大象传媒

Tha seanfhacal ann 鈥� 鈥淎ithnichear duine air a chuideachd鈥� 鈥� a man will be known by his company. Aithnichear duine air a chuideachd. Dh鈥檉haodamaid an seanfhacal atharrachadh rud beag airson 鈥檚 gum biodh e f矛or mun Gh脿idhlig a bharrachd air daoine. 鈥橲 ann tric a tha luchd-ionnsachaidh a鈥� faighneachd dhiom, 鈥渃iamar a dh鈥檃ithnicheas mi facal a tha fireann is facal a tha boireann.鈥� Agus 鈥檚 i an fhreagairt as fhe脿rr 鈥� le a chuideachd.

Seo an 鈥渟eanfhacal鈥� 霉r agam 鈥� 鈥渁ithnichear gn猫 an ainmeir air a bhuadhair鈥� 鈥� the gender of a noun will be known by its adjective. Aithnichear gn猫 an ainmeir air a bhuadhair. Tha mi a鈥� ciallachadh le sin, gu bheil e cuideachail ainmear agus buadhair ionnsachadh c貌mhla. B貌rd m貌r, uinneag mh貌r, doras beag, eala bh脿n is mar sin air adhart.

Ma tha am buadhair air a sh猫imheachadh (neo lenited) tha an t-ainmear boireann. Mura h-eil, tha e fireann. De mu dheidhinn 鈥渃aora鈥�, mar eisimpleir? An canadh tu 鈥渃aora m貌r鈥� airson big sheep neo 鈥渃aora mh貌r鈥�? Uill, chanadh tu 鈥渃aora mh貌r鈥�, nach canadh? Mar sin, 鈥檚 e facal boireann a th鈥� ann an 鈥渃aora鈥�.

Tha d貌ighean eile airson gn猫 fhaclan a chuimhneachadh, agus gheibh sibh sin ann an leabhar-gr脿mair sam bith, ach bu mhath leam an-diugh s霉il a thoirt air cuid de dh鈥檉haclan a bhios ag atharrachadh an gn猫 bho 脿ite gu 脿ite, agus bho thuiseal gu tuiseal.

Tha 鈥渕uileann鈥� na eisimpleir de dh鈥檉hacal a dh鈥檃tharraicheas a ghn猫 bho sg矛re gu sg矛re. Tha caraid dhomh ann an Siorrachd Rois a鈥� fuireach ann am Bail鈥� a鈥� Mhuilinn. A bheil muileann boireann neo fireann ann a sin? Uill, tha mi an d貌chas gun do dh鈥檕braich sibh a-mach gu bheil e fireann. Airson 鈥渢he mill鈥�, canaidh daoine 鈥渁m muileann鈥�.

Ach tha loch ann an Sg矛re Uig鈥� ann an Le貌dhas air a bheil 鈥淟och na Muilne鈥� mar ainm. Anns an sg矛re sin, tha 鈥渕uileann鈥� boireann, agus airson 鈥渢he mill鈥�, canaidh daoine 鈥渁鈥� mhuileann鈥�. Far nach eil G脿idhlig l脿idir mar ch脿nan d霉thchasach an-diugh, leithid ann an Inbhir Nis, agus far nach eil e follaiseach d猫 chanadh muinntir an 脿ite o shean, bidh sin a鈥� f脿gail taghadh aig na Gaidheil. Mar eisimpleir, airson 鈥淢illburn Academy鈥�, bidh cuid ag r脿dh 鈥淎rd-sgoil Allt a鈥� Mhuilinn鈥�. Ach tha feadhainn ann a chanas 鈥淎rd-sgoil Allt na Muilne.鈥� A thaobh gr脿mair, tha an d脿 chuid ceart.

鈥橲 e 鈥渢obar鈥� eisimpleir eile de dh鈥檉haclan a dh鈥檃tharraicheas an gn猫 bho sg矛re gu sg矛re. Agus, mar an ceudna, 鈥渃e貌鈥� agus 鈥渄ealbh鈥�. Ach tha cuid de dh鈥檉haclan G脿idhlig nas duilghe na sin, leis gu bheil iad atharrachadh an gn猫 bho thuiseal gu tuiseal. Th脿inig seo gu m鈥� aire o chionn ghoirid nuair a bha mi a鈥� bruidhinn ri buidheann o thall thairis mu dheidhinn ainmean-脿ite ann an Alba.

鈥淒猫,鈥� dh鈥檉haighnich fear aca a bha rudeigin feallsanachail, 鈥渄猫 an gn猫 a th鈥� aig an fhacal G脿idhlig airson 鈥榚arth鈥�. An robh na Gaidheil o shean a鈥� coimhead air 鈥楳other Earth鈥� mar rud boireann?鈥� Uill, b鈥� fheudar dhomh smaoineachadh airson mionaid! 鈥橲 e am facal a thagh mi airson 鈥渆arth鈥� 鈥� 鈥渢alamh鈥�. Canaidh sinn talamh tioram, is chan e talamh thioram. B鈥� fheudar dhomh innse dha gur e facal fireann a bh鈥� ann.

Ach fuirich mionaid! Ciamar a chanas sinn 鈥渢he surface of the earth鈥�? Uachdar na talmhainn. Mar sin, anns an tuiseal ghinideach, neo genitive case, tha talamh boireann! Tha amharas agam gum bi mo charaid fhathast a鈥� beachdachadh air d猫 tha sin a鈥� ciallachadh! Dhomhsa, tha e a鈥� ciallachadh gu feum sinn a bhith mothachail nach eil riaghailt-ghr脿mair sam bith ann nach gabh briseadh!

dh鈥檉haodamaid an seanfhacal atharrachadh rud beag: we could changethe proverb a little; ciamar a dh鈥檃ithnicheas mi X?: how do I recognise X?; gu bheil e cuideachail聽ma dh鈥檌onnsaicheas sibh ainmear agus buadhair c貌mhla; that it is helpful if you learn a noun and聽an adjective together; is mar sin air adhart: and so on; air a sh猫imheachadh: lenited聽(grammatical); bho thuiseal gu tuiseal: from case to case (grammatical); tha caraid dhomh ann an聽Siorrachd Rois a鈥� fuireach ann an X: a relative of mine in Ross-shire lives in X; Loch na Muilne:聽the loch of the mill; far nach eil e follaiseach d猫 chanadh muinntir an 脿ite o shean: where it is not聽obvious what the indigenous inhabitants would have said in the old days; th脿inig seo gu m鈥� aire o聽chionn ghoirid: this came to my attention recently; cha robh smid G脿idhlig aca: they did not have聽a word of Gaelic; a bha rudeigin feallsanachail: who was somewhat philosophical; bh鈥檉heudar聽dhomh smaoineachadh: I had to think; fuirich mionaid!: wait a minute!; nach eil riaghailt-gr脿mair聽sam bith ann nach gabh briseadh: that there is no grammatical rule in existence which cannot be聽broken.

Talamh (earth) is a masculine word but it declines irregularly,and takes a feminine form, na talmhainn, in the genitive singular case. So we get uachdar natalmhainn (the surface of the earth). In the nominative, we have talamh tioram (dry land). Iftalamh declined regularly as a masculine word, the genitive with an adjective would be eguachdar an talaimh thioraim. But it is not! Instead it is eg uachdar na talmhainn tioraim. (In Irish聽Gaelic, both genitive forms exist as the word is found in both masculine and feminine forms). This聽irregular declension is unusual but not entirely unique. The word cruinne (the world, roundness)聽behaves similarly, being masculine in the nominative and feminine in the genitive. Thus we say an聽cruinne (or an cruinne-c猫) for 鈥渢he world鈥�, but gu cr矛ch na cruinne for 鈥渢o the ends of the earth鈥�.聽The question then arises as to how each of these declines in the dative singular 鈥� ie do they聽terminally slenderise as a feminine noun does? Cruinne is simple 鈥� it already is slenderised, so聽we say air a鈥� chruinne. But what about talamh? MacFarlane鈥檚 鈥淎m Briathrachan Beag鈥� (1912)聽gives it as feminine, ie air an talaimh, but general usage today makes it masculine ie air an聽talamh. Can you think of another word which sometimes changes gender when it declines? (I鈥檒l聽whet your appetite with another example next week!)

Aithnichear duine air a chuideachd: a man will be known by his聽company.