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A PRONOUNCING

GAELIC DICTIONARY:

TO WHICH 13 PRFFIXED

A COXCISE BUT MOST COMPREHENSIVE GAELIC GRAM^rAIt

NEIL M'ALPO^E,

rT, ISLiVD or ISLiT, iEOTtESHlSB

Without a considerable knowledge of Gaelic no persor. can make any proficlenc* ;evOr In philology."— i)r J/urmy, late Prafaaior of Oriental iMngaages, Edinburgh.

FIFTH EDITION.

CONTAIXIXG NUMEROUS IJIPUOVElrENTS AKD ADDITIONS.

MACLACHLAN & STEWART, EDINBURGH; SIMPJvIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON.

MDCCCtXVI.

'^^

PRINTED BY XEILL AND COlIPAyY, EDINBURGH.

-30 v^ ;

ItHtaleÌJ

TO THE VERY REVEREXD

GEORGE HUSBAND BAIRD, D.D.

PRIN'CIPAJ. OF THE UNIVERSITY,

ONE OF THE MINSTERS OF EDINBURGH,

SMALL BUT SINCERE TRIBUTE OF RESPECT AND GRATITUDB

|.(^R HIS ZEALOUS AND EFFICIENT EFFORTS IN PROJIO-

TtNG THE WELFARE OF THE HIGHLANDERS,

%\è ^ui\ax.

Fr^TiMONiAL in favour of this Work by 7,ir. Alexander M'Fari.ahe, Corrector of the Press for the Gaelic Bible.

Sir, Grandtully, 7tA August 1832.

Your Gaelic Pronouncing Dictionary being the first work of the hind that appeared, will no doubt meet with a variety of opinions ; Init if its merit* be fully appreciated, its circulation will soon be extensive wherever that lan- guage is even a little understood. Your attention to one mode of ortho- graphy must greatly enhance its value, while its cheapness and superiority of Typography, entitle you to the esteem of every brother Celt, by yilacing within his reach what i$ fully competent to give him a thorough knowledge of his native Language.

lam. Sir,

Yours, with every wish of merited success,

ALEX. M^FARLANE.

T> Ikla. N. M' ALPINE

PREFACE

COMPILEK OF PART SECOND

Ls presenting to the Public the Second orEnglisli-Gaelic Part of tliis Dictionary, I deem it requisite to say something regai'ding my labours ; more especially, as the Fu'st or Gaelic-English Part was written by a different hand.

The Comjjiler of the First Part very judiciously availed him- self of the labours of his predecessors. His work is more copious ; his definitions more appropriate, many useful examples of idiom and practical phrases being given ; and his orthography, in gene- ral, much more correct than those who have preceded him : notmthstanding his additions and emendations, there ai'e still omissions,* and various provincialisms. Of the latter, the fol- lowing instimces may be given : — " Coca" for co-aca ; " driom" for druirn^ back; " thala" for falbh; " faid " for /azc^A ; " gaoith" for gaoth; " maidinn" for maduinn ; and " urra" for the prep, pro. " oirre," on or upon her, &c. &c. ; and he has besides made use of other provinciahsms peculiar to the Western Isles and some districts of Ai'gjleshire ; but as these are generally understood, it would be superfluous to refer to them here. These he defends, giving them a preference over words of more general acceptation, a proceeding by no means to be justified in a work of this kind, and to be accounted for, only, from his partiality to words pecu- liar to the circumscribed locality of which he is a native — the Island of Islay.

* On collating the First Part witii other Gaelic-English Dictionaries, trie words found to have been omitted, are inserted in the Second Part, and will be found opposite to the corresponding English words, thus rendering the pre- sent Work the most copious of its kind yet published.

In ghàng tte genders of nouns, the accuracy of the Compiler of the First Part exceeds that of his predecessors ; indeed, great credit is due to him in that department ; yet he differs from them in some instances in which I consider him erroneous, as not being in accordance with the general practice of GaeHc writers, and speakers of acknowledged celebrity. Those deviations, however, are but few, and are here specified for the satisfaction of tlie Gaelic student and philologist, being the only objection- able ones wliich could be detected after a careful and repeated perusal of the work : — " Fasach,"* wilderness, desert; " ubh- all," an apple ; " ugh," or " ubh," an egg. These nouns he has marked as feminine instead of masculine, which is their proper gender.

In giving the definition and translation of several EngUsh words, I have frequently been under the necessity of using Gaelic vocables, wanting in the First Part ; several of the definitions given do not occur in any other vocabulary of the language known to me. It was less with the view to originality than to arrive at perspicuity that I adopted those comparatively new terms. Having had an opportunity of making myself acquainted with the various dialects of the language as used in Scotland, I have been careful, even to fastidiousness, in avoiding provin- ciahsms, and using only words which may be readily understood by the general reader. It Is notorious that some words are used and understood in one part of the country in an entirely different sense from what they are in another ; these I may term words of double meaning; and so opposite are some of them, that a word of ordinary import in one district, is highly indecent in another ; such words, therefore, as convey different significations to different individuals, I have excluded, and substituted in their place others of a more classical character, and whose meaning admits of no doubt.

In former productions of this nature (English- Gaelic Dic- tionaries), the compilers have omitted several hundreds of natu- ralized words now in daily use, whether from being at a loss for the correlative terms in Gaelic, or with a view to condensation, I venture not to hazard an opinion. On the other hand, they have given definitions of superfluous and poetical compounds

* Fasach seems to be a noun of disputed gender. It is feminine in Perth- sliire, Sutherlantlsliire, and in the eastern districts of Inverness and Ross-shires; but the best poets render it mascxdine, with the exception of Dr J. Smith and William Ross, both of whom have used it iudiscriminutelj to suit their rhymes.

which might with propriety be dispensed with, without affecting the copiousness of either language. Such words as I allude to have been excluded fi-om all modern Dictionaries of the EngUsh language.

In regard to the present system of Gaelic orthography, much has been said both for and against it, some wishing to improve the system, while others maintained that it should remain as it is. By the advocates for its improvement, eight essays were contributed to a Philological Society in Glasgow about the year 1830, of which four are distinguished for ability and research. Those are the productions of some of the best Gaelic scholars which the present age has produced,* and, though they differ in design and sentiment, I have derived no small advantage fi-om their perusal, as materials for useful investigation in con- nection with the present subject. ]VIy study in this department has led me to deviate but slightly from the received system. I have done so, not without hesitation, but with a degree of caution, and with such competent ad-vace, as justifies the belief that the variations introduced will receive the stamp of universal approbation. I give the following as examples where verbal terminations are dispensed with, and the words left in their ra- dical purity : — " BaUa," a wall, for halladh ; " eala," a swan, for ealsLdh ; " cala," a haven, for caladk ; " coire," a kettle, cauldron, or dell, {ovcoiveadh; "daorsa," bondage, for da.orsadh ; "earbsa," trust, for earbsacZ/j ; " ola," oil, for oladh, &c. Rules have their exceptions. There is another class of nouns ending in dh not quiescent, as " eideadh," apparel, armour ; " deideadh," tooth- ache ; " reodhadh,*' fi-ost, &c. ; and in some parts of the country these words are unintelligible when expressed or vrritten deide, e7(7e, i-eodhe, as they are fi-equently met with in some books. Great care has been taken in giving those nouns in accordance with the orthoepy universally adopted.

There is an old rule, well kno^vn to Gaelic writers, that " in polysyllables, the last vowel of one syllable, and the fii-st vowel of the subsequent syllable, must be both of the same quality." This rule (shortly expressed, leothann ri leathann, a's caol ri cnol^ {. e. broad to broad, and small to small) has left the orthography of the language "arbitrary and unsettled," as '* criosdaidh," or " criosdfadh ;" " fianais," or "fianuis;" the corre-

* The late Dr Ross of Lochbroom ; the late Mr James M'lntyre, school- -naster. Glasgow ; Mr James Munro, Fort- William, author of the excellent Gaelic Grammar; and Aleiander Munro, Esq., Glasgow.

spondents a and «, in these words, convey no sound or primitive import. In order to •nrrite the same word with consistency, I have always adopted a as the corresponding broad vowel of the se- cond syllable, and o for the intruding broad vowel of the first, as "rioghachd," " miothlachd," &c. ; butwhen the first broad vowel of the subsequent syllable is a primitive, as the u in seachd;àn, seachd and uin, it is erroneous to wi'ite " seachdain," as is sometimes done ; and, for the same reason, it is fully as absurd to write the word " Slanaighear," a compoimd of " slànaich" and "fear," Slhnuighear, from the Irish Slamdgheor ; for in Scotland the verb slànaich, from which the first part of the noun is derived, is never Avritten "slanuich" except in the Bible, where many words set down in the Irish style are still to be met with, to the annoyance of intelligent readers and prejudice of the Scottish GaeHc. Mr M'Alpine in this work has the merit of being the first to present a Dictionary divested of antiquated Irishisms.

For the sake of perspicuity, and other reasons, I have re- stored to their original form several words recently introduced into the language, such as " amhuinn," for abhuiiin, a river ; and " leòmhann," for leoghann, a lion, — the new speUing of these having a tendency to produce ambiguity. Thus, " amhuinn," for abkuinn, a river, is confounded Avith " amhuinn," an oven or furnace ; and " leomhann," for leoghann, a lion, with the name of one of the smallest insects — a moth, by writing it "leomhann." I have also given the past part, of the verbs " ta" or " te," as the euphony requires it, without regard to the rule of corre- spondents.

Thus far I have attempted to simplify and fix the Ortho- graphy of the Gaelic Language, without deviating from the present system. Aware, however, that any suggestion which I, or any other Hving could offer, might be construed to con- vey offence to some who claim for themselves perfection in this department, I may here state, that I am not the inventor of the system of orthography which I have adopted and recom- mend. It was used by some of the earliest writers in the lan- guage. My aim is not " to mnovate," for to do so " is not to reform ; " but rather to point out that which appears to me to be the best of the various forms of orthography now in use.

JOHX MACIvENZIE.

Edinburgh, January 1847.

KEY.

à has six sounds in the Key. a long, like a in fame, came, tame. a, a, à2, is the short sound of the last, as

a in fate, rate, gate, final. à is the sound of a in far, far, star, star, à is the short soft sound of the last ; as, in

farm, farm. a is tiie short and shut sound of a, as in

can. à is the nasal sound. The only sounds that approach this, in English, is a in palm, calm, psalm. It occurs uniform. ly before m, mh, and n — sometimes be- fore th ; as, in màthair, mother ; àth, a Jord ; nathair, a serpe?it ; math, good, and its derivatives ; athar, sky,JÌTma- mfnt; — in some words n is introduced for r in order to give it the nasal sound ; as in canran, mànran, mànrach, màrr- an, kàrr-an, màrr-ach; also mànr, màrr, to obstruct ; — ai placed before mh, (ic. has the same sound, or one nearly allied to ai in sprain, strain, brains, as the Scotch pronounce these words : — marked in the key sprèn, strèn, brèns. à is the short nasal sound ; è before n,

&e. the short one of at or àè. a in participles ■ thus, tyà sounds like

short u or a6 shorter a little, chyao. ao has nothing like it in English ; a pretty correct idea may be formed of it by pronouncing the u, in the surname Bums, long ; also « in gun, without touching the -rns in the first instance, and the -n in the latter. Bao— gao — the French eu is somewhat like it. ao is the short sound of the last. E has two sounds, long and short. è long, like ee in teem, seem ; feed, hired e, e, è^, is the short of the above, è long, as e in there, pronounced long ther— the r, of the Greeks, as the Scotch and Foreigners pronounce it. is the short sound of the last. Before v, representing mh and n, it has a nasal sound— see a nasal changed into ai — also representing ea or eu ; as Neumh or Xèamh, nèv. Heaven, neamh, nèv, venom. has one sound long and short; as, p in my, thy; ml, thi, short; as i in sight, might, sit, nut.

O has four sounds, long and short. Ò, as o in more, mor, tone, ton, pole, p6L Ò, Ò, 62, short sound of the above. Ò sounds like o in lord, lord, cord, Kdrd. 6 is the short of the last ; o shorter. Ò is the long imsal sound, occurring uni- fomily before mh, and sometimes be- fore n ; in many instances the nasal sound of 0 occurs otherwise placed ; as, in mod, a court of justice, being a con- traction of momhad ; also mo, contrac- tion of momha, greater; also uiOit, fas- tidiousness ; mothar, a horrifying voice; glothar, gag; mògharr bland. The true orthography is momhar, glomhar, &c. 6 is the short nasal sound of o. Even be- fore n, o sounds likeo in pole, sole, &c. sometimes; as, tonn, to^nn, aivave; n is introduced sometimes to give the naial sounds merely; thus ònrachd, sònraich, òrr-aehg, sòrr-èch ; the same as ànrath, àrr-aA in a nasal. U has a great number of sounds. u sounds as u in pure, cure, tune. Ù, ii, is the short sound of the last. Ù sounds as oo in moor, cool, tool. Ù is the short sound of the last. Ù is the same as the French u nearly. Ù is the French short sound, u the same as the u in under, or un- a pre- fix. i is a contraction to save room, and repre- sents the primitive sound ao-gh*, being a kind of a syllable and a half. See -gh'. -Gh', an idea of this original sound. It is a kind of an ineffectual effort to disjoint your jaws without touching the palate or teeth with your tongue, and at the same time making a strong respiration. It is nearly akm to the Greek j;. It is not possible, without oral instruction, to con- vey an adequate idea of -gh*. v2, this representing mh, shews that the v is only slightly sounded, the object of mh being chiefly to give the nasal twang to the preceding vowel. 112, iiy«, shews that the 11 is liquified, as in filial, fè-lyal ; for U and nn initial, see / and n in the Grammar. id, de.— This is represented by èj. It is said that it does not express the true sound. If not, Walker, and Fulton and Knight, must be wrong in pronouncing age, ^ ;

Xil

tedious, t^j-us, and te-jus, te-dyus. This sound, when not final, is often exhibited thus, deug, dyàg.

èn, ènn, is often not marked at all, the last n being always liquified, ènny'; sometimes marked èn', èny', and nn' and nny*.

ty' — This sound is found in Christianity, Kris-tyè-, or chè-an-è-tè. The t is thus liquified often by putting j before it, thus, sagairt, sag-arjt,ap icst; and some- times by marking it C.

6u shews also the short sound of a, as in beag, beug; ea is the short form of eu, which is always long; eu, ea, ei, ate styled always diphthongs ; With the ex- ception of the very peculiar sound ao, I do not think there is such in the lan- guage, eu long, and its short sounds ea aad ei, having both the vowels souuded-

Thus, feum, fa-um, the um being pro- nounced so quick, that they almost form one syllable. They form a syllable and a half, as is seen in ui and oi in buil, toil, bù'l, tò'l, i e. bù-ul, H3-ul, being two syllables thrown almost into one. The orthography of the Gaelic, shews more acuteness and ingenuity in its structure, than any other language the author knows any thing of. It is said, that mh and bh should give way to v ;— no such thing ! ! Bh represents the simple form of v, and nih of v, following the nasal sound ; and, besides, bh is only an occasional or acci- dental form: thus, bo, a cow; a Dho, uv.vAo, the cow .

ABBREVIATIONS IN THIS WORK.

A. after v. thus, v. a., verb active, c. udj^ adjective.

Adv. adverb.

Arab. Arabic.

Ar. Arg. peculiar to Arg)'leshire.

Armst. Ann. Dr. Armstrong's excellent

Gaelic Dictionary. Art. m. article masculine ; art. f. article

feminine, or a. m. and a. f. or art. fem. a. as. J. aspirated form or a.f. Hel^. for Belgic Language.

B. for Bible, also Bi.—B. B. Bedel's Bible. BrU. British.

Buck. Buchanan's Hymns.

Campbell or Campb. Campbell's Poems.

Comp. comparative degree.

C/ia/d. Chaldee.

Coll. collective noun.

Cond. St. Columbus's Conundrums.

Contr. contracted or contraction.

Corr. corrup. corrupted or corruption of.

D. Dan. Danish Language.

D. Buck. D. B. Dugald Bachannan.

Deg. degrees of comparison.

Def. def. v. defective verb.

Bern. pro. proii. demonstrative pronoun.

D. M'L. Dr. M'Leod's Glossary and Diet.

Fut. for future tense.

F. Fr. French.

G. MS. Gaelic Manuscript. Gen. genitive.

GUI. Gillies's Gaelic Poems. G. P. or Prov. Gaelic Proverbs. Gr. Greek ; Gt. Grant's Poems, Har. for Harris. Seb. Hebr. Hebrew.

U. S. High. Sc. Highland Society's Dic- tionary. '^ /. i. e. id est. that is. ib. the same. Imp, Impersonal. Inten. Intensative. Inter, or Int. interjection. interr. interrogative.

/r. for pure Irish. — Irish for Irish Dialc-it. Isd. Islands.

Is. Island of Islay, Argyleshira Isl. Icelandic. It. Italian.

K. Ki. Kk. Rev. Mr. Kirk. K. 31. Kenneth Mackenzie. Lot. L. Latin. Leg. Popular Legends.

Lw. Lew. Isle of Lewis.

Lit. literally.

Lid. Lluyd. author of a huge manuscript.

Lock. Lockab. foi Lochaber.

J/, for Island -i Mull.

m. masculine ender.

Md. Alexander Macdonald the Poet ; al.so Macd. Macdon.

JUacaul. Macaulays History of St. Kilda.

Mac/. Macfar. The Rev. Mr. Macfariane's New Testament, Psalms, or Gaelic Vo- cabulary.

M'D. Macdougall's Poems, also Macd.

Mland. mainland of Argyle ; also JJld.

3It. Macint. Mackintyre's Songs.

Mart. Martin's Description of the High- lands.

Mas. masculine gender.

MacC. MacCruiminn, a poet.

M-G. MacG. MacGregor's Poems.

Ml. M'L. Mr. Maclauchlan's translation of Homer, the best Gaelic translation in e.\- istence.

Mn. Martin's Highlands.

-V.S. MSS. manuscript, manuscripts.

Mur. Dr. Murray, late Professor of Oriental Languages, Edinburgh.

X. North, North Highlands; also N. H.

n.f. noun feminine.

n. m. noun masculine.

nom. for nominative case.

Obs. obsolete.

Oss. Ossian's Poems.

P. page; also past tense; participle.

P. E. part. expl. particle expletive.

pt. part, for participle.

Past, past tense.

Pers. Persic.

Perf part, perfect participle.

Psh. Perthsh. Perthshire ; also P. S.

Per. pro. pron. personal pronoun.

PI. plural number.

Pre/, prefix.

Pre. prep. pro. preposition and pronoun.

Pr. Prov. Gaelic Proverbs ; also G. P.

Ps. Psalms of David.

Provin. Provincial word,

R. D. Robb Donn.

li. M'D., B, D., Ranald Macdonald,

S. Rev. Dr. Smith.

R. Rss. Rev. Dr. Ross's Psalms.

Sc. Scot. Scotch, Scottish.

67). Shato, Rev. Dr. Shaw's Vocab^'ary,

XIV

ABBREVIATIONS IK THIS tt'oHK.

Sg. popular Songs. 5^. sing, singular uumber. St. Skye.

Sm. Rev. Dr. Smith. Sp. Span. Spanish.

St. Stew. Stewart's Songs; also St. Kilda. Su. Sut/is. Sutherlandshire; also Suthl. Syr. Syriac Trad. Tradition.

Tt. Teut. Teutonic, or Old Ger/nan. cr (taclic.

T. Tt. Turn. Peter Turjier's compilatioat

y. V. verb active; n. v. neuter verb

V. n. verb active and neuter.

yal. Vallancey.

V. irreg. verb irregular.

yoc. Vocabulary.

fV. and fV. U. West Highlands.

m. rVel for Welsh.

ryett, frest a., Wtst Iligt.b.nUfc

RUDIMENTS OF GAELIC GRAMMAR.

PART I. Op ORxnoGRAPHT. The Gaelic Alphabet has eighteen letters, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, 1, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u ; of which five are vowels, a, e, i, o, u ; the rest consonants.

Of Vowels. A represents three differ- ent sounds ; 1. a as in bar, as càs, predica- ment ; short, as a in cat. The third sound is rather a peculiar one, being the short sound of ao (which see explained in the Key), and is generally before dh and gh, as Btadh, agh, a swathe of glass, a heifer, —in the articles and plural of nouns a sounds like u shut ; as, an duine, un dùen'- a5, the man.

E has three different sounds ; 1st, è like the Greek n, as pronounced in Scotland and on the Continent, ore long 'mwheie, whèr; 2d, sounds like a in fame, as, re an latha, dwrtng- the day ; 3d, e final has the sound of a (aO) in agh, a heifer, beannaichte, byann-ech-tyao, blessed.

I sounds like ee in English when marked thus, i, as sith, s/ieefi, peace; sinn, stretch, righ, rreeh, king ; short, as ee in feet, bith, being, existence.

O has three different sounds both short and long; as o in lord, 61, drinking, gòr- ach, foolish; 2d, like o in fold; as, cos, a sponge, kos — short when not marked ; as, borbtturbulent; god, foss the head; 5d, lom, Horn, bare, like o in mote, a particle of dust. Before mh, and sometimes m and n, it has a nasal sound to which there is no si- milar sound in English. See the Key. o sounds ao or u shut in do, thy, mo, my,— (do, mo, should be du, mu).

U has four sounds long and short ; long, as oo in moon; as, ùr, fresh, new; short, as, ugh, an egg, like oo in fool or u in bush. In gu, and rud, and cuthach, its shut sound, has, gao, raod, ca6-huch. See Key.

Diphthongs. There are thirteen of these, ai, ae, ao ; ea, ei, eu ; ia, io, iu ; oi ; ua, ui ; of which, ao, eu, ia, ua, are always long ;— ao, eu, are styled by our Gramma- BiANS, improper diphthongs, because, pro- perly speaking, there are no diphthongs but themselves in the Gaelic, ia, &c. being

double sounds, (eà);—ae, never occurs but la Gael, a Highlander.

Ai sounds like i in like; or Se. Ai sounds often aoè ; as, gairm, a call, tairbh, bulls, mairbh, the dead, airm, arms, gairbhe, grosser. The a in these and many other instances represents the short sound of ao, which is always long, as in faobhar, edge of a tool. It is, however, very often in this shape, very stupidly changed into O) as, clann, cloinjie, faighidinn,/o(g-/jÌ6?- Ì7in. By the bye, it is not using us in Ar. gyle politely, to write this word foighidinn, seeing it is impossible to pronounce it f ljj-èj-èny2, whereas others may, quite con- sistently, pronounce faighdinn, fa6-èj-èny3.

Ea like è ; as, fear, fèr or fè-ur (short), sometimes sounds ya; as, cealg, kyalag, deceit.

Ei is the short sound of eu generally, but sometimes sounds both vowels; as, fèidh, fàèy, deer ; 2d, like a ; as, reidh, ra, plain, level; but if spelt as it should be, reudh, there would be no occasion for making e thus, è.

Eo sounds yò ; as ceo, Kyaw, mist.

Ia sounds èà ; as fiar, (fear,) oblique ; but in cia, what? and iad, ia, is pronounced a and è, kà, èd, — properly cè, eud.

Io generally sounds eu, the u being for the most part shut, as in under ; as sior she- ur or she'r, ever; sometimes the io sounds like èù or ù of the French, as iongantas, eaong-ant-as, ff^onder. In some places the o is uniformly mispronounced ù, — hence such absurdities as grUthach for griobhach, grev-ach, the measles.

Iu sounds 11 or eii; as fiù, fu, orfeQ; sometimes yu, as diùlt, dyùlt, refuse.

Oi is very apt to be mispronounced also, — hence, buin for boin, touch ; uidhche for oidhche, night,— for the most part is mis- pronounced Ù ; as much for moch, early ; fulbh for folbh, go ; mult for molt, a wed- der; uircean for oircean (or Toircean), a pigling; oi for the most part sounds both its vov/els; thus, doigh, dòèy', method; sometimes it ir, used for ai ; as goir for gair, gaòr", crow as a cock ; coinneal fur cainncal.

XVI

RUDIMENTS OF GAELIC GRAMMAR.

B candle ; sometimes the long sound of ai IS improperly used for this; as maothais for maghais, mao ash, procrastination or loitering in the fields; from magh, a plain.

Ua sounds both letters; as fuar, fùàr, rold ; before gh, th, dh, the a sometimes sounds a5 ; as shiagh, sliiaogh, a multitudi'.

Ao,— see ao in the Key.

Eu sounds both its letters properly, though said to be but one sound, like a in fame, — see Key ; — many words are spelt witheu in place of ia; thus ceud, a hun- dred, should be ciad, kcad, being the u- niversal pronunciation :— also ceudna for ciadhna; also eu is mispronounced in many places eS: as eun, èàn, in place of è'n, a bird; seum, shèm, a petition, sheam; it has three sounds as at present retained in use,— thus, Isf, feum, fa-m or fa-um, need, use. '2d, beul, breug, feur, bè'll, brè'gg, fè'r, moulh, a lie; in these three words and others, e sounds like the Greek u, and u as in vg/y, but pronounced quick.

Tbiphthoxgs are five; aoi, eoi, iai, vai, iui. '1 hey are pronounced often dif- ferently from the diphthongs from which they are derived |— thus, caoidh, kùèy', to lament ; naoidh, nùèy', nine, and not kaoey, naoey"; ihey are all long,— occurring al- ways in monosyllables and the first of poly- syllables.

Consonants are twelve in number; b, c, d, f, g, m, n, p, r, s, t, and h which is rather an aspiration ; they have been clas- sified thus.

Labials, b, f, m, p. Palatals, c, g. Dentals, d, t, s. Linguals, 1, n, r. Of these b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, t, are mu- table or liable to be aspirated, in which state their simi'le or primary sound is ei- ther changed or lost ; thus, staid, dh' fhan, pronounced stajj, ghan ; bha, vvha, was, thuit, hùèjt, fell, &c.'

Labials. B has a simple sound some- what harder than b or p in English; zs buain, shear ; boin, touch ; bh sounds like V ; bhuain, bhoin, did shear, did touch, — at the end of words, it is very wickedly murdered, in some places u ; as scarbh, sheru, in place of shervv, as properly pro- nounced in the Islands. In the middle of words it is often silent ; as soirbheas, soèr-as, wind, success, easiness ; doirbheas, doer as, difficulty of accomplishment.

F sounds as f in English ; fh is silent ex- cept in fhuair, fhein, hùàèr, haèn, found, self.

M the same as in English, — mh sounds T, never u, bh and mh initial, have a dou- ble wund; thus, a' bho, uv-vhò, his cow ;

a bhalaich, uv.vhal-eeh, ye fellow, ye boor; mh serves very often only to give a nasal sound toa oro; not so in ramh, tàmh, ràv, tàv, an oar, rest; it is silent always in the prefix comh, but giving the nasal sound ; also in dhomh, gh6, &c.

P sounds as in English, but f when as- pirated— phàidh, fàèy', did pay.

Palatals. C sounds like English K when initial; as ceann, kyaun, a head; ^na^ sounds chg often ; as, mac, machg, a son ; tac, tàchg, choke ; c/i sounds like x, Greek, or gh Irish, or ch in the surname StracAan, as the Scotch pronounce it.

G sounds as in English— for gh, see the Key.

DENT4LS. D is more dental than the d in English ; it is more a-kin to the Italian and French d ; d preceded or followed by i sounds j or ch as in cAild ; as, bhòid, vhòj, or vhòc/(, of Bute ; — sounds if in the syllable achrf, ach^, dh initial sounds often like y, and sometimes like gh. See Key.

T sounds like the French or Italian / or VMnitial; as, tamh, ttàv or uttàv almost; followed by i or e, it sounds like eh in child or ti in Chritianity ; as, teinn, tyàènn or chàènn', a. strait, predicament; it is silent before h — thus, thoir, thalla, hòèr, hà'1-à, give, come along; — th final sounds general- ly h; as, sith, sheA peace, fairy.lihe.

S preceded or followed by i or e sounds sh ; sean, shep, old; sion, she'n, the blast; except is, uss, an, an't; followed by d, t, 1 or n, it sounds nearly sh, or rather shj ; as, stiiiir, sjuir or ushtyuèr, steer, direct snlomh, shnev, spin, snamh, usnav, sviim sh intial sounds h; seòl, sail, sheòl hyòll did sail.

Linguals. L has often a double sound, quite unlike any thing in English. The first ; has this sound particularly; thus, lainh, a hand, sounds somewhat like llav or ullav. This sound is very evident in the masculine genitive ; thus, a litir, his letter, pronounced, uU-lè-tyèr— again, a litir, her letter, pronounced, ao-lyet-tyer. It has the double sound followed by itself or a, o, u ; as, fallan, healthy; fan,/u//;—« either be. fore or after e or i sounds as 1 in the Eng- lish adjective ^ia/, fe-lyal, or the Italian gl, or the French 11 after ai, or gl in se- raglio. LI following a, o, or u, has a sound somewhat like ull, in ultimate, if you make the pronunciation dental instead of palatal.

'2d, N sounds like the first n in opinion, ò-pèny2nyun, or 6p-èny2un, when pre- ceded or followed by i or e; as, ■nigh, nyèh, wash ; linn, Uyènny', a generation ; binn, bbcnny', melodious. The e preced- ing a, ever gives this sound to the w ; thus

RUDIMENTS OF GAELIC GRAMMAR.

XVU

A>!pfan, Binnean, Cuilean, Ailp-iiiy', 1 luiy'-àny', Ku'l-àny', Alpine, a pinnacle, a vhelp. Es'eu in the genitive, the nasal sound of the a is retained though the very a is thrown out. — Ailpein, Binnein, A'lp-aèu', bcnnài'n', owing to the very absurd adhe- rence, in every instance to the rule, ccal, ri caoly Sac. ; — there is no rule without ex- ception, and why not write these and simi- arnouns, Ailpain, Cuilain, Binneain. 'id, n has a double initial sound, to which there is no similar sound in English ; nuadh, unnùà or unijagh. '] his occurs in verbs in the imperative or masculine adjectives, the n being followed by a, o, or u. M, n sounds r when followed by m or c, the ob- ject being to give the nasal sound to the vowel characteristic; cnaimh, kràèv or krèiv, a bone ; mnà, mrra, of a woman ; mànran màrr-an, dandering,—\s.ii\y, when the next word begins with c or g, an and •uin, the article sounds ung andnung; as nan con, of the dogs, nung kon ; an comh. Hiiidh, ung kòn-nnè, habitually.

R. Ut, sounds like r in English ; 2rf, pre- ceded or followed by i, it has the French sound similarly placed; coir, kòry', worthy, &e. Like the French, it has an initial double sound; thus, A righ, ur-rèh, Oking !

H is rather a singular letter ; it is used either expressed or understood, in almost every syllable of the Gaelic, and yet has no place in a genuine Celt's alphabet.

II. Parts of Speech. There are nine parts of speech ; article, adjective, noun, pronoun, verb, declinable ; 2d, adverb, pre- position, interjection, and conjunction, i«- declinable. \st. The article is declined by gender, number, and case ; and hence the reason, that this trifling thing has hitherto almost defied us, the Lexicographers, to define in our Dictionaries, otherwise than by styling it every thing that it is not.

Plural. Mas. and Fern.

nam

, articles in the Dic-

Sing^ilar.

Mas. Fern.

Norn. An, am an a' Gen. An, a' na,

Dat. An, a' an a'

N. B. See An, am tionary.

Genders are two, masculine and femin- ine : \st, nouns signifying males, the young of animals, as laogh, calf, whether males or females, nouns having o in the last syllable ; as ceo, mist, soc, share, are masculine ; also, diminutives in an, abstracts in as, deriva- tives in iche, air, Sjc. and native trees, are masculine ; as, caman, club or bandy, cear- tas, justice, maraiche, a seaman, dorsair, a door-keeper, an daraich, the oak-tree, are i»a^cu/ine; likewise, nouns having a, e, or u, for their characteristic, for the

most part, are masculine; as, Ncichd, iden, jiidgmeni, bùchd,iu/A-, T(^c,asiinlc rock, &c.

Feminines. Names signifying/f/na/fs, as màthair, a mother; names <j{ countries, as, an Fhraing, an Diiidse, France, Holland, Eirinn, Ireland; names of musical iristru. menis, as, òirinn-òirinn, piano-forte, truit, a harp, piob, bagpipes, nouns ending in aitl; as.neasgaid, staid, a boil, a slate; alsoderiva lives machd; as, firinteachd, righteousness, derivatives in ag; as, nioghnag, a lass, and abstracts in e, as doille gile, blindnest, whiteness, from dall, blind, and geal, white, are feminine ; also nouns sometimes adjec- tives in ac/i are feminine; as, gruagaeh, a damsel, an spagach, the splay -footed lady, a' mhiirlach, the woman with the ugly head if hair, ffC.

Observations. Oganach, a young man, òlach, a curious fellow, and many others ending in ack are masculine ; also names of diseases ending in ach are feminine; as, a' bhùidheach, the jaundice, a* ghriobhaeh, the measles ; also, an triogh, a' bhreac, the hooping-cough, the small-pox, axefeminiue. Many nouns of one syllable in au, as, cuach, brvach, tuadh, a drinking cup, a bank, a hatchet, are feminine.

Lastly, Some nouns are masculine in the nominative, and feminine in the geni- tive; as, Cruinne, the globe of the earth, talamh, land, the earth ; gu crich na talmh- ainn, to the extremity of the earth; agh- aidh, na cruinue, the face of the globe ; an talamh, the earth, the globe, masculine. Boirionnach, afemale, bàta, a boat, and mart, a cow — set all rules at defiance.

Declensions and Numbers. Though Gaelic Grammar naturally divides itself into six declensions, having that number of va- rious modes of forming the genitive, yet grammarians have restricted themselves to two declensions. \st. Nouns having their characteristic vowels, a, o, u, forming the first; 2d, Nouns whose last vowels are e or «, the second ; which arrangement we, in the mean time, pretty nearly follow, meaning at some future period, to make a distinct Treatise on Gaelic Grammar. Nothing, in- deed, can be more ludicrous than to see, even the acute and learned Dr. Arm- strong gravely stating, that the verb has three Tenses, prf.sent, past, and future, though he, in common with his prede- cessors, has forgotten to give an instance of a present tense, for the cogent rea- son, that there is no such thing in the language. Quite of piece with this, is the first and second declension, and the VERB governing thenommat.in place of the accusative.

ls< Declension, AccoBoiNG TO TUf B&

XVIU

RUDIMENTS OF GAELIC GRAMMAR.

rEiTEDMODE. 1*<, General Rule. NounsoC the first declension, form the genitive by in. Itrting t before the last letter ; as, padhadh, thirst, a' phadhaidh, of the thirst ; but feminines of one syllable add a final f com- monly; as, slat, a rod, cluas, an ear, lamh, hand, slalte, cluaise, laimhe, of a rod, of an ear, of a hand.

2d Rule. Nouns ending in a, o, u, e, achd, eachd, iochd, have their genitive a- like, i. e. are indeclinable in the sing. ; as, trà, a tine, meal of meat; crò, a pen, afold; cViVL.fame, character ; duine, a man, beann- achd, blessiytg; beachd, opinion, iochd, mer- cij.—ho, cu, &c. are irregular, and are, with all other anomulies, to be found nom. and gen. in their respective places in the Dic- tionary.

3d Rule. Nouns of one syllable end- ing indh, gh, th, urn, rr, take a final m the gen. ; as, stadh, bladh, stays, swat/ie of grass,substnnce,stadha, bladha ; rath, pros- perity, ratha, cath, fight, catha : ceum, step, ceuma ; gaum, low, geitma ; barr, bar- ra, crop.

ith RcLE. Nouns of one syllable in ul, ur, us, and eun, changes into oi; as, beul, beoil, mouth ;feur, feoir, grass; leas, torch, leois ; deur, deuir, tears ; meur, meoir, fing- ers ; eun, coin, birds ; geadji, a goose, has geoidh, geese, neul, cloud, wink, neoil ; sgeul, news, tale, sgeoil ; also laud, breadth, leoid.

ath Rule. Words of one syllable in ia, change ia into èi ; as, iasg, èisg,fish ; dias, dèis, an ear of corn; ciall, sense, ccill; C'iabh, the chest, pannier, cli-ibh, cliath, c'èith, or cleidh, a shoal offish, a harrow, a hurdle; {iai\h,fèidh, a deer, grian; grèine, tl]esun; ial\,èi/le,athong; sgiadh, sgèidh, awing, a shield; sliabh, slèibh, a tract of moorland, a hill; Dia, Dè and Dèidh, God, — sliosaid has slèisde, a thigh ; biadh, /ood, has bidhin Perthshire, butforthe most part in.\Tgy\c,bidhich ; sgian, a knife, hassginne.

6th Rule. Words of one syllable whose vowels are a,o,or u,change them into ui ; as, a!ld,a mountain stream, a ravine.ùiUd; moll, chaff, mil ill ; alt, ajon;/, uilt; but alt, me. tliod, is indeclinable; bolg, bellows; bag, builg; bail, a rope, an article, a spot, biiill; calg, awn, euilg ; car, a turn, move- ment, cuir ; cam, a heap of stones, cuirn ; clag, a bell, cluig; faM, liair of the head, fuilt; mo\t, a tredder, niuilt; goh, a beak, a bill, guib ; long, a three-masted ship, luinne; lorg, a shepherd's staff, a trace, luirg; òrd, a sledge./iafnmfr, iiird; poll, mire, puiU; sonn, a hero, suinn; bonn, a piece of money, the sole of the foot, &c. bninn; toll, a hole, tuill; fonn, anair.land, fuinn i ÒI, drink, has oil ; all nouns end.

ing in on, are formed according to the ge. neral rule; as, bròn, sorrow, brain; roll, a sea!, rain; geòn, geòm, avidity; seòl, a sail, a way, has siuil; ceòl, music, has ciuil; some nouns in io lose o in the geni- tive ; as, cioch, nipple, breast, ciche ; crioch, criche, an end, march ; lion, lin, a net, tint ; siol, sll, seed, oats ; sion, blast, sine ; 0 before g- in monosyllables add i, after the ", and e final ; as, ùbg.frùige, a dark ugly hole; cròg, cròige, a large hand; bròg, bròige, a shoe, a hoof; some nouns in io add a ; as, bior, a prickle, biora ; cries, girdle, final, crioia ; fion, wiiie, ftona.

To these rules there are few exceptions ; rainn or roinn, a peninsula, ranna ; math- air, athair, seanair, mother, father, grand, father, lose the i, mathar, inc. ; so do all their coin pounds, such as scuimhair, piuth- ar-athar, grandmother, maternal aunt ; piuthar has peathar ; Icanabh, leinibh ; talamh, earth, talmhainn ; leaba, leabai;lh, a bed, has leapa ; gobhar, a goat, has goibh- re; gobha andgobhainn, a btackstnith, has goibhne. There is a number that form their genitive by ach or rach ; as, saothair, toil, trouble, saoithreach ; cathair, a chair, caithreach ; breac, a trout, has brice ; ceare, a hen, has circe ; ceann, head, has cinn ; meann, a kid, has minn ; peann, a pen, has pinn ; leac, a flag, has lice ; gleann, a glen, a valley, has glinn ; meall, a lump, mill ; geall, a pledge, gill ; meall, mill, lumps ; clach, a stone, ha*tloiche; cas, afoot, has coise; abhainn, a river, hasaibhne; buidh- eann, a band, has buidhne-, mac, a son, has mic; fear, a man, husband, has fir, — all these exceptions to the rules laid dowlj, are to be found in their proper places m the Dictionary — each of polysyllables, is always changed into (cA in the genitive; as fith- each, fithich, of a raven.

Dative, ist. Nouns masculine have their dative anA nom. sijig. alike — the dative Z^- minine is like the genitive. Tobar, nom. sing. mas. dative tobar ; — misneach, nom. fem. gen. and dat. misnich.

Note. The dative fem. is like the nom. when the genitive is formed by contraction ; as, piuthar, nom. and dat. genitive peath- ar ; sitheann, venison ; genitive sithne ; dat. sitheann, like the nom. 2d, Words of o«e syllable drop