AN GAOḊAL.
861
THE GAELIC ALPHABET.
Irish.
Roman.
Sound.
Irish.
Roman.
Sound
a
a
aw
m
m
emm
b
b
bay
n
n
enn
c
c
kay
o
o
oh
d
d
dhay
p
p
pay
e
e
ay
r
r
arr
f
f
eff
s
s
ess
g
g
gay
t
t
thay
i
i
ee
u
u
oo
l
l
ell
ḃ and ṁ sound like w when followed
or preceded by a, o, u, as, a ḃárd, his
bard, pronounced a wardh; a ṁart,
his beef or ox, pronounced, a warth;
and like v when preceded by e, i, as,
a ḃean, his wife, pronounced, a van, a
ṁian, his desire, pronounced, a vee-un
Ḋ and ġ sound like y at the beginning
of a word; they are almost silent in
the middle, and perfectly so at the end
of words. Ċ sounds like ch; ṗ, like f;
ṡ and ṫ like h; and ḟ is silent.
Sound of the Vowels — long. —
á sounds like
a in war, as
bárr, top.
é " "
e " ere, "
céir, wax.
í " "
ee " eel, "
mín' fine.
ó " "
o " old, "
ór, gold.
ú " "
u " rule, "
úr, fresh.
Short. —
a " "
a in what,
as, gar, near.
e " "
e " bet,
" beḃ, died,
i " "
i “ ill;
" mil, honey
o " "
o " got,
" lot, wound
u " "
u " put,
" rud, thing
SECOND BOOK.
Exercise II. Ċ.
Ċ broad has always a deep guttural
sound, the word loċ, lough, as general¬
ly pronounced in Ireland, will afford
an example. Ċ slender has a smooth
guttural sound, as in críċ, a country.
Ċ slender, when final, is pronounced
very faintly, as in deiċ, ten.
These sounds are best learned by
ear, as they do not now exist in Eng¬
lish.
Glossary,—
pronunciation.
aċt, but, augh.
amaċ, out, amaugh.
asteaċ, in. ishteagh.
agam. at, or with, me, augum.
beir, bring, take, bihir.
caoċ, blind, kayaugh.
cloċ, a stone, klugh.
cloċaire, a stone-cutter, klughaire.
ċugam, to me, unto me, chugum.
cuir, put, kuir,
deiċ, ten, dhi-ich.
eaċ, a steed, augh.
fiaċ, a raven, fee-augh.
fiċe, twenty, fic-he.
fíor-ċara, a true friend, feer-chara.
laoċ, hero, lhayaugh.
loċ, a lough, a lake, lhogh.
luċ, a mouse, lhugh.
ní, not ; is, is. nhee ; iss.
1 laoċ agus eaċ. 2 deiċ agus fiċe.
3 tá an fiaċ duḃ. 4 ní eaċ é aċt fiaċ.
5 tá an loċ duḃ. 6 ḃí an luċ caoċ 7
cuir an luċ amaċ. 8 beir cloċ asteaċ
ċugam. 9 is cloċaire é. 10 tá fíor-
ċara agam.
1 A warrior and a steed. 2 ten
and twenty. 3 the raven is black. 4
it is not a steed but a raven. 5 the
lake is black. 6 the mouse was blind
7 put the mouse out. 8 bring in a
stone to me. 9 he is a stone-cutter.
10 I have a true friend.
TOḂAR NA n-INĠÍNE CÚL-ḂUIḊE,
Le
LAIĠNEAĊ,
(Continued)
áirde le caṫaḋ na h-oiḋċe. Ṫug Fíola
aṁarc air an dorus fosgailte; ḃí gae¬
ṫe lonnraċa na gealaiġe briste ag crann
do ḃí san m-bealaċ, do caiṫ a scáile
fada air ṫortaiḃ duḃa na n-daoineaḋ
astiġ san seomra, agus do luasg a
ġeuga cróna agus do riġne sméide leo,
i n-dorċadas na h-oiḋċe. D' éiriġ an
