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The writer departs here from the construction that he had in mind in beginning the sentence.
Lit. “It is not possible with me without its being in its very great wonder on me.”
Lit. “Who give their native, &c., into contempt and into disregard.”
Lit. “Words.”
Lit. “The reproach of this—it is possible to put it on the folk of science who are authors to the tongue;” a ċur = “its putting.”
Lit. “So obscure, so quenched, that it is not much that it has not gone,” &c.
Noċ as a relative = “who” does not occur once in Trí Bior-ġaoiṫe an Bháis, nor is it used in the spoken language, so far as I am aware. The word is simply neoċ old dative of neċ = neaċ, “one, anyone.” The successive stages by which it attained the meaning “who” are easily traced; but in the relative sense it does not seem to have ever been anything but a book-word, and it may perhaps be regarded now as obsolete.
The correct term in Irish for the Irish language is an Ghaeḋealg, genitive na Ghaeḋilge (=eilge), dative do’n Ghaeḋilg (=eilg.) The forms most in use are in Connaught, Gaeḋilge in all cases; in Munster, Gaeḋilig, gen. Gaeḋilge, or more commonly Gaoluing, or Gaoluin, gen. Gaoluinge or Gaoluine. From this corrupt form is again formed Gaolantóir = Gaeḋilgeoir, “a speaker of Irish.”
Lit. “As is.”
Lit. “On the party who used to be pleasureful on," &c.
Lit. “It was not worthy with them.”
“It is with a man of language (cp. note 9), that they give to its understanding their mind.”
“This” is often used in English, where sin = “that” is used in Irish.
The nominative here does not precede its verb in the Irish. It can never do so but in the case of a relative pronoun. Ambasadúirí is the suspended nominative (nominativus pendens), and the sentence would be literally rendered “the ambassadors . . . . . . . . . .—they do not speak.”
Lit. they “pleased [with] the emperor.”
Lit. “Through without Latin to speak.” It is commonly laid down that all prepositions take the dative case in modern Irish. The accusative, however, seems to be used after gan—“cloċ gan láṁa uirre, a stone without hands on it.” Three Shafts.
Lit. “It is very severely that the Emperor C. punished," &c. When a word is to be emphasized, like ro-ġeur here, it is commonly brought to the front of the sentence with is before it. Compare below, “it is very censorious that C. was.”
Do leigidís, tuigidís, the imperfect or habitual past “they used to pretend,” &c.
Lit. “After the Greeks to be under them.” Note that that the words na nGreugaċ are in the genitive governed by tar éis, not in the accusative before the infin. do ḃeiṫ. This is the usage of all good writers.
Coṁaiġṫeaċ = coṁ -aġaiḋ -eaċ, face to face; a country facing or bordering on another, being regarded as “foreign.” Coiṁṫiġeaċ is another form of the word, or perhaps a different word with the same meaning, in which the root is tiġ, teaċ, “a house,” the idea being “next door,” “neighbouring,” which applied to a country of course means “foreign.” Another word for “foreign” is coigcríċeaċ, that is, “coterminous,” countries having the same boundary (críoċ) being “foreign” to each Other. In Middle Irish, comaigṫeċ means “a neighbour.”
Every word of the last paragraph of this extract, written two and a-half centuries ago, may well be taken to heart at the present day.
Mac Léiginn.
SPOKEN GAELIC OF DONEGAL.
J. C. WARD.
Díorfaċ Dúin-Alt.
Ḃí sin ann mar is fada ó ṡoin a ḃí fear ’na ċóṁnuiḋe i n-Dún Alt a d-tugaḋ siad an Díorfaċ air. Ní raḃ clann aige, giḋ go raḃ sé pósda le corraḋ ⁊ fiċe bliaḋain. Chuir so imníḋe ṁór air, mar ḃí sé an-ṡaiḋḃir ⁊ mar naċ raḃ daoine muintearḋa air biṫ aige le n-a ċuid maoin a ḟágḃail aca. Lá aṁáin d’eiriġ sé go moċ air maidin, ⁊ d’iarr sé air a ṁnaoi lón a ḋeanaḋ ḋó, go d-téiḋeaḋ sé ḋ’ aṁarc air a ċuid eallaiġ a ḃí giota fada air ṡiuḃal ó’n ḃaile aige. Riġne sí sin, ⁊ d’imṫiġ sé. Nuair a ċonnaic sé an ċuid buḋ ṁó díoḃṫa, ⁊ ḃí sé sáruiġṫe, ṡuiḋ sé síos air ṫurtóig le na sgíṫisde a ḋeanaḋ. Tharraing sé amaċ an tuirtín a ḃí leis mar lón ⁊ ṫoisiġ sé ’ga íṫe. Níor ḃ-fada go d-táinic fear beag ribíneaċ ruaḋ ċuige ⁊ d’ḟiafruiġ sé ḋe an d-taḃairfeaḋ sé dadaiḋ de’n ḃunnóig dó. Bhéarfad ⁊ céad míle fáilte, ars an Díorfaċ, no ní’l móran ocrais orm-sa, ⁊ da m-beiḋeaḋ féin ní raḃas ariaṁ naċ rannfainn. Shuiḋ an fear beag ribíneaċ ruaḋ síos ⁊ d’ iṫ siad araon go raḃ siaḋ súḃaċ, sáṫaċ. Leig an Díorfaċ osna ṁór as ⁊ d’ḟiosruiġ an fear beag cad é aḋḃar a imníḋe. D’ innis an Díorfaċ dó, go raḃ sé gan clann a ḃ-fuigfeaḋ sé a ṡaiḋbreas aca. “Ní ḃéiḋ tú mar sin” ars an fear beag ruaḋ; “trí ráiṫċe o’n oiḋċe anoċt béiḋ ḋá ṁac aig do ṁnaoi, ḋá ṡearraċ aig do ċapall, ḋá coilean aig do ċú ⁊ ḋá eun aig do ṡeaḃac. Thainic an Díorfaċ aḃaile go luaṫ-ġáireaċ ⁊ tárla mar h-innseaḋ dó. Ḃí ḋá ṁac aig na ṁnaoi ⁊ baisdeaḋ Donn ṁac An Díorfaiġ air ḋuine aca ⁊
