Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1871 to 1900 > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part II.]
OF SPEECH.
105
Imperative Mood. Infinitive Mood.
■ 1. Comp. Do bhith ’g am Llmaladh fein,
To be striking myself.
Bitheam ’g am lliualadh fein, lar bith ’g am bhualadh fein.
Let me be striking myself. To have been striking myself.
From the foregoing example it appears that the Yerb, in
its reciprocating state, retains its original form throughout
its several Moods, Tenses, and Persons. In the simple Tenses,
the Personal Pronoun immediately following the Yerb is the
Yominative to the Verb. The same pronoun repeated is to
be understood as in the objective state. The word fein, corre¬
sponding to the English self, accompanies the last Pronoun.
In the compound Tenses, the auxiliary Yerb, as usual, is
placed first; then follows the Personal Pronoun as its Nom¬
inative ; then the Prep, ag abridged to ’g in the compound
Tenses of the first order, iar in those of the second order;
after which follows the Possessive Pronoun, corresponding in
Person to that which is the Nominative to the Yerb ; and
lastly the Infinitive, which is the noun to the Possessive
Pronoun. Mo and do are here changed, by Metathesis and
the substitution of one broad vowel for another, into am and
ad. Ta mi ’g am bhualadh fein, rendered literally, is, / am
at my own striking, i.e., I am at the striking of myself,
equivalent to, I am striking myself. The reciprocal fein
is sometimes omitted in the compound Tenses, but is
generally retained in the 3d Persons, to prevent their being
mistaken for the same persons when used without recip¬
rocation : ta e ’g a bhualadh, he is striking him, ta e ’g a
bhualadh fein, he is striking himself.
Of the Impersonal Use of Verbs.
Intransitive Verbs, though they do not regularly admit of
a Passive Voice, yet are used impersonally in the 3d Pers.
Sing, of the Passive Tenses. This impersonal use of the
Passive of intransitive Verbs is founded on the same prin¬
ciple with the Latin Impersonals concurritur, pugnatum est,