AN GAOḊAL.
201
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
SOUND OF THE ASPIRATES
Ḃ and ṁ sound like w when prece¬
ded or followed in the same word by
either of the three broad vowes, a, o, u,
and like v if preceded or followed by
either of the slender vowels e, i; as, —
mo ḃord, my table, pron’cd,
mo wordh.
mo ṁart, my ox, “
" warth.
a ḃean, his wife, "
a vann
a ṁian, his desire, "
" vee-un,
ḋ and ġ sound like y; as. —
a ḋán, his poem. "
a yaun.
a ġean, his affection, "
“ yon.
ṡ and ṫ sound like h ; as —
a ṡrian, his bridle, "
a hree-un
a ṫalaṁ, his land, "
a halav.
ċ sounds like gh in lough ; ṗ, like f;
and ḟ is silent. All the aspirates ex¬
cept ḃ and ṁ are mute in the middle
and at the end of words, these sound
in that position like v. F is silent in
the future tense of verbs; as, buailfead
I shall strike, pronounced booilhadh.
EXERCISE 1.
agus, and.
fada, long.
am time.
gas, a stalk.
an, the [singular]
glas, green.
at, a swelling.
lá, a day.
ba, cows.
mac, a son.
bán, white
mall, slow.
dall, blind,
na, the (plural)
dán, a poem.
ta, am, art, is, are
1. an mac. 2 an la. 3 na ba. 4 am
agus la. 5 dall agus mall. 6 glas agus
bán. 7 at ban. 8 dán fada. 9 ta an
gas glas. 10 ta an la sada.
1. The son. 2 The day. 3 The cows. 4 Time
and day. 5 Blind and slow. 6 Green and white
7 A white swelling. 8 A long poem. 9 The
stalk is green. 10 The day is long.
EXERCISE 2.
cré, clay
le, with.
é' he (him) it
mé; I, me.
gé, a goose
sé, he.
glé, pure
spré, a dowry.
1 cré agus spré. 2 An spré. 3 le
spré. 4 gé bán. 5 gé agus cré. 6 mé
agus sé- 7 tá mé. 8 tá sé. 9 tá cré
glé. sé agus mé agus an spré,
1 Clay and a dowry. 2 The dowry. 3 With
a dowry. 4 A white goose. 5 A goose and clay.
6 I and he. 7 I am. 8 He is. 9 Clay is pure.
10 He and I and the dowry.
EXERCISE 3.
í, she (her),
mín, fine.
do, thy,
im, butter
ní, not.
lom, bare.
in, we, us
is, is, are,
mil, honey.
min, meal
sí, she,
sinn, we.
tinn, sick
mo, my,
seo, this.
1 tá min mín. 2 min agus mil. 3 tá
sinn. 4 is sinn. 5 tá sí tinn. 6 is im é
7 ní mil í. 8 sé, sí, agus mé. 9 min,
im, agus mil. 10 is min í.
1 Meal is fine. 2 Meal and honey. 3 We are.
4 It is we. 5 She is sick. 6 It is butter. 7 It
is not honey. 8 He, she and I. 9 Meal, butter
and honey. 10 It is meal.
EXERCISE 4.
bog, soft,
mór, great,
no, or ,nor
nós, habit,
óg, young,
olc, bad.
poll, a hole,
rós, a rose,
tú, thou.
1 An poll mór. 2 do nós olc. 3 ór
bog. 4 tá mo rós mór agus bog. 5
cos lom. 6 an rós mór seo. 7 an rós
seo. 8 an rós olc seo. 9 an rós no
ór. 10 mo rós agus ór.
1 A large hole. 2 Thy bad habit. 3 Soft gold
4 My rose is large and soft. 5 A bare foot. 6 The
large rose this. 7 This rose. 8 This bad habit.
9 The rose or gold. 10 My rose and gold.
EXERCISE 5.
cú, a hound,
cúl, the back.
dún, a fort'
lúb,a loop.
rud, a thing, affair
, tú, thou.
úr, fresh, new,
ursa, prop, jamb.
1 An cúl agus ursa. 2 An rud mór
seo. 3 tá an lúb mór. 4 tá sé úr
