irish nominals

The nominals of Irish include the nouns, the definite article, and the adjectives. The declension of these forms is discussed on this page. (For pronouns, see Irish morphology.)

Nouns

Gender

Nouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine. While gender should be learned when the noun is learned, there are some rules that can be followed: In general, words ending in a broad consonant are masculine, while words ending in a slender consonant are feminine. There are some exceptions, mostly dealing with specific endings and affixes, e.g. words ending in -ir/-eoir and -n (with a slender r and n respectively) are masculine, while words ending in -g/-eog (with a broad g) are feminine. This leads to some unexpected gender assignments, such as cailn 'girl' (masculine), and gasg 'boy scout' (feminine).

Case

Irish has four cases: common (nominative), vocative, genitive, and dative.

Nominative

The nominative is used in the following functions:

1. Sentence Subject

T an 'cat' ag l. 'The cat is drinking.'

2. Sentence Object

Bhris Sen an 'fhuinneog'. 'Sen broke the window.'

3. The Copula Predicate

Is 'amadn' . 'He is an idiot.'

4. The object of the prepositions gan 'without' and go dt 'up to'

gan an 't-airgead' 'without the money'

go dt an 't-am' 'up to the time'

Vocative

The vocative is used in direct address, and is always preceded by the particle a, which triggers lenition. (In spoken Irish this particle is often omitted, especially before a vowel sound.) The first declension is the only declension in which the vocative is distinct from the nominative.

C bhfuil t, 'a mhic'? 'Where are you, son?'

'A Shein', tar anseo! 'Sen, come here!'

Genitive

The genitive indicates possession and material of composition:

hata an 'fhir' 'the man's hat'

clann na 'mn' 'the woman's children'

coinnleoir an 'easpaig' 'the bishop's candelabra'

finne 'ir' 'a ring of gold, a golden ring'

brga 'leathair' 'shoes of leather, leather shoes'

The object of a verbal noun also requires the genitive:

ag caitheamh 'airgid' 'spending money'

The object of a compound preposition is in the genitive. Formally, these prepositions are actually prepositional phrases.

ar chl an 'dorais' 'behind the door' (lit. 'on the back of the door')

ar feadh 'mosa' 'one month long' (lit. 'for the duration of one month')

ar son na 'hireann' 'for Ireland's sake'

Dative

The dative is used with the object of most simple prepositions except gan and go dt. In the standard language, the dative of a noun is identical to the nominative, but some dialects have distinct datives in the second and fifth declensions. Even in the standard language, ire 'Ireland' has a distinct dative: irinn.

ag an 'athair' 'at the father'

as an 'teach' 'out of the house'

ar an 'arn' 'on the bread'

in 'oriste' 'in an orange'

go 'hifreann' 'to hell'

leis an 'airgead' 'with the money'

'irinn' 'from Ireland'

Declension

There are five recognized declensions in Irish. The makeup of the declensions depends on three factors: 1) the gender of the noun 2) the formation of the genitive singular 3) relation of genitive singular to nominative plural The following chart describes the characteristics of each declension class:

Nom. Sing. ends with:	Gen. Sing. ends with:	Gender
First declension	broad consonant	slender consonant	masculine
Second declension	broad or slender consonant	-e/-	feminine
Third declension	slender or broad consonant	-a	masculine or feminine
Fourth declension	vowel or -n	(no change)	masculine or feminine
Fifth declension	vowel or slender consonant	broad consonant	mostly feminine

First

The first declension is made up of masculine nouns. The nominative singular ends in a broad consonant, which is made slender in the genitive singular. The most common formation of the plural has the opposite pattern: the nominative ends in a slender consonant, the genitive in a broad consonant. bd 'a boat'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Dative	bd ba:d	bid ba:d
Vocative	a bhid wa:d	a bhda wa:də
Genitive	bid ba:d	bd ba:d

When x in the Gen. Sing. and Nom. Pl. of a polysyllabic word is made slender, it also becomes voiced, thus:

x > x > j. əj becomes i:, and is written -(a)igh.

marcach 'a horseman'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Dative	marcach markəx	marcaigh marki:
Vocative	a mharcaigh warki:	a mharcacha warkəxə
Genitive	marcaigh marki:	marcach markəx

Some nouns undergo a vowel change before the slender consonant of the genitive singular/nominative plural:

  ball, baill bail - an (internal) organ, component part  bonn, boinn bi:n - a sole, coin  ceann, cinn ki:n - a head  fear, fir - a man  iasc, isc - a fish  mac, mic mik - a son (NB The first consonant is made slender in the gen.sg./nom.pl. as well!)  poll, poill pail - a hole

Many words of this declension form the plural with one of the endings -(a), -ta, -tha, -anna. These are known as "weak plural" endings, which means the genitive plural is identical to the nominative plural. Some examples:

  aonach, Gen. Sg. aonaigh, Pl. aonta - a fair  bealach, Gen. Sg. bealaigh, Pl. beala - a way  carr ka:r, Gen. Sg. cairr ka:r, Pl. carranna karənə - a car  glr, Gen. Sg. glir, Pl. glrtha - a voice  leanbh, Gen. Sg. linbh, Pl. leana - a child  nal, Gen. Sg. nil, Pl. nalta - a cloud  rs, Gen. Sg. ris, Pl. rsanna - a rose  samhradh, Gen. Sg. samhraidh, Pl. samhra - a summer  scal, Gen. Sg. scil, Pl. scalta - a story  toradh, Gen. Sg. toraidh, Pl. tortha - fruit

Some nouns have a strong plural (a plural where the genitive is different from the nominative) in -a:

  ceart, Gen. Sg. cirt, Nom. Pl. cearta, Gen. Pl. ceart - a right  cleas, Gen. Sg. clis, Nom. Pl. cleasa, Gen. Pl. cleas - a trick  ll, Gen. Sg. ill, Nom. Pl. lla, Gen. Pl. ll - an apple

Other weak plural formations are found in:

  bthar, bthair; bithre - road  breitheamh, breithimh; breithina - judge  briathar, briathair; briathra - verb  cloigeann, cloiginn; cloigne - skull  doras, dorais; doirse - door  ollamh, ollaimh; ollna - professor  solas, solais; soilse - light

Second

The second declension is made up of mostly feminine nouns, and features a nominative singular form that can end in either a broad or a slender consonant. The genitive singular ends in a slender consonant followed by -e. The most common plural form has a broad consonant followed by -a in the nominative, and a broad consonant alone in the genitive. The vocative is the same as the nominative, as is the dative in the standard language. brg 'a shoe'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	brg bro:g	brga bro:gə
Genitive	brige bro:gə	brg bro:g

deoir 'a tear'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	deoir do:r	deora do:rə
Genitive	deoire do:rə	deor do:r

In Connacht it is often the case that all nouns of the second declension in the Nom. Sg. end with a slender consonant (e.g. brig 'a shoe'). In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant alone (in effect the dative sg. is formed by dropping the -e from the genitive sg.), e.g. i mbrig 'in a shoe'. (Historically, Connacht nominative forms like brig are descended from the old dative.) When x in the Gen. Sing. is made slender, it is also voiced, so x > x > j. əjə becomes i:, and is written -(a). girseach 'little girl'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Std. dative	girseach girsəx	girseacha girsəxə
Genitive	girs girsi:	girseach girsəx
(Alt. dative)	girsigh girsi:	girseacha girsəxə

Polysyllabic words that end with a slender consonant take a weak plural in -: eaglais 'church'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	eaglais agləs	eaglais agləsi:
Genitive	eaglaise agləsə	eaglais agləsi:

Many words in this declension form a weak plural with one of the endings -t(h)a,-te, -(e)acha or -eanna:

  it, ite, iteanna - place  coill, coille, coillte kelə, kailtə - forest  inon, inne, inonacha - daughter  obair, oibre, oibreacha - work  spir, spire, spartha - sky  tr, tre, trthe - country  tonn, toinne, tonnta tinə, tu:ntə - wave  ubh, uibhe, uibheacha - egg

Other weak plural formations are found in:

  fiacail, fiacaile; fiacla - tooth  gualainn, gualainne; guaill - shoulder  scian, scine; sceana - knife (NB irregular genitive singular)  sliabh, slibhe; slibhte (m.) - mountain (NB irregular genitive singular and masculine gender)

Third

The third declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by the genitive singular in -a. The majority of nouns in this class form the plural in -(a). The final consonant of the stem may be broad or slender: it retains its quality in the plural, but is always broad in the genitive singular.

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	broad or slender cons.	-(a)
Genitive	broad cons. + -a	-(a)

bdir (m.) 'boatsman'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	bdir bado:r	badir bado:ri:
Genitive	bdra bado:rə	badir bado:ri:

rs (m.) 'race'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	rs ra:s	rsa ra:si:
Genitive	rsa ra:sə	rsa ra:si:

Feminine nouns in -int and -int lose their t in the Gen. Sg.; those in -irt have -th- instead of -t- in the Gen. Sg.

  bagairt, bagartha, bagairt (f.) - threat  canint, canna, canint (f.) - dialect

Many words in this declension form the plural with one of the endings -anna or -acha:

  am, ama, amanna (m.) amə, amənə - time  anam, anama, anamacha (m.) - soul  droim, droma, dromanna (m.) drumə, drumənə - back  loch, locha, lochanna (m.) - lake  troid, troda, troideanna (f.) - fight, struggle

Fourth

The fourth declension is made up of masculine and feminine nouns. It is characterized by a genitive singular that is identical in form to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The singular may end in a vowel or a consonant (usually the diminutive suffix -n). The most common plural ending is -(a).

Singular	Plural
All cases	Vowel or consonant (usually -n)	-(a)

balla (m.) 'wall'>

Singular	Plural
All cases	balla balə	balla bali:

comhairle (f.) '(piece of) advice'>

Singular	Plural
All cases	comhairle ko:rlə	comhairl ko:rli:

cailn (m.) 'girl'>

Singular	Plural
All cases	cailn kal'i:n' cailn kal'i:n'i:

Many words of this declension form the plural with the following endings -tha/-t(h)e, -((e)a)nna or -((e)a)cha:

  ainmh; ainmhithe (m.) - animal  aturnae; aturnaetha (m.) - attorney  baile; bailte (m.) - village  bus; busanna (m.) - bus  cliamhain; cliamhaineacha (m.) - son-in-law  cne; cnecha (f.) - wound, sore  cn; cnnna (m.) - nut  cr; crite (m.) - outhouse; eye of a needle  dl; dlthe (m.) - law  dosaen; dosaenacha (m.) - dozen  ga; gathanna (m.) - ray, radius  g; ganna (f.) - goose  line; line, linte (f.) - shirt  r; rite (m.) - saying  r; rthe (m.) - king  sloinne; sloinnte slinə, sli:ntə (m.) - last name  teanga; teangacha (f.) - language, tongue  tine; tinte (f.) - fire

Other weak plural formations are found in:

  ainm; ainmneacha (m.) - name  air; airona (m.) - characteristic, symptom  aithne; aitheanta (f.) - commandment  bruach; bruacha (m.) - bank (of river etc.)  cine; cinocha (m.) - race, tribe  duine; daoine (m.) - person, human being  gabha; gaibhne (m.) - blacksmith  gn; gntha (m.) - business  oche; ocheanta (f.) - night  teanga; teangacha (f.) - tongue, language

One noun in this class has a strong plural:

  b, b; ba, b (f.) - cow

Fifth

The fifth declension is made up mostly of feminine nouns and is characterized by a genitive singular that ends in a broad consonant that has been added to the nominative/vocative/dative singular. The most common plural is weak, formed by adding -a to the genitive singular.

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	Vowel or slender consonant	Gen. Sg. + -a
Genitive	broad consonant	Gen. Sg. + -a

pearsa 'person'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	pearsa parsə	pearsana parsənə
Genitive	pearsan parsən	pearsana parsənə

cathair 'city'>

Singular	Plural
Nominative/Vocative/Dative	cathair kahər	cathracha karəxə
Genitive	cathrach karəx	cathracha karəxə

In some Munster varieties as well as the old literary language, the dative singular is distinct and ends in a slender consonant (in effect the dative sg. is formed by palatalizing the genitive sg.), e.g. do phearsain 'to a person', n gcathraigh 'from the city'. In ire, ireann 'Ireland' the dative irinn is still used in the standard language. Some words form the genitive singular by changing the final consonant of the nominative singular to broad. The plural is then weak -eacha.

  abhainn, abhann, aibhneacha aun, avnəxə - river  athair, athar, aithreacha (m.) - father  dearthir, dearthr, dearthireacha draha:r, draha:rəxə (m.) - brother  mthair, mthar, mithreacha - mother

Other weak plural formations are found in:

  brthair, brthar; brithre (m.) - brother (monk), friar  cara, carad; cairde karəd; ka:rdə (m.) - friend  namhaid, namhad; naimhde (m.) - enemy  Nollaig, Nollag; Nollaig - Christmas

Some nouns have strong plurals; here the genitive singular and genitive plural have the same form:

  caora, caorach; caoirigh, caorach - sheep  lacha, lachan; lachain, lachan - duck

Verbal nouns

The most productive verbal nouns end with -(e)adh (1st conjugation) or -(i) (2nd conjugation). These originally belonged to the third declension, but synchronically are best regarded as separate declensions. The 1st conjugation verbal noun in -(e)adh has a genitive singular in -te/-ta and a plural in -t(a).

  briseadh, briste; brist - breaking  moladh, molta; molta - praising; recommendation

The 2nd conjugation verbal noun in -(i) has a genitive singular in -(a)ithe and a plural in -(u)ithe. These endings are pronounced the same regardless of the spelling distinction.

  scrd, scrdaithe; scrduithe - examining, examination  sni, snithe; snithe - stretching

Irregular nouns

The following nouns are declined irregularly:

  bean, mn; mn, ban (f.) - woman  deirfir, deirfar; deirfiracha (f.) drefe:r, drefu:rəxə - sister  deoch, d; deochanna di:, doxənə (f.) - drink  Dia, D; dithe (m.) - God  l, lae; laethanta (m.) - day  leaba, leapa; leapacha (f.) - bed  m, mosa; monna (f.) - month  muir, mara; mara (f.) - sea  olann, olla (f.) - wool  talamh, talaimh (m.) or taln (f.); tailte - land  teach, t; tithe (m.) - house

Article

The definite article has two forms in Irish: an and na. Their distribution depends on whether the noun is singular or plural, the case of the noun, and the initial sound of the noun.

Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	an cat	an bhrg
Genitive	an chait	na brige
Dative (i)	den chat	don bhrg
Dative (ii)	ag an gcat	faoin mbrg

Dative (i) is used with den 'from the', don 'to the', and sa(n) 'in the'. Dative (ii) is used with other prepositions.

Masculine	Feminine
Nominative	an t-an	an eaglais
Genitive	an in	na heaglaise
Dative	san an, ag an an	den eaglais, trd an eaglais

Both genders
Nominative/Dative	(do) na cait; (leis) na hin; (ar) na brga; (s)na heaglais
Genitive	na gcat; na n-in; na mbrg; na n-eaglais

There is no indefinite article in Irish, so depending on context cat can mean 'cat' or 'a cat'.

Adjective

Almost all adjectives in Irish can be used either predicatively or attributively. A predicative adjective is one that forms a part of the predicate, like red in the sentence The car is red. An attributive adjective directly modifies a noun, as in the red car. A predicate adjective in Irish does not inflect:

T an fear sin beag. 'That man is small.'
T na fir sin beag. 'Those men are small.'
T an bhean seo beag. 'This woman is small.'
T na mn seo beag. 'These women are small.'

A predicate adjective expressing a value judgment is often precded by the particle go. This particle attaches an h to a following vowel.

T m go maith. 'I'm fine' (lit.'I am good.')
T an scal go holc. 'The story is bad.'
Bh an aimsir go hlainn. 'The weather was beautiful.'

An attributive adjective mostly follows the noun and is inflected:

an fear beag 'the small man'
an fhir bhig 'of the small man' (gen.)

There are three classes of declension of adjectives in Irish, which correspond to the first four declensions of nouns:

Nom. sg. ends with:	Gen. sg. masc. ends with:	Gen. sg. fem. ends with:
1st/2nd decl.	slender or broad cons.	slender consonant	slender consonant + -e
3rd decl.	slender cons. (mostly -il)	slender consonant	broad consonant + -a
4th decl.	vowel	= nom. sg.	= nom. sg.

First/Second declension

bocht 'poor'>

Masc. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nominative	bocht	bhocht	b(h)ochta
Genitive	bhoicht	boichte	bocht(a)

bacach 'lame'>

Masc. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nominative	bacach	bhacach	b(h)acacha
Genitive	bhacaigh	baca	bacach(a)

ciin 'quiet'>

Masc. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nominative	ciin	chiin	c(h)iine
Genitive	chiin	ciine	ciin(e)

Third declension

misniil 'brave'>

Masc. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nominative	misniil	mhisniil	m(h)isnila
Genitive	mhisniil	misnila	misniil, -la

cir 'just'>

Masc. Sg.	Fem. Sg.	Plural
Nominative	cir	chir	c(h)ra
Genitive	chir	cra	cir, cra

Fourth declension

This declension does not inflect. crua 'hard'>

Masc. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nominative	crua	chrua	c(h)rua
Genitive	chrua	crua	crua

Irregular adjectives

Fem. sg. nom.	Fem. sg. gen.	Pl. nom./gen.	Gloss
lainn	lainn	ille	ille	'beautiful'
bre	bhre	bretha	b(h)retha	'fine'
deacair	dheachair	deacra	d(h)eacra	'difficult'
gearr	ghearr	giorra	g(h)earra	'short'
socair	shocair	socra	s(h)ocra	'still'
tapaidh	thapaidh	thapa	t(h)apa	'fast'
te	the	te	t(h)eo	'hot'
tirim	thirim	tirime	t(h)iorma	'dry'

Notes

The nominative plural undergoes lenition only if the noun ends with a slender consonant: cait bhacacha 'lame cats'.

Otherwise, the adjective in the nominative plural does not lenite: tillir bacacha 'lame tailors'.

The long form of the genitive plural (e.g. bochta, bacacha, ciine) is used when the noun has a weak plural, e.g.

mithreacha bacacha 'of lame mothers'. The short form (e.g. bocht, bacach, ciin) is used when the noun has a strong plural, e.g. cat bacach 'of lame cats'.

The dative has the same form as the nominative.
The vocative has the same form as the nominative except in the masculine singular of the 1st/2nd declension, where it has the same form as the genitive.

Comparative

Irish adjectives have a comparative form equivalent to the comparative and to the superlative in English. The comparative does not undergo inflexion and is the same as the feminine singular genitive in regular and many irregular adjectives.

Regular formation

Comparative form	Gloss
lainn	ille	'beautiful/more beautiful'
bacach	baca	'lame/lamer'
bocht	boichte	'poor/poorer'
ciin	ciine	'quiet/quieter'
cir	cra	'just/more just'
crua	crua	'hard/harder'
deacair	deacra	'difficult/more difficult'
gearr	giorra	'short/shorter'
misniil	misnila	'brave/braver'
socair	socra	'still/stiller'
tapaidh	tapa	'fast/faster'
tirim	tirime	'dry/drier'

Irregular forms

Comparative form	Gloss
beag	l	'small/smaller'
bre	bretha	'fine/finer'
dcha	dich	'possible/more possible'
fada	faide	'long/longer'
fogus	foisce	'near/nearer'
furasta	fusa	'easy/easier'
ioma	lia	'many/more'
maith	fearr	'good/better'
olc	measa	'bad/worse'
te	teo	'hot/hotter'
tran	trine or treise	'strong/stronger'
mr	m	'big/bigger'

Syntax of comparison

There are two constructions to express the comparative: 1) Copula + comparative form + subject + n ('than') + predicate. The preterite of the copula causes lenition, while the present tense does not.

Ba thrine Cit n Cathal. 'Cit was stronger than Cathal.'

Is airde Sen n mise. 'Sen is bigger than me.'

B'ige an madra n an cat. 'The dog was younger than the cat.'

Is fearr Gaeilge bhrise n Barla clise. 'Broken Irish is better than clever English.'

2) nos/nb(a) + comparative + n + predicate. Nos is used if the sentence is in the present or future tense. Nb(a), which triggers lenition, is used if the sentence is in the past tense. Nb is used before words starting with vowels and nba before those starting with consonants.

T an ghrian nos gile n an ghealach. 'The sun is brighter than the moon.'

Beidh Peadar nos saibhre n a athair. 'Peadar will be richer than his father.'

D'irigh Peadar nba shaibhre n a athair. 'Peadar became richer than his father.'

Bh Sen nb airde n mise. 'Sen was bigger than me.'

A superlative is expressed as a relative clause: noun + is/ba/ab + comparative form.

an cailn is trine 'the strongest girl' (lit. 'the girl who is the strongest')

an cailn ba thrine 'the strongest girl' (lit. 'the girl who was the strongest')

an buachaill is ige 'the youngest boy' (lit.'the boy who is the youngest')

an buachaill ab ige 'the youngest boy' (lit.'the boy who was the youngest')

Irish Nominals

Nouns

Gender

Case

Nominative

Vocative

Genitive

Dative

Declension

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Verbal nouns

Irregular nouns

Article

Adjective

First/Second declension

Third declension

Fourth declension

Irregular adjectives

Comparative

Regular formation

Irregular forms

Syntax of comparison

See also