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kopul2.htm
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kopul2.htm
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link href="stíl.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico">
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="Author" content="Lars Bräsicke">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="me fein">
<title>bí and is</title>
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<body text="#000000" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000" bgcolor="#FFCC99" background="bg524f.jpg">
<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFCC99">
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<h1 id="oben"><span class="red">Caibidil a <b>Ceathair</b>: The Copula(an Chopail)</span></h1>
<h1><i>
<span class="red">bí and is</span></i></h1>
</td>
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<hr>
<p>In Irish there are 2 words, which can be translated into English with <i><b>"to be "</b></i>.
<br>
While the copula "<i>is</i>"only serves to conjoin subject and predicate, the verb <a href="bi.htm">bí</a> is <i>predicative itself </i>:
<p><b>Bí</b> expresses an action of <b>existance</b> is a (named or unnamed) <i>state of being</i>: Táim = I am (I exist, there is a "me"). It is then a verb of the <i>state of being</i>, of <i>existance.</i>
<br>
This is why it is mostly used with prepositions of location, in simplest form with <a href="i.htm">i (= in)</a> or its 3rd person masculine conjugation <b>ann</b> (= in him/in it/therein, extended "there/here"). (comp. a state of being <i>in which </i> one is) e.g.: <i>Tá daoine ann = People exist / There are people here.</i>
<br>
<b>Existance</b> alone may by freely expressed without an <i>i/ ann</i> , e.g. <i>Níl aon Dia ach tú = There is no God aside from you.</i>
<p>Also other states/conditions can be described (e.g. the state of being of standing, sitting, living (see <a href="verbnom1.htm#VerlZustand">state of being verbs</a>), the state of being in a profession/practicing a trade, etc.). Furthermore, it is used with predicative adjectives.
<p><b>Examples</b>:
<br>
<table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ann</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is here/ he exists </td>
<td nowrap>"is he in-it"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé sa teach</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is in the house </td>
<td nowrap>"is he [in his being] in-the house "</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ar an mbord</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is on the table </td>
<td nowrap>"is he [in his being] on the table "</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ina sheasamh </i></td>
<td nowrap>He is standing</td>
<td nowrap>"is he in-his [state of being of] standing"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ina chónaí</i></td>
<td nowrap>He lives </td>
<td nowrap>"is he in-his [state of being of] living[somewhere]"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ina dhochtúir</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is/works as a doctor</td>
<td nowrap>"is he in-his [state of being of] [being]a doctor"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ina lá</i></td>
<td nowrap>It is daytime </td>
<td nowrap>"is he in-his [state of being of] [being]day"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé mór</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is big </td>
<td nowrap>"is he [in a state of being of] [being]large"</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>This existance/state of being/location description is the base meaning of <i>bí</i>.
<br>
The extent of existance or the <b>magnitude</b> is expressed without a preposition. i.e. statistics such as height, weight, age, time and the like is done by usgin bí + magnitude:
<br>
e.g.: <i>Tá sí seacht mbliana d'aois = She is 7 years old; Tá sí naoi gcloch meáchain = She is 9 stones (=57 kg) heavy; Tá sé ceathrú chun a trí = It is quarter to three.</i>
<p>The modern uses as the <b>auxilliary verb </b> (e.g. in the <a href="verbnom1.htm#Verlaufsform">progressive</a>) are secondary, but more or less contain the sense of a temporally limited <i>state of being</i>. In the progressive, the temporal limitation (to that moment) is especially emphasized.
<br>
<i>Tá sé ag ól = He is drinking (right now at this moment)</i>
<p><b>Predicative adjectives </b> are mostly used with <b>bí</b> today, and the temporal limitation moves into the backgound, because a state of being is being described.
<br>
Because <i>bí</i> itself is predicative, its use as a predicative adjective is grammatically problematic, and earlier it was only considered possible to make the adjectives into adverbs (with <b>go</b>). This has remained so only by a few subjective adjectives of assessment (<i>Tá sé go dona = It is bad </i>). Otherwise, predicative adjectives are used today (or it's the case that they are indeed adverbs, whereby go is omitted): <i>Tá sé mór = He is big </i>
<br>
The
<b>copula</b> can also (less common today, earlier always) be used with adjectives. Today, this is limited to a certain few expressions. In this case, all signs of a temporal limitation are lacking, and it is moreso the permanent intrinsic quality being described. All in all, the differenced in meaning between <i>bí</i> and <i>is</i> with adjectives is rather small. The copular clause emphasizes more the adjective, and is therefore often interjectory ("He is <em>big</em>!")
<p>
<table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
<tr>
<td><b>with the copula</b></td>
<td nowrap><i>Is mór é</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is big!</td>
<td nowrap>"is big he "</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>with bí</b></td>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé mór</i></td>
<td nowrap>He is big </td>
<td nowrap>"is he [in a state of being of] [being]big"</td>
</tr></table>
<p>With the construction <b><i>i + possessive pronoun + noun</i></b> , <i>bí</i> can form a clause with a similar meaning as that with the copula. (see <a href="bi_ina.htm">classifications- and identification clauses without the copula</a>)
<br>
So, instead of an actual classification/identification (with the copula), there follows a description of a state of being (with bí). e.g.:
<p>
<table width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC">
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<td width="18%" nowrap><b>with the copula</b></td>
<td width="22%" nowrap><i>Is dochtúir é</i></td>
<td width="13%" nowrap>he is a doctor </td>
<td width="47%" nowrap>"is doctor he "</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap><b>with bí</b></td>
<td nowrap><i>Tá sé ina dhochtúir</i></td>
<td nowrap>he is a doctor </td>
<td nowrap>"is he in his [state of being of] a [being]doctor"</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
The copular clause gives a rather <i>(mostly permanent) assigment</i> "he = doctor ", while the clause with <i>bí</i> shows that a <i>(mostly temporary) relationship </i> exists, which was just achieved or could be reversed, and therefore is more a state of being (he is now a doctor, he works as a doctor, but will not always do so)
<br>
e.g. <i>Tá sé ina fhear anois = Now he is a man </i> (lit.: "is he in-his [state of being of] [being]a man now ". Because before that he was a child)
<br>
With the use of finite temporal adverbs, e.g. <i>anois = now </i>, the construction with the copula also becomes possible, e.g. <i>Is fear é anois = Now, he is a man </i>), as well as the use of <i>bí</i> with infinite temporal adverbs, e.g.: <i>Bhí sé ina amadáin riamh = He has always been an idiot.</i> Through this, the above statement receives a permanent vs. temporal relativity. The main difference of the sentences is the very classification through the copula, where <i>bí</i> states that it's a case of state of being being described.
<br>
e.g.: <i>Is fear é = He is a man </i>: He is classified as a man.
<br>
e.g.: <i>Tá sé ina fhear = He is a man </i>: He is in a state of being, in which he posesses the qualities of a man.
<p>Different words for "being", and special copulae exist in other languages as well: e.g. in Spanish "estar" and "es"
<br>
(notice the non-coincidental similarity between "tá" and "es<u>ta</u>r" as well as between "is" and "es"!)
<br>
The form <i>tá</i> derives from the indoeurop. root <i>staro</i> = to stand to (underlining the verbal base meaning as the German "Zu-standes")
<p>
<hr>
<center><a href="#oben" title="nach oben">suas</a>
<br>
<br>
<a href="kopul1.htm">the copula</a>
<br>
<a href=".">Gramadach na Gaeilge</a>
<br>
</center>
<hr>
<center><font size="-2">© <a href="https://braesicke.de/index.htm">Lars Bräsicke</a> 1999 / 2000</font></center>
<a href="https://github.com/cuplamilefocal/gnag">view on github</a>
<a href="https://braesicke.de/kopul2.htm">view original German</a></body>
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