T6 



1» 54 56 I2S12 12 S4 If 



■(71.) la, tart, dona, radharc, dall, tabhairt; — re, le, maise ; — min, mil; — mor, tore, cnoc, donn : — tur, luch- 



<xn leOLoB (<x) j/itibu; je<x;^ ; — no. nejte 



(<x) iec^nj:<X]r f^' 



Some writers use tv5 for a, particu- 

 larly before a verb whose initial is a 

 vowel ; as b;<j. (bo) c;iucu; j, &c. but this 

 liberty is abusive. 



5 



6. w. a. A sign of the Infinitive mood. 

 .;. bo, ifo ; as in English. [Affinities here.] 



This is abusively used for bo, i, e, to, 

 as a sign of the Infinitive mood, as will 

 be evident from the following ex- 

 ample : — (<x) be;c, for (bo) IJejt. The 

 former of which means, his being, 

 the latter, to be. It is never used ex- 

 cept before a word that has a conso- 

 nant as its initial. 



3 



7. <X.. a. An interrogative Adv. i. e. <xn. 

 [Heb. }K, an. — Lat. an.'] — Whether. 



This is a contraction for <\n. It 

 eclipses an initial mutable consonant in 

 the verb ; as a B-f ujl, for <in B^rujl ? <x 

 b-cci;n;c y-e, for <xn b-ca;n;c ye ? It 

 becomes <X;i, /. e. <3in ;to in the past 

 tense, and aspirates the initial, if a 

 mutable consonant ; as <X)\ bu<x;l;/*, <X;i 

 cuma;/-, for an ;to bud;l;;-, «d fio cumci;/*. 



3 



8. U. a. Preposition, serving to the 

 Ablative Case : a contraction of 1. an. 

 2. aj. 3. o.f. [Affinities.] Lat. in; apud ; 

 a, ab, abs ; e, ex. — In ; at ; out of, or 

 from. 



1. When it means <xn, i. e. in, it 

 eclipses the initial of the noun which it 

 precedes, if it be a consonant of the 

 influenced class; as <x m-ba;le, in a 

 tofwn ; <x 3" Co;ic<x;c, in Cork. The an- 

 cients wrote ; for <x, and ;n, jii, and ;nb 

 for the <xfi of the moderns. They were 

 right in doing so , even the moderns, in 

 their conjunctive pronouns, preserve 

 that form ; as ;oriam, &c. 



2. When it signifies <xj, i. e. at, it 



seldom appears in that contracted form, 

 except before active participles whose 

 initials are consonants, and even so, it 

 is abusively used ; as (<x) bualtxb for 

 (aj) bualAb, a beating, <x c;iujn;u5<xb, 

 for aj Cfiujiiju jfl.b, collecting, &c. 



3. When it means a^, i. e. out ofov 



from, it has the first sound of <x ; as a 



bajle, from home ; " <(fi na cc/tr^iiju jab 



a <it\o\An be ^eanleab/ia;b." O'Clery, 



Preface to his Irish Diciionayy. 



This preposition coalesces with the 

 pronouns personal and possessive, as 

 am, in my, ab, in thy. ajam, a;^am, &c. 

 For these refer to Grammar to be pre- 

 fixed. 



It is also used emphatically (In this 

 case it is abusively used for ab or bo) 

 before the present, past, and, some- 

 times, the future tenses, indicative 

 moods of verbs ; as a be;ftjm, / say^ 

 a bubajftt me, / said : also before 

 nouns, to form compound preposi- 

 tions, adverbs and conjunctions; as 

 a n<XT[<y)>i, against, i. e. ct) aja;b, li- 

 terally, in the face of. a b-j:0ju;^, near, 

 i. e. M and poju;^. /. e. in contiguity .• 

 a noct, to-night, a mi/tac, to-morrow, 

 &c. 



It is also used as an inseparable pre- 

 fix or preposition in composition, and 

 is sometimes omitted ; as, a^lonab for 

 ^^lonab, tellijig or informing ; acob^ab 

 for cob;iab, wishing, longing, desiring .- 

 &c. 



It is also used abusively by some 

 writers when they separate it from y in 

 the affirmative impersonal verb Af, it 

 is ; as, a fs, for o.f e, it is he ,• a fj, for 

 ay" ), it is she ; a pab, for ^f ;ab, // is 

 they. To remove ambiguity, it would 

 be better to write the verb a/* (;y) to 

 distinguish it from the prepostion a;*» 



