Hi All,

Can someone tell me what rule is being used here to put the n before gluaisteán

"Tá a ngluaisteán á ní acu"

Is anyone using the book "Búntas Gramadaí" ???

If so can you tell me what page this rule is on. I cannot see it...

Its very frustrating!!

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Please feel free to correct anything I say in Irish that is incorrect.
Anything in English, leave it alone, I dont care.

a in this case is "their" and causes eclipsis (urú).

a ngluaisteán "their car"

Eclipsis of g => ng

Tá a ngluaisteán á ní acu "Their car is being washed by them"

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Thanks Breandán.

Is anyone using Buntas Gramadaí???

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Please feel free to correct anything I say in Irish that is incorrect.
Anything in English, leave it alone, I dont care.

In case you don't know the rule, here it is:

"A" means "his" if:
It's followed by a word with a lenited consonant:

A charr = His car

It's followed by an unaltered vowel:

A anam = His soul

"A" means "her" if:

It's followed by a consonant that can be lenited, but isn't:

A carr = Her car

It's followed by a word beginning with a vowel that has had "h" prefixed:

A hanam = Her soul

"A" means "their" if it's followed by an eclipsed consonant:

A gcarr = Their car

It's followed by a vowel that has had "n-" prefixed:

A n-anam = Their souls

If the following word begins with an unlenitable consonant, the meaning of "a" must come from the context of the sentence:

A nuachtán = his/her/their newspaper, depending on context

Redwolf

in speech there's a difference between his and her/their in Donegal (and maybe Connachta?):

/ə nuiar̥taːn/ (his)

/ə Nuiar̥taːn/ (her/their)

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

What is the difference in speech !

Exactly what Lughaidh said:

/n/ is a lenited n which still exists in older speakers speech in Connacht as well. (In English, this is the usual n.)

/N/ is the unlenited n. It's "darker", meaning you have a larger cavity behind your tongue. (With this n, the tongue is pressed flatter against the back of the teeth/alveolar ridge.)

Another place the distinction is made is between single and double n in spelling, but mostly with the slender version:

fuineadh /fin´ə/ FIN-ih
fuinneamh /fiN´ə/ FINN-yih

(With double consonants the glide is also clearer.)

Similarly /l/ is a lenited l and single l form. /L/ is unlenited and double l form, again a "dark" l.

buile /bil´ə/ BWIL-ih
buille /biL´ə/ BWILL-yih

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Thanks Breandán & Lughaidh. Was at a loss about the difference between /N/ and /n/. Have to pay more attention to "An Poc ar buile" from now on. GRMA

Don't get them started on phonetics and phonemes and phonology and phonosaurus rexes.....!

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Yea ! Almost lost my teeth lookin for that "alveolar ridge"