The Scottish Celtic review

Gaelic OrtluKjraiiliij— Common Mistakes. 279Hence (P.s. i. 1, 2), "a gcomliairlc na neimlulliiadliacli " (in thecounsel of the uugodly)=" au conihairlc nan nciinhdhiadhach,""a slighe na bpeacach" (in the way of sinners) =;" an slighenam peacach," "a suidheachan na dtiircuisneacli " (in theseat of the scornful) = " an suidheachdn nan taicnisneach," "andligheadh an Tighearna," (in the law of the Lord) = "an dligheadhan Tighearna," (Gen. xvi. 12) : "a Idthair a dhearbhratharuile " (in presence of all his l>retlireu) = " an lathair a dhearbhbhrathar,"(Gen. xviii. 1.): "a ndorus na puible" (in the door ofthe tent) — "an dorus na puible," (Gen. xx. 6) : "a naisliiig" (ina dream) = "an aisling " (Scott. Ed., 1826: "ann an aisling,")(Gen. xsii. 13): "a nait a mhic " (in the place of his son) = "aniiit a mhic."In these examples, the n of an, being the original termination,disappears before suidheachan and sliyhe which begin with s,eclipses initial cl of cUigheuclh and dorus, and causes eclipsisof c of comhairle (by its medial g). It is assimilated unto andcoalesces with I of lathair, and is prefixed to aisling and dit^which begin with a vowel. But if an, in the above examples,were the article with a preposition underatood before it, the lawwhich produces the phonetic changes now noticed would not beapplicable, except in the cases (noni. sing, neut., ace. sing, and gen.plur. of all genders ; cf. Windisch's Grainm., p. 27) which terminatedoriginally with n. Compare " a slighe " (in way) with " annsatslighe " (in the way ; Ex. v. 20) and " a ndorus " (in door) with'annsa dorus" (in the door; 2 Kings iv. l.i). This law, however,is not observed in modern Irish with the same regularity as inthe ancient language; and, therefore, we not unfrequently meetwith irregular instances of eclipsis after the article when precededby a preposition. But, still, it holds, as a general rule, thatthe prep, an eclipses regularly, when the initial consonant of thefollowing word admits of eclipsis, but that only certain cases ofthe article an, viz., those which terminated originally with anasal, cause eclipsis. This rule shows that an in " a gcomhairlena neimhdhiadhach," "a slighe na bpeacach," "a ndligheadh anTighearna," &c., and, therefore, in the corresponding phrases inScottish Gaelic, is the preposition and not the article.III. The prep, an (in) erroneously taken to be an abbri'viatcdform of " ann an " or annan (in).In a report of a joint-committee of tlie Established and Free