Elements of Gaelic Grammar Part 31

2. The possessive p.r.o.nouns mo, do, &c., are always placed before their nouns; as, mo lamh, _my hand_. The interrogatives co, cia, &c., are placed before their nouns, with the article intervening; as, cia am fear? _which man?_

3. Some adjectives of one syllable are usually placed before their Nouns; as, deadh dhuine, _a good man_; droch ghniomh, _a bad action_; seann sluagh, _old people_. Such Adjectives, placed before their Nouns, often combine with them, so as to represent one complex idea, rather than two distinct ones; and the adjective and noun, in that situation, may rather be considered as one complex term, than as two distinct words, and written accordingly; as, oigfhear, _a young man_; ogbhean, _a young woman_; garbhchriochan, _rude regions_[97].

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_Form._

Though a Gaelic Adjective possesses a variety of Forms, yet its Form is not always determined by the Noun whose signification it modifies. The Form of the Adjective depends on its Noun, when it immediately follows the Noun, or only with the intervention of an intensitive Particle, ro, gle, &c., and when both the Noun and the Adjective are in the Subject, or both in the Predicate, or in the same clause or member of a sentence. In all other situations, the form of the Adjective does in no respect depend on the Noun; or, in other words, the Adjective does not agree with the Noun[98].

To ill.u.s.trate this rule, let the following examples be attentively considered:--Is beag orm a' ghaoth fhuar, _I dislike the cold wind_; is beag orm fuaim na gaoithe fuaire, _I dislike the sound of the cold wind_; is beag orm seasamh anns a' ghaoith fhuair, _I dislike standing in the cold wind_. In these examples, the Adjective and the Noun are both in the same clause or member of a sentence, and therefore they must agree together. In the following examples the Adjective and the Noun do not necessarily agree together:--Is fuar a' ghaoth a tuath, _cold is the wind from the north_; is tric leis a' ghaoith a tuath bhi fuar, _it is usual for the wind from the north to be cold_. In these examples, the Noun is in the Subject, and the Adjective in the Predicate of the proposition.

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The grammatical distinction observable in the following examples is agreeable to the strictest philosophical propriety:--Rinn mis an scian gheur, _I made the sharp knife_: here the Adjective agrees with the Noun, for it modifies the Noun, distinguishing that knife from others. Rinn mis an scian geur, _I made the knife sharp_: here the Adjective does not agree with the Noun, for it modifies not the Noun but the Verb. It does not characterize the _object_ on which the operation is performed, hut it combines with the Verb in specifying the _nature of the operation_ performed. The expression is equivalent to gheuraich mi an scian, _I sharpened the knife_. So also, mhothaich mi a' ghaoth fhuar, _I felt the cold wind_; but mhothaich mi a' ghaoth fuar, _I felt the wind cold_. In the former of these examples the Adjective modifies the Noun, and agrees with it; in the latter it does not agree with the Noun, for its use is to modify the Verb, or to specify the nature of the sensation felt. In like manner, dh' fhag iad an obair criochnaichte, _they left the work finished_; fhuaradh an igh snte, marbh, _the maid was found stretched out dead_. And so in other similar instances.

1. When an Adjective and Noun are so situated and related, that an agreement takes place between them, then the Adjective agrees with its noun in Gender, Number, and Case. A Noun preceded by the Numeral da _two_, though it be in the Singular Number, [see conclusion of Part II. Chap I.]

takes an Adjective in the Plural; as, da iasg bheaga, _two small fishes_, John, vi. 9. The Initial Form of the Adjective depends partly on the Gender of the Noun, partly on its Termination, and partly on its being preceded by the Article.

The following examples of an Adjective declined along with its Noun, exhibit the varieties in the Initial Form, as well as in the Termination of the Adjective:--

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MONOSYLLABLES.

Fear mr, mas. _a Great Man_.

_Without the Article._

_Sing._ _Plur._ _N._ Fear mr, Fir mhra, _G._ Fir mhir, Fheara mra, _D._ Fear mr, Fearaibh mra, _V._ Fhir mhir. Fheara mra.

_With the Article._

_N._ Am Fear mr, Na Fir mhra, _G._ An Fhir mhir, Nam Fear mra, _D._ An Fhear mhr. Na Fearaibh mra.

Slat gheal, fem. _a white rod_.

_Without the Article._

_N._ Slat gheal, Slatan geala, _G._ Slaite gile, Shlatan geala, _D._ Slait ghil, Slataibh geala, _V._ Shlat gheal. Shlata geala.

_With the Article._

_N._ An t-Slat gheal, Na Slatan geala, _G._ Na Slaite gile, Nan Slata geala, _D._ An t-Slait ghil. Na Slataibh geala.

POLYSYLLABLES.

Oglach dileas, m. _a Faithful Servant_.

_Without the Article._

_N._ Oglach dileas, Oglaich dhileas, _G._ Oglaich dhilis, Oglach dileas, _D._ Oglach dileas, Oglachaibh dileas, _V._ Oglaich dhilis. Oglacha dileas.

{145} _With the Article._

_N._ An t-Oglach dileas, Na h-Oglaich dhileas.

_G._ An Oglaich dhilis, Nan Oglach dileas.

_D._ An Oglach dhileas, Na h-Oglachaibh dileas.

Clarsach fhonnmhor, f. _a Tuneful Harp._

_Without the Article._

_N._ Clarsach fhonnmhor, Clarsaichean fonnmhor.

_G._ Clarsaich fhonnmhoir, Chlarsach fonnmhor.

_D._ Clarsaich fhonnmhoir, Clarsaichibh fonnmhor.

_V._ Chlarsach fhonnmhor, Chlarsaiche fonnmhor.

_With the Article._

_N._ A' Chlarsach fhonnmhor, Na Clarsaichean fonnmhor.

_G._ Na Clarsaich fonnmhoir, Nan Clarsach fonnmhor.

_D._ A', 'n Chlarsaich fhonnmhoir, Na Clarsaichibh fonnmhor.

An Adjective, beginning with a Lingual, and preceded by a Noun terminating in a Lingual, retains its primary Form in all the Singular cases; for the sake, it would seem, of preserving the agreeable sound arising from the coalescence of the two Linguals; as, nighean donn _a brown maid_, instead of nighean dhonn; a' choin duibh _of the black dog_, instead of a' choin dhuibh; air a' chois deis _on his right foot_, instead of air a chois dheis.

II. A Noun preceded by an Adjective a.s.sumes the aspirated Form; as, ard bheann _a high hill_, cruaidh dheuchainn _a hard trial_.

1. A Noun preceded by a Numeral is in the primary Form; as, tri meoir _three fingers_; to which add iomadh _many_, gach _every_; as, iomadh fear _many a man_; gach craobh _every tree_.--Except aon _one_, da _two_; ceud _first_; as, aon fhear _one man_, da chraoibh _two trees_.

2. A Noun preceded by any of the following Possessive p.r.o.nouns, a _her_, ar _our_, bhur _your_, an _their_, is in the primary {146} Form; as, a mathair _her mother_, ar brathair _our brother_. When the Possessive p.r.o.noun a _her_, precedes a Noun or an Adjective beginning with a vowel, _h_ is inserted between them; as, a h-athair, _her father_, a h-aon mhac _her only son_. The Possessive p.r.o.nouns ar _our_, bhur _your_, usually take _n_ between them and the following Noun or Adjective beginning with a vowel; as, ar n-athair _our father_, bhur n-aran _your bread_. Perhaps a distinction ought to be made, by inserting _n_ only after ar, and not after bhur[99]. This would serve often to distinguish the one word from the other in speaking, where they are ready to be confounded by bhur being p.r.o.nounced ur.

3. A Noun beginning with a Lingual, preceded by an Adjective ending in _n_, is in the primary Form; as, aon duine _one man_, seann sluagh _old people_.

SECTION III.

OF THE AGREEMENT OF A p.r.o.nOUN WITH ITS ANTECEDENT.

The Personal and Possessive p.r.o.nouns follow the _Number_ of their Antecedents, _i.e._ of the Nouns which they represent. Those of the 3d Pers. Sing. follow also the Gender of their antecedent; as, sheas a'bhean aig _a_ chosaibh, agus thoisich _i air am_ fliuchadh leis _a_ deuraibh, agus thiormaich _i iad_ le gruaig _a_ cinn, _the woman stood at his feet, and she began to wet them with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head_, Luke vii. 38. They follow, however, not the Gender of the Antecedent, but the s.e.x of the creature signified by the Antecedent, in those words in which s.e.x and Gender disagree, as, an gobhlan-gaoithe mar an ceudn' do sholair nead dh'i fein _the swallow too hath provided a nest for herself_, Psal. lx.x.xiv. 3. Gobhlan-gaoithe _a swallow_, is a mas. Noun, as appears by the mas. Article: but as it is the dam that is spoken of, the reference is made by the Personal p.r.o.noun of the fem. gender. Ta gliocas air a fireanachadh leis a cloinn _Wisdom {147} is justified by her children_, Matt. xi. 19. Gliocas is a mas. noun; but as Wisdom is here personified as a female, the regimen of the Possessive p.r.o.noun is adapted to that idea[100]. See also Prov. ix. 1-3. In this sentence Och nach b' i mhaduinn e, Deut. xxviii. 67, the former p.r.o.noun _i_ is correctly put in the fem. gender, as referring to the fem. noun _maduinn_; while the latter p.r.o.n. _e_ is put in the mas. gend. because referring to no expressed antecedent.

If the Antecedent be a sentence, or clause of a sentence, the p.r.o.noun is of the 3d Pers. Sing. masculine; as, dh' ith na ba caola suas na ba reamhra, agus cha n-aithnichteadh orra _e_, _the lean cattle ate up the fat cattle, and could not be known by them_.

If the Antecedent be a collective Noun, the p.r.o.noun is of the 3d Pers.

Plur. as, thoir aithne do 'n t-sluagh, d' eagal gu m bris _iad_ asteach _charge the people lest they break in_, Exod. xix. 21.