LESSON 7.
Plural of Nouns.
Most nouns form their plural by adding the syllable yn to the end of the singular:
Laue—a hand; laueyn-hands.
Nouns ending in a vowel usually add ghyn.
The termination ey becomes aghyn: Caggey — war; caggaghyn—wars.
The following ending in ey are exceptions:—
baatey a boat. baatyn.
billey a tree. biljyn.
balley a town. baljyn.
bunney a sheaf. bunneeyn.
carrey a friend. caarjyn
dooinney a man. deiney
guilley a boy. guillyn
keyrrey a sheep. kirree
kynney kindred. kynneeyn
losserey a herb. lossreeyn.
moddey a dog. moddee.
paitchey a child. paitchyn.
urley an eagle. urlee.
Where further plurals are formed otherwise than by simply adding yn they will be marked in the list of words.
The article, when used with a plural noun, becomes ny:
yn laue—the hand; ny laueyn—the hands.
The plural article is unchangeable in form.
The Possessive Pronouns.
my my.
dty your.
e his.
e her.
nyn our, your, or their.
When my or dty, comes before a vowel the final y is often dropped.
M'annym—my soul; dt'eddin—your face.
A possessive pronoun is made emphatic by adding the letter s to the end of the following noun: M'annyms—my soul.
A very important peculiarity occurring in all the Celtic languages is the mutation, or change of initial letters. Thus the word 'ben' means 'woman.' but instead of saying 'yn ben.'—the woman, it was found easier of pronunciation to say 'yn ven' or 'y ven,' so the softer sound in such circumstances took the place of the harder.
Though the mutations were first brought about for the sake of smoothness and pleasantness of sound, their present use is to a certain extent settled according to rules having to do with gender, case, tense, etc. The possessive pronouns my, dty and e (his) cause mutation as follows:
p becomes ph: my phadjer. dty phoagey. e phunt.
b becomes v: my vraar. dty veeal. e voyn.
m becomes v: my voir. dty vac. e vain
t, th becomes h: my hubbag. dty hie. e hraa.
d, dh becomes gh: my ghoarn. dty ghreeym. e ghorrys.
ch becomes h: my hiarn. dty hengey. e heer.
j becomes y: my yee. dty yishag. e yough.
c, k becomes eh: my chree. dty chione. e chass.
g becomes gh: my ghraih. dty ghlioon. e gheaylin.
qu becomes wh: my wheeyl.
s, sh becomes h: my hooill. dty huyr e hiaull
sl becomes l: my laynt. dty leeayst e lingan
f drops out: my eill. dty uill e olt
b and m when followed by w are sometimes dropped: my wannal—my neck.
In the spoken language g when followed by i or e often mutates to y: giat (a gate), my yiat. d when followed by oo sometimes mutates to w, and colloquially b and m when followed by oo often mutate to w instead of to v.
All the other initial letters remain unchanged, as also does s when followed by a consonant other than h or l: my sporran—my purse.
e (her) does not cause mutation in any of the consonants, but it makes an initial vowel add the aspirate h: e heddin—her face.
Vocabulary.
abane ankle (bone).
ainle angel.
annym soul.
baase death.
bea life.
beeal, (pl. beill) mouth.
boyn heel.
breearrey vow.
cass foot.
çhengey, (pl. chengaghyn) tongue.
Chiarn Lord.
cleaysh ear.
cleeau chest.
coraa, (pl. coraaghyn) voice.
corrag fore-finger.
cowag chatter.
crackan, (pl. craitnyn). skin
craue bone.
cree, (pl creeaghyn) heart
cuishlyn, (pl. cuishleeyn) vein.
doarn, (pl. duirn) fist.
dreeym back.
drogh ghoo disrepute.
dy gheddyn baase to die.
dy ve bio to be alive.
eam a call.
eddin face.
feeackle, (pl. feeacklyn) tooth.
feill flesh.
fockle word (pl. focklyn).
folt the hair.
geaylin, (pl. geayltyn) shoulder.
glare language.
glioon knee.
goo, (pl. goan) speech.
goo-mie reputation.
graih love.
Jee God
jesh right
keeil cab jaw.
kione, (pl. king) head.
laue hand.
laue-chiuttagh left hand.
laue-yesh right hand
laue-jesh right hand.
lhiattee side.
lieckan cheek.
lurgey, (pl. lurgaghyn) leg.
mair, (pl. meir) finger.
mair-chass toe.
meill lip.
mwannal neck.
mwannal y chass ankle.
mwannal y laue wrist.
Niau, Flaunys Heaven.
ordaag thumb.
ordaag-chass great toe
renaig, (pl. renaigyn) hair.
roih, (pl. roihaghyn) arm.
Saualtagh Saviour.
scoarnagh, (pl. scoarneeyn) throat.
shleeayst thigh.
shlingan back of the shoulder
smeggyl, smeggin chin.
sooill eye.
Spyrryd-Noo Holy Ghost.
stroin, (pl. strointeeyn) nose.
taggloo conversation.
toshtal left.
trie sole of foot.
uillin, (pl. uiljyn) elbow.
Yeesey Creest Jesus Christ.
yllagh shout.
yngyn, (pl. yngnyn) nail.
1.—Cur Baarle orroo shoh.
- Ta mee er ve ayns Sostyn, as ayns Nalbin; ta mee nish ayns Ellan Vannin.
- Ta shin goll dys Nherin. Bee shiu ayns shen mairagh? Bee. Cha bee.
- Ta mooir eddyr shin as Nalbin.
- Ta'n baatey er n'gholl dys Nherin.
- Cha nel Juan as Illiam goll dys yn Ellan; cha nel baatey oc nish.
- Ta baatey noa ec yn eeasteyr.
- Cha nel ayms agh skillin; cha nel argid arragh aym.
- Yiowym ee.
- Cre yinnagh uss?
- Cha jinnin eh.
- Voghe oo eh?
- Vel oo goll seose y raad?
- Ta mee goll sheese y 'traid.
- T'ad ooilley goll yn un (one) raad.
- T'ad ooilley goll yn raad cheddin.
2.—Cur Gaelg orroo shoh.
- I see a boat on the water.
- There is a large sail on the boat.
- The boat is going to Ireland.
- Where is the ship now?
- The ship has gone to England.
- We have a new boat.
- I have only a penny.
- You have a penny and he has a pound.
- He has silver, but I have gold.
- Where was the pound?
- It was in the house.
- He has been in England; will you go there? What to do? To get money.
- The new boat has a mast and a sail.
A Phrase a Day.
- Quoi s'lesh yn moddey shoh? (Whose is this dog?)
- Cha sayms dy-jarroo! Hooar mee eh shooyl ny lomarcan er yn raad. (I don't know at all! I found him walking by himself on the road.)
- T'eh moddey braew, haink eh voish thie mie. (He's a fine dog; he came from a good home.)
- Lhig dooin cummal eh derrey vees eh goit voin. Let's keep him until he's taken from us.)
- Cre'n raad hemmayd? Lhig dooin goaill walkal dys Rhumsaa. (What road shall we go? Let's take a walk to Ramsey).
- Tar dys shoh, Dash. Jig oo marin? Voddey vie, eisht! T'eh cheet. (Come here, Dash. Will you come with us? Good dog, then! He's coming.)