Irish syntax
Encyclopedia
Irish
syntax
is rather different from that of most Indo-European languages
, notably because of its VSO word order.
Only the verb and subject are obligatory; all other parts are optional (unless the primary or finite verb is transitive
, in which case a direct object is required). In synthetic verb forms, the verb and subject are united in a single word, so that even one-word sentences are possible, e.g. "I understand."
An example sentence:
) of the verb, either with or without a negative particle. For analytic forms, only the verb is given and the subject is not repeated. If a verb has different dependent and independent forms
, the dependent form follows the interrogative or negative particle. The independent form is used where there is no particle.
is used, and no subject is given.
To express a negative command, the particle is used. This particle, which can be roughly translated "don't", causes neither eclipsis nor lenition, and attaches h to a following vowel.
can be formed by connecting the verbal noun
to the existential verb with the progressive particle .
The object of a verbal noun is in the genitive, if it is definite.
If a nonfinite clause forms the complement of the verb, the verbal noun stands alone (without a preposition) in the clause.
The direct object of a verbal noun complement precedes the verbal noun; the leniting particle "to" is placed between them. Other complements follow.
with the two following sentences:
(also called the autonomous form) instead of the passive voice
.
In the perfect, the passive voice is formed by using the passive participle with the existential verb.
and other languages, has two forms that can express the English verb "to be". The two forms perform different grammatical functions.
; see Irish verbs for its conjugation.
alone cannot form the predicate of the existential verb. Instead, the noun complement is preceded by a form meaning "in my, in your, in his" etc.
, a pronoun
, an adjective
, or a topicalized phrase. Because it is not a verb, it does not inflect for person
or number
, and pronouns appear in the disjunctive form.
The copula, which has the realis form , is used for identification and definition:
Definition: X is a Y. Here, the word order is "Is-Y-(pronoun)-X". X is a definite noun or a pronoun.
Identification: X is the Y. Here the word order is "Is-pronoun-X-Y", or "Is-pronoun-Y-X". Note that there must always be a pronoun between a definite noun and the copula. It would be wrong to say *Is Seán an múinteoir, which would mean "The teacher is a Seán".
If we want to identify a first or second person pronoun with a definite noun, it is usual to use the longer form of the personal pronoun, which comes immediately after the copula: "I am the teacher." "You are the student." "We are the teachers." "You are the students."
The long form of the personal pronoun is very emphatic and stressed, and often knocks out the copula entirely. Thus, in the previous four examples it is possible to leave out the copula, which will then be understood:
If we identify a third-person pronoun with a definite noun, it is entirely possible to use the same construction: "He is the teacher." "She is the student." "They are the soldiers".
However, in the third person this usage is perceived to be much more emphatic than in the first and second persons. The usual way to say "He is the teacher" is
where the definite noun is flanked by two personal pronouns agreeing with it in gender and number.
When saying "this is", or "that is", and are used, in which case is usually dropped: "This is my mother." "That's the teacher."
The copula can also be dropped before pronouns: "I am Ireland." (the name of a renowned poem by Patrick Pearse
)
One can also add "that is in him/her/it", especially when using an adjective, when it is desired to emphasise the quality:
This sometimes appears in Hiberno-English
, either translated literally as "that is in it", or as "so it is".
The present tense of the copula can also have future meaning.
The past tense of the copula can also have conditional meaning.
The forms and are not used after preverbal particles.
If the predicate is definite, the copula is followed by a disjunctive personal pronoun, which may be repeated at the end of the sentence. "Siobhán is the teacher." "Those people are the teachers." "He is the teacher."
If the predicate is indefinite, it follows the copula directly, with the disjunctive pronoun and subject coming at the end. "I am a student." "Cáit is a teacher."
The predicate of the copula can also be an adjective; in this case, the subject is a definite noun.
, i.e. by fronting the topicalized element as the predicate of the copula, while the rest of the sentence becomes a relative clause. Compare "I said it" with "I said it; It's me who said it."
Also the following constructions:
of irregular verbs. The word order in an Irish subordinate clause is the same as in a main clause. The types of subordination discussed here are: complementation, relative clauses, and wh-questions (which are formed as a kind of relative clause in Irish).
Other examples of complex sentence
s using complementizers:
If the condition of the clause is hypothetical, also called an irrealis condition or counterfactual conditional
, the word is used, which causes eclipsis and takes the dependent form of irregular verbs. The negated equivalent is either or , meaning roughly "if it were not the case that...". The verb in both clauses is in the conditional.
Other examples of conditionals are:
and the independent form of an irregular verb is used. The direct relative is used when the relative pronoun is the subject or direct object of its clause.
The direct relative is also used in topicalizations, e.g.:
The direct relative is also used after the word "time":
(in the preterite with leniting ); the dependent form of an irregular verb is used. The indirect relative is used to signify a genitive or the object of a preposition. In these cases, there is a resumptive pronoun
in the relative clause.
The negative form of a relative clause, direct or indirect, is formed with the eclipsing relativizer , or, before the preterite, with the leniting relativizer .
Sometimes a direct relative clause can be ambiguous in meaning, leaving unclear if the relative is accusative or nominative:
If the accusative reading is intended, one could use an indirect relative with a resumptive pronoun
:
Direct "When I was young, I lived in Donegal." "She will call as soon as she gets home." "He was crying while he was talking to me." "Then a melody was played, as one often did ." "He moved his head as if he were playing music." "You may hold it as long as you are careful with it."
Indirect "Look for them where you put them." "Stay where you are!" "By the time he came, they were all sold out." "I will tell him that as soon as I see him." "She left it as it was."
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
is rather different from that of most Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, notably because of its VSO word order.
Normal word order
The normal word order in an Irish sentence is:- Preverbal particle
- VerbVerbA verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
- SubjectSubject (grammar)The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
- Direct object or predicate adjectiveAdjectiveIn grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
- Indirect object
- Location descriptor
- Manner descriptor
- Time descriptor
Only the verb and subject are obligatory; all other parts are optional (unless the primary or finite verb is transitive
Transitive verb
In syntax, a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects. The term is used to contrast intransitive verbs, which do not have objects.-Examples:Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs:...
, in which case a direct object is required). In synthetic verb forms, the verb and subject are united in a single word, so that even one-word sentences are possible, e.g. "I understand."
An example sentence:
| speaks | Mícheál | Irish | with Cáit | often |
| Verb | Subject | Dir.obj. | Ind.obj. | Time |
| "Mícheál speaks Irish with Cáit often." | ||||
Questions and answers
Irish has no words for "yes" and "no". The answer to a question contains a repetition (the same as in LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) of the verb, either with or without a negative particle. For analytic forms, only the verb is given and the subject is not repeated. If a verb has different dependent and independent forms
Dependent and independent verb forms
In the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms; each tense of each verb exists in both forms. Verbs are often preceded by a particle which marks negation, or a question, or has some other force. The dependent verb forms are used after a particle, while...
, the dependent form follows the interrogative or negative particle. The independent form is used where there is no particle.
- "Does Seán ever listen to his mother?"
- (not: *) "Yes, he does."
- (not: *) "No, he doesn't."
- "Aren't you listening to me?"
- "Yes, I am."
- "No, I'm not."
Commands
In a command the imperative moodImperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
is used, and no subject is given.
| give | to us | two | glasses | whiskey (GEN) | please |
| "Please give us two glasses of whiskey!" | |||||
To express a negative command, the particle is used. This particle, which can be roughly translated "don't", causes neither eclipsis nor lenition, and attaches h to a following vowel.
| don't | lose | the | money |
| "Don't lose the money!" | |||
| don't | tell | it | to them |
| "Don't tell it to them!" | |||
| don't | let's go | home | |
| "Let's not go home!" | |||
Syntax of the verbal noun
A progressive aspectGrammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
can be formed by connecting the verbal noun
Verbal noun
In linguistics, the verbal noun turns a verb into a noun and corresponds to the infinitive in English language usage. In English the infinitive form of the verb is formed when preceded by to, e.g...
to the existential verb with the progressive particle .
| is | Mícheál | at | speaking | Irish | with | Cáit | now |
| "Mícheál is speaking Irish with Cáit now." | |||||||
The object of a verbal noun is in the genitive, if it is definite.
| is | Séamas | at | reading | the newspaper (gen.) |
| "Séamas is reading the newspaper." | ||||
If a nonfinite clause forms the complement of the verb, the verbal noun stands alone (without a preposition) in the clause.
| was successful | with me | catching | on | the | ball |
| "I succeeded in catching the ball." | |||||
The direct object of a verbal noun complement precedes the verbal noun; the leniting particle "to" is placed between them. Other complements follow.
| I have intention | the knife | to | put | carefully | on the table |
| "I intend to place the knife carefully on the table." | |||||
Object pronouns
Generally, an object pronoun or a conjugated preposition stands at the end of a sentence in Irish. Compare this sentence:| told | he | the story | to Bríd | yesterday |
| "He told the story to Bríd yesterday." | ||||
with the two following sentences:
| ' | ||||
| told | he | to Bríd | yesterday | it |
| "He told it to Bríd yesterday." | ||||
| told | he | the story | yesterday | to-her |
| "He told her the story yesterday." | ||||
Passive
Irish commonly uses the impersonal formImpersonal passive voice
The impersonal passive voice is a verb voice that decreases the valency of an intransitive verb to zero.The impersonal passive deletes the subject of an intransitive verb. In place of the verb's subject, the construction instead may include a syntactic placeholder, also called a dummy. This...
(also called the autonomous form) instead of the passive voice
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
.
| one beat (pret.) | the dog |
| "Someone beat the dog"/"The dog was beaten." | |
In the perfect, the passive voice is formed by using the passive participle with the existential verb.
| is | the window | broken | (by my brother) |
| "The window has been broken (by my brother)." | |||
Stative verbs
Some verbs describing the state or condition of a person form a progressive present with the existential verb plus 'in (my, your, his etc.)' plus the verbal noun.| am | I | in | my | sleep |
| "I'm asleep." | ||||
| INTERR. PART. |
are | you | in | your | living | in the | Germany |
| "Do you live in Germany?" | |||||||
The forms meaning "to be"
Irish, like SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and other languages, has two forms that can express the English verb "to be". The two forms perform different grammatical functions.
The existential verb
The existential verb is . It is an irregular verbIrregular verb
In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. The idea of an irregular verb is important in second language acquisition, where the verb paradigms of a foreign language are learned...
; see Irish verbs for its conjugation.
Existence, condition or location
This verb expresses the absolute existence of something, its condition, or its location. When accompanied by the adverb "there" it means "exist" or "there is/are". Otherwise,the verb is complemented by an adjective, an adverb or a prepositional phrase.| is | God | there |
| "God exists; There is a God." | ||
| is | the | box | empty |
| "The box is empty." | |||
| are | the | apples | on | the | table |
| "The apples are on the table." | |||||
Definitions
A noun phraseNoun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase, nominal phrase, or nominal group is a phrase based on a noun, pronoun, or other noun-like word optionally accompanied by modifiers such as adjectives....
alone cannot form the predicate of the existential verb. Instead, the noun complement is preceded by a form meaning "in my, in your, in his" etc.
| is | Seán | in his | doctor |
| "Seán is a doctor." | |||
The copula
The Irish copula is not a verb, but a particle used to express a definition or identification. It may be complemented by a nounNoun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
, a pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
, an adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
, or a topicalized phrase. Because it is not a verb, it does not inflect for person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
or number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
, and pronouns appear in the disjunctive form.
The copula, which has the realis form , is used for identification and definition:
Definition: X is a Y. Here, the word order is "Is-Y-(pronoun)-X". X is a definite noun or a pronoun.
| COP | man | him |
| "It/he is a man." | ||
| COP | English (PLUR) | them |
| "They are English." | ||
Identification: X is the Y. Here the word order is "Is-pronoun-X-Y", or "Is-pronoun-Y-X". Note that there must always be a pronoun between a definite noun and the copula. It would be wrong to say *Is Seán an múinteoir, which would mean "The teacher is a Seán".
| COP | him | Seán | the | teacher |
| "Seán is the teacher." | ||||
If we want to identify a first or second person pronoun with a definite noun, it is usual to use the longer form of the personal pronoun, which comes immediately after the copula: "I am the teacher." "You are the student." "We are the teachers." "You are the students."
The long form of the personal pronoun is very emphatic and stressed, and often knocks out the copula entirely. Thus, in the previous four examples it is possible to leave out the copula, which will then be understood:
If we identify a third-person pronoun with a definite noun, it is entirely possible to use the same construction: "He is the teacher." "She is the student." "They are the soldiers".
However, in the third person this usage is perceived to be much more emphatic than in the first and second persons. The usual way to say "He is the teacher" is
where the definite noun is flanked by two personal pronouns agreeing with it in gender and number.
When saying "this is", or "that is", and are used, in which case is usually dropped: "This is my mother." "That's the teacher."
The copula can also be dropped before pronouns: "I am Ireland." (the name of a renowned poem by Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
)
One can also add "that is in him/her/it", especially when using an adjective, when it is desired to emphasise the quality:
| COP | man | strong | that is | in him |
| "He's a strong man." | ||||
| COP | girl | beautiful | that is | in her |
| "She's a beautiful girl." | ||||
This sometimes appears in Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...
, either translated literally as "that is in it", or as "so it is".
The present tense of the copula can also have future meaning.
- "He will be a teacher."
The past tense of the copula can also have conditional meaning.
- "She would be a teacher."
The forms and are not used after preverbal particles.
- "Are you a teacher?"
- "We were not teachers."
If the predicate is definite, the copula is followed by a disjunctive personal pronoun, which may be repeated at the end of the sentence. "Siobhán is the teacher." "Those people are the teachers." "He is the teacher."
If the predicate is indefinite, it follows the copula directly, with the disjunctive pronoun and subject coming at the end. "I am a student." "Cáit is a teacher."
The predicate of the copula can also be an adjective; in this case, the subject is a definite noun.
| COP | nice | the day | it |
| "It's a nice day." | |||
Topicalization
Topicalization in Irish is formed by cleftingClefting
A cleft sentence is a complex sentence that has a meaning that could be expressed by a simple sentence. Clefts typically put a particular constituent into focus...
, i.e. by fronting the topicalized element as the predicate of the copula, while the rest of the sentence becomes a relative clause. Compare "I said it" with "I said it; It's me who said it."
Other uses for the copula
There are other set idiomatic phrases using the copula, as seen in the following examples. Here the predicate consists mostly of either a prepositional phrase or an adjective.- "I like" (lit. "is good with me")
- "I would like" (lit. "would be good with me")
- "I prefer" (lit. "is better with me")
- "I can" (lit. "is possible with me")
- "one should" (lit. "would be right")
- "one shouldn't" (lit. "would not be right")
- "I hate" (lit. "is hatred with me")
- "I don't care" (lit. "is indifferent with me")
- "I wish/would like" (lit. "is desire with me")
- "I remember" (lit. "is memory with me")
Also the following constructions:
| COP | difficult | this sentence | to understand |
| "This sentence is hard to understand." | |||
| COP | with Cáit | the car |
| "The car belongs to Cáit." | ||
| COP | from Dublin | Máire |
| "Máire is from Dublin." | ||
Answering questions with the copula
Since the copula cannot stand alone, the answer must contain either a part of the predicate or a pronoun, both of which follow the copula.- "Is Seán the teacher?"
- "Yes, he is."
- "No, he isn't."
- "Is Seán a teacher?"
- "Yes, he is.."
- "No, he isn't."
Omission of
In all dialects, the copula may be omitted if the predicate is a noun. ( cannot be deleted.) If is omitted, the following preceding the noun is omitted as well. "I am the teacher." "Seán is the teacher." "I am a student."Comparison of the existential verb and the copula
Both the existential verb and the copula may take a nominal predicate, but the two constructions have slightly different meanings: sounds more permanent—it represents something absolute about Seán; it is a permanent characteristic of Seán that he is a doctor. This is known as an individual-level predicate. In the sentence , one says rather that Seán performs the job of a doctor, that he is a doctor at the moment, that he has become a doctor. This is known as a stage-level predicate.Subordination
Most complementizers (subordinating conjunctions) in Irish cause eclipsis and require the dependent formDependent and independent verb forms
In the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms; each tense of each verb exists in both forms. Verbs are often preceded by a particle which marks negation, or a question, or has some other force. The dependent verb forms are used after a particle, while...
of irregular verbs. The word order in an Irish subordinate clause is the same as in a main clause. The types of subordination discussed here are: complementation, relative clauses, and wh-questions (which are formed as a kind of relative clause in Irish).
Syntactic complementation
The subordinate clause is a part of the main clause in a purely syntactic complementation. In Irish it is introduced by "that" in the positive and "that... not" in the negative.| says | he | that | is | hurry | upon-him |
| "He says that he's in a hurry." | |||||
| proved | he | that not | was | ghost | there |
| "He proved that there was no ghost." | |||||
Other examples of complex sentence
Complex sentence
A complex sentence is a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.-Examples:* I ate the meal that you cooked....
s using complementizers:
- "People were afraid of him because he was quick-tempered."
- "I don't believe it although I see it."
- "She wrote it down so that she wouldn't forget it."
- "Wait until he comes."
Conditional complementation
A conditional clause gives the condition under which something will happen. In Irish there are two kinds of conditional clauses, depending on the plausibility of the condition. The particle introduces a conditional clause that is plausible, also called a realis condition. causes lenition and takes the independent form of irregular verbs. Its negated form is and causes eclipsis. Preceding the preterite it is and causes lenition.If the condition of the clause is hypothetical, also called an irrealis condition or counterfactual conditional
Counterfactual conditional
A counterfactual conditional, subjunctive conditional, or remote conditional, abbreviated , is a conditional statement indicating what would be the case if its antecedent were true...
, the word is used, which causes eclipsis and takes the dependent form of irregular verbs. The negated equivalent is either or , meaning roughly "if it were not the case that...". The verb in both clauses is in the conditional.
- "If he believes that story, he is pretty gullible." (realis)
- "If he didn't lose it, then he stole it." (realis)
- "If I left it to you, you wouldn't do it." (irrealis)
Other examples of conditionals are:
- "The venture will succeed provided that all take part in it."
- "You may break it provided that you pay for it."
Direct relative
There are two kinds of relative clauses in Irish: direct and indirect. Direct relative clauses begin with the leniting relative pronounRelative pronoun
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates the relative clause to the noun that it modifies. In English, the relative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, whosever, whosesoever, which, and, in some...
and the independent form of an irregular verb is used. The direct relative is used when the relative pronoun is the subject or direct object of its clause.
- "The people who were unhappy went overseas."
- "That's the work that I did."
The direct relative is also used in topicalizations, e.g.:
- "It's Jimmy who went to America."
The direct relative is also used after the word "time":
- "the first time that I was there"
Indirect relative
Indirect relative clauses begin with the eclipsing relativizerRelativizer
In linguistics, a relativizer is a grammatical element used to indicate a relative clause. Not all languages use relativizers; most Indo-European languages use relative pronouns instead, and some languages, such as Japanese, rely solely on word order to indicate relative clauses...
(in the preterite with leniting ); the dependent form of an irregular verb is used. The indirect relative is used to signify a genitive or the object of a preposition. In these cases, there is a resumptive pronoun
Resumptive pronoun
A resumptive pronoun is a pronoun in a relative clause which refers to the antecedent of the main clause. The slight majority of world languages use resumptive pronouns instead of gaps in relative clauses...
in the relative clause.
- "the man whose sister was in the hospital" (lit. "the man that his sister was in the hospital")
- "the man whose daughter gave him a hundred pounds" or "the man to whom his daughter gave a hundred pounds" (lit. "the man that his daughter gave him a hundred pounds")
- "the room that I slept in" (lit. "the room that I slept in it")
The negative form of a relative clause, direct or indirect, is formed with the eclipsing relativizer , or, before the preterite, with the leniting relativizer .
- "That's something I don't understand." (direct)
- "a woman whose son isn't working" (indirect; lit. "a woman that her son isn't working")
Sometimes a direct relative clause can be ambiguous in meaning, leaving unclear if the relative is accusative or nominative:
- "the priest who kissed the woman" or "the priest whom the woman kissed"
If the accusative reading is intended, one could use an indirect relative with a resumptive pronoun
Resumptive pronoun
A resumptive pronoun is a pronoun in a relative clause which refers to the antecedent of the main clause. The slight majority of world languages use resumptive pronouns instead of gaps in relative clauses...
:
- "the priest whom the woman kissed" (lit. "the priest that the woman kissed him")
Wh-questions
A wh-question begins with a word such as "who, what, how, when, where, why" etc. In Irish, such questions are constructed as relative clauses, in that they can be constructed as either direct or indirect.Direct relative wh-questions
Questions with "who, what, how many, which, when" are constructed as direct relative clauses. "When did it happen?" "Who did it?" "What did you get?" "How many miles did you walk?" "Which is more expensive, meat or fish?"Indirect relative wh-questions
Questions with prepositions (i.e. "on what?, with whom?") and questions with "why?" and "where?" are constructed as indirect relative clauses. "Who has the money?" (lit. "who at him is the money") "What did you lift the car with?" (lit. "what with it did you lift the car") "Why did you hit him?" "Where did you see the woman?"Clauses introduced by "how"
There are two words for "how" in Irish: the word takes the direct relative clause, the phrase takes the indirect. "How did it happen?" "How does that concern you?/What business is that of yours?"Complementary subordinate clauses in the form of a relative clause
Some complements in Irish take the form of a relative, in that they end in the relative particle ; both direct and indirect relative are found.Direct "When I was young, I lived in Donegal." "She will call as soon as she gets home." "He was crying while he was talking to me." "Then a melody was played, as one often did ." "He moved his head as if he were playing music." "You may hold it as long as you are careful with it."
Indirect "Look for them where you put them." "Stay where you are!" "By the time he came, they were all sold out." "I will tell him that as soon as I see him." "She left it as it was."