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AN GAOḊAL.
Editor Gael — Dear Sir — Please correct the fol¬
lowing misprints in my letter on
ól and deun
in your next issue :—
Second column, 11th line, 'consisting of two or more
syllables” should be consisting of three or more
syllables". 40th line, same column, "roots of
ól and deun" should be "roots, ól and
deun". In last line of third column
"requires" should be "require.” marfiḋ
in the 9th line of last column should be
marfaiḋ. The word "exclusively” in
3d line of last paragraph should be
"extensively."
Respectfully,
P. H. O'DONNELL, O. S. A.
St. Thomas's College, Villanona. Pa. Nov. '86.
By referrence to Mr. O'Donnell's copy we find
h at the above typographical errors are ours, and
we cheerfully correct them. We take pleasure in
publishing the communications of critics who crit¬
icise in a gentlemanly manner. But we will not
permit any one to put in print through the Gael
assumptions formed in their own imagination as
coming from us. For instance, some write in such
simpering disengenuous strain as would convey the
idea that we suggested a complete revolution in
Irish grammar, whereas we have suggested no
such thing. In all the authorities quoted by Mr.
O'Donneell, not one of them but has used the
form we suggested; Mr. O'Donnell himself used
it. How, then, could our suggestion be a revo¬
lution? Persons have written to us on this sub¬
ject who did not read what we have written or
intentionally pervert the matter under consider¬
ation. We referred to the THIRD PERSON
SINGULAR of the CONDITIONAL MOOD,
only and we will not permit any one to go out¬
side it or to insinuate that we suggested a change
in it. We have the authority of all the gram¬
marians quoted by Mr. O'Donnell, and of Mr. O’¬
Donnell himself, that the third person singular of
of Irish verbs in the conditional mood, end in
oċaḋ, and he gives as an instance, ṡoi¬
llseoċaḋ sé, he would shine. Then how
could our ground be shaken when we
use, ḃuaileoċaḋ sé, he would strike?
And we would ask Mr. O'Donnell to
state what difference, if any, is there
in the position of the organs of speech
when emitting the sounds, ṡoillseoċaḋ
sé, d'áirdeoċaḋ sé, which he states
are correct, and ḃuaileoċaḋ sé, ḋeun¬
eoċaḋ sé & d'ólóċaḋ sé, which we cor¬
sider to be equally correct? and, also,
if Euphony is not the chief object in
the determination of grammatical in¬
flections ?
Now, when Mr. O'Donnell and the authorit¬
ies which he quotes give two forms of inflection
for the person and mood referred to, our argu¬
ment is, that of the two forms, that which is used
by Irish speakers, without exception, should be
preferred to the other which is dead to the Irish
speaking population.
The subject of this entire discussion is te be
found on page 586 of the Gael — the June num¬
ber, and reference is there made only to the
particular person, mood and tense (by inference)
there expressed. We said nothing about the fu¬
ture tense, therefore we cannot see the propriety
of introdocing it into the discussion. Yet Mr. O'
Donnell introduces the future tense, and, more¬
over misquotes Bourke's grammar in its regard.
We regret that we did not see this misquota¬
tion until after the Gael was published, for if we
did we would not publish it. We hope, too, that
it was an oversight of Mr. O’Donnell.
We submit this whole point (and it is the only
inconsistency which we see in the whole range
of Irish grammar), to the Very Rev. J. J. Can¬
on Bourke and Mr. John Fleming of the Gaelic
Journal, because we consider that no writers of
Irish grammar up to this time have been as com¬
petent as they are to write a general grammar,
not that other writers were not as intelligent,
but that they could not command that general
scope of knowledge which modern intercommun¬
ication facilities confer. The people of Ireland and
Australia (the Antipodes) have greater facilities
for intercommunication of thought to-day, than the
people of Cork and Galway had a hundred years
ago. Coupled with that, Canon Bourke and Mr.
Fleming have been teachers and have spoken and
written the language from boyhood. Both are
scholars, and, therefore we consider them the most
able authorities of either former or present time.
We publish Gaelic matter in the Gael from men
who do not pretend to be Gaelic scholers, and we
are not going to deny such men space in a journal
whose object is to propagate the language. We
publish the Munster idiom, the Connaught idiom
and all other idioms sent to us, and scholars delight
to see such matter, and it is only the newly fledged
scholars who take an exception to it. At the same
time we would suggest to all who write Irish to
get an Irish grammar, and when they are
writing to keep as near as possible to modern Irish
orthography — such as can be found in O'Reilly's
Dictionary, or when a word cannot be found in the
dictionaries, to give its definition — as there are
hundreds of words in common use which are not
found in them.
Reader, prevail on your Irish acquain¬
tances to learn their native speech; as
without it, they are only a tail to John
Bull, whatever their means may be.
