(le Róislín)

No longer on the home stretch, we’re done!  This is the last installment of the “irregular verbs in relative clauses.”  Thanks again to mo léitheoir dílis cineálta, Áine, who first requested some treatment of relative clauses (agus a scríobh an oiread sin de nótaí deasa ó thosaigh an blag seo).  Perhaps it’s hard to imagine how a series on such a specialized topic like this could keep going … and going … and going, mar choinín (nó mar chadhnra) Energizer (nó Duracell, do léitheoirí Eorpacha), ach chuaigh.

“Cloisteáil” is another irregular verb that changes root for the past tense.  Here are the basics:

Cloiseann sé an páiste.  He hears the child.

Chuala sé an páiste.  He heard the child.

Cloisfidh sé an páiste.  He will hear the child.

And for good measure, the infinitive (which is one of the uses of the “ainmfhocal briathartha,” verbal noun, in Irish).   

A Thomáisín, an féidir leat mé a chloisteáil?  Tommy, can you hear me? (ón roc-cheoldráma eapainmneach, ar ndóigh)

I’m not going to include present progressive or command forms for this verb, since, in my experience, they’re rarely used.  Often when those contexts arise, Irish switches to using a form of “éisteacht” (to listen), not “cloisteáil,” as in “Éist go fóill liom!” (“Hear” me out!) or “Éist liom, a mhuirnín” (“Hear” me, darling!) or “Tá sé ag éisteacht le hurnaí (He is “hearing” a prayer).  Even “Oyez! Oyez!” in Irish ends up as “Éistigí! Éistigí!” (Listen! Listen!).

And now for examples with relative clauses:

Aimsir Láithreach

Cloiseann an bhean sin an bhean sí.  That woman hears the banshee.  An gcloiseann an bhean sin an bhean sí?  Does that woman hear the banshee?

Direct: Seo í an bhean a chloiseann an bhean sí.  This is the woman who hears the banshee.

Indirect: Seo í an bhean a gcloiseann a hiníon an bhean sí.  This is the woman whose daughter hears the banshee.

Aimsir Chaite

Chuala an bhean sin an bhean sí.  That woman heard the banshee.  Ar chuala an bhean sin an bhean sí?  Did that woman hear the banshee?

Direct: Seo í an bhean a chuala an bhean sí.  This is the woman who heard the banshee.

Indirect: Seo í an bhean ar chuala a hiníon an bhean sí.  This is the woman whose daughter heard the banshee.

Aimsir Fháistineach

Cloisfidh an bhean sin an bhean sí.  That woman will hear the banshee.  An gcloisfidh an bhean sin an bhean sí?  Will that woman hear the banshee?

Direct: Seo í an bhean a chloisfidh an bhean sí.  This is the woman who will hear the banshee (note: this could also be “a chloisfeas,” depending on dialect).

Indirect: Seo í an bhean a gcloisfidh a hiníon an bhean sí.  This is the woman whose daughter will hear the banshee.

Of course, a lot more detail could be added here, especially regarding dialect variations, such as the Northern use of the verb “cluinstin” instead of “cloisteáil” for “to hear” (cluineann / chuala / cluinfidh) or using “a” + eclipsis instead of “ar + lenition” for the regular past-tense indirects and some of the irregulars.  But, suffice it to say, this is probably enough for now.

So that’s the eleven irregular verbs with direct and indirect relative clauses.  Of course there’s still a lot more we could do with this.  Like making all the examples negative (That’s the woman who doesn’t hear the banshee, which if you know your banshee lore, is especially significant.  Cén fáth?  An bhfuil a fhios agat?).  Or changing all the indirect examples so they’re based on prepositional phrases instead of possessives (That is the man to whom I gave the money).  So at some point maybe we’ll have Clásail Choibhneasta re-re-redux.  But not for “tamaillín beag.”

Nótaí: an bhean [un van]; ceoldráma [K^YOHL-DRAW-muh] opera; coinín [KWIN-yeen] bunny; choinín [KHWIN-yeen]; eapainm [AP-AN-yim] eponym; eapainmneach [AP-AN-yim-n^yukh] eponymous; muirnín [MWIR^ZH-neen] darling, cf. a mhuirnín [uh WIR^zh-neen], O, darling!; roc-cheoldráma [ROK-H^YOHL-DRAW-muh] rock opera; Tomáisín [TOM-awsh-een], a Thomáisín [uh HOM-awsh-een, note silent “t”]

Fuaimniú “clois” [klish]: cloiseann [KLISH-un]; cloisfidh [KLISH-hee], a gcloisfidh [uh GLISH-hee]; cloisteáil [KLISH-tchaw-il], to hear, hearing, cf. a chloisteáil [uh KHLISH-tchaw-il] to hear; chuala [KHOO-uh-luh]; cluinstin [KLIN-shtin]

An fhuaim “adh” i lár focail: this is different from “dh-” at the beginning of a word and from “-adh” at the end of a word.  In this blog, we saw “cadhnra” (battery), lenited as “chadhnra.”  These are pronounced “KAIN-ruh” and “KHAIN-ruh” respectively.  I’m borrowing the IPA guide here for the “ai” vowel sound, since there’s no other way to be specific.  It’s the sound in English “kind,” “kine,” “pie,” “eye,” “aye,” and “my” (multiple spellings for the same sound!), as well as Scots “kye” (cows) and Welsh “tai” (houses).  It’s not like English “rain” (or “plain” or “Spain,” etc.).  The same sound is in the man’s name “Tadhg” and “radharc” (view), amongst many other places.