Cuirpthean language

Cuirpthean language
Cuirptheach Theanga
Pronunciation	[ˈkɔɐ̯pjəx ˈçɛŋgə]
Native to	Cuirpthe
Region	Cuirpthe
Ethnicity	Cuirptheans
Native speakers	ca. 34,245,000 (2018)
Language family	Cataisuran Thiaric Peripheral Thiaric Old Maíraidh Cuirpthean Cuirpthean language
Writing system	Fiorentine alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Cuirpthe
Regulated by	Comann na Cuirptheich Theanga (Cuirpthean Language Society)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	cu
ISO 639-2	cui
ISO 639-3	cui

Cuirpthean (in Chuirptheach or Cuirptheach Theanga pronounced [ɪn ˈxɔɐ̯pjəx] or [ˈkɔɐ̯pjəx ˈçɛŋgə]) is a Thiaric language spoken in the Republic of Cuirpthe by over thirty four million people. It is a Maíraidh language, deriving from Old Maíraidh but splitting off before the Middle Maíraidh period, and thus forming a distinct sub-branch from languages such as Mawr Lhaeraidd which derive from Middle Maíraidh. Immigration from Alemannia and a theorised period of creolisation led to major changes in the grammar, such as the adoption of subject-verb word order in unmarked phrases.

Phonology

Consonants

A phonemic inventory of the consonants of Cuirpthean is presented below. Entries in italics are marginal or otherwise only occur in some dialects.

Cuirpthean consonant phonemes

	Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n nˠ	ɲ
Stop	p b	t d	t͡ʃ d͡ʒ	k g
Fricative	f v	s z	ʃ ʒ ç ʝ	x ɣ	h
Approximant		l ɫ r	ʎ j

• The consonants /n nˠ ɲ/ and /l ɫ ʎ/ form groups of consonants where there is a contrast between lenis /n l/, broad fortis /nˠ ɫ/ and slender fortis /ɲ ʎ/. An additional distinction amongst the rhotics has been lost from most Cuirpthean dialects. The pronunciation of the fortis sounds is quite variable amongst dialects, and the given pronunciations represent the standard values. For more information see the section "Slender and broad sounds".
• The consonants /z ʒ/ occur only as the nasal mutations of /s ʃ/, and are not usually distinguished in writing: sollas "light" [ˈsoɫəs] but soinndeach sollas "bright light" [ˈsɔɲd͡ʒəx ˈzoɫəs]. In some southeastern dialects this distinction has been lost and the voiced sounds are always used word-initially.
• /ʝ/ is the slender value of /ɣ/, but except in some conservative dialects it has merged with /j/. The two are not distinguished in writing: ríghe "kings" [ˈriːʝə] or [ˈriːjə] but ghionga "lad, boy" [ˈjʊŋgə] and never *[ˈʝʊŋgə].
• /h/ only occurs word-initially, primarily as a result of aspiration and lenition of /s/: a h-each "her horse" [əˈhɛx], in shúid "the eye" [ɪn huːd͡ʒ]. It may also occur as an allophone of /x/ in western dialects and of /p/ in southeastern dialects: chrábh "bone" W. [hnaːv]; corp "person" SE. [kɔɹh].
• Outside the word-initial position, /ɣ/ is marginal, occurring primarily as a lenition of /g/ in proximity to a plosive: léagbha "(we) accept" [ˈʎeːgvə] but léaghda "(you, they) accept" [ˈʎeːɣdə]. Word-initially it is frequent as the lenition of /g/ and /d/: in dhoras "of the door" [ɪn ˈɣorəs].

The pronunciation of /r/ varies significantly amongst dialects. Contextually acceptable dialectal pronunciations include /ɾ ɹ ʐ ð/. The Comann na Cuirptheich Theanga suggests either a trill /r/ or tap /ɾ/ in the standard language. Additionally, after a vowel, /r/ is reduced to a semivowel, either [ɐ̯] or [ə̯] in most urban dialects. More conservative dialects retain the consonantal pronunciation in all environments. Thus, a word like fer "man" can be pronounced in any of the following ways: [fjɛɐ̯], [fjɛə̯], [fjɛr], [fjɛɾ].

Aspiration of the voiceless plosive consonants when they occur word-initially is widespread everywhere except in the most southern dialects. Elsewhere in a word light aspiration may occur before any vowel except after a consonant, when they are pronounced with an earlier voice onset time: puirtín "small port/fort" [ˈpʰɔɐ̯t͡ʃʰiːn] but follteach "university" [ˈfuːɫt͡ʃˣəx]. Voiced plosives in contrast have a negative VOT and so are always contrastive: déad "tooth, teeth" [d͡ʒeːd]. At the end of a word, there is a strong east/west division between full release of plosives in the east (manifested with strong aspiration) and lack of audible release in the west (manifested with light glottalisation): corp "person" E. [kʰɔɐ̯pʰə̥] but W. [kʰɔɐ̯ˀp̚].

Vowels

A phonemic inventory of the vowels of Cuirpthean is presented below.

Cuirpthean vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	iː i		uː u
Mid	eː e	ə	oː o
Open			aː a

The schwa [ə] occurs as a reduction of vowels in unstressed syllables. Typically these vowels are orthographically neutralised as <a> or <e>, though there are exceptions to this. The reduced vowel may contextually occur as [ɨ] in some western dialects.

Short vowels in closed syllables tend to be pronounced with lax, lowered allophones: sollas "light" [ˈsoɫəs] but soillse "lights" [ˈsɔʎʃə]. The vowel /a/ may instead take on a more centralised pronunciation [ɐ], but more frequently this vowel simply does not change.

Long /aː/ is often rounded to [ɔː] in northeastern dialects: crábh [kɾɔːvʷ]. This may or may not affect historical /aː/ which has diphthongised: tallbhan "lands" [ˈtɔu̯ɫvʷən] or [ˈtau̯ɫvʷən].

The diphthongs /ai̯/ and /au̯/ can occur as developments of /a/ in certain environments: baillte "towns" [ˈbai̯ʎt͡ʃə]; tallbhan "lands" [ˈtau̯ɫvən]. These are used in all but a few southeastern dialects, where long /aː/ occurs instead: [ˈbaːʎt͡ʃi], [ˈtaːɫavən].

Vowel insertion occurs in dialects in the northwest and southeast to break up many consonant clusters. Typically, an inserted vowel is phonetically identical to the preceding vowel, though always short and lax. With regards to the orthography, epenthetic vowels do not alter the usual pronunciation of vowels in closed syllables: légseabh "we accepted" [ˈʎeːgɛʃəv].

Generally the first syllable of a word is stressed, which can cause syncope when a word is inflected: doras "door" → doirse "doors"; tallabh "land" → tallbhan "lands". Syncope is blocked by certain morphophonological environments, such as in the fourth declension of nouns: cém "step" → cémeneabh "of steps" rather than *cémneabh. There are, however, words which have irregular stress. For example the word indí "today" has stress on the last syllable: [ɪɲˈd͡ʒiː]. These words are often phrases which have been reanalysed as single words; in this instance indí derives from the phrase in dí "the day", but the normal word for "day" in modern Cuirpthean is lá. Other examples are dabhaille [dəˈvaʎə] "homeward" and conáigh [kəˈnaːʝ] "forwards".

Slender and broad sounds

Old Maíraidh possessed a consistent distinction between so-called "broad" (velarised) and "slender" (palatalised) sounds. This system has been reduced to a significant extent in Cuirpthean, but it is still present and is important in understanding the language's orthography. Furthermore, even for consonants which otherwise do not possess the distinction, mutation may cause distinctly broad or slender sounds to manifest; for example, /k/ lenites to /x/ when broad but /ç/ when slender, even though the value of /k/ proper is unchanged. A broad consonant can only be preceded or followed by the written vowels <a o u> while a slender consonant can only be preceded or followed by <e i>.

The pairs of sounds relevant to the modern language are as follows:

Basic sound	Slender		Broad
	Value	Example	Value	Example
/p/	[p]	corp "person" [kɔɐ̯p]	[pj]	piúr "sister" [pjuːɐ̯]
/b/	[b]	baille "town" [ˈbaʎə]	[bj]	berem "I carry" [ˈbjerəm]
/f/	[f]	fuid "blood" [fʊd͡ʒ]	[fj]	fer "man" [fjɛɐ̯]
/v/	[v]	crábh "bone" [kraːv]	[vj]	rebheard "I carried" [rəˈvjɛɐ̯d]
/m/	[m]	mor "sea" [mɔɐ̯]	[mj]	mé "I, me" [mjeː]
/t/	[t]	tallabh "land" [ˈtaɫəv]	[t͡ʃ]	ténn "soldier" [t͡ʃeːɲ]
/d/	[d]	doras "door" [ˈdorəs]	[d͡ʒ]	déad "tooth, teeth" [d͡ʒeːd]
/s/	[s]	súid "eye" [suːd͡ʒ]	[ʃ]	sél "story" [ʃeːl]
/N/	[nˠ]	tonn "wave" [tuːnˠ]	[ɲ]	neart "power" [ɲɛɐ̯t]
/L/	[ɫ]	lubharam "I speak" [ɫuːrəm]	[ʎ]	lí "stone" [ʎiː]
/x/	[x]	in chrábh "of the bone" [ɪn xraːv]	[ç]	in cheill "the church" [ɪn çɛʎ]
/ɣ/	[ɣ]	in ghuch "of the voice" [ɪn ɣʊx]	[ʝ], [j]	in ghiolla "of the conscript" [ɪn ʝɪɫə]

As the table shows the distinction is maintained for most dental consonants, velar fricatives, and labial sounds, though palatalisation within the latter group has yielded to clusters with [j].

Alternation between broad and slender consonants is involved in some inflectional processes: déad "tooth (direct case)" [d͡ʒeːd] → déid "(oblique case)" [d͡ʒeːd͡ʒ]; túach "people (dir.)" [ˈtuːəx] → túaich "(obl.)" [ˈtuːəç]; teanga "tongue" [ˈt͡ʃɛŋgə] → tengde "tongues" [ˈt͡ʃɛɲd͡ʒə]. As one can see this frequently causes spelling changes.

Note that when a fortis consonant is subject to lenition, there is no phonetic distinction between slender and broad, but the underlying pronunciation is shown by the orthography: lí "stone" [ʎiː] → da lí "your stone" [də liː]. Other consonants maintain a distinction where possible: da ghuch "your voice" [də ɣʊx] but da ghiall "your jaw" [də ʝau̯ɫ].

The pronunciations of the fortis consonants varies between dialects. Often they are written simply as /N Nʲ L Lʲ/ to avoid specifying any particular pronunciation over another. The traditional distinction, as with other slender/broad pairs is believed to have been velarisation v. palatalisation but the manifestation of this is variable. The standard values are velarised [nˠ ɫ] and palatal [ɲ ʎ]. However, some speakers use palatalised coronal sounds [nʲ lʲ] rather than true palatals. For yet other speakers, the palatalised sounds have merged with the lenis sounds and the velarised sounds are distinguished by tenseness, giving /N Nʲ L Lʲ/ → [nː n lː l]. Some speakers merge the fortis sounds with one another, distinguishing them from lenis sounds by their place of articulation: fortis sounds are alveolar or postalveolar while lenis sounds are dental.

Mutations

Cuirpthean has retained the Old Maíraidh mutation system largely intact, with three mutations: lenition, nasalisation (also called eclipsis) and h-prosthesis (also called aspiration). Each mutation occurs in specific morphophonological environments. For example, nouns and adjectives may have cases which are pronounced identically except that they cause a different mutation on the following word. Compare the following:

• In maich^N dténn. [ɪn maç d͡ʒeːɲ] "The good soldier."
• In^L mhaich^L dhénne. [ɪn vaç ˈʝeːɲə] "Of the good soldier."
• In^L mhaiche ténnde. [ɪn ˈvaçə ˈt͡ʃeːɲd͡ʒə] "The good soldiers."
• Na maicheabh ténndeabh. [nə ˈmaçəv ˈt͡ʃeːɲd͡ʒəv] "Of the good soldiers."

Superscript letters show the mutation a given form causes on the next word. This is the only means by which maich dténn in the direct case is distinguished from maich dhénn in the oblique case. The full set of mutations is given below. Note that h-prosthesis only occurs before words starting with a vowel.

Each of the three mutations can occur after various forms of the definite article. For example, in marks the nominative masculine singular when it does not cause a mutation, the accusative masculine singular when it causes nasalisation and the genitive masculine singular when it causes lenition.

Two types of mutation are observed in Cuirpthean. Phrasal mutation occurs only on the next word within a given phrase (such as a noun phrase); after the final word in said phrase, mutation cannot occur on any following word as it belongs to a different phrase. For example, when a noun precedes a verb, the noun does not cause mutation to the verb: in rí ích in bhflé "the king eats the meal"; here rí causes a phrasal h-prosthesis but since ích is not within the same phrase this mutation does not occur (*h-ích). However the nasalisation mutation does occur to flé as in bhflé is a single phrase. The exception to this is that phrasal mutation can affect a following preposition.

A much rarer mutation is the jumping mutation. This is believed to have arisen as a result of syntactic changes occurring to the language without any changes to the mutations which occur. A jumping mutation causes mutations across phrase boundaries; however, within a phrase it causes mutation to the final unit in the phrase, overriding any mutation which might occur phrasally. An example of a jumping mutation occurs with the preposition ca "to, until" which causes nasalisation: mé tíghem can tall dtallabh "I will go to that land". The determiner tall does not cause mutation; the mutation of tallabh to dtallabh is caused by the preposition ca.

Basic sound	Broad mutations		Slender mutations		H-prosthesis
	Lenition	Nasalisation	Lenition	Nasalisation
/p/	[f]	[b]	[fj]	[bj]	No change
/t/	[x]	[d]	[ç]	[d͡ʒ]
/k/	[x]	[g]	[ç]	[g]
/b/	[v]	[m(b)]	[vj]	[m(b)j]
/d/	[ɣ]	[n(d)]	[ʝ]	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)]
/g/	[ɣ]	[ŋ(g)]	[ʝ]	[ɲ(d͡ʒ)]
/m/	[v]	[m]	[vj]	[mj]
/N/	[n]	[N]	[n]	[Nʲ]
/L/	[l]	[L]	[l]	[Lʲ]
/f/	Silent	[v]	[j]	[vj]
/s/	[h]	[z]	[hj]	[ʒ]
/a/	[a]	[na]	N/A		[ha]

Orthography

Cuirpthean orthography is based on the traditional Maíraidh orthography and thus contains many quirks making a concise description difficult. Digraphs and trigraphs are common due to the rule of coél re coél as léan re léan "slender with slender and broad with broad": the letters <a o u> are broad vowels and the letters <e i> are slender vowels. Although variant spellings which violate this rule such as ferebh for fereabh [ˈfjerəv] are occasionally encountered, the correct spellings always follow this rule. The only exceptions are compounds where following the orthographic rule is otherwise impossible, such as follteach [ˈfuːɫt͡ʃəx] "university", where the cluster [ɫt͡ʃ] cannot be written in accordance to the rule. Additionally, digraphs of a consonant plus <h> are common as a means of showing lenition, though one may encounter the overdot used in more traditional spelling styles (eg. ġaḃa or ghabha "we are").

All mutations are indicated orthographically. Mutations before a vowel are separated with a dash: a fer "her husband" but a h-árd bhfer "her tall husband". Otherwise, the initial consonant of the mutated word is altered. Generally, lenition is shown by inserting a <h>: <b> becomes <bh>, <t> becomes <th> and so on. Lenition of the fortis consonants, however, is not indicated: a ghuch "his voice" but a lí "his stone". Nasalisation of plosives is shown by prefixing the new sound to the old sound: <p> becomes <bp>, <g> becomes <ng> and so on. Nasalised <f> is written as <bhf> as in Mawr Lhaeraidd. Nasalised <s> is rarely written as <zs> but usually there is no orthographic distinction made.

The possible ways of writing given consonant sounds follow. Compared to vowels, consonants are quite simple and their writing predictable:

Sound	Spelling(s)	Example
[m]	<m>	mor [mɔɐ̯] "sea"
	<mb> when occurring as the nasalisation of /b/	gembeard [gəˈmjɛɐ̯d] "I might have carried"
	<n>	in baille [ɪm ˈbaʎə] "the town"
[n]	<n>	ní [niː] "is not"
	<nd> when occurring as the nasalisation of /d/	a ndoras [əˈnorəs] "the door"
[ŋ]	<n> before a velar consonant; for <ng> only when broad	teanga [ˈt͡ʃɛŋgə] "tongue, language"
	<ng> when occurring as the nasalisation of broad /g/	a ngráigheach [əˈŋraːʝəx] "the citizen"
[nˠ]	broad <nn>	ceann [kɛnˠ] "head"
	broad, unlenited, word-initial <n>	nach [nˠax] "that not; some"
[ɲ]	slender <nn>	muinnter [ˈmɔɲt͡ʃəɐ̯] "society, association"
	slender, unlenited, word-initial <n>	neart [ɲɛɐ̯t] "power"
	slender <ng>	tengde [ˈt͡ʃɛɲd͡ʒə] "tongues, languages"
	<nd> when occurring as the nasalisation of [d͡ʒ]	a ndéad [əˈɲeːd] "the tooth"
	<ng> when occurring as the nasalisation of slender [g]	in ngiolla [ɪɲˈɲɪɫə] "the conscript (acc.)"
[p]	broad <p>	pobal [ˈpobə̯l] "people"
[pj]	slender <p>	piúr [pjuːɐ̯] "sister"
[b]	broad <b>	bó [boː] "cow"
	broad <bp>	a bpuirtín [əˈbɔɐ̯t͡ʃiːn] "the small port/fort"
[bj]	slender <b>	berem [ˈbjerəm] "I carry"
	slender <bp>	in bpiúr [ɪmˈbjuːɐ̯] "the sister (acc.)"
[t]	broad <t>	tallabh [ˈtaɫəv] "land"
[d]	broad <d>	doras [ˈdorəs] "door"
	broad <dt>	a dtáillín [əˈdaːʎiːn] "the part"
[t͡ʃ]	slender <t>	ténn [t͡ʃeːɲ] "soldier"
[d͡ʒ]	slender <d>	déad [d͡ʒeːd] "tooth, teeth"
	slender <dt>	a dtaillbhín [əˈdai̯ʎviːn] "the region"
[k]	<c>	cóireach [ˈkoːrəx] "foreigner"
[g]	<g>	grách [graːx] "normal"
	<gc>	a gcém [əˈgeːm] "the step"
[f]	<f>	fóllan [foːɫən] "learn"
[v]	<bh>	dabhaille [dəˈvaʎə] "to home"
	<bhf>	árd bhfer [aɐ̯d vjɛɐ̯] "tall man"
[s]	broad <s>	súid [suːd͡ʒ] "eye"
[z]	<s> when occurring as the nasalisation of [s]	soinndeach sollas [ˈsɔɲd͡ʒəx ˈzoɫəs] "bright light"
	broad <zs> (uncommon spelling)	zsollas [ˈzoɫəs] "light"
[ʃ]	slender <s>	seinn [ʃɛɲ] "play (a stringed instrument)"
[ʒ]	<s> when occurring as the nasalisation of [ʃ]	a sél [əˈʒeːl] "the story"
	slender <zs> (uncommon spelling)	zsél [ʒeːl] "story"
[ç]	slender <ch>	iche [ˈiçə] "eating"
	slender <th>	in theanga [ɪɲˈçɛŋgə] "the tongue, the language"
[ʝ]	slender <gh>	ríghe [ˈriːʝə] "kings"
	slender <dh>	in dhéid [ɪɲˈʝeːd͡ʒ] "of the tooth"
[x]	broad <ch>	túach [ˈtuːəx] "people"
	broad <th>	in thúach [ɪnˈxuːəx] "the people"
[ɣ]	broad <gh>	ghas [ɣas] "is"
	broad <dh>	in dhoras [ɪnˈɣorəs] "of the door"
[h]	<h>	a h-each [əˈhɛx] "her horse"
	<sh>	in shúid [ɪnˈhuːd͡ʒ] "the eye"
[l]	<l>	poblach [ˈpɔbləx] "public"
[ɫ]	broad <ll>	foll [fuːɫ] "learns"
	broad, unlenited, word-initial <l>	lá [ɫaː] "day"
[r]	<r>	rubha [ˈruːə] "red"
[ʎ]	slender <ll>	soillse [ˈsɔʎʃə] "lights"
	slender, unlenited, word-initial <l>	lí [ʎiː] "stone"
[j]	slender <gh> (not distinguished in writing from [ʝ])	ghionga [ˈjʊŋgə] "lad"

Vowels are more complicated due to the slender/broad spelling rule. This means that many digraphs and trigraphs are in use, as well as even longer, less predictable strings such as <ubha> for (word-internal) [uː]: lubharam [ˈɫuːɾəm] "I speak". Regular spellings are given in the following table:

Sound	Spelling	Example
[iː]	<í>	tí [t͡ʃiː] "he/she goes"
	<aí>	baí [biː] "cows"
	<ío>	síos [ʃiːs] "down and away"
	<ía> (sometimes word-internally)	mían [miːn] "desire"
	<aío>	naíonacht [ˈnˠiːnəxt] "youth"
	<ao(i)> in some dialects	Portlaoise [ˈpɔɐ̯tˌliːʃə] "Portlaoise"
	<i> before fortis consonants in closed syllables	prinn [pɾiːɲ] "towards us"
[i]	<i>	in [ɪn] "the"
	<ui> in a few words	buich [bɪç] "being"
	<io> when not preceding a fortis consonant in a closed syllable	giolla [ˈgiɫə] "conscript"
	<ao> in some monosyllables	saon [sɪn] "meaning, sense"
[uː]	<ú>	tú [tuː] "thou"
	<úi>	súid [suːd͡ʒ] "eye"
	<iú>	piúr [pjuːɐ̯] "sister"
	<iúi>	piúir [pjuːɐ̯] "sister" (oblique case)
	<o> before fortis consonants in closed syllables	tonn [tuːnˠ] "wave"
	<io> before fortis consonants in closed syllables	inionn [ˈinuːnˠ] "in us"
	<ubh> (word-finally)	dubh [duː] "black"
	<ubha> (word-internally)	lubharam [ˈɫuːɾəm] "I speak"
[u]	<u>	ullar [ˈuɫəɐ̯] "floor"
	<ui> except when preceding a fortis consonant or /r/ in a closed syllable	fuid [fʊd͡ʒ] "blood"
	<iu>	pliuch [pʎʊx] "wet"
	<iui>	pliuiche [ˈpʎuçə] "wetter"
[eː]	<é>	sél [ʃeːl] "story"
	<oé>	coél [keːl] "slender"
	<éa>	léan [ʎeːn] "broad"

Grammar

Compared with Old Maíraidh, Cuirpthean grammar has been greatly simplified overall. The extremely complex verbal system has been collapsed into a largely regular system, although some irregularities such as breach being the verbal noun of beir "carry" persist. Moreover, nouns have been reduced to only four forms, showing combinations of singular or plural number with direct or oblique case. However, there are some complications which have been introduced, such as jumping mutations or the partial switch to SVO syntax.

Nouns and adjectives

Nouns are one of masculine, feminine or neuter, and a knowledge of a noun's gender is important both for declining a noun of any given paradigm as well as for correct adjective agreement. Adjectives decline to agree with their head in case and number, as well as have comparative, superlative and equative grades which can only be used as predicates and therefore do not decline.

Nouns have four main paradigms with a number of subclasses. The first declension is a merger of many Old Maíraidh noun types, although the historical paradigm has led to irregularities for a few nouns: feminine i-stem nouns and neuter o-stem, io-stem, s-stem i-stem and u-stem nouns are all slightly different from the usual first declension paradigm. The second declension continues Old Maíraidh velar-stem nouns, the third declension continues dental-stem nouns though each gender has some differences in declension, and the fourth declension continues n-stem nouns once again with a difference between each gender.

The declension of the regular first declension noun túach "people" is as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	túachN	túachaH
Oblique	túaichL	túachabh

Note that slenderisation of the final consonant occurs only for feminine nouns of this declension: guch "voice" which is masculine has the oblique singular guch. With such nouns nasalisation or lenition of the following word is the only indicator of case.

Some nouns may have an irregularity in the plural, such as fer "man":

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ferN	fireH
Oblique	ferL	fereabh

When the irregularity is a change in the stem vowel, as above, only the direct plural is affected. However, if the irregularity is the addition of a consonant, then both the direct and oblique plural forms are affected, as with baille "town":

	Singular	Plural
Direct	bailleN	baillteH
Oblique	bailleL	baillteabh

The first declension contains five slightly deviant subsets. Feminine i-stem nouns traditionally cause lenition rather than nasalisation in the direct singular form. However, it is perhaps more common today to use nasalisation instead; the Comann na Cuirptheich Theanga accepts both variants. The declension of súid "eye" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	súidL or N	súideH
Oblique	súidL	súideabh

The remaining three variants are all neuter nouns. Neuter o-stem, io-stem and s-stem nouns have merged into one subgroup which is exceptional in causing lenition rather than h-prosthesis in the direct plural. In fact, this rule holds for all first declension neuter nouns except for u-stem nouns; this subgroup simply lacks any other idiosyncrasies. The declension of sél "story" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	sélN	séleL
Oblique	sélL	séleabh

Neuter i-stem nouns have a different oblique singular form, identical to the direct plural but causing h-prosthesis instead of lenition. Some speakers are merging this declension with the above. The declension of mor "sea" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	morN	moraL
Oblique	moraH morL	morabh

Finally, neuter u-stem nouns do not cause mutation in the direct plural, and have slenderisation in both plural forms. These are the only first declension neuter nouns which do not cause lenition in the direct plural. The declension of doras "door" follows; note that the syncope in the plural here is regular:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	dorasN	doirse
Oblique	dorasL	doirseabh

The declension of the regular second declension noun rí "king" is as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ríH	rígheH
Oblique	ríL	rígheabh

The variant spelling rígh in the singular is sometimes seen, but is regarded as archaic and dispreferred today.

The declension of the regular masculine third declension noun ténn "soldier" is as follows. Note that throughout the third declension, if syncope occurs in the plural following a broad consonant it will be slenderised (see teanga below):

	Singular	Plural
Direct	ténn	ténndeH
Oblique	ténneL	ténndeabh

Third declension feminine nouns cause aspiration in the direct singular. The declension of teanga "tongue, language" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	teangaH	tengdeH
Oblique	teangaL	tengdeabh

Although neuter dental-stem nouns are grouped into the third declension, their declension is particularly different. There are two accepted variants for the oblique plural, one with slenderisation and one without. The declension of déad "tooth" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	déadN	déadL
Oblique	déidL	déideabh déadabh

Lastly, the declension of the regular masculine fourth declension noun tallabh "land" is as follows. The occurrence of h-prosthesis in the direct plural is optional and both its presence and absence are accepted:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	tallabh	tallbhan(H)
Oblique	tallbhanL	tallbhanabh

Feminine nouns are identical but have h-prosthesis in the direct singular. The declension of tóide "idea" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	tóideH	tóiden(H)
Oblique	tóidenL	tóideneabh

Neuter nouns decline like first declension nouns in the singular, and cause lenition in the direct plural. The declension of cém "step" follows:

	Singular	Plural
Direct	cémN	cémenL
Oblique	cémL	cémeneabh

Adjectives decline like nouns, but distinguish between masculine, feminine and neuter forms in the basic grade. The majority of adjectives decline like first declension nouns, following the relevant pattern for each gender, though some may have a complication in certain forms; the adjective-forming suffix -(e)ach for example has irregular forms ending in -(a)igh. The basic forms of grách "normal" are give below:

	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Direct	gráchN	gráchaH	gráchN	gráchaH	gráchN	gráchaL
Oblique	gráighL	gráchabh	gráigheL	gráchabh	gráighL	gráchabh

Adjectives also possess three additional grades which are only used predicatively. The comparative is formed with slenderisation or lenition and a suffix -e: gráiche "more usual". The superlative is formed by slenderisation or lenition and a suffix -eabh: gráicheabh "most usual". Finally the equative is formed with a suffix -(a)ír with no changes to the stem: gráchaír "as usual". Irregular adjectives only regularly form the equative: maich "good" → fér "better", deach "best", maichír "as good".

These forms can be used predicatively in the following constructions:

• Ghas in rí maich. [ɣas ɪn riː maç] "The king is good."
• Ghas in ríghean fér ná h-in rí. [ɣas ɪn ˈriːʝən fjeːɐ̯ naː hɪn riː] "The queen is better than the king."
• Ghas éasa dheach deneabh rígheabh. [ɣas ˈeːsə ʝɛx d͡ʒenəv riːʝəv] "He is the best of the kings."
• Ghas in rí có-maichír us in ríghean. [ɣas ɪn riː koːˈmaçiːr ʊs ɪn ˈriːʝən] "The king is as good as the queen."

To use these forms attributively, qualifying particles must be used. In this case, the morphological grades are not used; instead the particle is used with the appropriate plain form of the adjective:

• In maich rí [ɪn maç riː] "The good king"
• In lín^N maich rí [ɪn ʎiːn maç riː] "The better king"
• In och maich rí [ɪn ɔx maç riː] "The best king"
• In rí gcobh^H maich (na) [ɪn riː goː maç (nə)] "The as good (as...) king"

There are some adjectives which do not decline to agree with their head. These adjectives typically occur at the start of an adjective phrase (but after articles) and include numerals and demonstratives: ún mhaich mben [uːn vaç mjɛn] "one good woman"; in thall maich mben [ɪn xau̯ɫ maç mjɛn] "that good woman".

Definite article

Cuirpthean has no indefinite, but has a definite article ("the"). Whereas all other declining words only mark direct and oblique case, the definite article continues to distinguish four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive and dative, though the dative article only occurs suffixed to prepositions. The article also shows number and gender in most forms. There are only three distinct independent forms of the article: in, a and na; however, various cases cause distinct mutations to occur.

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	in	inL	aN	inL	naN
Accusative	inN			naH
Genitive	inL	naH	inL	naN
Dative	-n			-nabh, -neabh

After a preposition, the definite article takes on the given bound clitic forms, with no distinction of gender and lenition matching that caused by the preposition. For example, with the preposition ca^NJ "to, until": gham mé a' téach can siúla [ɣam mjeː əˈt͡ʃeːx kən ˈʒuːlə] "I am going to the school".

Verbs

The simplifications which have occurred since Old Maíraidh are perhaps no more apparent then in the Cuirpthean verbal system. The extremely complex and irregular verbs have been collapsed to two regular conjugations, with two subgroups in the first conjugational paradigm. In the spoken languages, the changes are even more sweeping, with many synthetic verb forms being abandoned in favour of analytic constructions. However, in the literary language, as well as in more formal spoken registers, the full array of synthetic forms are in use.

The first conjugation derives from type-A verbs in Old Maíraidh, with the two subgroups reflecting AI and AII. The second conjugation derives from type-B verbs. Deponents have been eliminated entirely, and stem changes have been largely eliminated outside perhaps one or two forms, such as the irregular verbal noun breach from the root ber- "carry".

Verbs inflect to show two tenses (present and past), three moods (indicative, subjunctive and imperative), three persons and two numbers. Analytic constructions involve using the irregular verb buich "be" with a verbal noun. In the written language, this makes a specifically imperfective aspect verb, but is usual in speech.

The indicative forms of the type AI verb móra "feed" follow. Note that for every verb the first person plural form may be replaced by the second/third person plural form:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	móram	mórbha	móras	mórsabh
2nd person	móra	mórda		mórsad
3rd person	móras		mór

AII verbs differ from these forms only in the past tense, where the /s/-affix is slender. The conjugation of lége "accept" follows:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	légem	léagbha	léges	légseabh
2nd person	lége	léaghda		légsead
3rd person	légeas		lég

Subjunctive forms always occur in conjunction with a subordinating particle such as ca. When no other particle occurs, the verb takes the prefix ga- or ge-. Since this is predictable only the plain forms are given below for móra:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	mórasa	mórdaine	mórdasa	mórbhaine
2nd person		mórdaise		mórbhaise
3rd person

There is no difference in the conjugation of AII verbs, but the subjunctive of lége is given below regardless:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	légeasa	léaghdaine	léaghdasa	léagbhaine
2nd person		léaghdaise		léagbhaise
3rd person

The two imperative forms are as follows:

	móra	lége
Singular	mór!	lég!
Plural	móra!	lége!

The verbal nouns of regular first conjugation verbs are formed with a suffix -a or -e and are thus identical to the plural imperative form. The present analytic conjugation of móra is given below; other forms are obtained by substituting for another form of buich:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	gham a' móra	ghabha (t-)a' móra
2nd person	ghá (t-)a' móra	ghada (t-)a' móra
3rd person	ghas a' móra

The second conjugation has a number of differences to the first, particularly in the past tense where the prefix ra- or re- is mandatory. This conjugation also has numerous alternations between broad and slender stem-final consonants. The present conjugation of breach "carry" follows; this verb is regular except for the verbal noun. Verbal nouns in the second declension are highly unpredictable:

	Indicative		Subjunctive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	berem	bearbha	bereasa	beardaine
2nd person	bere	bered		beardaise
3rd person	beir

Forms with a zero ending (ie. the third person singular present indicative and singular imperative) may experience spelling and pronunciation differences. With breach the pronunciation is regular, with the only change being the use of <ei> instead of <e>. However, a more irregular form is that of fóllan "learn"; the appropriate form of this verb is foll [fuːɫ].

In the past tense, a prefix occurs on the verb. Formerly this was written with a dash as ra- but the prescribed spelling now is ra- or re- in accordance with the usual spelling rules. This prefix causes lenition of the verb. In very informal contexts, the prefix may be dropped, but lenition still occurs on the verb. The past forms of breach follow:

	Indicative		Subjunctive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	rebheard	rebheardam	rebheardasa	rebhearbhaine
2nd person	rebheird	rebheardad		rebhearbhaise
3rd person

When the past prefix coöccurs with the subjunctive prefix it merges with the verb root, causing nasalisation: gembeard "I might have carried" etc. Before a vowel, the prefix is simply r-: ích "he/she eats" → richd "he/she ate".

The imperatives of breach are identical to the first declension: beir!, bere!

Second conjugation verbal nouns possess multiple endings, and the appropriate ending is rarely predictable. Some common endings are -ch (as in breach or téach "go"), -a or -e (as in the first conjugation; as in gabha "hold" or iche "eat"), -n (as in fóllan "learn" or bubhaín "win") and zero ending (as in seinn "play (a stringed instrument)" or glá "persuade"). The third person singular present indicative forms of each of these verbs follow to exemplify:

Verbal noun	3s.pres.ind
breach [brɛx]	beir [bjɛɐ̯]
téach [t͡ʃeːx]	tí [t͡ʃiː]
gabha [ˈgavə]	gaibh [gav]
iche [ˈiçə]	ích [iːç]
fóllan [ˈfoːɫən]	foll [fuːɫ]
bubhaín [ˈbuiːn]	bubhaí [ˈbuiː]
seinn [ʃɛɲ]
glá [gɫaː]

The verb buich "be" is highly irregular. The present tense appears to have formed out of a hybridisation of the Old Maíraidh absolute and conjunct forms, as they are attested with initial dh- in historic sources. Compare the relativiser da from ata. Both the present and past forms have lenition throughout. The indicative conjugation follows:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	gham	ghabha	bhasa	bhubha
2nd person	ghá	ghada		bhada
3rd person	ghas		bhá

The present tense of buich is exceptional also in having an irregular set of negative forms. These are given below:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	nída	nídan
2nd person		nídad
3rd person	ní

The past tense however is regular: ní bhasa etc.

The highly irregular subjunctive forms now follow; note the exceptional forms with /x/ in the past tense:

	Present		Past
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person	bhá	bhann	bhinn	bhime
2nd person		bhaigh	chá	chís
3rd person			bhí

The imperative forms of buich are singular ba! and plural bé!

The Old Maíraidh distinction between copular "be" and substantive "be" has been lost outside the present indicative tense, where the forms bía and bigheát exist as defective forms: Bía lam tóide "I have an idea" ← "there is an idea to me".

Pronouns

Cuirpthean retains two sets of personal pronouns, traditionally called absolute and emphatic forms. The absolute forms are unmarked and largely occur as enclitics whereas emphatic forms are syntactically free. Often, emphatic pronouns are also used to emphasise a contrast : tusa "you (in contrast to me)".

The two sets are as follows:

		Absolute		Emphatic
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person		mé	sní	mese	snine
2nd person		tú	sibh	tusa	sise
3rd person	Masculine	é	éad	éasa	éise
	Feminine	í		íse
	Neuter	ad		ása

Absolute pronouns can only occur in proximity to a verb; as a result, mé aiceam é "I see him" is correct but *co aiceasa mé é is not a correct way to say "that I see him". In this instance, either the emphatic pronoun must be used (co aiceasa mé éasa) or an object clitic must be used (ca n-aiceasa mé). The former is more common in speech, while object clitics are largely confined to writing today.

Object clitics are always bound to a preverbal particle; when none otherwise occurs the particle no is used. Clitics can cause mutations on a following verb. The set of object clitics before the verb breach "carry" and aice "see" follow. The third person singular present indicative is used to demonstrate:

		Singular	Plural
1st person		nubh bheir nubh h-aiceas	nann beir nann aiceas
2nd person		nad bheir nad h-aiceas	nobh beir nobh aiceas
3rd person	Masculine	no mbeir no n-aiceas	nas mbeir nas n-aiceas
	Feminine	nas mbeir nas n-aiceas
	Neuter	no bheir no h-aiceas

Prepositions

Cuirpthean prepositions are somewhat more complicated than those of Old Maíraidh. Most dialects of Cuirpthean have inherited two forms of many prepositions, depending on the phonological environment in which the preposition occurs. For example, the preposition ca "to, until" has the form co which is used before most vowels and certain consonants. Cuirpthean has also inherited the so-called conjugating preposition system of that language, meaning that prepositions take sometimes unpredictable suffixes to indicate pronominal arguments. Although some irregularities in the Old Maíraidh system have been levelled out in modern Cuirpthean, some exceptional forms still occur. Presented below are the personal forms of the prepositions pra/pri "towards" (OM fri) and í "in":

		pra/pri		í
		Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st person		priam [ˈpriəm]	prinn [priːɲ]	ineam [ˈinəm]	inionn [ˈinuːnˠ]
2nd person		prid [prɪd͡ʒ]	priabh [priəv]	iniod [ˈinəd]	ineabh [ˈinəv]
3rd person	Masculine/Neuter	pris [prɪʃ]	pría [ˈpriːə]	in [ɪn]	inde [ˈɪnd͡ʒə]
	Feminine	pría [ˈpriːə]		ine [ˈinə]

Of particular note here is the third person masculine/neuter (no distinction is made between the two genders) and plural forms which are largely unpredictable. Other forms are mostly predictable, though some vowel alternations are not.

Distinct emphatic forms have been lost, with the preposition plus free pronoun used instead with optional mutation: pra mese/mhese "to me".

Many prepositions also have distinct combining forms before the definite article, although the form of the definite article itself never changes in this position. Pra has no distinct form: pran. However, í takes the form ise-, giving the forms isen and isneabh.

Although Old Maíraidh distinguished dative arguments from accusative arguments in the third person and when combined with the definite article, this distinction has been lost in Cuirpthean where the dative forms are generalised. These are used even where an accusative meaning is intended, and where the noun takes the direct case: gham mé isen mora "I am in the sea" (dative/oblique) but mé tíghem isen mor "I go into the sea" (accusative/direct).

Prepositions cause a variety of mutations, including the "jumping mutation" which is unique to Cuirpthean. Pra causes lenition, for example, while í causes nasalisation. These mutations occur on the head noun, ie. the last word in a prepositional phrase, rather than to the word immediately following. If a word preceding the head would cause mutation, the jumping mutation takes priority: sní tíobha pran^L túigheach^{N L}thráigh "we will go to the northern coast." In this case, we have lenited thráigh rather than nasalised *dtráigh for "coast".

Syntax

The unmarked word order of Cuirpthean is SVO, that is, subject-verb-object. However, there are exceptions. The Old Maíraidh order of VSO returns in two main instances: with the verb buich "be" which is always placed first in the clause, as well as in subordinate clauses such as content clauses:

• In tallabh móras in dtúach. [ɪnˈtaɫəv ˈmoːɾəs ɪnˈduːəx] "The land feeds the people."
• Ghas in tallabh mór. [ɣas ɪnˈtaɫəv moːɐ̯] "The country is large" lit. "is - the - country - large"
• Mé fiosam, ca n-iched na mbaí a fér. [mjeː fisəm kəˈniçəd͡ʒ nəˈmiː əˈfjeːɐ̯] "I know that cows eat grass" lit. "I - know - that - eats - the - cows - the - grass"

Peripheral arguments can be placed before or after the direct object, with no change in meaning. Placing such an argument elsewhere however is marked: mé móras in bhflé bpran bhó or mé móras pran bhó 'n bhflé "I fed the meal to the cow." Adverbs of time, however, almost always go at the end of a clause: mé ra h-iochd in bhflé indí "I ate the meal today."

Subordinate clauses are always marked by some subordinating particle. Declarative content clauses generally begin with ca, while interrogative and relative clauses begin with the appropriate pronoun. The clause following has a default VSO word order, though any subordinating pronoun is placed before the verb:

• Mé creidem, ca ghas a dtall failt. [mjeː ˈkɾed͡ʒəm kə ɣas aˈdau̯ɫ falt͡ʃ] "I don't think that's right."
• Mé fiosam, cí rabhaird tú coga. [mjeː ˈfisəm kiː ˈɾavəɐ̯d͡ʒ tuː ˈkogə] "I know what you said to her." (OVS)
• Mé fiosam, céa ghas in tall. [mjeː ˈfisəm ˈkeːə ɣas ɪnˈtau̯ɫ] "I know who that guy is." (SVO)
• Mé aiceas éad, co a tardas tú in liobhar. [mjeː ˈakəs ˈeːəd ˈkoə ˈtaɐ̯dəs tuː ɪɲˈʎivəɐ̯] "I saw him/her to whom you gave the book." (VSO with an indirect object initial)

Questions can be formed in various ways. Perhaps the most common is to simply use the structure of a declarative sentence with a rising intonation. However, two alternative methods exist in the spoken language. To form formal questions, it is most common to simply use a subjunctive verb; in the absence of any other particles, this verb takes the prefix ga- or ge-. The other possibility, and the only form permissible in the written language, is to use a sentence-initial particle an which forces the clause to take a VSO syntax. Before the ra- or re- prefix occurring on second conjugation past tense, the prefix is lost, merging with an to give ar. However, the verb is still lenited: ar bheird "did you bring?". The following examples all mean "did you see the church?":

• Tú aiceas in gceill? [tuː ˈakəs ɪŋˈgɛʎ]
• Tú gachdasa 'n gceill? [tuː ˈgaxdəsəŋ gɛʎ] (spoken language only, formal)
• An aiceas tú 'n gceill? [əˈnakəs tuːŋ gɛʎ]

Interrogative words can be placed in the unmarked position or fronted for emphasis; if a question word is fronted causing the object to precede the subject, the verb is required to be placed at the end of the clause, though it can precede adverbs: tú bere cí tall? or cí tall tú bere? or cí tú bere tall? "what are you carrying there?"

Vocabulary

Numerals

Cuirpthean	Old Maíraidh	Translation
ún	óen	one
dá	dau	two
trí	trí	three
céir	cethair	four
cóig	cóic	five
sé	sé	six
siacht	seacht	seven
acht	ocht	eight
nú	nói	nine
deich	deich	ten
ún deag	óen deac	eleven
dá dheag	dau deac	twelve
trí deag	trí deac	thirteen etc
fiche	fiche	twenty
tríacha	trícho	thirty
ceórcha	cethorcho	forty
caíoga	coíca	fifty
seasca	sesca	sixty
siachmó	sechtmoga	seventy
achmó	ochtmoga	eighty
nócha	nócha	ninety
céad	cét	hundred
dá chéad	dau cét	two hundred
trí céad	trí cét	three hundred etc
mille	míle	thousand