[ page ]Conn yet. Conn is young. The door on the fort is closed. The boat is clean. The field is green yet. Conn is at Granard yet. Praise the country—do not leave the country.
EXERCISE VII.
§ 59. As we have seen, the Irish word corresponding to am, art, is, are, is atá. The negative form, corresponding to am not, art not, is not, are not, is níl (neel). Examples: níl mé tinn, I am not sick; níl tú óg you are not young; níl sé, níl sí, he is not, she is not. Níl Art agus Conn ag an tobar, Art and Conn are not at the well. This word níl is a shorter form of the phrase ní ḟuil, as we shall see.
§ 60. In sentences like atá Art agus Conn óg, Art and Conn are young, it will be noted that, as in English, the adjective does not take any special form. In many other languages, the adjective would be in the plural, agreeing with the two subjects of the sentence. So in the sentence atá na fir (fir) óg, the men are young, the adjective óg does not take any new form, although the subject is plural. This is true only of adjectives after the verb “to be.”
§ 61. Another use of the preposition ag, at. The English phrases, “I am going, I am growing,” etc, were formerly sometimes written and pronounced, “I am a’ going,” etc. This was a shorter form of “I am at going.” In Irish, ag, at, is always used in translating the present participle; as, atá mé ag dul, I am going; atá Conn ag fás, Conn is growing.
§ 62. VOCABULARY.
| do (dhŭ), preposition, to | níl (neel), am not, art not, is not, are not |
| do’n (dhǔn) = do an, to the | ó (ō), from |
| dul (dhul), going | ó’n, from the |
| fás (faus), growing | olann (ŭl′-ăN), wool |
§ 63. Fág an bád ar an tír fós. Níl an bád ar an tír; atá an bád ag an tobar. Níl an lá te. Níl an tobar tirim. Níl an capall mór. Ná fan ag an doras, atá mé ag dul ó’n doras do’n tobar. Atá mé ag dul do’n dún ard. Atá balla mór, árd ag an dún. Atá Conn óg, agus atá sé ag fás fós.
§ 64. I am not going from the fort yet; I am not going to the well. The day is hot, I am not hot. The field is not green. You are not at Granard. The horse is going to the well. Leave the wool on the stool. The wool is white (bán). Una is young, she is tall, and she is not weak Nora is weak, yet, she is growing.
The Sounds of the Letters C and G.
We think it better to defer the study of these sounds until we have spoken of combinations of vowels.
EXERCISE VIII.
§ 65. There are two things which make the spoken language of Ulster and Munster different from that of the west of Ireland. These two points of difference are (1) the syllable to be accented, and (2) the pronunciation of the vowels.
§ 66. We have already stated in § 22, that in words of two syllables, the first syllable is the one to be accented, and many examples have been given. In this and the following lessons we shall, until further notice, speak only of words of two syllables.
§ 67. Looking over Irish words, we shall find they can be divided into two classes, simple words, and words formed from simple words by the addition of a termination. For instance, árd, high, is a simple word; {insular|árdán}} (aurdh′-aun), a height, a hill, is formed árd, by adding the termination ‑án.
§ 68. Simple words are accented on the same syllable in every part of Ireland; compound words are not.
§ 69. The most common terminations of compound words are óg and ‑ín, which have a diminutive force; and ‑án, which in some words has a diminutive force, and in others has a different meaning. In Munster Irish, all these terminations, and many others, are accented. In Ulster, on the contrary, the tendency is not only to accent the first syllable as in Connaught, but also to shorten unduly the last syllable.
