fhèin
Scottish Gaelic
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Irish féin, from Proto-Celtic *swesin (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).[1] Cognate to Irish féin, Manx hene.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /heːn/[2][3][4][5], /heːɲ/[6][7][8]
- (north Argyll) IPA(key): /hiː/ (as if spelled fhì)
- (South Argyll, Perthshire) IPA(key): /heː/[8][9] (as if spelled fhè)
Northern dialectal first-person pronunciations
- (Lewis, most of Uist, Barra, Skye, Wester Ross) IPA(key): /hĩːn/[2][4][5], /hiːɲ/[6][7][8] (often written fhìn)
- (Harris, northern North Uist, Mackay Country) IPA(key): /hɛːɲ/[6][10], /hɛːn/[11]
- (Sutherland) IPA(key): /hian/[11] (as if spelled fhian)
- IPA(key): /pʰeːn/[2][3][5], /pʰeːɲ/[6][7] (second-person plural, e.g. following sibh or dhuibh; often also third-person plural after prepositional pronouns, e.g. dhaibh; sometimes written pèin)
Usage notes
- Despite fh usually being silent in Scottish Gaelic it is always pronounced /h/ in fhèin, as well as in fhuair and fhathast.
Pronoun
fhèin
Usage notes
- Used after personal pronouns as an emphasizer.
- Bidh agad ri a dhèanamh thu fhèin. ― You'll have to do it yourself.
- The unlenited form fèin is seldom used except in compounds.
- Instead of fhèin, these suffixes may also be used for emphasis: -sa, -san, -se, -e.
Derived terms
Related terms
Adverb
fhèin
- Used as an intensifier; indeed, really, very
- math fhèin ― really good; excellent
- an-diugh fhèin ― this very day
References
Reference list
- ^ Peter Schrijver (1997), Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, § III.2, pages 75–76
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Oftedal, M. (1956), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 104
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mac Gill-Fhinnein, Gordon (1966), Gàidhlig Uidhist a Deas, Dublin: Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath, page 28
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 52
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Wentworth, Roy (2003), Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR, →ISBN, page 617
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)[1], Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, page 152
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937), The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 179
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Holmer, Nils M. (1938), Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic, Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri-A.-B., page 167
- ^ Scouller, Alastair (2017), The Gaelic Dialect of Colonsay (PhD thesis), Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, page 382
- ^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 252
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Edward Dwelly (1911), “fhéin”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN