The
letter group "ei" gets various pronunciations, depending
on whether it is in an accented syllable, what letters
follow it, and what part of Ireland the speaker
is from. Often it has an (e) sound, as in "creidim",
I believe.
With a síneadh fada (SHEEN-uh) over the "e",
the sound is usually (ay*), as in "féin",
self, or "Éire" (AY*-re), but sometimes the
pronunciation is (eye), as in "éirigh" (EYE-ree),
rise. This word is pronounced (AY*-ree) in parts
of Ireland.
"Ei"
before "bh", "dh", "gh" or "mh" in an accented syllable
may be (eye), as in:
Eibhlín (EYE-leen), Eileen
eidhneán (EYE-naw*n), ivy
leigheas (LEYE-uhs), cure; resembling (leyes) in
parts of Ireland
deimhin (DEYE-in), certain
In parts of Ireland, "eibh" and "eimh" in these
words may be (ev):
Eibhlín (EV-e-leen), Evelyn
deimhin (DEV-in), certain
The word "geimhreadh", meaning "winter", may be
pronounced (GEE-ruh), (GEYE-ruh), or (GEV-roo),
depending on the speaker's origin. This may sound
confusing, but we have parallels in the United States,
where "right" may be (reyet), (raht), (rat), or
even (royt). And of course "either" can be (EE-thur)
or (EYE-thur).
We will continue to give you one pronunciation,
but we will add occasional explanation of variations.
GRAMMAR
The genitive plural of a noun is the form you need
if you wish to say, for example, "house of the men,
the men's house" in Irish. In the first declension,
consisting of nouns that are masculine and end in
a broad consonant, the genitive plural is usually
the basic word that you have learned. "Men's" is
"fear" (far).
"House
of the men" is "teach na bhfear" (TAHK* nuh VAR).
The word "na" here means "of the," and it causes
eclipsis wherever possible.
Review the cases for the first declension:
man fear (far)
the man an fear (un far)
of the man, the man's an fhir (un IR)
a man's fir or fhir
men fir
the men na fir
of the men, the men's na bhfear
of men, men's fear or fhear (ar)
The genitive plural is the same as the basic noun
for all the first-declension nouns whose nominative
plural is formed by:
slenderizing the broad consonant, or adding "a"
to the basic word. Examples are:
fear; na fir
leabhar; na leabhair
úll;
na húlla
bord; na boird (bwird)
Éireannach;
na hÉireannaigh
ceart; na cearta
"Next
to the books" is "in aice na leabhar" (in A-ke nuh
LOU-uhr). "Color of the apples" is "dath na n-úll"
(dah nuh NOOL). Note that an "n" precedes a vowel
in the genetive plural.
For plurals that end in "ta", "tha", "í",
or "anna", the genitive plural is the same as the
nominative plural that you have been learning in
the last three lessons. For example:
dán (daw*n), poem; na dánta, the poems;
ag léamh na ndánta, reading the poems;
ag léamh dánta, reading poems.
bealach (BAL-uhk*), road, way; na bealaí
(nuh BAL-ee), the roads; ag dúnadh na mbealaí
(uh DOON-uh nuh MAL-ee); ag dúnadh bealaí
This subject of plurals and the genitive case seems
puzzling at first, but we will be drilling on it
in the next few weeks to give you a good understanding
of it. You will be surprised at the progress you
make, provided that you do the drills and exercises
faithfully.
DRILL
Form these word groups into the genitive (singular
or plural as indicated), as shown by the following
example:
"praghas;
an ticéad" becomes "praghas an ticéid"
(preyes uh ti-KAY*D).
ar chúl; na crainn (nuh krin)
i measc; na froganna
os cionn; na hárasáin (nuh HAW*-ruh-saw*-in)
hataí; na Meiriceánaigh (nuh mer-i-KAW*-nee)
ag déanamh; arán (uh-RAW*N)
ag oscailt; an béal (un BAY*L)
barr; an ceann (un kyoun)
polasaí; an rialtas (un REE-uhl-tuhs)
ag ceannach; na lasáin (nuh luh-SAW*-in)
chun; na droichid (k*un; nuh DRUH-hid)
barr; an buidéal (un bwi-DAY*L)
ag lasadh; an solas (SUH-luhs)
timpeall; an carr
le linn; na lónta
KEY
TO THE DRILL
ar chúl na gcrann (er K*OOL nuh groun), in
back of the trees.
i measc na bhfroganna (i mask nuh VROHG-uh-nuh),
in the midst of the frogs.
os cionn na n-árasán (ohs KYOON nuh
NAW*-ruh-saw*n), above the apartments.
hataí na Meiriceánach (HAH-tee nuh
mer-i-KAW*-nuhk*), the Americans' hats.
ag déanamh aráin (uh DAY*N-uhv uh-RAW*-in),
making bread.
ag oscailt an bhéil (eg OH-skilt uh VAY*L),
opening the mouth.
barr an chinn (bahr uh HYIN), top the head.
polasaí an rialtais (POH-luh-see uh REE-uhl-tish),
the government's policy.
ag ceannach na lasán (uh KAN-uhk* nuh luh-SAW*N),
buying the matches.
chun na ndroichead (k*un nuh NRUH-huhd), to the
bridges.
barr an bhuidéil (bahr uh vwi-DAY*L), top
of the bottle.
ag lasadh an tsolais (uh LAHS-uh uh TUH-lish), lighting
the light.
timpeall an chairr (TIM-puhl uh K*AHR), around the
car.
le linn na lónta (le LIN nuh LOHN-tuh), during
the lunches.
(c)
1999 The Irish People. May be reprinted with credit.
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