The Irish standard., 1890-03-15


Ell I,l
Taim i am, and to me- plural, We
are, tamuid, to Sim. The analYticl
form is the most used. The moods,
lenses, numbers and persons are gener-
ally formed BY afixes, or the addition
Of certain letters. Irish is richer in
verbal infections than English. There
are, no jno auxiliary verbs in Irish.
Irish suffers somewhat for want of plu 8
perfect tense. To express such q sen 3
tence as: IF had known that would
have spoken sooner. 81 in Irish would be:
IDA mbheihdeadh hos again sin do
laibheorann nois luaithe. = Literally: If
( would know that, would speak
sooner. lHyde.) The adverb ia Irish
is generally formed bv placing the par
ticle 'go'' before the adjective; as,
binn, sweet,-go binn, sweetly, leor
plenty, go lore-abundantly. This lat
ter phrase has been adopted into
English. Propositions, coniunctions,
interrogations abound in Irish, but l
cannot here take time to treat of them.
Pfefixes and sudisenter into the mean
ing of words in Irish as in other
languages. Irish has a number Of
peculiar idioms. which form very in
teresting study but which I must
pass over until another time.
| 10 persons speaking English, the
Irish has an energetic, but harsh
sound. This is due, in a great measure
to the prevalence of the hard and soft
sounds Of as heard in zach" aud ''ich''
in German, and to the existence
also of other gutteral sounds. The
Irish often speak in praise of their own
! language as ''teanga, bheargh, bhinn,
mills, mhathairadha," meanlng-dne,
soft, smooth, sweet mother speech.
Irish is we'll adapted to depict the
scenery Of nature, and to express the
| feelings Of the heart, as it is also
unrivalled for the inspiration and ex'
altation of the mind and heart to the
purposes and sentiments Of religion.
Irish is rich and copious In its yocabn~
larry, and remarkably free from all for
eign admixture. 1t possesses strength
aud hexiblity capable Of expressing
with grace and precision every idea vi
life, whether in art, in science or the
ology. Though the Irish may In time
become extinct as a spoken tongue
yet the language Of old Erin
lives, and VIII continue to live
in the Topography of the British Isles,
and OF all Europe. 1t will continue to
live among the surnames OF mankind
as long as surnames shall last The
Irish, or Celtic names OF places are, as
a, rule, very pleasing to the ear, the
vowel sounds largely predominating.
rralee. dundee, .Rossnalee. Kildare,
Kenmare, Killarney, Clonmel and many
others Albion, the poetic name OF
| England, is Celtic. ana means white
cliffs; ail--cllft, and ban-white. STRAIT
ford On-AvOn, the river which recalls
the name of the immortal Shakesuears,
is Celtic. This word avon-river, pro-
nouuced in Irish-Oun, exists 10 the
Celtic names OF a great many rivers
throughout Europe. The Rhine, Rhone.
t1aroune, Seine, Shannon, Danube aud
| tfsv f2,it.
| Hindoostan, Turkistan and other geo
graphical names is Celtic. ''Rostan' III
Irish is a rose garden or place of roses
as 'siiontan," is vineyard. The ia" OF
Gallia. Italia, Russia, Prussia. Scandi
navia, forms all independent word i'll
Irish. and means country. Its deriva,
1ion in che proceeding names is obvious
" apparent. What IS here said is "a
mere glimpse OF what might at length
be presented.
Irish literature is very extensive,
considering the CAUSES that have HIM
dered its development. However, there
need be no anxiety On the part Ut any
one that there il nothing to read II.
Irish. What has already been pYintt
would fill all OF lU0 large auarto vol
umes, but much OF the printed matter
is no longer ia the market. The first
Cache book ever printed WAS Ill Scot
land in 1857. There isr1 still over 1000
unpublished manuscripts in various
hands and libraries throughout the
| British Isles and Europe. Perhaps the
Largest number is III Trinity College.
/ Dublin. These, ii published, it is said,
would fill up 1900 volumes rhe bAlk
of Irish literature is composed OF poet
~, histories, annals, genoa oglea. Tales
4 ana romances abound in rich prof
There are tracts OH law, mec iclne aud
theology. BY order Of the British gov
ernment. three volumes OF the Brehon
Laws have been recently published and
translated These laws are very vol
luminous. and the published volumes
constitute but small portion Of them
4 It was by these laws that the irish