Blair Collection > How to learn Gaelic

18
Demonstrative Pronouns.
The Pronominal Adverbs so, sin, and sud (nd), liere, there,,
and yonder, do duty for Demonstrative Pronouns : t/mif so,
this fell ; dh' fhalhh sud, yon went.
The Demonstrative Adjectives are represented by the article,
noun and demon, pro. together : thus — Am fear so, this man ;
literally, " tlie man here." Am fe((r sitt = that man; avi fear
tid, yonder man. JiJ so = this one, m. ; i sin = that one, f. ; iad
sud = yon ones, iad so = these.
Relative Pronouns.
The Relatives arc three in number : a, who, which, that ;
nach, wlio not, that not, but ; na, what or that which. There
is no change for number or gender, and tlie only change for
case is in the rel. a, which after preps, takes the form <ni, or
am ( + 6, f m, p). Examples are —
Am fear a thuit= The man ivho fell.
A' bhean nach do thuit= The wife that fell not.
Dh' fhag e na t\\mt = He left what fell.
An t-àite anns an do thuit e = Tiie place in v>hich he fell.
There being no distinction between the nom. and ace. of a.
and nach, the rel. clause with a transitive act. verb is
ambiguous : An t-each a bhuail mi = " The horse vhich I
strnck " or " Tlie horse ivhich ticked me.''
The verb has a relative form for the future tense and the
verb " to be" for both present and futui-e tenses : Am fear
a bhuaileas = The man who will strike ; am fear ((s motha = the
man ivho is bigger, that is, " The biggest man."
Note. — In older Gaelic, the prep, an (am) was used for the locative
relative : An coire am bi na caoraich = T/ic corry where the sheep b( .
Interrogative Pron( )uns.
Co ? Who 'Ì Co e ? Who (is) he 1
Cia ? Which ? Cla lion or Gia mend ? How many ?
Ciod ? What ? Ciod è, or Gu de, or De ? What (is) it ?
Go dhikhh ? Which nf them 1 Co aca ? Which (among tliem)?
Cuin ? When ? Ciamar ? How 1 C arson Ì Why %
These all take the relative construction of the verb : C()
hhuaileas mi ? Who shall strike me ? Literally — " Who that
shall strike me T
C àite Ì Where % This takes the dependent form of the-
verb : C aite am I mail e mi ? Where will he strike me ?