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 CELTS (LANGUAGES AND LITEEATUEE) 179 masculine and feminine. Adjectives are form- ed from substantives, and verbs by means of the terminations aid, gar, ig, in, lyd, og, and us. The comparative is formed by the ending ach, the superlative by of; e. g. : du, black; duach, blacker; duaf, blackest. The feminine adjective is formed from the mas- culine by softening the initial letter, and also by changing the radical vowel. The verb has no present tense, to express which the future is used, or the substantive verb wyv (I am) with the infinitive. There are, however, im- perfect, perfect, pluperfect, and future tenses, which are formed, both in the optative and indicative moods, by endings and changes of vowels without auxiliary verbs ; e. g. : carwn, I loved; cerais, I have loved; caraswn, I had loved; caraf, I shall love. Each tense has three persons both in the singular and plu- ral ; e. g. : carwn, earit, carai, carem, earech, carent. The passive voice is wanting, and is expressed by a peculiar circumlocution. There are several irregular verbs besides wye. The adjective is usually placed after the substan- tive, but is often placed before. The numerals are : un, dau or dwy, tri or tair, pedwar or pedair, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, deg. The personal pronouns are: mi, I; ti, thou; ev, he ; hi, she ; ni, we ; chwi, you ; Jiwy or hwynt, they. "The language," says Ferdinand Walther, "has great power, simplicity, and precision. It is very rich especially in roots, and has a remarkable capacity to express an entire abstraction in a single word." The literature of the Cymri has laid claim to a very ancient origin, but modern criticism shows that even the earliest Welsh writings are sub- sequent to the Christian era. The first eminent bard of whose period of existence we have a distinct record was Myrddin, the bard of Prince Emrys, the first Merlin of romance, who flour- ished about 450. Aneurin, identified by some with the Gildas of ecclesiastical history, Talie- sin, prince of bards, Llewarch Hen, and Myrd- din Wyllt or Merlin the Wild, belong to the 5th and 6th centuries ; of them all numerous po- ems remain. The most gifted among more modern bards was perhaps Dafydd ap Gwylem (129S-1356), sometimes called the Ovid of Wales, the poet of love and nature. A volume of translations from his writings has been pub- lished in London (1834). Huw Morris (1622- 1709) wrote songs, carols, and elegies, and sometimes violent political satires. The last remarkable poet of Wales, Goronwy Owen (1722-1780), died poor in New Brunswick, and his productions, including the Cwydd y Farn (" Day of Judgment "), regarded as the finest work of genius in the language, were first printed in 1819. The earliest Welsh prose litera- ture is the triads, said to be of druidic origin, a sort of maxims in triplets, each setting forth a historical event or a moral principle. Next is the " Chronicle of the Kings of the Isle of Britain," supposed to have been written by Tysilio in the 7th century, and said to be the original of the chronicle of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth. It was continued to the year 1152 by Caradwg of Llancarvan, whose work is also in existence. The "Code of Howel Da," of the 12th century, is also an important literary monument, as is the " Biography of Gruffydd ap Cynan," of the 15th century. The Mabino- gion ("Juvenile Diversions"), made accessible to English readers by the translations of Owen Pugh and Lady Charlotte Guest, is a collec- tion of Cymric legends and fairy stories of unknown antiquity, but committed to writing in the 14th century. " The Sleeping Bard," written about 1700 by Elis Wyn, a moral and religious allegory, divided into the " Vision of the World," "Vision of Death," and "Vision of Hell," is a work of great originality and power ; it has been translated into English by George Borrow (London, 1860). The first translation of the New Testament into Welsh was made by William Salesbury (1597), and the first translation of the whole Bible was completed by William Morgan and published in 1588. Considerable bodies of Welsh emigrants have brought their native language to the United States, and there are communities in which it is the prevailing tongue. Welsh peri- odicals, newspapers, and religious tracts and books are also published in the United States for the use of citizens of Welsh origin. A convenient Welsh grammar for students is that of William Spurrell (London, 1848 ; 2d ed., 1853). Of the Cornish branch of the Cymraeg, now extinct as a spoken language, the inde- fatigable Zeuss, in the Vocabularium Corni- cum of his Grammatica Celtica, has given almost all that is now known. There is also the "Ancient Cornish Drama," edited and translated by Edwin Norris. THE GAELIC. For this language, spoken in Scotland and Ireland, there are many grammars and dictionaries. Among these may be mentioned the dictionary of Edward O'Eeilly (4to, Dublin, 1817), a book which has lately acquired much additional val- ue by a new edition and supplement prepared by the eminent Gaelic scholar John O'Donovan, editor of the " Four Masters." This work may be taken for the present as the nearest ap- proach to a standard dictionary of the language. Of grammars there are also several ; of which we name that of Neilson, that of Owen Con- nellan (Dublin, 1844), and the " College Irish Grammar," by the Kev. Ulick J. Burke, of St. Patrick's college, Maynooth (Dublin, 1856). The literary and historic remains of this lan- guage are very voluminous, and have been in- dustriously collected, translated, and annotated by modern scholars, both in Scotland and in Ireland. They consist mainly of annals, laws, and genealogies, but with a large infusion of romantic and fairy tales like those of Brittany. The Gaelic speech has varied considerably from age to age ; and a great portion of the industry of its professors has been expended upon the "glosses," that is, partial translations of sen- tences and phrases, from the Lathi, or into th