DASG Blog

LEACAN BLOG 3: The definite article with ath ‘next’, aon ‘one; same’, aonamh ‘first’, ochdamh ‘eighth’

In traditional Gaelic, the definite article inflects for gender, number and case. Some of its forms trigger particular initial mutations in the following noun:

1. Lenition of non-dentals & t-prefixation before initial s

• Nominative singular feminine: a’ chlach ‘the stone’, an t-sùil ‘the eye’
• Genitive singular masculine: a’ Ghàidheil ‘of the Gael’, an t-saoghail ‘of the world’
• Dative singular feminine and masculine: anns a’ bhaile ‘in the village’, fon chrao(i)bh ‘under the tree’, anns an t-saoghal ‘in the world’

2.  t-prefixation before vowels

• Nominative singular masculine: an t-òran ‘the song’

3. h-prefixation before vowels

• Genitive singular feminine: na h-ùine ‘of the time’
• Nominative / dative plural: (air) na h-ùbhlan ‘(on) the apples’, (air) na h-itean ‘(on) the feathers’.

However, the definite article does not inflect regularly before certain numerals and preposed adjectives in present-day Gaelic; in other words, the initial mutations (lenition, t- and h-) do not always affect these words as expected. The inflection of the article is also irregular before recent loanwords beginning with f-, bh- / v-, s- and z- / x-. And finally, the original dual form of the article (an, identical to the nominative singular form) is used before the number dà ‘two’ in all cases, although other (singular and plural) forms can also occur. In order to determine how widespread these phenomena are in modern Gaelic and how long they have been present in the language, corpus-based research has been conducted using Corpas na Gàidhlig. The focus of this research was on post-1950 texts, although earlier sources were also considered.

Conservative inflected forms of nouns and adjectives, occasionally attested in the examples below, are not considered here and require further research.

The research included the following categories and words:

1. Initial vowels: ath ‘next’, aon ‘one; same’, aonamh ‘first’, ochdamh ‘eighth’
2. Initial c-: ciad / ceud ‘first’, ceathramh ‘fourth’, còigeamh ‘fifth’, ceudamh ‘hundredth’
3. Initial f-: ficheadamh ‘twentieth’
4. Initial s-: siathamh ‘sixth’, seachdamh ‘seventh’
5. Loanwords beginning with f-, bh- / v-, s- and z- / x-
6. dà ‘two’.

This blog is concerned only with the words listed in [1]. Other blogs will address [2]–[6].
 
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Since they start with a vowel, the words ath, aon, aonamh and ochdamh are expected to undergo t-prefixation and h-prefixation in the relevant forms, as outlined above.

However, although the adjective ath ‘next’ modifying masculine nominative singular nouns is very frequent in the corpus, no post-1950 examples exhibit t-prefixation in the nominative singular (where it might be expected historically). This mutation is also absent in many earlier examples, although it is common in nineteenth-century texts. This, however, does not apply to compound words whose first element is ath, where t-prefixation seems to be regular, with very few exceptions.

• Innovative: an ath fheasgar ‘the next evening’; an ath latha ‘the next day’; an ath Dhi-haoine ‘the next Friday’; an ath shamhradh ‘the next summer’; an ath fhoghar ‘the next autumn’; an ath àite ‘the next place’
• Conservative: an t-ath latha ‘the next day’; an t-ath earrach ‘the next spring’; an t-ath àite ‘the next place’; an t-ath rud ‘the next thing’ (all early 20th century)
• Compounds: an t-ath-leasachadh ‘the Reformation’, an t-ath-bheothachadh ‘the revival’ vs an ath-nuadhachadh seo ‘this renewal’.

Examples of h-prefixing forms are considerably frequent too, but this initial mutation does not occur regularly either. No genitive plural forms have been found in the corpus.

• [f.gen.sg] Conservative: chun na h-ath sheachdainn ‘to the next week’; (a’) freagairt na h-ath cheist ‘answering the next question’ vs Innovative: fad an ath sheachdain ‘during the next week’
• [nom.pl] Conservative: na h-ath ghinealachan ‘the next generations’ vs Innovative: an ath fhianuisean ‘the next witnesses’.

The other forms (involving an that causes no initial mutation to ath) are well attested.

• [f.nom.sg] Conservative: an ath cheist ‘the next question’; an ath sgìre ‘the next parish’
• [m.dat.sg] Conservative: air an ath fhear ‘on the next one’; anns an ath shaoghal ‘in the next world’
• [f.dat.sg] Conservative: air an ath dhuilleig ‘on the next page’; aig an ath choinneimh ‘at the next meeting’; anns an ath long ‘in the next ship’
• [m.gen.sg] Conservative: aig deireadh an ath shamhraidh ‘at the end of the next summer’; clann an ath dhorais ‘the children nextdoor’; chun an ath fhear ‘to the next one’; airson an ath thuras ‘for the next time’.

Similar patterns apply to the word aon, which has the following meanings when modifying a definite noun, but note that an t-aon in the nominative is more common than an t-ath:

• ‘same’: Conservative: Carson nach dèan mi an t-aon rud ’s a rinn Coinneach Iain? ‘Why won’t I do the same thing that Kenneth Ian did?’
• ‘very’: Conservative: B’ e Eas-a’-choire fhéin an t-aon eas bu bhrèagha ’san dùthaich. ‘Eas a’ choire itself was the very most beautiful waterfall in the country.’
• ‘only’: Conservative: Cha b’ e seo an t-aon latha de ’n bhliadhna. ‘This was not the only day of the year.’
• ‘each’: Conservative: Gu àrd an staidhreagh rinn sinn, aon rum-cadail mor aig ceann a deas an tighe agus rinn sinn da leth air a’ cheann eile a’ toirt rùm beag do gach nighean, an t-aon rùm mac-samhail rùm na té eile. ‘Upstairs, we made one big bedroom at the southern end of the house and we divided the other end in two halves giving a small room to each daughter; each room a duplicate of the other one’s room.’

Although examples of the masculine nominative singular expression an t-aon are still frequent in recent texts, t-prefixation is absent from most examples, even in pre-1950 texts, e.g.

• Innovative: an aon chànan ‘the same language’ (although cànain was originally feminine); an aon dath ‘the same colour’; an aon òran ‘the same song’; an aon rud ‘the same thing’
• Conservative: an t-aon ghille ‘the same lad’; an t-aon òran ‘the same song’; an t-aon rud ‘the same thing’; an t-aon rùm ‘the same room’.

On the other hand, t-prefixation occurs regularly when aon is used as a noun:

• an t-aon a b’ òige ‘the youngest one’
• an t-aon de ’n cheathrar a bha air fhàgail ‘the one of the four who was left’.

In examples of the other forms, the article tends to follow conservative patterns, although some innovative forms too have been attested:

• [f.nom.sg] Conservative: an aon phiuthar ‘the only sister’; an aon chuimhne ‘the only memory’
• [m.dat.sg] Conservative: air an aon rathad ‘on the same road’; anns an aon leabhar ‘in the same book’
• [f.dat.sg] Conservative: air an aon chreig ‘on the same rock’; den aon chloich ‘of the same stone’
• [m.gen.sg] Conservative: fad an aon ama ‘during the same time’; sgioba an aon bhàta mhóir ‘the crew of the same big boat’; a’ faighinn an aon bhiadh ‘getting the same food’
• [f.gen.sg] Conservative: airson na h-aon leapa ‘for the one bed’; a’ cosnadh na h-aon duaise ‘winning the same prize’; a’ pàigheadh na h-aon chìs ‘paying the same tax’ vs Innovative: (a’) faicinn an aon rionnag ‘seeing the same star’
• [nom.pl] Conservative: na h-aon chàirdean ‘the only relatives’; na h-aon daoine / fhaclan ‘the same people / words’ vs Innovative: an aon àiteachan ‘the only places’
• [gen.pl] Conservative: a’ dèanamh nan aon rudan ‘doing the same things’.

Examples of the ordinal number aonamh ‘first’ modifying a masculine nominative singular noun are very rare in the corpus: most examples are dative, in expressions such as (Conservative) air an aonamh latha deug / fichead de ‘on the eleventh / twenty first day of…’. Some of the attested nominative forms are t-prefixed, including a feminine example which implies hypercorrection:

• [m.nom.sg] Conservative: an t-aonamh latha deug den Mhàrt ‘the eleventh (day) of March’ vs Innovative: an aonamh latha deug de Iulaidh ‘the eleventh (day) of July’
• [f.nom.sg] Innovative / hypercorrect: an t-aonamh àithne deug ‘the eleventh commandment’ (where àithne is feminine and where we might expect conservative an aonamh àithne deug)
• [m.dat.sg] Conservative: air an aonamh latha deug dhen Fhaoilleach ‘on the 11th (day) of January)’
• [m.gen.sg] Conservative: feasgar an aonamh latha fichead de’n Ghiblinn ‘the evening of the 21st (day) of April’.

No examples of h-prefixing forms have been found in the corpus with aonamh.

The ordinal number ochdamh ‘eighth’ (modifying only singular nouns) is well-attested in the corpus, mainly accompanied by the traditional forms of the article and the corresponding initial mutations, with few exceptions, e.g.

• [m.nom.sg] Conservative: an t-ochdamh latha ‘the eighth day’; Bu mhise an t-ochdamh fear san t-sreath ‘I was the eighth in the line / row’ vs Innovative: B’ e mis an ochdamh fear. ‘I was the eighth.’
• [f.nom.sg] Conservative: an ochdamh bliadhna ‘the eighth year’ vs Innovative / hypercorrect: an t-ochdamh bliadhna ‘the eighth year’
• [f.dat.sg] Conservative: anns an ochdamh bliadhna ‘in the eighth year’
• [f.gen.sg] Conservative: a’ tòiseachadh na h-ochdamh bliadhna ‘beginning the eighth year’ vs Innovative: toiseach an ochdamh bliadhna ‘the beginning of the eighth year’.

Linn ‘century’ shows mixed usage in the nominative and genitive, no doubt reflecting its masculine gender in modern Scottish Gaelic and its original historical feminine gender:

• [m./f.nom.sg] Conservative masculine: an t-ochdamh linn deug ‘the eighteenth century’ vs Conservative feminine: an ochdamh linn ‘the eighth century’ (a 19th-century text)
• [m.dat.sg.] or [f.dat.sg] anns an ochdamh linn deug ‘in the eighteenth century’
• [f./m.gen.sg] Conservative feminine: aig toiseach na h-ochdamh linn deug ‘at the start of the eighteenth century’ vs Conservative masculine: aig deireadh an ochdamh linn deug ‘at the end of the eighteenth century’ (with one example of aig deireadh an ochdamh linne deug where linn unusually occurs in the genitive).

 
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The following conclusions can be drawn based on the corpus data presented above:

1. The definite article does not normally or regularly prefix t- to the words ath and aon that modify a masculine nominative singular noun in modern Gaelic: an ath bhaile, an aon duine.
2. The form an ath sometimes occurs instead of na h-ath both with singular feminine nouns in genitive contexts and with plural nouns: fad an ath sheachdain, an ath fhianuisean, although h-prefixed examples are not uncommon.
3. The form na h-aon occurs frequently in the corpus, both with singular feminine nouns in genitive contexts and with plural nouns, although an aon is also attested.
4. A few examples of genitive plural nan aon have been found in the corpus, in post-1950 texts. There are no examples of an aon or (n)an ath in this context (genitive plural).
5. No definite conclusions can be made about the inflection of the article and the initial mutations with the ordinal number aonamh due to the paucity of examples.
6. The article preceding the ordinal number ochdamh seems to inflect according to the traditional patterns. However, only singular forms occur.

Since these words are not well-attested in all grammatical contexts and because written texts tend to reflect more conservative usages than the everyday spoken language, more research on actual vernacular usage is needed.

Based on the currently available data, the following recommendations for formal and informal use can be made for ath and aon when modifying a noun:

Conservative / high register / formal

Nom. sg. m.	an t-ath	an t-aon
Nom. sg. f. Dat. sg. m./f. Gen. sg. m.	an ath	an aon
Gen. sg. f. Nom./dat. pl.	na h-ath	na h-aon
Gen. pl.	nan ath	nan aon

 
Innovative / informal

Nom. sg. m. Nom. sg. f. Dat. sg. m./f. Gen. sg. m.	an ath	an aon
Gen. sg. f. Nom./dat. pl.	na h-ath or an ath [?]	na h-aon or an aon [?]
Gen. pl.	nan ath or an ath [?]	nan aon or an aon [?]

 
We would be very interested to receive comments, feedback and suggestions about the forms of the article and the initial mutations in the context of the words ath, aon, aonamh and ochdamh. Do the conservative forms seem acceptable? Do the innovative / informal inflections presented above correspond to the current vernacular usage or is the system even more reduced / simplified than we have suggested here? Are the traditional forms more common with the numbers aonamh and ochdamh than with ath and aon?

Please email us with your feedback and comments at mail@dasg.ac.uk.

Dr David Mandić
Professor Rob Ó Maolalaigh
Oilthigh Ghlaschu / University of Glasgow