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which(referring back to a clause)(followed by a relative clause)
1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 194:
Do bhíodar sé mhí gan fille, agus nuair a chonaic Máire an t-árthach ag teacht chun cuain, bhí sceitimíní ar a croidhe le lúthgháir agus le h-áthas, ní nárbh’ iongnadh.
They were six months without returning, and when Máire saw the vessel coming to port, her heart had raptures of gladness and joy, which was not surprising.
(literally, “(…), a thing that was not surprising.”)
Ní críonnacht creagaireacht. ― Miserliness is not thrift.
Ní hionann iad. ― They are not the same.
An gloine é? Ní hea. ― Is it glass? No.
Usage notes
The preverbal particle triggers lenition of a following consonant. It is not used in the past tense except for some irregular verbs. It takes the dependent form of irregular verbs. The copular form triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel.
This verb is frequently used for quoted speech. To introduce quoted speech, just add the prefix á-(“thus”) to any of the forms of the verb. This modifies the meaning to something like "to say as follows" or "to say thus":
Followed by the dependent form of the verb, which (in Old Irish) is not subjected to nasalization or lenition mutation unless a direct object pronoun is implied. Compare:
Ní ben inna firu ― He does not strike the men
Ní creti a scél ― He does not believe the story
Here the b of ben and the c of creti are unmutated.
Ní mben ― He does not strike him
Ní creti ― He does not believe him
Here the b of ben and the c of creti are nasalized to mb and /ɡ/ respectively.
Ní ben ― He does not strike it
Ní chreti ― He does not believe it
Here the b of ben and the c of creti are lenited to /β/ and ch respectively.
In Middle Irish increasingly, and in Modern Irish always, ní lenites the following verb.