Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge/Imleabhar 5/Uimhir 1/Easy Lessons in Irish

by Eugene O'Growney

Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge, Imleabhar V, Uimh. 1 by Eugene O'Growney Easy Lessons in Irish

Spoken Gaelic of Donegal: Díorfach Dúin-Alt→

[ 1 ]

EASY LESSONS IN IRISH.

(Continued.)

§ 56. EXERCISE VI.

blas (blos), taste	lag (Log), weak
bris (brish), verb, break	milis (mil′-ish), sweet
dúnta (dhooN′-thă), closed, shut	mol (mŭl), verb, praise
Gránárd (graun′-aurdh), Granard

§ 57. Atá mé lag, atá tú lag, atá an capall lag. Fág an doras dúnta fós, ná bris an glas mór ar an doras. Atá capall mór ag an tobar. Atá an bád ar tír. Fág an bád ar an tír fós. Atá mé ag Gránárd fós.

§ 58. Do not praise me. Do not praise [ 2 ]Conn yet. Conn is young. The door on the fort is closed. The boat is clean. The field is green yet. Conn is at Granard yet. Praise the country—do not leave the country.

EXERCISE VII.

§ 59. As we have seen, the Irish word corresponding to am, art, is, are, is atá. The negative form, corresponding to am not, art not, is not, are not, is níl (neel). Examples: níl mé tinn, I am not sick; níl tú óg you are not young; níl sé, níl sí, he is not, she is not. Níl Art agus Conn ag an tobar, Art and Conn are not at the well. This word níl is a shorter form of the phrase ní ḟuil, as we shall see.

§ 60. In sentences like atá Art agus Conn óg, Art and Conn are young, it will be noted that, as in English, the adjective does not take any special form. In many other languages, the adjective would be in the plural, agreeing with the two subjects of the sentence. So in the sentence atá na fir (fir) óg, the men are young, the adjective óg does not take any new form, although the subject is plural. This is true only of adjectives after the verb “to be.”

§ 61. Another use of the preposition ag, at. The English phrases, “I am going, I am growing,” etc, were formerly sometimes written and pronounced, “I am a’ going,” etc. This was a shorter form of “I am at going.” In Irish, ag, at, is always used in translating the present participle; as, atá mé ag dul, I am going; atá Conn ag fás, Conn is growing.

§ 62. VOCABULARY.

do (dhŭ), preposition, to	níl (neel), am not, art not, is not, are not
do’n (dhǔn) = do an, to the	ó (ō), from
dul (dhul), going	ó’n, from the
fás (faus), growing	olann (ŭl′-ăN), wool

§ 63. Fág an bád ar an tír fós. Níl an bád ar an tír; atá an bád ag an tobar. Níl an lá te. Níl an tobar tirim. Níl an capall mór. Ná fan ag an doras, atá mé ag dul ó’n doras do’n tobar. Atá mé ag dul do’n dún ard. Atá balla mór, árd ag an dún. Atá Conn óg, agus atá sé ag fás fós.

§ 64. I am not going from the fort yet; I am not going to the well. The day is hot, I am not hot. The field is not green. You are not at Granard. The horse is going to the well. Leave the wool on the stool. The wool is white (bán). Una is young, she is tall, and she is not weak Nora is weak, yet, she is growing.

The Sounds of the Letters C and G.

We think it better to defer the study of these sounds until we have spoken of combinations of vowels.

EXERCISE VIII.

§ 65. There are two things which make the spoken language of Ulster and Munster different from that of the west of Ireland. These two points of difference are (1) the syllable to be accented, and (2) the pronunciation of the vowels.

§ 66. We have already stated in § 22, that in words of two syllables, the first syllable is the one to be accented, and many examples have been given. In this and the following lessons we shall, until further notice, speak only of words of two syllables.

§ 67. Looking over Irish words, we shall find they can be divided into two classes, simple words, and words formed from simple words by the addition of a termination. For instance, árd, high, is a simple word; {insular|árdán}} (aurdh′-aun), a height, a hill, is formed árd, by adding the termination ‑án.

§ 68. Simple words are accented on the same syllable in every part of Ireland; compound words are not.

§ 69. The most common terminations of compound words are óg and ‑ín, which have a diminutive force; and ‑án, which in some words has a diminutive force, and in others has a different meaning. In Munster Irish, all these terminations, and many others, are accented. In Ulster, on the contrary, the tendency is not only to accent the first syllable as in Connaught, but also to shorten unduly the last syllable.

[ 3 ] § 70. Examples:

	Conn.	Ulster	Munster
brádan, a salmon	brodh′-aun	brodh′-ăn	brodh-aun′
casán, a path	kos′-aun	kos′-ăn	kos-aun′
urlár, a floor	ur-Laur	ur′-Lăr	ur-Laur′

71. Even in Connaught, a few words are pronounced with the accent on the second syllable. The commonest of these are arán (or-aun′, in Ulster, ar′-an) bread, and Tomás (thum-aus′, in Ulster, thom′-as) Thomas. The accentuation of atá has been already noted. Some words adopted from foreign languages have retained the foreign accentuation, as, coróin (kŭr-о̄n′) a crown.

§ 72. Atá bradán mór ar an tír. Níl bradán ar an tir. Fág an bradán ar an urlár. Urlár glan. Ná fág an solas ar an urlár. Atá casán ag dul ó’n doras do’n tobar. Fág an cú ag an doras. Ná fan ag an doras. Atá arán ar an urlár.

§ 73. The path is clean (and) dry. The path is not dry; the path is soft yet. The well is full. Do not leave the salmon on the stool The salmon is clean. A fresh salmon. The hound is young; he is growing yet. The hound is at the well. Fresh sweet bread. Thomas is going to the well.

EXERCISE IX.

We now come to the pronunciation of the vowels.

§ 74. In Ulster the vowels a and o are sounded peculiarly, thus:—

á	is sounded like	aa	in phonetic key
a	⁠„⁠„	a	⁠„⁠„
ó	⁠„⁠„	au	⁠„⁠„
ó	⁠„⁠„	o	⁠„⁠„

Examples:

Bád (baadh), mála (maal′-ă), glas (glas), asal (as′ăl, óg (aug), fós (faus), doras (dhor′-ăs), gort (gorth).

The		Is pronounced in
Word	Meaning	Conn.	Munster	Ulster
árdán	hill	aurdh′-aun	aurdh-aun′	aardh′-an
mórán	much	mо̄r′-aun	mо̄r-aun′	maur′-an
ordóg	thumb	ŭrdh′-о̄g	ŭrdh-о̄g′	ordh′-og
cillín	little church	kil′-een	kil-een′	kil′-in

§ 75. Pronunciation of the Vowels in Munster.

In Munster the vowels in words of two or more syllablcs are pronounced regularly; as, balla (boL′-ă) capall (kop′-ăL), ime (im′-ĕ), of butter. It is only in monosyllables (and, to a very slight extent, in words formed from these monosyllables) that any irregularity of pronunciation occurs. The irregularity consists in the fact, that in monosyllables containing a, i, o short before ll, nn, or before m, the vowel is lengthened in sound.

§ 76. This lengthening of vowels is noticeable from Waterford (where the lengthened vowels have a very peculiar sound) up to Galway, where the lengthening is much less marked, Curiously enough, the same lengthening is to be noticed at the opposite extreme of the Gaelic-speaking district, the north and north-west of Scotland.

77. In all districts there is a perceptible lengthening of vowel sound before -ll, -nn, -rr at the end of monosyllables. Thus, the vowel sounds in mill, sinn, corr are everywhere longer than those in mil, sin, cor. Compare the vowel sounds in the English words—weld, welt; curd, curt; grand, grant.

78. What the effect of the Munster lengthening of vowel sounds is, can be seen from the following table. We do not pretend to give all the shades of pronunciation of various parts of Munster.

	The word	Is pronounced in
		Connaught	W. Munst.	E. Munster
a	mall	moL	mouL	ma′-oul
	dall	dhoL	dhouL	dha′-oul
	am	om	oum	a′-oum
	crann	kroN	kroun	kra′-oun
i	im	im	eem	eim
	mill	mil	meel	meil
	cinn	kin	keen	keinn
	binn	bin	been	bein
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o	poll	pŭl	⁠pouL
	trom	thrŭm	⁠throum
	donn	dhŭN	⁠dhouN

79. In the phonetic key will be found the sounds to be given to “ou,” and “ei.” The East Munster a-ou is pronounced rapidly. Sometimes the sound of oo is given in Munster to o; as anonn, over (in Conn. ăn-ŭN, in Munst. ăn-ooN′).

80. We can now introduce many familiar words nvolving these prolonged vowel sounds. In the table [ 4 ]above, § 78, we have given the pronunciation of some, viz:—

am, time	im, butter
binn, sweet	mall, slow
crann, a tree	mill, destroy
dall, blind	poll, a hole
donn, brown-haired	trom, heavy

81. milis sweet to taste; binn, sweet to hear.

82. Atá blas milis ar an im úr. Atá Art óg agus atá sé dall. Atá poll mór ag an dún. Atá crann mór ag fás ar an árdán. Atá an capall mall. Atá an mála trom, níl an mála lán fós. Ná mill an balla árd. Níl Conn bán, atá sé donn. Atá Tomás ag an doras, agus atá Úna ag dul anonn do’n tobar. Níl Art trom, atá sé óg agus lag fós.

§ 83. Leave bread and butter on the stool. Do not praise a slow horse. There is a large, green tree at the well. Conn is blind; Art is not blind. The boat is long and heavy. The tree is not green yet; the tree is dry. There is no bread on the floor. The heavy boat is on the land. Do not break the heavy lock; leave the door closed. Leave the heavy bag on the floor.

EXERCISE X.

§ 84. Other examples of Munster pronunciation:—

	Conn.	Munster
cam, crooked	kom	koum
Cill-dara, Kildare	kil-dhor′-ă	keel-dhor′-ă
fonn, air of song	fŭN	fouN
gann, scarce	goN	gouN
linn, a pool	lin	leen
tinn, sick	tin	teen, tein

§ 85. The sounding of ó as ú, sometimes heard in Munster, is to be avoided, as Nóra (Noor′-ă), mór (moor), nó (Noo).

§ 86. Bí is the imperative mood, second person singular, of the verb, “to be;” as, Ná bí mall, do not be late.

§ 87.	dán (dhaun) a poem	ród (rōdh) a road
	long (Lŭng) a ship	sinn (shin) we
		ór (ōr) gold

§ 88. Níl tú ag Cill-dara, atá tú ag Gránárd fós. Atá mé tinn, lag. Atá an bád mór, trom, ar an linn. Atá long ar an tír. Níl long ar an tír, atá bád mór ar an tír, agus atá an bád úr ar an linn fós. Atá im úr gann. Atá sinn ag dul do’n tobar, fág solas ag an doras. Atá an crann mór, ag an linn, glas fós. Níl tú óg, atá sinn óg fós. Atá an crann cam. Crann mór, cam. Atá sinn mall. Atá fonn binn ar an dán. Atá an glas trom. Ná bí mall, ná fan ag an dún árd. Atá an dán úr. Atá an fonn úr binn. Atá an ród cam. Níl tú ar an ród fós.

§ 89. There is a green tree at Kildare. Do not leave the heavy boat on the land. The ship is new. A new ship is going. Thomas and Art are sick yet. Thomas is not sick. Gold is scarce. There is gold at the fort. We are not warm yet. There is a sweet taste on the fresh bread. The young tree is growing yet. There is not a sweet air in the long poem. The poem is not long. The wall is high. The ship is not heavy; the boat is full and heavy. There is a heavy lock in the high door. You are not weak; you are young and healthy. Art is wearing a new coat, and the coat is long (and) heavy. The young horse is on the road.

EXERCISE XI.

§ 90. SOUNDS OF GROUPS OF VOWELS.

In Irish, as in English, vowels are grouped together in three ways. (1.) In the word ruin, the u and i are pronounced separately; the u being pronounced distinctly, and the i somewhat obscurely. The same may be said of the e and a in the word real. (2.) In the word round, the sounds of o and u melt into each other, forming what we call a diphthong. (3.) In the word mean, the ea represents one simple vowel sound, like that of e in me. But as this one vowel sound is represented in writing by two letters, these two letters, ea, are called a digraph. Other digraphs are ai in main, ou in through, ae in Gaelic, ao in gaol, oa in goal, etc. We shall now examine the vowel-groups in Irish.

§ 91. SOUNDS OF ia AND ua.

ia	is pronounced	ee-ă	almost like	ea	in	real.
ia	„	oo-ă	„	ui	„	ruin.

Each vowel is pronounced separately, the second vowel being obscure.

§ 92. WORDS.

cuan (koo′-ăn), a harbour	Niall (nee′-ăL), Niall
Dia (dee′-ă), God	sgian (shgee′-ăn), a knife
fial (fee′-ăl), generous	siad (shee′-ădh), they
fuar (foo′-ăr), cold	suas (soo′-ăs), up, upwards
gual (goo′-ăl), coal	uan (oo′-ăn), a lamb

§ 93. Atá an lá fuar, tirim. Níl an lá fuar, atá an lá te tirim. Níl Niall agus Art tinn, atá siad óg agus slán. Fág an [ 5 ]sgian ar an stól. Atá capall agus uan ar an ród. Fág an gual ar an urlár. Atá uan óg ag an tobar. Atá an capall ag dul suas ó’n tobar do’n ród. Níl siad tinn, atá siad slán, atá sinn óg.

§ 94. Hot bread, cold bread. Conn and Art are not at the door; they are going over to the road. God is generous. The knife is not long. There is not wool on the lamb yet. The wool is not long. A ship and a harbour. They are not young. The harbour is big. Niall is young and tall. The coal is not clean; the coal is heavy. Art and Niall are going over to the door. Una is going up to the fort. Do not leave the coal at the door.

EXERCISE XII.

§ 95. SOUNDS OF THE DIPHTHONGS eo AND iu.

Each of these diphthongs has a long sound and a short sound.

The long sounds of eó and iú.

eó	is sounded as	(yō);
iú	„⁠„	(ew).

Note.—In the beginning of words eó sounds like ō. In many other cases, also, we can represent this sound most easily by the same symbol ō.

§ 96. Words.

casúr (kos′-oor), a hammer	eórna (ōr′-Nă), barley
ceól (k-yōl), music	inneoin, (in′-ōn) an anvil
crann (see § 78), mast of ship	leór (lōr), enough
driseóg (drish′-ōg), a brier. Munster (drish-ōg′)	tóg (thōg), lift, raise

§ 97. leór is most often heard in the phrase go leór (gŭ lōr), enough.

§ 98. Atá Conn óg go leór fós. Atá an seól mór. Níl an eórna ag fás ar an ród. Atá an driseóg glas. Ná fág an bád ar an linn. Níl im go leór ar an arán fós. Atá an ceól binn. Níl an ceól binn, níl fonn binn ar an dán. Atá driséog ag fás ar an dún. Atá an bád ar an linn. Atá an seól agus an crann ar an tír.

§ 99. The sail is not large. Lift up the large sail. Leave the hammer on the anvil. The anvil is heavy; the hammer is not heavy. Leave the anvil on the floor. A brier is growing at the door. The brier is long (and) crooked. The big boat is going up the harbour. A ship, a boat, a sail, a mast. There is sweet music at the well. I am going up to the well. The barley is green yet. The barley is fresh (and) sweet.

EXERCISE XIII.

§ 100. LONG SOUND OF iú.

Examples—fiú (few), siúl (shewl, shool), iúl (ewl), diúr (dewr), ciúl (kewl). At present we cannot conveniently introduce the few words containing iú into the exercises.

§ 101. SHORT SOUND OF eo AND iu.

In addition to the long sounds, eo and iu have a short sound. The short sound of both can be represented by (yŭ). There are only a few words containing this sound, and these words cannot be introduced at present.

§102. It is usual now to write eo and iu without any mark of length over the last vowels; it is to be understood therefore that eo and iu always represent the long sounds given above in § 95.

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