If it be still regretted, that no specific rules can be given, to ascertain in every instance to what declension a word belongs, from an inspection of the nominative alone-it is to be considered, that this difficulty is not peculiar to the Irish; and a moderate degree of attention will overcome it in this as well as in other languages.

19. The list of heteroclites might be rendered more copious, by attending to the various inflexions of nouns, in the different parts of Ireland. But as this would be descending to the sanction of provincial barbarisms, it appeared more adviseable to state those only which are uniformly irregular. Perhaps, even to these, additions might be made, which have escaped the notice of the compiler.

20. Having learned to decline nouns alone, the student will easily infect them with the article, which should be kept a business entirely separate from the former. Almost every noun may be inflected with the article; and it would be no unprofitable exercise if the examples under the foregoing declensions were revised, in union with the article.

21. Although the combination of words, such as articles, nouns, and adjectives inflected together, belongs more properly to syntax, yet it was thought adviseable to exhibit them here; and the student, in learning the use of the article, (see p. 91,) should always refer to these examples. 22. Participles ending in igh, which come under this rule, take the additional, in the nominative plural; as, beannaigh, beannaighthe, blessed.

23. Adjectives are frequently eclipsed, after nouns, in the ablative singular, and genitive plural; as, on gcois, from the foot; na la bhfuar, of the cold days.

24. The genitive of many adjectives requires an increase, in order to form the comparative; as dludh, gen. dluidhe, comp. dluiche.

De, of it, is often added to comparatives; as, giorraide, the shorter of it; budh deirge dhe sin.

25. In order to make the expression complete, as requires air bith, after the adjective; as, as gile air bith, the whitest of all; but air bith is often omitted.

Ro, very, can hardly be said to denote a superlative degree of comparison; as it simply signifies a high degree of the quality that is expressed; but it is most conveniently classed with superlatives, in grammar; and, when this distinction is observed, it can occasion no error.

26. Some other adjectives seem to form the degrees of comparison irregularly; as, isioll, low, nios isle, lower, &c.

U

but,

but, as these are only contractions for the full words, they may be better learned by practice.

Fogus, near, compar. foigse, may be added to this list. 27. These are the names of the numerals, as now expressed. In former times the higher decades were expressed by single words; as, triochad, thirty, ceathrachad, forty, nochad, ninety, &c.; and the ordinals were formed accordingly; but these words are no longer generally intelligible, and it would only perplex the learner to exhibit obsolete words, which may be easily learned in reading ancient writings.

28. In the north of Ireland, mur is commonly said, instead of bhur, your; but it is never used in correct writing.

29. The use of these abbreviations is to avoid that hiatus, which is occasioned by a concurrence of vowels; and it is a principle upon which the euphony of this, and every other polished language is founded.

30. The simple and original relative is a, who, which, for which do, or noch, is often used in writing. An te, properly means the male person (who understood); and an ti, the female person. Ce be, is a contraction for cia, ce, or ci, who, badh, were, and è, he, she, or it. But in all these expressions the relative à, who or which, is either expressed or understood.

31. Creud is more used in writings of some age, than in familiar conversation. Go de, as it is commonly written, and pronounced, may be only an abbreviation for guid. (Latin quid), è, what is it? And it has been ingeniously observed, by Mr. Stewart, that the pronoun should be distinguished here by the termination; viz. that, in speaking of males, we should say, guid e-of females, guid i; but this distinction is not observed in ancient writings

32. Sud, yonder, is frequently used instead of ùd, after pronouns of the third person; as, 'se sùd an fear ceadna, yonder is the same man: or when put absolutely, the noun being understood; as, le sud, with yon; a bhfaic tu sùd? do you see yon?

33. Liom, leat, &c. These compound pronouns are. read, in books and writings of some antiquity, (as they are still retained in the Scottish Galie,) riom, riot, ris, rinn, ribh, riu.

34. It may be sufficient to mention here, once for all, that there is some variety in the orthography of these pronouns, even among the most correct writers. Thus, the third persons singular feminine, aice, aisde, chuice, &c. might be more correctly terminated in i; as, aici, aisdi,

chuici,

chuici, &c. being formed by the combination of the prepositions with i, she. But as this orthography never was generally practised, it was not thought adviseable to deviate from the written standards of the language.

Thus liom is frequently written leam; uirre, uirthi; orra, orrtha; uradhfa, uabhtha, and the like; but, in all these instances, the original and radical sounds are preserved; the only licence being in the use of the adventitious letters.

35. There is a peculiar delicacy and beauty in the use of the increase in Irish, which it is hardly possible to express in any other language. The utmost accuracy is observed, even by the most illiterate native, in thus distinguishing the leading, or most prominent subject in the sentence. Sometimes, in order to mark a peculiar emphasis, the word fein, self, is used instead of the terminations usually added; as, rinne me fèin è, I myself did it.

36. This subject is so very important, that the learner, who desires to become a proficient in the Irish language, should not rest satisfied with the few examples here exhibited; but retrace the declensions, combining nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, in every variety, and marking accurately the distinction of meaning produced by, the emphatical increase.

37. Some respectable Irish grammarians represent the inflexions of verbs as much more simple than they are here exhibited; but it is much to be questioned whether, through a too great eagerness for simplifying, they do not occasion more obscurity, than the most tedious examples would produce. The inquisitive student will wish to see the various modes of thought and action fully expressed: and he can content himself with committing to memory those that are radically different; and which are distinguished by being infected through all the persons.

It is proper to observe, that all the inflexions of the verbs, (particularly the terminations of the second and third persons plural,) are not equally used, in common writing and conversation, throughout every part of Ireland. But, as it would be impossible to specify all the local idioms, it appeared sufficient, to omit only such words as are obsolete, and to insert such as are understood in general, adopting the best Irish authors as the criterion of propriety.

Some writers on Irish grammar deny the existence of an infinitive, and say that the place of it is supplied by a verbal noun; but this is only quibbling about names; the infinitive,

U 2

infinitive, and participle, imply the force of nouns, in Irish, as in all other languages.

39. These, and the like, may more properly be considered as participial phrases, composed of the infinitive, and a preposition, than as simple participles.

40. This second form of the present tense is the original, and correct one; the first is nothing more than the simple verb, with a prefixed; but they are both very commonly used, both in writing and speaking.

41. In all interrogations, an? is either expressed or understood; sometimes it is pronounced a, on account of the following consonant; sometimes it is entirely omitted, as in the present instance; and sometimes, before b, it is changed into m; as, a imbuailir? wilt thou strike?

42. This form of the preter tense differs from the preceding, in the omission of the sign do. The sign of the preter was anciently written ro, or ad, as well as do; but in modern speaking, and writing, it is very often omitted, and the tense is ascertained by the form of the verb.

43. Instead of raibh siad, in the third person plural, rabhadar was commonly in use some time since; but it is hardly understood at present.

44. These persons are indifferently written biann, or bionn. (See note 10.) This consuetudinal tense, (which some writers make a separate mood), is very much used, in all verbs, to denote an usual or habitual state of acting or being.

45. The interrogative an? is here changed into m, for sound's sake, the a being usually omitted. (See note 41.) 46. The second person plural is sometimes written beithi, instead of beidh, ye shall be.

47. In such expressions as these, the relative a, who, is always expressed or understood.

48. Muna is most correctly the sign of this tense; and mur, which is also used, is nothing more than a rapid and vulgar manner of expression.

49. This also may be written bhias; or, as it is sometimes pronounced, bheadhas.

50. Mur is frequently used, instead of muna, in this tense, as in the present, negative, subjunctive.

51. These expressions are literally translated, it were good with me that I were; and, it were better with me that I were. Many such phrases are used; as, budh mhian liom, I desire; is truagh liom nach raibh me, I am sorry I am not.

52. The potential can hardly be called a simple mood,

1

in Irish, as it is always formed by the combination of two or more words. These forms of expression, however, are extremely common, and necessary to be well understood. And, as they are equivalent to the compound moods and tenses of the English, and other languages, it seems proper to arrange them under the title of a separate mood.

53. Many regular verbs might be exhibited as examples, all differing in some minute particulars; but a remarkable proof of that which is chosen being one of the most proper is, that it is the same which has been adopted by Mr Stewart, in his Galic grammar, published long since this

was written.

54. In these expressions, (as in those noted 47,) the relative a, who, which, is always expressed or understood.

55. The sign do is frequently omitted in this tense; and the personal terminations are seldom used in vulgar conversation. In the Erse dialect, they are entirely omitted.

In old manuscripts, the termination seam, or siom, is sometimes written in the first person plural; as, do bhuailseam, for, do bhuaileamar, we struck.

56. To these may be added the preter interrogative, negative, nachar bhuail me, did I not strike? Nar is sometimes written for nachar, by mistake.

57. The second person plural is sometimes written buailfidhe; and the third person, buailfid. The f, in the first form of the future, is introduced in order to give more strength to the expression; and the termination is written indifferently ead, or id, when the penult ends in a small vowel; as, brisfead, or, brisfid, I shall, or, will break.

But if the penult be broad, ad only is used; as, casfad, I shall, or, will twist. There are many verbs, however, which do not admit f in the future.

58. The same observation, with respect to the relative, which is made, notes 47, and 54, is to be continued here. 59. When the penult ends in a broad vowel, the termination of this tense is regularly fainn; as, da gcasfainn.. But more usually a broad vowel is inserted, before inn, to correspond with that in the penult; as, da gcasfainn, or gcasfuinn, had I twisted.

The f is frequently omitted in this tense, except in the second person singular: and the second person plural is frequently used, without the pronoun. The orthography of the several persons is various, in different manuscripts, but still the radical sounds are retained; as,

Da