gu dè

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From ciod è (older caidhe, caide, goidé) from Old Irish cote (“what is the nature of?, of what kind is?”),^[1]^[2] synchronically analyzable as ciod + e, compare Irish caidé.

Pronunciation

(Harris, Uist, Barra) IPA^(key): /ɡ̥ə ˈd̥ʒeː/^[3]^[4]^[5]

Pronoun

gu dè

(emphatic) what
gu dè a chuir an seo thu? ― what brought you here?

Usage notes

The unemphatic form is dè.
In the Arran Gaelic dialect, which recently became extinct, this was the main form, rather than dè.

Interjection

gu dè?

(emphatic) huh? pardon? what?
gu dè an domhan? ― what on earth?

References

^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cote”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ E. G. Quin (1966) “Irish Cote”, in Ériu, volume 20, Royal Irish Academy, →JSTOR, pages 140–150
^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
^ Mac Gill-Fhinnein, Gordon (1966) Gàidhlig Uidhist a Deas, Dublin: Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath
^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

[1] Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cote”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

[2] E. G. Quin (1966) “Irish Cote”, in Ériu, volume 20, Royal Irish Academy, →JSTOR, pages 140–150

[3] Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

[4] Mac Gill-Fhinnein, Gordon (1966) Gàidhlig Uidhist a Deas, Dublin: Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath

[5] Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

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