Tag Questions in The Celtic Languages
Like English, the Celtic languages form tag questions by echoing the verb of the main sentence. The Goidelic languages, however, make little or no use of auxiliary verbs, so that it is generally the main verb itself which reappears in the tag. As in English, the tendency is to have a negative tag after a positive sentence and vice versa, but unbalanced tags are also possible. Some examples from Scottish Gaelic:
(Here, eil and fhaca are dependent forms of the irregular verbs tha and chunnaic.)
- Is toil leat fìon, nach toil? - You like wine, don't you?
- Tha i brèagha an diugh, nach eil? - It's nice today, isn't it?
- Chunnaic mi e, nach fhaca? - I saw him, didn't I?
- Thèid mi ga dhùsgadh, an tèid? - I'll go and wake him, shall I? (unbalanced!)
In Welsh, a special particle is used to mark tag questions, which are then followed by the inflected form of a verb. With the auxiliary bod, it is the inflected form of bod that is used:
- Mae hi'n bwrw glaw heddiw, on'd ydy? - It's raining today, isn't it?
With inflected non-preterite forms, the inflected form of the verb is used:
- Doi di yfory, on' doi? - You'll come tomorrow, won't you?
With preterite and perfect forms, the invariable do (also the affirmative answer to these questions) is used:
- Canodd y bobl, on' do? - The people sang, didn't they?
- Mae hi wedi ei weld o, on'do? - She's seen him, hasn't she?
When a non-verbal element is being questioned, the question particle ai is used:
- Mr Jones, on'dai? - Mr Jones, isn't it?
Read more about this topic: Tag Question
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