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Antaine
Member Username: Antaine
Post Number: 1160 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 12:08 am: |
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I've been working on trying to memorize the general rules for determining noun gender. Mac Congáil gives them as such: masculine -(e)adh -(a)í -án -ch -éad -éal -éan -eál -éar -éir -eoir / óir -ín -(i)úir -s(broad) -ún -úr feminine -(a)íl -(e)áil -(a)ilt -(a)int -áint -(a)íocht -aois / -ís -chan -(a)irt -(e)ach -(e)acht -úil -úint -lann -eog / -óg Needless to say, I'll never be able to memorize thirty some-odd abstract endings. I was trying to come up with a way to simplify or "reduce" those examples to some sort of least common denominator. This is what I've come up with: MASCULINE NOUN ENDINGS...........................FEMININE NOUN ENDINGS broad + S (men have broad shoulders)................slender + S (women have slender waists) broad + L (men have broad shoulders)...............slender + L (women have slender waists) ends in a vowel.........................................................ends in G (like in Girl) ends in R....................................................................ends in T (mom drinks tea) ending incorporates an É...................................ending incorporates an Í (but does not end in it or an N) fada + N plain CH....................................................................CH + anything else D and DH (like in Dad).........................................ends in LANN (like “bialann” because women worry about their weight) <-I'm a guy on weight watchers, so I know it's a stereotype, but it works as a mnemonic for me I'm looking for thoughts, mostly in the form of obvious and major exceptions, but anything you feel like throwing in there is welcome. I understand that noun rules even like the original ones are just guidelines... |
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brn (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From:
| Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 04:22 am: |
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gender different for -ach(t) in mono and polysyllables nouns ending in post-fix with long vowel before a final slender consonant tend to be feminine, except for 'types' (like saighdiuir, or old diminutives like cailin). Some endings are gender specific (like -lann, lann, a/n) so they do not need to be rationalized. I might say this; noun gender does not give a whole lot extra information as far as I can see. It is important for pronoun agreement, and genitive mutation, but it does not carry a great deal of weight. Learning/reading from contexts makes it clear what gender the noun is. As for weight watchers, Americas are too spread out -you have to drive everywhere! Here there are two gyms in walking distance! |
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Antaine
Member Username: Antaine
Post Number: 1161 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 10:17 am: |
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Haha, very true! I have a gym in walking distance as well, and now I'm at a good weight. In nine months I lost over 50 pounds (23kg), my waist went from 38in (97cm) to 32in (81cm). I even dropped two ring sizes, and I look darn good! But anyway, yes, I had forgotten about the acht ones. They're in the TY Irish Grammar, but not Mac Congail. When my brother and I (both Americans) were in Ireland we encountered fat people, but only one guy were we able to classify as "American fat" - there's a certain quality to it that makes it different...couldn't quite put our fingers on it... |
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Cionaodh
Member Username: Cionaodh
Post Number: 629 Registered: 05-2005
| Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007 - 07:11 pm: |
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Scríobh Antaine: I've been working on trying to memorize the general rules for determining noun gender. Have you seen the "noun guesser"? http://www.nualeargais.ie/foghlaim/nouns.php Hardly foolproof, but a very good start. Le meas, Cionaodh http://www.gaeilge.org FRC - Fáilte Roimh Cheartúcháin
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