"THE USUAL RULES":
The "usual rules" of initial mutation after the combination of a simple preposition and a following definite article:
- To start with, note that a plural noun preceded by a simple preposition and a definite article follows the same rules as when it is preceded just by a definite article: i.e. a consonant does not change, but a vowel takes a h-: ar na fir, ag na mná, leis na héanacha (similarly: na fir, na mná, na héanacha)
- All the difficulties are, thus, in the singular.
- The basic rule is, that the noun is eclipsed: ar an bhfear, ag an mbean. A vowel is not affected (but the t- before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel is dropped: an t-éan, but leis an éan).
- However, initial t- and d- are not eclipsed: ag an doras, ag an tine (such forms as ag an ndoras, ag an dtine are Kerry Irish).
- As an alternative, the Ulster way of leniting the noun instead is allowed in the caighdeán: ag an fhear, ag an bhean.
- In standard Irish, the initial lenitable s- (s + vowel, sn-, sl-, sr-) behaves in the same way as if there was no preposition, i.e. if the noun is masculine, it is not affected (ar an saol), but if it is feminine, the s- turns into a t-, written ts- (ar an tsráid). However, in Ulster, no difference between genders is observed here (ar an tsaol, ar an tsráid).
AG
Followed by the "dative case" (which is today for the most part equal to the nominative case, i.e. the dictionary form). When used before an article + a noun, the usual rules of eclipsis/lenition etc. apply.
Aigesna rather than ag na in plural is typically Munster Irish.
Personal forms: agam, agat, aige, aici, againn, agaibh, acu.
Before nouns with no article: ag does not affect the first sound in any way.
Main meanings of ag:
- at (in the concrete locational sense): tá sé ina sheasamh ag an doras "he is standing at the door"
- chez, in somebody's home
- at an occasion
- in somebody's possession: tá gluaisteán agam "I have a car/an automobile"
Note: The widespread habit of using le in the sense of "in somebody's home" is an Anglicism. Due to the fact that English does not have a preposition corresponding to Irish ag, German bei, or Swedish hos, with is used in English. But in Irish, if you are "staying with" somebody, you should use ag for translating "with".
AR
Followed by the "dative case" (which is today for the most part equal to the nominative case, i.e. the dictionary form). When used before an article + a noun, the usual rules of eclipsis/lenition apply.
Personal forms: orm, ort, air, uirthi, orainn, oraibh, orthu.
Before nouns with no article: The main rule is, that it lenites. However, when it refers rather to the abstract state than to the concrete position, the lenition is omitted: ar muin chapaill (on horseback) vs. ar mhuin an chapaill áirithe seo (on the back of this particular horse). Note:
ar dhóigh "in a way" vs. ar dóigh "excellent" (But note ar fheabhas "excellent", which is an exception of the exception). There is, of course (!), even ar ndóigh "of course". (And speaking of ar + eclipsis, remember also ar gcúl. This kind of irregular eclipsis after ar is probably due to the fact that the ar we now have is a merger of several prepositions, one of them iar "after", which used to eclipse the noun.)
ar shiúl "away, gone" vs. ar siúl "happening, going on"
ar tarraingt "in traction" (when you lie with a broken bone in a hospital)
ar fionraí "suspended"
ar cois "happening, going on"
ar obair "happening, going on, proceeding"
ar dalladh "intensely"
ar fheabhas "excellent". This is an irregularity, because in exact this kind of expressions you would expect no lenition of the f-.
Main meanings of ar:
- on, upon (in the most concrete sense): ar an urlár "on the floor"
- for a price: cheannaigh mé ar ocht bpunt é "I bought it for eight pounds"
- in a relative position: tá sé ar an bhfear is fearr "he is the best man"
- under the authority of someone: tá Nearó ina Impire ar an Róimh "Nero is the Emperor of Rome"
- affected by emotion or disease: tá tuirse orm, tá fearg orm, tá slaghdán orm, tá tinneas cinn orm
- "about" in the sense of "talking about something". This usage, however, is more connected with particular verbs and phrases than that of faoi. (Compare Irish trácht ar rud and English "to remark upon something".)
- "Down upon" referring to aggression and attack is in Irish anuas ar.
AS
Followed by the "dative case" (which is today for the most part equal to the nominative case, i.e. the dictionary form). Before an article + a noun, the usual rules apply.
Personal forms: asam, asat, as, aisti, asainn, asaibh, astu.
Before nouns with no article: they are not affected at all. In Kerry, as does lenite, but this is heavily dialectal, and speakers of other dialects might find it out and out wrong. In Cork Irish, at least in Cape Clear, the historically correct form a is used instead (as being only the third person masculine singular form) - it does not affect a consonant, but adds a h- to a vowel.
Main meanings of as:
- out of; from among; from; away from
- emanating from (smells, for instance)
- material, medium: rud a ní as uisce; labhairt as Gaeilge
- in payment for: d'íoc mé deich bpunt as na hearraí "I paid ten pounds for the goods"
CHUIG
Followed by the "dative case" (see above). Before an article + a noun, the usual rules apply.
Personal forms: chugam, chugat, chuige, chuici, chugainn, chugaibh, chucu.
Before nouns without article: they are not affected at all.
Main meanings of chuig: to, towards.
Note: ag is in dialects often used instead of chuig.
CHUN
Followed by the genitive case. The usual genitive rules apply. Note though, that when chun precedes an articleless noun which is followed by a definite genitive, that articleless noun can be declined in genitive too: leas ár dtíre "the interest/greater good of our country", chun leasa ár dtíre "to the greater good of our country".
Personal forms; the same as for chuig.
Main meanings:
- to, towards
- to a conclusion, to an effect
- for a purpose
Note the older forms chum, do-chum, which you might encounter in texts printed in Gaelic type and spelled according to the old orthography.
DE
Followed by the dative case (see above). Before an article + a noun, it lenites where applicable, and turns a lenitable s- into a t- (but written ts-). Lenites nouns without an article.
Personal forms: díom, díot, de, di, dínn, díbh, díobh. The initial d- is often lenited (dh-).
Main meanings:
- from, off: rud a bhaint de dhuine "to take a thing away from somebody", stad sé den obair "he stopped working"
- attached to, sticking to: cheangail mé an rópa den bhád "I bound, attached, the rope to the boat"; cheangail mé an dá bhád dá chéile le rópa "I tied the two boats to each other with a rope"
Note: non-natives often use le to refer to what something is attached or bound to. This is wrong. In Irish you always use de for this. Le refers to whatever you use for tying them together. Thus, you tie the boats de each other le a rope.
Another note: it is quite common as dialects go to conflate de and do into one preposition, or to use do where you'd expect de. Remember this when you read native texts with Ó Donaill's dictionary.
Desna rather than de na in plural is Munster Irish.
DO
Initial mutations as after de.
Personal forms: dom, duit, dó, di, dúinn, daoibh, dóibh. The initial d- is often lenited (dh-).
Main meanings:
- To, i.e. when giving something to someone: tabhair dom an bréagán sin "give me that toy".
- To a place (although for this I'd mostly prefer go dtí)
- For (intended for someones use; to the benefit of; etc.)
- In certain verbal noun constructions, it refers to the agent of the verbal noun: i ndiaidh dom teacht abhaile/ar theacht abhaile dom "when I had come home"
Dosna rather than do na is Munster Irish.
FAOI
Lenites a noun that follows it directly. The usual rules apply to the combination of preposition + article.
Personal forms: fúm, fút, faoi, fúithi, fúinn, fúibh, fúthu.
Main meanings:
- Under, beneath.
- About, around; also "about" in the sense of talking about something.
An Ulster acquaintance of mine suggested that there was a division of meaning between fá "about" and faoi "under, beneath" in Ulster dialect. This is possible, but my impression is that the choice of faoi, fá, fé, fó in older texts mostly depends of the phonetic environment, i.e. the vowels of the surrounding nouns (this would account for the form fó in the expression an Tír fó Thoinn "the land beneath the wave", a mythological underwater otherworld; the expression has also, probably facetiously, been used for the Netherlands).
Fé is a common spelling variant in Munster. Fésna instead of faoi na is Munster dialect.
I
Eclipses a noun that follows it directly (i dteach). Becomes in before a vowel. In the standard language, the combination i + an (ins an, now commonly written sa, san) lenites; in Connemara, though, it is assimilated to the "usual rules" (sa mbád rather than sa bhád). In plural, i + na becomes ins na (now commonly written sna).
Sa in plural is Munster dialect.
Personal forms: ionam, ionat, ann, inti, ionainn, ionaibh, iontu.
Main meanings:
- In, inside: sa teach
- In a position: i gceannas ar na saighdiúirí
- Innate capacities: tá comhábhair an cheoltóra mhaith ann
- Role: tá mé i mo mhúinteoir
- Accusation, guilt: tá sé á chúiseamh i ndúnmharú; fuarthas ciontach i ndúnmharú é
LE
According to the standard language, it should affix a h- to a following vowel. Combines with the article to yield leis an in singular, leis na in plural. Leis an follows the usual rules.
Personal forms: liom, leat, leis, léi, linn, libh, leo.
Main meanings:
- with
- towards, facing
- often used with verbs of interaction, transaction: labhair sé liom "he spoke with/to me"; dhíol sé a sheancharr liom "he sold his old car to me"
- with is it refers to ownership: is liom an carr úd "that car over there is mine". Note the difference: tá carr agam "I have a car", but is liom an carr "the car belongs to me".
Ó
The usual rules apply when followed by an article. When it precedes an articleless noun, it lenites. Ósna in plural is Munster dialect: ó na is standard.
Personal forms: uaim, uait, uaidh, uaithi, uainn, uaibh, uathu.
Main meanings:
- from (from a place, from a person, from a limit, from a root cause, away from someone)
- since (a point of time)
TRÍ
Becomes tríd before an. (Oops! All these years I have happily written it as tríd even before plural na!) It tends to be permanently lenited (thrí) and you do see the form tríd even before a noun without an article (this is dialectal though).
It's the usual rules before an article. Before a noun without an article, trí lenites.
Personal forms: tríom, tríot, tríd, tríthi, trínn, tríobh, triothu.
Main meanings of trí:
- through: tríd an bhfuinneog, tríd an doras
- by doing something, by using something, by doing something in a way: rinne sé an t-aireagán trí mhiontaighde "he made the invention by minutious research"
- through the medium of: ag múineadh trí Ghaeilge
UM
This preposition is only ever used in Cork Irish (well, probably sometimes in Kerry before names of holidays) and in legalese. I confess I have no exact idea what it means, but it follows the usual rules when it comes before an article. Before a naked noun, it lenites, with the exception of labial consonants (b, m, p). For main meanings, consult the online Ó Donaill dictionary. - OK, fine, I am pulling your leg. It usually means "about, around", and it is often used with temporal nouns: um an dtaca so (yes, it is definitely a Munster preposition, so um an eclipses the t's and the d's!), um an gCáisc, um an Nollaig. In legalese, it refers to what a law or an act is about: an tAcht um Theascadh na mBod Rófhada "the Too Long Penises Amputating Act".
It has the personal forms umam, umat, uime, uimpi, umainn, umaibh, umpu. However, one of my readers pointed out on Twitter that she had never seen these forms before. They are hardly ever used anywhere else than in the native literature of Co. Cork; a book where you could expect to see them is Dónall Bán Ó Céileachair's Scéal mo Bheatha. And of course in Peadar Ua Laoghaire's books. In fact, I reckon this otherwise very marginal and dialectal preposition became part of modern Irish legalese only because Ua Laoghaire with Séadna and his other books was so influential in the early years of the revival of Irish.
ROIMH
Lenites naked nouns, but follows the usual rules with articles. The form roimis an... rather than roimh an... is Munster Irish. Also in Munster Irish, you might see genitive forms after roimh.
Personal forms: romham, romhat, roimhe, roimpi, romhainn, romhaibh, rompu.
Main meanings:
- before (in a temporal sense): roimh an Nollaig, roimh an gCáisc
- before (in an order of preference, arrival, prestige etc.), ahead of: tháinig siad abhaile romhainn
- waiting for someone: nuair a thuirling an t-eitleán i mBaile Átha Cliath, bhí cuid mhór de lucht ár leanúna ansin romhainn
THAR
Lenites naked nouns, except in sayings of a general meaning (thar barr, thar muir, thar bord, thar claí, thar smacht, thar sáile); the usual rules apply before a definite article.
Personal forms: tharam, tharat, thairis, thairsti, tharainn, tharaibh, tharstu.
Main meanings:
- over, across, to the other side of something: chuaigh Seán thar sáile agus bhunaigh sé gnó ríomhaireachta i San Francisco
- over, above: chuaigh an t-uisce thar an gcloigeann air agus bádh é
- going or getting by or past something: chuaigh siad tharainn agus an choiscéim ghasta sin fúthu
- beyond: chuaigh na páistí thar smacht ar an múinteoir bocht
- in preference to: roghnaigh mé an ceann maith thar an drochcheann
IDIR
I have always had this idea that when it means "between", it does not lenite the following noun, while when it means "among", it does. However, Ó Donaill tells us that it basically lenites, with the exception of certain phrases. Whatever. It does not affect a noun preceded by article, so no "usual rules" there.
Eadar is a common variant spelling, typical of Ulster writers.
It has personal forms only in plural: eadrainn, eadraibh, eatarthu. These are only used alone. If idir is followed by two pronouns, those are kept: idir sinn agus iad, idir sibh agus sinn, and so on. There is one book - An Fhiannuidheacht by Cormac Ó Cadhlaigh - where you see stuff like eadrainn agus iad rather than idir sinn agus iad. The book is otherwise written in a rather commonplace Munster Irish for the most part, so I don't know whether this is an archaism or a hypercorrection.
Main meanings:
The Irish military oath for officers of the permanent defence force has the following wording:
Mionnaímse/Dearbhaímse [name], go solamanta go mbead dílis d'Éirinn agus tairiseach don Bhunreacht agus, faid a bhead im oifigeach de na Buan-Óglaigh, go gcomhlíonfad gach ordú dleathach a bhéarfas m'oifigigh uachtaracha dhom agus nach gceanglód le haon eagraíocht nó cumann polaitíochta ná le haon chumann rúnda ar bith ná nach mbead im chomhalta den chéanna ná nach dtaobhód leis an gcéanna.
In English, the same oath is as follows:
I [name] do solemnly swear/declare that I will be faithful to Ireland and
loyal to the Constitution and that while I am an officer of the Permanent Defence
Force I will obey all lawful orders issued to me by my superior officers and will not
join or be a member of or subscribe to any political organisation or society or any
secret society whatsoever.
(Source: Defence Act 1954, section 43, sixth schedule.)
The Irish text is not bad as it is, but personally I take issue with certain aspects of it:
- The form solamanta. "Solemn" is in today's Irish sollúnta, and I think I have only met solamanta in this particular text (although I guess it is also mentioned as an alternative form in Ó Dónaill's dictionary).
- The use of such forms as bead "I will be", ceanglód "I will join", comhlíonfad "I will keep/obey/observe", taobhód "I will side (with)". Personally, I would prefer beidh mé, ceanglóidh mé, comhlíonfaidh mé, taobhóidh mé. The synthetic form of the first person singular future tense feels a little too Munster these days.
- The word tairiseach. I have only met it as a noun, in the sense of a mathematical or physical constant. Well, of course it does exist as an adjective, and you find it in dictionaries, but you practically never see it in either native folklore or native literature. The Irish text is obviously a translation from the English one, and as the English text uses two different words - "faithful" and "loyal" - the translator felt compelled to do so, too. However, I'd prefer to just say dílis d'Éirinn agus don bhunreacht. Another possibility would be to use urramach or a related word for variation: go mbeidh mé dílis d'Éireann agus go dtabharfaidh mé urraim don Bhunreacht.
- The use of céanna as a standalone pronoun. Usually we find this only in the idiomatic expression mar an gcéanna. It is not wrong to use an céanna as a standalone pronoun (this usage is mentioned in Ó Dónaill), but it is far more typical and natural to use it in an adjective attribute position (an rud ćeanna and so on). Instead of leis an gcéanna, den chéanna I would prefer lena leithéid, dá leithéid.
- Bhéarfas is a form of tabhair!/tabhairt, and in the present standard language it would be thabharfaidh (because standard Irish does not acknowledge either the direct relative form of the verb or the b(h)éar- stem of the verb tabhair). Personally, I'd prefer to keep the direct relative -s, though - thabharfas. I don't think bhéarfas is wrong, but combining the -s relative form (in my opinion, especially typical of Ulster and Connacht) with such synthetic forms as ceanglód, bead and so on in the same text feels stylistically awkward, noting that those synthetic forms are mainly Munster Irish.
- The use of ceangail!/ceangal le... for joining a society sounds kind of funny to me, too. I'd say simply dul i..., which is the usual way to refer to joining a society. Thus: nach rachaidh mé in aon eagraíocht ná in aon chumann polaitíochta ná in aon chumann rúnda ar bith... Note though that I find cumann polaitíochta much better than cumann polaitiúil. Nowadays they would sure translate "a political society" as cumann polaitiúil, which at least originally used to be more literary and less straightforward style than cumann polaitíochta. The Irish way is to use a genitive attribute - dochtúir mná is better Irish for "a female doctor" than dochtúir baineann, and cumann polaitíochta is better Irish than cumann polaitiúil. (In fact, I'd say there is a subtle difference between cumann polaitíochta and cumann polaitiúil. The first one is a political organization which is explicitly meant to be political and has political aims. The other one is an organization that has other than political aims - theoretically - but that has been politicized. For instance, think of a situation where there are two Irish-language organization, one of which is only an Irish-language one, while the other one has been hijacked by a political party. Then the first one would be spoken of as an cumann neamhpholaitiúil, the one as an cumann polaitiúil.)
- Comhalta rather than ball for the member of a society or organization is quite correct, you don't see it too often these days.
In my own variety of Irish, I would suggest:
Mise, Seán Ó Rudaí/Síle Ní Rudaí, mionnaím/dearbhaím go sollúnta go mbeidh mé dílis d'Éirinn agus go dtabharfaidh mé urraim don Bhunreacht; agus, fad is a bheas mé i m'oifigeach de chuid na mBuan-Óglach, go gcomhlíonfaidh mé gach ordú dleathach a thabharfas mo chuid oifigeach uachtarach dom, agus, nach rachaidh mé in aon eagraíocht nó cumann polaitíochta ná in aon rúnchumann, nach mbeidh mé i mo chomhalta d'eagraíocht ar bith den chineál sin, agus nach dtabharfaidh mé tacaíocht dá leithéid.
One thing more: joining an organization as a member is in Irish dul i..., but taking its stance is dul le... Chuaigh sé i bPáirtí na Polaitíochta means that he joined the Political Party, but chuaigh sé le Páirtí na Polaitíochta means that he only shared its stance. (I use here Páirtí na Polaitíochta or the Political Party for a generic political party.) If I could work out a way to do it elegantly, I'd attempt to use these constructions in my translation. However, ní rachaidh mé i ná le haon eagraíocht... does not sound elegant, and ní rachaidh mé in aon eagraíocht...ná ní rachaidh mé lena leithéid is not good style either. I'll work on this yet.
However, while my suggestion is more intelligible and colloquial than the official one, I don't say it couldn't be further improved. And, while the official one could be streamlined, there is also the argument that if a ceremonial text is not blatantly wrong, it should not be altered, because the old-fashioned style is part of a tradition. The military oath might be stylistically peculiar, but if you are an Irish army officer with fluent and good Irish and still insist on the official text for such reasons, then you are probably right and I am wrong. I am not a military man myself, and I don't want to come across as somebody who'd teach his dad how to make babies.
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"Dar le" is in traditional Irish used in the sense "according to [a person]", "as it seems to [a person]". However, among learners you do see stuff like "dar leis na staitisticí", as though statistics was a person, or maybe a thinking and moving machine. However, AI has not yet developed that far, so we shall say de réir na staitisticí. De réir followed by a genitive form is what you use for "according to [a written source of information]". Dar le is used what you use for "according to [the information coming from a human source of information or opinion]". Of course, we can use dar le to refer to dead authors, who still constitute distinct persons: dar le Máirtín Ó Cadhain, but de réir when we are referring to their works: de réir "An Ghaeilge Bheo - Destined to Pass".
Of course, if aliens descend on Earth, we will even use dar le to refer to their personally given information or opinions: Dar le Zgmbogfzar Ombalo, is féidir taisteal idir-réaltach a dhéanamh, agus is léir go bhfuil taithí aige air "According to Zgmbogfzar Ombalo, interstellar travel is possible, and it is obvious that he has experienced it". Zgmbogfzar, or just Old Zgmbie to his (her? their?) friends, certainly is able to communicate personally and thus merits the use of dar le.
