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RUDIMENTS OF GAELIC GRAMMAR.
CEIVEDMODE. lj<, Teneral Rule. Nouns of
the first declension, form the genitive by in-
serting t before the last letter; as, padhadh,
thirst, a' phadhaiJh, of the thirst ; but
feminines of one syllable add a final e com-
monly; as, slat, a rod, cluas, ati ear, làmh,
hand, slaite, cluaise, laimhe, of a rod, of an
ear, of a hand.
2rf Rule. Nouns ending in a, o, u, e,
achd, eachd, iochd, have their genitive a-
Jike, i. e. are indeclinable in the sing. ; as,
trà, a time, mealofmeat; Qxb, a pen, afold ;
clìù, fame, character ; duine, a man, beann-
achd, blessing; beaehd, opinion, iochd, mer-
cy.— \>o, eu, &c are irregular, and are, with
all other aiiomalies, to be found nom. and
gen. in their respective places in the Dic-
tionary.
3d Rule. Nouns of one syllable end-
ing in dh, gh, th, um, rr, take a final in the
gen. ; as, stadh, bladh, stays, swathe of
grass,substance,stadha, hladha ; rath, pros-
perity, ratha, cath, fight, catha'; eeum,
step, ceuma ; geum, low, geuma ; barr, bar-
ra, crop.
ith Rule. Nouns of one syllable m ul,
ur, us, and eun, change « into oi; as, beul,
bioil, mouth ; fear, feoir, grass ; lea-s, torch,
ieois ; deur, deoir, tears ; meur, meoir, fing-
ers; eun, coin, birds ; geadli, a goose, has
geoidh, geese, neul, cloud, wink, neoil ;
sgeul, news, tale, sgeoil ; also leud, breadth,
leoid.
bth Rule. Words of one syllable in ia,
change ia into èi; as, iasg, èisg,fish ; deas,
dels, an ear of corn ; ciall, sense, cèill ;
cliabh, the chest, pannier, clèibh, cliath,
clèith, or clèidh, a shoal offish, a harrow, a
hurdle; fiadh./eirfft, a deer, grian; grèine,
the sun ; iail, èille, a thong ; sgiadh, sgèidh,
a wing, a shield ; sliabh, slèibh, a tract of
moorland, a hill; Dia, Dè and Dèidh, Goo,
— sliosaid has slèisde, a thigh ; biadh,/oorf,
has b'ldh in Perthshire, but for the most part
in Argyle,6idA ich ; sgian, a knife, has sginne.
Gth Rule. Words of one syllable whose
vowels are a,o,oru,change them intoui; as,
àlld,a mountain stream , a ravine, iiilld; moll,
chafiF, miiill; alt, a joint, uilt; but alt, me-
thod, is indeclinable; bolg, bellows; bag,
builgt ball, a rope, an article, a spot,
biiill ; calg, awn, ciiilg ; car, a turn, move-
ment, cuir ; earn, a heap of stones, cuirn ;
elag, a bell, cluig ; fait, /lair of the head,
fuilt ; molt, a wedder, muilt ; gob, a beak,
a bill, guib ; long, a three-masted ship,
luinge; lorg, a shepherd's staff, a trace,
luirg; òrd, a sledge-Aommer, idrd; poll,
mire,puiU; sonn, a hero, suinn; bonn, a
piece of money, the sole of the foot, &c.
buinn ; toll, a hole, tuill ; fonn, anair, land,
fuinn ; òì, diink, has oil ; all nouns end-
ing in on, are formed according to the ge.
neral rule ; as, bròn, sorrow, brain ; ròn,
a seal, rbin; geòn, geòin, avidity; seòl,
a sail, a way, has siuil; ceòl, music, has
ciuil ; some nouns in io lose o in the geni-
tive ; as, cioch, nipple, breast, ciche ; crioch,
crkhe, an end, march ; lion, lin, a net,
tint ; siol, sil, seed, oats ; sion, blast, sine ;
before g in monosyllables add i, after the
o, and e final; as, flag, frùige, a dark ugly
hole; cròg, cròige, a large hand; bròg,
bròige, a shoe, a hoof; some nouns in io
add a; as, bior, a prickle, biora; crios,
girdle, final, criosa ; fion, wine, f'lona.
To these rules there are few exceptions ;
rainn or roinn, a peninsula, ranna ; math-
air, athair, seanair, mother, father, grand,
father, lose the i, mathar, &c. ; so do all
their compounds, such as seanmhair, piuth-
ar-athar, grandmother, maternal aunt ;
piuthar has peathar ; leanabh, leinibh ;
talamh, earth, tahnhainn ; leaba, leabaidh,
a bed, has leapa ; gobhar, a goat, has goibh.
re ; gobha and gobhainn, a blacksmith, has
goibhne. There is a number that form
their genitive by aeh or rach ; as, saothair,
toil, trouble, saoithreach ; cathair, a chair,
eaithreach ; breac, a trout, has briee ; cearc,
a hen, has circe ; ceann, head, has cinn ;
meann, a kid, has minn ; peann, a pen, has
pinn ; leae, a flag, has lice ; gleann, a glen,
a valley, has glinn; meall, a lump, mill;
geall, a pledge, gill; meall, mill, lumps;
clach, a stone, has cloiche ; cas, afoot, has
coise; abhainn, a river, has aibhne; buidh-
eaun, a band, has buidhne ; mac, a son, has
jnic; fear, a man, husband, has fir, — all
these exceptions to the riiles laid down, are
to be found in their proper places m the
Dictionary — each of polysyllables, is always
changed into ich in the genitive ; as fith-
each, fithich, of a raven.
Dative. \st. Nouns masculine have their
dative and nom. sing, alike— the dative fe-
minine is like the genitive. Tobar, nom.
sing. mas. dative tobar ;— misneach, nom.
fem. gen. and dat. misnich.
Note. The dative fem. is like the nora.
when the genitive is formed by contraction ;
as, piuthar, nom. and dat. genitive peatlu
ar ; sitheann, venison ; genitive sithne ;
dat. sitheann, like the nom. '2d, Words of
one syllable drop e from the genitive ; as,
cluas, lamh, nom. ; gen. cluaise, laimhe ;
dative, cluais, laimh. The accusative is
sometimes like the nom. and sometimes
like the genitive in Gaelic.
Vocative. The vocative sing, of mas.
monosyllables, is the genitive aspirated ; as,
Nom. Cu, dog Ccn. coin Voc. choin
Bard baird bhaird