NOTES ON THE IRISH TEXT.
Page 2, line 5, abalta air a ḋeunaṁ = able to do it, a word borrowed from English. There is a great diversity of words used in the various provinces for "able to," as abalta air (Mid Connacht); inneaṁuil ċum (Waterford); ionánn or i ndán, with infinitive (West Galway); ’niniḃ with infinitive (Donegal).
Page 4, line 18, ni leigeann siad dam = they don't allow me. Dam is pronounced in Mid Connacht dumm, but daṁ-sa is pronounced doo-sa. Dr. Atkinson has clearly shown, in his fine edition of Keating's "Three Shafts of Death," that the "enclitic" form of the present tense, ending in (e)ann, should only be used in the singular. This was stringently observed a couple of hundred years ago, but now the rule seems to be no longer in force. One reason why the form of the present tense, which ends in (e)ann, has been substituted for the old present tense, in other words, why people say buaileann sé, "he strikes," instead of the correct buailiḋ sé, is, I think, though Dr. Atkinson has not mentioned it, obvious to an Irish speaker. The change probably began at the same time that the f in the future of regular verbs became quiescent, as it is now, I may say, all over Ireland. Anyone who uses the form buailiḋ sé would now be understood to say, "he will strike," not "he strikes," for buailfiḋ sé, "he will strike," is now pronounced, in Connacht, at least, and I think elsewhere, buailiḋ sé. Some plain differentiation between the forms of the tenses was wanted, and this is probably the reason why the enclitic form in (e)ann has usurped the place of the old independent present, and is now used as an independent present itself. Line 30, madra or madaḋ alla = a wolf. Cuir forán air = salute him—a word common in Connacht and the Scotch Highlands, but not understood in the South. Line 34. Ḃeiḋeaḋ sé = he would be, is pronounced in Connacht as a monosyllable, like ḃeiṫ (veh or vugh).
Page 6, line 8, earball, is pronounced rubbal not arball, in Connacht. Ni and níor are both used before ṫáinig at the present day.
Page 8, line 18. Go marḃfaḋ sé = that he would kill; another and commoner form is, go maróċaḋ sé, from marḃuiġ, the ḃ being quiescent in conversation. Line 31, anḃruiṫ = broth, pronounced anṫruiṫ (anhree), the ḃ having the sound of an h only.
Page 12, line 27. An ċuma iraiḃsó is more used, and is better. Sin é an ċuma a ḃí sé = "That's the way he was." It will be observed that this a before the past tense of a verb is only, as Dr. Atkinson remarks, a corruption of do, which is the sign of the past tense. The do is hardly ever used now, except as contracted into d’ before a vowel, and this is a misfortune, because there is nothing more feeble or more tending to disintegrate the language than the constant use of this colourless vowel a. In these folk stories, however, I have kept the language as I found it. This a has already made much havoc in Scotch Gaelic, inserting itself into places where it means nothing. Thus, they say tha ’s again air a sin: Dinner a b fhearr na
