A-B-C-A, that is to say that their nominative singular and their genitive plural are the same (A-A) but that their genitive singular and their nominative plural are not the same (B-C).
(Tabhair faoi deara nach dtagann focail ar nós tíortha, feirmeacha agus tránna faoin ghrúpa seo. Cé go gcríochnaíonn siad seo ar –a freisin, is iad –ortha, -eacha agus –nna na críocha a cuirtear leis an fhréamh, agus ní –a. Ní thagann faoin ghrúpa seo ach ainmfhocail arb é –a an críoch iomlán a chuirtear leis an fhréamh.)
(Note that words like "tíortha", "feirmeacha" and "tránna" do not fall under this group. Although they also end with -a, their complete plural endings are -ortha, -eacha and -nna, and not just -a. This group only contains nouns whose complete plural ending is -a.)
Tréaniolraí
Strong plurals
Gach ainmfhocal nach bhfuil lagiolra aige, tá tréaniolra eile. Gach ainmfhocal a bhfuil tréaniolra aige, tá foirm a ghinidigh iolra díreach mar a gcéanna lena ainmneach iolra. Mar shampla:
Every noun that does not have a weak plural has a string plural. Every noun that has a string plural, its genitive plural is that same as its nominative plural. For example:
A |
A |
B |
B |
ainmneach uatha nominative singular |
ginideach uatha genitive singular |
ainmneach iolra nominative plural |
ginideach iolra genitive plural |
an rí the king |
an rí of the king |
na ríthe the kings |
na ríthe of the kings |
an comhartha the sign |
an chomhartha of the sign |
na comharthaí the signs |
na gcomharthaí of the signs |
an trá the beach |
na trá of the beach |
na tránna the beaches |
na dtránna of the beaches |
an t-ainmhí the animal |
an ainmhí of the animal |
na hainmhithe the animals |
na n-ainmhithe of the animals |
an croí the heart |
an chroí of the heart |
na croíthe the hearts |
na gcroíthe of the hearts |
Leanann cuid acu an patrún A-A-B-B, mar atá léirithe thuas, sé sin le rá go bhfuil gach ginideach mar gcéanna leis an ainmneach san uimhir céanna. Faightear na hainmfhocail go léir seo sa cheathrú díochlaonadh. Tá cuid acu firinscneach agus cuid acu baininscneach.
Some of them follow the pattern A-A-B-B, as is illustrated above, that is to say that each genitive is the same as the nominative in the same number. These nouns are to be found all across the declensions. Some of them are masculine and some feminine.
Tá cuid eile ann nach leanann an patrún A-A ach leanann B-B fós. Mar shampla:
Several other nouns do not follow the pattern A-A but still do follow B-B. For example:
A |
C |
B |
B |
ainmneach uatha nominative singular |
ginideach uatha genitive singular |
ainmneach iolra nominative plural |
ginideach iolra genitive plural |
an tír the country |
na tíre of the country |
na tíortha the countries |
na dtíortha of the countries |
an ceol the music |
an cheoil of the music |
na ceolta the (pieces of) music |
na gceolta of the (pieces of) music/p> |
an áit the place |
na háite of the place |
na háiteanna the places |
na n-áiteanna of the places |
an choill the wood |
na coille of the wood |
na coillte the woods |
na gcoillte of the woods |
an rud the thing |
an ruda of the thing |
na rudaí the things |
na rudaí of the things |
Ní fhaightear na hainmfhocail seo sa cheathrú díochlaonadh, ach tá siad scaipthe ar fud na ndíochlaontaí eile. Tá cuid acu baininscneach agus cuid acu firinscneach.
These nouns are never found in the fourth declension but ther are spread all across the other declensions. Some are feminine and some are masculine.
Michal Boleslav Měchura
valselob@hotmail.com