Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/219

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203

always the case with adjectives: deaġ, good; droċ, bad; sean, old; and frequently with nuaḋ, new; and fíor, true. In this position the form of the adjectives never changes for number or case, but it is subject to the very same initial changes as if it were a noun.

sean-ḟear, an old man; sean-ḟir, old men.
treun-ḟear, a brave man; árd-rí, a high king.
an tsean-ḃean, the old woman;
láṁ an tsean-ḟir, the hand of the old man.

(3) When a name consists of two words the adjective frequently comes between them: as, “Sliaḃ geal gCua,” “the bright Slieve Gua.”

(b) Agreement of the Adjective.

When an adjective is used attributively and follows its noun, it agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case: as, bean ṁór, a big woman; mac an ḟir ṁóir, the son of the big man; na fir ṁóra, the big men.

For the aspiration and eclipsis of the adjective see par. 149.

495. Since the adjective in English has no inflexion for gender, it is quite a common thing to have one adjective qualifying two or more nouns of different genders. Sometimes in Irish we meet with one adjective qualifying two nouns of different genders or numbers; in such cases the adjective follows the