21 



counted feminine because be<tti the latter part of the compound is fe- 

 minine. Grammarians who have laid down this rule assert these two 

 words to mean a Queen, and at the same time say that these two forms 

 of the same word are of different genders. 6<i5iiji55, literally translated, 

 is Woman-King, and is of the Masculine Gender (the first part of the 

 compound being always of the nature of an adjective), and it^jBextti 

 is King-woman, and consequently is feminine. But in case they were 

 intended to mean a Queen, both should be feminine. If their asser- 

 tion were true, it would be contrary to nature and their own rules, 

 which say, that " All names of men and those common to men alone, 

 &c. are of the masculine gender ; and names of women, and those 

 common to women alone, &c. are of the feminine gender." These er- 

 rors have been inserted by O'MoUoy, Lluyd, Mac Curtin and their 

 successors in their grammars. 



The 7th chapter treats of the Declensions of nouns. He 

 says there are many declensions, yet follows those grammarians 

 who reduce them to five. In this chapter he enters into the 

 Declensions of Adjectives with their comparison ; but this sub- 

 ject might be much more simply and regularly treated, for here 

 it is forced to conform to the same manner of declension as the La- 

 tin, whereas it should be treated according to the genius of the lan^ 

 guagc itself. Tlie declensions are formed according to the termina- 

 tions of words and not by their initials, as some subsequent gramma- 

 rians have inconsiderately attempted. Here I must observe, that there 

 is no part of Irish Grammar, even to this day, so unsatisfactorily ex- 

 plained as the declensions of Nouns. This is evident from the disagree- 

 ment of Grammarians on the subject. It yet requires their sole atten- 

 tion to ascertain and settle the true system of our declensions. 



The 8th chapter treats of the Pronoun. Having given the defini- 

 tion of a Pronoun, he shews there are four kinds, viz. Demonstrative, 



