tokiWX L. A GRAMMAR MODERN IRISH LANGUAGE, DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF THE CLASSES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. CHAELES HENRY HAMILTON piGHT, M.A., OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN ; EDITOR OF "THE BOOK OF GENESIS IN HEBREW, WITH A CRITICALLY REVISED TEXT, VARIOUS READINGS, AND GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES," &C. ; ASST. CURATE OF MIDDLETON TYAS, YORKSHIRE. Second Edition— Revised and Enlarged. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14, HENRIETTA-STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK-STREET, EDINBURGH. DUBLIN: HODGES, SMITH, AND CO. 1860. <*%?£0 O DUBLIN : PRINTED BY ALEX. THOM & SONS, 87 k 88, ABBEY-STREET. PREFACE. The little work of which the second edition is now is- su ^d from the press is a short introduction to the study of the Irish language, and is intended mainly to assist t j student desirous of obtaining an acquaintance with the language as it is spoken in many parts of our island ; while to those who desire to enter more deeply into the study of Celtic, it may, perhaps, serve as a starting point at which to commence their investigations. Similar elementary grammars of the Irish language, varying in value and interest, have been long before the public, the best of which are those of Dr. Neilson, and Mr. Connellan, the present Professor of Irish in Queen's College, Cork. These have been made use of in the drawing up of the present work. The former had been long in use as a class-book in the University of Dublin ; but as it was confessedly very inaccurate and provincial in the character of the Irish which it exhibited, I was asked by my friend, Rev. D. Foley, D.D., Professor of Irish in the University of Dub- lin, to draw up a short grammar which would be free from errors of that kind. This work having received the kind revision of Dr. Foley, was published with a recommendatory preface by him in 1855, the Board of Trinity College, Dublin, having very liberally made a a2 IV PREFACE. grant sufficient to defray almost the entire expenses of its publication. Since its publication it has, at the in- stance of Professor Foley, been made a class-book in the Dtfblin university. It is well known by philologists that the great stand- ard grammar of Modern Irish is by Dr. 0' Donovan, one of the foremost representatives of native Celtic learning. This much praised work was published in 1845, and it is on it that I have mainly relied both in my first, and now again in my second edition. Much progress, how- ever, has been made since that time in Celtic studies, and great results may be looked for when the second edition of Dr. O'Donovan's grammar appears, as it is to be hoped that he will combine in it the results of Zeuss and his school, and of his own researches in the study of the Brehon Laws. Since the first publication of this little work the greatest change has come over our Celtic philology. That change has been caused by the appearance of the Grammatica Celtica of Zeuss. That great work which marks a new era of Celtic philology was published in 1853. In it Zeuss solved the Celtic problem, viz. : the question, in what relationship the Irish, Welsh, and old Gaulish people stand both to each other and to the other nations. Numerous have been the works published on this question during the two last centuries. And yet we must say, with regret, that as to their value, it is almost none. In no department can more scientific errors be pointed out. The Continental scholars never mastered the Celtic languages ; the native scholars lacked, almost without exception, com- mon sense, and often common honesty. No Irish PREFACE. V scholar was conscientious enough to learn Welsh, no Welsh scholar to learn Irish ; but all were ready enough to compare their languages with Phoenician, Persian, Etruscan, Egyptian, of which again they knew, in reality, next to nothing. Justice compels us to men- tion one remarkable exception, the great Welsh scholar, Edward Lhwyd, of whom it may be said that he lived 150 years before his time; but, unable to follow him, the native school had sunk into chaotic and childish etymological dreams. The Celtic problem appeared to be hopeless, and became distasteful to sober minds. Some twenty years ago, however, the influence of the new science of Comparative Philology began to be felt. Pritchard tried to apply it to Celtic with some success. The Continental linguists of Bopp's school, Bopp himself, Diefenbach, Pictet, and others, although tending in the right direction, failed to prove the truth. Zeuss at last succeeded by combining with an intellect of rare power a devotion to the subject which amounted, one may say, to a sacrifice of his life. And even this might not have been enough if he had not possessed what no one possessed before him, viz., the really oldest monu- ment of both the Irish and the Welsh dialects. Those of the Irish he found in the MSS. of St. GaU, Milan, Wiirtzburg, and Carlsruhe ; the Welsh, in Oxford. Dr. O'Donovan, in a paper on Zeuss in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology for 1859, quotes the following remarks by Dr. Siegfried in explanation of this : "Zeuss, in the course of his historical researches, had become more familiar with the great libraries of Europe than most men ; and he knew, what the scholars of Ire- land and Britain were not aware of, that the oldest Irish VI PREFACE. MSS. existing are not to be found either in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, or of the Royal Irish Aca- demy, nor yet in Oxford or London ; but that they had been hidden for hundreds of years in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, in the old monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, and in some other Continental places. Most people know how this occurred. Ireland was at one period famous for its learning, and called by our ancestors the Island of Saints, and Irish missionaries were then the missionary teachers of the Continent. In the numerous monasteries founded by them, such as St. Gall and Bobbio, learned men found a refuge. The MSS. Zeuss found in the German and Italian libraries are the results of their pious labours. These, however, are not original works, they are mere copies of parts of the Scriptures, and of the classics. In transcribing these, the monks, for the assistance of their own memo- ries, and for the benefit of younger scholars, used to write between the lines the literal Irish translation of difficult words and phrases. These are the famous glosses of St. Gall and of Milan. Zeuss saw their value, and spared no labour nor expense in copying them out with his own hand. Possessing them he soon learned more of the really oldest forms and grammar of the Irish language than any scholar had known before him. There are archaisms preserved in those glosses which were never found in the MSS. preserved in Great Bri- tain or in Ireland." Previous to the appearance of Zeuss work, attempts could be made with impunity to connect Welsh and Irish with Hebrew and Phoenician, or with Etruscan, Egyptian, and Basque. At the same time Welsh scho- PREFACE. Vll lars on the one hand, and Irish scholars on the other, were able to deny the connexion of the two languages. An end has been now put to all such vain attempts and assertions. It is now proved (1) that on no grounds of rational or scientific etymology can the Celtic be com- pared with the Shemitic or other allophylan families, but that it is of a purely Japhetic, i.e., Indo-European, origin ; and (2) that the Irish and Welsh were originally the same language. On this general result of the re- searches of Zeuss we quote the following statement of Dr. O'Donovan, in the article already alluded to, which is of peculiar value as showing that the results of the German scholar are adopted by the highest native authority on Celtic matters. O'Donovan states that the Grammatica Celtica has proved : — " 1. That the Irish and Welsh languages are one in their origin ; that their divergence, so far from being primeval, began only a few centuries before the Roman period ; that the difference between them was very small when Caesar landed in Britain — so small, that an old Hibernian, most likely, was still understood there ; and that both nations, Irish and British, were identical with the Celtse of the Continent — namely, those of Gaul, Spain, Lombardy, and the Alpine countries ; — this is, in fact, asserting the internal unity of the Celtic family. " 2. That this Celtic tongue is, in the full and com- plete sense of the term, one of the great Indo-European branches of human speech. This, which it had been impossible for the great linguist Bopp to prove, is fully demonstrated by Zeuss. " The consequence of these two facts is, that there Vlll PREFACE. must now be an end to all attempts at comparing either Hebrew, Phoenician, Egyptian, Basque, or any other language which is not Indo-European, with any dialect of Celtic. The consequence further is, that as far as language gives evidence, we must consider the inhabi- tants of these islands strictly as brethren of those other five European families constituting that vast and an- cient pastoral race who spread themselves in their no- madic migrations till, in the west, they occupied Gaul, and crossed over to Britain and to Ireland, the last boundary of the old world. It follows, likewise, that to the Celtic family we must allow the full Japhetic heir-loom, not only of the grandly organized original language, but of all that it attests of early culture in every respect, the first germs of a mythological Pan- theon included. " Of a heterogeneous mixture, Zeuss has found no trace either in the Welsh or the Irish ; therefore, what mediaeval tradition relates of such mixture is now a problem which must find solution from a different source." The Celtic family consists of two living branches, the British and the Irish ; the first comprising the Welsh, Cornish, and the Armoric ; the second comprising the Irish or Gaelic, the Scotch Gaelic, and the Manx. The antique Celtic of Gaul is unhappily lost. Many proper names, and a few words reported by the old classic writers, were long all we possessed of it. Grimm pointed out some curious charms reported by Marcellus, the physician of Theodosius the Great. During the last few years about ten really ancient Gaulish inscrip- tions have been discovered in France. Unfortunately PREFACE. IX they are all very short. M. Pictet, Baron Koget de Belloguet, Mr. Whitley Stokes, and Dr. Siegfried, have attempted to interpret them. With respect to the Irish language, we know it now in three stages : 1, Old Irish up to A.D. 1000. Of this Zeuss discovered the most ancient relics in the glosses of St. Gall, &c, of which he has printed a large por- tion in his Grammatica Celtica ; and Trinity College, Dublin, possesses, since last year, by the munificence of the Irish Primate, one parchment book of the same age, namely, the very valuable book of Armagh, now in preparation for publication by Rev. Dr. Reeves ; 2, Middle Irish, from A.D. 1000-1400, is represented by the Brehon Laws, many printed works, and the vast MS. treasures at home ; and 3, of the Modern Irish, we have the later literature and the spoken language of the present day. The peculiar features of the language which, appa- rently, made it quite sui generis, and tended to open the door for many unfounded theories, have been at length historically traced, and their natural origin dis- covered. The absence of the neuter gender is shown to be merely a modern loss, as the language of the St. Gall glosses is nearly as full of neuters as Latin or Greek ; the aspirations so frequent in later times are perceived to have arisen from the influence of vowels, and the curious phenomenon designated by the name of eclipsis, is now ascertained to have owed its origin to the influence of a final n (See § 7). The Continental school of the followers of Zeuss is now working pari passu with the Dublin school of native Irish scholars, headed by the well known names X PREFACE. of Dr. Petrie, Dr. O'Donovan, Mr. Eugene Curry, Rev. Dr. Todd, S.F.T.C.D., and Mr. Stokes. Hermann Ebel has shown the etymological identity of the Irish cases of declension yet extant with those of the Indo-European languages ; and M. Pictet and Herr Gluck have completed Zeuss' researches on the Celtic names. A critical journal has been established at Berlin for the comparative study of Celtic and its sister languages (Kuhn and Schleicher's " Beitrage"). Celtic rational philology is only in its infancy. The critical Dublin school, the leading names of which have been already mentioned, have had so much employment in the mere careful editing of texts that they have been unable, hitherto, to digest the results of their labours. By Zeuss they have been now put into natural con- nexion with the other labourers in the wide field of Indo-European philology. Celtic benefits by all the light that has been thrown upon general philological studies by Grimm, Bopp, &c. ; while it is itself now appre- ciated as being essential to a complete understanding of the languages and the origin of the sister nations, viz., German, Italic, Greek, and their relations. But much yet remains to be done ; the full materials for working have not yet been obtained ; a Thesaurus of Irish being absolutely required to complete the tools necessary for working in the great Celtic mine. It is the grand and primary desideratum of Irish learning. We trust that, when the labour of editing the Brehon Laws is concluded, Mr. Curry and Dr. O'Donovan will supply this great want, and thereby enable the Conti- nental scholars successfully to pursue their studies. Since the issue of the first edition of this work, a PREFACE. XI work of a similar nature has appeared — namely, " The College Irish Grammar/' by Eev. Ulick J. Bourke, of Maynooth College. Dublin, 1856. In reply to Mr. Bourke' s strictures on my omission of the subjunctive mood in this Grammar, I merely remark, that we might as well insert in the number of cases of the Irish noun the Sanskrit instrumental and locative, because the ideas expressed by those cases can be conveyed by a use of the Irish cases ; as insert among the moods of the Irish verb the subjunctive, simply because the indicative in Irish is frequently used in a subjunctive signification. In conclusion, I beg to return my best thanks to my friend Dr. Kudolf Th. Siegfried, Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Dublin, for the kind assistance that he has afforded me in my attempt to bring this little work up to the present stand-point of Celtic inves- tigation. The Eev. Professor Foley has also kindly given the work the benefit of his revision ; and I humbly trust that this second edition may be found useful in promoting a knowledge of the vernacular Irish, and, at the same time, not wholly undeserving the attention of the general philologer. MlDDLETON TYAS, YORKSHIRE, July 26, 1S60. CONTENTS. Preface, Page iii Chapter I. Part I — Orthography. § 1. The Alphabet, 1 § 2. Vowels and Rule cccoi le caoi, yc, .2 § 3. Diphthongs, 2 § 4. Triphthongs, 3 § 5. Contractions, 4 Chapter II Mutations of Consonants. § 6. Aspiration, &'c, 4 § 7. Eclipsis, • 5 Chapter I. Part II — Etymology. § 8. The Article, e Chapter II — The Noun. § 9. The Noun in general, 7 § 10. First Declension, 8 §11. Second Declension, 9 § 12. Third Declension, 10 § 13. Fourth Declension, 11 § 14. Fifth Declension, 11 § 15. Irregular Nouns, 12 Chapter III.- —The Adjective. §16. The Adjective in general, . . . * J3 §17. The First Declension, . 14 §18. Second Declension, 14 §19. Third Declension, 14 § 20. Fourth Declension, 15 §21. Adjectives declined with Nouns, 15 § 22. The Degrees of Comparison, 16 §23. Irregular Comparison, . 17 § 24. The Numerals, . . 18 XIV CONTENTS. Pag© Chapter IV The Pronoun. § 25. The Pronoun in general, . . . . .19 § 26. Personal Pronouns, 19 § 27. The Personal Pronouns with Prepositions, . 21 § 28. Possessive Pronouns, 24 § 29. Kelative Pronouns, 25 § 30. Interrogative Pronouns, . . . .25 §31. Demonstrative Pronouns, . . . .25 § 32. Indefinite Pronouns, 26 Jhap rER V — The Verb. §33. Of the Verb in general, . 26 §34. Formation of Moods and Tenses, . 28 §35. Aspirations and Eclipses, . 31 §36. The Eegular Verb, . 32 §37. Irregular Verbs, . . 34 §38. The Substantive Verb, bi, tt > be, . 34 §39. CCbccifi, to soy, . 36 §40. Oeiyi, to bear, . 38 §41. CiT)im, to see, . 39 §42. CUnn, to hear, . 41 §43. T)ecm, to do, c 41 §44. Pag, to find, . • 43 §45. 'gjnim, to do, . 45 §46. 1t, to eat, . 46 §47. Tlig, to reach, . 46 §48, 'CccbcnYV t0 9 ive > . 47 §49. 'Cayi, to come, • . 48 §50. T3eiT> or ce, to go, . 50 §51. Defective Verbs, . • 51 Chapter VI — Particles. § 52. Adverbs, .51 § 53. Prepositions, 52 § 54. Conjunctions, ...... 53 § 55. Interjections, .53 CONTENTS. X Page Part III— Syntax. Chapter I. § 56. The Article, ...... 54 § 57. The Noun, 55 Chapter II— The Adjective. §58. Adjectives in general, . . . . .55 § 59. Numerals, 56 Chapter III — The Pronoun. § 60. Personal Pronouns, . . . .57 § 61. Possessive Pronouns, 57 § 62. Kelative and Interrogative Pronouns, . 57 § 63. Demonstrative and Indefinite Pronouns, . 58 Chapter IY. § 64. The Verb, 58 Chapter Y. — Particles. § 65. Adverbs, 60 § 66. Prepositions, 60 § 67. Conjunctions and Interjections, . . .60 IBISH GBAMMAB. PAETI ORTHOGRAPHY. CHAPTER I. § 1. — The Alphabet. The ordinary Irish Alphabet consists of eighteen letters : they are — SOUND. CC a 1. Long, as a in ball. . . . 2. Short, as a in what. . 3. Obscure, as a in negative. b b As in English. C c 1. Before a slender vowel, as k in kin 2. Before a broad vowel, as c in call T) T) 1. Somewhat thick, as the English th in thou. . 2. Before a slender vowel, somewhat as din guardian. .- . Long, as ay in hay. , As in English. .... 1. Before a slender vowel, as g in get. 2. Before a broad vowel, as ^ in gone. As in English. 1. Long, as i in marine. 2. Short, as i in fin. 1. As 11 in mill. . 2. Somewhat as I in valiant. As in English. . As in English. . 1. Long, as oa in coal. , 2. Short, as u in M/c. . As in English. . 1. Broad, as r in raw. . 2. Slender, somewhat like the second in carrion S V 1. Before a slender vowel, as shin, shield. 2. Before a broad vowel, as s in sow. T3 el. Rather thick, corresponding with the broad t>. , 2. As t in bestial. . 11 ti 1. Long, as u in rwfe. . 2. Short, as u in f^wtf. . e e V P s 5 tl h 1 1 L I m m n n P P H ^ EXAMPLE. been, white. ^ayi, come, iiomyxx, wi$ m&. bean, a vjoman. ciaU,, sense. cccc, a oaftfe. T>cm, a poem, Thcc, £od. -jpe, si#. peayi, a man, gecm, fove. gan, without, min, ww7& ■mm, raea?. nni, honey. btntXe, a 6fow. me, /. ni, wo£. mo-fi, <77-ea^. oic, m7. pobal, a congregation, fiarm, apart. bein,, or mgr. -pun, we. ponccp, happiness. ccqrib, « M£ cigecqfincc, a lord. cut, ^e back part, bun, ^e bottom. B Z IRISH GRAMMAR. It must be borne in mind that all the attempts to illustrate the Irisb sounds by English are only approximations ; the true sound must be learnt by intercourse with those who speak the language. CCt> is pronounced in the West as oo, as pecccctT), sin. In other places it is pronounced as a in negative in nouns and infinitives, while in 3rd sing, past passive as 0:5 and ox. § 2. — Vowels ; and Rule Cccot te cccot, 7c. CC, o, and 11, are called broad vowels; and e and 1 slender. The most general rule of the Irish language is that called cccot te cccot a^uy ieoxom te teatan, " a slender with a slender, and a broad with a broad ;" which is, that the vowel preceding a consonant, or combination of consonants, and that which follows it, must be of the same class ; sc. both broad, or both slender: e. g. Nom. f^oto^, Gen. ^otoi^e, not ^oto^e. Nom. pigecro6i|i ; Cren. •pgeccooficc, not pigeccooificc ; mot, motcam ; burnt, Buccitecqp, bucctccf). The reason of this rule is, that in Irish the two classes of vowels have a decided influence on the pronunciation of the consonants in immediate contact with them ; a, o, ti, giving them a broad sound, and e and 1 a slender. As this influence on the consonant is exercised both by the preceding as well as the following vowel, the pronunciation would be rendered uncertain if the two vowels were not of the same kind. This delicacy of the organs of speech, though partly known elsewhere, has not been carried out to the same extent by any of the Indo- European languages, nor was it fully developed in the older shape of the Celtic itself,, as Welsh does not partake of it. This rule has caused a rather cumbrous orthography, as a large number of vowels are now written for the mere purpose of insuring either the broad or slender pronunciation of the consonants, and these vowels which in reality have no sound, are distinguished in no way from those vowels which are sounded. This creates a difficulty in reading correctly Irish words. If every one of these silent vowels were marked, for instance, with a point, it would be of great assistance to the reader. Such an innovation, however, we cannot undertake to introduce. § 3. — Diphthongs. There are in Irish thirteen diphthongs, which are: cce^ ao, ai, ea, ei, eo, eu, ice, 10, 111, 01, ua, m. CCe, ao, eu, eo, 1a, IRISH GRAMMAR. m, and 11 a, are generally long, the remaining are sometimes long and sometimes short. The diphthongs and triphthongs in Irish frequently are not real, but owe their rise to the opera- tion of the rule cctol te cccol, 7c, e. g., ccin^eai, an angel, kc. Those diphthongs which have their first vowel long are generally pronounced like dissyllables; as ixcim, I am. The following is a Table of the diphthongs and their pronuncia- tion: — A. — Invariable Diphthongs. cce like ai in pain. . . icce, of a day, • • „ yeoman. , , aus/c. „ bliss. „ few. . „ put. . „ more. „ tile. . m u ui „ crutch. „ fruit. „ quill. carni, lam. paii, a beam. Lcepai|i, a light. 'oean, c?o. cecqriu, jW. pein, se(£ 5ei|i,/a#. _ peoi, a sm7. T)eoc, a drink. pi on, wme. pio-p, knowledge. piti, worthy. piuc, &c^7. coi|i, 7W. coilt, a wood, coifl, a crime. C|I01T), a fight, cm^five. ptnl, Mood ei short is pronounced in Manster like e in sell. iu is pro- nounced like in done, in Connaught, &c. It must be borne in mind that the English sounds are ap- proximations. An accent is placed over vowels when they are long, as b&f , death. Also over the variable diphthongs when long. § 4. — Triphthongs. The following five triphthongs are used in the Irish lan- guage, and are always long : — b2 4 IRISH GRAMMAR. CC01 like ee in heep TYiaom, treasure. eoi „ yeo „ yeoman, with i after it. . -peoil, flesh. 1CC1 ,, eei „ seeing ^iccig, a physician. 1131 „ iew£„ viewing. . . . citnn, gentle. ■ucn nearly like w in assured. . . cuccifvo, « visit. § 5. — Contractions. The following contractions are frequently used in printed books : — 7 a s«r- 5 5<™- .1. eccoon, viz. 4 «t^ § ea. 7c 6fo. ^ CC1fX. V til. t> P : a an. ri Yin. TTi TW- 5 S^S ™- f acu. CHAPTER II. Mutations or Consonants. § 6. — Aspiration, &c. b, c, T), p, 5, m, p, j% c, are called mutable consonants, be- cause by aspiration or eclipsis tbey either entirely lose or change their sound. i, n, ft are called immutable consonants, because they are incapable of aspiration or eclipsis. As the mutable consonants have very different sounds when aspirated, it seems proper to give them here, with their va- riety of pronunciation: — 13 in the beginning or end of a word sounds like v; as, mo tiaiie, my village ; fiti, you. In the middle of a word be- tween broad vowels it is generally sounded like w; as, a tea- ticqx, Ms hook. c before and after a broad vowel is pronounced like the Greek %, or as gh in lough, as, mo cccfia, my friend; toe, a lake; but if it precede or follow a slender vowel it receives a less guttural sound, as, cif)im, / see. The same diversity of sound prevails with regard to the German aspirate ch, acli being broad, ich, slender. 1. t> and g sound like y in connexion with the slender vowels e and 1, but with a slight guttural sound ; as, a geinea- rhum, his birth. 2. T) and 5 before and after a broad vowel have a strong gut- IRISH GRAMMAR. 5 tural sound; as, mo 511 1, my voice. This sound does not occur in English, and must be learned by intercourse with natives. p is not sounded at all ; as, an pft, pronounced as, an ifi, of the man. m is pronounced like 13. p is pronounced like Ph in Philip ; as, a pocif , his suffering. f and t are pronounced like h alone ; as, mo f oicqp , my comfort; a tean^a, his tongue. i, n, and yi alone admit of being doubled in the middle or end of words ; as, mnnn, to us. T)l and In in the middle of words are pronounced like it, and tm like tin ; as, co-oiaf>, sleep; ceaxma, the same. § 7. — Eclipsis. This term has been invented by Irish grammarians to denote one class of those alterations by which the initial letters of words are affected under certain conditions, as we shall see below. The term is taken from the peculiar orthographical contrivance, viz., as some of the alterations are so considerable that they would greatly disguise the word to the eye, the original letter, although silent, was allowed to remain in writing while the altered sound, which in reality is alone to be pronounced, was placed before it : the second letter is then, as the phrase is, eclipsed by the first. Hence arise the fol- lowing cases : — b is eclipsed by m ; as, ccp, m-baiie, our town. c „ 5 ; as, cqfi 5-ceanx, our right. t> and 5 „ n ; as, cqi n-Thoc, our God; dixngeajidn, our complaint. p „ 13 ; as, an b-ptnL cu, art thou? p „ b; as, &yi bpem, our punishment. Y „ T, ; as, an v-ftac, the rod. Vid. § 8. ■c „ t> ; as, op, T»-ceme, our fire. These are pronounced as, ctfi maiie, &c. m suffers no eclipsis. n can scarcely be said to eclipse 5, but rather to coalesce with it; the pronunciation being like ng in singing. Instead of the above method, in older orthography the initial letter is doubled to indicate the eclipse ; as, cc, no, &c, instead of 5c, vz; thus, a cciann, their children, for a 5-ciann. The origin of the eclipsis is now well understood : it origin- ally took place only after certain words, and was in every case owing to an n, in which these words ended in the earlier period of the language. Vid. §§ 8, 24, 28, 35. IRISH GRAMMAR. PAET II. ETYMOLOGY. CHAPTER I. § 8.— The Article. The article an, the, is inflected thus : Singular. Nom. an ; gen. masc. an, gen. fern, na; Plural, na. The dative is formed by an, with a preposition. After a preposition ending in a vowel the a of the article is dropped, as Wn ataiyi, in- correctly written von oxa-ifi, to the father. The form naift (Zeuss, p. 238,) was anciently used in the dat. plural, but is not to be met with in modern Irish. Certain prepositions when followed by the article, assume an f, e. g. le with,lefari, with the; qrie through, zi[iey an through the; iaft, after, layi^an, after the. This fact we conceive to be explicable only by assuming that the y belongs in reality to the article, and not to the preposition. The article causes the following changes in the initials of nouns. 1. If the noun begins with a vowel, the article prefixes z to the nominative singular of masculines, and h to the genitive singular of feminines: it prefixes h to all the cases of the plural except the genitive, to which n is prefixed. See below, No. 2. 2. If the noun begins with a mutable consonant, except t>, c, f, the article aspirates the initial mutables of masculines in the genitive, and of feminines in the nominative. After T)0 and ve the article aspirates in the dative of both . genders. In some parts of Ireland eclipsis is used instead of aspiration. CCnn, in, also aspirates with the article. In the genitive plural all initial mutables, including t> and z, are eclipsed, except -p. The reason of this is, that the geni- tive plural originally ended in n, as mnan, nan. This n ap- pears before vowels as mentioned in No. 1, and so in annpan uof ac, in the beginning. 3. If the noun begins with f, followed by a vowel, or by I, n, or |t, wherever the article would aspirate other consonants, it, in this case, eclipses y by prefixing u. The origin of this t,, and also of that mentioned under No. 1, has not yet been satisfactorily explained. IRISH GRAMMAR. 4. If the noun should begin with, i, n, or fi, or f before a mute, the article causes no change whatever, or in the singular of those beginning with v or u. CHAPTER II. The Noun. § 9.— The Noun in General. There are but two genders in Irish, — the Masculine and the Feminine. The following are a few general rules for ascer- taining to which a noun belongs; but in most cases the learner must find the gender by experience, or from a lexicon. The following nouns are masculine : — Names of men and males generally. Diminutives in cm, in ; derivatives in aiT>e, uii)e, oif>e, cnfie, ox, a|i, ofi, and personal nouns ending in 6ifi; as, buceilreoifi, a thresher; abstract substantives in cqp; as, rmnecqp, sickness; and usually monosyllables in ecu, ucu, Uf, and ut; as, ucu, the breast. The following are generally feminine : — Names of women and females, of countries, rivers, and diseases, diminutives in 65 ; derivatives in acu ; as, jxiogacu, a kingdom; and abstract substantives, except those in ccf ; as, ^ite, whiteness ; and in most cases those nouns in which the last vowel is slender. There are only two numbers, the singular and plural, and four cases distinct in form, the nominative, genitive, dative, and vocative. Under the nominative form are included the relations of the nominative and accusative, under the dative form,* the relations of the dative and ablative. The vocative has alivays the particle a prefixed, which aspirates the initial mutable. * In the former edition of this grammar the name prepositional was, after O'Donovan, given to this case ; it is more convenient, however, to retain the term dative. It must be borne in mind that it is the preposition prefixed that makes it either dative or ablative, and that the aspiration that will be seen so frequently to occur in the initial letter of the noun in this case, as t>o bctlX, is owing to the influence of the preposition t>o, to, and is not a neces- sary adjunct of the dative case. The dative is, therefore, in this grammar, given in its nude form without the preposition, and consequently without the aspiration, and the same has been done in the case of the vocative. 8 IRISH GRAMMAR. The case endings in the modern language are, as might be expected, much fewer and less distinct than in the more ancient, in which the accusative singular and plural had frequently a distinct ending, and where also peculiar forms of the neuter and dual are found. The case distinctions ap- pear at an earlier period to have been lost by the Welsh and Cornish, with the exception of that internal inflexion ex- hibited by the first declension in Irish, of which a few traces exist even in those languages. We may arrange the nouns in the modern language into five classes, or declensions, which follow. Some nouns partake of the characteristics of several declensions. Zeuss, treating of the ancient language, classifies the nouns into two divisions, the vowel and the consonantal declension, so designated on account of the crude bases ending respectively in vowels and in consonants. In the modern language there are, however, but few traces of the second division left, which may perhaps be enumerated as the fifth declension, with some few nouns of the third, namely, those that make their genitive singular end in ox. § 10. — First Declension. The first declension consists of masculine nouns whose geni- tive is formed from the nominative by adding a slender vowel to the broad one in the termination, or by changing the broad vowel or diphthong of the noun into a slender one. In the plural the nominative is like the genitive singular, and the genitive like the nominative singular. The dative case in the singular is like the nominative ; in the plural, it ends in ib, which is invariable throughout all the declensions. The vocative case plural is formed by adding a to the nominative singular. Singular. Nom. bctii, a limb. Gen. bcati. Dat. bcdX. Voc. bcnU,. In like manner decline — Singular. T>Ctit, a blind man. pecqi, gen. pp,, a man. Plural. Nom. bcati. Gen. ball. Dat. bccU,ccib\ Voc. bcrtXcc. Plural. cctyvxn, a path. yold'p, comfort mac, a son. bfiomac, a c< IRISH GRAMMAR. 9 Some nouns of this declension form the nominative plural by adding m to the singular ; as, feoc, a sail, PI. f eoira. Whenever the nominative plural differs in form from the genitive singular, the dative plural is formed from it, not only in this, but in the other declensions, e. g. feotmib, so f^eai, a tale, Nom. PL f^eoxa, Dat. f^eoxraib. Many nouns ending in ox form the nominative plural by adding e to genitive singular ; c in declension becomes § ; as, uaiccc, a burden, a charge; Gen. Sing, uataig ; Nom. PI. uaicnge. § 11 .—Second Declension. This declension comprises the greater part of the feminine nouns in the language, and but few masculines. The genitive singular has a slender increase. This causes an attenuation of the preceding syllable, if it be not slender already, according to the rule caol le caot, 7c. The dative case is formed from the genitive by dropping the increase. The nominative plural has a broad or slender increase re- gulated by the rule, cccol te cccoo, 7c. Singular. Nom. and Voc. cop a foot. Gen. . . coi^pe. Dat. . . coTp. In like manner decline — Plural. Nom. and Voc. copcc. Gen. . . cop, Dat. . co-pccib\ tn-peog, a lark. cftoc, a cross. ipgocog, a farmer. ctoc, a stone. Words in 61D make their nom. pi. in Tyroe; e.g., frjiccboiT), a scolding woman; pi. jr?|iccb6i'Di'6e. Some nouns, the vowel of whose termination is slender, form the plural either by adding a slender termination, or ecmncc; as, imb, an herb; PL Untie, or Unbecmncc : "But the latter form," says O'Donovan, " which is like the Saxon ter- mination en (as in oxen), is more general, and better than the former, because more distinct and forcible." When the nomi- native plural terminates in this mode, the genitive plural is formed from it by dropping the a ; e.g., the gen. pi. of linb is Unbecmn. The vocative singular of masc. nouns having a broad vowel in the termination of the nominative is generally attenuated. 10 IRISH GRAMMAR. If the nominative plural be formed by adding ze to the sin- gular, as sometimes happens, the genitive plural is formed from it by adding at ; as colli, a wood; plural, nom. coiltue ; gen. coiiluecco ; dat. coittnb. § 12. — Third Declension. The nouns of this declension are of both the masculine and feminine gender. It comprises nouns ending in 6ifi> fern, abstracts in acu, abstracts in ecqp, monosyllables with 10, as fiof, &c, and others. The genitive singular has a broad increase. The dative ends like the nominative in the singular number. The nominative plural takes a slender increase, ii>e and ue, and a broad increase in a, anna, and aca. Singular. Plural. Nom. and Voc. pgecrooijx, a Nom pigea'Doiyti'De. weaver. Gen. pigeccooiii. Gen. . . p5eaT>6yia. Dat. pigeccooifiio. Dat. . . pgeccooiyi. Yoc. -piSeccotfifiToe. Voc. . . pigeceooifi. Carefully observing the rule caot te caot, 7c, decline — mealtaoifi, a deceiver. moin, a bog. 1/1 op, a rath. 'jpidntn 5^601 yt, a saviour. pof, knowledge. peoii, flesh. Also, oxaiji, a father; gen. auafx ; nom. pi. aiqae, or aitfteaca, gen. aitjieac ; bjiamifi, a brother, nom. pi. bfiai- tfie, or byi&ityieaca ; and mccuaifi, a mother; also, cuit> ; gen. ccoa, a part. Those nouns in which the nominative plural ends in ze, or te, form the genitive by adding af) : — mom ; gen. pi. mom- ^eaf). Many feminine nouns in 1|X make their genitive singular in ac, as 'oaifi, the oak, T)ayiac ; taf aift, a flame, taffiac, &c. These nouns make their nominative plural in aca, as laf fiaca, so coxaiyi, a city, catjiac ; nom. pi. caqrtaca. Nouns in eaf make their genitive either after the analogy of the first or third declension, as nnneaf, sickness; gen. nnnip, or uirmeafa. The first form is the more common. Certain nouns which take a broad increase also suffer an internal change; e.g.,fiof, knowledge, gen. peafa; Uff, news, gen. of fa; leaf, a rath, gen. leaf a, also iif. IRISH GRAMMAR. 11 § 13. — Fourth Declension. The fourth declension comprises nouns of both genders which have no change in the singular number. Most nouns ending in vowels, and generally those in 15, if), and in, are of this declension. The nominative plural is generally formed by adding if>e, ue, and ue, to nominative singular. The genitive plural is formed by adding f> or cro to nomina- tive singular, and sometimes to the nominative plural. It is, however, in common usage incorrectly, but frequently, made identical at one time with the nominative singular, and at another with the nominative plural. Singular. Nom. and Voc. pccmne, a ring. Gen. . . pdmne. Dat. . . pdmne. Plural. Nom. and Voc. pccmniT>e. Gen. . . pchrmeaf). Dat. . . 'pcanniT>i15. *Oume, a person, makes Dccoine; cattle makes cciuecmucc in the nominative plural. § 14. — Fifth Declension. Nouns of the fifth declension are of both genders, and gener- ally end in vowels in the nominative. The genitive singular is formed by adding n or nn. The dative case is formed by attenuating the termination of the genitive singular. The nominative plural is generally formed by adding a to the genitive singular. Some nouns of this declension form their plurals irregularly, but they will be learned by practice, or from the dictionary. Plural. Nom. and Voc. cotiiccp/pcmccand c6rha|vpain. Gen. . . c6iiiile, a flood. cecrcyiaiiia, a quarter. Cecmga also makes reccn^ta, rean^taca in the plural. 12 IRISH GRAMMAR. § IS. — Irregular Nouns. "Dice, God; ca, a day ; bean, a woman; bo, a cow ; mi, a month; caojia, a sheep; qrio, a hovel; b|iu, or byioirm, a womb; ceo, ctfog; cyie, clay, are quite irregular, and are de- clined as follows : — Thcc, m,, God. Plural. Nom. T)ee, or T)eite. Gen. Tha, or T>eitecc6. Dat. T)eib, or T)eitib. Voc. T)ee, or T)eite. %ar. Nom. Thee. Gen. T)e. Dat. T)icc. Voc. T)e, or Tha. La, m., a day. Nom. Id. Gen. tcce. Dat. id, or to. Voc. id, or iae. Nom. iaete, or idite, and haeieawca. Gen. taeteai), or id. Dat. iaetib, or idicib. Voc. iaete, or idite. Oearij /., a woman. Nom. and Voc. bean. Gen. . . irmd. Dat. . . mnctoi. Nom. and Voc. mnd. Gen. . . ban. Dat. * . mndib. 06 ; /., a cow. Nom. and Voc. bo. Gen. . . bo. Dat. . . btnn Nom. and Voc. ba. Gen.. . . bo. Dat. . . buaib*. TTli,/., a month. Nom. and Voc. mi. Gen. . . mio^a, mif. Dat. . . mif, mi. Nom. and Voc. mio'pa. Gen. . . mi of. Dat. . . mioyxxib. Caofia,/ Nom. caoyia. Gen. caoyiac. Dat. caoyia* Voc. caoyia- L, a sheep, Nom. caoiyti§. Gen. caoyiac. Dat. caoyicaib. Voc. caoyica. Cfio, m Singular. Nom. and Voc. cyio. Gen. . . cyio. Dat , . cyio. ., a hut. Plural. Nom. and Voc. cfiaoite, and cyioite. Gen. e . cyio. Dat. . . cnxxoitib\ and cfioicib. HtlSH GRAMMAR. 13 byxu,/., the womb. Nom. and Voc. bfiu- Gen. . . bfitnrme, or bnxmn. Dat. , . byiomn. Nom. and Voc, bfionna. Gen. . . bfiorm. Dat. . . bnxmnaib. Ceo, a fog, makes ceoig and ciox in the genitive singular. Cfte, /"., clay^ in the singular is declined thus : — !Nom. cyie. Gen. cfiiaT). Dat. efie. Voc. cyie. It would be well for the learner to practise himself in affix- ing the article to nouns. The changes and eclipses which are caused by the article have been stated in § 8. We give a few nouns here illustrative of the rules : — an «c-a. Voc. ao'poa. Plural. MASC. AND FEM. Nom. ao-jroa. Gen. aop^a. Dat. aoy^Da. Voc. ao'poa. § 21. — Adjectives declined with Nouns. Adjectives beginning with mutable consonants are aspirated in the nominative singular feminine, in the genitive singular masculine, in the vocative case singular of both genders, and in the plural in the nominative masculine if the noun ends in a consonant ; they are also aspirated in the dative singular masculine.* CCn ^eccyi seat, the white man. Singular. Plural. Nom. an peayi seal. Gen. an pfi §iX. Dat. 'oo'n peayi geai. Voc. a pp, 51 X,. Nom. na pifi geata. Gen. na opeafi ngeai. Dat. no na peanxab' geaia* Voc. a pean,a geota. * It is not easy to lay clown any general rule about the dative singular, as the influence upon the noun or adjective depends upon the preposition employed. The aspiration in the dative is modern and colloquial ; in the written language eclipsis generally takes place. 16 IRISH GRAMMAR. "Norn, an 5ean gecci. Gen. namnd 51 he. Dat. t>oVi rftnaoi 51 h Voc. a bean geat. OCn Bean §eac, £Ae wAi£e woman. Plural. Norn, na mnd geaia. Gen. na mban ngeat. I)at. t>o na mndi6 geata. Voc. a rnna geala. After this manner the learner might exercise himself with the following, given by Neilson in his Irish Grammar :— an la ptian,, the cold day. an cfiann mon,, the great tree. an rnaiT>m puayi, the cold morning. an ctoc nioyi, the great stone. a Consonants," as O'Donovan remarks, " are aspirated in the plural merely for the sake of euphony, and not to distinguish the gender ; for whenever the noun to which the adjective belongs terminates in a vowel, the initial consonant of the adjective retains its natural sound ; as, ceoiucc binne, sweet melodies. § 22. — The Degrees of Comparison. In both the comparative and superlative the form of the adjective is the same, and they are distinguished from one another only by the particle affixed, or the context. The comparative is formed by putting niof before the geni- tive singular feminine of the positive, and the superlative by putting if , or cqp , before the same ; as geat, white; niof pie, whiter ; cqp pie, whitest. if is generally used before a slender vowel, ay before a broad, tiiof is probably a contraction for nfd cqp, thing which is, as in certain collocations niof cannot be correctly used; as, T)o uabayipamn mnu e T>a rn-bicco f e nil) bpecqvp,, / would give it to you if it were better, where niof (nil) cqp ?) becomes nif) baf). The particle niof is, however, sometimes omitted, e. g., in interrogative sentences; as, meafcciT) pern an coyia a bpaf)- nuipe T)e, do you consider it is right in the presence of God? Acts iv. 19. Similar is the usage when the assertive verb ip or ay begins the sentence, in which case niof , as O'Donovan remarks, is never used, as in the example cited by him, if pecqrip, me iond tu, / am better than thou. IRISH GRAMMAR. 17 In the ancient language we meet with a comparative end- ing in ueyi, ciyi (Greek repoq, Sansk. 7f^, tara), and a super- lative in em (Sansk. ^, ma, Lat. mus, as, Sansk.^TSJ'^J', ad- hama, Lat. infimus, and T^Tf, parama, primus, summus, mini- mus) ; but these terminations have disappeared in the modern language. The slender increase in niop ^ile is really the comparative inflexion; compare the old Irish comparative in iu, Sansk. tyas, Lat. ior, ius, Greek iljv. The ctp or if added to the superlative is in reality nothing but the sub- stantive verb, the superlative being formed similarly to that in French by the addition of the article to the comparative form. That the a and e are really comparative and super- lative inflexions is evident from a comparison of the Cornish, where both degrees, without distinction, terminate in a and e. — Vid. N orris s Cornish Grammar, p. 22. The adjective in the comparative and superlative under- goes no change, but is treated as an adjective of the fourth declension. § 23. — Irregular Comparison. The following adjectives are irregular in their comparison, that is, they form their comparatives, and some their superla- tives, from adjectives now obsolete : — Comparative. Superlative. mop Uigcc. ip Uigcc. mop pccToe, rriop pa. niop Ufa, pup a. mop poi^pe, poipge. mop goiyie, ^aipe. niop 5ioyi|ia. mop cuipge. mop pedpp. rriop mionca. rriop mo. niop rneapa. mop ceo. Luau has also a regular comparative and superlative, luccite. The irregular comparative is borrowed from cup, a beginning. There is another form, corona, now in disuse. When uuif^e is used it generally expresses order of time, and is used some- c Positive. beag, little. 'pa'oa, long. ^ U 1T'l easy, pogtip, near. gari, near, 5edpri, short. iuat, quick. mait, good. mime, often. mori, great. olc, bad. ceit, hot ip -pa. ip tip a. 1 f poigpe. ip cuipge. ip rjedriri. ipmo. ip meapa. ip ceo. 18 IRISH GRAMMAR. what adverbially, e.g., mif e an yeafi ba tuir^e, I was the first man to do any thing ; mcqx ba tuir^e end mire, for he was before me, John i. 30 — Ream's Irish Testament. So nior zmyge rid tdn^a'oaYi a n^ari T>d ceite, before they came together, Matt. i. 18. — Keane's translation, (caorja is the form used in O'Donnell's translation). § 24 — The Numerals. The following is a list of the numerals : — VALUE. CARDINAL, One, ETC. ORDINAL, first, ETC. 1. ccon. cecco. 2. T)d ; abstract form : t>6. TKryicc. 3. crii- srieccp and criiOYtiaT). 4. ceitrte; abstract, cecrccari. ceatyiarnaT). 5. cuig. cuigrtieaT). 6. ye. yeirmeaT) and reirfieaT). 7. -peace. reacxrfia'6. 8. occ occrhcco. 9. naoi. naorhaT). 10. T>eic ; abstract, T>eas. T)eicrfieaT>. 11. aon-T)ea5. aorirnaT) 'oeag. 12. 'Do-'oeag. T>aria TDeag. 13. t:rti- , oecc5. crtiOThaT) T>ect5, or criea'p'oeag. 20. pice, ptce. pcceaT>rhaT>, ptcecc6. 21. aon a'n pee, or ccon art cconrftceD an. pciT>. pciT). 30. T>eic art pici'o, cyuocaT). crnoca'orha'6, or 'oeicrfiea'6 aft ptciT>. 40. 730: pciT). T>d pcea'DrYiaT). 50. cao^aT), caoga, T>eic a'r 'oeicrfiea'6 art 7)0: pciTj. T>d pci'o. 60. "crti pciT). erii pciTrniecro. 70. T)eic ir eyii piciT>. 'oeicrhea'6 art qrii pci'o. 80. ceitrie pci'o, occrnogaT). ceitrie pciTrnieaT), or occrfio- 90. nocaT), t>eic in ceitrte 'oeicrfiea'6 an. ceitfie peiT>, or pci'o. nocaT>aT). 100. » cetiT) and ceaT>. cetmaT) and cea'oa'6. 1,000. mite. miteaT). 1,000,000. rmttiun. mittiunaT). T)6 and ceataiyi are never used with the noun, as they ex- press the numbers in the abstract. The following plurals are used: ipiciT), twenties; ceaT>ua, hundreds ; but in the enumeration of the hundreds, 200, 300, eic, eclipse the initial mutables of their nouns, and prefix n to nouns beginning with a vowel. The eclipsis arises (vid. § 7) from their forms originally being f eccen (Sansk. saptan, Lat. sept em), ocuen (Sansk. ashtari), noin (Sansk. navan, Lat. novem), Decen (Sansk. das'an, Lat. decern). The following nouns, with the exception of beijxu, are formed from the cardinals : — feccccccji, and moin/peifeccfi, seven persons. occcqfi, eight persons. naonbcqfi, nine persons. T>eicneabccfi, ten persons. T)iY\ or bei|ic, two persons. tTfiitifi, three persons. ceacfictfi, Jour persons. cthgecqfi, five persons. fei-jpecqfi, six persons. Most of these are compounded of the cardinals, and the noun pecqi, a man; but this has long been forgotten in practice, as they are applied to women as well as men, and -pecqft itself is sometimes expressed in addition, as John iv. 18, oifi T)o bccoccfi cuigeafi peafi a^cro, for thou hast had five husbands. CHAPTER IV. The Pronoun. § 25. — The Pronoun in general* There are six kinds of Pronouns, viz. — Personal, Possessive, Relative, Demonstrative, Interrogative, and Indefinite. The compound pronouns need not be considered as a separate class, as they are merely personal pronouns with prepositions. § 26. — Personal Pronouns. There are four personal pronouns: — me, /; uu, thou; f e, he ; and f i, she, with their plurals ; which, when used em- phatically, take an additional syllable, called the " emphatic increase." We give here the two forms, simple and emphatic, It will beobserved that the genitive case admits of no emphatic increase. The genitive is in common parlance the possessive pronoun. Vid. §28. This so-called "emphatic increase" appears in the Scotch Gaelic, Welsh, and Cornish, as well as the Irish. That added c2 20 IRISH GRAMMAR. to the first person plural, namely tie, is, as Zeuss has shown, a repetition of the pronoun ; pm being the older form of the first person plural, afterwards, the p being rejected, til The Welsh has also an emphatic or reduplicated form of ni, nyni. Similarly, in Cornish, thyn means to us, and is also found re- duplicated thynny. The Welsh used reduplicated forms for all the persons ; thus, mi, I, myvi (v being the secondary form of m), chwi, you, chwychi, &c. The Cornish also fre- quently repeats the pronoun in what Mr. Norris calls the second state; as, worty, against her, worty hy, id.; hy being the third pers. sing. fern. ; it has also a broad increase similar to the Irish ; as, dys, to thee ; emphatic, dyso. ■Beseem and paT)pxn may perhaps be reduplicated forms, as the increase seems sometimes to be used without the pro- noun being adjoined; as, arm fan vo bi beata, in him was life. Zeuss gives similar instances, and notes that the ancient form was p om and p em, alike for singular and plural. First Person. me,/. SIMPLE. Nom. me. Gen. mo. Dat. 'occm. EMPHATIC. Nom. mip e. Dat. 'ocempx. SIMPLE. Nom. prm- Gen. dr> Dat. -Diiitni. Ace. urn Phi *al. EMPHATIC. Nom. purine. Dat. T)umne. Second Person. TLx\, thou. SIMPLE. Nom. cti,tti. Gen. 730. Dat. miic Voc. tu. Sing ular EMPHATIC. Nom. cupx. Dat. T>tncpe. Voc. tupx. SIMPLE. Nom. pit). Gen. {kip. Dat. 7>adit5, T)1b. Ace. it5. Voc. pib. Ph iral. EMPHATIC. Nom. poVe. Dat. Txxoibpe. Voc. pioVe. IRISH GRAMMAR. 21 Third Person Masculine. Se, he. Singular. SIMPLE. EMPHATIC. Nom. f e. Nom. -pe^ean> Gen. a. Dat. -oofcm. Dat. »o6. Ace. e-pecm. Ace. e. Third Person Feminine. -81, she. Singular. SIMPLE. Nom. -pi. Gen. a. Dat. »oi. Ace. 1. EMPHATIC. Nom. p-jpe, Tpe. Dat. TUfe. Third Person Plural, Common Gender. Si ceo, they. SIMPLE. Nom. 'pen). Gen, a. Dat. T>6it5. Ace. icco. EMPHATIC. Nom. -peco-pan. Dat. T)6il5pean- Acc. iccofcm. Smn, fib, f e, ff, are the forms generally used for the nomi- native, and e, 1, for the accusative; the forms inn, 1b, are now nearly in disuse. T)ipn is used for Di^e when contempt is intended. Pein, self, is often affixed to the personal pronouns; as, me -pein, myself, &c. § 27. — 27ie Personal Pronouns with Prepositions. The following combinations of the personal pronouns with prepositions occur so frequently that they ought to be care- fully committed to memory. There are fifteen of them in common use, many others are used in the ancient language, and similar combinations are to be met with in all the Celtic languages. 1. With 0:5, at or with. Plural. ccguwn, with us. agiiiti, with you. aca, with them. 05am, with me. a^cro, or agox, with thee. 0:156, with him. aici, with her. 22 IRISH GRAMMAR. 2. With ay, out of cqpccrn, out of me. ccpcro, or ccpcrc, out of thee. ccp, out of him. aij^e, co-psi, ow£ of her. Plural. ctf tnrin, out of us. ccftnti, ow£ of you. ccpccC) ccp^a, ow£ of them. Singular. oyim, ora me. Oftc, on thee. ccifi, ora Mm. tnyvp,e, tnjiti, o^ Aer* 3. With aft, ttpon. oytyttunn, on us. 0|V]fvui15, ow vow. ofvccc, or otiyia, orc 4. With cum, towards, to. Singular. cti^arYi) unto me. cu^cco, unto thee. ctnge, ww to him. cuice, unto her. Singular. T)iom, from me. T>ioc, from thee. -oe, /tym» Mm. r o\,from her. Plural. ctigawYi, unto us. ctigait), unto you. cuccc, unto them. 5. With ve,from, off. Plural. tdithi, from us. T>it5, from you. T)\oY>,from them. 6. With vo, to. Singular. •oath, and *oom, to me. •otns, to thee. T)6, fo him. •oi, to for. Plural. T)uinn, to ws. •00:01 15, T)il5, to #0«. T)6il3, to tffom. 7. TF&& eiT)ifi, or 1T>1|X, between. Plural. ecrofitmifi, between us. ecrojunft, between you. ecrcofiyia, and ecrcofttcc, between them. 8. With ya, or yo, under. Singular. purn, under me. pUT), pur, under thee. paoi, and pe, under him. pthte, puiti, trader for. Plural. pthnn, wwefer ws. puit), under you. putcc, wwdfer tffom. IRISH GRAMMAR. 23 9. With cmn, in Singular, ion nam, in me. 1 0rinoco, lonnai:, in thee. cmn, in him. innce, innci, in her. Plural lonnamn, in us. iormait5, in you. 1011 tic a, in them. 10. With im, or urn, upon or about. Singular. urn am, about me. umaT>, urnax:, about thee. in me, about him. tnmpe, tnmpi, about her. Plural, umamn, about us. umait), about you. um pa, about them. 11. With Le, or pie, with. Singular. tiom, rnom, with me. Leac, pnoc, with thee. Leip, rirr, with him. Le, teite, rua, with her. Plural. Linn, purm, with us. h V3, pnt5, w^& #om. Leo, rvm, «^& ^ew. ti aim, from me. uottfo, from thee. VOLT), from him. uaite, uaiti,/rom her. 12. With o, or via, from. Plural. tiainn, from us. xmifyfrom you. u oxa, from them. 13. With ptoirfi, before. Singular. riorham, before me. riomaT), riomac, before thee. rionfie, before him. rioimpe, rioimpi, before her. Plural. riomairm, before us. riomaiti, before you riompa, before them. 14. With rari, beyond. tortm, over me. topx, toriaT), over thee. caipiip, over him. tdip/pe, cdipipi, over her. Plural. top/pairm, over us. topptai V3, over you. tap/pa, tap/pea, over them. Singular. epiom, through me. cpioc, through thee. criiT), through him. criite, cp,ici, through her. 15. With rpte, through. Plural. crurm, through us. criit), through you. criiota, through them. 24 IRISH GRAMMAR. The emphatic increases for these compounds are, in the singular, ya for the first and second person, f ecm for the third person. In the plural, ne, m, for the first person ; fa, f e, for the second person ; and -jpcm, fecm, for the third person. Observe all through the rule caot te caot, 7c. § 28. — Possessive Pronouns. The possessives are: — mo, my; t)o, thy; a, his, or hers; dfi, ours ; bufi, yours ; and a, theirs. The possessives mo, t>o, and bufi take the emphatic increase fa, or fe ; op, takes na or ne ; and a takes fan, or f ecm, according to the rule caot te caot, 7c. ; but the increase is always postfixed to the noun qualified by the possessives, or if that noun has an adjective, to the adjective; e.g., mo tom^a, my hand; ap, 5-cmnne, our hands; a tarn T>ecqp f an, his right hand. flflo, vo, and a, his, aspirate the initial mutables of their nouns; as, mo bean, my wife; dfi, bufi, and a, theirs, eclipse the same; as, bufx mbftocaifi, your brother. The eclipsis arises from the fact that these pronouns originally ended in n, which form appears before vowels and the mediae v and 5; their original forms were afin, paywi or poftn, and an ; a, hers, prefixes h to nouns beginning with a vowel. The a, his, is the Sansk. asya, ending in a vowel, hence it aspirates ; a, hers, is in Sansk. asyas, ending in a consonant, hence no change except before vowels; a, theirs, was in its full form an, Sansk. eshdm, Lat. eorum. This coincidence was shown some twenty years ago by Bopp, the founder of Comparative Philology, in his essay on the Celtic Languages, of which it formed one of the most brilliant points. The following are the combinations of the possessives with prepositions : — 1. With vo, to. Plural. Singular. •00111, to my. 'DOT), to thy. t)d, to his, to her. TKiyi, to our. "od, to their. 2. With te, with. tern, with my. tex>, with thy. Singular. am, in my. oro, etc, in thy. net, in his or her. IRISH GRAMMAR. 25 3. F%A an, in. Plural. 'nail, irc owr. net, in their. Singular. 6vn,from my. (ro, from, thy. on a, from his or her. 4. TT^A 6, from. Plural. on a, /ram tfA^'r. § 29. — Relative Pronouns. The relative pronouns are a, who, which, or what; noc, w^o, which ; ride, which not. The primitive form of the relative a for all genders was an, which by phonetic rule is intact before vowels and the mediae t>, 5, and becomes am before b, ayi before ji, and a before f, p, and the tenues. Viol. Zeuss, p. 348. Contractions frequently take place when the relative is pre- ceded by a preposition ending with a vowel ; as,T)arx, lerx, &c. T)drxb, or T>driab, and ierxb, may be analyzed, as the case may be, T>'a yio ba, to whom was, or t>' afi ab, to whom is ; bean T>dfib amm TDaifie, a woman whose name was Mary, or whose name is, d, a compound of ve, of, and the relative a, "which would be better written T)'a, of what § 30. — Interrogative Pronouns. The interrogatives are cia or ce ; plural, ciat), who, what; caT), cyxeuT), 50 T»e, what; cd, 5a, what or where. CaD (anciently cid, cex>), seems to have been the neuter of cia, though this use is lost in the modern language. £ ^ was anciently coue ; vid. Zeuss, p. 361. § 31. — Demonstrative Pronouns. The demonstrative pronouns are : — fo, this, these; pn, that, those; pro, or tiro, yonder. They are all indeclinable. " When fo follows a word whose last vowel is slender, it is 26 IRISH GRAMMAR. written p, or fe, and sometimes f eo ; as, na h-arnipfie fi, of this time (Keating's Hist, page 2) ; and fin, when it follows a word whose last vowel is broad, is written fan or fom [f ecm ?]" — O* Donovan. These changes are to accord with the rule cccol te cccol, 7c. " Sut> is generally used with personal pronouns, and ut) with nouns." — Connellan. Examples are: — an pBayi ut>, the man yonder ; to fe f ut>, it is he yonder. § 32. — Indefinite Pronouns. These are: — eix;in, some; £ibe or cibe,* whoever; ccon, any; eite, other; a ceiie, each other; ^ac, every, each; 50:6 mle, every ; cac. any other ; neac, any one; ceaccctfi, or neacTOfi, either ; an re, ^e person who ; tnie, a£Z. Cac makes cdic in the genitive singular ; the rest are indeclinable. Some of these, it will be observed, are mere compounds which have obtained a sort of pronominal use, and others are more strictly pronominal adjectives. CHAPTER V. The Verb. § 33. — Of the Verb in general. The Irish verb has four moods : — the Indicative, Imperative, Conditional, and Infinitive. The Infinitive is used with the particles a$, iayi, or aft zi, in the sense of present, past, and future participles respectively. There are five tenses, viz. : — the Present, Consuetudinal Present, Past, Consuetudinal Past, and the Future. The con- suetudinal tenses might very properly be classified as a separate mood. The conditional mood is chiefly used in expressing a condi- tion, and has frequently the particle t>&, if, expressed before it. Other particles often precede it, especially 50. It may some- times be rendered by the Latin imperfect subjunctive, but frequently has a sort of conditional future signification. Ex- amples may be found in Matt. xiii. 15 ; xiv. 15, 36 ; xx. 19 ; Acts vii. 19, &c. * Spelled also 51T) Ve, cicc Ve, evidently for gix) or ci& bcco e; cit> b'e is whatever. IRISH GRAMMAR. 27 In the ancient language the consuetudinal past and present were alike. The consuetudinal past has, in the modern lan- guage, retained the ancient synthetic, or personal form, while the present has adopted the analytic, or impersonal. The indicative mood is often used in the sense of a subjunc- tive, but the latter is not distinguished by any peculiar end- ings. Initial changes, however, frequently take place, but these are owing to the influence of the particles preceding. The root of the verb, for practical purposes, may be con- sidered to be the second person singular imperative active, from which all the other parts of the verb can be formed by affixing certain terminations. Changes also take place in the beginning, but they are generally phonetic, and caused by certain particles prefixed, which serve to mark out some of the moods and tenses, and are sometimes not expressed, but understood. The persons of the verb are formed in two different ways, analytically and synthetically. The analytic mode expresses the various persons by the third person singular of the verb and the personal pronouns. The synthetic, which is the mode generally used in the ancient language, in Irish as elsewhere, expresses the persons by terminational endings. Thus, in the analytic mode, the verb is the same throughout, the differ- ent pronouns marking the various persons and the number. In the synthetic, the verb has distinct terminations for each person except the third person singular. Thus the analytic form of the present indicative of Of is — Singular. cd me, I am. cd cu, thou art x:a ^pe, he is. But the synthetic — cdrni, I am. cdijx, thou art. cd fe, he is. The analytic is generally used in asking a question ; e.g., an tabftcmn zvi 5it5e ? Do you speak Irish ? But in answering, the synthetic ; labfiaim, / speak. The pronoun should not be used separately after the synthetic form, which would be a repetition of the pronoun; as T)ecmpaiT) ficro, they, they will do* Plural cd firm, we are. cd 'p 15, you are. cd micro, they are. cd pcro, they are. camaoro, we are. x:&tao^,you are. mro, they are. 28 IRISH GRAMMAR. In English the analytic is the form used; in Latin the synthetic : — I love, amo. Thou lovest, amas. He loves, amat. We love, amamus. You love, amatis. They love, amant But even in the English language there are evident traces of a synthetic form : thus, thou lovest ; he loves ; where st and s are evidently traces of terminational ending3. In affixing the terminations to the verb, the rule cccoL te cccol cc^Uf Leoxcm le teoxcm must be constantly kept in mind. The terminational endings of the verb are given in the Table on the opposite page. § 34. — Formation of Moods and Tenses. A. — Active Voice. The simplest form is the second person singular imperative active ; as, buccii, strike. The Present is formed by adding im, and the other per- sonal endings, as given in the table, to the root; as, buaitim, / strike. The Consuetudinal Present (Englished by " habitually do ;" as, buctiieann me,/ habitually strike), is formed by adding cmn to the root. This tense has no synthetic form. The Past Tense is formed by adding ay to the root, and prefixing t>o, which always aspirates the initial mutable in the active, but makes no change in the passive voice. The Consuetudinal Past is formed by adding inn and the other terminations to the root ; as, buccil, vo Buccilinn. The Future is formed by adding yav, and the other termi- nations to the root ; as, burnt, bucciipecro. Verbs of more than two syllables ending in 151m in the first person singular present indicative active make the future in occro, or ogcco ; as, ipoiiifigim, poittf eoccco, and £oiU/|peo§cco, to reveal. Fu- tures of this class are inflected in the same mode as the present, with the exception of the first pers. sing.; e.g., yoill- y eoccco, polity eoccafi, yo^ly eocccif) ye, g 03 Ch 3 5-5-2 £-^£- 8 8 8 p P P rH CM CO 5= P- u o £ ;o p ££-2 8 8 8 P P P -4 CM CO £-S-2 •p.p p 8 8 8 i^ 6 £-£-2 "p "p v p rl rl h OOO OOO 8 8 8 P P P £\6 9 e-cs 8 8 8 s=;o p © CD CD •P-P-P P-P-P- CD P § 8 P i" CD P u 8 P ft" O O 52; rH rH CM CO rH CM CO ! r-i CM CO H CM CO •a 3 be OQ I!* . 5= -P ^CD 8 8 8 P P P i 5= -p VCD 8 8 8 P P P rH CM CO N ®\r; fc -P vCD •P-P-P 8 8 8 E'P^CD P P "P *h Vi Jh OOO OOO 8 8 8 P P P 5= -P v© 8 8 8 P-P-P- |^5 . 5= -P vCD CD CD CD •P-P-P p-p-p- rH CM CO rH CM CO rH CM CO rH CM CO O M O 5 o C- 8 .^ £;P P 9 I . p ° if. s= . P s= s= s= 5: 5: £ 8 8 8 §=§§ 6g? P i p 1 p. p. p. P- 1 P. O 8ie e Sip. JJ- •i s •§ rf O O s rH i-i cm CO i-l CM CO rH 0 s= v ^*P jlp-p- H CM CO Q O O g H « i Ph 00 a> Sh cs 3 a> OQ g -1-3 Ph 09 aS rH .2 a> OQ S3 O i S3 ft P O O & H P O O •aoojy; aAiivoiaNj 30 IRISH GRAMMAR. The Conditional Mood is formed by adding pinn, and the various terminations given in the table, to the root ; as, bucni, buailpnn. When, however, the future ends in occcd, the conditional is formed from it by changing the ceo of the future into cann, the terminations being the same, with this exception, as in regular verbs ; e.g., poiU/jpeocccmn, poillf eoccc, o cuji, to place. (4). Those in ui§ form their infinitive by adding the usual termination ceo, only dropping the 1 ; as, becmnuig, infinitive, do beccrmugceo, to bless. Those in 1§ form it in the usual mode, only inserting a broad vowel after the 1, generally u ; as, polling, infinitive, 'o'poiiifiugcro, to show. These changes, it should be borne in mind, are only euphonic, aris- ing from that oft-repeated rule cccol te cccoi, 7c. (5.) Some add c to the root, but, as O'Donovan says, these have a second form; a^aiji, infinitive, D'crgaiftf;, or D'asfictD, to reprove. (6.) Some add ccrhuin ; as, qfieiD, infinitive, do qneiDeccrhuin, to believe. (7.) Some add cut; as, ccorhuig,* infinitive, D'ccDtMit, to confess. O'Donovan remarks : "In all verbal nouns borrowed from the English this termination is used in the corrupt modern Irish; as, box&ii, to box; deceit, to kick; fiott&it, to roll; fmtro&ii, to smooth" &c. (8.) Others, ccrfi ; as Dean, infinitive, do Decmarn, to do. (9.) Others, again, cccd ; as, ei|"o, infinitive, D'eifDectCD, to listen. (10.) Some few end in fin ; as, peic, D'£eiqpin, to see. And lastly, some are so irregular that they can be reduced to no rule ; as, icqxji, D'icqvp,cciD, to ask; ^taoD, infinitive, do glaoDccc, to cry out. These last must be learnt by practice, or by consulting the Dictionary. The so-called participles, as has been remarked in § 33, are merely the infinitive used with certain particles ; for the present, a or 0:5, for the past, iccji, which eclipses the initial mutable, and ccp, vi, or le for the future. These are fre- quently used as verbal nouns. * This form is rare in verbs of this ending, tug: they generally follow (4) in the formation of their infinitives. IRISH GRAMMAR. 31 B. — Passive Voice. In the Passive Voice the analytic mode of forming the per- sons prevails ; there is, therefore, only one terminational end- ing to be learned for each tense. The Imperative is formed by adding uccft to the root. It has a first person singular. The Present Indicative is formed by adding the same termi- national ending. There is no separate form for the Consuetudinal Present. The Past is formed by adding ccf>, and prefixing t>o, which in this voice makes no change in the initial mutable. The Consuetudinal Past is formed by adding raoi or ri : when the particle t>o is prefixed, it does not affect the initial letter. The Future is formed by adding cqi or peep, to the impera- tive active. The Conditional Mood is formed by adding ^me to the. root. The Infinitive is formed by adding the termination za or ze, and prefixing the infinitive of the verb to be ; as, t>o beiu buccitue, to be struck. The Participle is formed by adding ucc or ze. The Passive voice may also be formed, as in English, by the various parts of the verb to be, and the passive participle; as, zdme bucniue, or c&irn buculue, i" am struck. § 35. — Aspirations and Eclipses. In order to account for the various changes in the initials of the verb, we shall here give a list of such particles as aspi- rate and eclipse. A. — Those that Aspirate. 1. CCjx, whether? (compounded of an, whether, and fio, sign of the past tense). It is only prefixed to the past tense. 2. X)o and fio, signs of the past tense, and t>o the sign of the infinitive. 3. ^T^ that (compounded of 50, that, and fio, sign of the past). It is only used with the past tense. O'Donovan points out an exception, ^ufiab e, that it is he. 4. trice, if; prefixed to the indicative mood. 5. THafi, as, like as. 32 IRISH GRAMMAR. 6. M acqa, which not (compounded of nac, that not, and fio, sign of the past) ; prefixed to the past. It is generally con- tracted into n&yi. 7. tli, not ; prefixed to the present and future. W\ some- times eclipses, as ni bpuaifi me, I have not found, Luke xxiii. 14, Keanes version ; ni frptniim, / am not. 8. Miofi, not (compounded of ni, the preceding particle, and fio) ; prefixed to the past. B. — Those that Eclipse. On eclipsis, see § 7. 1. CCn, whether? The eclipsis, perhaps, arises from the influence of the n. 2. go, that; the ancient form of this was con, which ex- plains the ellipsis. 3. T>&, if; prefixed to the conditional mood. The original n is seen in the old form T)icm. Via*. Zeuss, p. 670. 4. 1cqi, after ; only prefixed to participles. The full form was icqnn. 5. The relative a (anciently an) when preceded by a pre- position, either expressed or understood, as 6 a 'o-zaim-g, from whom came ; unless the particle fio, the sign of the past, or an abbreviation of it follows, in which case the verb is regu- larly aspirated ; e.g., CCT)arfi 6fi fxrpamafi, i.e., COoarh 6 a fio papamafi, Adam from whom we have sprung. 6. TYlafi a, where, in which; as mafi a n7)ubaifi<:, where he said. The ellipsis is here caused by the relative a; see pre- ceding paragraph. 7. TYluna, unless ; compounded of ma, if and na, not. The eclipses arise from the na, which appears in the form nan, nam, i.e., compounded with the relative an (Zeuss, p. 702); see No. 5. Its ancient form was mam. 8. "Mac, which not. In the past tense this is compounded with fio, and becomes nop,, ncccafx ; it then aspirates, the as- piration arising, not from nccc, but fio. Zeuss (p. 703) does not seem to offer an explanation of the eclipsis ; but it may, perhaps, arise from the relative an being inherent in the word, § 36. The Regular Verb. The following table contains the paradigm. IRISH GRAMMAR. 33 S=50 P Ins e £-*-2 •p.p.p 8 8 8 © CD CD 5= . • e*£ g *p v p v p i'S g : $-$-2 1^ g CD CD CD JS 8 55 03 a 8 » 8 8 8 rOrOrO rOrJrJ 8 8 8 •P.5-P P-stJ-a. CD CD CD P P P CD CD CD P P P 8 8 8 8 8 8 CD CD © s ^JrO^O rirOrO 55 55 55 ^ 55 55 fOrOrO fOrOrJ 8 8 5 8 8 8 -O-O-O *0_0-0 8 8 8 8 8 8 d < CD 8 h 3 P P P P 3 O O O O o o 55 ^3 55 55 55 55 O > rO^^ .0,0*0 rH Oq CO 9 9 9 9 9 9 J^H rOOO rH CM* CO* rH Oq' CO rH CM* CO 1-^ oi co r-5 oq* co VCD vj_" co CO rH £ | d . C -P v® s-s-s- |s3 . £ -P vCD E -U ^CD .p.p-p 8 8 8 CD CD CD E -P vCD "p v i3 "p $= -P vCD vCD • E -P vCD CD CD CD 55 rO •P CD 1 8 8 8 8 8 8 rOrJrO rO^^ 8 8 8 •p.p.p p-2-5- 50 CD O CD P P P CD CD CD P P P 8 8 8 8 8 8 CD CD CD 8 rOrO^O r^JSJo 55 J3 55 55 55 55 rO^rO rO^^O X 8 8 8 8 8 8 ,0,0*0 *0-0,0 8 8 8 8 8 8 g 3 p p 55 55 55 O o o O O O 55 55 53 P 5 P fa rH oq CO *0*0-0 rH Oq CO P P P p P p OO^ rO-O-O » rHcqaj rH oq CO rH CM CO rH oq co 5= . P £50 8 £•££ ErO P i- C 1 Sr 51 P J= S= £ §§§ CD CD 8 8 8 CD © CD 8 8 8 .0,0*0 8 8 8 P E-P p E-P P 5-p-p- ,0 8 s ^JOrO rOrOrO rO^^ 55 55 P 55 ^3 P> rOrO^J rOfOrO 55 W 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 ;o;o;o ;o;o;o 8 8 8 8 8 8 O o ppp 55 55 55 55 55 55 o o o o o o 55 53 ^3 55 55 55 kO o -0*0.0 ,0.0*0 O-O-O P P P 9 9 9 00,0 505050 8 f> m rH Oq' CO* i-* O* CO H Oq* CO rH Oq' CO rH CM CO rH cq CO rH oq' CO H M Q H vCD ^ ^ VCD E P S- £r .«* vCD vCD ^CD 1^- ?H 5- %CD £ 5= £ 8 £-$- CD IT^ c CD 8 51 -P CD p . s- 5= -*P cS • «P s= s= *= rOo3rO rOr^rO -«8 Ph "E d 8 . . CD E sL-p 8 8 8 © © CD 8 5 8 8 8 8 5. CD CD fOrO r3rOr3 *0*0*0 p p p 55 £J J3 rOrO^ ^OrOrO •i . 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 P^VO 50-3 50 8 8 8 8 8 8 55 £3 55 55 33 55 53 55 o o o OOO 55 ^5 ^3 3 3 p rO .-OO rO^rO *0,0_0 p p p P P P OOO 505050 8 55 50 O P Q rH Oq' CO r-* 0* CO rH CM CO Hcsico rH CM CO rH oq CO rH oq* CO* ■4-5 d 05 O o d "3 d rH d CD d rH 3 H H CD -u d ?5 ^ E K Ph 3 !» d H fa fa d o Q O « § O aooj ij[ aAixvoia^i Q 34 IRISH GRAMMAR. § 37. — Irregular Verbs. There are thirteen irregular verbs, viz. : — 1. Oi, the sub- stantive verb, to be. 2. CCbccifi, to say. 3. Oeifi, to bear. 4. Cfoim, to see. 5. CLum, to hear. 6. *Oean, to do. 7. pecc6 ye. Indicative Mood, present tense. Plural. bitniy. blTHT). bfoiy. Mar. crccani, and cdim. crcaifi, and cdi|\. am ye, and t:d ye. crcdrnaoiT>, and cdmaoiT). crcdtaoi, and cdtccoi. acdiT), and cdiT>. There is another form also used, viz., iy or ay me, iy or ay ru, &c. This form is called by O'Donovan " the assertive verb." It may be called from its use the assertive present. Vid. § 64. Negative and Interrogative form. Singular. Plural. bptntim, bptntmiT). bptntiyt. ftptntei. frptni ye. 5ytnin>. It will be understood that this form requires the negative or interrogative particles precediug, as, ni byuilmi, / am not ; an byuiiuu, are you? There is also a relative form of the present, namely, bioy. CONSTJETUD1NAL PRESENT. Singular. Plural biT>im. bjrrji'D. biT>iji. biti. biT>ecmn, or bionn ye. biT>. This, with the exception of the third singular, is a regular present for bi. The third singular was also, anciently, bfo IRISH GRAMMAR. 35 pe. It is, however, used in the modern language as a consue- tudinal present. PAST. Singular. biT>eccp. blTHf. bi pe. Plural. biornaji. biotfccfi. bicoafi. Negative and Interrogative form. Singular. fiaftap. flatten p. ptcnb' -pe. Plural fiaftarnafi. Yiabaftcqri. jiaftccoap,. There is also another form, akin to this latter (via 7 . Zeuss), used, however, only in the analytic form, viz., bat), sometimes spelled bui), or bcc. The form buf> is sometimes, though rarely, used for the future. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. bi'Dinn. tiiT>ced. biT)eaf>, or biox> -pe. Singular. beiT>eceo, or bioco. bei'oiji, or bicafi. beiT) pe, or biaiT) -pe. FUTURE. Plural birnip. bit*, bi'Di'p. Plural bei'omi'o, or biccornaoi'o. beTDTD, or bicroam benoiT), or biaiT). Conditional Mood. Singular. beiT>inn. beTDted. beiT>ecc6 pe. Plural beiT>imip. beTDtiT). beiT>ip. Infinitive Mood. t>o beic Participle. 05 beiu. The form ab occurs with the particles t>o, 50, jupt, &c., in a past and present signification, and also with evident pro- D 2 36 IRISH GRAMMAR. priety in some interrogatory sentences ; as, Wb dltim an bean i, she was a beautiful woman ; T)eifiim ^tifiab e, / say it is, or was, as the case may be ; ab e yo an yeay,, is this the man ? § 39. — CCbaiyi, to say. ACTIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. /Singular. Plural. • • • • abaifi. abfiaT) ye. ctbfiarnaoiy, or abnxcmccoiT) abyiam. abyiaiT). ccbyiai'oiy. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular. PZ^m?. T>eitimi 7 or abfiaim. T>eiftiYi, or ccbyicciyi. T>eixi ye, or ccbjicciT) ye. 'oeiYiimi'6, or abitatnaoiT), ccbfiatn. T>ei|ici'6, or abyiai'o-. r Dei|xiT>, or abyiaiT). CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 'oeifieccrm me, cti, ye, yc. PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. 'Dtibftay. 'oubYicny. , ot«6aifu; ip e. mi ftp-con an- 'otibYiabcqfi- bubficeoan- CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. T>eiy,inri. T>ein£ed. T>eijiecc6 ye. Plural. 'oeiyiiffiiy. TjeijitiT). 'oeifii'Oiy. Singular. 'oeccyipcco. T>ecqvpcan.. 'oecqi^ca'o ye. FUTURE. Plural. 'oeayipamaoi'D. 'oeayipai'D. •Deafiycm). Singular. •o&xjipccinn. T>eayipd. 'oeafipa'6 fe» IRISH GRAMMAR. 37 Conditional Mood. Plural TDeatxpamaoi^. 'oeayipai'6. 'oeajipai'oi'p. Infinitive Mood. T)0 yict'D. Participle. a^YidT). PASSIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. abayitafi me, 7c Indicative Mood. present tense. •oeifiteccyi, or abcqfitafi me, cti, 7c PAST. T)tib|iaT) me, 7c CONSUETUDINAL PAST, 'oeifiti me, 7c. FUTURE. t>ecrp/pafi me, 7c. Conditional Mood. T)ect|ipaiT>e me, 7c. Infinitive. x>o 6eit fidiT>ce. Passive Participle. jidTDce. The past tense, active, is not aspirated except after ni, not; nor does it take the particles vo or yxo before it. It is pro- bably a contraction of do beipteap , from the old verb, bei|\im, I say, into T>obfiaf , and thence into xmbftaf. 38 IRISH GRAMMAR. § 40. — Oeifi, to bear. ACTIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. Singular, beifi. bei|tecc6 f e. Plural, beifumif. beifiif>. beifiToif. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular, beifiirn. beifufi. beifiix) fe. Plural. beifiimi'o. bei^itiT). bei|HT). CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. beijiecmn me, 7c. PAST TENSE. Singular, TU15 fe. Plural. fiusamaii. Yitigabaji. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. beifiinn. beificea. beifieceo f e Plural. beiYnmip beificl. beifiToif. FUTURE TENSE. Singular, beccfiipcco. beafvpcciti. beatipaii) f e. Plural beaYipaTnaoiT) begytpaiT). becqvpai'o. Conditional Mood. becrp/paiTiTi. beajvpa. beap/pcco f e. Plural. beccyvpannaoi'p. beayvpaiT). beajipaToifv IRISH GRAMMAR. Infinitive Mood. t>o frjrteit. Participle. ccg byieit. PASSIVE VOICE. 39 Imperative Mood. beipxecqx me, cu, 7c Indicative Mood, present tense. beifxtecqfi me, 7c CONSUETUDINAL PAST, beifiti me, tu, 7c. FUTURE TENSE, bectfvpcqfi me, tu, 7c- Conditional Mood. beajipcciT>e me, 7c Infinitive Mood. t>o beiu beiyite. Passive Participle. beiyite. § 41 — Cit)itti, to see. ACTIVE VOICE. Indicative Mood, present tense. Singular. Plural. ciT)im, or 61m. ciTnfi, or ci|i. ciT) 'pe, or ci fe. CTomiT), or cimiT). ciT>ti, or ci ci. ci'61'D, or ciT). 40 IRISH GRAMMAR. CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. CToecmn me, cu, 7c. PAST TENSE. Singular. connccyicccp, conncccp. conncqricai'p, connccnf. conncnfic fe, connaic fe. Plural concccmapi, conn catnap, concatiapi, conncaoafi. concccoafi, connca'Dap,. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. Plural. ciT>inn. ciT>tea. ciTrniif. CI'DCIT). ciT>eaT) y*e. cltVoif. FUTURE TENSE. Singular. Plural. cl'opea'o. C1T>p|l. Ci'D'piT) -pe. ciT>pimiT) CltVpiCIT). CI'Opi'D. Conditional Mood. cixVpinn, ciT>pe&, 7c. PASSIVE VOICE. Indicative Mood. present tense. ci'Dcecqi me, tu, 7c PAST TENSE. connctjicccD, or conncao, me, cu, 7c CONSUETUDINAL PAST, ci'oti me, 7c FUTURE TENSE. ciTYpeaji me, 7c. Conditional Mood. ciTvpTDe me, 7c This verb wants the imperative and infinitive moods and participle active and passrve, but they are supplied by pcnc, IRISH GRAMMAR. 41 which ought not to be classed among the irregular verbs as it is regular in all its moods and tenses. The present and future tenses of this verb have the peculi- arity of being aspirated like the past. § 42, — Cttnti, to hear. This verb is regular, except in the past tense, the infini- tive mood, and participle. PAST. Singular ctialar- cuctlcor. cuatociT) ■ pe. Plural. cuaiarnan.. cualaoayi. cuaiaDap.. Infinitive Mood. 'do, or a cloiran. Participle. 05 ctoircm. § 43. — T)ean, to do. ACTIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. Singular. Plural ^ecm. 'oeana'6 re. T>eanamaoir, 'Deanamaoi'D and 'Dean am. 'oeancri'D. T)eanaiT)ir. Indicative Mood. present tense. Singular. Plural T)ecmaim. T)ecmaiia. 'oecmcnf) re. T)eatieamaoiT). T>eanraoi. T>eanaiT). CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT. 'Dean an n me, 7c. 42 IRISH GRAMMAR. PAST TENSE. 'De&finct'p, and T>ecmecy\ '6e&Yvncciip, and T)ecmccif\ 'Dedtina'6, and T>ean fe. Plural. 'De&Yinamcqi, and T>ecmamati. T>edfina15cqi, and T>eomcrt)afi. 'oedjincrocqfi, and i>ecm(roaii. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. T>ecmccirm, and T>edfinccinTi. T>eancd. T>ecmaT>, and T>edyinedftTia- maoip. T>ecmcaoi. 'oeanai'Di'p, and 'oeafinai'Di'p • FUTURE TENSE. Singular. T>eccnpa7>. 'oecmpaifi. TDeanpaii) fe. Plural. 'oecmpamaoi'o. 'DeanpaiT). 'oecmpai'o. Conditional Mood. Singular. T>ecmpainn. T>ecmpd. 'oeanpa'D f e. Plural. 'oecmpamaoif. 'oeanpai'D. T>eanpai , oif\ Infinitive Mood. t>o T>ecmccm, or t)0 Tjecmcca Participle. 05 T)eanarh, or 05 'oecmcro. PASSIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. T>ecmucqi me, 7c Indicative Mood. present tense. T>eanT:ati me, tu, 7c PAST TENSE. 'oecmcc'6, and T>edtincc6 me, 7c IRISH GRAMMAR. 43 FUTURE TENSE. T>ecmpcqi me, 7c Conditional Mood. T)ecmpai'6e me, 7c Infinitive Mood. t>o beit 'oeanccc. Passive Participle. 'oecmcco Or, § 44.— £05, fo>id. ACTIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. Singular. Plural. -pccgaT) f e. pagmaoTp, or pagmaoi-o pcc^aiT). pccgca'oi'p. Indicative Mood. present tense. Singular. Plural. pccgaim. pagairi. pagarT) f e. pagmaoiT). -pagtaiT). pagaiT). Singular. geitiim. geitfip, geib -pe. Plural. £eit5imiT>. geiBciT). geibiT). PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. -puccfKrp. pucqicup. puaifx -pe. pucqfiamccfi. pjcqficcoafi. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. Plural. geibmn. geitited. geibeax) -pe. §eit)imip. £eil5ciT>. 5eibiT)ip. 44 IRISH GRAMMAR. And, Singular. Plural. fMxgccinn. paged. pasamaoif. tccgtaiT). pagcro fe. pagai'oiip. FUTURE TENSE. Singular. PfowaZ. geaticco, or geoticro. 5eat5aifi, or geoticap,. geaftcciT), or geotica'o fe. geccBamccoi'o, or geobamaoiT). geabtaiT), or geotitai'D. 5eat3aiT), or geobctTo. INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE FUTURE. Singular. PfomzZ. bptnsecro. tfptngip^ {jptngecco f e. bptngeamaoi'D. bptngtaiT). bpUlgVO- Conditional Mood. Singular. Plural. geotiamn, or geatienrm. geobtd, 7c. geoticrD -pe, 7c geobamaoip, or geabamaoi-p. geobtaiT), 7c. geobcn'oip, 7c Infinitive Mood. 'o'pdgait. Participle. 05 pdgaii. PASSIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. pagtccp me, tu, 7c Indicative Mood. present tense. pagtap me, cu, 7c PAST TENSE, puaficro, or ppit me, tti, 7c. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. 5eit)ti, or ptngti me, tu, 7c IRISH GRAMMAR. 45 Conditional Mood. 5eot5taiT>e me, 7c § 45. — 5™™* to do. ACTIVE VOICE. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural Snim. 5HiT> -pe. 5111TTIIT). gnitiT). PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. 5niT>eaf, or fiigneap. Snimp, or fvtgnifN gniT) pe, or pugne p* e, and punn -pe. gnio'omcqfi, or pj 511 earn ap.. 5nioT>15a i |"i, or fiigneaoapt. grnoirocqri, or pugnecroap.. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. Plural. 5niT)inn. 5niT)ced. gni'Dea'D pe. PASSIVE VOICE. Indicative Mood. present tense. gmtecqi me, 7c. CONSUETUDINAL PAST, grnti me, 7c. This verb wants the other tenses, or they are formed from T>ecm. Tligneccp in the past tense is evidently a contraction of pio, sign of the past, and jecmccif =5ttii)eap . 46 IRISH GRAMMAR. § 46. — 1u, to eat. This verb is regular, except in tbe future tense and Con- ditional Mood. Singular. lo-ppcro. iappaifi. Singular. loyTxmnn. lOf^a. icppcro f e. FUTURE. Plural. lo-ppamaoiT). 10-ppaiT). lo-ppai'o. Conditional Moon. loy^amiaoif. icppaix). iappai , oij». Infinitive Moon. 'Dice. Tbe regular Past is T)' itecqp ; tbere is, however, an old form T)ticqf\ which may be contracted for T>'iueo?p, 'oiuecqp, T>ecrp, T)uaf ; this is seldom used in the spoken language, but is in the New Testament — T>uccif> etiD vo tigefi fuaf me — the zeal of thy house has eaten me up— John, ii. 17 ; and cccyieif a ^ctmrheaiua eiT)i|i a tarnaiti T)6iB, 'oucroaii iceo, a/if^r 7^6- bing them between their hands, they ate them. — Luke, vi. 1. § 47. — Hi 5, to reach. Imperative Mood* Singular, Plural yugecco fe. • pigmifv t\151T). tugi'Dif. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural. Tugim. fiismi'D. fllgti. 111517). IRISH GRAMMAR. 47 CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Plural. Yiigirm. Yiigecco fe. fugnrnf. future tense. Conditional Mood. Infinitive Mood. t>o nocccan. § 48. — 'Gabcflfi, to give. ACTIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. Singular. Plural. cat5fiamaoTp. caftfictTOip. Indicative Mood. present tense. beifvim, rtigaim, and ccd5jxaim. CONSUETUDINAL PRESENT, beseem n me, cugann me, and uafyiann me. PAST TENSE. Singular. tugai'p. Plural. cusamoqi. cugabccfv CONSUETUDINAL PAST, fceiyimn, and tugamn. FUTURE, beccfipcro, and cabafipcro, 7c. Conditional Mood. becqipairm, caticqipcorm, and ciubficnnn. 48 IRISH GRAMMAR. Infinitive Mood, tdo taticcific. Participle. 05 cation fie PASSIVE VOICE. Imperative Mood. beificeccjfi, cugtayi, and cccticqvcccfi me, yc» Indicative Mood. present tense. beifitecqi me, and ctigtcqi me, 7c PAST TENSE. eugeco me, 7c CONSUETUDINAL PAST. tieiyiti'oe, or tti^aTDe me, 7c FUTURE. becqvpcqi, and mticqvpcqfi me, 7c. Conditional Mood. tiecqipcciT>e, and mticqfipcti'oe me, 7c. Passive Participle. etigea, and cctticcfitcc. This verb is made up of three defective verbs — beift, ^5, and uctbceifi. The tenses of those verbs which are used may be perceived by reading the verb as given above. The past tense is that of 015 only. There is a peculiarity in the use of bei|iim, the present ; viz., that it takes the particle t>o before it, sometimes expressed and sometimes understood, and then the b is aspirated as in the past tense. § 49. — 'Cotyi, to come. Imperative Mood. Singular. cctyi, ccciji, or C15. ciseccD, or co^cro f e. Plural cipmif , or cctsamccoif. ci5i'oif > , or cccgaTDif • IRISH GRAMMAR. 49 Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular, Plural. C1511T). cigiyi. cig y e. cigmiT), or ci 51m I'D. ClgCIT). C151T). PAST TENSE. Singular. PfemZ. can gay. cdngaiy. cam 15 ye. can 5am ay., can^a^ay,. cdnga'oay. Or, Singular. Plural. ydngay.* ydngaiy. fidnaig, or ydinig ye. ydnsamay. ydngatiay. ydnga'oay. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. Plural. ctgnw. cigced. ci5ecc6 ye. £151™ iy» cigciT). cigToiy. FUTURE TENSE. Singular. P/wra?. ciocpaT>. ciocpaifi. ciocpaiT> ye ciocparnaoTO, or aocparn. ciocpaiT). ciocpan). Singular. CONDITIOl jal Mood. Plural. ciocpamn. ciocpd. ciocpcco ye. ciocpamaoiy. ciocpaiT). ciocpaToiy. Infinitive Mood. t>o ceacc. Participle. 05 ceacc. * Some grammarians make this the past of yij ; but it is evidently a contraction for yio can gay ; its general meaning in the third person is, it came to pass; they happened: ^dngaiy, you happened to be, &c. 50 IRISH GRAMMAR. § 50. — •'Cei'6, or ze, to go. Imperative Mood. Singular. Plural. ceif>. ceiT>ecc6 fe. cemrrni 1 , or ceirm-p. CeTOIT). teiTroi-p. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE Singular. ceTDim. ceTOiji, cei'6 fe. Plural. cei'omi'o, or ceimiiD ceTDtiT), or ceitiT>. cei'on), or cei'o. PAST tENSE. Singular. Plural. cua'oaf. ctKroaiip. ctiaix) fe. cuct'omaYi. ctia'Dbaii. cua'6'oafi. CONSUETUDINAL PAST. Singular. inti. cei'oted. ceiToeaT) fe. Plural, terimif. ceiT>ci. tei'6'Di'p. FtJTURI : TENSE. Singular Plural. fiacpaifi. YiacpaTo fe. ftac'pctmccoi'o* fiacpaiT). liacpai'D. Or, fiaca'o, fiacaifi, fiacaiT) fe, omitting the p. Conditional Mood. yiacpainn. jxacpa. YiacpaT) ^e. Plural. yiacpamaoi|\ fiacpaiT). yiacpaTDif. irish grammar. 51 Infinitive Mood. Participle. The past tense is often f>eaccqf\ This form is used after ni, and the interrogative a, and with 50, cqi ieif* pern, he himself thinks; T>cqfi teo, they think. T>ii5tea|i, & •* allowed. peccoafi, I know ; only used negatively and interrogatively, and in the present tense; ni peccoctji me, / do, not know; ni peccocan, pe, ni pecco- fianmip,, &c. t&pXa, it happened. CHAPTER VI. Particles. § 52. — Adverbs. There are few simple adverbs in the Irish language. Ad- verbial expressions are formed by prefixing 50 to adjectives ; as, mcciu, good; 50 menu, well; these are compared in the same way as the adjectives themselves. Adverbial expres- sions are also formed by the combination of prepositions and nouns, or pronouns ; as, aft ^cut, backwards, compounded of afi, upon; and cut, the back. e2 52 IRISH GRAMMAR. The following particles are only used in composition :- A. — Negative Particles. ccrti e.g .withT>eom, will. airiTDeoin, unwillingness. an ?) cyiox, time. ariCYiox, improper time. 'DO ?? bevifac, well-behaved, 'ooitieufac, ill-behaved. T)1 55 cyieiT>eam, belief. 'oiqftei'oearh, unbelief. T>flOC 55 btaf, taste. 'DYiocbXar', a bad taste. ea* or ei 55 coiyi, righteousness. eagcoifi, unrighteousness. eav 55 cayia, a friend. eay^cayia, an enemy. mi 55 ciatt, sense. mi ciatt, folly. 11 earn 55 ctaon, partial. n earn ctaon , impartial. B. — Intensitive Particles. ai> e.g . with motaT), praise. a'DthoLa'D, excessive praise. an 55 mort, great. anrtioyi, very great. bic 55 beo, living. bitbeo, everliving, eternal. 'DO 55 byion, grief. 'oobfion, great grief. it 55 gtie, a &mc?. itgneiteac, of many kinds, manifold. im 55 t&ri,,/W£ lomtan, very full. ott 55 " gtofi, woz'se. ottgton^ great talk, bombast. tiyt 55 ea^buiT), wa?^. tuyiear'btii'D, great want, poverty. G. — Particles of various other meanings. am or em e.g. with ioc, a payment. aipoc, a repayment. at „ btaf, a savour. atbtaf, an after savour. com, equal, as cfiom, weight. corfitfiom, equal weight. Tjeag, or T>ei§, good, as htay, taste. 'Dea^btap, a good taste. m,ft, as 'oeanca, done. inT>eanca, j^ to be done. vo, easy, as Tjeanca, done. ■jpoi'oeanca, easy to be done. Let the learner bear in mind the rule caot te caot, 7c. Thus, ccrh is airfi in ainroeoiTi ; t>o is t>oi in T>oibetif ac ; 1m is 10m in 10m tan, &c. Several of these particles have also a separate existence as substantives or adjectives. The particles used with verbs have been mentioned pre- viously in § 35. § 53. — Prepositions. There are many simple prepositions, such as 05, at; aiyi, upon; ann, in, &c; and these again, with nouns, form com- pound prepositions; as, a§aiT>, the face; cm agent), in the face, against, &c. * ea generally eclipses the initial mutable of the noun with which it is compounded ; as, ea'D^yiocaiyie, cruelty. This is a peculiar case of eclipsis ; the negative ea was originally ex, then ej\ In the latter shape it appears before vowels, as ea'p-aoncac, disunited, eay^-oyvD, disorder. This will help to understand the n of the common eclipsis, which is likewise intact before vowels. IRISH GRAMMAR. 53 The following prepositions generally aspirate the initial mutable of the nouns they govern : — cap, upon. T>e, of. T)0, to. pa, paoi, under. peaT>, throughout. TOip, between. map, like to. o, xxa,from. cpe, through. CCnn, in, and iccpt, after, eclipse the initial mutable. The original form of icqri was iccyvn, vid. § 35. Le, with or through, and o,from, in the modern language pre- fix h to nouns beginning with a vowel; as, pu§ne me pin te heccgicc, / <#id ^a^ through fear. § 54. — Conjunctions. Conjunctions are simple and compound : simple, as 50, that; cc^up, and; the compound are those compounded of different parts of speech, forming a sort of conjunctional phrase, T)o bfii§, because; tume pin, therefore. For the influence of certain conjunctions upon the initials of the words that follow them, vid. § 35. § 55. — Interjections. The following are a few of the more usual interjections : — a! 01 ap cp,u ccg! woe! popaop! a/as/ tic! oh! main.5! woe to! monticcp,! alas! ceinrheap, ! happy. eipc! hush! CC and o, it must be observed, aspirate the initial mutable of the noun to which they are prefixed. 54 IRISH GRAMMAR. PAEI III. SYNTAX. CHAPTER I. § 56. — The Article. The Irish language has no indefinite article corresponding to the English a or an; but this is expressed either by the absence of the definite article an, or sometimes in the mode mentioned in § 61. The definite article an has the following syntactical pecu- liarities. When one noun governs another in the genitive, the article is used before the genitive case, and not with the governing noun, as in English the sense would require ; as, mac an mime, the son of man ; but if a possessive pronoun be used with the governed noun, or if the governed noun be such a proper noun as would not take the article, the article is omitted ; as, obaifi a tcame, the work of his hand ; TYlac T>e, the Son of God, But if the noun governed should merely stand in the place of an adjective, then the governing noun, if it has no adjec- tive, may take the article ; as, na ma'Oftaif) cnoic, the moun- tain dogs; an peayi coyifiam, the reaper ; lit., the man of a hook. The article is used in Irish in some instances where in English it would be omitted; viz. — (a) Before a noun which would take, at the same time, a demonstrative pronoun ; (b) Before a noun preceded by its adjective and the assertive present iy ; (c) Before the names of certain places ; as, fiig na hGiyieann, &c. ; (d) Abstract nouns also take the article, or nouns used as abstracts; as, an u-oqxuf, hunger; uami§ an peacat) aiji an faogai, sin entered the world. — Rom. v., 12 ; vo qfieaf^aifi an bap , death laid low. IRISH GRAMMAR. 55 § 57.— The Noun. The same concords of Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, and Verb, which occur in other languages, occur also in Irish. One noun governs another in the genitive, as in other lan- guages, the two nouns frequently forming a compound ex- pression ; as, pecqx coyificcm, a man of a hook, i.e., a reaper. "When, in the absence of the article, the latter of two substantives in the genitive case is the proper name of a man, woman, or place, its initial is aspirated ; as, 6 amifift j5aT)|Uii5, from the time of St. Patrick" — 0' Donovan. CHAPTER II. The Adjective. § 58. — Adjectives in general. The aspiration of adjectives, when joined to nouns, has been treated of in § 21. Adjectives are generally placed after the nouns to which they belong, except (a) in the case of emphasis ; or (b) in the case of some monosyllabic adjectives ; as, 'oeccg, good; fecm, old, &c. ; and (c) of numerals, vid. § 59 ; as, an 'Gomna Wucrd, the New Testament ; Deayi^ lay aifi, red flame. The adjective also precedes the noun when joined to the assertive present if ; as, \\ pucqft an ia e, it is a cold day. When the adjective precedes the noun it is frequently re- garded as forming with it a compound word, and consequently suffers the same initial changes after the article or preposition as if it were a noun, and aspirates the initial letter of its noun if a mutable consonant; as, an u-615 £eafi, the young man; an r-fean bean, the old woman. When the adjective is the predicate of a sentence, and the noun is the subject, the adjective is not inflected and suffers no initial changes ; as, za an bean ^eanamtnl, the woman is beautiful; if maiu iaD, they are good ; t>o fxigne me an f^ian ^eufi, / sharpened the hiife, not vo fii§ne trie an fgicm jeufi, which would be / made the sharp knife. "When an adjective, beginning with a lingual, is preceded by a noun terminating with a lingua], the initial of the adjec- 56 IRISH GRAMMAR. tive retains its primary sound in all cases of the singular ; as, ccyi mo guatamn T>eif, on my right shoulder ; aft a coif veif , on his right foot" — 0' Donovan. "• When an adjective is used to describe the quality of two nouns, it agrees with the one next to it ; as, pecqft a^uy bean maiu, a good man and woman; bean 7 peap, mait." — O'Donovan. Adjectives which signify profit, nearness to, fitness, and their opposites, take after them the dative case with vo ; as, if oic T)om, it is bad for me ; if maiu T)om, it is good for me. Adjectives which signify fulness, and those which signify part of any thing, take T>e, of with the article before the noun in the dative ; as, peaft 'oona* T>aomib, one of the men; idn ^mfge^full of water. Adjectives which signify likeness, or an emotion of the mind, take te with the dative case ; as, if cofmtnl an peajx te pigea'ooifi, the man is like a weaver. The comparative degree takes nd, or no, than, before the following noun : as, ay mo p6l nd peaT>ayi, Paul is greater than Peter. " The superlative degree does not require a genitive case plural after it, as in Latin, for the genitive case in Irish, as in English, always denotes possession, and nothing more, and therefore could not be applied, like the genitive case plural in Latin, after nouns partitive, or the superlative degree ; but it generally takes after it the preposition tx>, or, more correctly, T>e." — 0' Donovan. § 59. — Numerals. Numeral adjectives precede their substantives; as, aon ipeaft, one man ; but when the number consists of a unit and decimal, the noun is placed between the unit and the decimal; as, t;yii ctoca Deag, thirteen stones ; aon peayi ayi piciT), twenty- one men. The cardinals va, two; pice, twenty ; and all the multiples often (as, T)eic ayi pciT), thirty ; ceuT>, a hundred) take the noun in the singular number ; as, ceuT> peafi, a hundred men. * Anciently T>oncab\ vid. § 8. IRISH GRAMMAR. 57 CHAPTER III. The Pronoun. § 60. — Personal Pronouns. Personal Pronouns, as in other languages, agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person. If a sentence be the antecedent, the pronoun will be the third person singular masculine; bat if a noun of multitude be the antecedent, the pronoun will be the third person plural. If two or more persons or things be mentioned, the pronoun will agree with the first person rather than the second, and with the second rather than the third — bticcil f e T^uya apif mife, aguf bi pnn uin, he struck you and me, and we were sick. The personal pronouns, when compounded with prepositions, as given in § 27, are used with the substantive verb bi, and with other verbs to form certain idiomatic expressions. We subjoin a few examples. CC^ccm, means literally, ivith me ; but, when used with bi, serves in place of the verb to have ; as, m cc^ccm teabcqft, I have a book ; ra a^cco, you have (sing.) ; zd a^e, he has ; beix> .ficco a^cco, you shall have them ; ■capofo'in^in a^amfa, I know your intention; nac frpuit oqaajp ofiu? are you not hungry ? ca hcanim aua oyiu ? what is your name? ml nectfu; a^am cofi, I cannot help it; an bf uii aon niT> uaiu ? do you want any thing ? § 61. — Possessive Pronouns. The possessive pronouns always precede their nouns ; as, mo cecmn, my head. On the position of the emphatic increase when used with possessives, see § 28. The possessive pronouns, when either compounded with, or preceded by, the preposition cmn, in, expressed or understood, are used with the substantive verb bi, to denote an office or state of being ; as, za f e 'ncc f a^aytu, he is a priest, literally, he is in his priesfs state. § 62. — Relative and Interrogative Pronouns. The Relative Pronoun a, whether expressed or understood, aspirates the initial mutables of verbs, except when a preposi- tion governing the relative precedes it, and the relative is not the nominative to the verb ; in such a case it eclipses instead of aspirating. The preposition may sometimes be understood. 58 IRISH GRAMMAR. On the reason for the eclipsis, see § 29. The relative always precedes the verb, and, being indeclin- able, the context must decide whether it is the agent or the object; as, an peoqfi abtiaiiim, the man whom I strike; an peap, a buaiieaf me, the man who strikes me. " The relative is often omitted when it is either preceded or followed by a vowel or an aspirated consonant ; as, an £iolta txv§ an seaYVfidn ieif , the hoy that brought the horse with him? — Neilson. The Interrogative Pronouns always precede the verb with which they are connected ; as, 50 T>e map, rA zu ? how do you do ? If the interrogative should be under the government of a preposition, it is still placed first ; and the preposition follows with a personal pronoun expressed, unless the interrogative should be connected directly with a noun ; as, cia ieip a bptni? with whom is he 2 § 63 — Demonstrative and Indefinite Pronouns. The Demonstrative Pronouns immediately follow the nouns or adjectives with which they may be connected ; as, an bean pn, that woman. There is one exception to the foregoing : — viz. where the as- sertive present if is understood; as, fo an peap,, this is the man. " The pronouns qfieuT), ^coe, cia, &c, are commonly used without interrogation, as demonstratives ; as, zd pof 05am $o T>e a f)eafipd, / know what you would say" — Neilson. tlile, when placed before a noun, signifies every, and takes the noun in the singular ; but when placed after a noun, it has the meaning of all, and the noun is then put in the plural ; as, uite peap,, every man ; pp, tnie, all men. CHAPTER IV. § 64.— The Verb. The Verb agrees with its nominative in number and person. Two or more singular nouns joined by a conjunction will take tbe verb in the singular number; as, udmi§ mife a^uf zuf a, / and you came. If the nominative be a noun of multitude the verb will be in the plural. The nominative generally follows the verb (part of the sen- tence may intervene) ; as, T>ubaip,u an peap,, the man said. IRISH GRAMMAR. 59 Relative and 'interrogative pronouns, as before mentioned, precede the verb. " When the assertive verb if , or the particles an, or ride, which always carry the force of ip, and never suffer it to be expressed, are used, the collocation is as follows : — the verb conies first, next the attribute, or predicate, and then the subject ; as, if peafi me, / am a man; ip mait icro, they are good. But if the article be expressed before the predicate, then the attribute comes next after the verb ; as, if me an peap,, I am the man." — 0' Donovan. The verb bi (with the exception of the assertive present form ip) always employs a preposition, such as a, 1, or ann, in, as mentioned in § 61, in asserting the existence of any subject ; as, zd pe 'n-a peap,, he is a man. But the assertive present ip is always used in this sense without a preposition; as, ip peayi me, / am a man. O'Donovan (p. 379) remarks : — "The two modes of construction represent the idea to the mind in a quite different manner. Thus, zd me am' peap,, and ip peaji me, though both mean / am a man, have a dif- ferent signification ; for zd me am' peafi, is I am in my man ; i.e. / am a man, as distinguished from some other stage, such as childhood, or boyhood ; while ip peap, me indicates that I am a man, as distinguished from a woman, or a coward." The pronoun is not used with the synthetic form. — Vid. § 33. When the noun precedes the infinitive, it is put in the ac- cusative ; when it follows, it is governed in the genitive. The present participle, with the verb bi, expresses the con- tinuance of the action ; as, zd me 05 teigeaf) mo leabaip,, / am reading my book. Transitive verbs take their objects in the accusative case. Verbs of advantage and disadvantage take the object of the benefit or injury in the dative case with t>o, or similar prepo- sitions. Verbs of comparing and taking away also govern the dative case of the object of comparison or deprivation, with the pre- position ua, or such like. One verb governs another in the infinitive mood, as in other languages. u When the governed verb is one expressing mo- tion or gesture, which does not govern an accusative, the sign 7)0 is never prefixed; as, T>nbairxc pe tiorn mil 50 Cop,cai§, he told me to go to Cork" — O'Donovan. In some parts of Ireland this would be expressed, T>ubaip,<:pe tiom a T>ui 50 Coftcaig. 60 IRISH GRAMMAR. CHAPTER V. Particles. § 65. — Adverbs. Monosyllabic adverbs are placed before the words to which they belong ; as, p,6 mop,, very great. u Compound adverbs, particularly those formed from adjec- tives, are placed after the nominatives to the verbs which they qualify, but never placed between the auxiliary and the verb as in English; as, T>'etpi§ ye 50 moc, he rose early ; ra fe T)ecmra 50 ceayiu, it is done properly ; not za pe 50 ceafiu T>eanua." — 0' Donovan. Adverbs signifying proximity take the dative case gener- ally with t>o ; as, zd pe an^apt T)om, he is near me. The following adverbs also take the dative case : — a bpop , on this side ; a frpceo, afar off ; amac, out ; amwc, without ; call, beyond ; an alt, on this side ; apeeac, within ; as, pan a bpop a^umn, stay on this side with us. § 66 — Prepositions, The prepositions in general govern the dative case ; as, tdinig pe 50 hCCtbamn, he came to Scotland. ^an, without, and ixnp,, between, sometimes govern the accu- sative ; as, ^an poiap, without comfort; foiyi an peap, a$up a bean, between the man and his wife. The following prepositions, being in reality nouns, govern the genitive case : — cum, to. T>eip, after. lormptn'oe, unto. peift, according to. cimcioU,, about. pea/D, throughout* All compound prepositions for the same reason take the genitive ; as, a n-a§aii) mo uoite, against my will. On initial changes caused by certain prepositions see § 53. § 67. — Conjunctions and Interjections. There is no peculiarity in the syntax of the conjunctions. On initial changes caused by certain of them see § 35. The interjection maifis, woe, being in reality a noun, is al- ways followed by the preposition do, with the dative ; as, maifi<5 mnr, woe to thee ! THE END. Dublin : Printed by Alex. Thom & Sons, 87 & 88 Abbey-street. IS f\ imim A GRAMMAR MODERN IRISH LANGUAGE, DESIGNED FOK THE USE OF THE CLASSES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. CHAELES HENEY HAMILTON, WEIGHT, M.A., OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN ; EDITOR OF "THE BOOK OF GENESIS IN HEBREW, WITH A CRITICALLY REVISED TEXT, VARIOUS READINGS, AND GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES," &C. ; ASST. CURATE OF MIDDLETON TYAS. YORKSHIRE. Second Edition— Revised and Enlarged. X'v^' WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, H, HENRIETTA-STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK-STREET, EDINBURGH DUBLIN: HODGES SMITH, AND CO. I860. WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY WILLIAMS AND NORGATE GENESIS, THE BOOK OF, in Hebrew, with a critically re- vised Text, various readings, and grammatical and critical Notes, &c. 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