Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/40

Rh in the nominative and accusative feminine and in the genitive masculine, as, the cow; , the woman; , (the) son of the man; , the horse’s head (or the head of the horse).

If a noun begins with followed by a vowel, or by, , , the  is replaced by , in the nominative and accusative feminine and genitive masculine, and sometimes in the dative of both genders: , the heel; , the eye; , the house of the priest; , the son of the artizan; , to the priest; , on the mountain.

Strictly speaking, it is only in the dat. fem. that the is replaced by, but custom permits it in the masculine.

If a noun begins with a vowel, the article prefixes the nominative and accusative masculine, and  to the genitive feminine, as, the father; , the water; , the bird; , the lamb; , the top of the egg; , the coldness of the weather.

When the noun begins with an eclipsable consonant (except and, the article generally eclipses when it is preceded by a preposition, as , on the hill; , from the man. After the prepositions  and  aspiration takes place, not