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ELMLEY CASTLE, PERSHORE, WORCESTERSHIRE.
8. 6. 27
My dear John.
I enclose some notes on aspiration. I have not gone very deeply into the subject and there is a good deal more to be said about it. For instance I have not referred to verbs at all, nor to the declension of adjectives; but perhaps I have said enough to set your head in a whirl.
If you require more information
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apply to Mike Mason who has more Gaidhlig than I have.
Dont forget you are both coming to see us here later on.
Beannachd leat, a charaid chaomh - blessing with thee O dear friend. Gu ma fada beo tu 'us ceo as do thigh "Mayest thou long be living and smoke from thy house
Yrs ever
[John?]
[ST: General Davis]
Excuse my abominable typing
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NOTES ON SOME OF THE SIMPLER FORMS OF ASPIRATION IN THE GAIDHLIG LANGUAGE .
( l ). After the possessive pronouns mo, my; do, thy; a, his. mo mhac, do mhac, a mhac; my, thy, his son; but a mac, ar mac, ur mac, an mac; her, our, your, their son.
(2). After the prepositions do, to ; fo, under; bho, o, from; mar, like, as; troimh, throu[gh]; roimh, before; do, of; mu about; gun, without.
fo chloich, under a stone; mar chloiche, like a stone; "Fad 's bhitheas ceo mu beann", As long as there shall be mist round the hills " (Part of an old Gaidhlig toast).
(3). After the intensive particles fior, ro, gle, sar.
fuar, cold; gle fhuar, very cold.
(4). After the numerals aon, one; da, two. aon, da bhradan; one, two salmon; but tri bradan etc.
(5). The initial consonant of a noun is aspirated when preceded by an adjective.
Except in the case of the words droch, bad; deagh, good; sar, excellent; sean, old, the adjective follows the noun but there are sometimes exceptions to this rule in the case of place names or for poetical effect.
Garbh Bheinn, Rough Hill (in Ardgour) instead of Beinn Gharbh. Muile nam mor beann, Mull of the great hills.
(6). An adjective qualifying a feminine noun is aspirated in the nominative and dative singular.
Beinn Mhor.
(7). The vocative singular and plural of nouns of both genders.
A bhradan, O salmon; Mairi, Mary; A Mhairi O Mary; Seumas, James Sheumais, O James. ( The cause of disaster to people who have no Gaidhlig but persist in giving their children Gaidhlig names).
(8). Initial consonants after the ar[r]ticle are aspirated in the gen. sing masc., nom. sing. fem., and dat. sing. masc. & fem. except t, d, s.
Bord, table, masc. a' bhuird, of the table
Beinn, hill, fem.; a' bheinn, the hill. (This is what tripped you up, my John).
