90-1), and labelled according to their distinctive usages in discoursewhat Halliday (1984) refers to as the 'ineffability of grammatical categories'. On the basis of this analysis, I will suggest that Scottish Gaelic does not have a [declarative] vs [interrogative] opposition in MOOD, redounding with the system of NEGOTIATION at the semantic stratum, but rather an [assertive] vs [non-assertive] opposition, redounding with the system of ENGAGEMENT at the semantic stratum. This is, of course, not to say that the semantics of NEGOTIATION are not realised through the lexicogrammar of Scottish Gaelic, but that they are indirectly encoded through a combination of lexicogrammatical systems such as MOOD and KEY. M K2f Glè mhath. 'Very good' *** K2 A bheil Leanne a' tighinn còmhla ris? 'Is Leanne coming with him?' I ch Chan eil fhios'am. 'I don't know' *** M K2 Nach fhaca tu i? Did you not see her? I K1 Chan fhaca. No. *** Cha robh Iain airson innse dhi; 'Iain wasn't in the mood for talking to her' cha robh e ach air èirigh. 'he had just got up' Rudeigin selfish, 's mathaid. 'A bit selfish, maybe' Ach b'fheàrr leis na ceistean fhàgail aig Dòmhnall. 'But he would prefer to leave the questions to Donald' *** I K2 Cearc a tha an diugh? 'Chicken today?' M K1 Ròst, 'Roast' thubhairt a mhàthair. 'said his mother' I K2f O. Math. 'Oh. Good' *** Bha glainne beag fìon aice fhad 'sa bha i a' còcaireachd, ag èisteachd ris an rèidio. 'She had a small glass of wine while she was cooking and listening to the radio' *** M K2 An cuala tu mu dheidhinn Johana? 'Did you hear about Johana?' Cionnas a bha fios aice cho luath? 'How did she know so soon?' I K1 Chuala. 'Yes' M K2f Uabhasach, nach eil. 'Terrible, isn't it?' *** M K1 Tha e gu bhith all right, ge-tà, tha iad ag ràdh. 'He'll be ok anyhow, so they say' I K2f A bheil? 'Will he?' 'S math sin. 'That's good' *** M K1 Tha i ann an staid, ge-tà. She's in a state anyhow' *** M Dk1 Bheil fhios agad dè thachair? 'Do you know what happened?' I K2 Chan eil. 'No' M K1 Bha i ann am fight. 'She was in a fight' +K1 Cha bu chòir dhi… 'She shouldn't be' =K1 cha bu chòir dhi bhith dol faisg air na Ruiseanaich ud. 'She shouldn't be going near those Russians' xK1 Bha sabaid aig an talla a-raoir, cuideachd, chuala mi. 'There was a fight at the hall last night too, I heard' *** M K2 Am faca tu i? 'Did you see it?' I ch Cha robh mi ann aig an am. 'I wasn't there at the time' *** K1 Cha robh ann ach scrap bheag, tha mi smaointinn. 'It was only a wee scrap, I think' *** (MacLeòid 2005, p. 143-4
