Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part II.] OF SPEECH. 51
Particular Rules for the Genitive^
1. If the nominative ends in a vowel, the genitive is like
the nominative, as 'tra' m. a time or feajon^ g. f. *trà'; fo alfo
'beatha' f. I'lfe^ 'cro* m. TiJJjeep-fold^ *cliu' va. fame, 'duine' a
man, * Donncha" Dnncatij a man's name, and many others.
Except 'bo' f. a cow^ g. s. *bj?in'; *cu' m. a dog, g. f. 'coin';
'bru' f. the belly, g. f. 'broinn' or 'bronn.'
2. Nouns ending in chd or rr have the genitive like the
nominative ; as 'uchd' m. the brea/l, 'fllochd' m. offspring,
'feachd' m. a hofl, 'reachd' m. Jlatute, 'cleachd' m. habit,
'beachd' m. vifion, 'fmachd' m. authority, 'fuachd' m. cold,
'fprochd' m. glooiu, 'beannachd' m. a blejfmg, 'naomhachd' f.
hoUnefs 'earr' m. the tail, 'torr' m. a heap. Except 'flochd' g.
f. 'fluichd' m. a pit, unlefs this word fhould rather be writ-
ten 'Hoc,' like 'boc, cnoc, foe'
3. Monofylkbles ending in gh or th add a for the genitive,
as 'lagh' m. law, g. f. 'lagha'; *roth' m. a wheel, g. f. 'rotha'j
*fruth' m. z fir earn, g. f. 'frutha'.' Except 'agh' m. felicity,
grace, or charm, g. f. 'aigh' (i)
4. Monofyllables charadlcrifed by io either drop the or
add a for the genitive ; as 'flol* xn, feed, g, f, 'sil'; 'lion' m.
a fiet, g. f. 'lìn'; 'crioch' f. a boundary, g. f. 'crìch'; 'cioch' f.
the pap, g. f. 'cìche*; 'fìon* m. ivine, g. f. 'fiona'j 'crios' m.
a girdle, g. f. 'criofa; 'iiodh' m. timber, g. f. 'fiodha*. Ex-
cept 'Crioft' or Criofd' m. Ckri/l, which has the gen. like
the nominative.
5. Many monofyllables, whofe characlerlftic vowel is a or
9, change it into u and infert i after it ; as 'gob' m. the bill
of
have sometimes formed the genitive of feminine polysyllables in
this manner j as ' sionagoige' from * sionagog,' Mark v. 30, 38,
But it appears more agreeable to the analogy of inflection that
such polysyllables should now be written without an e in the
genitive.
(i) It is probable that this noun should rather be written
adh. See M'Farlane's Paraphrases, III. 3. also Lhuyd, and
O'Brien, in loco.