The Copula in Classification Sentences: Modern Irish Paradigms for Learners

This is a dual-language book with Irish and English on facing pages. It is also a detailed examination and explanation of how to use the Irish copula for construction of classification sentences.

Sections include a glossary of grammatical terms, plus chapters on the use of the noun and copula for classification, the adjective and copula for classification, the preposition and copula for classification, classification questions, and much more.

Each section begins with related rules and analysis of Irish classification sentences - their ainmní (subject), faisnéis (information), and briathar (the copula, which is often left implicit). But this is only the starting point.

Recognizing that humans more easily learn language by example, each section includes a full complement of paradigms. Most sections also include a volume of additional examples drawn from Irish folklore, seanfhocail (proverbs), and literature.

Jerry Kelly holds an M.A. in Celtic Studies with distinction from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and a B.S. from Yale University. He is also a former Adjunct Professor of Irish Language and Culture at Fordham University.

His coursework at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David to date has included Celtic linguistics, archaeology of the Western world and the Middle East, Old Irish, Minoan & Mycenaean archaeology, Modern Irish, the Indo-European expansion and its mythology, Celtic mythology, classical civilization including Greek and Roman religion and Homeric epic, Early Irish Historical Tales, historical research methods, the Celtic Arthur, early Celtic Christianity, the medieval Irish church, and the early modern history of England and Celtic Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

He taught Irish on behalf of The Irish Arts Center in New York from 1979 to 1981; plus mythology and Seanchas through the medium of the Irish Language at Scoil Ghaeilge Ghearóid Tóibín / The Gerry Tobin Irish Language School from 1989 to 2007; and Irish and Irish Gaelic culture at Fordham from 2008 to 2010.

He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Irish Institute of Molloy College, teaches Irish on behalf of Cumann Carad na Gaeilge / The Philo-Celtic Society (www.philo-celtic.com), writes the Seanchas column for the Irish Language magazine AN GAEL, and is a member of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the American Irish Teachers Association. He is also the author of a number of books and articles in Irish and in English including "Before the Kilt: How the Irish and Scots Dressed in the 16th Century" (Druid Press, 2011), "An Chopail in Abairtí Aicme" (Druid Press, 2012), and "Celts, Germans, Jews and Other Surprises at Roanoke: The Beginning of Multi-Ethnic America" (Druid Press, 2013).