PartType: PartType
Several types of particle exist in Old Irish, many of which may take the same form but serve distinct functions. These include the augment, ro (whether it occurs within a verb token or in isolation), the deictic particle, í, the numeric particle, a, as well as various preverbs and conjunct particles including ad, as, do, and no.
Aug: augment
The augment is a particle which is used within the verbal complex. It serves a variety of grammatical purposes, for example, giving perfective force to a verb. It’s most frequent form is ro.
Examples
- roscríb “that has written”
- rocinnius “I have defined”
- robae “has been”
Dct: deictic
The deictic particle, í, refers back to a previously mentioned person or thing.
Examples
- a ní sin “that (aforementioned thing)”
- isnaib hí “in those (aforementioned thing)”
- dond í “to that (thing)”
Nas: nasal
Many instances occur in manuscripts where a nasal, ṅ or ṁ, will stand apart from both the following and preceding words. These can be sparated by spacing, or by enclosing puncta. While such nasals normally form the anlaut of the following word, this orthographic separation forces them to be treated as discrete tokens which are POS-tagged as particles.
Examples
- conducaid etargne ṅ dǽ “that you might understand the knowledge of God”
- doairchet allaa ṁ brithemnacte “the day of judgement has been foretold”
- in tan ·m· bís “when there is”
Num: numeric
These precede cardinal numbers when counting.
Examples
- a tri “three”
- a noi “nine”
Rel: relative
The relative particle, a, is used syntactically between a preposition and a verb.
Negative relative particles, nád, also occur, however, these are not preceded by prepositions.
Examples
- hua nainmnigter “from which is named”
- asa nairberar “out of which is drawn”
- dia nacomlatar “to which they are added”
- nad fodlaiter “which are not derived”
- nad ṁbíet “which will not be”
Vb: verbal
A variety of preverbs are treated as verbal particles, including the “empty” preverb, no, used to infix pronouns where no preverb or conjunct particle would otherwise be present.
Examples
- dogní “it makes/does”
- attá di ṡeirc “it is for love”
- cenud sluindi “although it signifies”
Voc: vocative
The vocative particle, a, is used to directly address a person or thing.
Examples
- anóibingen “O Holy Virgin”
- a rómanu “Romans!”
- athusu “You!”
PartType in other languages: [af] [de] [ga] [gd] [gv] [ka] [pcm] [ro] [sga] [tl] [u] [uk] [yrl] [zh]