Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/197

Rh Irish spelling. Let a student once thoroughly grasp the rules for “, &c,” “aspiration,” “eclipsis,” “attenuation,” and “syncope,” and immediately all difficulty vanishes.

Derivatives are formed of simple words and particles. The most important of the latter have been already given under the headings “Prefixes” and “Affixes.” We will here give some examples of derivative nouns, a careful study of which will enable the student to split up the longest words into their component parts, and thus arrive at their meanings.

means heavy;, i.e., (the abstract termination) means heaviness or weight; , light, from , and the negative particle , which eclipses  and , hence the ; , lightness, from , not; , heavy; , ness; , impartial, fair, or just; from , equal, and , heavy; , impartiality, fairness, &c.; , partial, unjust; from ; , partiality, injustice; from. , a reaper; from, a scythe, and , an affix denoting an agent; the is put in between the  and  to assist pronunciation: , friends; , friendliness, friendship; , unfriendliness, hostility: , manliness; from : , unamiability; from , not + , affection +  + : , a