‘’S ann chuir thu onair air do dhùthaich
H uile taobh na thriall thu.’
(‘You have done credit to your land everywhere you have gone.’) P. 72 of Songs.
‘B’e chiad ni air na chrom e
Bhi plùcadh sios nam bantrach.’
(‘The first thing that he began (lit. bent) to was to oppress the widows.’) P. 121.
‘San dòigh na chleachdadh sibh’ for anns an dòigh (anns) an do chleachdadh sibh.’
(‘In the way in which you were accustomed.’) P. 223.
‘Far na dh’ àraicheadh na Gaisgich.’
(‘Where were reared the heroes.’) Pp. 246, 260.
‘Far na sheinn mi,’ (‘where I sang’), p. 166; ‘Gus na thionndadh mi,’ (‘until I turned’). P. 168.
Where do is preceded by conjunctions with final n only n remains: Gu’n chreach iad sinn for Gu’n do chreach iad sinn, that they plundered us, p. 34. Gu’n [Gu’n do] ghabh mi, that I took, p. 217.
‘’S gu’n dhearbh thu bhuaidh m’an dhealaich sibh.’
—gu’n for gu’n do, and m’an for mu’n do—And that thou provedest victorious ere you parted, p. 287. Na’n [Na’n do] chum thu, if you had kept, p. 253.
So in the Hymns of Donald Matheson, Kildonan, Sutherland, we meet with Far na [Far an do] thog thu, where you have built. Ris na [ris an do] chleachd thu, to whom you were wont. Gu’n [Gu’n do] dhìbir, that [it] has forsaken.
Aspiration
The prepositions do, to, and de, of, in positions in which they have not been worn down to a mere vowel ‘a’ are aspirated initially in the Northern, but not in the Southern dialect. Mary MacPherson has:
‘Is ionnsaichibh dha’n oigridh i,’
(‘And teach it [Gaelic] to the children.’) P. 38.
