Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

1(52 OF SYNTAX. [Part III.
is ordinarily placed after the Verb ; as Ha mi' / amy 'rug-
* adh duine-cloinne' a man-child is born (g)- Tlie Article
or
diversity of expression would be used in French ; ' ()u' est-cc
* que i'Oraison Dorainicale ?' and ' Q^uelle est I'Oraison Domi-
' nicale ?' The former resolvable into ' Qa' est-ce que [Pen ap-
' pelle] I'Oraison Dominicrle ?' the latter into ' Quelle [oraison]
* est I'Oraison Dominicale ?' — So also in Gaelic, ' Ciod e Urn-
* uigh an Tighearna ?' equivalent to ' Ciod e [sin de 'n goirearj
* Urnuigh an Tighearna ?' or, which will occur oftener, ' Ciod
* i Urnuigh an Tighearna ?' equivalent to ' Ciod i [an urnuigh
* sin de 'n goirear] Urnuigh an Tighearna ?'
(g) The same arrangement obtains pretty uniformly in He-
brew, and seems the natural and ordinary collocation of the Verb
and its Noun in that language. When the Noun in Hebrew is
placed before the Verb, it will generally be found that the
Noun does not immediately connect with the Verb as the Nomi-
native to it, but rather stands in an absolute state ; and that it
is brought forward in that state, by itself, to excite attention,
and denotes some kind of emphasis, or opposition to another
Noun. Take the following examples for illustration : Gen. I.
1, 2. ' In the beginning God created [Ca^nbK Nil in the natu-
< ral order] the Heaven and the Earth.' nnin \>-|Nm ; not
* and the Earth was,' &c. but ' and with respect to the Earth,
* it was without form,' &c. Thus expressed in Gaelic ; ' agus
* an talamh, bha e gun dcalbh,' &c. — Gen- xviii. 33. ' And the
* Lord went his way [nin^ "^b^ì in the natural order] as soon
* as he had left communing with Abraham j' my Cdh^Iiki, not
simply ' and Abraham returned,' &c. but ' and Abraham — he
* too returned to his place.' In Gaelic, * agus Abraham, phill
* esan g' a aite fein.' See also Num. xxiv. 25. — Gen. iii. 12.
* And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with
* me, '>b nina Nirr she it was that gave me of the tree, and I did
< eat.' — Gen. iii. 13. ' And the woman said, "'JK^U^rr Tynan, not
merely ' the Serpent beguiled me,' but ' the Serpent was the
* cause-, it beguiled me, and I did eat.' — Exod. xiv. 14. ' "Je-
* hovah — he will fight for you \ but as for you, ye shall hold
* your peace.' This kind of emphasis is correctly expressed in
the Eng. translation of Psal. Ix. 12. * for he // is that shall tread
' down our enemies.' Without multiplying examples, I shall
only observe, that it must be difficult for the English reader
to conceive that the Noun denoting the subject of a proposition,
when placed after its Verb, should be in the natural order j
and when placed before its Verb, should be in an inverted order
of