Csonka, Veronika (2016) Compounding, preposed adjectives and intensifiers in Scottish Gaelic. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8220/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten:Theses http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
[email protected] “A nation survives through its language and traditions.” (Earl István Széchenyi, supporter of the Hungarian language reform in the19th century) Compounding, Preposed Adjectives and Intensifiers in Scottish Gaelic Veronika Csonka MRes in Scottish Gaelic, MA in Linguistics Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD School of Humanities/ Sgoil nan Daonnachdan College of Arts University of Glasgow/ Oilthigh Ghlaschu June 2016/ Ògmhios 2016 1 2 Abstract This thesis deals with the topic of compounding in Scottish Gaelic, in particular the relationship between marked adjective + noun compounds (e.g. deagh oidhche ‘good night’) and their unmarked noun + adjective alternatives (e.g. oidhche mhath, literally ‘night good’). The first part of the thesis surveys the relevant linguistic literature on compounding, with a specific focus on compounding in Celtic languages, and the research question for the investigation is specified as follows: in which circumstances do Gaelic speakers use the marked adjective + noun constructions in contrast to the umarked alternatives? The investigation itself consists of two experimental studies.