Fòram na Gàidhlig

It's not from TYG, but...

Eilean iomallaich na h-Eòrp’,
A thìr is bòidhch’ fo cheann-bhrat speur,
Bu trie a chunnaic mi do chòrs’,
A nunn thar Linne mhòr nam beuc.

I cannot find trie in dictionaries.
In "Am Faclair Beag" it is only in the article "canntaireachd" (apropos: there is a misprint there -- "ceòI mór" instead of "ceòl mór", an uppercase "i" instead of lowercase "L").
Please, what does this word mean?

A typo for 'tric', I suspect. (often)

Ans I suspect a nunn is really a-null

Yes, I think it's "tric";
"a-nunn"="a-null", according to Dwelly.

Mòran taing!

ceoi

Dhiamh... ceud taing, chuir mi ceart sin!

'S e ur beatha!

Seo abairtean a tha ann an Aonad 12:

example 1 wrote:-- Dè mu dheidhinn a' chòta seo?
-- Dè am fear? Am fear gorm?
-- Chan e. Am fear glas.

Chan eil gnìomhair ann, a bheil? There is no verb here, isn't it?
What would be the answer in affirmative in such a case (instead of "chan e")?

example 2 wrote:-- 'S fheàrr leam an còta goirid seo.
...
-- An fheàrr leatsa i?
-- Chan fheàrr.
...
--Dè an seòrsa as fheàrr leis?

What does "'S" mean here -- "Is" or "As"?
Is there any verb in these phrases or not?
(I've compared this with phrases from Aonad 13 with the verb "is": 'S e an còta as fheàrr).

Cuidichibh mi ma 's e ur toil e!

The copula is a highly defective verb and in many cases it's just a zero. Think of it this way:

Is/'s e...
Chan/nach/an 0 e...

Bu/b' e...
Cha/nach/am bu/b' e...

Normally the copula (is/bu) only appears with a noun or pronoun predicate but there's a certain construction with adjectives that looks anomalous such as:
's mòr am beud - it's a great pity
bu bhochd sin - that was poor

F(h)earr, as a comparative form of math also follows that pattern:
Is/'s fhearr le...

Some writers prefer to use as rather than is when using it as a conjunction (e.g. dè an seòrsa as/is fhearr leis) but it's the same thing.

Tapadh leibh!

So, there is a verb here!

Ach dè mu dheidhinn "Dè am fear? Am fear gorm? -- Chan e. Am fear glas" ?
What would be the "yes" answer in this case?

Remember Aonad 8, Gràmar 1? Chan e is the negative form of Is e/'S e, so the affirmative answer would be 'S e. Am fear gorm.

What happens is that just like you say 'A bheil thu sgìth? - Chan eil' (and omit '...mi sgìth'), here you answer 'Chan e' and omit '... am fear gorm (a tha an seòrsa)'.

So, in "Am fear gorm?" "am" means "is" in interrogative form?

Uill, math fhèin! Tha mi a' tuigsinn a-nis.

Mòran taing!

Ha no. Am fear gorm? is a truncated question. I guess the full question would be something like

An e am fear gorm a bha fa-near dhut? (Did you mean the blue one?)

So in that bit it's just the definite article. Make sense now?

Gaelic has a few words that look the same but have different functions. am can be a question particle and the definite article for instance. The place within a sentence will usually enable you to exclude all the ones that aren't possible.

Tapadh leibh!

So, the question was shortened and the verb (an) was dropped, but the answer implied this verb, so it was "Chan e". And the answer in affirmative in this case would be "'S e", a bheil sin ceart?

Concerning "'S fhearr leam..." agus "Dè an seòrsa as fheàrr leis?": leugh mi Aonad 12-15 agus tha mi a' tuigsinn seo: in the past tense "as" and "nas" (for superlative and comparative forms) becomes "a bu", "na bu". So I see that the verb "is" really implied in these phrases with "'s fheàrr" and "as fheàrr".

Yes, akerbeltz, I know these looking-the-same-and-meaning-the-different words in Gaelic! I think, it is not difficult to discern them when you know the grammar a little better than I do

Mòran taing agus gabhaibh mo leisgeul -- I am asking many questions, because I do like in any case to understand grammatical structure, and in TYG it is not always very easy...

And the answer in affirmative in this case would be "'S e", a bheil sin ceart?

Tha

Concerning "'S fhearr leam..." agus "Dè an seòrsa as fheàrr leis?": leugh mi Aonad 12-15 agus tha mi a' tuigsinn seo: in the past tense "as" and "nas" (for superlative and comparative forms) becomes "a bu", "na bu". So I see that the verb "is" really implied in these phrases with "'s fheàrr" and "as fheàrr".

Sin e!

And please keep asking, that's what we're here for!

Mòran taing!