AN GAODHAL.
261
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
SECOND BOOK.
Sound of the Aspirated Letters,
B. C. D. F. G. M. P. S. T.
Secondary or Aspirated form. —
bh. ch. dh. fh. gh. mh. ph. sh. th.
An approximation to the sound is
given at the head of each exercise.
The consonants have a broad or a
slender sound when immediately pre¬
ceded or followed by a broad or a sle¬
nder vowel. a, o, u, are broad, e and i,
slender vowels.
EXERCISE I. Bh.
Bh broad sounds nearly like "w" in
wool, as bhur (woor), your. Between
two "short broad” vowels it is sounded
softly, much like "w" in power, as gabh¬
ar (gower), a goat.
Bh slender sounds exactly like “v",
as bhí, (vee, was; final it sounds “v.”
Vocabulary.
agaibh, at, or with, you, agg-iv.
bhí, was, were, vee.
bhur, your, woor.
dubh, black, dhuv.
fíor-bhuan, steadfast, feer-woon.
gabhar, a goat, gower.
buan, lasting. boo-un.
cara, carad, a friend, carra, carrud.
garbh, rough, garruv.
leabhar, a book, lhower.
leanbh, a child, lhann-uv.
libh, with you, liv.
sibh, you, ye, shiv.
tarbh, a bull, thor-uv.
1. An gabar. 2. tarbh dubh. 3. bhí
sibh garbh. 4. bhí sé dubh. 5. Bhí an gabhar
dubh. 6. bhí leabhar agaibh. 7. tá an
leabhar agaibh. 8. bhur leanbh. 9. cara
fíor-bhuan. 10 bhí gabhar agaibh.
1. The goat. 2. a black bull. 3.
ye were rough. 4. he was black. 5.
the goat was black. 6. you had a
book. 7. you have the book. 8. your
child. 9. a steadfast friend. 10. you
had a goat.
EXERCISE II. Ch.
Ch broad has always a deep guttur¬
al sound. The loch, "lough," as gene¬
rally pronounced in Ireland, will afford
an example.
Ch slender has a smooth guttural
sound, as in crích, a country, pronoun¬
ced like “creegh."
Ch slender when final is pronounced
very faintly, as in deich, ten.
These souuds must be learned by
ear as they do not exist in English.
Sometimes the slender sound of ch is
almost exactly like h.
acht, but, acht.
amach, out, amauch.
asteach, in, asthach.
caoch, blind, khayuch.
cloch, a stone, klugh.
clochaire, a stone-cutter, klughirhe.
chugam, to me, unto me, huggam.
deich, ten, dhieh
each, a steed, ach.
fiach, a raven, feeugh.
fiche, twenty, figh-eh.
fíor-chara, a true friend, feer-uchara.
laoch. a hero, lhayuch.
loch, a lake, lhoch.
luch, a mouse, lhuch.
bheir, bring. take, beeirh.
cuir, put, kooirh.
1. laoch & each. 2. deich & fiche. 3.
tá an fiach dubh. 4. ní each é acht fiach.
5. tá an loch dubh, 6. bhí an luch caoch.
7. cuir an luch amach. 8, beir cloch as¬
teach chugam. 9. is clochaire é. 10. tá
fíor-chara agam.
1. A warrior and a steed. 2. ten &
twenty, 3. the raven is black. 4. it is
not a steed but a raven. 5. the lake is
black. 6. the mouse was blind. 7.
put the mouse out. 8 bring in a
