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SECOND LESSONOF THE UNION OP TWO OK MORE VOWELS, AND OF THEIR SOUNDS.Two vowels coming together form a diphthong. Three coming together form a tripthong. In Irish there are thirteen diphthongs ; five triphthongs. The chief use in treating of them at any length at so early a stage in our instructions, is to know their sounds clearly. Of the thirteen diphthongs six are always long, or naturally so ; seven are naturally short, but become long when marked with the accent. The long diphthongs do not require, as they are always long, any notation of the accent. The seven naturally short do require the presence of the accent to show that their sound is, in the case so noted, to be pronounced long. The long are: — ae, ao, eo, eu, ia, ua : iu (see Third Lesson, p. 13) has not yet been ranked amongst the long diphthongs.
This sound is easy, if it be kept in mind that u is always sounded as in the Continental languages, oo, and not 'you'. Vocabulary
Exercise V1. bhfuil an t-aer árd? 2. tá an t-aer árd. 3. bhfuil an lá fáda? 4. tá an lá fáda. 5. bhfuil an mac tinn ó nae? 6. tá an mac tinn ó nae. 7. bhfuil an rae bán? 8. tá an rae bán. 9. bhfuil bárr an gae garg? 10. tá bárr an gae garg. 11. tá arán (bread) saor. 12. bhfuil aol daor? 13. tá aol daor. 14. bhfuil aon blaosg agad? 15. tá blaosg agam. 16. bhfuil aon braon agad? 17. tá braon agam. 18. bhfuil taom ort? 19. tá taom orm. 20. bhfuil an mac faon? 21. tá an mac faon. 22. bhfuil an bó beo? 23. tá an bó beo. 24. bhfuil an maor tinn? 25. tá an maor tinn. 26. tá an taos daor? 27. tá ceol aige. 28. bhfuil aon deor agad? 29. tá ceo ann. 30. bhfuil eochair agad? 31. tá beoch agam ann seo. Exercise VI1. Is the cow white? 2. The cow is white. 2. Is the son tall? 3. The son is tall. 5. Is the day long? 6. The day is long. 7. Have you a berry? 8. I have not a berry. 9. Is the steward alive? 10. The steward is not alive. 11. The steward was alive yetserday 12. He was not alive yesterday. 13. He was sick yesterday. 14. Are you sick? 15. No, I am not. 16. Time is like a vapour. 17. Is music melodious? 18. Yes, music is melodious. 19. He tore a strong of the harp (cruit). 20. Music is cheap. 21. He tore the sail with the top of the arrow. OBS. 1—THere are at peresnt very few words spelled with the dipthong ae,in fact only one or two more besides those given here; as faetheadh, smiling: in modern Irish, ao is used for ae, so commonly found int he ancient written language. OBS. 2—The diphthong ao is not found in the English language save in the word GAOL, a prison ; in which it is pronounced like é in there — agreeing exactly with the sound given this diphthong in Irish by the natives of Munster. This analogy, and the fact that words now spelled with ao were, by ancient Irish writers, spelled with ae— which, as we have shown, has the sound of the first e in the word. there — leads us to believe that the sound of this diphthong, as pronounced in Munster, is the correct one. Add to this, that if ao be pronounced ee, it is not easy to distinguish between it and the sound of the triphthong aoi which is formed from it, nor from that of the diphthong ia OBS. 3.—Following the authority of Dr. O'Donovan, eo is placed by us among those diphthongs which are long by nature. For, as there are only five words in the language in which the sound of eo is found to be short, it is useless to mark it long. Hence, though hitherto this diphthong has been, by many Irish writers, marked with the accent ('), yet in our Lessons we shall avoid using this notation. It is plainly not only useless, but calculated even to lead astray. OBJECTION. — In what does the sound of the diphthong eo differ from that of the simple vowel o ? — Answer — e, in the diphthong eo adds to the sound of the simple o in a twofold way : first the sound of e in the diphthong eo is so blended with that of o as to make, as far as possible, only one whole sound — thus differing in their unison from the simple sound of- o. Again, the consonant preceding e becomes liquid, so that the same consonant which, before a, o, or u, would be pronounced hard, is pronounced liquid- like when going before e or i ; as, for example, the word bó, a cow, is pronounced like the French beau, while beo, alive, is pronounced as if be-yo ; so in ceol, music, the eo is pronounced as eo is heara in the Irish proper name Keogh ( or Kehoe, as it is written in some districts), and Keon ; while c not followed by e or í is not pronounced with that slender or liquid strain, but just like c in the English word cow. So l before e or i is sounded like l in million, or l in the French word lieu ; and s before e or í is sounded like sh, while before a, o, or u it is like s in sound or soul. This slender or liquid sound of the consonants before e and i should be much attended to ; it is the key for getting a proper pronunciation of the Irish language. Sound the following words according to the pronunciation noted in the commencement of this lesson: Vocabulary
Examples formed from the foregoing words:— Exercise VII 1. ní feur geug. 2. bhfuil seun ort? 3. tá seun orm. 4. bhfuil treud agad? 5. tá treud agam. 6. an seult an neul? 7. ní seult an neul. 8. an seult an speur? 9. ní seult an speur. 10. sreud an sgeul? 11. tá asn speun suas. 12. tá ciall aige. 13. bhfuil ciall aige? 14. agus tá mian agie. 15. tá iasg iage. 16. tá srian air. 17. bhfuil pian ort? 18. tá pian orm 19. tá giall agam. 21. tá giall air. 21. ní bhfuil slias air. 22. tá sgian geur. 23. is mian liom srian. 24. bhfuil gruag ort? 25. tá gruag orm. 26. tá gruag air. 27. bhfuil an cuan suas nó siar? 28. tá an cuan siar? 29. bhfuil ruan air? 30.tá ruan air. 31. is dual bás? 32. ni dual bás. 33. tá scuab agam. 34. tá cluas air. 35. tá uan óg aige. 36. tá an lá fuar. OBS. 1. — bhfuil is, pronounced will, is the third person singular present indicative of the verb fuilim, , I am; a form of the verb "to be," which is always employed instead of táim, I am, after any of the particles of questioning (as A , whether; nác, whether not, &c.); of wishing (go, that); of denying (ní, not, nách, who not); and of supposing (ma, if), and after the relative pronoun a, who, nách who not; as ní bnfuil sé, he is not; go bhfuil se, that he is; an bhfuil se, is he; nách bhfuil sé is he not; an té a bhfuil, the person who is; an te nach bhfuil the person who is not. OBS. 2. — The difference between is, is, and tá, is, is that the one (is) denotes simply existence; tá denotes existence in relation to time, state, condition, place. OBS. 3. — Is is omitted in short assertive sentences; as, feárr máda beo 'na leon marbh, a living dog (is) better than a dead line; feárr clú 'na conach, better fame than wealth. OBS. 4.—. Is (is) is never employed after particles of asking, wishing, deying, supposing, or the like; as an seult an grian, whether (is) the sun a star? nach seult an grian? is not the sun a star? ní seult an grian, the sun (is) not a start; an tu a tá ann? anne tu qui es illic! whether (is it) you who are in it? It is left understood, as is done so often in Latin sentences. Vocabulary
Note—There being in Irish, as in French, only two genders masculine and feminine (see Sixteenth Lesson), the pronoun it, when referring to nouns which in Irish are masculine, must be translated sé, but sí when to nouns which in our language are feminine. Exercise VIII1. Is the story true? 2. The story is not true. 3. Is the grass green. 4. THe grass is green. 5. Is prosperity on the country? 6. Prosperity is not on the country. 7. Prosperity is not lasting. 8. Is fish dear or cheap? 9. Fish is dear. 10. Is that a star or a cloud? 11. It is neither a star nort a cloud, it is the moon 12. Is that a story or a wish? 13. It is a story. 14. Is that a bridle on the cheek? 15. Is the ear erect? 16. I am in a slumber. 17. Are you in a slumber? 18. The finger is cold. 19. The sun is on high. 20. The sun is in the sky. 21. The sun is in a cloud. 22. Without store, wihtout friend. 23. A lamb is white. 24. THe worm is on the earth 25. The clay is cold. 26. THere is no rest on earth. 27. THere is rest with God. 28. Is there a God? 29. There is a god. 30. God is the beginning and the end, the foundation and the top of all things.
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self-instruction in irish -Bourke - 1885 |
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