AN GAODHAL.
80
There are even yet a few traces of the old Gaelic
neuter, which we shall point out as they occur.
13. The question now arises, how
are we to know the gender of these
words which are names for things
without sex? It is necessary to
know the gender, as the gender af-
fects aspiration, selection of pron-
ouns, etc.
14. The gender of such words is
known chiefly from their ENDINGs.
Take first nouns ending in a
consonant — these are the majority
of words in the language. The ge-
neral rule is that all words are MAS-
CULINE which end in a consonant,
or two consonants, preceded by a
BROAD vowel (a, o, or u). Thus gort
brón, am, crann are all masculine.
Words like cailleach, an old woman,
óinseach (ōn-shăcH), a woman
fool, etc, which are names for fe-
males, do not fall under this rule.
15. Words ending in a consonant
preceded by a SLENDER vowel (e or
i) are, as a general rule, of the fe-
minine gender ; as, áit, coill. The
rule does not affect words like
flaith, a prince, a name for a male
being.
These two simple rules will de-
cide the gender of the great majo-
rity of words — See § 33.
16. As explained, Section 430,
the pronoun sé is used for all mas-
culine nouns and the pronoun sí
for all feminines.
As explained, Section 438, the ar-
ticle an aspirates following femin¬
ine nouns in the nominative and
objective case, except the following
noun begins with d or t, see Sect-
ion 441. If the following noun be-
gin with s, the t of the article re-
appears, as ant shúil, the eye. See
Section 503.
17. Baintreabhach (contracted bwan'
trăcH) a widow.
An bh-faca Nóra an coileach agus an
chearc? Ní fhaca sí iad (them, accu¬
sative form of siad). Chonnaic an
bean óg an chailleach ag teacht. An í sin
an tsean-chailleach? Ní h-í, acht an chail-
leach eile. Cailleach agus coileach; cearc
agus coirce. Beidh an chailleach 'na suidhe
ag an dorus ar stól, agus béidh an coi-
leach 'na sheasamh ar an mballa. Is beag
an chearc í súd. Nach í súd an óinseach
cheart? Nach breagh an aimsir í? Is
baintreabhach bocht í.
18. Before masculine words in the
NOMINATIVE case commencing with
a vowel, the form ant of the arti-
cle is used; as, atá an t-urlár glan.
A rich prince. The prince would
not be there now. Is he not
a great prince? A big well, a big
chair. Put the chair on the floor.
The floor is not clean, it is dirty
(salach sol'-ăCH, Munster săl-OCH').
The road is not dirty, it is clean. A
big wide road. The mower is work-
ing down in the meadow, he has a
scythe and a reaping hook (corrán
kur'-aun). There is a white rock
on the island. The island is green
in the summer. Wife and widow.
"Wait," says old Mr. Weller, “did
you see the widow in the house?"
LESSON III.
19. Names of rivers and of coun-
tries are feminine.
20. All words ending in -óg, al-
though ending in a consonant pre-
ceded by a broad vowel, are of the
FEMININE gender ; as, an tseamróg
(tam'-rōg), the shamrock; bróg mhór
(wōr) a big shoe. These words are
all diminutives.
21. All words ending it are FE-
MININE, except fuacht cold. These
words are very numerous, and de-
note abstract qualities; as, breaghacht,
fineness ; áilneacht, beauty.
22. Many words ending in -ach
are feminine, and are learned by
practice. They were probably at
first adjectives in -ach, qualifying
feminine nouns that have disap¬
peared. The commonest are: —
