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liàrd, a bard.
Singn/ar. Pl'iraì.
Kom. bard liàird
Gen. bàird bhùrd
Dat. bard bàird, bàrdaibh
Voc. a bhàird a bhàrda
The final vowel is usually a singly or in digraph. Diminutives and
other nouns in -ciii, and most derivatives in -ach, belong to thi&
declension : aran, bread, gen. and voc. sing., and nom. pi. arain -
ba/ach, g. haiaich.
In monosyllables the following changes take place on the root
vowel or digraph in forming the plural : —
1 à becomes .... ùi : gràdh, /ore </. gràidh
a „ .... ai : cat, rat <j. cait
a with lif|uids become* ui : fait, hair (j. fuilt
2 ea bf comes . . . . el : each, hoise g. eich
ea with licjuids becomes / : ceann, head g. cinn
3 ia becomes . . . . e/ : fiadh, fleer g. feidii
4 iia ,, .... nai : uan, /avih g. uain
1) ,, .... (li : nl, drinking g. nil
a with rd, rii becomes in' : òrd, hammer g. ùird
6 o becomes . . . . tii : boc, hitrk g. buic
7 rto ,, .... uoi : laogh, ra// g. laoigh
5 e.ò ,, .... iiii : ceùl, miixic g. ciùil
9 io ,, .... ) : siol, xeed g. sil
10 /V, » ,, ... iii, ui : cùl, liack g. ciiil
11 ev« with liquids becomes eò/: hcul, mouth ^, beòil
Polysyllables usually have a or eu as the final vowel ; a becomes ed
in the genitive ; ea becomes i, save before liquids, when ecc becomes
ei. E.g. roi/earh, cock, g. coilich. Polysyllables in io have /.
^Strong Dec/. Nouns, weakened in the Plural.
bealach, a 2xtsi< ; Ion, a mead.
Polysyllabic nouns, especially in -arh (nearly all in -larh) and -«/i,
are apt to be thus declined. Derivatives in -as, -n.-t, and -eidh, belong
here usually, as do e\-en monosyllables in n, which takes a / before the
plural n. So ìiroiìleach, bosom, g. broillich : saoghal, world, pi.
.moghalan : rnan, sea, pi. cnanfan : elorm, door, has the pi. dorsan ;■
aingeal, angel, has ainglean ; while dos, bunch, tassel, has g. rfois- and
pi. doi>i or do>tan.