Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/34

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18

The Insertion of h.

29. The following is a pretty general rule for the insertion of h before vowels:—

"Particles which neither aspirate nor eclipse, and which end in a vowel, prefix h to words beginning with a vowel. Such is the case with the following:—le, with; a, her; go, to; dara, second; , six; trí, three; na, the (in the nom., acc., and dative plural, also in the gen. singular feminine); go before adverbs; the ordinal adjectives ending in ṁaḋ, &c."—Gaelic Journal.




CHAPTER IV.

Attenuation and Broadening.

30. Attenuation is the process of making a broad consonant slender. This is usually done by placing an i immediately before the broad consonant, or an e after it. Thus if we want to make the r of mór (big), slender, we place an i before the r; thus móir. If we wish to make the f of fad (the termination of the 1st person singular future) slender, we write fead &c.

31. Broadening is the process of making a slender consonant broad. This is often done by placing a u immediately before the slender consonant, or an a after it; thus the verbal noun of derived verbs ending in is formed by adding aḋ: before adding the aḋ the ġ must be made broad; this is done by inserting