ECG: 15. Possessive Pronouns.

15. Possessive Pronouns.

Singular	Plural
Mo, my	ar, our
Do, thy	bhur ('ur), your
A, his or her	an, am, their

Three of the above - mo, do, bhur - have contracted forms: m', d', 'ur respectively.

NOTE:-

A, his, aspirates the noun which it qualifies.
E.G. A cheann, his head; a bhròg, his shoe. (Not, a ceann; and, a bròg).
A, her does not aspirate its noun.
E.G. A ceann, her head; a bròg, her shoe; a sùil, her eye.
Mo, do = my, thy, aspirate their nouns.
E.G. Mo shùil, my eye; mo cheann, my head; do chù, thy dog; do bhò, thy cow.

After these possessive pronouns when a noun begins with a vowel (or f, followed by a vowel), the following points should be noted:

The o of mo and do is elided and an apostrophe takes its place. E.G.
- My lamb, is not - mo uan; but m' uan.
- My horse is not - mo each; but m' each.
In addition, an f noun is aspirated. E.G.
- Your hair, is not - do falt; but d' fhalt.
- My tooth, is not - mo fiacail; but m'fhiacail.
A, his, is also omitted and an apostrophe used in its place. E.G.
- Reic e' each, he sold his horse - for, Reic e a each. The omission of 'a' facilitates pronunciation.
- Similarly, mharbh e' uan, he killed his lamb.
But when "a," her, is used, the pronoun is written, but is followed by h- before the noun. E.G.
- Reic e a h-each, he sold her horse.
- Chaill i a h-iuchair, she lost her key.
The pronouns ar, our; 'ur, your, are followed by n- before their respective nouns. E.G.
- Our horse. ar n-each
- our bread, ar n-aran
- your father, 'ur m-athair
  ("your" refers to more than one person; i.e., "your" is plural).

These possessives are made emphatic by such suffixes as (*)sa, sa, se, ne, but such particles are always written after the nouns which the possesives qualify.
E.G. My dog, mo chù-sa; his cat, a chat-san; her hen, a cearc-se; our house, ar taigh-ne; your horse, 'ur n-each-se; their lamb, an uan-san.

Again, when an adjective (or adjectives) qualifies any noun in such a position, the particle is written after the adjective.
E.G. Mo chù dubh-sa, my black dog; a cat glas-se, her grey cat; an taigh mór aluinn-san, their big beautiful house.

LEUGHADH

Bha mo chù-sa aig an dorus. Tha do sgian air a' bhòrd. Chuir esan a làmh anns a' phoca. Chuir ise a bròg air an làr. Cheangail e' each anns an stàbull.

Thilg e a pheann air a' bhòrd. Bhris an t-each a chas. C'àit' am beil do bhrògan-sa? Tha mo bhrògan-sa anns an t-seòmar. C'àit' am beil 'ur leabhraichean? Chuir 'ur n-athair anns a' chiste iad. Tha m' each-sa anns a' phàirc agus d' uan-sa anns an t-sabhal.

Thog e a phoca agus thilg e air an làr e. Gheàrr an gille a chas agus dhùin a' chaileag a sùil. Tha m' fhalt-sa bàn, ach tha d' fhalt-sa dubh, agus a falt-se donn.

Fhuair e' iuchair anns an dorus agus ghlas e a thaigh. Thilg ise a h-aodach anns an teine agus ghlac an lasair a falt. Chunnaic mi esan agus a phiuthar anns an dorus.

Thàinig an duine agus a bhean agus a nighean anns a' mhaduinn.

1996-01-15 CPD