AN GAODHAL.
885
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 (Continued.)
Exercise III Dh.
Dh broad sounds somewhat like gh
soft, or y broad and guttural, as, saor-
dhuine, a freeman.
Dh slender sounds exactly like y in
year, fíor-dhílis, sincere.
Dh final is silent,
Dh in the body of a word, not a com¬
pound, is silent.
Dh in such words as buidhe and croidhe
merely lengthens the sound of the pre¬
ceding letters, and preserves the cor¬
rect orthography, somewhat like gh in
mi[gh]ty, thou[gh], etc. in English
Dh in the first syllable of a word, if
preceded by a or o, sounds like i in
vie, ey in eye. The exceptions to this
rule are marked with accent, thus, ádh,
luck, pronounced, aw. But when the a
or the o is a member of a dipthong it
does not come under the rule.
NOTE — The foregoing rules are so im¬
portant that the student should commit
them to memory.
ádh, luck, aw.
adharc, a horn, i-ark.
ádhmud, timber, awmhudh.
buidhe, yellow, bwee.
croidhe, heart, kree.
fiadh, a deer, fee-eh.
gaedhilge, Irish language, ghayilgeh.
grádh, love, graw.
madadh, a dog, madha.
radharc, sight, ri-ark.
ruadh, red, roo-eh
saor-dhuine, a freeman, sayer-yuine.
geur, sharp, gayur.
treun, brave, thrayun.
so, or seo, this, sho.
beo, living, alive, beó.
orraibh, on ye. uriv.
duine, a person, duineh.
saor, cheap, free, sayur,
í, she, her, it, ee,
1 Fiadh agus adharc. 2 madadh ruadh
agus each buidhe. 3 fiach-dubh agus fiadh
buidhe. 4 ádhmud buidhe. 5 ádh agus
grádh. 6 tá an fiadh beo. 7 is leabhar
Gaedhilge é so. 8 tá radharc geur ag¬
aibh. 9 tá ádh orraibh. 10 tá croidhe
treun ag saor-dhuine.
1 A deer and a horn. 2 A red dog and a yel¬
low steed. 3 A raven and a yellow deer. 4 Yel¬
low timber. 5 Luck and love. 6 The deer is
alive. 7 This is a Gaelic book. 8 Ye have
sharp sight. 9 Ye have luck. 10 A freeman
has a brave heart.
An Mionnán agus an Cliabhach.
Do lean Cliabhach Mionnán noch do
chuaidh air fán o 'n treud, agus i nuair
do chonnairc sé narabh aon imtheacht eil¬
e aige uaidh, d'iompuigh sé thart air an
g-Cliabhach, agus dubhairt, "Caithfidh mé
admháil go deimhin go bh-fuilim in do
chúmhacht, agus o tá mo bheatha ach geárr
anois, bidheadh sé mireach. Seinn thusa
air feadh tamaill agus daimhseochaidh
mise." Ca fhaid as bhí an Cliabhach ag
seinnim agus an Mionnán ag damhsa,
do chualaidh na madra an ceol agus do
ritheadar suas go bh-feicfidís cad a bhí
air bun, agus b'ait leis an g-Cliabhach
teitheadh cho tapaidh as bhí sé in a chosaibh
a iomchar.
An te imthigheas as a shlighe ag imirt
an amadáin, ní h-iongnamh dhó má chaill¬
eann sé an duilgne.
[Translation.]
THE KID AND THE WOLF.
A KID that had strayed from the herd was pursued
by a Wolf. When she saw all other hope of escape
cut off, she turned round to the Wolf, and said, “I
must allow indeed that I am your victim, but as
my life now is but short, let it be a merry one. Do
you pipe for a while, and I will dance.” While the
Wolf was piping and the Kid was dancing, the
Dogs hearing the music ran up to see what was
going on, and the Wolf was glad to take himself
off as fast as his legs would carry him.
He who steps out of his way to play the fool, must
not wonder if he misses the prize.
meidhreach
