LESSON 2.


Last lesson we learnt the Manx personal pronouns, the verb to be and the irregular verbs in their present tense. Even from these first elements it was found possible to form short sentences; and the beginner in Manx should, from the very start, make a habit of forming and saying such sentences, incorporating what he learns of the language from day to day. In this way a ready vocabulary will gradually be built up, the grammatical rules more easily learnt and applied, and a foundation laid for later conversational practice.


THE ARTICLE.

There is no indefinite article in Manx. Thus dooinney means "man" or ' a man."

The definite article is yn (the) yn dooinney (the man); yn soilshey (the light).

When the following noun begins with a consonant the final N of the article is often dropped.

When the preceding word ends with a vowel sound the initial Y of the article is often dropped.

"as va’n fastyr, as y moghrey yn nah laa."

And were the evening and the morning the second day.

("And the evening and the morning were the second day." — Genesis i. 8).

When the article is the first word of a sentence, or when it is specially emphatic, no contraction occurs.

The verb goes before its nominative. The verb does not usually change its form for number or person.

The noun or pronoun does not change its form for accusative case.
mee (I, me).
oo (you).

t’ad fakin y dooinney (they see the man).
ta’n dooinney fakin ad (the man sees them).

ADJECTIVES, as a rule, are placed after the nouns which they qualify.

cree dooie (a kind heart).
dooinney boght (a poor man).
dooinney berchagh (a rich man).

The adjectives drogh (bad), shenn (old), and a very few others are, by exception, placed before the nouns which they qualify, and in so doing they usually make a sort of compound noun.

shenn-ayr (forefather; old father).
drogh-spyrryd (evil spirit).
lhag-laynt (indisposition, slack health) .
slane-palchey (abundance, complete plenty).
ard-valley (city: high town; chief town).

The verb ta often corresponds to the English "there is." "there are."

VOCABULARY.

ayns in.
dy, (da, dys) to.
cre what?.
cre ta what is?
cre vel where is?
c'red what
c'red what thing?
c'raad where? what road?
c'el? where is?
rieau ever (used of past)
dy bragh, dy bra ever ( that is to come).
ve it was.
schoill f. school.
schoillar, m scholar.
lioar, f. book.
pabyr. m. paper.
thie, m. house.
cashtal, m. castle.
slieau, m. (pl. sleityn) mountain.
er yn clieau on the mountain.
cronk. m. (pl. crink. croink) hill.
boayl, m. (pl. buill, boaylyn) a place, a spot.
ayns y voayl in the place.
ynnyd, f. a place, a stead.
Loan words from English are sometimes met with, such as drawer dresser, etc. They should be used as sparingly as possible.

Children's Rhyme.

C'raad t'ou goll?
Goll dy schoill.
C'raad ta n lioar?
Ayns y drawer.
C'raad ta'n drawer?
Ayns y dresser.
C'raad ta'n dresser?
Ayns y thie.
C'raad ta'n thie?
Ayns y clieau.
C'raad ta'n slieau?
Ayns y voayl ve rieau.


The Verb "to be."

Past tense affirmative, va.

va mee (I was).
v'ou (va oo) (you were).
v'eh (va eh) (he was).
v'ee (va ee) (she was).
va shin (we were).
va shiu (you were)
v'ad (va ad) (they were).

Past tense, interrogative or dependent form, row.

row mee? (was I?).
r'ou, row oo? (were you?).
row uss, row-oo? (were you?).
row eh? (was he?).
row ee? (was she?).
row shin? (were we?).
row shiu? (were you?).
row ad? (were they?).


Wherever the simple form r'ou (were you?) is likely to be mistaken for row "was" it is better to substitute the emphatic form, "row uss."

Past tense, negative.

cha row mee (I was not).
cha row uss (you were not).
cha row eh (he was not).
cha row ee (she was not).
cha row shin (we were not).
cha row shiu (you were not).
cha row ad (they were not).

Past tense interrogative negative.

nagh row mee? (was I not?).
nagh row uss? (were you not?).
nagh row eh? (was he not?)
nagh row ee? (was she not?)
nagh row shin? (were we not?).
nagh row shiu? (were you not?)
nagh row ad? (were they not?).




There is not a special verb to have" in Manx. The English verb to "have" is usually translated by ta ... ec (there is a ... at).

Ta cabbyl ec Juan (John has a horse = There is a horse at John).


Ec (at)

'Ec' combines with its personal pronoun to form a prepositional pronoun.

aym (at me). ain (at us).
ayd (at you). eu (at you).
echey (at him). oc (at them).
eck (at her).



Cur Baarle orroo shoh.

  1. Ta thie aym.
  2. Ta pabyr ain.
  3. Ta lioar ayd.
  4. Ta shenn-ayr eu.
  5. Ta ynnyd echey.
  6. Ta cashtal oc.
  7. Ta cabbyl eck.

In Manx the present tense of any verb consists, as a rule, of the verbal noun and the auxiliary "to be."

creck (sell)

ta mee creck (I sell; I am selling).
cha nel mee creck (I do sell, I am not selling).
vel mee creck? (do I sell? am I selling?).
nagh vel mee creck? (do I not sell? am I not selling?).

kionnaghey (buy)

Ta mee kionnaghey.
Cha nel mee kionnaghey.
Vel mee kionnaghey?
Nagh vel mee kionnaghey?


When the verb-stem has a vowel initial the letter g is prefixed to the verbal-noun.

eeck (pay).

Ta mee geeck.
Cha nel mee geeck.
Vel mee geeck?
Nagh vel mee geeck?

aase (grow, growth).

Ta mee gaase.
Cha nel mee gaase.
Vel mee gaase?
Nagh vel mee gaase?


Cur Baarle orroo shoh.

  1. Ta lioar aym.
  2. Ta fys ayd.
  3. Nagh row thie ayd? Va thie aym.
  4. Row thie oc? Cha row thie oc.
  5. Vel fys ayd? Cha nel fys aym.
  6. Vel ad ec y thie? Cha nel.
  7. Row ad ec y thie? Cha row.
  8. Nagh vel ad ec y thie? Ta. Cha nel.
  9. Vel oo goll dy schoill? Cha nel; ta mee goll thie.
  10. Vel shiu goll thie? Ta shin goll thie. Cha nel shin goll thie.
  11. Vel shiu cheet? Ta. Vel eh cheet? Cha nel.
  12. Vel shiu clashtyn mee? Cha nel; c'red ta shiu gra?
  13. Ta mee gra dy vel mee goll dy schoill.
  14. Ta mee gra dy row mee (that I was) ec y thie.
Cur Gaelg orroo shoh.


  1. Were they going?
  2. They were going.
  3. They were not going.
  4. Was he coming? [He] was. [He] was not.
  5. Was he at home? He was at home.
  6. She was not at home.
  7. They were not at home.
  8. Does he know? (is knowledge at him?) He knows.
  9. They do not know that I am at home.
  10. Have you a book? I have a book. He has not a book
  11. They see, they come, they hear, they say, they find.
  12. They give they take.
  13. I do not find.
  14. Do I find? Do I not find?
  15. I say that he sees the book.



A Phrase a Day for Memorising and Use


  1. Vel peiagh erbee sthie? (Is there any person in?).

  2. Cha 'sayms dy-jarroo! (I don't know indeed!)

  3. Tar as cur shilley orrym mairagh. (Come and put a sight on me to-morrow).

  4. Gur-eh-mie-eu! (Thank you!)

  5. Cur dou yn sollan, my sailliu. (Give to me the salt, if you please, pass the salt, please.)

  6. Row uss ec Doolish jea? (Were you at Douglas yesterday?)

  7. Va (yes; past tense); Cha row (no; past tense).