Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Chap. I.] OF SYNTAX. 159
the fern, gender, as referring to the fem. noun 7?!adu{n7i ;
while the latter pron. e is put in the masc. gend. because
referring to no expressed antecedent.
If the Antecedent be a sentence, or clause of a sentence,
the Pronoun is of the 3d Pers. Sing, masculine ; as 'dh' ith
*na bà caola suas na bà reamhra, agus cha n-aithnichteadh
' orra ^' the lean cattle ate up the fat cattle^ and it could not he
known by them.
If the Antecedent be a collective Noun, the Pronoun is
of the 3d Pers. Plur. as 'thoir àithne do 'n t-sluagh, d' eagal
* gu m bris iad asteach' charge the people lest they break hi'
Exod. xix. 21.
An Interrogative combined with a Personal Pronoun,
asks a question without the intervention of the Substantive
verb; as 'co mise?' who [am'\ I? 'co iad na daoine sin?
who [are] those men? 'cia i a' cheud aithne ?' which [is] the
Jirst conitnandment Ì In interrogations of this form, the noun
is sometimes preceded by the Personal Pronoun, and some-
times not; as 'co e am fear?' who [zV] the man? 'co am
' fear ?' what man% 'Co am fear?' is evidently an incom-
plete sentence, like what 77ian ? in English. The ellipsis
may be supplied thus ; 'co e am fear a ta thu ciallachadh ?'
who is the ina7i whom you 77ien7i? This example may be
abridged into another common interrogation, in which the
Interrogative is immediately followed by the Relative ; as
'co a ta thu ciallachadh ? who \is he~\ whom you mean ? 'ciod
' a ta thu faicinn ? what \is it~\ that you see ?
In an interrogative sentence including a Personal Pro-
noun and a Noun, as 'co e am fear sin?' if the Noun be
restricted in its signification by some other words connected
with it, such as the Article, an Adjective, another Noun in
the Genitive, or a relative clause ; then the Pronoun usual-
ly follows the Gender of the Noun, or the Sex of the ob-
ject signified by the Noun, if the Gender does not corres-
pond to it ;-.as 'co e am fear a theid asuas ?' who is the man
that