LESSON 8.
Mutations like those caused by my, dty and e (his) are made after the preposition dy (of), and after the particIe dy, "the sign of the infinitive":
Gloyr (glory)
Lane dy ghloyr (full of glory.)
Ta mee aignagh dy gholl—I am willing to go.
When the preposition da is replaced by dy, no mutation usually follows:
Quoi dy mac oo? Whose son are you?
(who to a son you?).
When dy is placed before an adjective, it takes the place of the old particle gy, and does not cause any mutation, but turns the adjective into an adverb:
boght (poor).
dy boght (poorly)
mie (good).
dy mie (well).
cam (crooked).
dy cam (crookedly)
jeeragh (straight).
dy jeeragh (directly).
The conjunction dy (that) when placed before a verb affects certain of the initial consonants in a way that will be given later. This conjunction ("that") makes the verb take the dependent form:—
dy vel mee—that I am.
The words ard (high, chief) and ro (too) cause mutations like those following my, dty and e (his):
yn ard-vie the chief good
ard-ghooinney a great man, a chief
ard-valley a city
ro-vie too good
ro-chreoi too hard.
Ard is, however, occasionally used without causing mutation:
Ard-saggyt - high priest
When any two words join so closely as to form a compound, the second of the two usually undergoes mutation.
After the particle yn or y, the noun if feminine mutates as follows:
p becomes ph padjer, yn phadjer (prayer).
b becomes v breag, yn vreag (lie).
m becomes v muck, yn vuck (pig).
f is usually dropped after yn but retained after y:—
c, k becomes ch keyrrey, yn cheyrrey (sheep).
qu becomes wh queeyl, yn wheeyl (wheel).
g becomes gh (y) guiy, yn ghuiy (goose).
s becormes t sooill, yn tooill (eye).
sh becomes çh shellan, yn çhellan (bee).
sl becomes cl slane. yn clane (whole).
s usually disappears before tr:— straid, y traid (street).
s followed by any other consonant than h, l or tr, remains unchanged.
The article does not cause mutation in feminine nouns initialled by the dental letters
t, d, ch, j, nor by any of the remaining letters of the alphabet.
Vocabulary.
bwoailley (pl. buillaghyn). a blow.
bwoalley striking.
bwoaill strike.
brishey breaking.
brish break.
gialdyn promising.
giall promise.
shilley eyesight.
pian pain.
beisht (pl. beishtyn). a beast, term used for toothache.
atchimagh terrible.
dy atchimagh terribly.
braew brave, fine.
dy braew bravely, fine.
doal blind.
balloo dumb.
bouyr deaf.
croobagh lame.
moal slow, feeble, dull.
tappee quick.
bio alive.
marroo dead.
aght way, manner.
castreycair middling, tolerable.
towl (pl. tuill) a hole .
ennym name.
bock (pl. buick) horse.
cabbyl (pl. cabbil) horse.
laair (pl. laaireeyn) mare.
lhiy (pl. lhiyaghyn) colt.
sharragh foal.
tarroo (pl. terriu) bull.
booa cow (pl. booaghyn), gen. baa.
bainney baa cow's milk
lheiy (pl. lheiyee) calf.
colbagh (pl. colbeeyn) heifer.
dow (pl. dew) ox.
ollagh, maase cattle.
baagh (pl. beiyn) a beast.
thie-ollee, bwaane cow-house.
mart a beef.
keyrrey (pl. kirree) sheep.
rea (pl. reaghyn) a ram.
eayn (pl. eayin) a lamb.
goayr (pl. goair) a goat.
mannan a kid.
assyl a donkey.
muck a pig.
bannoo a young pig.
moddey (pl. moddee) a dog.
coo (pl. coyin) a hound.
quallian a pup, a cub.
kayt (pl. kiyt) a cat.
pishin (pl. pisheeyn) a kitten.
lugh (pl. lughee) a mouse.
roddan a rat.
conning a rabbit.
mwaagh (pl. mwaee) a hare .
assag a weasel.
1.—Cur Baarle orroo shoh.
- Kys t'ou? Ta ny beishtyn aym.
- Cre'n aght ta shiu? Lane vie.
- Va mee çhing jea, as va'n pian atchimagh, agh cha nel mee çhing nish, cha nel pian aym ayns my ghreeym.
- Cur dty laue ayns dty phoagey as cur skillin dou.
- Ny jean brishey dty ghialdyn
- Ta towl mooar ayns dty phoagey.
- Immee, ny bee ayns my raad.
- Cha nel my hilley lajer, ta'n shilley ayms faase; cha nel shilley erbee ec Juan: t'eh doal.
- Hooar Ned bwoailley voish Thom; cha nel eh marroo foast.
- Cre'n ynnyd ta Dan ayn nish?
- Ta Dan ayns Nalbin nish, as ta e vummig ayns Sostyn, as e yishag ayns America.
- Vel Kirree ayns Sostyn nish? Ta Kirree ayns Sostyn, as ta e mummig ayns yn Ellan, as e jishag ayns Nherin.
- Cur dty ennym ayns y lioar.
- "Bwoaill choud as ta'n yiarn çheh."
2. - Cur Gaelg orroo shoh.
- How are you? I am well to-day.
- I was ill yesterday. Where is your mother? She is at home.
- Where is her father? He is in Ireland.
- Where is his mother? She is at Douglas.
- Where is my pound? You have it.
- Have you my penny? I have not.
- She is dumb, he is deaf, they are blind.
- The man is poor, but he is strong and industrious.
- Have you the toothache? No.
- Is she there? Yes. No, she is not.
A Phrase a Day.
- Cre'n traa te? (What time is it?)
- Te feed minnid gys shiaght. (It is twenty minutes to seven).
- Nod oo ginsh dou ny earrooyn er yn chlag? (Can you tell me the numbers on the clock?).
- Foddym. Nane, jees, tree, kiare, queig, shey, shiaght, hoght, nuy, jeih, unnane-jeig ('nane-jeig), daa-yeig. (I can. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve).
- Ta'n laa jeant jeh ooryn, ooryn jeh minnidyn, as minnidyn jeh shallidyn. (The day is made up of hours, hours of minutes, and minutes of seconds.)
- Ta queig minnidyn jeig ennymyssit "kerroo-oor," as jeih-as feed "lieh-oor," er-y-fa ta three feed minnid ayns dagh oor (Fifteen minutes are called " a quarter of an hour," and thirty "half an hour," because there are sixty minutes in each hour.)