Elements of Gaelic Grammar Part 33

The Noun governed is sometimes in the Primary, sometimes in the Aspirated Form.

Proper Names of the Masculine Gender are in the Aspirated Form; as, brathair Dhonuill, _Donald's brother_; uaigh Choluim, _Columba's grave_.

Except when a final and an initial Lingual meet; as, clann Donuill, _Donald's descendants_; beinn Deirg _Dargo's hill_.

When both Nouns are Appellatives, and no word intervenes between them, the initial Form of the latter Noun follows, for the most part, that of an Adjective agreeing with the former Noun. See p. 144.

Thus, d' a gharadh _f_iona, g' a gharadh _f_iona, without the Article, Matt, xx. 1, 2, like do dhuine _m_aith; but do 'n gharadh _fh_iona, with the Article _v._ 4, 7, like do 'n duine _mh_aith. So we should say do 'n ard fhear-_ch_iuil, rather than do 'n ard fhear-_c_iuil, as in the t.i.tle of many of the Psalms.

EXCEPT.--If the latter Noun denote an individual of a species, that is, if it take the Article _a_ before it in English, it is put in the _primary form_, although the former Noun be feminine; as, suil caraid, _the eye of a friend_, not suil _ch_araid, like suil _mh_or, duais _f_aidh, _a prophet's reward_, Matt. x. 4, not duais _fh_aidh, like duais _mh_r. Chum maitheanais _p_eacaidh, Acts, ii. 38, signifies _for the remission of a sin_; rather chum maitheanais _ph_eacaidh _for the remission of sin_.

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SECTION II.

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives of fulness govern the Genitive; as, lan uamhainn _full of dread_, Acts, ix. 6, buidheach beidh, _satisfied with meat_.

The first Comparative takes the Particle na _than_, before the following Noun; as, ni 's gile na an sneachdadh, _whiter than the snow_, b' fhaide gach mios na bliadhna, _each month seemed longer than a year_. Smith's "Ant. Poems," p. 9.

The second Comparative is construed thus: is feairrd mi so, _I am the better for this_; bu mhisd e am buille sin, _he was the worse for that blow_; cha truimid a' choluinn a ciall, _the body is not the heavier for its understanding_.

Superlatives are followed by the Preposition de or dhe _of_; as, am fear a 's airde dhe 'n triuir, _the man who is tallest of the three_, _the tallest man of the three_.

SECTION III.

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF VERBS.

A Transitive Verb governs its object in the Nominative or Objective Case; as, mharbh iad an righ, _they killed the king_; na buail mi, _do not strike me_. The object is commonly placed after the Verb, but never between the Verb and its Nominative. [See Part III. Chap. I., Sect. IV.] Sometimes the object is placed, by way of emphasis, before the Verb; as, mise chuir e rs ann am aite, agus esan chroch e, _me he put again in my place, and him he hanged_, Gen. xli. 13. An t-each agus a mharcach thilg e 's an fhairge, _the horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea_, Exod. xv. 1.

Many Transitive Verbs require a Preposition before their object; as, iarr air Donull, _desire Donald_; labhair ri Donull, _speak to Donald_; leig le Donull, _let Donald alone_; beannuich do Dhonull, _salute Donald_; fiosraich de Dhonull, _enquire of Donald_. {160}

Bu _was_, requires the following initial Consonant to be aspirated; as, bu mhaith dhuit, _it was good for you_; bu chruaidh an gnothuch, _it was a hard case_; except initial _d_, and _t_ which are not aspirated; as, bu dual duit, _it was natural for you_; bu trom an eallach, _the burden was heavy_; bu ghearr a lo, 's bu dubh a sgeul, _short was her course, and sad was her story_. Smith's "Ant. Poems."

SECTION IV.

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ADVERBS.

The collocation of Adverbs is for the most part arbitrary.

The Adverbs ro, gle, _very_, are placed before the Adjectives they modify, and require the following initial Consonant to be aspirated; as, ro bheag, _very little_; gle gheal, _very white_.

The Negative cha or cho _not_, when followed by a word beginning with a l.a.b.i.al or Palatal, requires the initial Consonant to be aspirated; as, cha mhr e, _it is not great_; cha bhuail mi, _I will not strike_; cha chuala mi, _I did not hear_; but an initial Lingual remains unaspirated; as, cha dean mi, _I will not do_; cha tog e, _he will not raise_; cha soirbhich iad, _they will not prosper_. _N_ is inserted between cha and an initial Vowel or an aspirated _f_; as, cha n-e, _it is not_; cha n-eigin, _it is not necessary_; cha n-fhaca mi, _I saw not_.

The Negative ni requires _h_ before an initial Vowel; as, ni h-iad, _they are not_; ni h-eudar, _it may not_.

SECTION V.

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF PREPOSITIONS.

The Proper Prepositions aig, air, &c., govern the Dative; as, aig mo chois, _at my foot_; air mo laimh, _on my hand_. They are always placed before the word they govern. The following Prepositions require the Noun governed to be put in the Aspirated Form, viz., de, do, fuidh, fo, fa, gun, mar, mu, o, tre. Air sometimes governs the Noun in the Aspirated Form; as, air bharraibh sgiath na gaoithe, _on the extremities of the {161} wings of the wind_, Psal. xviii. 10. Gun governs either the Nominative or Dative; as, gun chrioch, _without end_, Heb. vii. 16; gun cheill, _without understanding_, Psal. x.x.xii. 9; gun chloinn, Gen. xv. 2. Mar, and gus or gu, when prefixed to a Noun without the Article, usually govern the Dative case; as, mar nighin, _as a daughter_, 2 Sam. xii. 13; mar amhainn mhir, _like a great river_, Psal. cv. 41; gu crch mo shaoghail fein, _to the end of my life-time_, Psal. cxix. 33, xlviii. 10. But if the Article be joined to the Noun, it is governed in the Nominative; as, mar a' ghrian, _like the sun_, Psal. lx.x.xix. 36, 37; gus an sruth, _to the stream_, Deut. iii. 16; gus a' chrioch, _to the end_, Heb. iii. 6, 14. Eadar governs the Nom.; as, eadar a' chraobh agus a' chlach, _between the tree and the stone_. Eadar, when signifying _between_, requires the Primary Form; as, eadar maighstir agus muinntireach, _between a master and a servant_; when it signifies _both_, it requires the Aspirated Form; as, eadar shean agus g, _both old and young_; eadar fheara agus mhnai, _both men and women_, Acts viii. 12.

The Prepositions as, gus, leis, ris, are used before the Monosyllables an, am, a'. The corresponding Prepositions a, gu, le, ri, often take an _h_ before an initial Vowel; as, a h-Eirin, _out of Ireland_; gu h-ealamh, _readily_; le h-eagal, _with fear_.

The Improper Prepositions govern the following Noun in the Genitive; as, air feadh na tre, _throughout the land_; an aghaidh an t-sluaigh, _against the people_; re na h-uine, _during the time_. It is manifest that this Genitive is governed by the Noun feadh, aghaidh, re, &c., which is always included in the Preposition. See Part II. Chap. VII.

Prepositions are often prefixed to a Clause of a sentence; and then they have no regimen; as, gus am bord a ghiulan, _to carry the table_, Exod.

xxv. 27; luath chum fuil a dhortadh, _swift to shed blood_, Rom. iii. 15.

Edit. 1767; an deigh an obair a chriochnachadh, _after finishing the work_.

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SECTION VI.

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CONJUNCTIONS.

The Conjunctions agus _and_, no _or_, couple the same Cases of Nouns; as, air feadh chreagan agus choilltean, _through rocks and woods_; ag reubadh nam bruach 's nan crann, _tearing the banks and the trees_. When two or more Nouns, coupled by a Conjunction, are governed in the Dative by a Preposition, it is usual to repeat the Preposition before each Noun; as, air fad agus air leud, _in length and in breadth_; 'n an cridhe, 'n an cainnt, agus 'n am beus, _in their heart, in their speech, and in their behaviour_.

Co _as_, prefixed to an Adjective, commonly requires the initial consonant of the Adj. to be aspirated; as, co mhaith, _as good_, co ghrinn, _as fine_. But sometimes we find co mr, _as great_, co buan, _as durable_, &c., without the aspirate. Sometimes the aspirate is transferred from the Adj. to the Conjunct. as, cho beag, _as little_, for co bheag. In the North Highlands, an adjective preceded by co is commonly put in the Comparative form; as, co miosa, _as bad_; co treise, _as strong_.

The Conjunctions mur _if not_, gu, gur _that_, are always joined to the Negative Mood; as, mur 'eil mi, _if I be not_; gu robh e, _that he was_.

_M_ or _n_ is often inserted, _euphoniae causa_, between gu and an initial Consonant; viz., _m_ before a l.a.b.i.al, _n_ before a Palatal or Lingual; as, gu-m faca tu, _that you saw_; gu-n dubhairt iad, _that they said_[111].

The Conjunctions ma _if_, o, o'n _because, since_, are joined to the Pres.

and Pret. Affirmative, and Fut. Subjunctive; as, ma ta e, _if he be_; o'n tha e, _since he is_; ma bhuail e, _if he struck_; o'n bhuail e, _because he struck_; ma bhuaileas tu, _if you strike_; o bhitheas sinn, _since we shall be_.

Na'm, na'n _if_, is joined only to the Pret. Subjunctive. {163} The initial Consonant of the Verb loses its aspiration after this Conjunction; as, na'm bithinn, _if I were_; nan tuiteadh a' chraobh, _if the tree should fall_.

Ged _although_, is used before the Present and Preterite Affirmative, the Fut. Negative, and the Pret. Subjunctive; as, ged tha e, _though he be_; ged bha mi, _though I was_; ge do bhuail thu mi, _though you struck me_; ged bhuail thu mi, _though you strike me_; ged bheireadh e dhomh, _though he should give me_[112].

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PART IV.

OF DERIVATION AND COMPOSITION.

CHAPTER I.

OF DERIVATION.