Fòram na Gàidhlig

How are these contextually used?

sìos@ - down(wards)
shìos@ - down (in position)
a-nuas@ - down (from above)


suas@ - up(wards)
shuas@ - up(in position)
a-nìos@ - up (from below)

the @ marks are part for a flash card program I wrote, it means it doesn't show me what comes after @ until I click the "meaning" button, I just copy/pasted

Everything relates to the perspective of the subject of the sentence, or the speaker.

Tha mi a' dol suas an staidhe - I'm going up the stairs (movement upwards)
Tha mo sheòmar-cadail shuas an staidhre. My bedroom is upstairs (no movement - simply the position of the room)

Same with sìos.

Tha mi a' dol sìos an rathad - I'm going down the road.
Tha an eaglais shìos an rathad - the church is down the road.

A-nuas - downwards from above, towards the subject or speaker
Thig a-nuas! Come down!

a-nìos - upwards from below, towrds teh subject / speaker!
Thig a-nìos!
Come up!

A pretty tame system overall, no indication of visible vs invisible for example

Excellent, thank you.

Don't want to start a new thread for this but, 'is' as in 'and' as in caol ri caol is lethann ri lethann

it's supposed to mean some sort of kinship or connection?

say that again? i'm struggling to figure what you meant there

I think what you're asking about is when 'and' is translated by 'agus', and when by 'is'.

If so, 'is' is a short form of 'agus', and is used, in writing at least, mainly when the two items or people are a natural, typical pair in some way. Salt and pepper, mother and father, etc.

I'd say that in speech it gets used more, for speed / ease.

It even gets shortened itself, to 's, sometimes.

Mo mhàthair 's mo sheanmhair.


It has nothing at all to do with the verb 'is', as used in Is mise Màiri - I'm Màiri.

Over to Ak....

Aye, that's what I meant. Makes more practical sense than "kinship", cheers