Elements of Gaelic Grammar Part 12

31 Aon fhear deug 'ar fhichead. Aon chlach dheug thar fhichead.

40 Da fhichead fear. Da fhichead clach.

41 Fear is da fhichead. Clach is da fhichead.

42 Da fhear is da fhichead. Da chloich is da fhichead.

50 Deich is da fhichead fear. Deich is da fhichead clach.

60 Tri fichead fear. Tri fichead clach.

70 Tri fichead fear agus deich. Tri fichead clach agus deich.

100 Ceud fear. Ceud clach.

101 Ceud fear agus a h-aon. Ceud clach agus a h-aon.

300 Tri cheud fear. Tri cheud clach.

1,000 Mle fear. Mle clach.

10,000 Deich mle fear, &c. Deich mle clach, &c.

_Ordinal Numbers._

1 An ceud fhear, _the first man_; a' cheud chlach, _the first stone_.

2 An dara fear.

3 An treas fear, an tri-amh fear.

4 An ceathramh fear.

5 An cuigeamh fear.

6 An seathamh fear.

7 An seachdamh fear.

8 An t-ochdamh fear.

{61} 9 An naothamh fear.

10 An deicheamh fear.

11 An t-aon fear deug.

12 An dara fear deug.

20 Am ficheadamh fear.

21 An t-aon fhear fichead.

22 An dara fear fichead.

31 An t-aon fhear deug thar fhichead.

40 An da fhicheadamh fear.

60 An tri ficheadamh fear.

100 An ceudamh fear.

101 An t-aon fhear thar cheud.

120 Am ficheadamh fear thar cheud.

200 An da cheudamh fear.

1000 Am mleamh fear, &c.

The following numeral Nouns are applied only to persons:--

2. Dithis, _two persons_. 7. Seachdnar.

3. Triuir. 8. Ochdnar.

4. Ceathrar. 9. Naoinar.

5. Cuignear. 10. Deichnar.

6. Seanar.

CHAPTER IV.

OF p.r.o.nOUNS.

The _p.r.o.nouns_ are, for the most part, words used instead of nouns. They may be arranged under the following divisions: Personal, Possessive, Relative, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Indefinite, Compound.

The _Personal p.r.o.nouns_ are those of the 1st, 2d, and 3d persons. They have a Singular and a Plural Number, a Simple and an Emphatic Form. They are declined thus:-- {62}

_Singular._ _Plural._ _Simple Form._ _Emphat. F._ _Simple F._ _Emphat._ 1. Mi, mhi, _I_, _me_, Mise, mhise. Sinn, _we_, _us_, Sinne.

2. {Th, thu, _thou_, } Tusa, thusa. Sibh, _ye_, _you_, Sibhse.

{Thu, _thee_, } 3. {E, se, _he_, } Esan.

{E, _him_, } {I, si, _she_, } Ise. {Iad, siad, _they_} {I, _her_, } {Iad, _them,_ } Iadsan[40]

The p.r.o.noun 'sibh' _you_, of the plural number is used almost universally in addressing a single person of superior rank or of greater age; while 'tu' _thou_, of the singular number is used in addressing an inferior or an equal. But the degree of seniority or of superiority, which is understood to ent.i.tle a person to this token of respect, varies in different parts of the Highlands[41]. The Supreme Being is always addressed by the p.r.o.noun 'tu' _thou_, of the singular number.

The _Possessive p.r.o.nouns_ correspond to the Personal p.r.o.nouns, and, like them, may be called those of the 1st, 2d, and 3d persons singular, and 1st, 2d, and 3d persons plural. They have an Emphatic Form, which is made by connecting the syllable _sa_ with the possessive p.r.o.noun of the 1st, 2d, {63} and 3d persons singular, and 2d person plural; _ne_ with that of the 1st person plural, and _san_ with that of the 3d person plural. These syllables are placed immediately after the nouns to which the possessive p.r.o.nouns are prefixed, and connected by a hyphen.

These p.r.o.nouns are as follow:--

_Simple._ _Emphatic._ _Simple._ _Emphatic._ _Singular._ _Plural._ 1. Mo, _my_, mo mhac-sa 1. Ar, _our_, ar mac-ne 2. Do, _thy_, do ----sa 2. Bhur, 'ur, _your_, bhur ----sa 3. {A, _his_, a mhac-sa, san} 3. An, am, _their_, an, am ----sa, san {A, _her_, a mac-sa, san }

If the noun be followed by an adjective, the emphatic syllable is affixed to the adjective; as, do lamh gheal-sa _thy white hand_.

The possessive p.r.o.nouns mo, do, when followed by a vowel, commonly lose the _o_, whose absence is marked by an apostrophe; as, m' aimn _my name_; d'

athair[42] _thy father_. The same p.r.o.nouns when preceded by the preposition ann _in_, suffer a transposition of their letters, and are written am, ad, one broad vowel being subst.i.tuted for another, as, ann ad chridhe _in thy heart_, 1 Sam. xiv. 7, ann am aire _in my thoughts_.

The possessive p.r.o.noun a _his_, is often suppressed altogether after a vowel; as, na sanntaich bean do choimhearsnaich, no oglach, no bhanoglach, no dhamh, no asal, _covet not thy neighbour's wife, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant_, &c., Exod. xx. 17. In these and similar instances, as the tense is but imperfectly expressed (especially when the noun begins with a vowel), and cannot be gathered with certainty from any other part of the sentence, perhaps it might {64} be an improvement to retain the p.r.o.noun, even at the expense of cutting off the final vowel of the preceding word; as, n' a oglach, n' a bhanoglaich, &c. In many cases, however, this appears hardly practicable; as, cha bheo athair _his father is not alive_, which could not with any propriety be written cha bheo a athair[43].

The word fein corresponding to the English words _self_, _own_, is subjoined occasionally both to the personal and possessive p.r.o.nouns: thus mi fein _myself_, mise fein _I myself_, thu fein _thyself_, thusa fein _thou thyself_, or _thy own self_, mo shluagh fein _my own people_.

The other p.r.o.nouns are as follow:--

_Relative._ _Demonstrative._ _Interrogative._ _N._ A, _who_, _which_, So, _this_, _these_. Co? _who?_ _that_.

_G.&D._ An. Sin, _that_, _those_. Cia? _which?_ Nach, _who not_, Sud[44], ud, _yon_. Ciod, creud? _what?_ _which not_, Na, _that which_, _what_[45].

_Indefinite._ _Compound._ Eigin, _some_. E so, _this one_, m. E sud, _yon one_, m.

Ge b'e } _whoever_[46]. I so, _this one_, f. I sud, _yon one_, f.

Cia b'e } {65} Eile, _other_. Iad so, _these_. Iad sud, _yon_, pl.

Gach, } _each_, } E sin, _that one_, m. Cach eile, _the rest_.

Cach, } _every_[47]. } Cach, _others, the rest_. Iad sin, _those_. Cach a cheile, Cuid, _some_. _each other_[48].

CHAPTER V.

OF VERBS.

A word that signifies to be, to do, or to suffer anything, is called a _Verb_.

The Verb in Gaelic, as in other languages, is declined by Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers, and Persons.