Graiméar na Gaedhilge/Part II Chapter II

by Christian Brothers

CHAPTER II.

The Noun.

I. GENDER.

41. There are only two genders in Irish, the masculine and the feminine.

The gender of most Irish nouns may be learned by the application of a few general rules.

MASCULINE NOUNS.

42. (a) Names of males are masculine: as fear, a man; flaiṫ, a prince; aṫair, a father; coileaċ, a cock.

(b) The names of occupations, offices, &c., peculiar to men, are masculine: as ollaṁ, a doctor; file, a poet; bárd, a bard; breiṫeaṁ, a judge; saiġidiúir, a soldier.

(c) Personal agents ending in óir, aire, uiḋe (or aiḋe, oiḋe), or aċ are masculine: as sgeuluiḋe, a story-teller; bádóir, a boatman.

(d) Diminutives ending in án, and all abstract nouns ending in as or eas, are masculine—e.g.:

árdán, a hillock.maiṫeas, goodness.

(e) The diminutives ending in ín are usually said to be of the same gender as the noun from which they are derived. Notwithstanding this rule they seem to be all masculine. Cailín, a girl, is masculine,^[1] i.e. it suffers the same initial changes as a masculine noun, but the pronoun referring to it is feminine. She is a fine girl, Is breáġ an cailín í (not é).

(f) Many nouns which end in a consonant or two consonants preceded by a broad vowel are masculine: as ball, a limb; luaċ, a price; crann, a tree &c.

Exceptions:—(1) All words of two or more syllables ending in aċt or óg.

(2) A large number of nouns ending in a broad consonant are feminine. A very full list of commonly used feminine nouns ending in a broad consonant will be found in Appendix II.

FEMININE NOUNS.

43. (a) Names of females and designations of females are feminine: bean, a woman; cearc, a hen; máṫair, a mother; inġean, a daughter.

(b) The names of countries and rivers are feminine: as Éire, Ireland; an Life, the Liffey; an Ḃearḃa, the Barrow.

(c) Words of two or more syllables ending in aċt or in óg are feminine: as fuiseóg, a lark; driseóg, a briar; milseaċt, sweetness; leaṁnaċt, new-milk.

(d) All abstract nouns formed from the genitive singular feminine of adjectives are feminine: as áirde, height—from árd, high; áilne, beauty—from áluinn, beautiful; daille, blindness—from dall, blind.

(e) Nouns ending in a consonant or two consonants preceded by a slender vowel, are feminine: as tír, country; onóir, honour; uair, an hour; súil, an eye.

Exceptions:—(1) Personal nouns ending in óir. (2) Diminutives in ín. (3) Names of males, as aṫair, a father; buaċaill, a boy. (4) Also the following nouns:—buaiḋ, a victory; druim, the back; ainm,^[2] a name; greim, a piece; geit, a fright, a start; and foclóir, dictionary, vocabulary.

II. CASE.

44. In Irish there are five cases—the Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, and Vocative.

The Nominative case in Irish corresponds to the English nominative when the subject of a verb.

The Accusative corresponds to the English objective case when governed by a transitive verb. The accusative case of every noun in modern Irish has the same form as the nominative, and suffers the same initial changes as regards aspiration and eclipsis.

The Genitive case corresponds to the English possessive case. English nouns in the possessive case or in the objective case, preceded by the preposition "of," are usually translated into Irish by the genitive case.

The Dative case is the case governed by prepositions.

The Vocative corresponds to the English nominative of address. It is always used in addressing a person or persons. It is preceded by the sign a, although "O" may not appear before the English word; but this a is not usually pronounced before a vowel or ḟ.

RULES FOR THE FORMATION OF THE CASES.

N.B.—These rules apply to all the declensions.

45. The Nominative case singular is always the simple form of the noun.

46. The Dative case singular is the same as the nominative singular, except (1) in the 2nd declension, when the noun ends in a broad consonant; (2) in most of the nouns of the 5th declension.

47. The Vocative case singular is always the same as the nominative singular, except in the 1st declension, in which it is like the genitive singular.

48. Whenever the nominative plural is formed by the addition of te, ta, anna, aċa, í or iḋe, &c., it is called a strong nominative plural. Strong plurals are usually found with nouns whose nominative singular ends in a liquid.

Those ending in	l or n	generally take	ta or te.
„	m or s	„	anna.
„	r	„	aċa.

The Genitive Plural.

49. (1) The genitive plural in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd declensions is like the nominative singular, except strong plurals, and a few nouns which drop the i of the nominative singular, as súil, an eye, gen. pl. súl.

(2) In the 4th declension, and in the case of nearly all strong plurals, the genitive plural is like the nominative plural.

(3) In the 5th declension the genitive plural is like the genitive singular.

50.

The Dative Plural.

(1) When the nominative plural ends in a or a consonant, the dative plural ends in aiḃ.

(2) When the nominative plural ends in e, the dative plural is formed by changing the e into iḃ.

(3) When the nominative plural ends in í, the dative plural is formed by adding ḃ.

The termination of the dative plural is not always used in the spoken language.

Vocative Plural.

51. (1) When the dative plural ends in aiḃ, the vocative plural is formed by dropping the iḃ of the dative.

(2) In all other cases it is like the nominative plural.

III. The Declensions.

52. The number of declensions is not quite settled: it is very much a matter of convenience. Five is the number usually reckoned.

The declensions are known by the inflection of the genitive singular.

THE FIRST DECLENSION.

53. All the nouns of the first declension are masculine, and end in a broad consonant.

All masculine nouns ending in a broad consonant are not of the first declension.

54. The genitive singular is formed by attenuating the nominative. In most nouns of the 1st declension this is done by simply placing an i after the last broad vowel of the nominative.

Example.

55.	maor, a steward.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	maor	maoir
Gen.	maoir	maor
Dat.	maor	maoraiḃ
Voc.	a ṁaoir	a ṁaora

56. In words of more than one syllable, if the nominative ends in aċ or eaċ, the genitive singular is formed by changing aċ or eaċ into aiġ or iġ respectively. With a few exceptions, the nominative plural of these nouns is like the genitive singular. The other cases are quite regular.

In monosyllables ċ is not changed into ġ; as bruaċ, a brink, gen. bruaiċ.

N.B.—In all declensions in words of more than one syllable aċ and eaċ, when attenuated, become aiġ and iġ; and aiġ and iġ when made broad become aċ and eaċ. See dat. pl. of marcaċ and coileaċ.

Examples.

57.	marcaċ, a horseman.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	marcaċ	marcaiġ
Gen.	marcaiġ	marcaċ
Dat.	marcaċ	marcaċaiḃ
Voc.	a ṁarcaiġ	a ṁarcaċa

N.B.—The majority of nouns in aċ belonging to this declension are declined like marcaċ.

58.	ualaċ, a load, burden.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	ualaċ	ualaiġe
Gen.	ualaiġ	ualaċ
Dat.	ualaċ	ualaiġiḃ
Voc.	a ualaiġ	a ualaiġe

mullaċ, a summit; eudaċ, cloth; bealaċ, a path, a way; órlaċ, an inch; and aonaċ, a fair, are declined like ualaċ. Aonaċ has nom. pl. aonaiġe or aontaiġe.

59.	coileaċ, a cock.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	coileaċ	coiliġ
Gen.	coiliġ	coileaċ
Dat.	coileaċ	coileaċaiḃ
Voc.	a ċoiliġ	a ċoileaċa

60. Besides the above simple method of forming the genitive singular of most nouns of this declension, there are also the following modifications of the vowels of the nominative singular:—

Change	eu or éa	in nom. sing.		into	éi	in gen. sing.
„	ia	„		„	éi	„
„	o (short)	„		„	ui	„
io or ea		„	usually	„	i	„

All the other cases of these nouns are formed in accordance with the rules given above.

Examples of Vowel-changes in Genitive Singular.

61.	eun, a bird.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	eun	éin
Gen.	éin	eun
Dat.	eun	eunaiḃ
Voc.	a éin	a euna

62.	Fear, a man.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	fear	fir
Gen.	fir	fear
Dat.	fear	fearaiḃ
Voc.	a ḟir	a ḟeara

N.B.—The gen. of oileán in island is oileáin; of féar, grass, féir; and of fear, a man, fir.

63.	Cnoc, a hill.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	cnoc	cnuic
Gen.	cnuic	cnoc
Dat.	cnoc	cnocaiḃ
Voc.	a ċnuic	a ċnoca

64. The following nouns change ea into ei in genitive singular:—leanḃ, a child; neart, strength; cneas, skin; and ceart, right, justice. (Cnis and cirt are sometimes found as the genitives of cneas and ceart).

Irregular Genitive Singular.

mac, a son	has	genitive	mic
biaḋ, food,	„	„	bíḋ
rian, a track,	„	„	riain
srian, a bridle,	„	„	sriain
Brian, Bernard, Brian		„	Briain

Neaċ, a person; and éinne, aonne (or aonneaċ), anybody, are indeclinable.

65. Some nouns of this declension form their nominative plural by adding e.

NOUN.	GENITIVE SING.	NOM. PLURAL.
aonaċ, a fair	aonaiġ	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	aontaiġe aonaiġe
doras, a door	dorais		doirse
éigeas, a learned man	éigis		éigse
aingeal, an angel	aingil		aingle
bóṫar, a road	bóṫair		bóiṫre
madraḋ or (madaḋ), a dog	madraiḋ		madraiḋe
slaḃraḋ, a chain	slaḃraiḋ		slaḃraiḋe
margaḋ, a market	margaiḋ		margaiḋe

66. The following nouns take a in nominative plural:—peann, a pen; seod, a jewel; slán, a surety; cneas, skin; meacan, a carrot or parsnip^{[W 1]}; deor, a tear; caor, a berry^{[W 2]}; smeur, a blackberry; uḃall, an apple (pl. uḃla); focal (pl. focail or focla); fiaċ,^[3] a debt (fiaċ, pl. féiċ or féiġ, a raven); sgeul, news; and bruaċ, a brink.

67. The following take ta, in nom. pl.:—seol, a sail; ceol, music; neul, a cloud; sgeul, a story; cogaḋ, war (pl. cogṫa^[4]); cuan, a harbour; dún, a fort (pl. dúnta and dúna); ceud, a hundred^[5]; líon, a net; ceap, a trunk of a tree (pl. ceapṫa^{[W 3]}); múr (pl. múrṫa), a wall.

68. Other nominative plurals—clár, a board, a table, makes cláir or cláraċa; tobar, a well, makes tobair or tobraċa, tobaireaċa or toibreaċa; sluaġ, a crowd, makes sluaiġte.

69. Many nouns of this declension have two or more forms in the nominative plural. The regular plural is the better one, though the others are also used. The following are a few examples of such nouns:—fear, a man (pl. fir, feara; mac, a son (pl. mic, maca); leaḃar, a book leaḃair, leaḃra; arm, an army (pl. airm, arma); capall, a horse (pl. capaill, caiple).

70. The termination ‑raḋ has a collective, not a plural force; just like ry in the English words cavalry, infantry, etc. This termination was formerly neuter, but now it is masculine or feminine; the genitive masculine being ‑raiḋ, the genitive feminine ‑raiḋe. Hence laoċraḋ, a band of warriors, macraḋ, a company of youths, eaċraḋ, a number of steeds (cavalry), are not really plurals of laoċ, mac, and eaċ, but collective nouns formed from them. Likewise éanlaiṫ, (spoken form, éanlaiṫe) is a collective noun meaning a flock of birds, or birds in general, and it is not really the plural of éan. However, laoċraḋ and éanlaiṫ are now used as plurals.

Appendix I. gives a list of nouns belonging to this declension.

THE SECOND DECLENSION.

71. All nouns of the 2nd declension are feminine.^[6] They all end in consonants, but the consonants may be either broad or slender.

72. The genitive singular is formed by adding e, (if the last vowel of the nominative be broad it must be attenuated); and if the last consonant be ċ it is changed into ġ in the genitive (except in words of one syllable).

73. The dative singular is got by dropping the final e of the genitive.

74. The nominative plural is formed by adding a or e (a, if final consonant be broad) to the nom. sing.

Examples.

75.	lil, a lily.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	lil	lile
Gen.	lile	lil
Dat.	lil	liliḃ
Voc.	a lil	a lile

76.	cos, a foot[7] or a leg.
Nom. & Acc.	cos	cosa
Gen.	coise	cos
Dat.	cois	cosaiḃ
Voc.	a ċos	a ċosa

77.	cailleaċ, a hag.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	cailleaċ	cailleaċa
Gen.	cailliġe	cailleaċ
Dat.	cailliġ	cailleaċaiḃ
Voc.	a ċailleaċ	a ċailleaċa

78. Like nouns of 1st declension, the vowels of the nom. sing. are sometimes changed when the final consonant is attenuated in the genitive singular.

The following are the chief changes:—

Change	io	in the nom. sing.	into	i	in the gen. sing.
„	eu	„	„	éi	„
„	ia	„	„	éi	„
„	o (short) sometimes		„	ui	„

In words of one syllable change ea into ei (but cearc, a hen, becomes circe); in words of more than one syllable change ea into i.

79.	beaċ, a bee.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	beaċ	beaċa
Gen.	beiċe	beaċ
Dat.	beiċ	beaċaiḃ
Voc.	a ḃeaċ	a ḃeaċa

80.	geug, a branch.
Nom. & Acc.	geug	geuga
Gen.	géige	geug
Dat.	géig	geugaiḃ
Voc.	a ġeug	a ġeuga

81.	grian, a sun.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	grian	griana, grianta
Gen.	gréine	grian
Dat.	gréin	grianaiḃ
Voc.	a ġrian	a ġriana

82.	long, a ship.
Nom. & Acc.	long	longa
Gen.	luinge	long
Dat.	luing	longaiḃ
Voc.	a long	a longa

83.	freuṁ,[8] a root.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	freuṁ	freuṁa (or freuṁaċa)
Gen.	fréiṁe	freuṁ (freuṁaċa)
Dat.	fréiṁ	freuṁaiḃ (freuṁaċaiḃ)
Voc.	a ḟreuṁ	a ḟreuṁa (a ḟreuṁaċa)

84.	áit, a place.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	áit	áite, áiteanna or áiteaċa
Gen.	áite	áit, áiteanna „ áiteaċa
Dat.	áit	áitiḃ, áiteannaiḃ, áiteaċaiḃ
Voc.	a áit	a áite, áiteanna, áiteaċa

The above are two examples of nouns with strong nominative plural (see par. 48).

85. In forming the genitive, nouns are sometimes syncopated, as buiḋean, a company, gen. buiḋne (see pars. 33, 35); bruiḋean, a palace, gen. sing. bruiḋne.^[9]

86.

Irregular Genitives Singular.

clann, a clan, children,	makes	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	cloinne, clainne,	pl.	clanna
deoċ, a drink,	„		diġe,	„	deoċa
sgian, a knife,	„		sgine,	„	sgeana
briaṫar, a (solemn) word,	„		bréiṫre,	„	briaṫra
bláṫaċ, buttermilk,	„		bláiṫċe[10]
laṫaċ, mud, mire,	„		laiṫċe[11]
daḃaċ, a vat,	„		daiḃċe	„	daḃaċa
aġaiḋ, a face,	„		aiġṫe	„	aiġṫe

87. Many nouns of this declension form their nominative plural in anna or aċa. The final a of these terminations may be dropped in the genitive plural.

NOM. SING.	NOM. PL.
cúis, a cause	cúiseanna
luiḃ, an herb	luiḃeanna
deil, a lathe	deileanna
gluais, a contrivance	gluaiseanna
béim, a stroke	béimeanna
duais, a prize, reward	duaiseanna
léim, a leap	léimeanna
réim, a course, a voyage	réimeanna
áit, a place	áite, áiteanna, áiteaċa
luċ, a mouse	luċa, luċanna
sgoil, a school	sgoileanna (sgolta), sgoilteaċa[W 4]
céim, a step	céimeanna
fuaim, a sound	fuamanna
uair, an hour, time	uaire, uaireanna, uaireannta
sráid, a street	sráide, sráideanna, sráideaċa
páirc, a field	páirce, páirceanna
feis, a festival	feiseanna

88. Nouns that take aċa in nominative plural—

obair, a work	oibreaċa
óráid, an oration	óráideaċa
slat, a rod	slata, slataċa
litir, a letter	litre, litreaċa
uḃ, an egg	uiḃe, uiḃeaċa
paidir, a prayer	paidreaċa
aicíd, a disease	aicídeaċa, aicídí
ciúṁais, an edge	ciúṁaiseaċa
coicṫiḋis, a fortnight	coicṫiḋiseaċa, coicṫiḋisí
truaill, a sheathe, a scabbard	truailleaċa
leac, a flag, a flat stone	leaca, leacaċa, leacraċa

89. The following take te, ṫe, or ṫa in the nominative plural; aḋ may be added in the genitive plural:—coill^[12], a wood; túir^{[W 5]}, a pillar, a prop; tír, a country (pl. tíorṫa; aġaiḋ, face (pl. aiġṫe; speur, a sky, speurṫa.

90. Sometimes when the last vowel of the nominative singular is i preceded by a broad vowel, the genitive plural is formed by dropping the i, as súil, an eye, gen. pl. súl; fuaim, a sound, gen. pl. fuam, &c.

For a list of nouns ending in a broad consonant belonging to this declension, see Appendix II.

THIRD DECLENSION.

91. The 3rd declension includes (1) personal nouns ending in óir (all masculine), (2) derived nouns in aċt or aċd (feminine), (3) other nouns ending in consonants which are, as a rule, masculine or feminine according as they end in broad or slender consonants.

92. The genitive singular is formed by adding a. If the last vowel of the nominative be i preceded by a broad vowel, the i is usually dropped in the gen., as toil, a will, gen. tola.

93. The nominative plural is usually the same as the genitive singular; but personal nouns ending in óir add í or iḋe to the nominative singular.

94. Most of the derived nouns in aċt, being abstract in meaning, do not admit of a plural. Mallaċt, a curse, and a few others have plurals. Fuaċt, cold, although an abstract noun in aċt, is masculine.

95. The vowels of the nominative often undergo a change in the formation of the genitive singular. These changes are just the reverse of the vowel changes of the 1st and 2nd declensions (see pars. 60 and 78).

Change	ei, i	or	io	(short)	in nom. into	ea	in the genitive
„	u	„	ui	„	„	o	„
„	éi				„	éa	„

Examples.

96.	cnáṁ,[13] a bone.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	cnáṁ	cnáṁa
Gen.	cnáṁa	cnáṁ
Dat.	cnáṁ	cnáṁaiḃ
Voc.	a ċnáṁ	a ċnáṁa

97.	fíon, wine.
Nom. & Acc.	fíon	fíona, fíonta
Gen.	fíona	fíon
Dat.	fíon	fíonaiḃ
Voc.	a ḟíon	a ḟíona

98.	crios, a belt, a girdle.
Nom. & Acc.	crios	creasa
Gen.	creasa	crios
Dat.	crios	creasaiḃ
Voc.	a ċrios	a ċreasa

99.	feoil, flesh, meat.
Nom. & Acc.	feoil	feola
Gen.	feola	feoil
Dat.	feoil	feolaiḃ
Voc.	a ḟeoil	a ḟeola

100.	bádóir, a boatman.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	bádóir	bádóirí (bádóiriḋe)
Gen.	bádóra	bádóir, bádóirí
Dat.	bádóir	bádóiríḃ (bádóiriḋiḃ)
Voc.	a ḃádóir	a ḃádóirí (a ḃádóiriḋe)

101.	druim, masc., the back.
Nom. & Acc.	druim	dromanna
Gen.	droma	dromanna
Dat.	druim	dromannaiḃ
Voc.	a ḋruim	a ḋromanna

102.	greim, masc., a morsel, grip.
Nom. & Acc.	greim	greamanna
Gen.	greama	greamanna
Dat.	greim	greamannaiḃ
Voc.	a ġreim	a ġreamanna

103. Some nouns of this declension, ending in l or n, form their nominative pl. by adding ta or te to the nom. sing. These may add aḋ to form gen. pl., as—

móin,[14] a bog,	nom. pl.	móinte
táin, a drive,	"	táinte
bliaḋain, a year,	"	bliaḋanta[15]

104. Some nouns of this declension form their nom. plural by adding nna to the gen. singular. These may drop the final a in the gen. plural:—

	NOM. PLURAL.
am, time	amannta	or	amanna
sruṫ, a stream	sroṫa	„	sroṫanna
druim, m., a back			dromanna
guṫ, a voice	goṫa	„	goṫanna
greim, m., a morsel			greamanna
ciṫ, or cioṫ, a shower	ceaṫa	„	ceaṫanna
cleas, a trick	cleasa	„	cleasanna
anam, a soul	anma	„	anmanna
daṫ, a colour	daṫa	„	daṫanna
ainm, a name	ainmne, ainmneaċa, anmanna
maiḋm, a defeat	maḋma, maḋmanna

105.

Other Nominatives Plural.

gníoṁ, a deed an act	makes	gníoṁarṫa[16]
connraḋ, a compact, covenant	„	connarṫa
cáin[17], a tax	„	cánaċa
buaċaill, a boy	„	buaċaillí
cliaṁain, a son-in-law	„	cliaṁnaċa
leabaḋ,[18] f., a bed	„	leabṫa, leapṫaċa, leapṫa
cuid, a share, a portion	„	codċa, codana

For a list of nouns belonging to this declension, see Appendix III.

THE FOURTH DECLENSION.

106. The 4th declension includes (1) personal nouns in aire, aiḋe, uiḋe, aiġe (sometimes spelled aiḋ, uiḋ, aiġ), which are all masculine; (2) diminutives in ín (said to be all masculine); (3) abstract derivatives formed from the gen. sing. feminine of adjectives (all feminine), as gile, brightness, from geal; féile, generosity, from fial; áilne, beauty, from áluinn, &c.; (4) all nouns ending in vowels, and which do not belong to the 5th declension. To assist the student a list of the most important nouns of the 5th declension is given in the Appendix IV.

107. This declension differs from all others in having all the cases of the singular exactly alike.

108. The nominative plural is usually formed by adding í, iḋe or aḋa.

109. The genitive plural is like the nom. pl., but eaḋ is frequently added in other grammars. There is no necessity whatever for this, because both cases are pronounced alike.

110. Nouns of more than one syllable ending in a form their nom. plural in aiḋe, or aí, as mála, a bag, pl. málaiḋe, or málaí; cóta, a coat, pl. cótaiḋe, or cótaí.

111.	cailín, masc., a girl.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	cailín	cailíní	or	(cailíniḋe)
Gen.	cailín	cailíní (cailín)	„	(cailíniḋe)
Dat.	cailín	cailíníḃ	„	(cailíniḋiḃ)
Voc.	a ċailín	a ċailíní	„	(a ċailíniḋe)

112.	tiġearna a lord.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	tiġearna	tiġearnaí (‑aiḋe)
Gen.	tiġearna	tiġearnaí (‑aiḋe)
Dat.	tiġearna	tiġearnaiḃ (‑aiḋiḃ)
Voc.	a ṫiġearna	a ṫiġearnaí (‑aiḋe)

113. The following nouns take te immediately after the last consonant to form the nominative plural:—

baile, a town	plural	bailte or bailteaċa
sloinne, a surname	„	sloinnte
múille, a mule	„	múillte
míle, a thousand, a mile	„	mílte[19]
léine, a shirt	„	léinte, léinteaċa
teine,[20] a fire	„	teinte, teinteaċa
cúinne, a corner	„	cúinnte, cúinní

114. The following nouns add ṫe in nominative plural, viz., all nouns in ḋe or ġe—e.g. croiḋe, a heart, pl. croiḋṫe; also caoi, a way, a method; daoi, a fool; saoi, a wise man; draoi, a druid; dlaoi, a curl.

Gnó, a work (pl. gnóṫa),^[21] níḋ, or ní a thing (pl. neiṫe);

duine, a person,	makes	daoine	in nom. pl.
uinge, an ounce,	„	uingeaċa	„
easna, a rib,	„	easnaċa	„

115. A few proper nouns, although not ending in a vowel or ín, belong to this declension, and do not change their form in any of their cases, viz.:—Pádraig, Patrick; Gearóid, Gerald; Muiris, Maurice; Caṫaoir, Cahir.

The word luċt, a people, does not change in gen.

THE FIFTH DECLENSION.

116. Most of the nouns belonging to this declension end in a vowel, and are, with a few exceptions, feminine.

117. The genitive singular is formed by adding a broad consonant.

This consonant varies in different nouns, but is usually n, nn, sometimes d, ḋ, or ċ. When the nominative singular ends in a consonant, a or ea comes between that consonant and the consonant added.

118. The dative singular is formed by attenuating the genitive. In the case of those nouns which form the genitive by adding ċ, the dative singular is usually like the nominative.

119. The nominative plural, as a general rule, is formed by adding a to the genitive singular. A few form their nominative plural by adding e to the gen. sing. This is accompanied with syncope, as in cáirde, friends; náiṁde, enemies; gaiḃne, smiths; and aiḃne, rivers, which are the plurals of cara, náṁa, gaḃa, and aḃ, or aḃa.

Some others form the nominative plural by attenuating the genitive singular, as in laċain, ducks; coin, hounds; fiċid, twenty; caoiriġ, sheep; coṁursain, neighbours.

The genitive plural is exactly like the genitive singular.

Examples.

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
120.	pearsa, fem., a person.
Nom. & Acc.	pearsa	pearsana
Gen.	pearsan	pearsan
Dat.	pearsain	pearsanaiḃ
Voc.	a ṗearsa	a ṗearsana

121.	cara, fem.[W 6], a friend.
Nom. & Acc.	cara	cáirde
Gen.	carad	carad
Dat.	caraid	cáirdiḃ
Voc.	a ċara	a ċáirde

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
122.	gaḃa, masc., a smith.
Nom. & Acc.	gaḃa	gaiḃne
Gen.	gaḃann	gaḃann
Dat.	gaḃainn	gaiḃniḃ
Voc.	a ġaḃa	a ġaiḃne

123.	laċa, fem., a duck.
Nom. & Acc.	laċa	laċain
Gen.	laċan	laċan
Dat.	laċain	laċanaiḃ
Voc.	a laċa	a laċana

124.	cuisle, fem., a vein.
Nom. & Acc.	cuisle	cuisleanna
Gen.	cuisleann	cuisleann
Dat.	cuislinn	cuisleannaiḃ
Voc.	a ċuisle	a ċuisleanna

125.	caora, fem., a sheep.
Nom. & Acc.	caora	caoiriġ
Gen.	caoraċ	caoraċ
Dat.	caoraiġ	caorċaiḃ, caoraċaiḃ
Voc.	a ċaora	a ċaorċa or a ċaoraċa

126.	caṫaoir, fem., a chair.
Nom. & Acc.	caṫaoir	caṫaoireaċa
Gen.	caṫaoireaċ	caṫaoireaċ
Dat.	caṫaoir	caṫaoireaċaiḃ
Voc.	a ċaṫaoir	a caṫaoireaċa

	SINGULAR (no Plural).
127.	Nom. & Acc.	Éire (Ireland)
	Gen.	Éireann
	Dat.	Éirinn
	Voc.	a Éire

128.	Nom. & Acc.	Teaṁair (Tara)
	Gen.	Teaṁraċ
	Dat.	Teaṁraiġ or Teaṁair
	Voc.	a Ṫeaṁair

129.	Nom. & Acc.	Alba (Scotland)
	Gen.	Alban
	Dat.	Albain
	Voc.	a Alba

130. The following nouns are used only in the plural, referring originally rather to the inhabitants of the place than to the place itself:—

Sacsana, England.
Nom. & Acc.	Sacsana or Sacsain
Gen.	Sacsan
Dat.	Sacsanaiḃ

	Laiġin, Leinster	Connaċta, Connaught	Ulaiḋ, Ulster
Nom. & Acc.	Laiġin	Connaċta	Ulaiḋ
Gen.	Laiġean	Connaċt	Ulaḋ
Dat.	Laiġniḃ	Connaċtaiḃ	Ultaiḃ

A large list of the commonly used nouns, which belong to this declension, are given in Appendix IV.

Heteroclite Nouns.

131. Heteroclite nouns are those which belong to more than one declension. The following are the chief nouns of this class. We give only the genitive case in the singular, as the other cases present no difficulty. The irregular nominative plurals only are given:—

NOUN.	DECLENSIONS.		GEN. SING.		NOM. PL.
briaṫar, a word	1 & 2	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	briaṫair bréiṫre
sgiaṫ, a shield	1 & 2	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	sgéiṫ sgéiṫe
teine, a fire	4 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	teine teineaḋ		teinte
beaṫa, life	4 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	beaṫa beaṫaḋ
sliġe, a way	4 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	sliġe sliġeaḋ		sliġṫe
coill, a wood	2 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	coille coilleaḋ		coillte
móin, a bog	3 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	móna mónaḋ		móinte
talaṁ, m., land	1 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	talaiṁ, m. talṁan, f.
eorna, barley	4 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	eorna eornan
breiṫeaṁ, a judge	1 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	breiṫiṁ breiṫeaṁan	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	breiṫeaṁain breiṫeaṁna
feiċeaṁ[W 7], a debtor	1 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	feiċiṁ feiċeaṁan	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	feiċeaṁain feiċeaṁna
srón, f., a nose	2 & 3	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	sróine sróna
cuaċ, a cuckoo	1 & 2	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	cuaiċ, m. cuaiċe, f.		cuaiċ cuaċa
cóṁra, a coffer, coffin	4 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	cóṁra cóṁran		cóṁrana
cáin, a tax	3 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	cána cánaċ		cána cánaċa
coróin, a crown	2 & 5	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	coróine corónaċ crónaċ		corónaċa

All abstract nouns ending in eas or as may belong either to the 1st or 3rd declension; as aoiḃneas, pleasure, gen. aoiḃnis or aoiḃneasa. Being abstract nouns they are seldom used in the plural.

Irregular Nouns.

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
132.	teaċ, masc., a house.
Nom. & Acc.	teaċ, tig	tiġṫe
Gen.	tiġe[22]	tiġṫe(aḋ), teaċ
Dat.	teaċ, tig	tiġṫiḃ
Voc.	a ṫeaċ, ṫig	a ṫiġṫe

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
sliaḃ, masc., a mountain.
Nom. & Acc.	sliaḃ	sléiḃte
Gen.	sléiḃe	sléiḃte
Dat.	sléiḃ, sliaḃ	sléiḃtiḃ
Voc.	a ṡliaḃ	a ṡléiḃte

aṫair, masc., a father.
Nom. & Acc.	aṫair	aiṫre	or	aiṫreaċa
Gen.	aṫar	aiṫreaċ	„	aiṫreaċa
Dat.	aṫair	aiṫreaċaiḃ
Voc.	a aṫair	a aiṫre	or	a aiṫreaċa

deirḃṡiúr, f., a sister (by blood).
Nom. & Acc.	deirḃṡiúr	deirḃṡiúraċa
Gen.	deirḃṡeaṫar	deirḃṡiúraċa
Dat.	deirḃṡiair	deirḃṡiúraċaiḃ
In these words the ḃṡ is pronounced like f.

The words máṫair, a mother; bráṫair, a brother (in religion); and dearḃráṫair, a brother (by blood), are declined like aṫair. The genitive of siúr, a sister (in religion), is seaṫar (or siúra).

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
rí, masc., a king.
Nom. & Acc.	rí	ríġṫe, ríoġa, ríoġṫa
Gen.	ríoġ	ríġṫe, ríoġ
Dat.	ríġ	ríġṫiḃ
Voc.	a rí	a ríġṫe

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
bean, fem., a woman.
Nom. & Acc.	bean	mná
Gen.	mná	ban
Dat.	mnaoi	mnáiḃ
Voc.	a ḃean	a ṁná

bó, fem., a cow.
Nom. & Acc.	bó	ba
Gen.	bó	bó
Dat.	buin	buaiḃ
Voc.	a ḃó	a ḃa

Dia, masc., God.
Nom. & Acc.	Dia	Dée, Déiṫe
Gen.	Dé	Dia, Déiṫeaḋ
Dat.	Dia	Déiṫiḃ
Voc.	a Ḋé, a Ḋia	a Ḋée

lá, masc., a day.
	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
Nom. & Acc.	lá	laeṫe, laeṫeanta[23]
Gen.	lae	laeṫeaḋ, laeṫeanta, lá
Dat.	ló, lá	laeṫiḃ, laeṫeantaiḃ
Voc.	a lá	a laeṫe, a laeṫeanta

cré, fem., soil, earth.
Nom. & Acc.	cré	créiḋeana
Gen.	criaḋ, créiḋeaḋ	criaḋ
Dat.	créiḋ, cré	créiḋeanaiḃ
Voc.	a ċré	a ċréiḋeana

	SINGULAR.	PLURAL.
mí, fem., a month.
Nom. & Acc.	mí	míosa[24]
Gen.	míosa	míos
Dat.	mís, mí	míosaiḃ

ceó, masc., a fog.
Nom. & Acc.	ceó	ceoḋana, ceóċa
Gen.	ciaċ, ceoiġ	ceó
Dat.	ceó	ceóċaiḃ

ga, masc., a spear, javelin, sunbeam.
Nom. & Acc.	ga	gaeṫe, gaoi, gaoiṫe
Gen.	ga, gae, gaoi	gaoiṫe(aḋ), gaṫ
Dat.	ga	gaeṫiḃ, gaoiṫiḃ

ó or ua, masc., a grandson.
Nom. & Acc.	ó, ua	uí
Gen.	í, uí	ua
Dat.	ó, ua	iḃ, uiḃ
Voc.	a uí	a uí

gé, masc.[W 8], a goose
Nom. & Acc.	gé	or	géaḋ	géanna, géaḋa, géiḋe
Gen.	gé	„	géiḋ, geoiḋ	géanna, géaḋ
Dat.	gé	„	géaḋ	géannaiḃ, géaḋaiḃ
Voc.	a ġé	„	a ġéaḋ	a ġéanna, a ġéaḋa

friġ, fem., a fleshworm.
Nom. & Acc.	friġ	friġdeaċa
Gen.	friġde	friġdeaċ(a)
Dat.	friġid	friġdeaċaiḃ

---

Notes

1. Do not confound sex with gender. Gender is decided by grammatical usage only.
2. Ainm is feminine in S. Munster.
3. This word is usually used in the plural; as ní ḟuil aon ḟiaca orm, I am not in debt.
4. cogaiḋe is also used.
5. When used as a noun.
6. Teaċ and sliaḃ, two masculine nouns, are sometimes given with the second declension. We give them as irregular nouns (par. 132).
7. A foot in measurement is troiġ, pl. troiġṫe.
8. Also spelled preuṁ in Munster.
9. Note the dative singular of these nouns, buiḋin and bruiḋin.
10. Also bláṫaiġe.
11. Also laṫaiġe.
12. Coill is also 5th declension. See Heteroclite nouns, par. 131.
13. Also spelled cnáiṁ in nom. sing.
14. Móin is also 5th declension. See Heteroclite Nouns, par. 131.
15. Bliaḋna after numerals, as oċt mbliaḋna, eight years.
16. Really pl. of gníoṁraḋ.
17. Cáin is also 5th declension.
18. Also spelled leabaiḋ.
19. Míle, a thousand, or a mile, is invariable after a numeral.
20. teine is also 5th. See Heteroclite nouns, par. 131.
21. Gnóṫaiḋe is spoken in Kerry.
22. It has also the forms toiġe in gen. and toiġ in dative.
23. Lá is generally used after numerals
24. Mí after numerals as oċt mí, 8 months: míonna is spoken in Kerry as plural of mí.

Notes (Wikisource)

1. DIL, Dinneen, and Ó Dónaill all suggest the usual plural is meacain, though DIL does cite one instance of mecna in Early Modern Irish.
2. All dictionaries say that this is a second-declension feminine noun, not a first-declension masculine noun.
3. All dictionaries give the plural as ceapa.
4. Not mentioned by Dinneen, who however does give scoileacha.
5. Listed in both DIL and Dinneen 1927 as tuir
6. Sic; the Dictionary of the Irish Language says cara is originally only masculine, but in the later language (i.e. Middle Irish, Early Modern Irish) sometimes also feminine. Dinneen's dictionary says it is masculine or feminine; Ó Dónaill's dictionary says it is only masculine.
7. Sic; all dictionaries give this as féicheamh
8. Originally masculine according to the Dictionary of the Irish Language. Dinneen labels it masculine or feminine; Ó Dónaill only feminine.