EASY LESSONS IN IRISH.
(The First Part is now issued in book form: see advertisements.)
EXERCISE LX.
COMBINATIONS OF CONSONANTS.
§ 369. Some consonants coalesce—thus, dl, dn, are pronounced like ll, nn.
codlaḋ (kŭL′-ă, Conn. kŭL′-oo), sleep.
ceudna (kaeN′-ă), same; follows a noun.
Fódla (fōL′-ă), old name of Ireland.
maidne (mwan′-ĕ), of the morning.
§ 370. ln, pronounced like ll. áilne (aul′-ĕ); níos áilne, more beau- tiful.
§ 371. nd, pronunciation like nn.
gránda (grauN′-ă), ugly.
indé (in-ae′), yesterday.
indiu (in-yoo′), to-day.
§ 372. Instead of saying “He is sleeping,” we say in Irish, “He is in his sleeping,” “in his sitting,” “in his standing,” (compare the phrase “He fell out of his stand- ing”), “in his lying,” &c.
Atá mé in mo ċodlaḋ ’s ná dúisiġ (dhoosh′-ee) mé, “I am in my sleep (asleep) and do not waken me,” is the name of an old Gaelic air, but a piper who knew no Irish used to call it, “Tommy MacCullagh made boots for me.”
seasaṁ (shas′-ăv), standing. suiḋe (see′-ĕ), sitting. luiḋe (Lee′-ĕ), lying.
When aspirated they are pronounced has′-ăv, hee′-ĕ, lee′-ĕ. See § 324.
Atá mé in mo ṡuiḋe is also used in the sense of “I am up” i.e., out of bed; and also—“I am sitting up” after a long illness, &c.
§ 373. Dia ḋuit, a Ṫaiḋg. Dia is Muire ḋuit, a Ḋiarmuid. Ni ḟuil do ḃean ag an margaḋ indiu? Ní ḟuil, atá sí tinn, atá m’aṫair tinn, agus ḃí mé féin (myself) tinn indé, agus ḃí mé in mo luiḋe, aċt atá mé láidir indiu. Ḃí Donn- ċaḋ liom indiu ag teaċt a ḃaile, agus ḃí an fear ceudna liom ag dul go Corcaiġ indé. Ní ḟuil an áit áluinn, atá an áit gránda. Ní raiḃ mé ar an loċ indé, ḃí an lá garḃ, aċt ḃí Dóṁnall ar a loċ eile. Ḃí ainm eile ar Éirinn, Fódla. Atá Donnċaḋ in a ṡeasaṁ ar an dún árd. Ḃí Seumas in a ṡuiḋe ar an stól ag an teine nuair ṫáinic an sgeul. Dúisiġ an féar óg, ní ḟuil sé in a ṡuiḋe fós.
§ 374. an lá indiu, to-day.
an lá indé, yesterday.
You were asleep when I came. I was not asleep, I was up. Yesterday was rough, to-day is calm; I am going on the lake with a little boat. There is no sail on my boat, the boat is not heavy enough. Put money in your pocket when you are going to Scotland. The dog is dead, he is lying on the floor. There is a dumb person at the door, and a bag on his back; put bread and butter and meal in his bag. The man is deaf (and) dumb.
[ 114 ]EXERCISE LXI.
COMBINATIONS OF CONSONANTS CONTINUED.
ECLIPSIS.
§ 375. The peculiarity which is usually called eclipsis by writers in Irish grammar, presents no difficulty as regards pronunciation. To understand how it is so general, we must make slight references to the older forms of some words which cause this peculiarity.
§ 376 Take, for example, the Irish word for “our,” “your,” “their.” In the older form of the Gaelic language we may suppose that arn (ărn) = our; ḃurn (wurn) = your; an (ăn) = their, but in the course of the changes which centuries have caused in spoken Gaelic, these words have become ar, ḃur, a; the final n being either prefixed to the following word or altogether lost. Thus—
| are now spelled | |
| arn dún, our fort | ar ndún |
| ḃurn dán, your poem | ḃur ndán |
| an díċeall, their best | a ndíċeall |
§ 377. And these new forms are pronounced (ăr Noon), (wur Naun), (ă neeh-yăL), the nd in each case being pronounced as nn. The sound of the d is thus “eclipsed,” or overshadowed by that of the n: hence the name of this phenomenon.
§ 378. In the same way
| are written | |
| arn grian, our sun | ar ngrian |
| ḃurn gealaċ, your moon | ḃur ngealaċ |
| an gort, their field | a ngort |
| an gáire, their laughter | a ngáire |
SOUND OF ng.
§ 379. When slender, ng is sounded like ng, in sing, singer, that is, like our symbol n. It is never soft, like ng in singe. In English this sound is not found at the beginning of words.
O’Loingsig (ō Len′-shee), Lynch.
ling (lin, ling), start.
[1]a ngealaċ (ă nal′ă-CH), their moon.
[1]a ngrian (ă nree′-ăn), their sun.
§ 380. When broad, ng is like ng in long, long-er. This sound of ng is a simple sound, very different from the sound of ng in sing, singer; just as g in begun is different from g in begin. It is a sound not often used: we shall when necessary use the symbol NG to denote it. Thus—
| ng sounded as if | |
| seang, slender (pron. shaNG | shong |
| teanga, a tongue (taNG′-ă | tong′-ă |
| a ngort (ă NGŭrth) | ŭng-ŭrth′ |
| a ngáire (ă NGaur′-ĕ) | ŭng-aur′-ĕ |
§ 381. The student should not be discouraged by this, the most difficult sound of the language. At the beginning of words it may be pronounced as N, it the learner cannot acquire the correct sound at once.
§ 382. Ṫáinic Taḋg agus Diarmuid a ḃaile, agus rinne siad a ndíċeall aċt ní ḟuair siad airgead uaim. Atá Art agus Murċaḋ ins an teaċ, agus atá a ndoras fosgailte. Níl a leanḃ balḃ, atá teanga aige. Fuair Tomás agus Seumas an capall in a ngort indé. Atá long ag Taḋg O’Loingsiġ, ní ḟuil bád aige.
§ 383. We made a pretty poem, our poem is long and sweet. Your door is closed. Hugh and Niall were coming home from the river, and their laughter was loud (árd). Our field is green; your field is white (bán) and poor now. Dermot Lynch is in Scotland now; his mother is in Ireland, and his father is in America.
EXERCISE LXII.
§ 384. Just as words like arn, ḃur, an, etc. (words which we may conveniently call eclipsing words) have lost the final n before d and g; so they have lost it before vowels:—
arn aṫair, our father
ḃurn obair, your work
an im, their butter
are now
ar n-aṫair (ăr Nah′-ăr)
ḃur n-obair (wur Nŭb′-ăr)
a n-im (ă nim).
§ 385. The only preposition which in modern Irish causes eclipsis is the preposition in, in, with which we are now familiar.
| Thus, instead of | in dún, | in a | fort, |
| in gort, | „ | field, | |
| we have | |||
| i ndún (ă Noon) | |||
| i ngort (ă NGŭrth, ŭng-ŭrth′). | |||
§ 386. Indeed it is not unusual to write a ndún, in a fort; a ngort, in a field; but it is better to write i ndún, i ngort; and leave a ndún, a ngort = their fort, their field.
§ 387. In the same way, it is not unusual to write i n-áit, in a place; i n-Éirinn, in Ireland; or even a n-áit, a n-Érinn; but it is far better for beginners to write in áit, in Éirinn, as we have done up to this.
§ 388. i nGailliṁ, in Galway,
(ă NGal′-iv, almost like ŭng-al′-iv; the l like l in valiant).
Atá ar n-aṫair beo fós, ní ḟuil sé marḃ. Atá ḃur n-arán milis, aċt atá ḃur n-im searḃ. Atá Murċaḋ agus Dóṁnall ag obair in Albain agus atá a n-obair trom. Ḃí iolar mór áluinn ag Donnċaḋ agus ag Art, aċt fuair a n-iolar bás. Atá Niall agus Nóra boċt, ni ḟuil a n-eorna ag fás in a ngort.
| § 389. Distinguish: | atá an obair trom, the work is heavy; |
| atá a n-obair trom, their work is heavy. |
I found (fuair) your donkey on the road. Niall and John are coming home, their place is empty. Your door is not open. Nora, I found your (do) little bird on the floor. Nora and Una, your (ḃur) lamb is dead; and your floor is not clean. Our poem is sweet; your poem is long.
EXERCISE LXIII.
§ 390. ECLIPSIS OF l, n, r, s.
These letters are not eclipsed; the n of the eclipsing word disappears.
This was not always the case. Instead of in leaḃar, in a book, we often find in older Irish i lleaḃar; so for in ród we find irród; for in muir, i mmuir, for in niṁ, i nniṁ, &c.
Examples: ar leaḃar, our book; i leaḃar (ă lou′-ăr) in a book; ar long, our ship; a ṡeol, their sail.
§ 391. m AND b.
Instead of continuing to say arn bád, our boat; in bád, in a boat, the speakers of Irish found it easier to say arm bád, im bád; by degrees these were pronounced arm ád, im ád, but to keep a record of the original word, we now write ar mád (ăr maudh), i mbád ( maudh). Here again we see that the “eclipsed” letter, b, is not noticed at all in pronunciation.
§ 392. Atá Conn agus Niall ar an loċ anois i mbád. Ní raiḃ mé i mbád ar biṫ, ḃí mé ar an aill. Níl bur mbó (mó) sean, atá sí óg fós, agus atá bainne go leor aici. Ná cuir uisge i mbainne; ná cuir bainne ins an uise. Níl bárd mór in Éirinn anois, fuair ar mbárd bás. Níl aol ar ḃur mballa.
§ 393. The bard found the poem in a book. The story is not in any book. We have no ship, our ship is lost. There is no sail in your boat, your sail is lost. There was a large hole in your sail. Our bread and our milk.
EXERCISE LXIV.
§ 394. ECLIPSIS OF p, c, t.
| Instead of saying | arn | póca, | our | |
| „ | ceann, | „ | head, | |
| „ | tír, | „ | country, |
it was found easier to say arn bóca, arn gceann, arn dír; then the n dropped out, and to preserve the original word, we now write
ar bpóca (ăr bōk′-ă),
ar gceann (ăr gaN: Munster, g-youN),
ar dtír (ăr deer).
Here again we see the rule for pronouncing eclipsed words exemplified—the eclipsed letters, p, c, t, are not noticed in pronunciation.
§ 395. Níl gráḋ agaiḃ ar ḃur dtír. Atá gráḋ mór againn ar Éirinn, ar dtír. Atá Nóra agus Briġid ag obair ag an tobar, atá a dtúirne láidir, aċt atá mo ṫúirne briste. Níl doras ar an dteaċ. Tá Art agus Niall ag teaċt; fág a mbealaċ.
§ 396. Our island, our country. They have no money, their pocket is empty, there is not a shilling in their pocket. Our tree (groN) is green yet. They are not working now, their spinning wheel (dhoor′-ne) is broken. John and James are coming home to Ireland, their father died, and their house is now empty. Leave our way. [ 116 ]Their mother died, their heart (gree′-ĕ) is broken, We have our health yet.
§ 397. THE “OUR FATHER.”
An Ṗaidir.
Ar n-Aṫair, atá ar neaṁ, go naoṁṫar tainm; go dtigiḋ do riġeaċt; go ndeuntar do ṫoil ar an talaṁ mar ġníṫear ar neaṁ. Taḃair ḋúinn indiu ar n-arán laeṫeaṁail, agus maiṫ ḋúinn ar ḃfiaċa mar ṁaiṫeamuid dár ḃféiċeaṁnaiḃ féin; agus ná léig sinn i gcaṫuġaḋ, aċt saor sinn ó olc. Amén.
An fwad′-er,
ăr nah′-ir a-thau′ er nav gŭ Naev′-hăr than′-ăm; gŭ dig′-ee dhŭ ree′-ăCHth; gŭ naen′-thăr dhŭ hel er ăn thol′-ăv mor nee′-hăr er nav. Thou′-ăr γoon in-yoo′ ăr năr-aun′ Lae′-hoo-il, ogus mah γoon or vee′-ăCh-ă mor wah′-ăm-id dhăr vae′-hoon-iv faen; ogus Nau laeg shin ă goh′-oo, oCHth saer shin ō ŭlk om-aen′. The title means “The Pater,” from the word with which the prayer begins in Latin.