Quick Gaelic Question

[marconatrix]

At least you can live safe in the knowledge that you're both far more conservative than us lot down here

The only dual in Welsh I can think of is 'dwylo', which is the plural of llaw (hand). 'Dwy' is the feminine of 'two' - but even if you were talking about more than two you'd still say dwylo (actually I'm pretty sure that if you were saying 'two hands' deliberately, you'd say 'dwy law' instead...)

There's also deuddydd and deufis in the standard language, and some dialects retain things like dwyfron, deudroed and so on. However, I'll admit that I had to go look them up: IMD none of them are used, including dwylo.

Can you be sure, because they're just 2 + singular noun, which in any case is normal with most numbers (I think), so it's really just a matter of stress, i.e. of running the two words into one. With 'dwylo' you get the usual reduction of 'aw' > 'o' outside of stressed syllables, 'athro ~ athrawon' etc. Cornish has this sort of dual for most paired body parts, including 'dewgell'.

[marconatrix]

I thought that complexities would be lost in the least used tenses first?

I think it's more a case of the most used forms wearing out the fastest. Certainly irregularities get leveled in little used forms, but the combined verbal forms are pretty regular on the whole. I think I too prefer Munster Irish, but it's probably because being the furthest from SG it's the least confusing. It also looks to be more consistent in itself (from what little I know!)

[Yng]

Can you be sure, because they're just 2 + singular noun, which in any case is normal with most numbers (I think), so it's really just a matter of stress, i.e. of running the two words into one. With 'dwylo' you get the usual reduction of 'aw' > 'o' outside of stressed syllables, 'athro ~ athrawon' etc. Cornish has this sort of dual for most paired body parts, including 'dewgell'.

That is a good point, but 'llaw' (for example) now has no regular plural and dwylo is formed from two + llaw, which suggests that at some point, 'dwylo' and a regular plural coexisted. Then it might've been a dual form.

[Declan]

Bhithinn ag radh, "A bheil thu a' faighinn Gàidhlig na h-Alba glé dhoirbh a thuigsinn? 'S urrainn dhomh Gàidhlig na hÉireann a leughadh ach tha i a' cur dragh orm"

Tuigfinn cuid maith é sin. But I feel with just a few lessons, I would pick up a lot more very quickly.

[linguoboy]

You've used several above. To say 'I can' we use a completely different idiom 's urrainn dhomh "'tis possible to me"

For some reason, the equivalents of "can" vary quite a bit. Féad is only really used in Munster. The most common Ulster construction (also used in Connacht) seems to be tig [a dialectal form of tar "come"] + le, e.g. tig liom Gaelg na hAlban a léamh. Another very common construction is bí plus in ann (or abalta in Munster), e.g. táim in ann Gaeilge na hAlban a léamh. Other expressions incorporate cumas "capability" or féidir "possible"

but we add -(e)as on to the future in a relative sentence.

Relative forms are found in Ulster and Connacht, but seem to be obsolete in Munster.

I think we have more absolute/conjunct contrasts in the dozen or so irregular verbs than there are in Mod. Irish

Munster has even leveled some of the few remaining, e.g. Ar dheinis é? (Standard An ndearna tú é? "Did you do it?" ), Ar chuais ar ais? (Standard An ndeachaigh tú ar ais? "Did you go back?"), etc.

As far as nouns go, some dialects certainly do or did level out the cases, in fact Perthshire Gaelic (now extinct afaik) is supposed to have done away with them entirely.

Connemara dialects seem to have gone the furthest in doing away with case. I've heard there are speakers there who no longer distinguish the genitive from the nom./acc.

Oh, and it took me a long time to accept muid which I assume is an inflexion which has broken loose to lead a life of its own.

Exactly right! From a diachronic pov it's an interesting development but I simply prefer the ring of sinn.

[marconatrix]

Can you be sure, because they're just 2 + singular noun, which in any case is normal with most numbers (I think), so it's really just a matter of stress, i.e. of running the two words into one. With 'dwylo' you get the usual reduction of 'aw' > 'o' outside of stressed syllables, 'athro ~ athrawon' etc. Cornish has this sort of dual for most paired body parts, including 'dewgell'.

That is a good point, but 'llaw' (for example) now has no regular plural and dwylo is formed from two + llaw, which suggests that at some point, 'dwylo' and a regular plural coexisted. Then it might've been a dual form.

Yes, I understand this. It certainly was originally a dual and then took over as the normal plural. I wonder how far back that happened. Cornish has diwle later diwla from diw + leuv. The regular plural is apparently leuvyow (i.e. that would be 'llofiau' in Welsh) but I can't recall ever seeing this used, either in the historical texts or in modern usage, but then if you asked the kids in a class to put up their hands for something, then if you used the duel I suppost that would imply that each kid should raise both his/her hands

[marconatrix]

Bhithinn ag radh, "A bheil thu a' faighinn Gàidhlig na h-Alba glé dhoirbh a thuigsinn? 'S urrainn dhomh Gàidhlig na hÉireann a leughadh ach tha i a' cur dragh orm"

Tuigfinn cuid maith é sin. But I feel with just a few lessons, I would pick up a lot more very quickly.

Find some text on a subject you already understand and you could probably figure most of it out from just reading with maybe looking up the occasional word, there are dictionaries online. The grammar should be pretty familiar, just the odd weird twist (from your POV) and a few new auxillary and defective verbs.

To tell the truth, I really need to get my Gaelic up to speed again.

[linguoboy]

Find some text on a subject you already understand and you could probably figure most of it out from just reading with maybe looking up the occasional word, there are dictionaries online. The grammar should be pretty familiar, just the odd weird twist (from your POV) and a few new auxillary and defective verbs.

Yeah, last year around this time I sat down with a copy of Campbell's Popular takes of the West Highlands and did just that. I should've thought to keep notes on some of the more amusing or troublesome false friends I came across.