laghad/leithéid/leith agus ar/a/dá

[Gríofa]

The following phrases pop up all the time in Irish and I always mix them up:

1) ar a laghad – at least – tá dhá lá oibre ansin ar a laghad – there’s two days work there at least
2) dá laghad – what so ever – níl seans dá laghad ann go ndéanfaidh mé é – there’s no way what so ever I’ll do it

3) a leithéid – the likes – d’fhiafraigh sé díom faoi mo chuid oibre agus a leithéid – he asked me about my work and the likes
4) dá leithéid – the likes – is é an t-aon chúrsa dá leithéid é in éirinn – it’s the only course of its kind in Ireland

5) ar leith – special/certain/seperatly – tá praghas ar leith ar gach cúrsa – each course is priced separately

I’ve added next to each phrase the English meaning as I understand it as well as an example sentence. With regard to someone learning Irish, is my understanding reasonable? Maybe there are other meanings associated with these phrases that I as a learner should take into consideration. Or maybe there are phrases above which are not idiomatic at all.

According to the dictionary:

http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/laghad

“ar a laghad” is idiomatic and I just need to learn it off.

However, the entry for “dá laghad” confuses me. Dá ~ é is maith liom agam é and Dá ~ ciall atá aige, tá faichill ann, for example. “dá laghad” doesn’t seem to be simply an idiom with the same meaning as “what so ever”. Is it an idiom with several meanings? Maybe its not an idiom. If not, what are the meanings of “dá” and “laghad” when used together? Again since I’m a learner I’m not interested in rarely used phrase, but rather the important ones.

http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/leithéid

I can’t see any entry for “a leithéid” or “dá leithéid” so I’m wondering if they are idiomatic. If not, what is the meaning of a, dá and leithéid in this case?

I couldn’t find “ar leith” in the dictionary.

[Labhrás]

“ar a laghad” is idiomatic and I just need to learn it off.

However, the entry for “dá laghad” confuses me. Dá ~ é is maith liom agam é and Dá ~ ciall atá aige, tá faichill ann, for example. “dá laghad” doesn’t seem to be simply an idiom with the same meaning as “what so ever”. Is it an idiom with several meanings? Maybe its not an idiom. If not, what are the meanings of “dá” and “laghad” when used together? Again since I’m a learner I’m not interested in rarely used phrase, but rather the important ones.

http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/leithéid

I can’t see any entry for “a leithéid” or “dá leithéid” so I’m wondering if they are idiomatic. If not, what is the meaning of a, dá and leithéid in this case?

I couldn’t find “ar leith” in the dictionary.

laghad = smallness, littleness, fewness
a laghad = its smallness = how small/few, so small
dá laghad = de + a laghad = of its smallness = whatever small/few, small as it is, no matter how small
cá laghad = cá + a laghad = how small?
ar a laghad = at its smallness = at least

You can use “a”, “dá”, “cá”, “ar a” with every abstract noun of degree (dá fheabhas, dá mhéad, dá liacht, dá olcas, dá ghiorracht, etc.) with always the same range of meaning.

A somewhat different construction:

a leithéid = its like = such
a leithéid sin de dhuine = such a person
dá leithéid = de + a + leithéid = of its like = such
duine dá leithéid sin = such a person

Two different kinds of “de” here: appositive (a léitheid de dhuine) and partitive (duine dá leithéid).
But both phrases mean almost the same: such a

It is common to use the possessive pronoun “a” with such pronominals like a lán (many), a oiread (as many), a thuilleadh (more), a mhalairt (another) … and a leithéid (such).

ar leith:

leith is an old dative of leath (side, part)
ar leith = apart, seperate, special

[Gríofa]

Thank you!

[Author]

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