Ar Dienga Galedonag
5. Adverbs, Prepositions & Conjunctions

Chapter 5: Adverbs, Prepositions & Conjunctions

Adverbs derived with 'an'

Many adverbs are ‘derived' from other words, much as carefully is derived form the word careful in English. The most common of these in Pictish are those formed form adjectives by placing an in front. This often, but not always, corresponds to adding –ly to the English adjective.

córag

careful

an górag

carefully

poblag

public

an boblag

publicly

pontúol

punctual

an bontúol

punctually

múil

slow

an v úil

slowly

bíu

quick

an víu

quickly

madh

good

an vadh

well

Dath ar bus nó an téith an víu, vel hé?
[dath urr booss noan tayth un vee-oo, vell eh]
This bus is going fast, isn't it?

Velig gi an bedi °ganti mui an vúil, plís?
[velly geen beddy ganty mween voo-ill, pleess]
Can you speak more slowly, please?

Bedith hí ganti Caledonag ion an vad
[bedd-ith ee ganty Caledonag yonn un vadd]
She can speak Caledonic very well

This should not be confused with an used to link the verb buth ‘to be' with a following noun or adjective:

(a) Lennig ar lívrin an °górag Read the booklet carefully
(b) Cathig gi buth an °górag You must be careful

Adverbs of time

mora vori

tomorrow morning

avori

tomorrow

noch avori

tomorrow night

adith

today

árbí

ever

nárbí

never

am árbí

for ever

gog °drá

every time; always

gog uathnoch

every week

gog °dhith

every day

gog °vís

every month

or ar trá

at the time

or ethi

afterwards

or ar °voment

at the moment

am ar °voment

for the moment

nas

now

ar vlídhan nó

this year

a mlineth

for years

or tráian

at times

hin henni

since then

derinoch

last night

deridith

yesterday

anoch

tonight

mora nó

this morning

Adverbs of place

These are the smallest of the three main classes and include both location in a place or motion to/from a place. This they answer the questions Where?, To where? and From where? The word for ‘where' is pá?

Ai pá dag gi an téith?
[ah pah da geen tayth]
Where are you going?

'Here', 'There'

Here is anó and there is anán.

Dá mi anó I am here
Dá mi an téith anán I am going there

Here is and there is are dai anó and dai anán respectively.

Dá anó ig carr núith
[daa uh-'noh igg car noo-ith]
Here is your new car

Dá anán ar ven nán, ai sui canto mi deridith
[daa uh-'naan urr venn naan, ah swee kanto mee derry-dith]
There is that woman I spoke to yesterday

Other adverbs of place and direction

anós

up, upwards

anís

down, downwards

rád nó

this way

rád nán

that way

er cuith

on the left

er dest

on the right

Points of the compass

The basic four are: túa north, des south, ór east and ír west, all masculine. Intermediate points are formed with ‘east' or ‘west' first, and the second element mutates:

ír-dúa

north west

ór-dúa

north east

ír-dhes

south west

ór-dhes

south east

Movement towards and from the primary points are ind icated with prefixes a- and de- respectively.

adus

northwards

dedus

from the north

adhes

southwards

dedhes

from the south

anór

eastwards

denór

from the east

anír

westwards

denír

from the west

The preposition 'in' for most, general lcoations is ans, e.g. Dá va díg ans ar tus ‘My house is in the north'.

But in some cases, the preposition an is used: Bú mi a Bert ‘I live in Perth '.

Stative adverbs with 'er'

These express physical states and use er + noun or verb:

er ogil

open

er dhún

closed, shut

er gall

lost

er glí

locked

er uerth

for sale

er dán

on fire

 

© Alex Middleton 2008