ar aghaidh

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish ar agaid (“before, in front of”, literally “in front of the face of”), from Old Irish agad (“face”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ɛɾʲ ˈəiɟ/
• (Connacht, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɛɾʲ ˈəi/

Preposition

ar aghaidh (plus genitive or possessive determiner, triggers no mutation)

1. in front of, opposite, facing
   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 4:

     hȧ šē əŕ m ai.

     [Sheas sé ar m’aghaidh.]

     He stood in front of me.

     ḱē n āc ə rø šē šin? əŕ ai ən cȧmpl̥ gāl̄də.

     [Cén áit a raibh sé sin? Ar aghaidh an teampaill gallda.]

     Where was that? Opposite the Protestant church.

Usage notes

Used with a possessive pronoun that agrees with the subject of the sentence, the prepositional phrase can be used as an adverb meaning “forwards, straight ahead”, for example Chuaigh mé díreach ar m’aghaidh (“I went straight ahead”); Tar ar d’aghaidh beagán (“Come forward a little bit”).

Inflection

Adverb

ar aghaidh

1. forward

Derived terms

• ceann ar aghaidh (“headlong; on purpose”)

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ar aghaidh”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Entries containing “ar aghaidh” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “ar aghaidh” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.