The Scottish Celtic review

—278 Oaelic Oythography— Common Mistakes.article is preserved, as in "aim san toiseacli " (in the beginning)," ann san taigh " (in tlie house), " ann sa' chomliairle " (in thecounsel), "ann san t-sligbe" (in the way), "ann sa' chaithir" (inthe seat), " ann san lagh " (in the law). The absence, therefore,of s after ann proves that, in " ann an comhairle nan aingidh,"" ann an slighe nam peacach," &c., an is not the article, which isnot admissible between the preposition and the noun in thosephrases, for we cannot say " ann sa' chomhairle nan aingidh,"" ann san t-slighe nam peacach," " ann sa' chaithir luchd-fanoid,"" ann san lagh an Tighearna."It raaj' be noticed here that, in ancient Gaelic, the prepositionand article were written as one word, as isin or issin = insin =in-sin, but that, in the modern orthography, they are usuallywritten as separate words, s being more frequently connectedwith the preposition although really belonging to the article.The t, prefixed to sliijhe after the dat. sing, of the article, representsd of the stem of the article, which becomes t in certain positions(cf. Zeuss' Gramm. Celt., pp. 209, 210).3. But we have only to substitute other prepositions for annin the above phrases, to be able to see that the article is notadmissible between a noun and the preposition which governs it,when anotiier noun, preceded by the article or by a posse.ssivepronoun, follows in the genitive. Hence "tre chomhairle nanaingidh " (through the counsel of the wicked), " o .shlighe nampeacach" (from the way of sinners, lit., of the sinners), "air caithirluchd-fanoid" (on the seat of scorners), " le lagh an Tighearna"(by the law of the Lord), without an between the prepositions ire,o, air, le, and the nouns which they govern.4. In modern Irieh, the n of an is modified, in tlie phrases correspondingto the above, exactly iu accordance with the phoneticlaw applicable to a primitive nasal termination, and which maybe briefly stated as follows :(1) Original n final is dropped before s, f,and the tenues (c, iht) ; but in modern Irish the tenues are eclipsed by their correspondingmedials (g, h, d), and /by hli.(2) Original n final is assimilated to the licpiids (l, m, n, r),with which it frequently coalesces.(3) Original n final is preserved before the medials and vowelsbut is transported to the beginning of the following word, towhich it is prefixed.