194
AN GAOḊAL.
Analytic — raḃ (was), mé, tú, sé, sinn,
siḃ, siad? raḃ-as is compounded of ro,
and the perfect ḃíḋeas, which we have
conjugated above.
The learner cannot fail to observe
that the verbal endings, as ais, for the
first aud second persons singular; and
mar, ḃar, dar, for the persons of the
plural, are the same in both forms [ḃíḋ¬
eas, and raḃas], of the perfect indica¬
tive. The same are the endings of the
persons of the perfect tense in every
regular and irregular verb in the Irish
language.
In some grammars there is a vowel
[a] placed before the plural termina¬
tions, mar, ḃar, dar, to lend fulness
of sound to the word. We have omit¬
ted it in the conjugation of the substan¬
tive verb, as we intend to omit it in e¬
very other, for the sake of having in all
the verbs the endings of the several
persons in each tense uniform. Besides
the insertion of a vowel is rarely ne¬
cessary to lend euphony to the sound
of two consonants in two distinct syl¬
lables.
The perfect of is, it is, the assertive
form of the verb “to be."
1 ba or buḋ mé, it was I.
2. ba " tú, it was you.
3. ba " ṡé, it was he.
Plural.
1. ba or buḋ sinn, it was we.
2. ba " siḃ, it was you.
3 ba " ṡiad, it was they.
ba becomes b' when a vowel follows,
as, b'árd é an crann, the tree was high.
The b' or b, becomes united with a, a
particle which is placed for emphasis
before ba or buḋ, and thus forms one
word — ab, was. The forms ab; rob
[from ro and ba]; bam [from ba and
mé]; cumaḋ [from go, that, and ba];
and corbam [from go. that,; ro, sign of
the perfect tense, and ba], so frequent¬
ly met with in the ancient language,
are not found in lately-printed Irish
works, and indeed ought not at all to
be henceforth employed.
The initial letter of every adjective,
if one of the four labials b, f, m, p, com¬
ing after buḋ, is aspirated; as, buḋ ṁaiṫ
an fear Seáġan (Shawn), the man John
was good ; i.e., John was a good man.
The personal pronouns coming after
ba, or buḋ, take the Objective form —
which, in this shape, are, properly
speaking, only aspirated nominatives;
as, buḋ ṫú, and not ḃuḋ tú; buḋ é or
buḋ ṡé, and not buḋ sé; bu ṡiad, or iad
and not buḋ siad. It appears to us,
therefore, that after buḋ, the aspirated
nominative, ṡé, ṡí, ṡinn, ṡiad, ought to
be employed, and not é, í, inn, iad, the
objective forms, in which ṡ [aspirated]
is omitted. The latter spelling, how¬
ever, is entirely in use in all printed
books and manuscripts.
LESSON XXI
VOCABULARY.
áirde, height, from árd, high.
baoṫ, vain, silly; beiḋmid, we will be.
caora, sheep ; tá, two; as, ḋá ḟear
déag, teen — the decimal ending; from
deiċ, ten; oċt-déag, eighteen; seaċt
déag, seventeen.
déan, do; make; gnás, custom.
máraċ, to-morrow
náṁadaċ, hostile, inimical, from náṁ¬
ad, an enemy; pós, marry, póstaḋ,
married.
róṁam, before me; compound pronoun
from roiṁ, before, and mé, me; róṁ¬
at, before thee [you]; roiṁe, before
him ; roimpi, before her; spré, dowry
given with females; suiġ, sit.
Translate into Irish. —
1. He who was (in your opinion) good to you
yesterday, will be bad to you to-morrow ; and he
who was friendly with you one time, will be hostile
to you at another time, for that is the custom and
manner of the world. 2. We will be of one story
(united on the same subject) every day, when we
be at the shore, or on board taking a sail, listening
to the angry ocean spouting its foam on high (to
the clouds). 3. A ship under sail on the sea is a
beautiful thing to be seen. 4. Is not a swan, swim¬
ming on a lake, a pleasant sight? 5. A swan,
swimming on a lake, is a pleasing sight. 6. A
young child in its mother's bosom is pleasing 7.,
Was not the vale that lay stretched out before me
delightful? 8. The vale that lay stretched out be¬
fore me was delightful. 9. The proud are usually
