grammar of irish.pdf - Cryptm.org

58 ETYMOLOGY. fPART II.consonant is generally aspirated ;as bo goipibfp,they used to call.4. Tlio Irish peasantry seem to feel the want of these twotenses when they are speaking English ;and they often, infact, attempt to import them into the English language, evenin districts where no Irish has been spoken for generations:thus they will"say, I do be reading while you do be writing ;"" I used to be walking every day while 1 lived in thecountry," &e.Past Tense.1. In the past tense the initial consonant is aspiratedin the active voice, but not in the passivevoice.2. With the exception of the aspiration, thethird singular past tense is the same as theroot.3. One of the particles bo or po is generallyprefixed to the past tense in both voices as bo;peapap, I stood ; po coblaip, thou sleepedst; bomolab iab, they were praised ; po buaileab 6, hewas struck.4. The particle po, used as a mark of the pasttense, is often compounded with other particles, thep only being retained, but it still causes aspirationin the active voice, as if it were uncompounded.5. The principal of these compounds are :—(1.) Op, whether? from an and po as ; op buailpo, did ho strike?(2.) (5 ll P> that, from 50 and po; as cpeibim gupbuail pe, I believe that he struck.(3.) lllunap, unless, from nuina and po; asniunap buail pe, unless he struck.(1.) Nacap, orna'p, orndp, whether not? fromnac and po ;as ndp buail }€, did not he strike?