LL-L "Morphology" 2003.05.13 (10) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 13.MAY.2003 (10) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Morphology" 2003.05.13 (04) [E]

Colin wrote:
"I'm surprised to read this, partly because there is a tendency in many
European languages to use the 2nd person plural pronoun as a formal
singular pronoun. In Gàidhlig, a close relative of Irish, _sibh_ is used
in that way..."

'sibh' is - or was (it is increasingly rare) - used that way in Irish.
'agat' corresponds (obviously) to Scottish Gaelic 'agad'.

Go raibh maith agat

Criostóir.

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From: "Jim Rader" <jrader at Merriam-Webster.com>>
Subject: LL-L "Morphology" 2003.05.13 (04) [E]

I'm far from fluent in Irish, but I've never seen or heard the plural
<sibh> used as a polite singular, in textbooks or elsewhere.  The
chapter on Irish by Cathair Ó Dochartaigh in _The Celtic Languages_,
ed. D. Macaulay (Cambridge UP, 1992) says categorically  that "the
distinction between second-person singular and plural is one of
number only, with no honorific use of the plural pronoun."  Don't know
where Neil McEwan got his Irish from.  The lack of any polite
pronominal form in Irish may be unique among European Languages--
but as soon as I say that someone may come up with another
instance.

Jim Rader

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