Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1841 to 1870 > Stéidhean a' Ghràmair Ghaëlig

ETYMOLOGY.
POCLACHADH. 163
A few masculine Nouns in -e insert ch before -an ; as,
duine, a man ; duineacAan, a lìtile man, manikin.
Diminutives of proper names follow the same rule ; as,
Uilleaclian, WilUe. Ceiteag, Katie. Some names of males
add -idh; as, TomaetfA, Tommy. Seuma«c?^, Jamie.
Obs. — Diminutives and primitives in -ean are often
changed into -ein in the nominative ; as, caimm, a mote.
Cuilem, a whelp. But the termination -ein properly be-
longs to the genitive case ; therefore these and all other
Nouns of this termination should have -ean in the nomi-
native ; as, caimecm, euiletm, isean, ìsbean. — See page 47,
No. 22.
Cottective Nouns are formed from Nouns and Adjectives, by
adding -ridh ; as ceòl, music; ceòìraidh (the), muses. Cas, a
foot; casraidh, foot-soldiers, infantry. Each, a horse ; each-
raidh, horse-soldiers, cavalry. Og, young ; òigridh, young
people, youth.
Nouns denoting being or a state of being are derived from
nouns, adjectives, and verbs by adding -a, -achd, -adh, -t, -as,
-sa ; as, Tànaistear, a regent : tànaistreachd, regency. Rìgh, a
king : rìoghachd, a hingdom. Duine, a man: daonnachd,
manhood. Ur, new, fresh : ùrachd, newness, novelty. Ceart,
just : ceartas, justice. Saor, free : saorsa, freedom, liberty. —
Dànns_, to dance : dànnsa (contracted for dànnsac?^), dancing.
Diùlt, to refuse : diùltadh, refusing, denial. Coisich, to walk :
coiseachd, walking, pedestrianism. Marcaich, to ride: marc-
achd, riding, horsemanship. Labhair, speak: labhairt, speak-
ìng, speecL
DERIVATION OP ADJECTIVES. FREUMHACHADH BHUADHARAN.
Adjectives are forraed from nouns and verbs, by adding -ach,
-ail, -eil, -da, -idh, -mhor, -or, -ar, -rra, -ra, -ta.
Ach corresponds to the English affixes, -unt, -al, -ar, -ate,
-ble, -fid, -ic, -ish, -ose, -ous, -y, &c; as, Buadhac/i, triumphawf.
AbstolacA, apostolic^. Cuairteac/^, circukzr. Gràdhac^, affect-
ioriate. Buailteach, Mable. Freagarr<zcA, answeraWc. Creideas-
ucJi, credita&/e. Nkrach, shame/W, bash/w/. FocalacA, verbose.
Cunnartac/i, hazardows. SùnndacÀ, merry, glad.
Amhuil,* like, contracted -ail, -eil, -al: as, banail, like
* The affix amhuil or amhail is uneontracted in the Irish ; as, fe&ramhuil, like
a man, manly. Beanamhuil, womanlike, modest. This affix appears under vari-
ous forms in other languages ; as, English, fina^ movtal, beautifuJ, darkty. Latin.,
tatalti, mortalis. Greek, hpos, like, similar.