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> Scottish Gaelic, Lesson 4
WizardofOwls 
Posted: 18-Mar-2005, 07:57 PM
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Here is a new lesson for you! As always, this lesson is from:

www.taic.btinternet.co.uk/taic.htm

Lesson 4

Introduction to Adjectives

You saw in Lesson 1 that adjectives can be used predicately, following the verb To Be. The adjective never changes in this situation :
Masculine noun - Tha am balach beag - The boy is small
Feminine noun - Tha a' chaileag beag - The girl is small
Plural nouns - Tha na balaich beag - The boys are small
Tha na caileagan beag - the girls are small

However, an adjective must agree in both case and gender with the noun it directly describes. This is called the attribute position. For nominative (basic) forms of nouns these are as follows :
Masculine singular (no change in adjective) Gille mòr - A big lad
An gille mòr - The big lad
Feminine singular (lenite adjective if possible) ? Caileag mhòr - A big girl
A' chaileag mhòr - The big girl
Plural nouns (add -a or -e to adjective) * Gillean mòra - Big lads
Na gillean mòra - The big lads
Caileagan mòra - Big girls
Na caileagan mòra - The big girls

? All adjectives with initial consonant quality can be lenited except those beginning with l, n, r, sg, sm, sp or st. For example, caileag mhòr, caileag bheag but caileag sgìth.
* The ending follows the Gàidhlig spelling rule. For example, if a syllable ends in a narrow vowel (i.e. i or e) then the following syllable must begin with a narrow vowel. Similarly if a syllable ends in a broad vowel (i.e. a, o or u) then the following syllable must begin with a broad vowel. Hence mòr >> mòra, glic (wise) >> glice .

The adjectives seo - this / these and sin - that / those never change in any position :
Masculine an gille seo - this lad
an gille mòr seo - this big lad
na gillean seo - these lads
na gillean mòra seo - these big lads an gille sin - that lad
an gille mòr sin - that big lad
na gillean sin - those lads
na gillean mòra sin - those big lads
Feminine a' chaileag seo - this girl
a' chaileag bheag seo - this small girl
na caileagan seo - these girls
na caileagan beaga seo - these small girls a' chaileag sin - that girl
a' chaileag bheag sin - that small girl
na caileagan sin - those girls
na caileagan beaga sin - those small girls

All nouns have either masculine or feminine gender in Gàidhlig. So when you want to describe something using its pronoun you must refer to it by either e or i for masculine and feminine nouns respectively. Both mean it :

Masculine pronoun

Tha an seòmar fuar - The room is cold
Tha e fuar - It is cold

Feminine pronoun

Tha an eaglais fuar - The church is cold
Tha i fuar - It is cold

NEW WORDS

Adjectives
dearg - red
dona - bad
fada - long
goirid - short
gorm - blue, verdant green, bruised black & blue
math - good
inntinneach - interesting
seo - this
sin - that
tinn - ill, sick
ùr - new

Pronouns
e - it (masculine subject)
i - it (feminine subject)

EXERCISE 1 Translate into English
1.Chan eil an sgoil mhòr cho glan
2.Tha an eaglais bheag làn
3.An robh an sgian ùr geur? Cha robh
4.Bha am peann gorm tioram
5.Tha an litir seo inntinneach
6.Bha an taigh sin falamh
7.Tha an snàthad gheur salach
8.Tha an gille dona sin leisg
9.An robh an seòmar beag blàth? Cha robh
10.Cha robh a' chaileag bheag tinn

EXERCISE 2 Translate into Gàidhlig
1.Was the small book wet? No 2.The long river was very dirty
3.Was the new door dry?
4.The short floor was wet
5.That dirty mirror isn't new
6.The long peace was good
7.Was the house not empty? Yes
8.The hot fire was very good
9.That red hand is wet
10.The long night was cold
11.The blue boat isn't full
12.The bad girl wasn't pleased
13.That man is dry and warm
14.That long loch was high


--------------------
Slàn agus beannachd,
Allen R. Alderman

'S i Alba tìr mo chridhe. 'S i Gàidhlig cànan m' anama.
Scotland is the land of my heart. Gaelic is the language of my soul.
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