Tha no 'S e?

[GunChleoc]

chan e cofaidh simplidh a th' ann; 's e Cofaidh Peapag Spìosradh a th' ann!

[CelticSpice]

Tapadh leat, GunChleoc. If I'm understanding the grammar correctly, I use the assertive with exclamatory statements, attributes with more completeness, and warnings, correct?

[GunChleoc]

The rule of thumb is: is goes with nouns, tha with everything else.

Chan eil e sìmplidh, tha e spìosrach!

[CelticSpice]

I'm sorry, but could you elaborate some more please?

I know that is is used in phrases such as 's e tòisichear a th' annam or 's ann leamsa a th' an cù, but it's the other uses that I trouble with.

Spìosrach is the adjective and Spìosradh is the noun, right?

[GunChleoc]

Yes it is, but Cofaidh is a noun

'S e Cofaidh Spìosradh Peapaig a th' ann. - It's .... Coffee
Tha an Cofaidh Peapaig spìosrach. - The Coffee .... is ....

[CelticSpice]

I think I understand a little.

Spìosradh is being used in a genitive and Spìosrach as an adjective, right?

I'm sorry. I'm just kinda confused right now.

[GunChleoc]

Exactly! So it's Cofaidh Spìosraidh, with Spìosraidh in the genitive. But then, if you add a third noun, only the last one is in the genitive, so you've got Cofaidh and Spìosradh in the common case and Peapaig in the genitive.

The structure is 'S e cofaidh a th' ann, with a string of stuff attached to cofaidh. You could also say 'S e cofaidh spìosrach a th' ann, it doesn't matter if an adjective or noun follows cofaidh. The onl thing that counts is that cofaidh is a noun.

[CelticSpice]

Oh, OK! I understand a little better now. Just for clarification, a more literal tr*nsl*t**n of 'S e Cofaidh Spìosradh Peapaig a th' ann would be It is a coffee of a spice of a pumpkin that is in him/it, right?

For practice and silliness, It's the hot coffee of the lazy man's brown dog would therefore be 'S e cofaidh teth cù donn am fir leisg a th' ann, correct?

[faoileag]

Your examples would actually probably be formed with 'aig' to indicate possession.

It's the coffee of the man's dog > 'That's yon man's dog's coffee'. :( 'S e) sin an cofaidh aig a' chù aig an duine ud . (Unlikely though that sentence is! )


The genitive is used either for closer or more standard relationships (my mother's name, the sound of the sea, the singing of the birds, the door of the house, etc), not usually possession as such, OR, as in your pumpkin example, as the second word in a compound noun, as a kind of adjective (e.g. turas-mara - a sea journey/voyage).

Tha mi a' coimhead air seann doras gorm taigh mo mhàthar. I'm looking at my mother's house's old blue door. No articles and no genitive before that last word in the chain. Adjectives in the usual place, i.e. usually after the noun, but there's a handful that systematically go before it.

'S e paidh peapaig a th' ann - it's a pumpkin pie (pie of pumpkin)
'S e paidh ubhail a th' ann - apple pie


Or a combination:
Tha sinn moiteil à dualchas mara fada na Gàidhealtachd - we're proud of the long maritime heritage of the HIghlands. 'dualchas mara' is a unit, so 'fada' comes after it; more than one noun, so article only before the last (genitive) one.


(There are various arguments for and against hyphens in such compounds; I think I would actually put them in, as the stress is mainly on the second word, a typical sign of close compounds, like taigh-òsta, clàr-bìdh etc - the combination becomes in a way a new word/concept in its own right > paidh-peapaig, dualchas-mara)

[CelticSpice]

Mòran taing, Faoileag! Very detailed.

Feumaidh mi cleachdadh. (?)
I need to practice.

If I have any more questions on this subject I'll be sure to burden you all with them.

[GunChleoc]

Please do

[Níall Beag]

CelticSpice, do you speak any other languages?

[CelticSpice]

I'm afraid not. English is my only mother tongue and Scottish Gaelic is the only second language I'm learning right now.