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  1. #1
    Join Date
    2nd December 10
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    fèileadh mòr pronounced fail yug more. fèileadh beag pronounced fail yug bek. The accents are critical as they lengthen the sound of the vowel and can change the

    meaning of some words. All Gàidhlig nouns have gender. Mhòr would change the gender of 'kilt' from masculine to feminine!!!

    Robbie

  2. #2
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    18th October 09
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    Yes the "o" in Gaelic is very tricky to a non-speaker like myself!

    MacLennan's Gaelic Dictionary gives six different "o" sounds.

    We have to be wary because many Americans pronounce "o" as a dipthong, rounding to "u' at the end. We have to avoid doing this when pronouncing Gaelic, and have a pure "o" like many Canadians say.

    And not the dipthongised "o" as in English "more" as pronounced by most Americans, "oh-uhr".

    (An interesting test is to carefully examine how yourself an others pronounce pairs like bore/Boer, more/mower, etc.)
    Last edited by OC Richard; 8th March 15 at 07:24 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  4. #3
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    2nd January 10
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    Quote Originally Posted by robbiethepiper View Post
    All Gàidhlig nouns have gender. Mhòr would change the gender of 'kilt' from masculine to feminine!!!Robbie
    Would it not be more correct to say that mhor, as a qualifiying adjective, signifies/agrees with a feminine noun. The gender of Gaelic nouns is, I believe, related the the word structure; hence, a word like feusag (a beard) is feminine and so the adjective would have to agree - feusag mhor.

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  6. #4
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    Yes. The point being that fèileadh mhòr implies that fèileadh is feminine, because mòr lenites to mhòr following a feminine noun, which is not the case here.

    Gender can sometimes be inferred from the spelling of a word, particularly its' ending, but there are too many exceptions to formulate a set of 'rules'.

    Those of us not fortunate enough to be native speakers just have to try to remember! - Robbie

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