A Gaelic grammar, containing the parts of speech and the general principles of phonology and etymology, with a chapter on proper and place names PDF
Preview A Gaelic grammar, containing the parts of speech and the general principles of phonology and etymology, with a chapter on proper and place names
noà. u^ GRAMMAR GAELIC CONTAINING THE PARTS OF SPEECH AND THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PHONOLOGY AND ETYMOLOGY WITH A CHAPTER ON PROPER AND PLACE NAMES BY GEORGE CALDER. b.d., d. litt., Lecturer in Celtic, University of Glasgow. GLASGOW: Alex. MacLaren & Sons, 360-362 argyle street. Paper made, printed and hound in Scotland DO M' OILEANAICH A THA, 'S A BHA, 'S A BHIOS — INTRODUCTION. & .RAMMAR," says Professor Bain, "is a science or nothing." Grammar, one may add, is the description of a language, as Geography is the description ofacountry. TherulesofGrammarrestonuseandwont, and on induction from observed facts; and the examples are illustrative, not exhaustive. In dealing with fading usages, however, like"dual da, fviller illustrations are de- sirable; and in intricate combinations like article with noun, preposition with pronoun, and the verbal system, exhaustive treatment is the only satisfactory course. Attracted by Celtic philology, and following in the footsteps of Zeuss, international scholars have since his time, in increasing numbers, studied Old Irish; and the mass of material being manageable, they have produced manyadmirablegrammaticalworks,which,thoughdiffering widely in aim and importance, throw much light upon modern Gaelic. Comparatively Uttle has been done in this restricted field since Stewart published his grammar, a great work, which evoked the admiration of O'Donovan. The time seemsripeforanattempt tolaybefore theGaehc-speaking publicthemainresultsofmodernscholarship; andinorder to save the time and energy of teachers, the editor has set down, in grammatical order, facts that have constantly emerged and engaged his attention as a teacher of Gaelic during the last decade. These pages contain some matters not hitherto treated adequately or at all in Gaelic grammars. The time has come for dealing with philological changes, compound nouns, proper names, and the compounding of verbs with preverbs, of nouns with prenouns, of nouns with suffixes ; and theuse and derivationofencliticsandparticles. While these topics will interest pupils who have made some progress in the language, the Grammar maybe also used with advantage in the hands of a skilful teacher for the instruction ofjunior pupils. The noun forms, the adjectives, the numerals, the pro- nouns, the prepositions, the prepositional pronouns, and the verb forms may be learnt by the youngest pupil, with this added advantage, that he may at the same time read and assimilate the examples which may be found suited to his state of advancement. The Editor makes grateful acknowledgements to Pro- fessor Eraser and to Mr. Calum Macpharlan for having readpartoftheproofs. Thesheetshavebeenlookedover alsobyMr.NeilShawandMr.JamesMacLaren,andthanks aredueto them forpointing out someerrors. The Editor is greatlyindebted to the Rev.Dr.J. KingHewisonforthe loan of the pastoral visitation roll (MS.) of the Rev. Dr. MacLea, minister of Rothesay, 1760-1824, containing all thenamesandsurnames in theparish. Finally,theEditor has much pleasure in acknowledging his obligations to Principal Sir Donald MacAHster for the great interest he has taken in the work from first to last, and for many helpful suggestions. An Comunn Gàidhealach has generously given a grant of ;£100 to the Editor to aid him in producing the work. Glasgow, May, 1923.
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