AN GAOḊAL.
381
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.
LESSONS — Ceotinued
AN ḂAINTREAĊ agus an ĊAORA.
Vocabulary.
Pronunciation
baintreaċ, a widow. baintrucgh.
airiġṫe, special, particular, awrihe.
caora, a sheep. cayrah.
ḋeunóċaḋ, would make, yaynugh.
soċar, profit or gain, sugh-ar.
olan, wool, uhl-ann
bearr, clip or shave, baw-ur.
gearr, cut; short. gawur.
croiceann, skin, crackunn.
lomraḋ, fleece, lhumrah.
goineann, does wound, guing-unn.
meaḋaċan, weight, mawhun.
teastuiġeann, want, thastheeun.
brócaire, a butcher, broke-uire,
bearradóir, a shearer, barro-dho'irh.
Ḃí Baintreaċ airiġṫe ann na raḃ ai¬
ci aċ aon Ċaora aṁáin, agus ċum go
n-deunóċaḋ sí an soċar buḋ ṁó d'a h-
olan, do ḃeárr sé í ċo lom agus gur
ġeárr sí a croiceann ċo maiṫ leis an
lomra; aċ duḃairt an Ċaora, ag cráḋ¬
aḋ faoi 'n úsaide seo, "Cia 'n fáṫ a n-
goineann tú mé mar seo? a meudóċaiḋ
m' ḟuil meaḋaċan na h-olla? ma ṫeas¬
tuiġeann m' ḟuil uait, a ṁaiġistreas,
cuir fios air 'n m-brócaire, ce ċuirfeas
críoċ air mo ṗiantaiḃ air b-puinnte;
aċ ma ṫeastuiġeann mo lomraḋ uait
cuir fios air an m-bearadóir, ce ḃearr¬
feas m' olan agus naċ d-tarraingeóċ¬
aiḋ mo ċuíd fola."
Translation.
The Widow and the Sheep
There was a certain Widow who had
an only Sheep, and, wishing to make
the most of her wool, she sheared her
so closely that she cut her skin as well
as her fleece. The Sheep, smarting un¬
der this treatment, cried out “Why do
you torture me thus ? what will my
blood add to the weight of the wool?
If you want my blood, Dame, send for
the butcher, who wll put me out of my
misery at once; but if you want my
fleece, send for the Shearer, who will
cut my wool without drawing my
blood."
An SEANGÁN AGUS AN DORSÁN.
seaca, gen. of frost, shockah.
tarraing, drawing. thorringt.
arḃar, corn, arwur.
leag, lay, as to lay up. lhag.
Saṁraiḋ, of Summer. sowry.
tirmiuġaḋ, drying, thrim-oo.
agair, to beseech, awgir.
leaṫ-ḃasca, half-perished, lhah-voska.
greim, a morsel, grim.
ḃeaṫa, life, bah-hah.
coiṁeud, to preserve, cuvayudh.
arsan, said, arson.
díoṁaoinaċ, idle, dheewenach
sgioból, barn, skub-ole.
ó ṫarla, since, because, ohawr-lhah.
ḃ-feudṫa, thou couldst, vaydhhaw,
doṁsaḋ, dancing, dhou-sah.
faġann, finds, faw-unn.
La fuar seaca do ḃí Seangan a tar¬
raing amaċ cuid de 'n arḃar, noċ do
leag sé suas air feaḋ an t-Saṁraiḋ,
le na ṫirmiuġaḋ. D' agair Dorsan, a
ḃí leaṫ-ḃasca le ocras, air an Seangan
greim beag ḋe a ṫaḃairt ḋó le na ḃeaṫ¬
a ċoiṁeud. "Cad a ḃí tú i ḋeunaḋ an
Saṁraḋ seo ċuaiḋ ṫart," arsan Seang¬
