Definite: definiteness or state
Old Irish nouns are generally indefinite unless preceded by the (definite) article or another determiner. The article in Old Irish can take many forms depending on the case, number, and gender of the noun or nominal it qualifies. It can also combine with a variety of prepositions, with the combination altering the form of the article and sometimes also the preposition. There is no indefinite article in Old Irish, therefore nouns are considered indefinite unless preceded by the article or another definite determiner.
The lack of an indefinite article in Old Irish means it is unnecessary to apply the ‘Definite’ feature to nouns. Similarly, because all forms of the article in Irish are definite, it is redundant to apply this feature to the article itself. Instead, this feature is used with other determiners such as cach “every/all” to indicate whether they are definite or indefinite.
Both definite and indefinite forms of prepositions exist in accordance with whether or not they form a close compound with a following article. The forms of some such prepositions, but not all, can change when they precede the article in this manner. Because of this potential ambiguity the ‘Definite’ feature is used with all prepositions in Old Irish treebanks to identify them as either definite or indefinite.
Def: definite
Prepositions which form a close compound with a following article are definite. This, however, only applies to close compounds with the article. Prepositions which precede the article without forming a close compound remain indefinite. Similarly, prepositions which precede determiners other than the article, even definite determiners like cach “every/all”, remain indefinite themselves.
Determiners other than the article, such as cach “every/all”, are definite.
Examples
- anas olcc lasin brathir “that which is evil to the brother”
- na scarad frisinfer “let her not part from the man”
- fonóenchummi “in the one form”
- bíid cachae ar alailiu “each of them is for another”
- isairdircc ícachthír “it is well known in every country”
Ind: indefinite
Prepositions, including conjugated prepositions, which are not followed by an article, or which do not form a close compound with a following article, are indefinite.
Prepositions which precede determiners other than the article, even definite determiners such as cach “every/all”, remain indefinite themselves.
Examples
- bíid cachae ar alailiu “each of them is for another”
- hiter in ainmnid ⁊ ingenitin “between the nominative & the genitive”
- cosmail leiss “alike to him”
- arropad maith limsa “for it should be fine with me”
- isairdircc ícachthír “it is well known in every country”
Definite in other languages: [bej] [bg] [el] [en] [es] [fr] [ga] [hu] [hy] [it] [ky] [myv] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [sga] [sl] [sv] [tr] [u] [urj] [xcl]