Brezhoneg
In Celtic languages like Breton, prepositions combine with personal pronouns to form single inflected words called prepositional pronouns. They are essential for expressing possession, physical states, emotions, and movement.
Quick Jump to Preposition (13 total):
Direction, recipient, indirect object. Triggers soft mutation on the following noun. Glosses also include FR 'à'. 1pl 'deomp' is the standard literary form; 'dimp' is a common spoken variant.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | din | din-me | to me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | dit | dit-te | to you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | dezhañ | dezhañ-eñ | to him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | dezhi | dezhi-hi | to her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | deomp | deomp-ni | to us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | deoc'h | deoc'h-hu | to you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | dezho | dezho-int | to them |
Instrumental, accompaniment. Also used in possession-of-feeling constructs (Plijus eo ganin 'I like it'). 1pl 'ganeomp' is standard literary; 'ganimp' is a common spoken variant.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | ganin | ganin-me | with me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | ganit | ganit-te | with you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | gantañ | gantañ-eñ | with him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | ganti | ganti-hi | with her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | ganeomp | ganeomp-ni | with us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | ganeoc'h | ganeoc'h-hu | with you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | ganto | ganto-int | with them |
Purpose, benefactor. Followed by infinitive: 'evit + VN' = 'in order to'. Stem alternates between 'evid-' (before vowel-initial endings) and 'evit-' (before consonants).
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | evidon | evidon-me | for me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | evidout | evidout-te | for you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | evitañ | evitañ-eñ | for him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | eviti | eviti-hi | for her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | evidomp | evidomp-ni | for us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | evidoc'h | evidoc'h-hu | for you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | evito | evito-int | for them |
Used after many verbs of speech (komz ouzh 'speak to'), action toward something, and with negative resistance. Stem alternates: 'ouzh-' (1/2 person) and 'out-' (3rd person).
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | ouzhin | ouzhin-me | against me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | ouzhit | ouzhit-te | against you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | outañ | outañ-eñ | against him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | outi | outi-hi | against her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | ouzhomp | ouzhomp-ni | against us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | ouzhoc'h | ouzhoc'h-hu | against you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | outo | outo-int | against them |
Location and state. Becomes 'en' before vowels, 'er' before the article 'ar'. Inflected stem is 'enn-' (doubled 'n' in standard literary spelling).
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | ennon | ennon-me | in me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | ennout | ennout-te | in you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | ennañ | ennañ-eñ | in him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | enni | enni-hi | in her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | ennomp | ennomp-ni | in us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | ennoc'h | ennoc'h-hu | in you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | enno | enno-int | in them |
Position on a surface, also direction onto. Inflected stem is 'warn-'. Triggers soft mutation on a following noun.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | warnon | warnon-me | on me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | warnout | warnout-te | on you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | warnañ | warnañ-eñ | on him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | warni | warni-hi | on her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | warnomp | warnomp-ni | on us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | warnoc'h | warnoc'h-hu | on you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | warno | warno-int | on them |
Origin and partitive. Uses suppletive stems: 'ac'han-' for 1st/2nd person (ac'hanon, ac'hanout, ac'hanomp, ac'hanoc'h), 'anezh-' for 3rd person (anezhañ, anezhi, anezho). The base form 'eus' itself does not inflect; the inflected forms historically derive from 'a' + pronoun.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | ac'hanon | ac'hanon-me | from me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | ac'hanout | ac'hanout-te | from you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | anezhañ | anezhañ-eñ | from him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | anezhi | anezhi-hi | from her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | ac'hanomp | ac'hanomp-ni | from us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | ac'hanoc'h | ac'hanoc'h-hu | from you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | anezho | anezho-int | from them |
Means and path. Inflected stem is 'drez-'. Triggers spirant mutation in some compound expressions (dre vras 'roughly', dre vihan 'gradually').
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | drezon | drezon-me | through me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | drezout | drezout-te | through you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | drezañ | drezañ-eñ | through him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | drezi | drezi-hi | through her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | drezomp | drezomp-ni | through us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | drezoc'h | drezoc'h-hu | through you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | drezo | drezo-int | through them |
Position below. Inflected stem is 'dindan-' (same as base form).
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | dindanon | dindanon-me | under me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | dindanout | dindanout-te | under you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | dindanañ | dindanañ-eñ | under him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | dindani | dindani-hi | under her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | dindanomp | dindanomp-ni | under us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | dindanoc'h | dindanoc'h-hu | under you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | dindano | dindano-int | under them |
Origin from a surface; also 'about' a topic (often as compound diwar-benn).
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | diwarnon | diwarnon-me | from off me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | diwarnout | diwarnout-te | from off you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | diwarnañ | diwarnañ-eñ | from off him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | diwarni | diwarni-hi | from off her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | diwarnomp | diwarnomp-ni | from off us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | diwarnoc'h | diwarnoc'h-hu | from off you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | diwarno | diwarno-int | from off them |
Origin / separation. Inflected stem alternates: 'diouzh-' for 1st/2nd person and 'diout-' for 3rd person (parallel to 'ouzh' / 'out-').
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | diouzhin | diouzhin-me | from me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | diouzhit | diouzhit-te | from you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | dioutañ | dioutañ-eñ | from him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | diouti | diouti-hi | from her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | diouzhomp | diouzhomp-ni | from us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | diouzhoc'h | diouzhoc'h-hu | from you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | diouto | diouto-int | from them |
Temporal 'before' and spatial 'in front of'. Inflected on the stem 'a-raoz-' in standard literary peurunvan (modern Skol-Uhel-Bro-Plomb standardisation); the alternative stem 'a-raok-' is also attested and accepted, and 'a-raod-' appears in older grammars. We list the 'a-raoz-' paradigm as primary.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Singular (I / me) | a-raozon | a-raozon-me | before me | |
| 2nd Singular (You) | a-raozout | a-raozout-te | before you | |
| 3rd Singular Masc. (He / him) | a-raozañ | a-raozañ-eñ | before him | |
| 3rd Singular Fem. (She / her) | a-raozi | a-raozi-hi | before her | |
| 1st Plural (We / us) | a-raozomp | a-raozomp-ni | before us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | a-raozoc'h | a-raozoc'h-hu | before you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | a-raozo | a-raozo-int | before them |
Mostly used uninflected with two nouns; person-inflected forms exist only in the plural (etrezomp, etrezoc'h, etrezo). Singular inflected forms do not occur in standard literary Breton because 'between' inherently requires two or more referents.
| Person | Standard Form | Emphatic Form | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Plural (We / us) | etrezomp | etrezomp-ni | between us | |
| 2nd Plural (You pl.) | etrezoc'h | etrezoc'h-hu | between you (pl) | |
| 3rd Plural (They / them) | etrezo | etrezo-int | between them |
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