Manx | ||
---|---|---|
yn Ghaelg, yn Ghailck | ||
Pronunciation | [ɡilk], [ɡilɡ] | |
Spoken in | ||
Total speakers | Extinct as a first language in 1974; subsequently revived and now with about a hundred competent speakers[1][2], including a small number of children who are new native speakers[3], and 1,689 people (2.2% total population) professing some knowledge of the language[4] (2001) |
|
Language family | Indo-European | |
Official status | ||
Official language in | Isle of Man | |
Regulated by | Coonseil ny Gaelgey (Manx Gaelic Council) | |
Language codes | ||
ISO 639-1 | gv | |
ISO 639-2 | glv | |
ISO 639-3 | glv | |
Linguasphere | ||
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. |
Manx (native name Gaelg or Gailck, pronounced [ɡilk] or [ɡilɡ][5]), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974. In recent years, the language has been the subject of revival efforts. It is now the medium of education at the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh [bʊn-skolʲ ɣɪlgax], a primary school for 4- to 11-year-olds in St John's.[6]
Contents |
Manx is a Goidelic language, closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. On the whole it is not mutually intelligible with these, though the speakers of the three languages find it easy to gain passive competency in each other's languages and even spoken competency. Foreign loan words are primarily Norse, English or French.
The word Manx is frequently spelled as Manks in historical sources, particularly those written by natives of the island; the word means Mannish, and originates from the Norse Mannisk. The name of the island, Man, is frequently spelled as Mann. It is sometimes accompanied by a footnote explaining that it is a two-syllable word, with the stress on the first syllable, "MAN-en". It comes from the name of the Gaelic God "Mananán"
Manx-language books were not printed until the beginning of the eighteenth century, and there was no Manx-English dictionary until the nineteenth century. Except for a few ballads composed in the sixteenth century and some religious literature, there is no pre-20th century literature in the Manx language. The Manx were to all intents and purposes an oral society, with all folklore, history, interpersonal business and the like passed on by word of mouth.[7]
Manx began to diverge from Early Modern Irish in around the 13th century and from Scottish Gaelic in the 15th.[8] The language sharply declined during the 19th century and was supplanted by English. In 1848, J. G. Cumming wrote that "there are ... few persons (perhaps none of the young) who speak no English", and Henry Jenner estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx (12,340 out of a population of 41,084). According to official census figures, 9.1% of the population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%.[9] Since the language had fallen to a status of low prestige, parents tended not to teach the language to their children, thinking that Manx would be useless to them compared with English.
Following the decline in the use of Manx during the 19th century, Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society) was founded in 1899. By the middle of the 20th century only a few elderly native speakers remained (the last of them, Ned Maddrell, died on 27 December 1974), but by then a scholarly revival had begun to spread to the populace and many had learned Manx as a second language. The revival of Manx has been aided by the recording work done in the 20th century by researchers. Most notably, the Irish Folklore Commission was sent in with recording equipment in 1948 by Éamon de Valera. There is also the work conducted by language enthusiast and fluent speaker Brian Stowell, who is considered personally responsible for the current revival of the Manx language.
The first native speakers of Manx (bilingual with English) in many years have now appeared: children brought up by Manx-speaking parents. Primary immersion education in Manx is provided by the Manx government: since 2003, the former St John's School building has been used by the sole Manx primary school, the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (Manx language-medium primary school). Degrees in Manx are available from the Isle of Man College and the Centre for Manx Studies, while the University of Edinburgh offers an Honours course on the Culture, History, and Language of the Isle of Man.
Manx-language drama groups also exist, and Manx is taught as a second language at all of the island's primary and secondary schools and also at the Isle of Man College and Centre for Manx Studies. Manx is used as the sole medium for teaching at five of the Island's preschools by a company named Mooinjer Veggey,[10] which also operates the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh. The first film to be made in Manx - the 22-minute long Ny Kiree fo Niaghtey (The Sheep Under the Snow) - premiered in 1983 and was entered for the 5th Celtic Film and Television Festival in Cardiff in 1984. It was directed by Shorys Y Creayrie (George Broderick) for Foillan Films of Laxey, and is about the background to an early 18th century folk song.
In the 2001 census, 1,689 out of 76,315, or 2.2% of the population, claimed to have knowledge of Manx,[4] although the degree of knowledge in these cases presumably varied.
Manx names are once again becoming common on the Isle of Man, especially Moirrey and Voirrey (Mary, properly pronounced similar to the Scottish Moira, but often mispronounced as Moiree/Voiree when used as a given name by non-Manx speakers), Illiam (William), Orry (from the Manx King), Breeshey (also Breesha) (Bridget), Aalish (also Ealish) (Alice), Juan (Jack), Ean (John), Joney, Fenella (Fiona), Pherick (Patrick) and Freya (from the Norse Goddess) remain popular.
Although Manx is commonly used for written slogans by local businesses, and appears on departmental letterheads and promotional materials within the Isle of Man Government, it is not used as a spoken language within the business community, or spoken within the Government.
Manx is used in the annual Tynwald ceremony, with new laws being read out by Yn Lhaihder ('the Reader') in both Manx and English.
Manx is recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is also one of the regional languages recognised in the framework of the British-Irish Council.
Manx is one of the three descendants of Old Irish (via Middle Irish and early Modern Gaelic), and is closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It shares a number of developments in phonology, vocabulary and grammar with Irish and Scottish Gaelic (in some cases only with dialects of these), but also shows a number of unique changes. There are two dialects of Manx, Northern Manx and Southern Manx.[11]
Manx shares with Scottish Gaelic the partial loss of contrastive palatalisation of labial consonants; thus while in Irish the velarised consonants /pˠ bˠ fˠ w mˠ/ contrast phonemically with palatalised /pʲ bʲ fʲ vʲ mʲ/, in Scottish Gaelic and Manx, the phonemic contrast has been lost to some extent.[12] A consequence of this phonemic merger is that Middle Irish unstressed word-final [əβʲ] (spelled -(a)ibh, -(a)imh in Irish and Gaelic) has merged with [əβ] (-(e)abh, -(e)amh) in Manx; both have become [u], spelled -oo or -u(e). Examples include shassoo ("to stand"; Irish seasamh), credjue ("religion"; Irish creideamh), nealloo ("fainting"; Early Modern Irish (i) néalaibh, lit. in clouds), and erriu ("on you (plural)"; Irish oraibh).[13]. However, Manx is further advanced in this than is Scottish, where the verb ending -ibh second person plural is consistently [-ivʲ], as it is in the second plural pronoun sibh (shiu in Manx).
Like western and northern dialects of Irish (cf. Irish phonology) and most dialects of Scottish Gaelic, Manx has changed the historical consonant clusters /kn ɡn mn tn/ to /kr ɡr mr tr/. For example, Middle Irish cnáid ("mockery") and mná ("women") have become craid and mraane respectively in Manx.[14] The affrication of [t̪ʲ d̪ʲ] to [tʃ dʒ] is also common to Manx, northern Irish, and Scottish Gaelic.[15]
Also like northern and western dialects of Irish, as well as like southern dialects of Scottish Gaelic (e.g. Arran, Kintyre), the unstressed word-final syllable [iʝ] of Middle Irish (spelled -(a)idh and -(a)igh) has developed to [iː] in Manx, where it is spelled -ee, as in kionnee ("buy"; cf. Irish ceannaigh) and cullee ("apparatus"; cf. Gaelic culaidh).[16]
Another property Manx shares with Ulster Irish and some dialects of Scottish Gaelic is that /a/ rather than /ə/ appears in unstressed syllables before /x/ (in Manx spelling, agh), for example jeeragh ("straight") [ˈdʒiːrax] (Irish díreach), cooinaghtyn ("to remember") [ˈkuːnʲaxt̪ən] (Gaelic cuimhneachd.[17]
Similarly to Munster Irish, historical bh [βʲ] and mh (nasalised [βʲ]) have been lost in the middle or at the end of a word in Manx either with compensatory lengthening or vocalisation as u resulting in diphthongisation with the preceding vowel. For example, Manx geurey ("winter") [ˈɡʲeurə], [ˈɡʲuːrə] and sleityn ("mountains") [ˈsleːdʒən] correspond to Irish geimhreadh and sléibhte (Southern Irish dialect spelling and pronunciation gíre ([ˈɟiːɾʲə]) and sléte ([ˈʃlʲeːtʲə])).[18] Another similarity to Munster Irish is the development of the Old Irish diphthongs [oi ai] before velarised consonants (spelled ao in Irish and Scottish Gaelic) to [eː] in many words, as in seyr ("carpenter") [seːr] and keyll ("narrow") [keːl] (spelled saor and caol in Irish and Scottish, and pronounced virtually the same in Munster).[19]
Like southern and western varieties of Irish and northern varieties of Scottish Gaelic, but unlike the geographically closer varieties of Ulster Irish and Arran and Kintyre Gaelic, Manx shows vowel lengthening or diphthongisation before the Old Irish fortis and lenis sonorants. For example, cloan ("children") [klɔːn], dhone ("brown") [d̪ɔːn], eem ("butter") [iːb̆m] correspond to Irish/Scottish Gaelic clann, donn, and im respectively, which have long vowels or diphthongs in western and southern Irish and in the Scottish Gaelic dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Skye, thus western Irish [klˠɑːn̪ˠ], Southern Irish/Northern Scottish [klˠaun̪ˠ], [d̪ˠaun̪ˠ]/[d̪ˠoun̪ˠ], [iːmʲ]/[əimʲ]), but short vowels and 'long' consonants in northern Irish, Arran, and Kintyre, [klˠan̪ːˠ], [d̪ˠon̪ːˠ] and [imʲː].[20]
Another similarity with southern Irish is the treatment of Middle Irish word-final unstressed [əð], spelled -(e)adh in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. In nouns (including verbal nouns), this became [ə] in Manx, as it did in southern Irish, e.g. caggey ("war") [ˈkaːɣə], moylley ("to praise") [ˈmɔlə]; cf. Irish cogadh and moladh, pronounced [ˈkˠɔɡˠə] and [ˈmˠɔl̪ˠə] in southern Irish.[21] In finite verb forms before full nouns (as opposed to pronouns) [əð] became [ax] in Manx, as in southern Irish, e.g. voyllagh [ˈvɔlax] ("would praise"), cf. Irish mholfadh, pronounced [ˈvˠɔl̪ˠhəx] in southern Irish.[22]
Linguistic analysis of the last few dozen native speakers reveals a number of dialectal differences between the northern and the southern parts of the island. Northern Manx is reflected by speakers from towns and villages from Maughold in the northeast of the island to Peel on the west coast. Southern Manx is used by speakers from the Sheading of Rushen.
In Southern Manx, older á and in some cases ó have become [eː]. In Northern Manx the same happens, but á sometimes remains [aː] as well. For example, laa ("day", cf. Irish lá) is [leː] in the south but [leː] or [laː] in the north. Old ó is always [eː] in both dialects, e.g. aeg ("young", cf. Irish óg) is [eːɡ] in both dialects.[23]
In Northern Manx, older (e)a before nn in the same syllable is diphthongised, while in Southern Manx it is lengthened but remains a monophthong. For example, kione ("head", cf. Irish ceann) is [kʲaun] in the north but [kʲoːn] in the south.[24]
In both dialects of Manx, words with ua and in some cases ao in Irish and Scottish are spelled with eay in Manx. In Northern Manx, this sound is [iː], while in Southern Manx it is [ɯː], [uː], or [yː]. For example, geay ("wind", cf. Irish gaoth) is [ɡiː] in the north and [ɡɯː] in the south, while geayl ("coal", cf. Irish gual is [ɡiːl] in the north and [ɡyːl], [ɡɯːl], or [ɡuːl] in the south.[25]
In both the north and the south, there is a tendency to insert a short [d] sound before a word-final [n] in monosyllabic words, as in [sled̆n] for slane ("whole") and [bed̆n] for ben ("woman"). This phenomenon is known as pre-occlusion. In Southern Manx, however, there is also pre-occlusion of [d] before [l] and of [ɡ] before [ŋ], as in [ʃuːd̆l] for shooyll ("walking") and [lɔɡ̆ŋ] for lhong. These forms are generally pronounced without pre-occlusion in the north. Preocclusion of [b] before [m], on the other hand, is more common in the north, as in trome ("heavy"), which is [t̪rob̆m] in the north but [t̪roːm] or [t̪roːb̆m] in the south.[26] This feature is also found in Cornish.
Southern Manx tends to lose word-initial [ɡ] before [lʲ], while Northern Manx usually preserves it, e.g. glion ("glen") is [ɡlʲɔd̆n] in the north and [lʲɔd̆n] in the south, and glioon ("knee") is [ɡlʲuːn] in the north and [lʲuːd̆n] in the south.[27]
The Manx orthography is unlike that of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, both of which use closely related modernised variants of the orthography of Early Modern Irish, the language of the educated Gaelic elite of both Ireland and Scotland (where it is called Classical Gaelic) until the mid-1800s. These orthographies in general show both word pronunciation and word derivation from the Gaelic past, though not in a one-to-one system, there being only 18 letters to represent around 50 phonemes. While Manx in effect uses the English alphabet, except for ‹x› and ‹z›, the 24 letters of its alphabet similarly do not cover a similar range of phonemes, and therefore many digraphs and trigraphs are used.
The orthography was developed by people who were unaware of traditional Gaelic orthography, as they had learned literacy in Welsh and English (the initial development in the 1500s), then only English (later developments). Therefore, the orthography shows the pronunciation of words mainly from the point of view of early Modern English "phonetics", and to a small extent Welsh, rather than from the Gaelic point of view.[28] The result is an inconsistent and only partially phonetic spelling system, in the same way that English orthographic practices are inconsistent and only partially phonetic. T. F. O'Rahilly expressed the opinion that Gaelic in the Isle of Man was saddled with a corrupt spelling which is neither traditional nor phonetic; if the traditional Gaelic orthography had been preserved, the close kinship that exists between Manx Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic would be obvious to all at first sight.[29]
The following examples are taken from Broderick 1984–86, 1:178–79 and 1:350–53. The first example is from a speaker of Northern Manx, the second from Ned Maddrell, a speaker of Southern Manx.
Orthography | Phonetic transcription | Gloss |
---|---|---|
V'ad smooinaghtyn dy beagh cabbyl jeeaghyn skee as deinagh ayns y voghree dy beagh eh er ve ec ny ferrishyn fud ny h-oie as beagh ad cur lesh yn saggyrt dy cur e vannaght er. | vod̪ ˈsmuːnʲaxt̪ən d̪ə biəx ˈkaːbəl dʒiːən skiː as ˈd̪øinʲax uns ə ˈvoːxəri d̪ə biəx e er vi ek nə ˈferiʃən fod̪ nə høi as biəx əd̪ kør leʃ ən ˈsaːɡərt̪ d̪ə kør ə ˈvanax er | They used to think if a horse was looking tired and weary in the morning then it had been with the fairies all night and they would bring the priest to put his blessing on it. |
Va ben aynshoh yn çhiaghtin chaie as v'ee laccal mish dy ynsagh ee dy gra yn Padjer yn Çhiarn. Dooyrt ee dy row ee gra eh tra v'ee inneen veg, agh t'eh ooilley jarroodit eck, as v'ee laccal gynsagh eh reesht son dy gra eh ec vrastyl ny red ennagh. As dooyrt mish dy jinnagh mee jannoo my share son dy cooney lhee as ren ee çheet aynshoh son dy clashtyn eh, as vel oo laccal dy clashtyn mee dy gra eh? | və ˈbɛn əˈsoː ən ˈtʃaːn ˈkai as vai ˈlaːl ˈmiʃ ði ˈjinðax i ðə ˈɡreː in ˈpaːdʒər ən ˈtʃaːrn | d̪ot̪ i ðə ˈrau i ɡreː a ˈt̪reː vai iˈnʲin ˈveːɡ ax t̪e ˈolʲu dʒaˈrud̪ətʃ ek as vei ˈlaːl ˈɡʲinðax a ˈriːʃ san ðə ˈɡreː ə əɡ ˈvraːst̪əl nə ˈrið ənax | as ˈd̪ut̪ miʃ ðə ˈdʒinax mi ˈdʒinu mə ˈʃeː san ðə ˈkunə lʲei as ˈrenʲ i ˈtʃit̪ oˈsoː san ðə ˈklaːʃtʲən a as vel u ˈlaːl ðə ˈklaːʃtʲən mi ðə ˈɡreː a | There was a woman here last week and she wanted me to teach her to say the Lord's Prayer. She said that she used to say it when she was a little girl, but she has forgotten it all, and she wanted to learn it again to say it at a class or something. And I said I would do my best to help her and she came here to hear it, and do you want to hear me say it? |
When the Anglican church authorities commenced the production of written literature in the language in the 1700s, the system developed by John Philips was further "anglicized", the one Welsh-retention being the use of ‹y› to represent schwa (e.g. cabbyl [kaːβəl] "horse" and cooney [kuːnə] "help" as well as /ɪ/ (e.g. fys [fɪz] "knowledge"), though it is also used to represent [j], as in English (e.g. y Yuan [ə juːan] "John" (vocative), yeast [jiːəst] "fish").
As far as is known, there was no distinctively Manx written literature before the Reformation, and by this time any presumed literary link with Ireland and Scotland, such as through Irish-trained priests, had been lost. The first published literature in Manx was the Book of Common Prayer, translated by John Phillips, the Welsh-born Bishop of Sodor and Man (1605–33). The early Manx script does have some similarities with orthographical systems found occasionally in Scotland and in Ireland for the transliteration of Gaelic as well as in some cases extensive texts based on English and Scottish English orthographical practices of the time. Little secular Manx literature has been preserved.
A ody of oral luerature, on the other hand, did exist. It is known that the "Fiana" tales and the like were known, though with the cming of Protestantism a large body of this slowly disappeared, while a tradition of carvals, religious songs or carols, developed with religious sanction.
The consonant phonemes of Manx are as follows:[30]
Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Palato- velar |
Velar | Labio- velar |
Glottal | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | p | b | t̪ | d̪ | tʲ | dʲ | kʲ | ɡʲ | k | ɡ | ||||||||||
Fricative | f | v | s | ʃ | xʲ | ɣʲ | x | ɣ | h | |||||||||||
Nasal | m | n | nʲ | ŋ | ||||||||||||||||
Trill | r | |||||||||||||||||||
Approximant | j | w | ||||||||||||||||||
Lateral | l | lʲ |
The voiceless plosives are pronounced with aspiration. The dental, postalveolar and palato-velar plosives /t̪ d̪ tʲ dʲ kʲ/ are affricated to [t̪͡θ d̪͡ð t͡ʃ d͡ʒ kʲ͡ç] in many contexts.
Manx has an optional process of lenition of plosives between vowels, whereby voiced plosives and voiceless fricatives become voiced fricatives and voiceless plosives become either voiced plosives or voiced fricatives. This process introduces the allophones [β ð z ʒ] to the series of voiced fricatives in Manx. The voiced fricative [ʒ] may be further lenited to [j], and [ɣ] may disappear altogether. Examples include:[31]
Another optional process of Manx phonology is pre-occlusion, the insertion of a very short plosive consonant before a sonorant consonant. In Manx, this applies to stressed monosyllabic words (i.e. words one syllable long). The inserted consonant is homorganic with the following sonorant, which means it has the same place of articulation. Long vowels are often shortened before pre-occluded sounds. Examples include:[32]
The trill /r/ is realised as a one- or two-contact flap [ɾ] at the beginning of syllable, and as a stronger trill [r] when preceded by another consonant in the same syllable. At the end of a syllable, /r/ can be pronounced either as a strong trill [r] or, more frequently, as a weak fricative [ɹ̝], which may vocalise to a nonsyllabic [ə̯] or disappear altogether.[33] This vocalisation may be due to the influence of Manx English, which is itself a non-rhotic accent.[34] Examples of the pronunciation of /r/ include:
The vowel phonemes of Manx are as follows:[35]
Short | Long | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
Close | i | u | iː | uː | ||
Mid | e | ə | o | eː | oː | |
Open | (æ) | a | (æː) | aː |
Tha status of æ and æː as separate phonemes is debatable, but is suggested by the allophony of certain words such as ta "is", mraane "women", and so on. An alternative analysis is that Manx has the following system, where the vowels /a/ and /aː/ have allophones ranging from [ɛ]/[ɛː] through [æ]/[æː] to [a]/[aː]. As with Irish and Scottish Gaelic, there is a large amount of vowel allophony, such as that of /a/,/a:/. This depends mainly on the 'broad' and 'slender' status of the neighbouring consonants:
Phoneme | "Slender" | "Broad" |
---|---|---|
/i/, /i:/ | [i], [i:] | [ɪ], [ɪ:] |
/e/,/e:/ | [e]/[e:] | [ɛ]/[ɛ:] |
/a/,/a:/ | [ɛ~æ]/[ɛ:~æ:] | [a]/[a:] |
/ə/ | [ɨ] | [ə] |
/əi/ (Middle Gaelic) | [i:] | [ɛ:],[ɯ:],[ɪ:] |
/o/,/o:/ | [o],[o:] | [ɔ],[ɔ:] |
/u/,/u:/ | [u],[u:] | [ø~ʊ],[u:] |
/uə/ (Middle Gaelic) | [i:],[y:] | [ɪ:],[ɯ:],[u:] |
When stressed, /ə/ is realised as [ø].[36].
Manx has a relatively large number of diphthongs, all of them falling:
Second element is /i/ | Second element is /u/ | Second element is /ə/ | |
---|---|---|---|
First element is close | ui | iə • uə | |
First element is mid | ei • əi • oi | eu • əu | |
First element is open | ai | au |
Stress generally falls on the first syllable of a word in Manx, but in many cases, stress is attracted to a long vowel in the second syllable.[37] Examples include:
Manx nouns fall into one of two genders, masculine or feminine. Nouns are inflected for number (the plural being formed in a variety of ways, most commonly by addition of the suffix -yn [ən]), but usually there is no inflection for case, except in a minority of nouns that have a distinct genitive singular form, which is formed in various ways (most common is the addition of the suffix -ey [ə] to feminine nouns). Historical genitive singulars are often encountered in compounds even when they are no longer productive forms; for example thie-ollee "cowhouse" uses the old genitive of ollagh "cattle".[38]
Manx verbs generally form their finite forms by means of periphrasis: inflected forms of the auxiliary verbs ve "to be" or jannoo "to do" are combined with the verbal noun of the main verb. Only the future, conditional, preterite, and imperative can be formed directly by inflecting the main verb, but even in these tenses, the periphrastic formation is more common in Late Spoken Manx.[39] Examples:
Tense | Periphrastic form (literal translation) |
Inflected form | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
Present | ta mee tilgey (I am throwing) |
— | I throw |
Imperfect | va mee tilgey (I was throwing) |
— | I was throwing |
Perfect | ta mee er tilgey (I am after throwing)[40] |
— | I have thrown |
Pluperfect | va mee er tilgey (I was after throwing)[40] |
— | I had thrown |
Future | neeym tilgey (I will do throwing) |
tilgym | I will throw |
Conditional | yinnin tilgey (I would do throwing) |
hilgin | I would throw |
Preterite | ren mee tilgey (I did throwing) |
hilg mee | I threw |
Imperative | jean tilgey! (Do throwing!) |
tilg! |
Throw! |
The future and conditional tenses (and in some irregular verbs, the preterite) make a distinction between "independent" and "dependent" forms. Independent forms are used when the verb is not preceded by any particle; dependent forms are used when a particle (e.g. cha "not") does precede the verb. For example, "you will lose" is caillee oo with the independent form caillee ("will lose"), while "you will not lose" is cha gaill oo with the dependent form caill (which has undergone eclipsis to gaill after cha). Similarly "they went" is hie ad with the independent form hie ("went"), while "they did not go" is cha jagh ad with the dependent form jagh.[41] This contrast is inherited from Old Irish, which shows such pairs as beirid ("(s)he carries") vs. ní beir ("(s)he does not carry"), and is found in Scottish Gaelic as well, e.g. gabhaidh ("will take") vs. cha ghabh ("will not take"). In Modern Irish, the distinction is found only in irregular verbs (e.g. chonaic ("saw") vs. ní fhaca ("did not see").
Like the other Insular Celtic languages, Manx has so-called inflected prepositions, contractions of a preposition with a pronominal direct object. For example, the preposition ec "at" has the following forms:
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
First person | aym ("at me") | ain ("at us") | |
Second person | ayd ("at you") | eu ("at you") | |
Third person | Masculine | echey ("at him") | oc ("at them") |
Feminine | eck ("at her") |
Manx | IPA[42] | English | Irish cognate |
Scottish Gaelic cognate |
---|---|---|---|---|
un nane |
[eːn], [oːn], [uːn] [neːn] |
one | aon [eːn], [iːn], [ɯːn] | aon [ɯːn] |
daa, ghaa jees |
[d̪eː]. [ɣe:] [dʒiːs] |
two | dó [d̪oː], dhá/dá [ɣaː]/[d̪aː] (people only) dís [dʒiːʃ], beirt [bʲertʲ] |
dà [daː] dithis [dʒiːiʃ] |
tree | [t̪riː] | three | trí [t̪riː] | trì [t̪riː] |
kiare | [kʲeːə(r)] | four | ceathair, ceithre [kʲahirʲ], [kʲerʲhʲi] | ceithir [kʲe.irʲ] |
queig | [kweɡ] | five | cúig [kuːɡʲ] | còig [kʰɒːɡʲ]/[kʰɒːkʲ] |
shey | [ʃeː] | six | sé [ʃeː] | sia [ʃiə] |
shiaght | [ʃaːx] | seven | seacht [ʃaxd] | seachd [ʃexk], [ʃjaxk] |
hoght | [hoːx] | eight | ocht [oxd] (dialect hocht [hoxd]) | ochd [oxk] |
nuy | [nɛi], [niː] | nine | naoi [neː], [niː], [nəi] | naoi [nɯi], [nei] |
jeih | [dʒɛi] | ten | deich [dʲeh], [dʒei] | deich [dʒeç] |
nane jeig | [neːn dʒeɡ] | eleven | aon déag [eːn dʲiaɡ], [iːn dʲeːɡ], [iːn/ɯ:n dʒeːɡ] | aon deug/diag [ɯːn dʒeːɡ], [ɯːn dʒeːk], [ɯːn dʒiək] |
daa yeig | [d̪eiɡʲ] | twelve | dó dhéag, dhá dhéag, dá dhéag [d̪oː jiaɡ], [d̪oː jeːɡ], [ɣaː jeːɡ], [d̪aː jeːɡ] | dà dheug/dhiag [d̪aː jeːɡ], [t̪aː jeːk], [t̪aː jiək] |
tree jeig | [t̪ri dʒeɡ] | thirteen | trí déag [t̪ʲrʲiː dʲiaɡ], [t̪ʲrʲiː dʲeːɡ], [t̪ʲrʲiː dʒeːɡ] | trì deug/diag [t̪ʲrʲiː dʒeːɡ], [t̪ʲrʲiː dʒeːk], [t̪ʲrʲiː dʒiək] |
feeid | [fiːdʒ] | twenty | fiche [fʲihʲi], [fʲiçə]; fichid [fʲihʲidʲ], [fʲiçidʒ] (dative) | fichead [fʲiçəd]/[fʲiçət]; fichid [fʲihʲidʒ] (dative) |
keead | [kiːəd] | hundred | céad [kʲiad], [kʲeːd] | ceud/ciad [kʲeːd], [kʲeːt], [kʲiət] |
Like all modern Celtic languages, Manx shows initial consonant mutations, which are processes by which the initial consonant of a word is altered according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment.[43] Manx has two mutations: lenition and nasalisation, found on nouns and verbs in a variety of environments; adjectives can undergo lenition but not nasalisation. In the late spoken language of the 20th century the system was breaking down, with speakers frequently failing to use mutation in environments where it was called for, and occasionally using it in environments where it was not called for.
Unmutated consonant | Lenition | Nasalisation |
---|---|---|
/p/ | /f/ | /b/[* 1] |
/t̪/ | /h/, /x/ | /d̪/ |
/tʲ/ | /h/, /xʲ/ | /dʲ/[* 1] |
/kʲ/ | /xʲ/ | /ɡʲ/[* 1] |
/k/ | /x/, /h/ | /ɡ/ |
/b/ /bw/ |
/v/ /w/ |
/m/[* 1] /mw/[* 1] |
/d̪/ | /ɣ/, /w/ | /n/[* 1] |
/dʲ/ | /ɣʲ/, /j/ | /nʲ/ |
/ɡʲ/ | /ɣʲ/, /j/ | /ŋ/?[* 1] |
/ɡ/ | /ɣ/ | /ŋ/?[* 2] |
/m/ /mw/ |
/v/ /w/ |
(no change) |
/f/ /fw/ |
zero /hw/ |
/v/[* 1] /w/[* 1] |
/s/ /sl/ /snʲ/ |
/h/ /l/ /nʲ/ |
(no change) |
/ʃ/ | /h/ , /xʲ/ | (no change) |
Like most Insular Celtic languages, Manx uses Verb Subject Object word order: the inflected verb of a sentence precedes the subject, which itself precedes the direct object.[44] However, as noted above, most finite verbs are formed periphrastically, using an auxiliary verb in conjunction with the verbal noun. In this case, only the auxiliary verb precedes the subject, while the verbal noun comes after the subject. The auxiliary verb may be a modal verb rather than a form of bee ("be") or jannoo ("do"). Particles like the negative cha ("not") precede the inflected verb. Examples:
main verb |
subject | direct object |
|||
Hug | yn | saggyrt | e | laue | urree. |
put-pret. | the | priest | his | hand | on her |
"The priest put his hand on her."[45] |
aux. verb |
subject | main verb |
direct object |
||
Va | ny | eayin | gee | yn | conney. |
were | the | lambs | eat-v.n. | the | gorse |
"The lambs used to eat the gorse."[46] |
modal verb |
subject | main verb |
direct object |
|
Cha | jarg | shiu | fakin | red erbee. |
not | can | you-pl. | see-v.n. | anything |
"You can't see anything."[47] |
When the auxiliary verb is a form of jannoo ("do"), the direct object precedes the verbal noun and is connected to it with the particle y:
aux. verb |
subject | direct object |
main verb |
||
Ren | ad | my | choraa | y | chlashtyn. |
did | they | my | voice | particle | hear-v.n. |
"They heard my voice."[48] |
As in Irish (cf. Irish syntax#The forms meaning "to be"), there are two ways of expressing "to be" in Manx: with the substantive verb bee, and with the copula. The substantive verb is used when the predicate is an adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase.[49] Examples:
t' | eh | agglagh |
is | it | awful |
"It is awful." |
t' | eh | dy mie |
is | he | well |
"He is well" |
t' | eh | ayns | y | thie-oast |
is | he | in | the | ale house |
"He is in the ale house." |
Where the predicate is a noun, it must be converted to a prepositional phrase headed by the preposition in ("in") + possessive pronoun (agreeing with the subject) in order for the substantive verb to be grammatical:
t' | eh | ny | wooinney | mie |
is | he | in-his | man | good |
"He is a good man" (lit. "He is in his good man")[50] |
Otherwise, the copula is used when the predicate is a noun. The copula itself takes the form is or she in the present tense, but it is often omitted in affirmative statements:
Is / She |
Manninagh | mish |
copula | Manxman | me |
"I am a Manxman."[51] |
Shoh | 'n | dooinney | |||
this | the | man | "This is the man."[48] |
In questions and negative sentences, the present tense of the copula is nee:
Cha | nee | mish | eh |
not | copula | me | him |
"I am not him."[48] |
Nee | shoh | 'n | lioar? |
copula | this | the | book |
"Is this the book?"[48] |
Manx vocabulary is predominantly of Goidelic origin, derived from Old Irish and closely related to words in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. However, Manx itself, as well as the languages from which it is derived, borrowed words from other languages as well, especially Latin, Old Norse, French (particularly Anglo-Norman), and English (both Middle English and Modern English).[52]
The following table shows a selection of nouns from the Swadesh list and indicates their pronunciations and etymologies.
Manx | IPA[42] | English | Etymology[53] |
---|---|---|---|
aane | [eːn] | liver | Goidelic; from Mid.Ir. ae < O.Ir. óa; cf. Ir. ae, Sc.G. adha |
aer | [eːə] | sky | Latin; from O.Ir. aer < L. aër; cf. Sc.G. adhar |
aile | [ail] | fire | Goidelic; from O.Ir. aingel "very bright"; cf. Ir., Sc.G. aingeal |
ardnieu | [ərd̪ˈnʲeu] | snake | Apparently "highly poisonous" (cf. ard "high", nieu "poison") |
awin | [aunʲ], [ˈawənʲ] | river | Goidelic; from the M.Ir. dative form abainn of aba < O.Ir. abaind aba; cf. Ir. abha/abhainn, dative abhainn, Sc.G. abhainn (literary nominative abha). |
ayr | [ˈeːar] | father | Goidelic; from M.Ir. athair, O.Ir. athir; cf. Ir., Sc.G. athair |
beeal | [biəl] | mouth | Goidelic; from O.Ir. bél; cf. Ir. béal, Sc.G. beul/bial |
beishteig | [beˈʃtʲeːɡ], [prəˈʃtʲeːɡ] | worm | Latin; from M.Ir. péist < O.Ir. bíast < L. bēstia |
ben | [bed̆n] | woman | Goidelic; from M.Ir and O.Ir. ben; cf. Ir., Sc.G. bean |
billey | [ˈbilʲə] | tree | Goidelic; from O.Ir. bile |
blaa | [bleː] | flower | Goidelic; from O.Ir. bláth, Ir. bláth, Sc.G. blàth |
blein | [blʲeːnʲ], [blʲid̆n] | year | Goidelic; from O.Ir. bliadain; cf. Ir. bliain, Sc.G. bliadhna |
bodjal | [ˈbaːdʒəl] | cloud | English/French; shortened from bodjal niaul "pillar of cloud" (cf. Sc.G. baideal neòil); bodjal originally meant "pillar" or "battlement" < E. battle < Fr. bataille |
bolg | [bolɡ] | belly | Goidelic; from O.Ir. bolg, Ir., Sc.G bolg |
cass | [kaːs] | foot | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cos, cf. Sc.G. cas, Ir.dialect cas, Ir. cos |
çhengey | [ˈtʃinʲə] | tongue | Goidelic; from O.Ir. tengae; cf. Ir., Sc.G. teanga |
clagh | [klaːx] | stone | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cloch; cf. Sc.G. clach, Ir. cloch |
cleaysh | [kleːʃ] | ear | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative clúais "hearing"; cf. Ir., Sc.G. cluas, Ir. dialect cluais "ear", dative cluais |
collaneyn | [ˈkalinʲən] | guts | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cáelán; cf. Ir. caolán, Sc.G. caolan, derived from caol "thin, slender" |
crackan | [ˈkraːɣən] | skin | Goidelic; from O.Ir. croiccenn; cf. Ir., Sc.G. craiceann, dialect croiceann |
craue | [kreːw] | bone | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cnám; cf. Ir. cnámh, Sc.G. cnàimh |
cree | [kriː] | heart | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cride; cf. Ir. croí, Sc.G. cridhe |
dooinney | [ˈd̪unʲə] | person | Goidelic; from O.Ir. duine |
dreeym | [d̪riːm], [d̪rib̆m] | back | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative druimm, nominative dromm; cf. Ir. drom, dialect droim, dative droim, Sc.G. drom, dialect druim, dative druim |
duillag | [ˈd̪olʲaɡ] | leaf | Goidelic; from O.Ir. duilleóg; cf. Sc.G. duilleag |
eairk | [eːak] | horn | Goidelic; from O.Ir. adarc; cf. Ir., Sc.G. adharc, Ir. dialect aidhearc |
eayst | [eːs] | moon | Goidelic; from O.Ir. ésca; cf. archaic Ir. éasca, Sc.G. easga |
eeast | [jiːs] | fish | Goidelic; from O.Ir. íasc; cf. Ir. iasc, Sc.G. iasg |
ennym | [ˈenəm] | name | Goidelic; from O.Ir. ainmm; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ainm |
faarkey | [ˈføːɹkə] | sea | Goidelic; from O.Ir. fairrge; cf. Ir. farraige, Sc.G. fairge |
faiyr | [feːə] | grass | Goidelic; from O.Ir. fér; cf. Ir. féar, Sc.G. feur,fiar |
famman | [ˈfaman] | tail | Goidelic; from O.Ir. femm; cf. Ir. feam, Sc.G. feaman |
fedjag | [ˈfaiaɡ] | feather | Goidelic; from O.Ir. eteóc; cf. Ir. eiteog "wing", Sc.G. iteag |
feeackle | [ˈfiːɣəl] | tooth | Goidelic; from O.Ir. fíacail; cf. Ir., Sc.G. fiacail |
feill | [feːlʲ] | meat | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative feóil; cf. Ir. feoil, Sc.G. feòil |
fer | [fer] | man | Goidelic; from O.Ir. fer; cf. Ir., Sc.G. fear |
fliaghey | [flʲaːɣə] | rain | Goidelic; from O.Ir. flechud; cf. Ir. fleachadh "rainwater; a drenching", related to fliuch "wet" |
folt | [folt̪] | hair | Goidelic; from O.Ir. folt, Ir.folt, Sc.G. falt |
fraue | [freːw] | root | Goidelic; from O.Ir. frém; cf. Ir. fréamh, préamh, Sc.G. freumh |
fuill | [folʲ] | blood | Goidelic; from O.Ir. fuil, Ir.,Sc.G. fuil |
geay | [ɡiː] | wind | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative gáith; cf. Ir., Sc.G. gaoth, dative gaoith |
geinnagh | [ˈɡʲanʲax] | sand | Goidelic; from O.Ir. gainmech; cf. Sc.G. gainmheach, Ir. gaineamh |
glioon | [ɡlʲuːnʲ] | knee | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative glúin; cf. Ir. glúin, Sc.G. glùn, dative glùin |
grian | [ɡriːn], [ɡrid̆n] | sun | Goidelic; from O.Ir. grían; cf. Ir., Sc.G. grian |
jaagh | [ˈdʒeːax] | smoke | Goidelic, from M.Ir. deathach < O.Ir. dé; cf. Sc.G. deathach |
joan | [dʒaun] | dust | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dend; cf. Ir. deannach |
kay | [kʲeː] | fog | Goidelic; from O.Ir. ceó; cf. Ir. ceo, Sc.G. ceò |
keayn | [kid̆n] | sea | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cúan; cf. Ir. cuan "harbor", Sc.G. cuan "ocean" |
keeagh | [kiːx] | breast | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cíoch; cf. Ir. cíoch, Sc.G. cìoch |
keyll | [kiːlʲ], [kelʲ] | forest | Goidelic; from O.Ir. caill; cf. Ir. coill, Sc.G. coille |
kione | [kʲaun], [kʲoːn] | head | Goidelic; from O.Ir. cend, dative ciond; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ceann, dative cionn |
laa | [leː] | day | Goidelic; from O.Ir. láa; cf. Sc.G. latha,là |
laue | [leːw] | hand | Goidelic; from O.Ir. lám; cf. Ir. lámh, Sc.G. làmh |
leoie | [løi] | ashes | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative lúaith; cf. Ir. luaith, Sc.G. luath |
logh | [laːx] | lake | Goidelic; from O.Ir. loch |
lurgey | [løɹɡə] | leg | Goidelic; from O.Ir. lurga "shin bone"; cf. Ir. lorga |
maidjey | [ˈmaːʒə] | stick | Goidelic; from O.Ir. maide, Ir.,Sc.G. maide |
meeyl | [miːl] | louse | Goidelic; from O.Ir. míol; cf. Ir. míol, Sc.G. mial |
mess | [meːs] | fruit | Goidelic; from O.Ir. mes; cf. Ir., Sc.G. meas |
moddey | [ˈmaːðə] | dog | Goidelic; from O.Ir. matrad; cf. Ir. madra, N.Ir. mada,madadh [madu], Sc.G. madadh |
moir | [maːɹ] | mother | Goidelic; from O.Ir. máthir; cf. Ir. máthair, Sc.G. màthair |
mwannal | [ˈmonal] | neck | Goidelic; from O.Ir. muinél; cf. Ir. muineál, muinéal, Sc.G. muineal |
oie | [ei], [iː] | night | Goidelic; from O.Ir. adaig (accusative aidchi); cf. Ir. oíche, Sc.G. oidhche |
ooh | [au], [uː] | egg | Goidelic; from O.Ir. og; cf. Ir. ubh, Sc.G. ugh |
paitçhey | [ˈpetʃə] | child | French; from E.M.Ir. páitse "page, attendant" < O.Fr. page; cf. Ir. páiste, Sc.G. pàiste |
raad | [reːd̪], [raːd̪] | road | English; from Cl.Ir. rót,róat < M.E. road; cf. Ir. ród, Sc.G. rathad |
rass | [raːs] | seed | Goidelic; from O.Ir. ros |
rollage | [roˈleːɡ] | star | Goidelic; from M.Ir. rétlu < O.Ir. rétglu + feminine diminutive suffix -óg; cf. Ir. réaltóg, Sc.G. reultag |
roost | [ruːs] | bark | Brythonic; from O.Ir. rúsc < Brythonic (cf. Welsh rhisg(l)); cf. Ir. rúsc, Sc.G. rùsg |
skian | [ˈskiːən] | wing | Goidelic; from O.Ir. scíathán; cf. Ir. sciathán, Sc.G. sgiathan |
slieau | [slʲuː], [ʃlʲuː] | mountain | Goidelic, from O.Ir. slíab; cf. Ir., Sc.G. sliabh |
sniaghtey | [ˈʃnʲaxt̪ə] | snow | Goidelic; from O.Ir. snechta; cf. Ir. sneachta, Sc.G. sneachd |
sollan | [ˈsolan] | salt | Goidelic; from O.Ir.,Ir.,Sc.G. salann |
sooill | [suːlʲ] | eye | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative súil; cf. Ir. súil, Sc.G. sùil |
stroin | [st̪rud̆ʲnʲ], [st̪raid̆ʲnʲ] | nose | Goidelic; from O.Ir. dative sróin; cf. Ir. srón, dialect sróin, dative sróin, Sc.G. sròn, dative sròin |
tedd | [t̪ed̪] | rope | Goidelic; from O.Ir. tét; cf. Ir. téad, Sc.G. teud,tiad |
thalloo | [ˈtalu] | earth | Goidelic; from O.Ir. talam; cf. Ir., Sc.G. talamh |
ushag | [ˈoʒaɡ] | bird | Goidelic; from O.Ir. uiseóg "lark"; cf. Ir. fuiseog, Sc.G. uiseag |
ushtey | [ˈuʃtʲə] | water | Goidelic; from O.Ir. uisce; cf. Ir. uisce, Sc.G. uisge |
yngyn | [ˈiŋən] | fingernail | Goidelic; from O.Ir. ingen; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ionga, dative iongain, plural Ir. iongna, Sc.G. iongnan, etc. |
See Celtic Swadesh lists for the complete list in all the Celtic languages.
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