AN GAOḊAL
49
buidéal uisge agam as."
Ḃí Art agus Neart líonta le eud
agus ṫoisiġ a cogarnaiġ le ċéile. "An
leigfimid an riġeaċt do ḃeiṫ aig an
mac is óige," arsa Art.
LESSONS IN GAELIC.
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
ol
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
IX. LESSON. — Continued
Translation of Exercise 1.
1. Ḃ-fuil meas mór ort? 2. tá
meas mór orm. 3. ḃ-fuil an lá fliuċ?
4 tá an lá fliuċ. 5. Ḃ-fuil fuil ann
do ṡúil ḋeis? 6. tá fuil ann mo ṡúil
ḋeis. 7. an áil leat a ṫéaċt (to come)
liom? 8. ní áil liom a ḋul (to go) leat.
9. ḃ-fuil an crann críon? 10. ḃ-fuil
fíon fionn agus fíon dearg agad? 11
tá fíon fionn agus fíon dearg agam.
12. ḃ-fuil an ḃó fionn, an gé bán,
an ġeis geal, an eaċ ruaḋ, an cú sean,
an fear treun, an ḃean dílis? 13 tá,
is fíor go ḃ-fuilid. 14. ḃ-fuil fios
mór agad? 15. is fíor naċ ḃ fuilim
gan fios. 16. ḃ-fuil fios agad gur fiú
fear maiṫ cion agus cáil agus meas?
LESSON X.
OBS. 1. — The sound of e or i is, in
Irish, infused into all these diphthon¬
al sounds, even though it cannot be
noted in English corresponding vowel
marks. All we can do is to give the
nearest possible English equivalent.
Tha reader should well note, then, the
fact, first, that each of the two vowels
is sounded, yet blended into one; and
secondly, that the consonant after e or
i is liquid or slender. This he will ob¬
serve on reading or speaking the first
sentence in Irish.
Irishmen, like the ancients of Athens
and Rome, enunciate, in pronouncing
a diphthong, the two vowels of which
it is composed, more fully and distinct¬
ly than English-speaking people are
wont to do. The two vowels of the
diphthong, though united, should be
distinctly heard.
OBS 2. — The diphthongs éa (marked
long) and eu are sometimes, in manu¬
scripts and publications, written indif¬
ferently one for the other, as; éag, eug,
death; féar, feur, grass; méar, meur,
a finger; géar, geur, sharp ; téad. teud
a string; tréan, treun, brave.
Only one form of spelling shall, in
words in which this digraph occurs, be
followed in these Lessons. Instead of
éa we shall adopt, for uniformity, the
diphthong eu; as feur, grass ; geur,
sharp, &c. Excepting, however, ead or
eag, in or un (in composition); Exam¬
ple, éad-trom, unheavy, that is, light;
éag-cóir, injustice; déan, do; déar¬
fad, I shall say; words in which éa
is regarded as a settled form; or in
which this form of spelling has a diffe¬
rent meaning from another of the same
sound. This unsettled spelling is not
unlike the yet unsettled form of ou in
English: as endeavour, honour, favour,
labour, which Webster has, "for the
sake of uniformity," endeavorued to
correct.
OBS 3. — There are a few words spell¬
ed with the digraph ea short, and on¬
ly a few, in which a, the second vow¬
el, and not e, is marked with the
accent; as feárr, better ; geárr, short;
feárn, the alder-tree merely to distin¬
guish them from other words spelled
with the same short diphthong; as
fear, a man; gear, cut; fearn, a shield
OBS. 4. — In Tipperary, Waterford,
and Kilkenny, the diphthongs ea, io,
and sometimes iu, on coming before l,
m, n, are incorrectly pronounced ow;
as, glean, a valley, is pronounced
glown; so fionn, fair, is pronounced
