PREPOSITIONLESS DATIVES IN OLD AND MIDDLE IRISH: THE INSTRUMENTAL, ACCOMPANIMENT/INCLUSIVE AND APPOSITIONAL DATIVE
PREPOSITIONLESS DATIVES IN OLD AND MIDDLE IRISH: THE INSTRUMENTAL, ACCOMPANIMENT/INCLUSIVE AND APPOSITIONAL DATIVE

Summary/Abstract: The early Irish dative case is typically found after prepositions, but there are a number of non-prepositional usages. Three of these are explored in this chapter: the instrumental dative, the dativeof accompaniment or inclusion, and the dative of apposition. The main goal of the chapter is todescribe the syntactic distribution and features of these constructions, compare their similarities anddifferences, and ultimately to sharpen the classification of these three usages of the dative intodistinct constructions. The bulk of the chapter concentrates on the third construction, the dative ofapposition, in which the dative-marked nominal is found in apposition chiefly to a pronominal item.Because this pronominal is virtually obligatory, comparison between the early Irish appositionaldative and a typology of similar “adnominal pronoun constructions” in other languages is made. Amajor contribution of the chapter is to show that there are various number and person restrictionsthat are placed on the pronominal antecedent but these restrictions are subject to diachronicvariation. Finally, the dative of apposition is contrasted with the nominative of apposition, which isshown have a distinct syntactic structure.

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