NOTES AND QUERIES.
(In giving pronunciation, the phonetic key, employed in the easy lessons, is to be used.)
(1) Translation of the word “care.” Take care, seaċain! Take care of the cows, dein aireaċus ar na buaiḃ. Lock the door carefully, Cuir an glas air an ndorus go cruinn. Lay it down carefully, leig uait go h-aicilliġe é (aicilleaċ = handy, in W. Cork). He does not care about it, níl aon dúil aige ann. He has the care of a family, tá cúram clainne air. How busy he is, naċ cúramaċ atá sé (=anxious). Bean ṁór-ċúraim, a great business woman. Tá a ċúram díom feasta, I am no longer responsible for it. To these E. Munster phrases we may add tá sé i ḃfeiġil an tiġe = in care of (= i mḃun, i gcionn in Connaught). For dúil, we usually hear spéir in the West. In Meath, the sentence níl dúil agam ann, is usually translated “he has no element for it,” from the fact that dúil means (1) care for, (2) an element, creature.
(2) Ná fan ag an dorus, or ag an ndorus? which is the more usual? In some parts even the adjective is eclipsed: as, air an gcnoc mbuiḋe, air an bpáirc mbáin. In the genitive plural, the eclipsis of the adjective is still common; as, ala na gcos nduḃ, i gcionn trí n-oiḋċe.
(3) In Munster eist is pronounced (eisht), and eiriġ = eirig. In Ulster éiriġ is (aeree) or, sometimes, eeree. In Meath, éiriġ is (eeree), and iarraiḋ is (eree).
(4) Ní’l mé in inniḃ é ḋeanaḋ, I am no table to do it, especially when prevented by poverty, sickness, &c., Ulster. Nílim ionaṁail (inneaṁail ? is the pronunciation in-ool′ or ing-ool′?) ċum (or air) é ḋéanaṁ (Munster). These two seem to explain the western níl mé (in-on′), which seems to be = in innḃe. There are two uses of the phrase, (a) níl mé (in-on′) é ḋéanaḋ, or a déanta, I am not able to do it, (b) {{insular|má tá an lá (in-on′), if the day is suitable. In a former number of this Journal I equated (in-on′) with in ionċaiḃ; I believe this was wrong.
(5) Notice the different pronunciations of the verbal noun of the verb “to do”: deánaḋ (daan′-oo), Ulster; díongnaḋ (deen′-oo), W. Connacht; dianaṁ (dee-on′-ăv) Munster. In Munster, the verb “to do” is, in most of its parts, a regular verb, dein; in Meath tein is sometimes heard, and in the perfect, ron.
(6) How many? How much?
Cé ṁeud? (for cé a ṁeud).
Meud or méad is a noun masculine; gen. méid. Often erroneously written as a noun feminine; nom. méid; gen. méide.
When cé ṁeud means how many in number, it is followed by a noun in the nominative singular.
When it means how much in quantity, it is followed by a noun in the genitive.
Examples; How many people, days, miles, houses, &c,
Cé ṁeud duine, lá, míle, teaċ?
How much money, cloth, land, &c.?
Cé ṁeud airgid, éadaiġ, talaṁna?
How many times? how often?
Cé ṁeud am?
How much time? how long?
Cé ṁeud aimsire?
(The above are due to Mr. Bushe, Father O’Leary of Castlelyons, MacD., etc.).
[ 10 ]We shall be glad to hear from our correspondents the various words in use for cousins, first, second, third, etc.
Our next number will contain an article, of the greatest interest, on the names of the various seasons, by the writer of the Cú-anmanna.