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Member
Username: Lughaidh
Post Number: 1922
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 10:45 am: |   
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You cannot know most of the time. Just have to learn the gender with all the new words you learn...
Learn Irish pronunciation here: www.phouka.com/gaelic/sounds/sounds.htm & http://fsii.gaeilge.org/
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Róman
Member
Username: Róman
Post Number: 1082
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 10:50 am: |
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I don't understand your question. You mean how do you know which word is masculine, or what?
If this is what you ask - the short answer is - you learn it with every word. Later you will notice some regularities (like on designations of professions ending in slender -r [-eóir, -úir, -éir] or -aire - are masculine), but for majority of words you just have to learn it. Gender is related to plural formation, so sometimes if you know the plural you can deduce gender - like 100% of words with plural made by slenderization are masculine, likewise 99% words that have plural produced by adding -a are feminine. But there are always exceptions.
crann - crainn (masc)
cat - cait (masc)
capall - capaill (masc)
fuinneóg - fuinneóga (fem)
cos - cosa (fem)
bó - ba (fem)
cluas - cluasa (fem), but -
úll - úlla (masc)
briathar - briathra (masc)
Gaelainn na Mumhan abú!
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