grammar of irish.pdf - Cryptm.org

32 ETYMOLOGY. [PAKT JLCHAPTER III.THE ADJECTIVE,I. DECLENSION OF ADJECTIYE3.1. In Irish the adjective changesits formaccording to the gender, case, and number of thenoun.2. Adjectives are declined in much the samemanner as nouns ;but they never take the inflectionlb in the dative plural (though anciently theyhad this inflection Like nouns) : the dative pluralof an adjective is like the nominative plural.3. There are usually reckoned four declensionsof adjectives.4. The inflections of these four declensions follow thoseof the noun so closely, that when the noun is mastered theadjective presents no difficulty.FIRSTDECLENSION.1.Adjectives of the first declension are thosethat end in a consonant preceded by a broadvowel, as bdn, white ; pliuc, wet.2. In the masculine gender (i.e., when the adjectivebelongs to a masculine noun), they aredeclined the same as nouns of the first declensionof the type of ball, except that the nominativeplural always ends in a.3. In the feminine gender adjectives are declinedthe same as nouns of the second declensionof the type of reampos.4. Both genders are alike in the plural. Example,ban, white.