3. Corpora
3.2. Corpus with 100 Verbs
3.2.3. Methodology
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This phase was executed with a script33, which the author made himself.
As a result, 83,008 examples of the simple tense construction and 20,370 examples of the verbal adjective remain in the data.
Then, the validity of the remaining examples is to be judged by some criteria as shown in the following phase.
Phase: III-1) Valuing the Data — Excluding Constructions not Concerned α) Regarding the simple tense construction:
Examples of the simple tense construction are valid.
As already explained, the author searched for the lemmata of verbs, but some examples with an unintended word were retrieved because of an orthographical coincidence. For example, the element deireadh is the simple tense of the habitual past of the verb abair ‘say’ in (171), while the (orthographically) same form is the noun meaning ‘end’ in (172). Consequently, in this study the former is included and the latter is excluded.
171) Deireadh sé linn:
deir-eadh sé l-inn say-HPST 3SG.M.CNJTV to-1PL
‘he said to us:’
[icci1431]
172) Ar an Domhnach 30 Deireadh Fómhair 1938 a tharla sé.
ar an Domhnach-Ø 30 Deireadh-Ø Fómhar-i 1938 aL on DEF.M.NOM Sunday.M-SG.NOM 30 End.M-SG.NOM Autumn.M-SG.GEN 1938 REL.DIR.PM
tarl-a sé
happen-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV
‘It is on Sunday 30 October (lit. End of Autumn)1938 when it happened.’
[icpt0415]
Similarly, the element léim is the simple tense of the habitual present first-person singular of the verb léigh ‘read’ in (173), while the (orthographically) same form is the simple tense of the past of the verb léim
‘jump’, which is not included in the 100 verbs, as seen (174). Consequently, in this study, the former is included and the latter is excluded.
33 CasualinoUno.html, which has 809 bytes. This file works on Internet browsers with JavaScript and generates a series of random numbers from 1 to an arbitrary number and copies them to the clipboard.
73 173) ach léim scéalta grá agus scéalta bleachtaireachta.
ach lé-im scéal-ta grá-Ø agus scéal-ta bleachtaireacht-a but read-HPRS.1SG story.F-PL.NOM love.M-SG.GEN and story.F-PL.NOM detection.F-SG.GEN
‘but I read love stories and detective stories.’
[icpt0415 ]
174) Léim Séamus ón mbord.
léim-Ø Séamus-Ø ó+anE bord-Ø jump-PST Séamus.M-SG.NOM from+DEF.M.NOM table.M-SG.NOM
‘Séamus jumped from the table.’
[icco1201]
β) Regarding the ‘be done’ construction:
Examples of the ‘be done’ construction are valid.
That is, the substantive verb bí ‘be’ exists, and the verbal adjective is combined with it as the ‘be done’ construction (thus, it is not an attributive adjective).
For example, in (175) the substantive verb tá ‘is’ (< bí ‘be’) exists and is combined with the verbal adjective briste ‘broken’ (< bris ‘break’). Thus, they compose the ‘be done’ construction and such an example is included in the study.
175) Tá mo chroí briste aige.
tá-Ø moL croí-Ø bris-te aig-e be-PRS 1SG.POSS heart.M-SG.NOM break-VA at-3SG.M
‘My heart is broken by him.’
[icco1314]
When the substantive verb bí ‘be’ does not exist in an example like (176) below, it is excluded from the study. In this case, the verbal adjective briste ‘broken’ (< bris ‘break’) is attributively used.
176) Bheannaigh an strainséir dó i mBéarla briste.
L beann-aigh an strainséir-Ø dó iE Béarla-Ø bris-te
PM greet-PST DEF.M.NOM stranger.M-SG.NOM to.3SG.M in English.M-SG.NOM break-VA
‘The stranger greeted him in broken English.’
[icco1107]
In addition, even if the substantive verb bí ‘be’ exists, when it is not combined with the verbal adjective concerned, as in (177), the example is also excluded from the study (there, the verbal adjective functions as an attributive adjective).
74 177) Bíonn fuamán ag abhainn ar aimsir bhriste.
bí-onn fuamán-Ø ag abhainn-Ø ar aimsir-Ø L-bris-te be-HPRS humming.sound.M-SG.NOM at river.F-SG.NOM on weather.F-SG.NOM ATR-break-VA
‘A humming sound at a river is on a broken weather.’
[ixgm0003]
In (177) the verbal adjective briste ‘broken’ is lenited (bhriste < briste), for it modifies the feminine singular nominative noun aimsir ‘weather’. This function is indicated as ATR (attributive) in my gloss (see
§1.4.2.1.). As a result, it can easily be judged to be an attributive usage of the verbal adjective.
On the contrary, in (175) the noun croí ‘heart’ is the masculine singular nominative, so the adjective that follows is not lenited. In such cases, it is grammatically possible to analyse the fact that the verbal adjective concerned modifies the preceding noun, but a situation like ‘He has my broken heart’ (lit. ‘My broken heart is at him’) should be seen as a little unnatural, and the author will judge it to be of the ‘be done’ construction.
Their superficial forms do not necessarily show the syntactic instance (as to whether it is a predicative or an attributive usage), and sometimes it is quite difficult to judge its validity. As a result, some ambiguous examples must be included in the data.
In addition, when elements retrieved from the corpus are those of the genitive case of some verbal nouns which are identical to the verbal adjective, they are excluded from the study. This is judged based on the context, like in (178). Here, the element labhartha is analysed as the genitive case of the verbal noun labhairt ‘speaking’ (< labhair ‘speak’), but it is orthographically identical to its verbal adjective labhartha
‘spoken’.
178) go raibh córas sóisialta sofaisticiúil ag lucht labhartha na teanga sin na cianta ó shin.
go raibh-Ø córas-Ø sóisialta-Ø sofaisticiúil-Ø ag lucht-Ø
CMPL be-PST system.M-SG.NOM social-M.NOM sophisticated-M.NOM at people.M-SG.NOM
labhar-tha na teanga-Ø sin na cian-ta óL sin speak-VN.GEN DEF.PL.GEN tongue.F-PL.GEN that DEF.PL.NOM length.of.time.F-PL.NOM from that
‘that speakers (= people of speaking) of that language had a sophisticated social system a long time ago.’
[icpt0402]
Phase: III-2) Valuing the Data — Excluding Non-Finite Forms α) Regarding the simple tense construction:
Examples where the verb concerned is finite (i.e. not a verbal noun) are valid.
For example, the element dúnadh is analysed as the simple tense of the past impersonal of the verb dún ‘close’ in (179), and the orthographically indentical form is analysed as the verbal noun in (180).
Consequently, in this study the former is included and the latter is excluded.
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179) D’oscail sé a chlab ró-mhór thall agus dúnadh dhó é.
do oscail-Ø sé aL clab-Ø róL=mór-Ø thall agus
PM open-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV 3SG.M.POSS open.mouth.M-SG.NOM very=big-M.NOM over and dún-adh Ldó é
close-PST.IMPERS to.3SG.M 3SG.M.DSJTV
‘He opened his very large mouth over and it was closed to it.’
[icco1020]
180) Tá do dhá shúil ag dúnadh.
tá-Ø do LdáL súil-Ø ag dún-adh be-PRS 2SG.POSS two eye.F-SG.NOM at close-VN
‘Thy two eyes are closing.’
[itci1206]
Due to this, in Nua-Chorpas na hÉireann, in principle, only finite forms are retrieved with the lemma search, but some non-finite verbs are included because of the orthographical coincidence. As a result, such examples should be judged from the context.
β) Regarding the ‘be done’ construction:
Examples where the substantive verb in the ‘be done’ construction is finite (i.e. not a verbal noun) are valid.
For example, in the following two examples, the substantive verb as an auxiliary verb is combined with the verbal adjective and composes the ‘be done’ construction. However, the auxiliary verb tá in (181) is in the present tense, and bheith in (182) is present as a verbal noun. Consequently, in this study the former is included and the latter is excluded.
181) Tá triúr curtha agam in áiteanna éagsúla cheana.
tá-Ø triúr-Ø cur-tha ag-am in áit-eanna éagsúl-a cheana be-PRS three.people.M-SG.NOM put-VA at-1SG in place.F-PL.NOM various-PL.NOM ever
‘Three people are already buried in various places.’
[icco1216]
182) Muid thíos ar an trá ag siúlóid sa gciúnas séimh, théis dualgaisí an lae a bheith curtha i gcrích.
muid thíos ar an trá-Ø ag siúlóid-Ø in+anE ciúnas-Ø 1PL.DSJTV down on DEF.F.NOM beach.F-SG.NOM at walking.F-SG.NOM in+DEF.M.NOM silence.M-SG.NOM
séimh-Ø Ltéis dualgais-í an lae a Lbe-ith cur-tha iE críoch-i thin-M.NOM after due.M-PL.NOM DEF.M.GEN day.M.GEN to be-VN put-VA in end.M-SG.DAT
‘We walking down to the beach in the thin silence, after dues of the day being accomplished.’ (lit.
‘(...) after dues of the day being put in an end.’)
[icci1423]
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Phase: III-3) Valuing the Data — Excluding Relative Clauses α) Regarding the simple tense construction
Examples where the construction concerned is not embedded in the relative clause are presented here.
Note that, as shown in §1.4.6., in Irish, relative clauses are marked with verbal particles of the relative (aL: direct relative; aE: indirect relative). See the aforementioned section for further details.
For example, in the following two examples, the elements concerned—scríobh ‘wrote’ (< scríobh
‘write’)—are in the simple tense. However, that element in (183) is in the main clause, but in (184) it is embedded in the relative clause. In this study, the former is included and the latter is excluded.
183) Scríobh sé nóta beag dó agus chuir sé clúdach air.
scríobh-Ø sé nóta-Ø beag-Ø dó agus L cuir-Ø sé
write-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV note.M-SG.NOM small-M.NOM to.3SG.M and PM put-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV
clúdach-Ø air cover.M-SG.NOM on.3SG.M
‘He wrote a small note to him and he put a cover on it.’
[itci1205]
184) Tá cúpla paimfléad a scríobh sé sa Leabharlann Náisiúnta.
tá-Ø cúpla-Ø paimfléad-Ø a scríobh-Ø sé in+an be-PRS couple.M-SG.NOM pamphlet.M-SG.NOM REL.DIR.PM write-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV in+DEF.F.NOM
Leabharlann-Ø Náisiúnta-Ø Library.F-SG.NOM National-F.NOM
‘There is a couple of pamphlets that he wrote in the National Library.’
[icco1028]
This criterion is set, for one thing, because Irish lacks a morphological contrast between the nominative case and the accusative case, and, therefore, the grammatical function of the antecedent of the relative clause is unclear as to whether it is a subject or an object.
For example, in (185) there may be two possibilities regarding the analysis of the example: the antecedent Diarmaid (a masculine given name) functions as a subject or as an object. In the former case, the argument an Searbhán ‘the Bitter Person’ in the relative clause functions as an object, while in the latter case it functions as a subject.
185) Is é Diarmaid a mharaigh an Searbhán!
is é Diarmaid-Ø aL mar-aigh an Searbhán-Ø be.COP.PRs 3SG.M.DSJTv Diarmaid.M-SG.NOM REL.DIR.PM kill-PST DEF.M.NOM Bitter.Person.M-SG.NOM
‘It is Diarmaid who killed the Bitter Person!’ or
‘It is Diarmaid whom the Bitter Person killed!’
[icco1225]
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In addition, this is a cleft sentence34 with the relativisation where a subject or an object is fronted, and some kind of information structure must be concerned. If such examples are included in the study, the situation would be too complicated to analyse, so they will be excluded from the study.
Similarly, in wh-questions the relativisation is made as in (186), so such examples are also invalid and excluded from the study.
186) Cad a bhí ráite ag a máthair léi fé?
cad aL bhí-Ø rá-ite ag a máthair-Ø lé-i fé what REL.DIR be-PST say-VA at 3SG.F.POSS mother.F-SG.NOM to-3SG.F under.3SG.M
‘What was said by her mother to her about it?’
(lit. ‘(It is) what that was said by her mother to her about it?’)
[itci1214]
However, the subordinate clause with nuair a ‘when’, seen in (187), and that with mar a ‘as’, seen in (188), which contain a direct relative particle, are included in the study because they occur very often in the corpus.
187) D’fhéach sé suas nuair a chonaic sé Brian.
doL féach-Ø sé suas nuair aL conaic-Ø sé Brian-Ø
PM look-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV up when REL.DIR see-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV Brian.M-SG.NOM
‘He looked up when he saw Brian.’
[icco1038]
188) Iad idir dhá chomhairle ina dtaobh, mar a bheadh a sáith feicthe acu.
iad idir LdáL comhairle-Ø in+aE taobh-Ø mar aL be-adh 3PL.DSJTV between two advice.F-SG.NOM in+3PL.POSS side.M-SG.NOM as REL.DIR be-HPST
a sáith-Ø feic-the ac-u 3PL.POSS food.F-SG.NOM see-VA at-3PL
‘Being between two adviced about them, as their food was seen by them.’
[icci1423]
Relative clauses, not subordinate clauses, are excluded from the study. In other words, complement clauses like those found in (189) are included in the study.
189) Bhí a fhios agam go bhfillfeá!
L bí-Ø aL fios-Ø ag-am goE fill-f-eá
PM be-PST 3SG.M.POSS knowledge.M-SG.NOM at-1SG CMPL return-FS-COND.2SG
34 Cleft sentences seem to be used quite often in Irish. Note that the copula verb is ‘is’ at the beginning can be omitted.
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‘I knew that thou wouldst return!’
(lit. ‘His knowledge was at me that thou wouldst return!’)
[ixcm0004]
In negative forms, however, the direct / indirect relative particle, the complementiser and the yes-no question marker are neutralised into the single form nachE (in the past tense nárL), so they must be judged based on the context.
For example, in the following three examples, the particle nach is placed before the verb concerned.
Judging from the context, the particle is a complementiser in (190), a (direct) relative particle in (191), and a question marker in (192) . Consequently, in this study the first example and the third one are included, and the second one is excluded.
190) Tá mise ag ceapadh nach ndeachaigh sí ar cuairt ariamh in aon áit.
tá-Ø mi=se ag ceap-adh nachE deach-aigh sí ar cuairt-Ø be-PRS 1SG.CNJTV=CNTR at think-VN CMPL.NEG go-PST 3SG.F.CNJTV on visit.F-SG.NOM
ariamh in aon áit
before in one place.F-SG.NOM
‘I am thinking that she did not visit anywhere before.’
[icco1033]
191) Ainmnigh cúig chluiche eile nach n-imríonn Neasa.
ainmn-igh cúigL cluiche-Ø eile nachn imr-íonn Neasa-Ø specify-IMP five game.M-SG.NOM other REL.DIR.NEG play-HPRS Neasa.F-SG.NOM
‘Specify other five games which Neasa does not play.’
[icpt0415]
192) Nach n-aithníonn tú mé?
nachn aithn-íonn tú mé
Q.NEG recognise-HPRS 2SG.CNJTV 1SG.DSJTV
‘Doest not thou recognise me?’
[itci1206]
β) Regarding the ‘be done’ construction:
Examples where the construction concerned is not embedded in the relative clause are presented here.
For example, in the following two examples, the ‘be done’ construction can be observed. However, the present tense of the auxiliary verb tá ‘is’ appears in the main clause in (193), while the past tense of the auxiliary verb bhí ‘was’ is placed in the direct relative clause in (194).
79 193) Tá ocht leabhar is fiche scríofa agam.
tá-Ø ocht leabhar-Ø is fiche scríobh-tha ag-am be-PRS eight book.M-SG.NOM and twenty write-VA at-1SG
‘Twenty-eight books are written by me.’
[itpt0001]
194) Bhí sé ag smaointiú ar an scéal a bhí scríofa aige.
L bí-Ø sé ag smaoint-iú ar an scéal-Ø aL bí-Ø
PM be-PST 3SG.M.CNJTV at think-VN on DEF.F.NOM story.F-SG.NOM REL.DIR be-PST
scríobh-tha aig-e write-VA at-3SG.M
‘He was thinking of the story which was written by him.’
[icco1308]
As opposed to the simple tense construction, there is no ambiguity as to whether the grammatical subject functions as an agent or a patient in the ‘be done’ construction, for it has only one single core argument in the clause, which normally denotes a patient in a transitive clause or an agent in an intransitive clause. However, in order to unify the conditions for both constructions, relative clauses are also excluded in the ‘be done’ construction.
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