Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part II.] OF SPF.ECH. 127
The Preposition *ann' is often written double 'ami an
* eolas' in ktiowledge^ 'ann an gliocas' in wisdom. The final 71
or nn is changed into m before a labial, as 'am measg' a-
mong^ 'ann am meadhon' in midst. Before the Article or
the Relative, this Preposition is written 'anns', as 'anns an
* toiseach' in the beginning., -an cor anns am bheil e' the con-
dition in which he is ; and in this situation, the letters ann
are often dropped, and the s alone retained, as * 's an tois-
* each' in the begitining.
'De', so far as I know, is found in no Scottish publica-
tions. The reasons which have induced me to assign it a
place among the prepositions will be mentioned in treating
of the combinations of the Proper Prepositions with the
Personal Pronouns.
The Preposition 'do', like the verbal particle, and the
Possessive Pronoun of the same sound, loses the before a
vowel, and the consonant is aspirated, thus ; *dh' Albainn'
to Scotland. It is also preceded sometimes by the vowel a
when it follows a final consonant ; as 'dol a dh' Eirin' go-
ing to Ireland. This a seems to be nothing else than the
vowel of 'do' transposed ; just as the letters of the pro-
nouns *mo, do', are in certain situations transposed, and
become *am, ad'. In this situation, perhaps it would be
advisable to join the «, in writing, to the dh thus, 'dol
* adh' Eirin*. This would rid us of one superfluous a ap-
pearing as a separate inexplicable word. The same re-
marks apply to the prep. *de' ; e. g. 'armailt mhòr de
' dhaoinibh agus a dh'' eachaibh' a great army of men and of
horses., 'Ian do [de] reubainn agus a dh' aingidheachd'y«// of
ravinifig
sive, and not followed by any other word j the voJce, resting on
the final sound, formed a faint articulation. This was represent-
ed in writing by the gentle aspirate dh ; and so the word came
to be written as we find it. In like manner 'ni h-eadh' is pro-
bably nothing else than a substitute for 'ni h e' it is not,.