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III.

THE ARTICLE.

171. A rough breathing after the form is to show that it

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172. In the nominative singular masculine the t- comes before a vowel initial sound, in t-athir the father, in all other

cases before an initial s, in place of which it is pronounced, in t-serc the love.

173. The change between n and nd is only found in those cases which cause aspiration. nd is used regularly in Old Irish before those sounds which have never been aspirated, viz. before lrn and before vowels, also before ƒ which when aspirated disappears altogether, so that a vowel, an r or an l may be taken for the proper initial sound of the word: N. Sg. F. in chathir the town, ind flaith the lordship, G. Sg. M. in choimded of the Lord, ind athar of the father, Dat. don bráthir to the brother, don macc to the son. t immediately preceded by n is not aspirated (cf. § 64) Gen. Sg. in tige of the house. In Modern Irish only forms with n occur (an and na).

174. The article had originally an 8. This s has been retained in the Dat. and Acc. in union with prepositions of consonantal terminal sound. arsin from ar n- after, ressin from re n- before, cossin, cosnaib from co n- with (c. Dat.), issin, isnaib, isna, isin dib (Dat. Du.) from in- in (cum Dat. et Acc.), lassin n- (M. F.), lassa n- (N.), lasna Pl., lasin di (Acc. Du. F.) from la(th) with, frissin n- (M. F.), frissa n- (N.), frisna (Pl.) from fri(th) towards, trissin n- (M. F.), trissa n- (N.), trisna (Pl.) from tri through, cossin n- (M. F.), cossa n- (N.) from co(th) to, tarsin n- (M. F.), tarsa n- (N.), tarsna (Pl.) from tar(s) over (cum Acc.), assin (M. F. N.) from a, ass out of (cum Dat.), forsin (Dat. M. F. N.), forsin n- (Acc. M. F.), forsa n(N.), forsnaib (Pl. Dat.), forsna (Acc.) from for upon (c. Dat. et Acc.).

175. Other instances of union with prepositions which originally had vowel endings are: ón úan (Dat. Sg.), ónaib (Pl.), fon (Dat. Sg.), fón n- (Acc. M. F.) from ó of, fo under, and ocon besides oc in (Dat.), immon n- (Sg. Acc. M. F.), imma n- (N.) from oc by, imm about. Also don (Dat. Sg.), donaib (Pl.), din (Dat. Sg.), dinaib (Pl.) from do to, di of, over.

176. The remaining prepositions cause no alteration of

the article: ar in (Dat. Sg.), ar naib (Dat. Pl.), ar na (Acc.), from ar for, before.

177. In Middle Irish the peculiar form of the dative plural -(s)naib is disused and the accusative form -(s)na is used in its stead; Middle Irish dona, dina, forsna, óna for Old Irish donaib, dinaib, forsnaib, ónaib and so on.

178. The abbreviated form na by degrees wholly takes the place of the fuller form inna. The fuller form is never found after prepositions.

179. The neuter gradually loses in the Nom. and Acc. Sg. its peculiar form; in tech the house for the older a tech: but again in Modern Irish an instead of in, for all genders in the Nom. and Acc. Sing.

180. In the Nom. Pl. the feminine form inna, na finally also supplants the masculine in: na maic the sons for Old Irish in maic (cf. § 114).

IV.

COMPARISON.

181. The comparative is usually formed by the suffix -iu, -u

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182. The suffix of the superlative is -em (-am), less often

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184. Instead of the special superlative form the comparative is generally used with the preceding relative as, bas (qui est): inti diib bes tresa orcaid alaile the strongest of them kills the other; dá ech bas ferr la Connachtu the two best horses in Connacht.

185.

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There is a second disused comparative form in -ither, -ithir, idir: léir industrious, comparative lériu and lérithir; lúath swift, comparative lúathiu and lúathither.

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186. "The," Latin eo, with the comparative is expressed by de placed after the adjective: ferr de the better. Better and better ferr assa ferr; worse and worse messa assa messa.

187. "Than," Latin quam, after the comparative is expressed by ol or inda. Ol is without exception associated with a relative form of the verb substantive and inda is usually so: olda-as oldás, inda-as indás quam est; oldáte indate quam

sunt.

188. As in Latin the ablative is used instead of this form, so in Irish the dative of the compared object is employed : ni diliu nech limm alailiu non carior mihi quisquam altero. In feminine stems in a this case of the comparative (originally an instrumental?) sounds sometimes like the nominative.

In Middle Irish the accusative is used in the same way: it lúathidir gáith n-erraig they are swifter than a spring gale.

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