Súil siar ar an mbriathar “déan” agus na foirmeacha coibhneasta.  If you don’t remember the translations for these, please check back in the most recent blog.

 

Aimsir láithreach: Déanann sí soc don lao.  An ndéanann sí soc don lao?  Sin í an bhean a dhéanann soc don lao.  Sin í an bhean a ndéanann a hiníon soc don lao.

 

Aimsir chaite: Rinne sí soc don lao.  An ndearna sí soc don lao?  Sin í an bhean a rinne soc don lao.  Sin í an bhean a ndearna a hiníon soc don lao.

 

Aimsir fháistineach: Déanfaidh sí soc don lao.  An ndéanfaidh sí soc don lao?  Sin í an bhean a dhéanfaidh soc don lao.  Sin í an bhean a ndéanfaidh a hiníon soc don lao.

 

And now the verb “to get” in the present, past, and future tenses.  You might recall its command form (faigh) and the verbal noun form (fáil).  Our direct object, this time, will be a móideim, a relatively new word in Irish,

 

Aimsir láithreach: Faigheann sí móideim nua.  An bhfaigheann sí móideim nua?

Foirmeacha coibhneasta:

Seo í an bhean a fhaigheann móideim nua.  This is the woman who gets a new modem. 

Seo í an bhean a bhfaigheann a hiníon móideim nua.  This is the woman whose daughter gets a new modem. 

 

Aimsir chaite (and this verb is definitely “neamhrialta”):

Fuair sí móideim nua.  An bhfuair sí móideim nua? 

Seo í an bhean a fuair móideim nua.  This is the woman who got a new modem.

Seo í an bhean a bhfuair a hiníon móideim nua.  This is the woman whose daughter got a new modem. 

 

Aimsir fháistineach (I warned you, right? an-neamhrialta!):  Gheobhaidh sí móideim nua.  An bhfaighidh sí móideim nua? 

Seo í an bhean a gheobhaidh móideim nua.  This is the woman who will get a new modem.

Seo í an bhean a bhfaighidh a hiníon móideim nua.  This is the woman whose daughter will get a new modem. 

 

As you can see, we have a slight exception here to the “lenition for direct relative clauses” rule, specifically for the past tense.  It happens that “fuair” doesn’t get lenited.  It may be some comfort to know that this is not just in the circumstance of relative clauses, but also in the negative in simple sentences (i.e. ones without a relative clause).  For example: Ní bhfuair sí móideim nua (She didn’t get a new modem, with eclipsis, not lenition).  While “ní” (the negative particle) usually causes lenition of a following verb (Ní dhéanaim, ní fheicfidh, etc.), it doesn’t here.  Simply put, “fuair” gets eclipsed after “ní” instead of getting lenited, and nothing happens to it after the direct relative particle “a.”   

 

Since we wanted to go from “an saol traidisiúnta” to “an saol ardteicniúil,” we could substitute here the full name of the object in question, which would be modhnóir/dímhodhnóir (modulator-demodulator).  But, as in everyday English, I think that would be a bit liopasta for daily use.  Looking at it though, I wonder if anyone toyed with the idea of using the first syllables of the Irish words to create a new word, as happened in English.  In Irish, that would have yielded the lilting “modh/dímhodh,” pronounced “moh-dee-woh,” which somehow sounds like a misplaced chorus for the theme song of “an seachtar abhac.”  At least to me.  Samhlaíocht ró-aibí, b’fhéidir. 

 

Ceithre bhriathar neamhrialta déanta, seacht gcinn eile le déanamh! 

 

Nótaí: liopasta, cumbersome; abhac [ohk] dwarf; ró-aibí, over-ripe