AN GAODHAL.
169
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
XVIII. LESSON. — Continued
Translation of Exercise 1.
1. bh-fuil ann fear sean? 2. ní bh-fuil
sé sean, acht tá an sean-fhear a bhí ann
so a nae anois marbh. 3. bh-fuil an t-
sean bhean anns an teach? 4. ní bh-fuil
acht tá an mháthair-mhór anns an teach 5
bh-fuil agad máthair-mhór beo? 6. tá,
agus athair-mór. 7. an sean-fhear a bhí
anns an teach a nae, an é d' athair-mhór
é? 8. is é; agus an t-sean-bhean a tá
an so an iudh, sí mo mháthait-mhór í. 9.
bh-fuil agad deágh-chroidhe? 10. tá agam
deágh-chroidhe agus deágh-mhéin; óir tá aig
gach uile deágh-dhuine deágh-chroidhe agus
deágh-méin. 11. An Tighearna mo Dhia
is árd-Tighearna é air neamh agus air
talamh. 12. tá an t-Éireannach buan-
saoghalach. 13. ciannós bh-fuil do chúr¬
am, or, an mhuintir uile a tá faoi do
chúram? 14 táid an mhuintir faoi mo
chúram slán. 15. ciannós a bh-fuil an
meud a tá faoi do chúram, & faoi chúr¬
am d' athar, agus faoi chúram d' athar-
mhóir? 16. is ionmhuin liom do chliú &
do cháil. 17. Och! mo bhrón, nach bh-fuil
sonas ort. 18. Och! mo thaisge, agus
mo shearc ghrádh, nach mór mo ghean ort!
19. Mháire, chuisle mo chroidhe, bláth na
finne. 20. is tú mo bhrón, agus mo shógh!
m' onóir agus mo náire; mo bheatha ag¬
us mo bhás.
LESSON XIX.
Conjugation of the verb “to be" do
bheith, continued.
Indicative mood — Imperfect Tense.
This tense is called by some the 'ha¬
bitual past' because it expresses no par¬
ticular action, or state of being, but a
habit, or action repeated in the one case
and a continued state of existence in
the other. We call it by the name Im¬
perfect, in order to conform to the es¬
tablished divisioins of 'Tense,' and be¬
cause it agrees very closely with the
'Imperfect' in Greek, Latin, and French
verbs. The first letter of this tense is
aspirated, if it be one of the nine mu¬
table consonants.
Singular.
1. bhidh-inn, 'veeyinn', I was wont to be.
2. bhidhtheá, 'veehaw', thou was "
3. bhidheadh sé, 'veeyoo shay', he "
Plural.
1. bhidh-mis, 'veemush', we were wont to
be.
2. bhidh-thí, 'veehee', you were wont to be.
3. bhidh-dís, 'veedesh', they were wont
to be.
This tense, of which the Irish-speak¬
ing people make such frequent use, is
by them translated, when conversing
in English, by the words "used to be."
The interrogative form is gone thro'
by placing the particle an, whether, be¬
fore each of the persons; as, an bhidhinn,
was I wont to be, &c.
The verbal form of the third person
singular, bhidheadh, with the personal pro¬
noun mé, I; tú, thou (you); sé, he (it);
sí, she (it); sinn, we; sibh, you; siad
they; placed after it, gives the analyt¬
ic conjugation of this tense.
OBS — eadh, and adh, final, is, in Con¬
naught, pronounced oo (English); in
Munster, 'a'. As the final syllable of
the imperfect tense, it is pronounced
incorrectly in Munster, and in some
districts in the southern parts of Con¬
naught like agh, guttural. Of the sound
of adh final, we shall treat in another
Lesson.
The word synthetic, as applied to the
conjugation of Irish verbs, means that
the personal pronouns mé, tú, sinn, sibh,
siad, are, in each tense, combined with
the verb, so as to make one word, thus,
táim, I am, is composed of tá, am, and
