LESSON 3.

Last lesson, we learnt the rules governing the article, adjectives, prepositional pronouns indicating possession, and the past tense of the verb "to be."

We have also learnt the nine irregular verbs in most common use and each of these has also a special and different form in the past tense. These forms must be thoroughly memorised before much progress can be made in sentence-construction or conversation. They are as follows:—


IRREGULAR VERBS, past tense.

haink mee (I came). cha daink mee (I did not come).
hie mee (I went). cha jagh mee (I did not go).
hug mee (I gave. or put). cha dug mee (I did not give: or put).
ghow mee (I took). cha ghow mee (I did not take).
dooyrt mee (I said). cha dooyrt mee (I did not say).
ren mee (I did; or made). cha ren mee (I did not make).
cheayll mee (I heard). cha geayll mee (I did not hear).
honnick mee (I saw). cha vaik mee (I did not see).
hooar mee (I got, or found). cha dooar mee (I did not get: find).

(The colloquial form naik may be substituted for the more literary form vaik, and the form chluin or chlinn may be used for cheayll.)

As a rule, the form of the verb given above in the negative is that used also in the interrogative:—

Daink mee? (did I come?)

Nagh daink mee? (did I not come?).


By exception, the form "geayll is only used after cha or nagh.

Cheayll oo? (did you hear?).

Nagh geayll oo? (did you not hear?)

The Imperative plural adds the syllable jee:—

Gow (take).

Gow-jee (take) (you).

jean (do).

jean-jee (do) (you).

In the spoken language shiu is frequently substituted for jee:—

Gow shiu (take you).

In the imperative the negative particle is ny:—

Ny cur (do not give) (sing).

Ny cur-jee (do not give) (plural)

Before a vowel, "nagh" is used instead of "ny"; nagh insh dou (do not tell me).

We have learnt that in the present tense, "I go," "I am going" and "I do go." are all translated by the one form ta mee goll, but we now see that in the past tense there are three methods of expression:—

hie mee (I went).

va mee goll (I was going).

ren mee goll (I did go).






There is NO NEUTER GENDER in Manx.

All nouns are classed as either masculine or feminine. Thus "dorrys" (door) is masculine, and has to be represented by the pronoun eh. "Uinnag" (window) is feminine, and has to be represented by ee.

AYN

An important word in Manx is ayn (in).

Such sentences as "There is a man," or There is a woman," become in Manx "Ta dooinney ayn" (There is a man in), "Ta ben ayn" (There is a woman in).

"In the" is not translated by "ayn yn" but by "ayns yn," which on contraction may become "syn" or "sy":


ayns yn eayst (in the moon).
ayns y ghrian (in the sun).
'syn 'astyr (in the evening).
'sy voghrey (in the morning).
'sy laa (in the day).
'syn oie (in the night).



Ayn combines like ec to form prepositional pronoun:—

aynym (in me).
aynyd (in you).
ayn (in him).
aynjee (in her).
aynin, ayndooin (in us).
ayndiu (in you).
ayndoo, ayndaue (in them)



When special emphasis is laid upon any personal pronoun, it assumes what is known as the emphatic form:


mee becomes mish.
oo becomes uss.
eh becomes eshyn.
ee becomes ish.
shin becomes shinyn.
shiu becomes shiuish.
ad becomes adsyn.

All the prepositional pronouns have both a simple and an emphatic form, and these are as follows:—
Simple. Emphatic.

aym ayms
ayd ayds
echey echeysyn
eck ecksh
ain ainyn
eu euish
oc ocsyn

aynym aynyms
aynyd aynyds
ayn aynsyn
anjee aynjeeish
ayndooin ayndooinyn
ayndiu ayndiuish
ayndaue ayndausyn

Example. Shoh yn lioar ayms, cha nee yn lioar echeysyn.
(This is my book, not his book).

VOCABULARY.

aeg young
agh but
annoon feeble
arran bread
balley pl. baljyn town
beg small
blaa, my-vlaa blossom, in bloom
boayrd table
chaglym gathering
çheer country
cheerey, gen. of the country
çhing sick, ill
choud as, choud's as long as, whilst
clag clock
cre vel? c'el? where is?
cre, cre-erbee what, whatever
cre-veih? voish where from?
curn, kurn can
dooin shut
dorrys door
dys, gys to, towards
eayst moon
eeym butter
eisht then
er on, upon
erbee at all
erskyn above
faag leave
faagail leaving
faarkey, yn 'aarkey sea, the ocean
faase weak
faggys, er-gerrey, gerrit near
feer very
foast yet, still
foddey far
follan wholesome
foshil open
fosley opening
fuirree wait
furriaght waiting
glare short
glass lock
glionney glass
grian, yn ghrian sun, the sun
harrish over
jeigh shut, shutting
keayn sea
laa; pl. laghyn day
laare floor
lajer strong
liauyr long, tall
losserey herbage
magh out (after verbs of motion)
mean, y vean middle, the midst
mean-oie midnight
miljid sweetness
mill honey
millish sweet
mooar big, large
mooie out (after verbs of rest).
mooir, marrey sea, tide, of the sea.
mun-laa, mean-laa mid-day, noon
neesht, myrgeddin also
niartal mighty
nish now
noa new
ogher key
ollan wool
ooilley all
ooir, ooirrey soil, of soil
oor fresh
ooreyder a watch
quoi-erbee whoever
reesht again
rollage star
seihll world
shellan a bee
shenn old (placed before noun)
slayntoil healthy
soilshean shining
sthie in (after verbs of rest).
stiagh in (after verbs of motion)
stoyl seat
tarroogh industrious, thrifty
thalloo land, earth
thallooin of the land
thombagey tobacco
toallee stalwart
traa time
uinnag window
ushtey water
veih, voish from
yn theihll the world



1.— Cur Baarle orroo shoh.

  1. T'ee ec y dorrys.
  2. Cha nel Ned as Jem ec y dorrys; t'ad goll harrish y raad.
  3. Ny jean furriaght ec y dorrys; jeigh yn dorrys.
  4. Ny jean faagail curn er y laare.
  5. Ta'n stoyl beg ec y dorrys. Cha nel yn stoyl mooar ec y dorrys.
  6. Ta soilshey ec yn uinnag.
  7. Ny faag y soilshey ayns shen (there).
  8. Faag y soilshey er y voayrd.
  9. Ny jean faagail yn thombagey er y laare.
  10. Ta'n ollan er y stoyl, as ta'n arran er y voayrd.
  11. Vel yn ogher ayd? Cha nel.
  12. Ta mee fakin dy vel shiu goll thie.
  13. Hie ad magh. V'ad mooie. Hie ad stiagh. V'ad sthie.
  14. Vel oo sthie? Cha nel.
  15. Vel oo goll voish y thie? C'raad t'ou goll voish y thie?
  16. Ta mee goll er y çheer. Vel oo goll foddey er y çheer?
  17. C'raad er y çheer t'ou goll? Fow magh eh.
  18. Ta Juan aeg, t'eh liauyr, as t'eh gaase foast; t'eh lajer as slayntoil.
  19. Ta Chalse mooar as toallee; cha nel eh çhing nish.
  20. Haink shiu veih'n thie. Cha daink shiu veih'n thie.
  21. Cre voish haink shiu? Veih çheer feer foddey, veih America.
  22. Ren oo fakin y dooinney? Honnick mee eh.
  23. Ta mish er y thalloo; as t'eshyn er y cheayn.
  24. Ta'n oie foddey ceaut (spent), ta'n laa er-gerrey.

2.—Cur Gaelg orroo shoh.


  1. He is at the door.
  2. She was at the door.
  3. There is a light on the table.
  4. I am going over to the road.
  5. Leave the can on the table.
  6. There is bread on the table.
  7. I have bread and butter.
  8. Leave the tobacco on the table, and do not leave it at the door.
  9. Take the bread and leave the tobacco.
  10. The can is small. You have the large can.
  11. She had bread and butter.
  12. There is a lock on the door.
  13. Is there a glass on the table? No.
  14. Do you see the door, the floor and the window? Yes.
  15. He went out. He is out. Are they out? They went out.
  16. I am in the house and they are on the road.
  17. Far and near. Long and short. Big and little.
  18. She is weak and I am strong.
  19. I see. I say! I saw. I said.
  20. Land and water. Town and country.
  21. Are you going into (on) the country?
  22. I saw a village (balley beg cheerey).
  23. He came in, and he went out again.



Phrases for Learning and Use.

  1. Fastyr-mie-eu. Ta mee booiagh dy 'akin shiu. Trooid stiagh as soie sheese. (Good evening! I am glad to see you. Come in and sit down.)

  2. Vel oo lesh tey? (Have you had tea?)

  3. Ta, agh goym cappan elley nish, my sailliu. (Yes, but I'll take another one now, if you please.)

  4. Honnick shiu yn pabyr-naigh jiu? (Did you see the newspaper to-day?)

  5. Cha vaik mee agh cheayll mee va lessoon Gailckagh prentit ayn. (I did not, but I heard there was a Manx lesson printed in it.)

  6. Vel oo goll nish? Bannaght lhiat eisht! (Are you going now? A blessing with you, then! (Good-bye.)