724
AN GAOḊAL.
YORK'S LECTURES Continued)
We have therefore the rule that be-
fore ṡ the nd became nt, before ḟ it re¬
mained unchanged.
From the affinity of n and d we
would expect to find the d becoming
assimilated and that it has become so any one that
has ever seen Old Irish, will readily admit. Thus
in the specimen given by Canon Bourke, p. 263, we
find andsin for modern ann sin and so
we see brond for bronn, cend for ceann,
cland for tlann, and so on. Hence we
are not surprised that an ḟir is the
modern representation of ṁo ḟir. The
t however by its change was preserv¬
ed from the assimilation and is thus
handed down in an t-suil &c.
2.
The second question however is a more intricate
one and beset with many difficulties. As this ques¬
tion of t is in reality a question of as¬
piration and not of eclipsis l think it
will be better to reserve a fuller con¬
sideration of it until we have studied
aspiration. Briefly stated the history
of the t; in Middle Irish the forms of
the article in the masculine nominative
are in and int, feminine in ind and int.
The feminine inḋ-form, however, was
only used before the feminine vowel
nouns e. g., ind aidċe not int aidċe, the
in was also used e. g., in inga the nail.
Now the nd being asimilated we have
the modern an oiḋce &c. As I said a¬
bove the reason of this Middle Irish Rule will be
seen better after aspiration.
To sum up all our researches into this table of
eclipsis may be tabulated up as follows;
ECLIPSIS.
Nasal Eclipsis —
n-vowels
become n-a, n-e, n-i, n-o, n-u,
n-g
" ng
sounded ng
n-d
" n-d
" n
n-b
" m-b
" m
— Flattening
n-c
becomes cc
equal g-c
sounded g
n-f
" ff
" ḃ-f
" ḃ
n-p
" pp
" b-p
" b
n-t
" tt
" d-t
" d
— AssimiIation
n-s
becomes ss
equal s
sounded s
n-n
" nn
" n
" n
n-l
" ll
" l
" l
n-ṁ
" mm
" m
" m
n-r
" rr
" r
" r
Ouasi Eclipsis
and
vowel equal
an t-vowel
and
ṡ "
an t-ṡ
This then is the result of our researches into
Eclipsis that formerly many words ended in a nas¬
al which nasel reappears in certain positions, in cer¬
tain positions disappears, still in many cases mak¬
ing its loss felt by changes in the letter before which
it came.
We have but gone a short way beneath the sur¬
face and yet I think the exploration has not been
without its use nor without its pleasure. We have
seen the cause that unites all the seemingly scat¬
tered rules, that make up the second part of the
second book, a cause which is so natural in its
simplicity and yet which throws such an interest a¬
bout these changes. In the light of our new
knowledge, we can no more look on them as clumsy
devices to procure euphony at the expense of pur¬
ity. They are finger posts on the long road which
our race has trod, pointing out their ancient home
on Persian Steppes, pointing out, too, the ways our
kindred have taken kindred now seemingly so alien
in thought and tongue. In these harsh looking
combinations still linger the majesty of the Latin
and the music of the Greek. In them we hear a¬
gain the accents of the first dwellers by the Ganges
and the solemn song with which our fathers hail¬
ed their Isle of destiny. They are no more chains to
fetter our limbs and impede our movements, but
springs of action and sources of power. We can
look of them no more as the dry bones the prophet
beheld in the valley of vison, but instinct with
life and clothed in beauty. They are to us real liv¬
ing results of a living law, broken by use and worn
by time you may say but still bearing witness
like the fossal writings of the earth, or the rocks a¬
bove the flood to a life that was and to a beauty
that even yet has not faded.
LECTURE III. DECLENSION.
Definitions and First Principles.
When I began my last lecture I thought that
I would be able to treat aspiration in this. I find
however that to do so would entail endless referen¬
ces to declension, anticipations of what would nat¬
urally fall under other heads and statements of
facts which not being yet proved, could not have
their full force. I think therefore, that it will
conduce to a better understanding of the subject to
treat first of declension.
§1. DEFINITIONS.
In grammar as in all other matters it is essent¬
ially necessary to attach clear and precise ideas to
the words used. In these lectures the terms which
will occur most frequently are Root, Stem, Inflect¬
ion, Case, Number, Declension, Gender, and therefore
it will be well to explain them rather at length.
1. A Root as I mentioned in my introductory re¬
marks is that portion of the word in which the es¬
sential idea dwells. When we come to the know¬
