AN GAODHAL
397
LESSONS IN GAELIC.
(BOURKE'S)
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
XXIX LESSON. —
Since we commenced our Easy Lessons
in Irish, we omitted to note the gen¬
der of each particular noun, because
we intended to devote a special Lesson
to this subject, and to render it a mat¬
ter of no difficulty for no learner to
know, at a glance, the particular gen¬
der of every noun in the Irish lang¬
uage.
In English Grammar sex and gen¬
der are so allied that one betokens the
other. Whatever is of the male sex
is masculine in gender ; whatever is
of the female sex is feminine in gen¬
der; and whatever is of neither sex is
in gender, neuter — that is, of no gen¬
der. This is the simple, grand, Eng¬
lish rule relative to the gender. Lin¬
dley Murray has said, and the philos-
ophic error has been taught in all our
schools, “that gender is the distinction
of sex."
English-speaking students, on not
finding gender as readily distinguisha¬
ble in foreign languages as in their
native tongue, laud the simplicity of
English, and cannot at all understand
why the languages of other nations
should, on this simple question of gen¬
der, differ so widely from the Anglo-
Saxon.
Gender, however, is even in English, quite a dif¬
ferent thing from “the distinction of sex" — the latter
regards things ; the former, not things, but their
names. For example, we say a man, as a living
being, is of the male sex — and not of the male gen¬
der; and a woman, as a living being, is of the fe¬
male sex — not female gender; while the word
"man,” as a mere part of, is said to be, not male,
but, masculine, and the word "woman,” not fe¬
male, but feminine.
"In English grammar sex and gender are con¬
founded ; yet they differ widely, Sex is a natural
distinction ; gender a grammatical one. Sex apper¬
tains only to living things ; gender to all things.
Sex is limited in its extent: gender extends to all
classes of nouns. Sex is, however, a sure sign by
which the gender of certain nouns becomes known"
— College Irish Grammar, p. 52.
This becomes very plain if we take examples
from other languages; child, as a human being, ad¬
mits of sex; yet the Greek word for child ——,
is neuter gender ; like manner —— ; and in Ger¬
man, das kind, the child; daspserd, the horse. is
each of the neuter gender.
Again, sex only regards things that have life.
gender extends to names of all kinds, as well to
those that do not convey the idea of life, as to those
that do.
In the next Lesson we shall see that nouns have
gender, though the things of which they are names
have not sex.
In Irish there are only two genders — the mascu¬
line and feminine.
Our language is, in this respect, quite like that of
our neighbours the French, which has only two
genders, preserving, it seems, in this singular fea¬
ture, a trait of its early Keltic Parentage.
Nouns are divided into two great classes — those
that convey the idea of life ; and those that do not.
Rule. — In those that convey the idea of life, the
gender of the noun accords with the sex of the ob¬
ject; if the object is male, the noun is masculine.
if the object is female, the noun is feminine.
UAIMH NA LADRÓN.
(Sgeul Gearmanach)
le M. Ua C.
(Continued from p. 366)
píosa as carraig ádhbhal-mhór le n-a
dhorn. D' fhiafraidh Hans cad é do bhí sé
aig deunadh. Do fhreagair an t-athach
gur bhuaireadar na béithighe fiadhana i
nochd é 's gurab é ag deunadh cuais ins
an carraig go luidhreadh se i síothcháin
ann.
"Is freagarthach dom an giolla so,"
do smuain Hans, "b'fhéidir go m-budh
