Elements of Gaelic Grammar Part 4

1. Plain. _Broad_: like _c_ in _come_, _curb_; as, cul _the back_, cridhe _the heart_.

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2. _Small_: like _c_ in _care_, _cure_; as, taic _support_, circe _of a hen_[16].

3. Aspirated. _Broad_: like the Greek [chi], as p.r.o.nounced in Scotland, in [Greek: chora]; as, croch _to hang_, chaidh _went_.

4. _Small_: like [chi] in [Greek: chion]; as, chi _shall see_, eich _horses_.

G.

1. Plain. _Broad_: like _g_ in _go_, _rogue_; as, gabh _to take_, glor _speech_, bog _soft_.

2. _Small_: like _g_ in _give_, _fatigue_; as, gin _to produce_, thig _shall come_, tilg _to throw_.

3. Aspirated. _Broad_: has no sound like it in English; ghabh _took_, ghleidh _kept_.

4. _Small_: nearly like _y_ in _young_; as, ghin _produced_.

5. _Gh_ in the end of a syllable is often quiescent; as, righ _a king_, tiugh _thick_, fuigheall _remainder_.

T.

1. Plain. _Broad_: nearly like _t_ in _tone_, _bottom_; as, tog _to raise_, trom _heavy_, brat _a covering_.

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2. _Small_: like _ch_ in _cheek_, _choose_; as, tinn _sick_, caillte _lost_.

3. Aspirated. Like _h_ in _house_; as, thig _shall come_, throisg _fasted_, maith _good_.

4. _Quiescent_: in the middle of a polysyllable, in the end of a long syllable, and in certain tenses of a few irregular verbs when preceded by _d'_; as, snitheach[17] _watery_, sth _peace_, an d' thug e? _did he give?_ also in the p.r.o.noun thusa _thou_.

D.

1. Plain. _Broad_: nearly like _d_ in _done_; as, dol _going_, dlu _near_, _close_, ciod _what_.

2. _Small_: like _j_ in _June_, _jewel_; as, diu _refuse_, maide _a stick_, airde _height_.

_D_, after _ch_, is commonly sounded like _c_; as, bochd _poor_, p.r.o.nounced as if written bochc[18].

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3. Aspirated[19]. _Broad_: like broad _gh_, as, dhruid _did shut_, gradh _love_.

4. _Small_: like small _gh_; as, dhearc _looked_.

5. Quiescent; as, faidh _a prophet_, cridhe _a heart_, radh _saying_, bualadh _striking_.

RULE.--_The consonants c, g, t, d, have their _SMALL_ sound, when, in the same syllable, they are preceded, or immediately followed, by a _SMALL VOWEL_; in all other situations they have their _BROAD_ sound._

S.

1. Plain. _Broad_: like _s_ in _sun_, _this_; as, speal _a scythe_, cas _a foot_, suil _an eye_, scian _a knife_.

2. _Small_: like _sh_ in _show_, _rash_; as, bris _to break_, seimh _quiet_, sniomh _to twine_, steidh _foundation_.

3. Aspirated: like _h_ in _him_; as, shuidh _sat_, shrann _snorted_. Before _l_ and _n_, it is almost, if not altogether, quiescent; as, shlanuich _healed_, shniomh _twisted_. _S_ followed by a _mute_ consonant is never aspirated.

RULE.--_S has its _SMALL_ sound, when, in the same syllable, it is preceded or followed by a _SMALL VOWEL_, with or without an intervening Lingual. In all other situations it has its _BROAD_ sound._ EXCEPT. _S_ is _broad_ in is _am_. It is _small_ in so _this_, sud _yon_. It is customary to give _s_ its _broad_ sound in the beginning of a word, when the former word ends with _r_, in which case the _r_ also has its broad sound; as, chuir sinn _we put_, air son _on account_.

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OF L, N, R.

A distinction between a consonant when _plain_, and the same consonant when _aspirated_, has been easily traced thus far. This distinction readily discovers itself, not only in the p.r.o.nunciation and orthography, but also (as will be seen in its proper place) throughout the system of inflection.

It takes place uniformly in those consonants which have been already considered. With respect to the remaining linguals, _l_, _n_, _r_, a corresponding distinction will be found to take place in their p.r.o.nunciation, and likewise in the changes they suffer by inflection. This close correspondence between the changes incident to _l_, _n_, _r_, and the changes which the other consonants undergo, seems to be a sufficient reason for still using the same discriminative terms in treating of their powers, though these terms may not appear to be so strictly applicable to these three consonants as to the rest. The powers of _l_, _n_, _r_, shall accordingly be explained under the divisions _plain_ and _aspirated_, _broad_ and _small_.

L.

1. Plain. _Broad_: has no sound like it in English; lom _bare_, labhair _speak_, mall _slow_, alt _a joint_, ald _a brook_, slat _a rod_, dlu _near_.

2. _Small_: like _ll_ in _million_; as, linn _an age_, lion _fill_, pill _to return_, slighe _a way_.

3. Aspirated. _Broad_: like _l_ in _loom_, _fool_; as, labhair _spoke_, lom feminine of lom _bare_, mol _to praise_, dhlu feminine of dlu _near_.

4. _Small:_ nearly like _l_ in _limb_, _fill_; as, a linn _his age_, lion _filled_, mil _honey_, dligheach _due, lawful_.

N.

1. Plain. _Broad_: has no sound like it in English; nuadh _new_, naisg _bind_, lann _a blade_, carn _a heap of stones_.

2. _Small_: like _n_ in the second syllable of _opinion_; as, nigh _wash_, binn _melodious_, cuirn _heaps of stones_. {18}

3. Aspirated. _Broad:_ like _n_ in _no_, _on_; as, nuadh feminine of nuadh _new_, naisg _bound_, shnamh _swam_, sean _old_[20], chon _of dogs_, dan _a poem_.

4. _Small_: like _n_ in _keen_, _near_; as, nigh _washed_, shniomh _twisted_, coin _dogs_, dain _poems_.

In an when followed by a Palatal, the _n_ is p.r.o.nounced like _ng_ in English; as, an gille _the lad_, an comhnuidh _always_.

_N_, after a mute, is in a few instances p.r.o.nounced like _r_[21]; as in mnathan _women_, cnatan _a cold_, an t-snath _of the yarn_; p.r.o.nounced mrathan, cratan, &c.

R.

1. Plain. Nearly like _r_ in _roar_; as, ruadh _reddish_, righ _a king_, ruith _run_, torr _a heap_, ceartas _justice_.