AN GAODHAL.
241
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
Conditional.
Singular.
1 bhéidh-inn, veyhinn, I might, or could
be.
2 beith-theá, veyhaw, thou mightest, or
could be.
3 bhéidheadh sé, veyhoo shay, he (or it)
might or could be.
Plural.
1 bhéidh-muis, veymush, we might, or
could be
2 bhéidh-thidh, veyhee, ye might, or could
be.
3 bhéidh-dís, veydish, they might, or
could be
The first letter of the foregoing tense, like that of
the imperfect, is aspirated, if it be one of the nine
mutable consonants.
Optative Mood.
1 go rabh ad, go rowadh, that I may be
2 go rabh-air, go rowirh, that thou may¬
est be.
3 go raibh sé, go row shay, that he [or
it may be; go raibh sí, go rowv
shee, that she [or it] may be.
Plural.
1 go raib-muid, go rowmudh, that we
may be
2 go rabh-thaidh, go rowhy, that you may
be.
3 go rabh-aid, go rowidh, that they may
be
Imperative.
1 ..........
2 bi, bee, be thou.
3 bidheadh sé, beeyoo shay, let him be.
Plural.
1 bidh-muis, beemush, let us be.
2 bidh-idh, beeyee, be ye.
3 bi-dís, beedish, let them be.
The second person plural, bidhidh, is
commonly, in the spoken langnage, pro¬
nounced as if written, bigidh, 'beegee'
The infinitive mood and participles
are formed by putting certain preposi¬
tions before the verbal noun — beith, be¬
ing--as, in English, to; about to; in
French, 'pour', is placed before the in¬
finitive,
beith, a being; do bheith, to be;
le bheith, in order to be
Le, with; placed before the infinitive
mood, gives, like 'pour', in French, the
idea of intent, purpose, to perform, what
is expressed by the verb.
air tí bheith [on the point of being] a¬
bout to be.
aig beith [at] being ; same as the old
English form, a-being, a-walking, a-lov¬
ing; for, being, walking, loving.
air bheith, on being.
iar m-beith, after being, having been
VOCABULARY.
craobh, branch, krayuv.
geug, bough, gayug.
bruach, bank, border; as air bhruach na
linne, on the border of the pond; air
bhruach na h-aille, on the verge of the
cliff; air bhruach na h-aibhne, on the
bank of the river, broo.agh.
reannain, comet, from reann, a star,
and ain, beautiful, sparkling; reult,
also means star, same as reultóg; or
a star-measuring instrument an as¬
trobe. Comet can well be called the
reult gruagach also; or reult tinteach;
reannain may be considered by many
to be only merely the diminutive of
reann, rhanneen.
geárr, cut; from geárr, short; because
whatever is cut is shortened ga-ur.
doimhin, deep, dhow-in.
fail, dike, sty; hiccough, fahil.
cliadh, ditch, kly.
luaithre, dust, ashes [from luath, quick,
and cré, earth] luaithre cnámh, bone
dust, lhoo-ireh
óir, for, because, oo-irh.
