AN GAOḊAL.
193
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
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
XX. LESSON. — Continued
Translation of Exercise 1.
1. Raiḃ an aimsir garḃ an nae nuair bí
siḃ air an muir? 2. ní raiḃ; ḃí an
aimsir breáġ, giḋ gur raiḃ an ġaoṫ árd
& an ṁuir garḃ. 3. raiḃ siad air ḃárr
an ċnoic? 4. ní raḃadar air ḃárr an
ċnoic, aċt ḃídar aig a ḃun. 5. raiḃ
treoir agaiḃ? 6. ní raiḃ treoir ag¬
ainn, mar naċ raḃamar air ḃárr an
ċnoic. 7. ní raiḃ sé fuar, giḋ gur raiḃ
ceo air ṫaoḃ an ċnoic. 8. ní maiṫ liom
ceo air ċnoc. 9. an t-aṁarc ó ḃárr,
tar an tír, & tar an ṁuir níor b'ḟada
é 10. ḃídar báid air an muir, agus
daoine air an tráiġ, a ḃí an-ḃán, & long
anns an g-cuan. 11. ḃí an ġrian dearg
a dul faoi. 12. ḃí an ġealaċ lán agus
mór, & lonraṫ; agus ḃí an speur gorm
gan neul. 13. tá an cliú a tá aig an
tír so an-ṁór. 14. an m-bíḋeann tú
moċ aig an muir & aig an tráiġ? 15.
ní ḃíḋim ; ní ḃ-fuilim slán, agus ní maiṫ
liom ḃeiṫ aig an ḃ-fairge go deire an
t-saṁraiḋ. 16. tá an táḋ ort a ḃeiṫ
ann so air ṫaoḃ an ġleinn áluine so.
17. tá áḋ orm; aċt mar deir an sean
sguel, "bíḋeann áḋ air amadán. 18.
is mian liom a ḃeith anns an tír áluin
so. 19. beannaċt Dé ort. 20. slán
leat.
Conjugation of the verb “to be.” do
ḃeiṫ, — continued. Indicative Mood,
Perfect Tense.
This tense, like the first perfect in French, the
historic perfect in Latin, the aorist in Greek, con¬
veys the idea of time past generally, whether some¬
time ago, or just now passed — and is translated in¬
to English either by the remote perfect, was; or
by the present perfect, have been.
Singular.
1. ḃiḋeas, veeyes, I was.
2. ḃiḋ is, veeyish, thou wast.
3. ḃí sé, he (or it) was; ḃí sí, she
(or it) was.
Plural.
1. ḃí-mar, veemar, we were.
2. ḃí-ḃar, veewar, you were.
3. ḃí-dar, veedar, they were.
The Analytic form of this tense is very simple.
(See Lesson XIX.)
1. ḃí mé, I was; or have been.
2. ḃí tú, thou wast.
3. ḃí sé, he (or it) was; ḃí sí she
(or it) was.
Plural.
1. ḃí sinn, we were.
2. ḃí siḃ, you were.
3. ḃí siad, they were.
Sometimes the particle do — and in
the ancient language ro — is placed be¬
fore this tense. Its use in this respect
in Irish, is not unlike that of the par¬
ticle “to" before the infinitive mood in
English verbs. Raḃas [and not ḃiḋ¬
eas, the direct perfect of the verb do
ḃeiṫ "to be”], follows those particles in¬
to which ro enters, forming the latter
part of a compound; as, gur, that [com¬
pounded of go, that, would that, ; and
ro, sign of the perfect tense], e.g., gur
raḃas, that I was; nár, that not [neg-
ative interrogative], as, nár raḃas, was
I not; nár ṁolas, did I not praise; nár,
may not, [compounded of the particle
ná, not, and ro]; a negative used when
a wish is expressed ; as, nár raiḃ sé,
may he be not; nár ṁolaiḋ sé, may
he not praise; níor, not; from ní, not,
and ro; naċar, which not. [See prece¬
ding Lessons.]
Interrogative and Negative Perfect.
1. ar raḃas, rowas, was I?
2. ar raḃ-ais, rowish, wast thou.
3. ar raḃ, rowv shay, was he.
Plural.
1. ar raḃ-mar, rowmar, were we?
2. ar raḃ-ḃar, rowmar, were we?
3. ar raḃ-dar, rowdhar, were they
