Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

132 OF THE PARTS [|.^art II.
Fa chuis ; by reafon, becaufe.
Fa chomhalr ; oppoflte,
Mu choinnimh ; oppollte, over againft.
Mu thimchoill, timchioll ; by the circuit, around,
O bharr, bharr ; from the tcp, off.
Os ceann ; on the topy above, atop.
Re ; duration, during.
Tareis ; after (n).
Trid J through, by means.
It is evident, from inrpe<5lion, that almoft all thefe Im-
proper Prepofitions are compounded ; and comprehend, as
one of their component parts, a Noun, which is preceded
by a fltnple or Proper Prepofition ; like the Englifli, on ac-
count, with rcfpeB, &c. The words 'ceann, aghaidh, lorg,
* barr, taobh, &c. are known to be real Nouns, becaufe they
are employed in that capacity in other connexions, as well
as in the phrafes here enumerated. The cafe is not fo
clear with regard to *fon, cum or cun, rèir', which occur
only in the above phrafes ; but it is probable that thefe arc
nouns likewife, and that, when combined with fimple Prepofi-
tions, they conftitute phrafes of precifely the fame ftrudlure
with the reft of the foregoing lift (o). — 'Comhair' is pro-
bably *comh-aire' mutual attention. — 'Dail' and 'còir', in the
fenfe of proximity, are found in their compounds *comhdh-
' air and 'fochair' [fa choir.] — 'Tòir', in like manner, in
its derivative 'tòircachd', the aSl of purfumg. — *Dh' f bios'
to the hicivledgey muft have been originally applied to per-
fons only. So it is ufed in many Gaelic fongs : 'beir mo
' fl:ioiridh le dùrachd dh' fhios na cailinn', &c. bear my good
ivijhes with cordiality to the knowledge of the niaidy &c. i. e.
prefejit
(n) Tar cis, on the track or footstep. See O'Brien's Ir.
Diet. voc. eis.
(a) On consulting O'Brien's Ir. Diet, we find 'son' transla-
ted prof I, advantage, 'cum' a fght, combat, 'reir' ivil/, desire.
From these significations, the common meaning of 'air son, do
' chum, do reir', may perhaps be derived without much violence.