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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Hi All,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Can anyone tell me what the "an" in the Scottish Gaelic
"ann an" ('in a') <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>(= Irish i) is doing there? The one in "anns an" (= Irish sa)
makes sense, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>but I'm baffled by the 'an' with an indefinite. Is there a historical <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>explanation?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Best,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Andrew<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>===========================================================================<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>Don’t have references here, but as I
recall “ann an” is a reduplicated form: <ann> is the 3rd sg.
masc. inflected form, substituting for the simple preposition, and <an>
is the doubled simple preposition (<i> in Irish, <in> before a
vowel) with the sandhi <n> glued back onto its historical base, as is
normal in Scottish Gaelic. The preposition <do>, “to,”
behaves similarly: before an object beginning with a vowel it’s doubled,
e.g., in “Thàinig mi a dh’Alba” (I came to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country-region>),
where both <a> and <dh’> are reduced forms of <do>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>Hope I remember this correctly—Best,
Jim Rader<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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