Volume 1

Dictionarium scoto-celticum: a dictionary of the Gaelic language: comprising an ample vocabulary of Gaelic words ... with their signification and various meanings in English and Latin ... and vocabularies of Latin and English words, with their translation into Gaelic. To which are prefixed, an introduction explaining the nature, objects and sources of the work, and a compendium of Gaelic grammar / compiled by J. Macleod and others and published under the direction of the Highland Society of Scotland ; edited by M. Mackay.

Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dictionarium scoto-celticum: a dictionary of the Gaelic language: comprising an ample vocabulary of Gaelic words ... with their signification and various meanings in English and Latin ... and vocabularies of Latin and English words, with their translation into Gaelic. To which are prefixed, an introduction explaining the nature, objects and sources of the work, and a compendium of Gaelic grammar / compiled by J. Macleod and others and published under the direction of the Highland Society of Scotland ; edited by M. Mackay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    but as it is the dam that is spoken of, the reference is made by the Personal Pronoun of the fem. gender— ‘ Ta gfiocas air a fireanachadh ieis a cloinn’ Wisdom is justified hy her children, ‘ Gliocas’ is a masc. noun; but as Wisdom is here personified as a female, the regimen of the Possessive Pronoun is adapted to that idea. If the Antecedent be a sentence, or clause of a sentence, the Pronoun is of the 3d Pers. Sing. Mas- culine ; as ‘ dll’ ith na bà caola suas na bà reamhra, agus cha n-aithnichteadh orra e’ the lean cattle ate up the fat cattle, and it could not be known hy them. If the Antecedent be a collective Noun, the Pro- noun is of the 3d Pers. Plur. as ‘ thoir aithne do ’n t- sluagh, d’ eagal gu’m bris iad a steach’ charge the peo- ple lest they break in. An Interrogative combined with a Personal Pro- noun, asks a question without the intervention of the Substantive verb ; as ‘ co mise ?’ who [am] I? ‘ co iad na daoine sin ? who [are] those men Ì ‘ cia i a’ cheud àithne?’ which [is] the first command- ment Ì In interrogations of this form, the noun is sometimes preceded by the Personal Pronoun, and sometimes not; as ‘ co e am fear ?’ who [is] the man Ì ‘ CO am fear ?’ what man ? ‘ Co am fear ?’ is evidently an incomplete sentence, like what man ? in English. The ellipsis may be supplied thus; ‘ co e am fear a ta thu ciallachadh ? who is the man whom you mean ? This example may be abridged into another common interrogation, in which the Interrogative is immediate- ly followed by the Relative; as ‘ co a ta thu ciall- achadh ?’ who [is he'] whom you mean f ‘ ciod a ta ‘ thu faicinn ?’ wluit [is it] that you see ? In an interrogative sentence including a Personal Pronoun and a Noun, as, ‘co e am fear sin?’ if the Noun be restricted in its signification by some other words connected with it, such as the Article, an Adjective, another Noun in the Genitive, or a relative elause ; then the Pronoun usually follows the Gender of the Noun, or the Sex of the object signified by the Noun, if the Gender does not correspond to it; as ‘-co e am fear a theid a suas ?’ who is the man that shall ascendi ‘co i am boirionnach sin ?’ who is that woman? ‘ cia i a’ cheud aithne ?’ which is the first command ?—If the Noun be not so restricted, the Pronoun is of the masculine gender ; as ‘ ciod e uchd-mhacachd ?’ what is adoption i ‘ ciod e ùrnuigh ?’ what is prayer i SECTION IV. OF THE AGREEMENT OF A VERB WITH ITS NOMI- NATIVE. As the verb has no variation of form corresponding to the Person or Number of its Nominative, the con- nection between a Verb and its Nominative can be marked only by its collocation. Little variety there- fore is allowed in this respect. The Nominative, whe- ther Noun or Pronoun, is ordinarily placed after the Verb ; as ‘ tha mi’ lam, ‘ fugadh duine-cloinne’a man- child is born. The Article or an Adjective, is fre- Vol. I. quently placed between the Verb and its Nominative; as ‘ thainig an uair’ the hour is come ; aithrisear iomadh droch sgeul’ many an evil tale will be told. Sometimes, but more rarely, circumstances are expressed between the Verb and its Nominative ; as ‘ rugadh dhuinne, an diugh, ann am baile Dhaibhidh, an Slànuighear, there is born to us, this day, in David’s town, the Saviour. The Relatives ‘ a’ who, ‘ nach’ who not, are always put before the verb ; as ‘ am fear a thuit’, the man who fell; ‘ am fear nach dean beud’, the man who will not commit a fault. In poetry, or poetical style, where inversion is al- lowed, the Nominative is sometimes placed before the Verb ; as ‘ doimhneachd na talmhainn ta ’n a laimh’ in his hand is the depth of the earth. In those Persons of the Verb in which the termi- nations supply the place of the Personal Pronouns, no Nominative is expressed along with the Verb. The Infinitive often takes before it the Nominative of the Agent; in which case the Preposition ‘ do’ is either expressed or understood before the Infinitive ; as ‘ feuch, cia meud a’ mhaith, bràithre do bhi ’n an còmhnuidh ann an sith K behold, how great a good it is, that brethren dwell in peace ! ‘ Is e mi dh’ fhantuinn ’s an fheòil, a’s feumaile dhuibhse’ my abiding in the flesh is more needful for you. SECTION V. OF THE AGREEMENT OF ONE NOUN WITH ANOTHER. When in the same sentence, two or more Nouns, applied as names to the same object, stand in the same grammatical relation to other words ; it should naturally be expected that their Form, in so far as it depends on that relation, should be the same ; in other words, that Nouns denoting the same object, and re- lated alike to the governing word, should agree in Case. This accordingly happens in Greek and Latin. In Gaelic, where a variety of form gives room for the ap- plication of the same rule, it has been followed in some instances; as ‘ Donncha mac Chailein mine Dliòmh- nuil’ Duncan the son of Colin the soil of Donald; where the words ‘ Chailein’ and ‘ mhic’ denoting the same person, and being alike related to the preceding Noun ‘ mac’ are on that account both in the same Case. It must be acknowledged, however, that this rule, obvious and natural as it is, has not been uni- formly observed by the speakers of Gaelic. For ex- ample ; instead of ‘ mac loseiph an t-saoir’ the son of Joseph the carpenter, many would more readily say ‘ mac loseiph an saor.’ CHAP. IL—OF GOVERNMENT. Under this head is to be explained the Govern- ment of Nouns, of Adjectives, of Verbs, of Preposi- tions, and of Conjunctions. e