Scottish Gaelic A Comprehensive Grammar Routledge Comprehensive Grammars Series

Scottish Gaelic? A Comprehensive Grammar is a definitive description of contemporary Gaelic.

The volume presents a definitive description of modern Gaelic grammar, attending to both idealised usages - as typically taught in formal education - and more colloquial forms. Core chapters include useful observations about dialectal and register differences, such as variations in inflection, pronunciation and word forms. The book also demystifies nuances of the language that many users find opaque, according to recent research. In each chapter, the most important, basic information is presented first (e.g. standard verb conjugations), followed by increasingly detailed information for more advanced users. This way, the book addresses the diverse needs of its intended audience.

Brimming with authentic examples, the volume accommodates readers of all levels, from complete beginners to professional linguists. It is both an ideal textbook for structured coursework and an indispensable companion for independent study.

List of Tables

List of Figures

A note on examples, paradigms and linguistic terminology

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

1Introduction

2Gaelic spelling and pronunciation

3Words and word classes

4Basic syntax: phrases, clauses and grammatical relations

5Common Nouns

6Pronouns

7Adjectives

8Determiners

9Word formation

10Proper nouns

11Prepositions

12Numerals and numerical systems

13The Gaelic verbal system

14Semantic verbs

15Conjunctions and verbal particles

16The copula

17Verbal noun cores and their arguments

18Auxiliary verbs and aspectual marking

19Impersonals and passives

20Questions and tags

21Clause combinations

22Complement clauses

23Relative Clauses

24Modality

25Adverbs and adverbials

26Focussing

27Formulaic Phrases

Bibliography

Corpora

Dialect studies

Gaelic dictionaries

Gaelic grammars and guides

General references

Gaelic Index

General Index

Glossary of grammatical terms

William Lamb is a Professor of Gaelic Ethnology and Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Originally from Baltimore, Lamb spent over a decade living in a Gaelic-speaking community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. He brings a unique blend of academic rigour and knowledge of everyday Gaelic to this new descriptive grammar.