mo/do/ár X vs. an X s’agam/s’agat/s’againn

[kyihsin]

What is the difference in usage and/or meaning between the two possessive constructions [color=red]mo theach[/color] vs. [color=red]an teach s’agam[/color] or [color=red]a chos[/color] vs. [color=red]an teach s’aige[/color] and so on?

Is there some slight difference in connotation, emphasis, or anything like that?

Is the [color=red]an X s’agam[/color] construction only used in some dialects and not in others?

And while we’re talking about this construction, does anyone know the etymology of the [color=red]s'[/color]? At first I assumed it was from [color=red]seo[/color] (i.e. [color=red]an teach s’agam[/color] = [color=red]an teach seo agam[/color] ‘this house at me’, but another possibility occurs to me, namely [color=red]an teach is agam[/color] ‘the house that is at me’. Does anyone have a definite answer?

GRMA!

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