Fòram na Gàidhlig

Right.. there's two things going on here that are one thing. (?)

Anyway...
In English we can say something is "here" (i.e. this place) or "there" (i.e. that place).
In Gaelic, you have "an seo" (this place), "an sin" (that place) or "an siud" (yonder place).

Now, if we use "this" or "that" in English, we only tend to use them once, and then future references to the same object are "it", because everyone knows which one we're talking about... and yet we always specify "here"(this) or "there"(that) when talking about places. Gaelic doesn't do this.

We only need to specify an seo/this place, an sin/that place, an siud/yonder place once... and then we use "ann" = "in it". What is "it"? The place! This place, that place; it doesn't matter -- you know which place I'm talking about, so why should I waste time repeating myself? So it's an "it place" of sorts.

In "there is" in English, we use a an abstract conceptual "there" for its location, and Gaelic uses the "it place" because it's more abstract and conceptual than any other option.

OK, so to the other one...
When we talk about the nature of a person or a place, that nature is "in him" or "in her" or "in it".

So both structures are "in it"... the difference is that in the "existential" ann, the it refers to an abstract place, whereas in 'S e àite snog a th' ann, the "it" is a specific concrete place.

This abstract "it" happens in English too. "It's me." What's me? Me's me? I'm me? No, just "it".

'S e seinneadair a th' annam.
'S e bàile mòr a th' ann an Glaschu. Glaschu? 'S e baile mòr a th' ann, gu dearbh.
'S e àite brèagha a th' ann an Ulapul. Ulapul? 'S e àite glè bhrèagha a th' ann, tha thu ceart.
'S e cuspair doirbh a th' ann.
'S e latha math a bh' ann.

If you scratch the surface, what do you find inside / under the skin? A singer / a city / a lovely place / a difficult topic / a good day.....

'S e Albannach a th' innte.
You can take the girl out of Scotland, but you can't take Scotland out of the girl.

Rather than open another thread on the same topic, I have another ann example to check:

Tha sìde mhath ann – There is good weather
'S e sìde mhath a th' ann – It is good weather

Tha sìde mhath ann am Biggar – There is good weather in Biggar
'S e sìde mhath a th' ann am Biggar – It is good weather in Biggar

Tha sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh* ann – There is always good weather (* could be outside the tha - ann)
'S e sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh a th' ann – It is always good weather

Tha sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh* ann am Biggar – There is always good weather in Biggar (* could be outside the tha - ann)
'S e sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh a th' ann am Biggar – It is always good weather in Biggar

Are these ok?

I don't think that one would use these phrases to talk about the weather - the grammar is correct though except that the time element always goes to the back:

an-còmhnaidh ann (am Biggar) -> ann (am Biggar) an-còmhnaidh
an-còmhnaidh a th' ann (am Biggar) -> a th' ann (am Biggar) an-còmhnaidh

'S e sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh a th' ann

and

'S e sìde mhath an-còmhnaidh a th' ann am Biggar

and

'S e sìde mhath a th' ann am Biggar

(Biggar is good weather)

are all unnatural contextually and wouldn't be said or written.

'S e ... a th' ann is used to DEFINE something with emphasis, i.e. to say what something is.

'S e sìde mhath a th' ann am Biggar - Biggar is good weather

(Biggar is "a place", it is not "good weather", so the above phrase doesn't make sense.)

'S e sìde mhath a th' ann – It is good weather

This one is okay grammatically, but it would need to be used with something like "an-diugh", and even then, "Tha sìde mhath ann an-diugh" would be more natural in most contexts.

An Gobaire wrote:

'S e ... a th' ann is used to DEFINE something with emphasis, i.e. to say what something is.

'S e sìde mhath a th' ann am Biggar - Biggar is good weather

(Biggar is "a place", it is not "good weather", so the above phrase doesn't make sense.)

So you don't think: 'S e latha brèagha a th' ann (ann) am Biggar. is valid? I took it to mean - it is a lovely day (in) Biggar.

Ah I see, but in that case there is still something odd about it. I think because it lacks a time phrase, such as an-diugh

It's a lovely day in Biggar would more likely be expressed like this : Tha latha brèagha ann am Biggar an-diugh.

If you put an-diugh after it, then that sentence would feel less incomplete.