The Scottish Celtic review

276 Gaelic Orfhographij— Common MistaJccs.therefore, aspirates by rule (cf. " air chul," "air cliois," fcc, quotedabove).3. Ar is the preposition which is used in the same formulae inthe ancient language, as may be seen by comparing Zeuss' Gramm.Celt. (p. 30.5): " dlom diis ar fichit inartir" (declare twentytwomartyrs); Windiscli's Ir. Texte (p. 370): "di bliadain d^c armill " (twelve to [in addition to] a thousand years, i.e., a thousandand twelve yeai's).4. Ar, not thar, is the pre]>osition used in these numerals inmodern Irish, which agrees in this with the spoken Gaelic ofScotland. Cf. O'Donovan's Gramm. (p. 124). In Bed. Bib. wefind both ar and its modern form air (the former more frequently),but never thar. Cf. Jer. Hi. 31 :" san seachdmhadh bliadhain arthriochad " (in the thirty-seventh year) ; 2 Kings xv. 13 : " annsanaorahadh bliadhuin dt^g ar fhichid" (in the thirtj'-ninth yeaz');2 Kings XXV. 27 : "an seachdmhadh bliadhuin deug ar fhichid "(in the thirty-seventh year) ; 1 Kings xxii. 42 :" ciiig bhliadhnaairthriochad " (thirty-five years) ; 2 Ch. xxxiv. 1 :" bliadhuin airthriochad " (thirty-one years) ; John v. 5 :" ochd mbliadhna deugair fhichid " (thirty-eight years).5. The evidence on this point furnished by the usage of ancientand modern Irish, although of itself conclusive, is not more importantthan that supplied by the Welsh numerals. The numbersbetween ten and twenty and between twenty and forty are expressedin Welsh by the aid of the prep, ar (Rowland's WelshGrammar, pp. 44-46), which is identical with the Gaelic prep, ar(Zeu.ss' Gramm. Celt., p. 669), and not by the prep, track or tra,which corresponds to the Gaelic prep, tar or tJiar (Gramm. Celt.,p. 680). Compare "un ar ddeg" (eleven), "dau ar ddeg" (twelve),"tri ar ddeg" (thirteen), "deg ar hugain '" (thirty), "degfed arhugain " (thirtieth, i.e., the tenth to, or in addition to twenty).6. Although t of tar is weakened by aspiration in thar, it doesnot appear that it is ever entirely dropped, or that the prepositionreally admits of being shortened into 'ar. At any rate, it isimpossible in the face of the evidence to the contrary furnishedby the aspiration oijichead, and by the usage of ancient Gaelic aswell as of modern Irish and Welsh, to regard ar in "ar fhichead"as an abbreviation of tar or thar, or, indeed, as anything else thanthe prep, ar (to, in addition to).The use of thnr in statements expressive of number, is, however,