[ page ]Tuam News, Weekly Freeman and United Ireland continue to public Irish literature.
We have to thank the various Gaelic Societies, and various gentlemen in Ireland and abroad, who have gone to such pains to extend the circulation of the Journal. Suggestions of any kind will be carefully considered.
In the present issue we give specimens of the spoken Gaelic of Kerry, Cork, East Connaught, and Donegal.
EASY LESSONS IN IRISH.
(Continued.)
These Lessons were begun in No. 48, which is now out of print. The first part will soon be issued in book form, and improvements and suggestions are invited. In previous lessons, §§ 23, 38, add: im (im), butter; trom (thrum), heavy, seol (shol), a sail. See, also, §§ 78, 80. The pronunciation of an is given in §19; it is almost like an in annoy. It would not be advisable, as some suggest, to print over each exercise all the words used in it.
EXERCISE XIV.
§ 103. THE DIGRAPHS IN IRISH.
For the meaning of digraph, see § 90. Some digraphs represent long vowel-sounds, and others represent short vowel-sounds.
§ 104. The long vowel-sounds are often represented by digraphs consisting of two vowels, one of which is MARKED LONG. Thus:—
| ái | is sounded like | á, | i.e., like phonetic symbol | au |
| éi | „„ | é, | „„ | ae |
| ói | „„ | ó, | „„ | ō |
| úi | „„ | ú, | „„ | oo |
§ 105. As will be seen, these digraphs are formed by adding i to the vowels á, é, ó, ú; and the sound of the vowel which is marked long is given to the whole digraph. The only difference between ái, ói, úi and á, ó, ú is that the consonants which follow the ái, ói, úi are slender. (See § 8)
§ 106. Note.—In Ulster ái is pronounced (aa), and ói (au). (See § 14.)
§ 107 Examples for pronunciation only: sáile (saul′-ĕ) báis (baush), fáis (faush); céis (kaesh), éille (aelĕ), féir (faer); próisde) prōsh-dĕ), cúis (koosh).
§ 108. WORDS
| áit (aut), a place | láidir (Laud′-ir), strong |
| cáibín (kaub′-een[1]), a “caubeen” | míle (meel′-ĕ), a thousand |
| crúiscín (kroosh′-keen[1]) a pitcher | móin (mо̄n), turf |
| failte (faul-tĕ), welcome | móna (mо̄n′-ă), of turf: fód móna |
| fód (fо̄dh), a sod | páisde (paush′-dĕ), a child |
| folláin (fuL′-aun[1]), sound, healthy, wholesome | sláinte (sLaun′-tĕ), health |
§ 109. Míle fáilte. Fáilte agus sláinte. Crúiscín lán. Atá an áit folláin. Níl mé tinn, atá mé slán, folláin. Fág crúiscín ag an tobar. Fág móin ar an urlár. Ná fág móin ag an doras fós. Atá an páisde bán. Níl sé bán; atá sé donn. Atá an caibín cam. Fág fód eile ar an urláir.
§ 110. Art is not wearing (see § 40) a new coat. Art is strong and healthy. Do not leave a pitcher on the floor. Dry turf. The place is not wholesome. The strong horse is going to the road. She is young, she is not strong. The ship is strong, the boat is weak. The child is brown-haired. The place is green. The young horse is safe and sound (slán, folláin). Leave a sod of turf on the floor. There is not a sod of turf on the floor. Welcome. Warm day.
EXERCISE XIV.
§ 111 Other examples of the sounds of ái, éi, ói, úi:
| Briste (brish′-tĕ), broken | Éirinn (aer′-in), Ireland |
| Cáise (kaush′-ĕ), cheese | Súil (sool), the eye |
| Láir (Laur), a mare | Súiste (soosh′-tĕ), a flail |
| Sáile (saul′-ĕ), salt water, the salt sea | Túirne (thoor′-nĕ), a spinning-wheel |
| Sráid (sraud), a street |
§ 112. Many proper names involve the sound of ái; thus, Art, Flann, give rise to the diminutives Artagán, Flannagán (little Art, Flann), hence the family names O’H-Artagáin (о̄ horth′-ă-gaun), O’Flannagáin (о̄ floN′-ă-gaun), literally, grandson of little Art, Flann; the forms from which the ordinary O’Hartigan, O’Flanagan, are taken.
§ 113. The preposition “with” (= “along with”) is translated by le (le, almost like le in let); as, atá Art le Conn, Art is with Conn. This le prefixes h to a vowel; as, atá Conn le h-Art (horth), Conn is with Art.
§ 114. The preposition “to” (to a place) is translated by go (gŭ) when no article follows; as, go Gránárd, to Granard. When a vowel follows, h is prefixed; as, go h-áit, to a place. When the article follows, go is never used, but do’n (dhŭn) is used = “to the”; as, do’n áit, to the place. (See § 62).
