Plural Number.
Nominative.Masculine nouns which insertiin the gen. sing. have their nom. plur. like the gen. sing.; as, oglach m.a servant, g. s. oglaich, n. p. oglaich; fear m.a man, g. s. and n. p. fir. Many of these form their nom. plur. also by adding a shortato the nominative singular. Other masculine nouns, and all feminine nouns, have their nom. plural ina, to whichnis added,euphoniæ causa, before an initial vowel[37].
Particular Rulesfor forming the Nom. Plur. inaoran.
1. By addingato the nom. singular; as, dubhar m.a shadow, n. p. dubhara; rioghachd f.a kingdom, n. p. rioghachdan. Under this Rule, some nouns suffer a syncope; as, dorus m.a door, n. p. dorsa for dorusa.
2. Nouns ending inlornn, often inserttbeforea; as, reul m.a star, n. p. reulta; beann f.a pinnacle, n. p. beannta. So lòn m.a marsh, n. p. lòintean.
3. Some nouns inardrop thea, and add to the nom. sing. the syllableaich; and then the finalabecomese, to correspond to the preceding small vowel; as, leabhar m.a book, n. p. leabhraiche; tobar m.a well, n. p. tobraiche; lann. f.an enclosure, insertsd, n. p. lanndaiche. Piuthar f.a sister, from the g. s. peathar, has n. p. peathraiche; so leaba f.a bed, g. s. leapa, n. p. leapaiche. Bata m.a staff, n. p. batacha; la or lathaa day, n. p. lathachan or laithean.
4. Some polysyllables inachaddeoreanto the genitive singular; as, mullach m.summit, g. s. mullaich, n. p. mullaichean; otrach m.a dunghill, n. p. otraichean; clarsach f.a harp, n. p. clarsaichean; deudach f.the jaw, n. p. deudaichean. So sliabh m.a moor, g. s. sleibh, withtinserted, n. p. sleibhte. Sabhul m.a barn, g. s. sabhuil, n. p. saibhlean, contracted for sabhuilean.
The following Nouns form their Nominative Plural irregularly: Dia m.God, n. p. dée or diathan; scian f.a knife, n. p. sceana or scinichean; sluagh m.people, n. p. sloigh; bo. f.a cow, n. p. ba.
Genitive.1. Monosyllables, and nouns which form their nominative plural like the genitive singular, have the genitive plural like the nominative singular; as, geug f.a branch, g. p. geug; coimhearsnach m.a neighbour, g. s. and n. p. coimhearsnach.
2. Polysyllables which have their nominative plural inaoran, form the genitive like the nominative; leabhar m.a book,n. p. and g. p. 'leabraichean'—When the nominative plural is twofold, the genitive is so too; as 'fear' n.a man,n. p. fir, or sometimes feara, g. p. fear or feara.
Cu m.a doghas its g. p. con; caora f.a sheep, g. p. caorach; sluagh m.people, g. p. sluagh or slogh.
Dative.The dative plural is formed either from the nominative singular or from the nominative plural. If the nominative plural ends in a consonant, the dative plural is formed by addingibhto the nominative singular; as, crann m.a tree, n. p. croinn, d. p. crannaibh; mac m.a son, n. p. mic, d. p. macaibh. If the nominative plural ends in a vowel, the final vowel is changed intoibh; as, tobara well, n. p. tobraiche, d. p. tobraichibh.
2. Monosyllables ending in an aspirated consonant, which have their nominative plural like the genitive singular, form their dative plural like the nominative plural; as, damhan ox, g. s. and n. p. daimh, d. p. daimh, not damhaibh; fiadh m.a deer, g. s. and n. p. and d. p. feidh. So sluagh m.people,host, g. s. sluaigh, n. p. and d. p. sloigh. Nouns ending inch, of three or more syllables, form their dative plural like the nominative plural, rather than inibh; as, coimhearsnach m.a neighbour, d. p. coimhearsnaich rather than coimhearsnachaibh; phairiseach m.a Pharisee, d. p. phairisich rather thanphairiseachaibh.
Vocative.The vocative plural is like the nominative plural, terminating ina, but seldom inan; as, fear m.a man, n. p. fir or feara, v. p.fheara; oglach m.a servant, n. p.oglaich, v. p.oglacha. Except perhaps monosyllables which never form their nominative plural ina, nor their dative plural inibh; as, damh m.an ox, n. p. daimh, v. p. dhaimh; a shloigh, Rom. xv. 11.
The irregular noun Bean f.a woman, is declined thus:
SECOND DECLENSION.
Formation of the cases of nouns of the second Declension.
Singular Number.
General Rule for the Genitive.The genitive of polysyllables is like the nominative; of monosyllables is made by addingeto the nominative; as, caraid m.a friend, g. s. caraid; aimsir f.time, g. s. aimsir; tigh m.a house, g. s. tighe; ainm m.a name,g. s. ainme; im m.butter, g. s. ime; craig f.a rock, g. s. craige.
Particular Rules for the Genitive.1. Feminine nouns inailandairdrop theiand addach; if the nominative be a polysyllable,aiis thrown away; as, sail f.a beam, g. s. salach; dail f.a plain, g. s. dalach; lair f.a mare, g. s. làrach; cathair f.a seat, g. s. cathrach; nathair f.a serpent, g. s. nathrach; lasair f.a flame, g. s. lasrach. To these add còir f.right, g. s. còrach or còire.
2. Monosyllables characterised byoidropiand adda; as, feoil f.flesh, g. s. feola; tòin f.bottom, g. s. tòna; sròin f.the nose, g. s. sròine or sròna.
3. Monosyllables characterised byuichangeuiintoaoro, and adda; as, muir f.the sea, g. s. mara; fuil f.blood, g. s. fola or fala; druim f.a ridge, g. s. droma. Except sùil f.the eye, g. s. sùla; cuid f.a part, g. s. codach or cuid.
4. A few feminine polysyllables ineirform their genitive like monosyllables; as, inneir f.dung, g. s. inneire; suipeir f.supper, g. s. suipeire.
5. The following dissyllables seem to have formed their genitive like monosyllables, and then suffered a contraction. Sometimes the characteristic vowel is retained, and sometimes it is thrown away, the finaleof the genitive being converted intoa, when requisite to suit an antecedent broad vowel.
6. The following nouns form their genitive by dropping the characteristic small vowel; athair m.a father, g. s. athar; mathair f.a mother, g. s.mathar; brathair m.a brother, g. s. brathar; namhaid m.an enemy, g. s. namhad. Cnaimh m.a bone, g. s. cnamha; uaimh f.a cave, g. s. uamha. Mil f.honey, has g. s. meala.
7. A few monosyllables ending in a vowel have their genitive like the nominative; as, ni m.a thing, ti m.a person, ré m.the moon; to which add righ m.a king.
Dative.The dative singular is like the nominative; as, duine m.a man, d. s. duine; madainn f.morning, d. s. madainn.
Vocative.The vocative singular is like the nominative, as, caraid m.friend, v. s. charaid; mathair f.mother, v. s. mhathair.
Plural Number.
Nominative.—General Rule.The nominative plural is formed by adding to the nominative singularaoran, writteneoreanto correspond to a preceding small vowel; as, piobair m.a piper, n. p. piobairean; aimsir f.time,season, n. p. aimsirean. Some nouns suffer a contraction in the nominative plural; as, caraid m.a friend, n. p. càirdean; naimhaid m.an enemy, n. p. naimhdean; fiacail f.a tooth, n. p. fiaclan.
Particular Rules.1. Some nouns, whose last consonant islorn, inserttin the nominative plural; as, tuil f.a flood, n. p. tuilte; smuain f.thought, n. p. smuaintean; coille f.a wood, n. p. coilltean; àithne f.a command, n. p. àithnte. Thetis aspirated in dail f.a plain, n. p. dailthean; sail f.a beam, n. p. sailthean.
2. Some nouns inair, chiefly such as form their genitive singular inach, retain the same syllable in the nominative plural, and insertiaftera; as,
So also cuid f.a part, from the g. s. codach, has the n. p. codaichean; athair m.a father, n. p. aithrichean; mathair f.a mother, n. p. maithrichean. To which add amhainn f.a river, n. p. aimhnichean; uisge m.water, n. p. uisgeachan; cridhe m.the heart, n. p. cridheachan.
The following nouns form their nominative plural irregularly; duine m.a man, n. p. daoine; righ m.a king, n. p. righre; ni m.a thing, n. p. nithe; cliamhuinn m.a son-in-law, orbrother-in-law, n. p. cleamhna.
Genitive.The genitive plural of monosyllables and masculine polysyllables is twofold, like the nominative singular, and like the nominative plural; as, righ m.a king, g. p. righ or righre. The genitive plural of feminine polysyllables is like the nominative plural only; as, amhainn f.a river, g. p. aimhnichean. Suil f.the eye, has its g. p. sùl.
Dative.The dative plural is formed from the nominative plural by changing the final vowel intoibh; as, coluinn f.the body, n. p. coluinne, d. p. coluinnibh; cridhe m.the heart, n. p. cridheacha, d. p. cridheachaibh.
Vocative.The vocative plural is like the nominative plural; as, duine m.a man, n. p. daoine, v. p. dhaoine.
Finalaorein all the singular cases of polysyllables is occasionally cut off, especially in verse; as, leabbed, teangtongue, coillwood, cridhheart.
Of the Initial form of Nouns.
In nouns beginning with a consonant, all the cases admit of theaspirated form. In the vocative singular and plural the aspirated form alone is used, except in nouns beginning with a lingual, which are generally in the primary form, when preceded by a lingual; as, a sheann duineold man. Nouns beginning withsfollowed by a mute consonant have no aspirated form, becausesin that situation does not admit of the aspirate. In nouns beginning withl,n,r, a distinction is uniformly observed in pronouncing the initial consonant, corresponding precisely to the distinction of primary andaspirated forms in nouns beginning with other consonants. This distinction has already been fully stated in treating of pronunciation.
The general use of the singular and plural numbers has been already mentioned. A remarkable exception occurs in the Gaelic. When the numerals ficheadtwenty, ceuda hundred, milea thousand, are prefixed to a noun, the noun is not put in the plural, but in the singular number, and admits no variation of case. The termination of a noun preceded by datwo, is the same with that of the dative singular, except when the noun is governed in the genitive case, and then it is put in the genitive plural[38]; when preceded by fichead, ceud, &c., the termination is that of the nominative singular; thus da laimhtwo hands, da chluaistwo ears, dà fheartwo men, fichead làmhtwenty hands, ceud feara hundred men, mìle caoraa thousand sheep, deich mìle bliadhnaten thousand years[39].
OF ADJECTIVES.
An adjective is a word used along with a noun, to express some quality of the person or thing signified by the noun.
Adjectives undergo changes which mark their relation to other words. These changes are made, like those on nouns, partly on the beginning, and partly on the termination, and may be fitly denominated by the same names. The changes on the beginning are made by aspirating an initial consonant. The numbers and cases, like those of nouns, are distinguished by changes on the termination. The gender is marked partly by the initial form, partly by the termination.
Adjectives whereof the characteristic vowel is broad, follow,in most of their inflections, the form of nouns of the first declension, and may be termed Adjectives of the first declension. Those adjectives whereof the characteristic vowel is small, may be called Adjectives of the second declension.
Example of Adjectives of the First Declension.
Formation of the Cases of Adjectives of the First Declension.
Singular.
Nominative.The feminine gender is, in termination, like the masculine.
The other cases, both mas. and fem., are formed from the nominative, according to the rules already given for forming the cases of nouns of the first declension. Take the following examples in adjectives:—
Genitive.—General rule.Marbhdead, g. s. m. mhairbh, f. mairbhe; dubhblack, g. s. m. dhuibh, f. duibhe; fadalachtedious, g. s. m. fhadalaich, f. fadalaich.
Particular rules.1. Sonahappy, g. s. m. shona, f. sona; aosdaaged, g. s. m. and f. aosda; beoalive, g. s. m. bheo, f. beo.
2. Bochdpoor, g. s. m. bhochd, f. bochd; gearrshort, g. s. m. ghearr, f. gearr.
3. Breaghfine, g. s. m. bhreagha, f. breagha.
4. Crionlittle,diminutive, g. s. m. chrìn, f. crìne.
5. Donnbrown, g. s. m. dhuinn, f. duinne; gormblue, g. s. m. ghuirm, f. guirme; lombare, g. s. m. luim, f. luime.But dallblind, g. s. m. dhoill, f. doille; mallslow, g. s. m. mhoill, f. moille; like the nouns crann, clann.
6. Cinnteachcertain, g. s. m. chinntich, f. cinntich; maiseachbeautiful, g. s. m. mhaisich, f. maisich. Tearcrare, g. s. m, theirc, f. teirce; deargred, g. s. m. dheirg, f. deirge; deasready, g. s. m. dheis, f. deise. Breacspeckled, g. s. m, bhric, f. brice; gealwhite, g. s. m. ghil, f. gile.
7. Geursharp, g. s. m. ghéir, f. géire; like the nouns breug, geug.
8. Liathhoary, g. s. m. leith, f. léithe; diankeen, g. s. m. dhéin, f. déine.
Irregulars. Odharpale, g. s. m. and f. uidhir; bodhardeaf, g. s. m. bhuidhir, f. buidhir.
Dative.—General rule.Uasalnoble, d. s. m. uasal f. uasail; bodhardeaf, d. s. m. bodhar, f. bhuidhir.
Particular rule.1. Tromheavy, d. s. m. trom, f. thruim.
Vocative.Beagsmall, v. s. m. bhig, f. bheag.
Plural.
In Monosyllables the plural, through all its cases, is formed by addingato the nom. sing.; in Polysyllables, it is like the nom. sing.; as, cromcrooked, pl. croma; tuirseachmelancholy, pl. tuirseach.
A few Dissyllables form their Plural like Monosyllables, and suffer a contraction; as, reamharfat, pl. reamhra, contracted for reamhara. Gen. xli. 20.
Adjectives of the Second Declension.
All the Cases of Adjectives of the Second Declension are formed according to the general rules for nouns of the second declension; that is, Monosyllables addefor the gen. sing. fem. and for the plural cases; Polysyllables are like the nom. sing. throughout.
In the Second Declension, as in the First, Dissyllables sometimes suffer a contraction in the plural; as, milissweet, pl. milse contracted for milise.
Of the Initial Form of Adjectives.
Adjectives admit theaspirated formthrough all the Numbers and Cases. In Adjectives beginning with a Labial or a Palatal, the aspirated form alone is used in the gen. and voc. sing. masc. the nom. dat. and voc. sing. feminine.
Comparison of Adjectives.
There are in Gaelic two forms of Comparison, which may be called theFirstand theSecond Comparative.
TheFirst Comparativeis formed from the gen. sing. mas. by addinge; as, gealwhite, g. s. m. gil, comp. gile, ghile; ciontachguilty, g. s. m. ciontaich, comp. ciontaiche. Some Adjectives suffer a contraction in the Comparative; as, bodhardeaf, comp. buidhre for buidhire; boidheachpretty, comp. boidhche for boidhiche.
If the last letter of the gen. bea, it is changed intoe, andiinserted before the last consonant; as, fadalong, g. s. m. fada, comp. faide; tanathin, g. s. m. tana, comp. taine.
The Second Comparativeis formed from the first, by changing finaleintoid; as, tromheavy, 1. comp. truime, 2. comp. truimid; tiughthick, 1. comp. tiuighe, 2. comp. tiuighid. Many Adjectives, especially Polysyllables, do not admit of the Second Comparative.
Both these forms of Comparison have anaspiratedas well as aprimary form, but are otherwise indeclinable.
The following Adjectives are compared irregularly.
To these may be added the nouns—
Morana great numberorquantity, and Tuilleadhmore.
TheSuperlative, which is but a particular mode of expressing comparison, is the same in form with the First Comparative.
An eminent degree of any quality is expressed by putting one of the particles ro, glé, before the Positive; as, ro ghlicvery wise, glé ghealvery white. The same effect is produced by prefixing fiortrue, sàrexceeding, &c., which words are, in that case, used adverbially; as, fior mhaiseachtruly beautiful, sàr mhaithexceedingly good.
Cardinal Numbers.
Cardinal Numbers joined to a Noun.
Ordinal Numbers.
The following numeral Nouns are applied only to persons:—
OF PRONOUNS.
ThePronounsare, for the most part, words used instead of nouns. They may be arranged under the following divisions: Personal, Possessive, Relative, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Indefinite, Compound.
ThePersonal Pronounsare 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:—
The Pronoun '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 entitle a person to this token of respect, varies in different parts of the Highlands[41]. The Supreme Being is always addressed by the pronoun 'tu'thou, of the singular number.
ThePossessive Pronounscorrespond to the Personal Pronouns, 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 syllablesawith the possessive pronoun of the 1st, 2d,and 3d persons singular, and 2d person plural;newith that of the 1st person plural, andsanwith that of the 3d person plural. These syllables are placed immediately after the nouns to which the possessive pronouns are prefixed, and connected by a hyphen.
These Pronouns are as follow:—
If the noun be followed by an adjective, the emphatic syllable is affixed to the adjective; as, do làmh gheal-sathy white hand.
The possessive pronouns mo, do, when followed by a vowel, commonly lose theo, whose absence is marked by an apostrophe; as, m' aimnmy name; d' athair[42]thy father. The same pronouns when preceded by the preposition annin, suffer a transposition of their letters, and are written am, ad, one broad vowel being substituted for another, as, ann ad chridhein thy heart, 1 Sam. xiv. 7, ann am airein my thoughts.
The possessive pronoun ahis, 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 mightbe an improvement to retain the pronoun, 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 athairhis father is not alive, which could not with any propriety be written cha bheo a athair[43].
The word fein corresponding to the English wordsself,own, is subjoined occasionally both to the personal and possessive pronouns: thus mi feinmyself, mise feinI myself, thu feinthyself, thusa feinthou thyself, orthy own self, mo shluagh feinmy own people.
The other Pronouns are as follow:—
OF VERBS.
A word that signifies to be, to do, or to suffer anything, is called aVerb.
The Verb in Gaelic, as in other languages, is declined by Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers, and Persons.
TheVoicesare two: Active and Passive.
TheMoodsare five: the Affirmative or Indicative, the Negative or Interrogative, the Subjunctive, the Imperative, and the Infinitive. Many, but not all, Transitive Verbs have a Passive Participle.
TheTensesare three: the Present, the Preterite, and the Future.
TheNumbersare two: Singular and Plural.
ThePersonsare three: First, Second, and Third. Thedistinction of number and person takes place only in a few tenses.
The inflections of Verbs, like those of nouns, are made by changes at the beginning, and on the termination.
The changes on the termination are made according to one model, and by the same rules. But for the sake of stating some diversity in theinitialchanges, it may be convenient to arrange the verbs in twoconjugations, whereof the first comprehends those verbs which begin with a consonant, the second, those verbs which begin with a vowel. Verbs beginning withf, followed by a vowel, are ranged under the second conjugation, along with verbs beginning with a vowel.
The verb Bibe, which is used as an auxiliary to other verbs, is declined as follows:—
Bi,be.
AffirmativeorIndicative Mood.
NegativeorInterrogative Mood.
Subjunctive Mood.
Compound Tenses.
The present affirmative ta is often written tha. This is one of many instances where there appears reason to complain of the propensity remarked in Part I. in those who speak the Gaelic, to attenuate its articulations by aspiration. Another corrupt way of writing ta which has become common, is ata. This has probably taken its rise from uniting the relative to the verb; as, an uairatami; instead of an uaira ta, &c., mara ta, &c. Or perhaps it may have proceeded from a too compliant regard to a provincial pronunciation.
The pret. neg. robh appears to be made up of the verbal participle ro, the same with do, and bha, throwing away the last vowel; ro bha, robh.
The verb and pronoun of the 1st per. sing. and 3d per. plur. are frequently incorporated into one word, and written taimI am, taidthey are.
The pres. neg. loses the initialbhafter the participle chanot, murif not, nachthat not;nis inserted,euphoniae causa, betwixt the participle cha and the verb; as, cha n 'eil, mur 'eil, nach 'eil. This Tense is often pronounced beil after the participle am; as, am beil e?is it?
In the North Highlands, the pret. neg. often takes the common verbal participle do before it; as, cha do robh mi, or cha d'robh mi,I was not.
Initialbof the fut. neg. is aspirated after the participle chanot; as, cha bhi.
Initialbhof the pret. subj. loses the aspiration after theparticiples ninot, murif not, nachthat not, guthat, namif; as, mur bithinn, nam bitheadh tu.
The subjunct. and imper. often suffer a contraction, by changingitheaintoio; as, biodh, biom, bios, &c.
Some of the compound tenses of Bi are rarely if ever used. They are here given complete, because they correspond to the analogy of other verbs; and show how accurately the various modifications of time may be expressed by the substantive verb itself.
Example of a verb of the First Conjugation. Buailto strike.
ACTIVE VOICE.
Simple Tenses.
AffirmativeorIndicative Moods.
NegativeorInterrogative Mood.
Subjunctive Mood.
Compound Tenses.
Affirmative Mood.
Negative Mood
Subjunctive Mood.