DASG Blog

LEACAN BLOG 6: The definite article with the number dà ‘two’

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-, v- / bh-, y-, w-, s-, z- / x- and j-. 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, occasionally attested in the examples below, are not considered here and require further research.

This is our fourth blog dedicated to the inflection of the definite article and the accompanying initial mutations with the following 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-, v- / bh-, y-, w-, s-, z- / x- and j-
6. dà ‘two’.

Our previous blog addressed topic [5] above and the present one is dedicated to the number dà ‘two’.
 
* * * * *

The cardinal number dà ‘two’ governs the dual number, which has largely fallen together with the singular even in traditional Gaelic. In fact, only some feminine nouns and the adjectives that modify them use special nominative / dative dual forms with slenderisation, identical to their dative singular forms. The dual form of the definite article for all cases is the singular form an, which is well-attested in the corpus. The genitive forms na (feminine singular) and nan (plural), however, have also been recorded in a few examples.

• [M.NOM] Conservative: an dà bhaile ‘the two villages’, an dà shaoghal ‘the two worlds’
• [F.NOM] Conservative: an dà roghainn ‘the two choices’; an dà chaillich ‘the two old women’; an dà uinneag bheag ‘the two small windows’
• [M.DAT] Conservative: anns an dà leabhar ‘in the two books’, air an dà thaobh ‘on the two sides’
• [F.DAT] Conservative: do’n dà dhùthaich ‘to the two countries’; anns an dà bhuidhinn ‘in the two groups’; leis an dà chrùbag ‘with the two crabs’
• [M.GEN] Conservative: croitearan an dà bhaile ‘the crofters of the two villages’; cànanan an dà shluaigh seo ‘the languages of these two peoples’; a thaobh an dà leabhar [sic!] ‘as for the two books’ vs Innovative: a’ tarraing nan dà lìon ‘pulling the two nets’
• [F.GEN] Conservative: ro cheann an dà bhliadhna ‘before the end of the two years’; barall an dà bhròig ‘the laces of the two shoes’ vs Innovative: ré na dà bhliadhna a chaidh ‘during the past two years’; air mullaich na dà chreig ‘on the tops of the two rocks’ vs fad nan dà bhliadhna dheug ‘during the twelve years’.

However, the expression na dhà ‘the two; both’ acts as an independent noun phrase which can be modified by (plural) adjectives, demonstratives or relative clauses, e.g.

• aon de na dhà ‘one of the two’
• na dhà mhòra ‘the big two’
• na dhà eile ‘the other two’
• na dhà sin ‘those two’
• na dhà ùra seo ‘these two new ones’
• na dhà a dh’ainmich mi ‘the two that I mentioned’
• na dhà dhiubh ‘the two of them; both of them’
• tha na dhà ri ’m faotainn… ‘both can be found’
• bu chòir àite a bhith ann do na dhà ‘there should be room for both’.

Note the same form in the genitive: os cionn na dhà sin ‘above those two’; a’ togail na dhà eile ‘lifting the other two’.
 
* * * * *

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

1. The old dual form of the definite article is used with the number dà ‘two’ in all cases.
2. The genitive forms na (with feminine nouns) and nan have also been attested, in a few examples.
3. The expression na dhà ‘the two; both’ acts as an independent noun phrase, which can be modified by (plural) adjectives, demonstratives and relative clauses.

Based on the corpus examples, some of which are presented above, the following preliminary guidance may be recommended on the inflection of the definite article with dà ‘two’.
 

	Masculine	Feminine	‘both; the two’
Nom. sg.	an dà bhaile	an dà bhliadhna	na dhà
Dat. sg.	an dà bhaile	an dà bhliadhna	na dhà
Gen. sg.	an dà bhaile	an dà bhliadhna	na dhà

 
We would be interested to receive comments, feedback and suggestions about the forms of the definite article modifying the number dà in different grammatical contexts. Does the situation described above correspond to modern vernacular usage and does this guidance seem correct? Are genitive forms of the article such as rè na dà sheachdain, rè nan dà sheachdain used and, if they are, how common are they and are they characteristic of certain registers, dialects or age groups?
 
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