AN GAOḊAL
229
guskin
cioscain
kak
ceis
pirkar
brucur
Anna
aine
faine
khaab
ciob
kur
caora
taba
duḃ
kusiitiim
cois eideaċ
gis
ceis
As there appear to be several lacunae in the In¬
scription on Tablet VII., as it has been published
by Prof. Sayce, there must naturally be greater
difficulty in ascertaining the exact meaning of the
various words and phrases that go to make up the
Inscription. Sufficient evidence has been adduced,
I think, to prove that it is Gaelic. As it belongs
in all probability to the sixteenth century B.C., it
is some fourteen centuries older than the Umbrian
portion of the Eugubine Tables to which 140 B.C.
has been assigned, and which has been regarded
since its Gaelic character was clearly established,
as the oldest specimen of Gaelic that was known
to exist. As fresh evidence of a convincing and
corroborative kind is making its appearance from
time to time in favor of the ancient origin and great¬
ness of the Celts in Asia and elsewhere; that the
Cuneiform Inscription on Tablet VII. of Tel-el-A¬
marna in Eypt is Gaelic, need no longer occasion
any surprise or be regarded as being in any degree
prima facie improbable.”
The foregoing is only about a third of the learn¬
ed Doctor's paper. It is published, with other trans¬
actions of the Cetlic Society, by W. Drysdale &
Co., Montreal.
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
XXI. LESSON. — Continued
OBS 1. — The final vowel of the pos¬
sessive pronouns mo, my; do, thy; and
of the prepositions de, of ; do, to; are
elided, and an apostrophy (') substitu¬
ted for the elided letter, when a vowel
comes immediately after; as, d' ainm,
thy name, for do ainm; go naoṁṫar d'
ainm, hallowed be thy name: ḃ-fuil d'
aṫair agus do ṁaṫair slán, are your
father and mother well? D'aois Ċríost
of the age of Christ.
OBS. 1. — d, of the possessive pron¬
oun do, thy, should never, when o is
elided, be changed into t, a cognate
letter of a near kindred sound, a pro¬
cess which has, very incorrectly, been
often gone through ; as, tanam for dan¬
am, which itself is an old stenographic
form for d'anam, thy soul; so again
tainm, thy name, for d' ainm; taṫair,
thy father, for d'aṫair; teagna, thy
wisdom, for d'eagna; toglaċ, thy man-
servant, thy young man, for d'oglaċ.
This mutation of the linguals d, t, one
for the other, is so puzzling to mere
learners that it should never in future
be practised.
A, her, takes the aspirate h before
the vowel immediately following it;
as, Is 'her' father alive, ḃ-fuil a h-aṫair
beo? Is her soul safe, ḃ-fuil a h-anam
slán? If 'his,' and not 'her' both of
which are expressed in Irish by the
letter a, was meant, the expression
should have been written thus; a aṫair
and not a h-aṫair; a anam, and not a
h-anam.
This difference is carefully attended
to by Irish-speaking people. The sound
of h before the initial vowel falling on
the ear tells them at once that the
subject to which a refers is feminine.
Example, —
Is fad í ó'n g-criċ, ḃ-fuil a "h-óg laoċ"
'nn a luiḋe,
'S gan áird air a suiriġṫiḃ 'g a breug¬
aḋ;
Aċt iompuiġeann go fuar ó ṡúiliḃ gaċ
saoi,
Óir tá a croiḋe le n-a céile 'g a eug¬
aḋ.
She is far from the land where her young hero
[sleeps,
And lovers are round her sighing ;
But coldly she turns from their gaze and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying.
— Irish Melodies, by Dr. McHale.
These particles take h before the suc¬
ceeding vowel. —
Ca, what, where; as, ca h-aois duit,
what age is to you, i.e, what age are
you; or, how old are you?
