Seacht bpearsain fhichead uair mé: a poem on the optative subjunctive in a copy of Irish Grammatical Tracts III–IV

Abstract:

This article concerns a rediscovered Classical Modern Irish poem on the optative subjunctive. In Classical Modern Irish most verbs are regularly preceded by gur (neg. nár) in the optative subjunctive (for example, gur léagha ‘may you read'), but 27 verbs take go (neg. ná) (for instance, go bhfionna ‘may you know'); the poem edited here lists the latter verbs based on information gleaned from Irish Grammatical Tracts III–IV. This article discusses the manuscript context of the poem, its relationship to IGT III–IV and the make-up of that tract, and the linguistic background to go/gur variation in the optative; it also presents a critical edition of the poem itself with an English translation.