AN GAODHAL.
37
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
fF
f
eff
s
s
ess
g
g
gay
t
t
thay
i
i
ee
u
u
oo
l
l
ell
VIII. LESSON. — Continued
Translation of Exercise 1.
1. an fíor an sgeul 2. ní fíor an
sgeul. 3. bh-fuil an feur glas? 4 tá
an feur glas. 5. Bh-fuil seun air an
tír? 6. ní bh-fuil seun air an tír. 7
ní buan seun. 8. An bh-fuil iasg saor
no daor? 9. tá iasg daor. 10. an
reult no neul é sin? 11. ní reult no
neul é, sí an rae í. 12. an sgeul é
sin, no mian? 13. is sgeul é. 14. an
srian é sin air an giall? 15. an bh-fuil
an cluas suas? 16. tá mé a suan, no
tá suan orm. 17. bh-fuil tú a suan, no
bh-fuil suan ort? 18. tá an meur
fuar. 19. tá an ghrian suas. 20. tá
an ghrian air an speur. 21. tá an
ghrian ann neul. 22. gan lón, gan car¬
ad. 23. tá an t-uan bán. 24. tá an
piast air an talamh. 25. tá an chré
fuar. 26. ní bh-fuil suan air talamh.
27. tá suan le Dia. 28. bh-fuil Dia
ann? 29. tá Dia ann. 30. Sé Dia
tús agus deire, bun agus bárr gach ui¬
le nidh.
Translation, Part 2.
An Dá Mhála.
Iomcharann gach duine dhá mhála, ceann
roimhe agus ceann 'na dhiaigh, agus an
dá cheann lán de lochtaibh ( dat, case).
Acht tá an ceann a tá roimhe lán de
lochtaibh a chomhursan; an ceann 'na
dhiaidh, lán d'a lochtaibh féin.
Mar so tarluigheann sé go bh-fuil
daoine dall a d-taobh a lochta féin, acht
ní chailleann siad choidhche amharc air
lochtaibh a g-comhursan.
LESSON VIII.
The diphthongs long by nature
should never be sounded short; the
diphthongs short by nature are, on the
contrary, sometimes sounded long.
This change from short to long is noted
by placing the accent over that vowel
of the digraph whose sound is length¬
ed.
Sounds of the Seven Short Diphthongs [with their
variable sounds also.
ái, equalls the sound of awi in the En¬
glish word 'sawing'; as, cáil, fame, fáil
fate.
This sound is nothing more than the
united sounds of á (aw), and i (i) or awi.
It should be carefully noted by the
learner, as it is so unlike the sound of
of the same diphthong in English or
French.
ai not accented equal ai in the French
taille, cut ; as, caill, loss; faill, a sty.
The sound of ai short is hard to be
learned by an English-speaking student
To pronounce it correctly then, add to
the sound of the a that of i quickly e¬
nunciated, yet forming both into one.
the consonant following i receives with¬
al a slender sound, because it is joined
to one of the slender vowels.
éa equal
ea in rear, as
déan, do.
ea “
ea in heart "
meas, respect.
éi "
ei, “ reign "
céir, wax.
ei "
ei “ den "
ceil, conceal.
ío "
ee “ green "
fíon, wine.
In ío, it is the sound of the í (ee) that
is principally heard, and hence the di¬
graph is noted as having that leading
sound ; yet o is not entirely quiescent,
for it gives the succeeding consonant a
hard and not a liquid sound.
io sounds like i in grin ; as fionn, white
iú sounds like iew in view, as siúr, sis-
iu sounds like oo in flood, as fliuch, wet.
ói sounds like oi in toil, as cóir, just.
oi sounds like u in shut, as coir, crime
úi sounds like ui in fruit, as súil, eye.
ui sounds like ui in guilt, as fuil, blood
Sound the following words according
to the pronunciation noted above :—
