ILF - Irish Language Forum http://www.irishlanguageforum.com/ |
|
Weak vs strong purals (a wombat explanation) http://www.irishlanguageforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=839 |
Page 1 of 1 |
Author: | mhwombat [ Sun 25 Mar 2012 9:33 pm ] |
Post subject: | Weak vs strong purals (a wombat explanation) |
For a complete list of wombat explanations, see: viewforum.php?f=34 Weak vs Strong Plurals First, the bad news All the effort you put into learning how to guess the declension of a noun does help you to figure out the genitive singular, but it's of limited use in figuring out the plural. Oh, there are rules, and sub-rules, and I will give them to you, but it's my personal opinion that the rules are so involved that it's not worth memorising them. (It is worth reviewing them, though.) Also, plural forms do vary from one dialect to another, and they are subject to change; there is a general trend in the language toward "strong plurals", which I'll explain in a moment. Now the good news Plurals seem to have a way of finding their way into one's memory. By the time I started worrying about the genitive, I had already absorbed a lot of plurals without really trying to learn them. If I know a word, there's a fair chance I know the plural without even thinking about it. (In contrast, I usually have to think about the genitive form unless it's a common noun.) When I don't know the plural, I simply apply this simple rule: Quote: Wombat's Golden Rule for Plurals Think of a very similar word whose plural you do know. In this case, "similar" means ending in the same sequence of letters. Chances are the plural for the "new" word is formed in the same way. Weak Plurals vs Strong Plurals There are two basic patterns to the way a noun changes. In "weak plurals", the genitive plural is the same as the nominative singular. In "strong plurals", all the plural forms are identical: the genitive plural is the same as the nominative (common) plural and the vocative plural. To summarise: weak plurals: gpl = ns strong plurals: gpl = npl = vpl This information isn't usually that helpful in figuring out the npl, because if you don't know the npl, you probably don't know the gpl or vpl either. But it certainly comes in handy for figuring out the gpl or vpl. So it's worth knowing the difference: Quote: Weak plurals usually end in: -(a)igh, -a, or -e Strong plurals usually end in: -(e)anna, -ta, -te, -tha, -the, -(a)í, -(e)adh, -(a)í, í, -(e)acha, -lte, -lne, OR they're formed by syncopating ("scrunching") the ns and adding -e or -a. As Promised, the Rules Here are the "rules" for forming plurals. Learn them if you want. I haven't bothered to memorise them because Wombat's Golden Rule for Plurals seems to do the job nearly as well. But I do find it helpful to read through this list periodically. Weak Plurals __________ Most m1 nouns: To form the plural: * Make the ending slender * -(e)ach -> -(a)igh __________ m1: beart, bruas, cág, ceap, ceart, cleas, cuibhreach, creatlach, fiach, fithrach, giall, nod, úll f2 nouns ending in -eog, -óg, -lann Multi-syllable f2 nouns ending in -each f2: binn, deoir 3ú: béas, dreach, coinsias, deasghnáth, dol, tréad 4ú: neach To form the plural: broaden the ending, add -a __________ f2: súil, dúíl, glúin To form the plural: add -e Strong Plurals __________ Only one-syllable nouns! m1: bás, carr, cas, frog, gléas, luas, marc, nós, rós, spás, spórt, saghas, stad (mostly loan words) One-syllable, slender f2 nouns One-syllable m3 nouns 4ú: ae, bá, bia, bogha, bus, club, fleá, tae, ceo, cnó, dó, cú, fia, fogha, liú, nia, pas, seans, stop, sú, togha, tram, tua To form the plural: add -(e)anna __________ Only one-syllable nouns! One-syllable m1, f2, 3ú declension nouns ending in l, n preceded by a diphthong or long vowel To form the plural: add -ta or -te __________ One-syllable m1, f2 nouns ending in r preceded by a diphthong or long vowel 4ú nouns ending in -í, -aí, -aoi, -é To form the plural: add -tha or -the __________ Only multi-syllable nouns! m1 nouns ending in -(e)adh, -(e)ach slender f2 nouns f2 nouns ending in -ach 3ú nouns ending in -éir, -eoir, -óir, -(i)úir, -cht, -áint -úint, irt 4ú nouns ending in -ín or -a, -e To form the plural: * add -(a)í * -(e)adh, -(e)ach -> (a)í * -e -> í __________ Two-syllable m1 nouns ending in broad -l, -n, -r f2: craobh, fréamh, iall, iníon, nead, splanc carraig, ceirt, cistin, clúid, coirm, colainn, féith, feirm, foirm, maidin, muintir, stoirm 3ú nouns ending in -il, -in, -ir 4ú: ainm, cine, easna, teanga To form the plural: add -(e)acha __________ m1: bóthar, cloigeann, doras, solas, uasal To form the plural: syncopate, add -e __________ 3ú: gamhain To form the plural: syncopate, add -a __________ 4ú nouns ending in -le,-ne To form the plural: * -le -> lte * -ne -> lne ![]() |
Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC |
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |