PartType: PartType
Irish makes use of a broad range of particles. Many of these particles have the same form but perform different functions.
Ad: adverbial
This particle is used with an adverb to create an adverbial phrase. It’s most frequent form is go.
Examples
- go minic “often”
- go fóill “yet”
- go dona “badly”
Comp: comparative
The comparative particle is used for introducing a comparative adjective (see Degree).
Examples
- níos mó “bigger”
- níos déine “more intense”
NOTE: Although ‘níos’ is tagged as a substantive noun in the standard rule-based POS tagger and in IDT, we mark it as a particle in order to ensure consistency with the superlative form in the same manner.
Cmpl: complementizer
These complementizers are used to introduce a clausal complement. See ccomp.
Examples
- go raibh fhios acu “that they know”
- nach bhfeiceann siad “that they don’t see”
- Is beag nár thit an píosa
Cop: copular
The copular particle introduces a copular construction. There is only one instance of this particle in the treebank currently.
Examples
- cén fhealsúnacht a ba bhun leis an tuairim “which philosophy that the opinion was based on”
Deg: degree
The degree particle is used to give a superlative description.
Examples
- dá laghad “the least” (at all)
- ba ea a dhéine a bhí sé á breathnú “with how much more handsome he was becoming”
Inf: infinitive
The particle a is used with a verb stem to form the infinitive in Irish. The verb form is lenited.
Examples
- a cheannach “to buy”
- a thabhairt “to give”
- a dhénamh “to do”
Num: numeral
The particle used for counting in Irish is a. Most forms stay the same, but those numbers beginning with a vowel such as aon (“one”), or ocht (“eight”) are prefixed by h-.
Examples
- a haon “one”
- a dó “two”
- a seacht “seven”
- a hocht “eight”
Pat: patronym
This particle is used in last names to mean “son of” or “daughter of”. The masculine forms are Ó and Mac, while the feminine forms include Ní, Nic, Uí and Mhic. Often the anglicised version will use “O” or “Mac” regardless of gender.
Examples
- Mac Craith
- Teaghlach Uí Ghallchóir
- Liz O’ Donnell
- Aire de Valera
Sup: superlative
The superlative particle is used for introducing a superlative adjective (see Degree).
Examples
- na torthaí is fearr “the best results”
- an t-eolas is déanaí “the latest information”
Vb: verbal
Verbal particles include the positive particles a, gur and the negative particle ní. These particles can be used for introducing relative or adverbial clauses, clefts, or for negating the verb.
Examples
- is ann a bhí cónaí ar Cholm “it was there that Colm lived”
- gur thit na caighdeáin “that the standards had fallen”
- ní bheidh sé “he will not”
Voc: vocative
The vocative particle is a, and is used to directly address someone. In this circumstance, it triggers lenition in the following noun. See Case
Examples
- Slán leat, a Mhichíl ghrinn. “Goodbye, funny Michael.”
PartType in other languages: [af] [de] [ga] [gd] [gv] [ka] [pcm] [ro] [sga] [tl] [u] [uk] [yrl] [zh]