Séamus O'Neill wrote:
I just came across this phrase in A Thig Ná Tit Orm which made me a bit confused:
Quote:
Mar ar éirí ón dtalamh dhó tharraing sé poc lena cheann isteach sa ghoile orm agus chuir sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma síos sa díog mé
I would translate this as 'he stretched me out on my spine down in the ditch'. I think this translation is fairly good, but there's still some things that I don't understand. Firstly, why is it
chuir sínte ... with an omitted third person pronoun? I remember hearing in a video by dazpatreg (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVT8-FOTFE0&t=316s around 6 minutes and 25 seconds in), a fluent speaker of (Mayo) Irish with a great knowledge of dialects that he also observed this, but I would love if someone with some knowledge in Munster Irish could say something about it, particularly if there's any specific instance in which it is omitted. Secondly, how is
sínte being used here? It seems like the past participle of
sín, but that doesn't appear to match the context in which it is given (i.e. not as an adjective), but maybe there's a different structure being used here that I'm not used to (e.g. form of
cuir (+ subject) + adjective +
ar + object). Thanks a lot in advance!
The more correct translation is: … and he put/laid me stretched out on my spine down in the ditch
(the main verb is cuir = put)
1)
tharraing sé … agus chuir (sé) …There is no need to repeat the subject (sé) in a series of consecutive actions.
2)
sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma … mé = me (being / having been) stretched on the flat of my back
It is an adjective here, a so-called secondary or depictive predicative. The phrase is a small clause (a phrase with the verb bí understood). Its subject (mé) is object of the whole sentence. So, it is an object complement.
He could have used "(chuir sé síos sa díog mé) agus mé sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma", as well.
Or more complete: chuir sé síos sa díog mé agus bhí mé sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma.
In the way he used it:
The pronominal object of the sentence (mé) comes at the end of the sentence, the rest of the phrase remains in the original position of the object:
tharraing sé … agus chuir (sé) [mé sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma] síos sa díog.
->
tharraing sé … agus chuir sínte ar fhleasc mo dhroma síos sa díog mé.