EASY LESSONS IN IRISH.
(The First Part is now issued in book form: see advertisements.)
EXERCISE LXXI.
§ 433. A sentence is a saying which conveys some complete meaning; as atá Tomás tinn; ní raiḃ Briġiḋ ag an tobar indiu; fuair an fear bás.
§ 434. Every sentence may be divided into two parts; (1) the thing spoken about, or the subject of the sentence, as Tomás, Brigiḋ, an fear, above; and (2) what is said about the subject, as atá tinn, is sick; ní raiḃ ag an tobar, was not at the well; fuair bás, died.
§ 435 In the sentences above, the words Tomás, Briġid, an fear, are said to be in the nominative case.
§ 436. In the sentences “Hugh burned the boat,” “Art struck the horse,” “the King killed the Druid,” the words “boat,” “horse,” “Druid,” are said to be in the objective case. For further illustration of the meaning of sentence, subject, case, &c., see any English Grammar. The objective case in Irish is commonly called the accusative.
§ 437. In modern Irish, as in English, the nominative and objective cases of words are the same in form.
§ 438. The article an aspirates the first consonant of feminine nouns in the nominative and accusative cases.
An ḃean (van), the woman.
„ ḃó (Wo), the cow.
„ ċaora (CHaer′-ă), the sheep.
„ ċarraig (CHor′-ĕg), the rock.
„ ċaṫaoir (CHoh′-eer), the chair.
„ ḟeoil (yōl), the meat.
„ ṗáirc (fau′-irk), the field.
The student should here look back at what has been said about the effect of aspiration on the sounds of the letters, especially at the beginning of words.
§ 439. Taḃair ḋom an ċaṫaoir. Taḃair an ḟeoil do Nóra. Ní’l an ṗáirc glas anois. Ḃí an capall agus an ḃó ag an tobar. Ní’l an ċarraig ag an dún anois, atá sí briste suas. Cuir an ċaora agus an ḃó in do ṗáirc. Ná fág an ḃean ag an doras.
§ 440. The tall man and the young woman. The woman died; the man did not die. Do not leave the chair at the door. Do not give the hay to the ass. Do not give the meat to me; give bread to me. The meat is scarce. I did not see your cow on the road (ród). He did not see the cow and the calf.
EXERCISE LXXII.
§ 441. Feminine words beginning with d and t are not aspirated by the article in the nominative and accusative.
An diallaid, the saddle.
An tír, the country, land.
[ 162 ] § 442. Atá an tír saiḋḃir, ní ḟuil sí boċt anois. Ní ḟuil mo ṫír saiḋḃir fós. Ná cuir an diallaid ar an asal, ata sí trom. Fág an teine ar an urlár. Na dún an doras, atá sé briste. Atá an ċearc agus an coileaċ ag Una. Ní’l ar ndiallaid ar an láir.
The tillage field (gort) is not green, it is yellow now; the pasture field (páirc) is green, it is not yeilow. The mountain is high, it is between Armagh and the other mountain. Daniel O’Hea has the chair; he got the chair in the house. Do not put the thatch on the house yet, the weather is not cold, it is dry (and) warm. The winter is coming, it is cold (and) wet; the harvest was dry (and) wholesome.
EXERCISE LXXIII.
TRANSLATION OF “THIS” AND “THAT.”
§ 443. In the phrases, “this man,” “this woman,” and the sentences “this house is on the cliff,” “this meat is not fresh,” &c., the word “this” is translated into Irish by so (sŭ, like su in suspend).
§ 444. The word so always follows the noun to which it refers.
§ 445. It is not sufficient to say fear so this man, bean so. this woman, &c.; in translating “this” the student must always put the article an before the noun and the word so after it.
An aill so, this cliff (the-cliff-this); an aimsir so, this weather; an madaḋ so, this dog; an ḃean so, this woman; an ḟeoil so, this meat.
§ 446. Similarly the word for “that” is sin (shin, like shin in shinty), and the article an must be used with it, just as with so. As, an áit sin, that place; an capall sin, that horse; an ḟeoil sin, that meat.
§ 447. Atá an síoda sin daor aċt atá an olann so saor. Taḃair ḋom an ċaṫaoir sin, taḃair an stól sin do Nóra. Suiḋ síos ar an stól so, a Ṗádruig: an ḃfuil sgeul ar biṫ agat indiu? An ḃfaca tú an capall mór so? Ní ḟaca mé an capall sin. Atá an coirce so glas, atá an seagal so buiḋe.
§ 448. Was this ship on the lake yet? No. This wine is dear, it came to Ireland from America. That wine is cheap. Put that trout in the bag. and put this salmon in the other bag. This salmon is fresh, the trout is not fresh. it is not wholesome. This man came home this morning.
EXERCISE LXXIV.
§ 449. If an adjective accompanies the noun, the words so, sin, are placed after the adjective, as an stól beag so, this little stool. If two or more adjectives accompany the noun, so or sin is placed last of all; as an túirne beag, trom sin; an tír úr, áluinn so.
§ 450. The word úd (oodh) is used after nouns in the same way as so and sin, as an fear úd, an oiḋċe úd, an áit úd. The word úd is never used except with a thing connected in some way with the person to whom you speak or write; as, an fear úd, that man whom you have seen or heard of; an oiḋċe úd, that night you remember; an áit úd, that place you know well.
In Ulster the word you is used in English just as úd is in Irish.
§ 451.
arís (ă-reesh′), again.
riaṁ (ree′-ăv), ever (in the past).
Ná cuir an gual duḃ úd ar an teine. Cuir an breac mór ins an mála, aċt cuir an breac beag úd ins an aḃainn. Ṫáinig an fear óg so a ḃaile anois, ḃí sé in Albain. Ní ḟaca mé an tí sin riaṁ, ní raiḃ mé in Albain fós. Fuair mé an diallaid so ins an siopa. Atá an geiṁreaḋ so fuar go leor anois.
§ 452. I was not in that house, but you were in the house. This man was not in my house. I was going to Derry that night, but I came home again. I was never in that place. Were you ever on this lake? I was never on Lough Mask, but I was on Lough Owell, and I was on that little island. There is a big tree growing on that island. That big tree is not growing on the island now. I gave that shilling to Nora. That winter was cold, that autumn was warm. I was in the house that morning.
[ 163 ]EXERCISE LXXV.
§ 453. IRREGULAR WORDS. c.
Some few words are irregularly pronounced because some consonants in them are not pronounced fully.
§ 454. Thus in a few words the three consonants ngn are contracted to N in pronunciation.
| congnaḋ | not | kŭng′-nă | but | kooN′-ă, help. | ||
| iongnaḋ | — | ŭng′-nă or, | — | oo′-Nă, wonder. | ||
| iNG′-nă | ||||||
| diongnaḋ | — | diNG′-nă | — | dee′-Nă. |
In Connaught, kooNoo, eeNoo, deeNoo.
§ 455. In many words
| dṫ | are pron. | t (t = d + h) | |
| gṫ | — | c (k = g + h) | |
| ḃṫ | — | f (f = v + h) | |
| ṁṫ | |||
| mċ | — | mp |
| Thus | séidṫe, | pron. as | séite |
| leagṫa, | — | leaca | |
| líoṁṫa, | — | líofa | |
| O’Duḃṫaiġ (O’Duffey), | — | ō dhuf′-ee | |
| O’Coḃṫaiġ (O’Coffey), | — | ōkŭf′-ee | |
| iomċur, | — | ŭmpur | |
| timċeall, | — | timpăL | |
| lúṫṁar, | — | lúfar |
[This is not to be imitated.]
§ 456. The names of rivers are feminine.
| an Ḃóinn, | ăn Wōn, the Boyne. |
| an Ḟeoir, | „ yōr, the Nore. |
| an Ḃearḃa, | „ var′-wă, the Barrow. |
| an Laoi, | „ lee, the Lee. |
| an Ḟeaḃail, | „ ou′-ĕl, the Foyle. |
| an Life, | „ lif′-ĕ, the Liffey. |
| an Éirne, | „ aer′-nĕ, the Erne. |
| an Ṁuaiḋ, | „ Woo′-ee, the Moy. |