Unlike many European languages, modern Irish does not have aT-V distinction, i.e. it does not distinguish between familiar/informal and polite/formal second-person pronouns.Sibh is used to address two or more people, regardless of how well known those people are to the speaker. It is no longer used to address one single person.
The emphatic formsibhse is also used as thevocative:Haigh sibhse! — "Hey you (all)!"
sibh is used to address more than one person, or to address one person formally or politely, particularly if they are significantly older or of higher social rank than the speaker.
Grandparents, teachers and clergymen are addressed assibh, and parents often are also. Addressing them asthu would usually be considered rude.
People significantly younger than the speaker, for instance a child addressed by a young adult, are never addressed assibh. Children do not usesibh amongst themselves. Some people may find it uncomfortable to be addressed assibh if they do not consider themselves to be significantly older than the speaker.
The use ofsibh varies by dialect, with some places being stricter about its usage than others.
1 Used when following a verb ending in-n,-s or-dh. 2sibh andsibhse also act as the polite singular pronouns. To mark a direct object of a verbal noun, the derivatives ofgam are used.
^Oftedal, M. (1956),A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
^Rev. C. M. Robertson (1902), “Skye Gaelic”, inTransactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Volume XXIII: 1898-99[1], Gaelic Society of Inverness, pages54-88
^Mac Gill-Fhinnein, Gordon (1966),Gàidhlig Uidhist a Deas, Dublin: Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath
^John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)[2], Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
^Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937),The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
^Wentworth, Roy (2003),Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR,→ISBN
