Elements of Gaelic Grammar Part 26

{ m. roimhe.

Roimh; romham, romhad, { f. roimpe.

Thar; tharam, tharad, f. thairte.

{ m. troimhe.

Troimh; tromham, tromhad, { f. troimpe.

{119} Plural.

_1st Pers._ _2d Pers._ _3d Pers._

Aig, } againn, agaibh, aca, Ag; } _at_. _at us_. _at you_. _at them_.

Air; oirnn, oirbh, orra.

Ann; annainn, annaibh, annta.

As; asainn, asaibh, asda.

De; dhinn, dhibh, dhiu.

Do; dhuinn, dhuibh, dhoibh.

Eadar; eadarainn, eadaraibh, eatorra.

Fo, Fuidh; fodhainn, fodhaibh, fodhpa.

Gu; h-ugainn, h-ugaibh, h-uca.

Le; leinn, leibh, leo.

Mu; umainn, umaibh, umpa.

O, Ua; uainn, uaibh, uapa.

Re, Ri; ruinn, ribh, riu.

Roimh; romhainn, romhaibh, rompa.

Thar; tharuinn, tharuibh, tharta.

Troimh; tromhainn, tromhaibh, trompa.

{120}

In most of these compound terms, the fragments of the p.r.o.nouns which enter into their composition, especially those of the first and second Persons, are very conspicuous[82]. These fragments take after them occasionally the emphatic syllables _sa_, _san_, _ne_, in the same manner as the Personal p.r.o.nouns themselves do; as, agamsa _at ME_, aigesan _at HIM_, uainne _from US_.

The two prepositions _de_ and _do_ have long been confounded together, both being written _do_. It can hardly be supposed that the composite words dhiom, dhiot, &c. would have been distinguished from dhomh, dhuit, &c., by orthography, p.r.o.nunciation, and signification, if the Prepositions, as well as the p.r.o.nouns, which enter into the composition of these words, had been originally the same. In dhiom, &c., the initial Consonant is always followed by a small vowel. In dhomh, &c., with one exception, it is followed by a broad vowel. Hence it is presumable that the Preposition which is the root of dhiom, &c., must have had a small vowel after _d_, whereas the root of dhomh, &c., has a broad vowel after d. _De_ is a preposition preserved in Latin (a language which has many marks of affinity with the Gaelic), in the same sense which must have belonged to the root of dhiom, &c., in Gaelic. The preposition in question itself occurs in Irish, in the name given to a Colony which is supposed to have settled in Ireland, A.M. 2540, called Tuath de Danann. (See Lh. "Arch. Brit." t.i.t. x. _voc._ Tuath; also Miss Brooke's "Reliques of Irish Poetry," p. 102.) These facts afford more than a presumption that the true root of the Composite dhiom, &c., is _de_, and that it signifies _of_. It has therefore appeared proper to separate it from _do_, and to a.s.sign to each its appropriate meaning[83].

{121}

Dhiom, dhiot, &c., and dhomh, dhuit, &c., are written with a _plain d_ after a Lingual; diom, domh, &c.

Eadar is not incorporated with the p.r.o.nouns of the singular number, but written separately; eadar mis agus thusa, _between me and thee_.

In combining _gu_ and _mu_ with the p.r.o.nouns, the letters of the Prepositions suffer a transposition, and are written _ug_, _um_. The former of these was long written with _ch_ prefixed, thus chugam, &c. The translators of the Scriptures, observing that _ch_ neither corresponded to the p.r.o.nunciation, nor made part of the radical Preposition, exchanged it for _th_, and wrote thugam. The _th_, being no more than a simple aspiration, corresponds indeed to the common mode of p.r.o.nouncing the word.

Yet it may well be questioned whether the _t_, even though aspirated, ought to have a place, if _g_ be the only radical consonant belonging to the Preposition. The component parts of the word might be exhibited with less disguise, and the common p.r.o.nunciation (whether correct or not), also represented, by retaining the _h_ alone, and connecting it with the Preposition by a hyphen, as when written before a Noun, thus h-ugam, h-ugaibh, &c.

Improper Prepositions.

Air cheann; _at [the] end_, against a certain time.

Air feadh, } Air fad; } throughout, during.

Air muin; _on the back_, mounted on.

Air sgath; for the sake, on pretence.

Air son; on account.

Air tir; in pursuit.

Air beulaobh; _on the fore side_, before.

Air culaobh; _on the back side_, behind.

Am fochair; _in presence_.

Am measg; _in the mixture_, amidst, among.

{122} An aghaidh; _in the face_, against, in opposition.

An ceann; _in the end_, at the expiration.

An comhail, } An coinnimh; } _in meeting_, to meet.

An cois, } A chois; } _at the foot_, near to, hard by.

An dail; _in the rencounter_, to meet.

An diaigh, } An deigh, } probably for } An deaghaidh, } an deireadh; } in the end, after.

An deis; } An eiric; in return, in requital.

Am fianuis, } An lathair; } in presence.

An lorg; _in the track_, in consequence.

As eugais, } As easbhuidh; } _in want_, without.

As leth; in behalf, for the sake.

A los; in order to, with the intention of.

Car; during.

Do bhrigh, a bhrigh; _by virtue_, because.

Do chir, a chir; _to the presence_, near, implying motion.

Do chum, a chum[84]; to, towards, in order to.

Do dhth, a dhth, } Dh' easbhuidh; } for want.

Dh' fhios; _to the knowledge_, to.

Dh' ionnsuidh; _to the approach_, or _onset_, toward.

Do reir, a reir; according to.

Do thaobh, a thaobh; _on the side_, with respect, concerning.

Fa chuis; by reason, because.

Fa chomhair; opposite.

Mu choinnimh; opposite, over against.

Mu thimchoill, timchioll; _by the circuit_, around.

O bharr, bharr; _from the top_, off.

Os ceann; _on the top_, above, atop.

{123} Re; _duration_, during.

Tareis; _after_[85].