﻿92
AN GAODHAL
LESSON V.
Words ending in a vowel.
30. A. All words in -ire, aire, de¬
noting persons, are masculine; as
timthire (tim'hir-ĕ), a messenger teach¬
taire (taCH'-thăr.ĕ), a messenger, aogh¬
aire (ae'-ăr-ĕ), a shepherd.
31 B. All words in -idhe, aidhe, uidhe,
denoting persons, are masculine ; as,
sgeuluidhe, a storyteller, ránuidhe (raun'-
ee), a very thin person, sglábhuidhe
(sglauv'-ee), a labourer
32. C. Abstract nouns ending in a
vowel are usually feminine; as, tróc¬
are (thrŏk-ărĕ), mercy, tuirse, wea¬
riness. Those derived from adjectives
are all feminine; as, gile (gil'-ĕ), bright¬
ness; from geal, fáilte, welcome (lite¬
rally, gladness, from fáilid, OLD IRISH,
glad.)
33. Of the 180 nouns given in Part
I., these rules decide the gender of
145: that is, about 75 per cent : and
out of the 170 nouns in Part II., all
but 23, or over 5 per cent.
LESSON VI.
34. Exceptional. — The words caile
(Kal'-ĕ), a woman (rarely used), cailín
(Kal'-een) a girl, see Section 26, gearr¬
chaile, a girl, are masculine, although
the persons represented by them are
of course female. Hence these words
are not aspirated in the nominative
case by the article, nor is the follow¬
ing adjective aspirated; as, is maith an
cailín í, is cailín beag í, chonnaic sé
gearr-chaile beag ar an m-bóthar, an
cailín deas. Of course, the feminine
pronoun is used.
35. The words staill, a stallion, and
sgológ (sgŭl'ōg), an old man, are fem¬
inine. is stail bhreagh é, bhí sgológ bhodh¬
ar ins an gcúinne. The masculine pro¬
noun is, of course, used.
36. Ships, boats, etc are usually
personified and spoken of as female.
Is long bhreagh í sud. The word long
presents no difficulty, as it is feminine
but the word bád, a boat, currach (kur'-
ucH), a canoe, soightheach (see'-haCH), a
vessel, árthach (aur'-hăch, properly eath¬
rach), a vessel, follow the general rule
and are masculine; hence we find, is
breagh an bád í so, nach deas an soigh¬
theach í sin? feuch an t-árthach amuigh, nach
h-áluinn atá sí; fuair Conn currach
nuadh, atá sí shíos ar an uisge.
37. There is in modern Irish no fe¬
minine terminatin like -ess in English
Jewess, authoress etc., which can be
added to nouns; hence we say is
sgeuluidhe maith é or í, the noun rem¬
aining masculine ; ní teachtaire maith
í.
38 So with words that can be appli¬
ed to both sexes, is duine maith é, ní
duine maith í. Here duine remains mas¬
culine, even when reference is made
to a woman. Is maith an páisde í. Is
maith an searrach (shar'-ăCH, Munster
shăr-OCH') é or í sin, a good foal. Nach
breagh an capall é or í so, is not this a
fine horse — where capall is used, in
some places exclusively, for a mare.
36. For ní'l a fhios agam, I do not
know (it), they say in Munster ní fhea¬
dar (addher), I (you, he etc.) do not
know, does not know.
40. Feuch an long dheas ar an bhfair¬
rge — cia leis í? Ní fheadar, nó, ní'l
a fhios agam féin cia leis í súd, acht a-
tá a fhios agam gur (ab) le Niall an
soightheach mór eile, agus nach deas an
soightheach í. Is deas go deimhin, an bhfuil
an long chomh mór leis an soightheach eile?
Cionnus atá Conn anois, an bhfuil
biseach air fós? Tháinic teachtaire a¬
réir, agus deir sé go bhfuil biseach air,
acht nach mbéidh sé 'na shuidhe indiu ná i
mbárach. An tseanbhean, an cailín beag,
agus gearr-chaile óg. Atá coirce agus
cruithneacht ag an bhféirméir láidir sin.
Láir agus searrach.
41. The scythe belongs to the mow¬
er. That is a fine mower, he is work¬
ing well indeed. God bless your work,
Patrick. “The old woman is a fool,"
