Conjunction

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Conjunctions link two similar words or phrases together into a single phrase. English conjunctions include and, or, but. In Gaelic the conjunctions include:

  • 'ach, "but"
  • agus or 's or 'is, "and"
  • "no" (pronounced [njo], "or"


Nominal coordination with agus 'and'

  • Pronoun-agus-Pronoun Coordination

When pronouns are coordinated, emphatic or reflexive forms of pronouns are used rather than plain forms.

Chunnaic mi fhin agus thu fhèin Iain.
see.pst 1sg self and 2sg self Iain
'I and you saw Iain.'
Chunnaic mise agus thusa Iain.
see.pst 1sg.emph and 2sg.emph Iain
'I and you saw Iain.'
*Chunnaic mi agus thu Iain.
see.pst 1sg and 2sg Iain
  • Pronoun-agus-Noun Coordination
Dh'feumainn fhin agus na fir agam dusgadh.
must.cond.1sg self and the men at.1sg wake.vn
'I and my men would have to wake up.'

Emphatic pronouns have contrastive feel and would not be used in coordinated structure.

Nam bithinn fhin agus Raonaird a posadh ...
if be.cond.1sg self and Rachel prog marry.vn
'If I and Rachel were getting married ...'
?Nam bithinnse agus Raonaird a posadh ...
if be.cond.1sg.emph and Rachel prog marry.vn
'If I and Rachel were getting married ...'

But, emphatic form can be used in the context of non-coordination

Nam bithinnse a posadh Raonaird ...
if be.cond.1sg.emph prog marry.vn Rachel
'If I were marrying Rachel ...'

Clausal coordination with agus 'and'

Sheas Iain agus shuidh Anna.
stand.pst John and sit.pst Anna
'John stood and Anna sat.' (MacAulay 1992)

Coordination with ach 'but'

'S ann ag obair diluain a bha mi ach 's ann a' snamh dimairt.
Cop in.3sg.m prog work.vn Monday Wh-C be.pst 1sg but Cop in.3sg.m prog swim.vn Tuesday.
'I was working on Monday but swimming Tuesday.' (Adger 1997)

See Also

External Links

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References

  • Crystal, David. (1997) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.