EASY LESSONS IN IRISH.
(Continued.)
EXERCISE XXI.
§ 146. WORDS.
| Máire (maur′-ĕ) Mary | Uilliam (il-ee′-am), William | |
| Munster | ||
| idir, between | id′-ir | id-ir′ |
| oileán, an island | el′-aun | el-aun′ |
| sgioból, a barn | shgib′-ōl | shgib-ōl′ |
§ 147. Ins an oileán úr “in the new Island,” is often said for “in America”; also in Ameiriocá (am-er′-i-kau).
§ 148. Anois (a-nish′), now, has the accent on the last syllable.
§ 149. Atá súiste ins an sgioból. Atá Máire ag obair ag an túirne. Níl Máire ag an doras, atá sí ag dul síos do’n tobar Atá an bád mór ag dul do’n oileán eile Níl Peadar in Éirinn anois, atá sé ins an oileán úr, agus atá Conn agus Art leis. Níl an long ag an oileán, atá sí in Éirinn. Níl sí in Éirinn fós, ata sí ar an sáile. Atá fíon saor agus fíon daor in Éirinn, agus ins an oilean úr: atá an fíon saor ins an tí eile.
§ 150. Nora and Mary are at the well; Mary is going down to the meadow with a pitcher, and Nora is at the barn. The grass is dry and heavy. The fresh grass is heavy yet; the dry grass is not heavy now. There is dry turf in the barn. Art is on the road now, he is not going to Kildare yet. James is going to America, and Nora is going with him. I am not going with you to the island. The salt-sea (sáile) is between Ireland and America. There is a long road between Kildare and Derry. Mary is not working now, the spinning-wheel is old and broken; the work is heavy, and Mary is not strong. William is not sick now, he is well (and) strong.
EXERCISE XXII.
§ 151. The pronunciation of the digraphs, as indicated in § 132, may be followed in all cases; but the popular spoken language, in some cases, retains an older pronunciation. Thus, io is now pronounced like i short; as, fios (fis), knowledge; lios (lis), a fort; but in liom (lŭm, l-yŭm), with me, as usually pronounced, we can yet hear the older pronunciation, both the i and the o being sounded. In the following list the io may be pronounced i short by students who have no opportunity of hearing Irish spoken.
§ 152. WORDS.
| iolar (ŭl′-ăr), an eagle | siopa (shŭp′-ă), a shop |
| iomorca, ŭm′-ărk-ă, too much | sioc (shŭk), frost |
| tar (thor), come (thou). | |
§ 153. Dún, a fort, means usually a stone building; lios, a mound of earth, generally of circular form. siopa, the word in general use for “shop,” is borrowed from the English word.
§ 154. Atá an lá te. Níl an lá té, atá sioc ar an ród. Atá Tomas ag an siopa, agus atá Art leis. Atá Peadar ag dul go Cill-Dara, agus níl Conn ag dul leis: atá sé tinn. Atá an fear eile ag dul liom go Gránárd. Atá sioc ar an uisge, ag an tobar. Atá an tobar mór tirim, agus atá an tobar eile lán. Atá sioc bán ar an lios. Iolar mór, áluinn. Atá an dún deas. Atá feur ag fás ar an iomaire. Atá an iomarca uisge ins an tobar.
§ 155. The large fort is old; the other fort is not old. The whole field is green; and the hedge is not green yet. Come with me to Derry. I am not going with you to Derry, I am going with him to Granard. Leave the young horse on the road, and come with me. The path is clean (and) dry: there is water on the road. All the road is not clean. Come on the other road. There is an eagle in the high fort, he is large and beautiful.
EXERCISE XXIII.
§ 156. We have seen in §§ 75-78, how the short vowels are lengthened in Munster before double consonants. The short vowel-sounds represented by the digraphs in § 132, are lengthened in the same way by Munster speakers. Thus:—
| ea | is pronounced | e-ou, | or almost | you | |
| io | „ | i-oo | „ | yoo | |
| ai | In some parts of Munster all these are pronounced like (ei); as a rule, however, ui is pronounced uí, that is (ee).
| ||||
| oi | |||||
| ui | |||||
| ei | |||||
[ 35 ] § 157. WORDS.
| Munster. | ||
| [1]aill, a cliff | al | eil |
| aimsir, weather, | am′-shir | eim′-shir |
| ceann, ahead, | kaN | k-youN |
| fionn, fair (haired), | fi-N | f-yooN |
| moill, delay, | mwel | mweil |
| suim, heed, | sim | seem |
| cóiste (kōsh′-tĕ), a coach | ||
| carbad (kor′-bădh), a coach; a better word | ||
| sgilling (sgil′-ing), a shilling. | ||
| tais (thash), soft, damp. | ||
§ 158. Lá tirim. Níl an lá tirim, atá an lá tais agus bog. Níl an aimsir tirim anois. Níl Peadar donn, níl sé bán, atá sé fionn. Atá Niall O’Briain ar an aill, agus atá an long ar an sáile ag dul go tír eile. Atá an aill árd—ná seas ar an aill; seas ar an dún. Níl an sgian cam. Níl crann ag fás ar an aill. Níl an cóiste láidir go leor.
§ 159. There is a fair-haired man at the door now. The coach is broken down on the road to Derry. Mary and Nora are not going to America; they are going to another country. The weather is broken. The high coach is in the barn. There is a knife in the bag. The lock is not in the door now. Fionn is generous.
EXERCISE XXIV.
§ 160. COMBINATION OF THREE VOWELS.
| A. | aoi | is sounded like | ee. |
| B. | eoi | „„ | eo |
| iai | „„ | ia | |
| iui | „„ | iu | |
| uai | „„ | ua |
It is obvious that as these differ from ao, eo, ia, iu, ua, in having i added, the following consonant will have its slender sound.
§ 161. WORDS.
| ciuin (kewn), calm, quiet | fuair (foo′-ăr), found, got |
| deas (das), pretty | geur (gaer), sharp |
| dreoilín (drōl′-een), a wren | litir (lit′-ir), a letter |
| uaim (oo′-ăm), from me. | |
§ 162. Dia, God, used in many phrases, Dia duit (dee′-ă dhit), God to thee, God save you; a short popular salutation. Dia linn (dee′-a lin), God with us said after sneezing.
§ 163. a is used when addressing one by name; a Úna, O Una!
§ 164. Dia duit, a Nóra; atá an lá fuar anois. Atá Niall agus Peadar ag dul síos do’n tobar, atá iolar mór ar an dún anois. Atá iolar, agus eun mór eile, ar an dún. Fag an sgian eile ar an túirne. Atá Niall sean, níl sé láidir anois. Atá capall, asal, láir, uan, iolar agus eun eile ins na leuna. Atá Dia láidir. Níl an sgian daor. Slán leat.
§ 165. The knife is not old; the knife is clean (and) sharp. There is not a fish in the salt-sea (sáile)—they are going to another place. The knife is cheap. Cold water. There is cold water in the well. Peter and Niall are not at Kildare now; they are in another place. Leave bread and butter in the bag. There is a wren at the door. The place is cold (and) wholesome. There is a young bird on the water. The man is generous. God is generous.
EXERCISE XXV.
§ 166. “Died” is usually translated by fuair bás, got death; as fuair an fear bás in Éirinn, the man died in Ireland.
“Mr.” is usually translated by an Saoi (the sage), as an Saoi O’Néill, Mr. O’Neill.
Rivers Bóinn (bōn) Boyne, Laoi (Lee) Lee, Sionainn (shin′-ăn) Shannon, Siuir (shewr) Suir.
Places: Ros-Comáin (rŭs kŭm′-aun) Roscommon; Tiobraid Aran (tibrid ar′-ăn) Tipperary (literally, the well of Ara); Tuaim (thoo'-m), Tuam.
Persons: Brian (bree′-ăn), Brian, Bernard, O’Briain (ō bree′-ăn) O'Brien, O’Riain (ō ree′-ăn), O’Ryan.
§ 167. Atá an bád mór, trom; atá an lá te, ciuin; tóg suas an seol mór anois. Níl an seol ar an seas. Fuair mé an seol ar an oileán. Atá bád deas ar an laoi. Sionainn agus Siuir. Fuair an fear eile bás in Éirinn.
§ 168. Niall O’Brien is going to Tipperary; he got a horse from Art O’Neill. The road to Tuam is long. From Roscommon to Derry. Boyne, Suir, Lee, [ 36 ]Shannon. The day is calm now. He got a letter from Mr. O’Brien. Brian O’Ryan is not going to Tipperary now; he is going to Roscommon. The big boat is better than the other boat.
EXERCISE XXVI.
§ 169. We have now to speak a little more in detail, of a few of the consonantal sounds which we have not yet treated fully.
§ 170. Sounds of c.
In the very beginning, § 2, we stated that c is sounded like the English k, and is never soft like c in cell, cess, &c. In the phonetic key the student may also see—
| The symbol | sounds like | in the word |
| K | k | looking |
| k | k | liking |
This, no doubt, will appear very unmeaning to many of our students. But if close attention be paid to the pronunciation of the two words “looking” and “liking,” it will be noticed that the termination -king is not pronounced in exactly the same way in both. The “king” of "liking" is “k-ying;” while the “king” of “looking” has no “y” sound after the k. We represent the k of “looking” by capital K, and the k of “liking” by italic k. But these signs will not be always needed, for, in most words, the ordinary k will convey the correct sound to the reader. To give some familiar examples, we in Ireland usually pronounce the words “car,” “card,” &c., with the k sound; our pronunciation of these words might be represented according to our phonetic system by kaar (=k-yaar), kaard (=k-yaard).
§ 171. Then to apply this to the Irish alphabet, we may say—
| Symbol | ||
| c broad (see § 8) | is sounded like | K |
| c slender „ | „„ | k |
§ 172. We shall have no difficulty in pronouncing the K or c broad sound except before the sounds represented by our phonetic symbols a, aa; e, ae; i, ee. It is only in Ulster that the sound K is followed by aa (the sound given in Ulster to á or ái).
§ 173. EXAMPLES:
c BROAD.
| The word | sounds like | in English; | or, key-word |
| caoi | -ky | lucky | (Kee) |
| cuing | -king | looking | (King) |
| coir | -ker | looker | (Ker) |
| caon | -kain- | knock-ainy | (Kaen) |
| caill | -kall- | knock-allion | (Kal) |
§ 174. c SLENDER.
| cí | -ky | sticky | (kee) |
| cing | -king | liking | (king) |
| ceir | -ker | sticker | (ker) |
| céin | cane | caning | (kaen) |
| ceal | cal | calton | (kal) |
§ 175. If we were to carry out strictly our phonetic scheme, the last five words would be represented by kee, king, ker, kaen, kal; but the key-words which we have given represent to us in Ireland the correct sound of the above words.
§ 176. Here we may remark, as many of our students have already noticed for themselves, that the italicised symbols, k, d, l, n, r, t, all represent sounds which are merely a rapid pronunciation of ky, dy, ly, ny, ry, ty. Thus, words involving these sounds can be represented phonetically in two ways.
The sound of—
| ciuin | is represented by | kewn | or | k-yoon |
| diun | „„ | dewn | „ | d-yoon |
| liun | „„ | lewn | „ | l-yoon |
| niur | „„ | newr | „ | n-yoor |
| breas | „„ | bras | „ | br-yass |
| teas | „„ | tas | „ | t-yas |
§ 177. Words.
cailín (Kal′-een), a girl.
[2]caill (Kal), lose.
[2]caillte (Kal′-tĕ), lost.
caoin (Keen, verb, lament, mourn, “keen.”
caora (Kaer′-ă), a sheep. (Connaught, Keera.)
[2]caisleán (Kash′-laun), a castle.
[2]coill (Kel), a wood.
coir (Ker), a crime.
coirce (Ker′-kĕ), oats.
cuisle (Kish′-lĕ), a vein.
cuir (Kir), verb, put, place.
eorna (ōrNă), barley.
lom (Lŭm; Munster, Loum), bare.
O’Cuinn (ō Kin), O’Quinn.
síos (shees), down; suas (soo′-ăs), up.
§ 178. Atá caora agus uan ins an leuna. Arán coirce agus arán eorna. Atá an eorna gan in Éirinn anois, atá coirce go leor in Éirinn fós. Ná cuir an cóiste ar an asal, níl sé láidir go leor. Atá caisleán mór ar an oileán. Atá an caisleán mór, láidir. Cuir an bád ar an linn, agus cuir suas an crann agus an seol mór. Cuir an capall agus an láir ins an leuna. Atá coill ar an oileán. Slán leat. Atá an cailín deas. [ 37 ] § 179. A tree and a wood. Do not lose the young brown horse. There is not a wood at the well now. Conn O’Quinn is going down to Kildare. Put the wheel down on the floor, and put a stool at the door. Oaten bread (arán coirce) is strong and wholesome. The barley is fresh and green now, the oats is long and heavy. There is no barley growing on the cliff—the cliff is bare. and there is no tree growing on the other cliff. There are oats and barley in the barn now, and Niall and Peter are working in the barn. Put the oats in the barn, on the floor, and leave a flail at the door.
EXERCISE XXVII.
§ 180. The Verb “To Have.”
There is no verb “to have” in modern Irish. The want is supplied thus: The sentence, “Con has a horse,” is translated, “There is a horse at Conn.” The same construction is found in Greek, Latin, and other languages.
Examples.
Atá capall ag Seumas, James has a horse; níl túirne ag Nora anois, Nora has not a wheel now; atá capall óg aige, he has a young horse.
§ 181.
| “At me” | is translated by | agam | (og′-ăm, | Munst., | og-ŭm′) | ||
| “At thee, you” | agat | (og′-ăth, | „ | og-ŭth′) | |||
| “At us” | againn | (og′-ăn, | „ | og-in′) | |||
| “At them” | aca | (ok′-ă, | „ | ok-ŭ′) | |||
| “At him” | aige | (eg′-ĕ, | „ | eg-e′) | |||
| “At her” | aici | (ek′-ee, | „ | ek-ee′) |
Notice that the pronunciation of aige and aice is exceptional, the ai being sounded like e and not like a (§ 132).
Atá capall agam, I have a horse; níl bó aici, she has not a cow; níl bád aca, they have not a boat.
§ 182. Atá bád mór láidir agam, agus atá mé ag dul síos do’n sáile anois. Níl bád agam; atá bó agam, agus capall, agus asal, agus leuna; agus atá feur fada, trom ins an leuna. Níl an sgioból lán fós, atá coirce agsu eorna ins an sgioból eile. Níl seamróg agat fós. Fuair mé seamróg ar an aill; níl seamróg ag fás ar an aill eile. Atá cóiste mór ag Seumas O’Brian, agus atá an cóiste ar an ród anois. Atá uan óg deas ag Máire anois, fuair sí caora agus uan ar an ród. Níl capall donn agam, atá capall bán agam, atá sé sean, agus atá sé láidir fós. Atá siad tinn, níl sláinte aca. Atá bád ag Conn, agus atá crann agus seol ag Niall.
§ 183. James and Peter are not going to the island, they have not a boat now. The ship is lost, she is not going to Derry. I have a young horse; William has not a horse now, he has a mare and a new coach. We have health. We have oats and barley, and he has a barn, and Peter has a new flail. Una has a new strong spinning-wheel; put the broken wheel in the barn. Do not put the other wheel in the barn yet. Conn is strong, he has bread, butter, cheese, wine and water. Una has a new shoe. They have a pretty boat. I have a wren, James has another bird.