maN′-ee). This is the full form of the ordinary salutation, which is contracted to Dia ḋuit in Munster. It means—
| May | God | bless (everything) | for-thee |
| go | Dia | mbeannuiġiḋ | duit |
§ 420. ’mbeannuiġiḋ Dia ḋuit, a Ṫaiḋg. Go mbeannuiġiḋ Dia is Muire ḋuit, a Nóra. An ḃfaca tú an ceo ar an loċ. Ní ḟaca mé bád nó long ar an loċ indiu. Fear flaiṫeaṁail, flaiṫ fearaṁail. Ḃí an fear flaiṫeaṁail, fial. Ní ḟuil an rí ag teaċt a ḃaile fós.
§ 421. Did you get money? No; I got corn at the market. Barley or oats? Nora got a rich husband (fear), he is princely and generous. I did not get the key. Do not leave the key on the floor. Miles Lynch has the key. I have not the lock.
EXERCISE LXIX.
§ 422. Irregular Words, B.
Some words are irregular from the fact that a consonant in a word is moved from its proper position for greater ease in pronunciation.
[1]Conċuḃar, Connor, is often pronounced Cnoċuḃ’r (KnŭCH′oor).
[1]Muinċille, a sleeve, is often pronounced mnuiċille (mnee′-hi-lĕ).
Coisrig, bless, is often pronounced carsuig (kor′-sig).
§ 423. The words for “brother” and “sister.”
| dearḃ-ḃráṫair | deirḃṡiúr | ||
| Correct pron. | dar′-ăv-vrau′-hĕr | derv-hyoor | |
| Contract. | (Con.) | dreh′-aur | dreh′-oor |
| „ | (Mun.) | dreh-aur′ | dreh-oor′ |
| „ | (Ulster) | daar′hăr | der′-hăr |
The possessive case and plural of “sister” is deirḃṡeaṫar (der′-ev-ha′-hăr) shortened to dref-aer′.
But the learner should pronounce these two words correctly as above. They are the most curiously pronounced of all the words in the language.
EXERCISE LXX.
Not to weary the student by giving at once all the exceptional words of the language, we propose to speak now of simple matters.
§ 424. The Gender of Irish Words.
Beings possessing animal life are divided into male and female, and the words which are NAMES for beings of the male sex are said to be of the masculine gender, and the words which are NAMES for beings of the female sex are said to be of the feminine gender.
Thus the following words are masculine: fear, a man; capall, a horse; tarḃ (thor′-ăv), a bull; coileaċ (Kel′-ăCH: Munster, Kel-oCH′), a cock.
These are feminine: bean, a woman; láir, mare; bó, a cow; cearc, a hen.
§ 425. But in Irish, as in Latin, Greek, and most other languages, even things without life are personified, and said to be either masculine or feminine in gender. Thus the following words are said to be masculine: (see vocabulary to the first part of Simple Lessons in Irish), am, time; aol, lime; arán, bread; bás, death; bainne, milk, etc.
These are said to be feminine: aill, a cliff; áit, a place; coill, a wood, etc.
§ 426. In English, the words “time,” “lime,” “cliff,” &c., are said to be neuter gender, that is—neither masculine or feminine. In the older Irish, also, some words were regarded as neuter, and there are still a few traces of this in modern Irish.
§ 427. How are we to know what words are to be regarded as masculine and what as feminine? Not from the meaning of the words, but from their form, or, we might say, from their ENDINGS.
§ 428. Thus, as a general rule, all words are masculine which end in a consonant or two consonants, preceded by a BROAD vowel (a, o, u). For example, am, aol, arán, bás, given above. This rule, of course, does not affect words like cearc, a hen, which is naturally feminine.
§ 429. Similarly, as a general rule, words are of feminine gender which end in a consonant or two consonants, preceded by a SLENDER vowel (e, i), as áit, aill, coill above. This rule does not affect words such as flaiṫ, a prince, which is, of course masculine.
§ 430. This use of masculine and feminine gender, for words denoting things without life, has an effect on the use of the pronouns for masculine (he), feminine (she), and neuter (it). Instead of having three pronouns for masculine (he), feminine (she),
