19. The Adjective

In Gaelic the general position of the adjective is after the noun it qualifies.
E.G. duine mòr, a big man ; each dubh, a black horse.
The adjective is aspirated after a feminine noun.
E.G. bean mhòr, a big woman ; làir dhubh, a black mare ; nighean bheag, a little girl.

When the adjective is in the Predicative Position (i.e., forming part of the predicate) it is always written in the simple form irrespective of the gender or the number of the word it refers to. E.G.

The man is wise,	Tha an duine glic.
The woman is wise,	Tha a' bhean glic.
The boy is big,	Tha am balach mòr.
The girl is big,	Tha an nighean mòr.
The trees are tall,	Tha na craobhan àrd.
The dogs are swift,	Tha na coin luath.

The plurals of monosyllabic adjectives end in 'a,' if the vowel of the adjective is broad (a,o,u) ; and in 'e,' if the vowel of the adjective is slender.
E.T.

E.T.	SINGULAR	dubh, black.	PLURAL	dubha.
	"	àrd, high.	"	àrda.
	"	bàn, fair (white).	"	bàna.
but	"	glic, wise.	"	glice.
	"	còir, kind.	"	còire.

A few adjectives precede their nouns, and in such a position always aspirate their nouns.
E.G. droch, deagh, sàr, *seann (sean), etc.

droch dhuine, a bad man.

seann mhaighdean, an old maid.

deagh charaid, a good friend.

sàr dhuin'-uasal, a thorough gentleman.

In this group there is, as it were, special emphasis laid on the quality denoted by the adjective.

E.G.	Duine olc (or dona), a bad man.
but,	Droch dhuine, a (very) bad man.
	Duine fior, a true, a faithful man.
but,	fior dhuine, 'a true man' in every sense ; every inch a man.

With 'droch dhuine,' compare "An Droch Fhear," the devil.

A convenient vocabulary for a 'Reading' on this section can be formed by grouping common adjectives in "pairs of opposites," names of common colours, etc.

vocabulary.

reamhar, fat.	caol, tana, thin.
trom, heavy.	aotrom, light.
fada, long.	geàrr, goirid, short.
làn, full.	falamh, empty.
sean, seann, old.	òg, young.
glan, clean.	salach, dirty.

Colours.

dearg, red.	glas, gray.
gorm, blue.	liath, liath, grey (headed).
uaine, green.	donn, brown (dun).

XII. - Leughadh.

Chunnaic am balach beag duine mòr reamhar anns a' bhùth. Chuir a' chaileag bhàn an sporon làn anns a' phoca. Có thog an t-each marbh? Thog am fear òg laidir. C' àit' am beil an gille tinn? Tha e anns an t-seòmar agus tha an lighiche math aig an leabaidh. Tog a' bhròg ghlan, ach fàg an còta salach. Togaidh mi an leabhar dearg ach tilgish mi a mach a' chairt ghlas. Dh' ól an nighean mhath an t'uisge fuar, ach dhòirt an droch bhalach am bainne blàth air an làr. Sheas am bodach mór anns an dorus agus shuidh a' chailleach liath air an stòl. Ghlac mise eun breac ann an lion beag an dé, each dh' ith an cat glas e anns a' mhaduinn. Tha am fear bog anns an achadh agus ithidh a' bhó bhàn e an diugh. Nach 'eil an t-each donn anns an stàbull? Tha, ach tha an làir dhubh anns a' phàirc. Tha dorus gorm air an taigh agus tha glas dhubh air an dorus. Fosgail an dorus buidhe ach dùin an dorus donn. Có bhuail an t-each breac? Bhuail Seumas e le maide mór. C' àit' am beil do chat glas-sa? Tha e anns an toll.

Có leis an cat? Is le Seumas Bàn an cat donn.

Questions

Answers

Dé 'n seorsa duine tha so?

What sort of man is this?

Duine mór, or

Tha duine mór, or

Is e so duine mór, or

Tha an duine so mór, etc.

Dé 'n seorsa rud tha so?

What sort of thing is this?

Cat dubh, or

Tha cat dubh, or

Is e so cat dubh, etc

Dé 'n dath tha air a' phàipeir? air an leabhar? air an dorus? etc

What colour is on the paper? on the book? on the door? etc., etc.

Dearg, or

Dath dearg, or

Tha dath dearg, or

Is e dath dearg a tha air a' phàipeir, air an leabhar, air an dorus, etc.

Other questions of a similar type should now be framed to bring into practice the various words employed in this section; the various forms of answering questions should be freely used.

* Sean (old) is used after a noun, and in the Predicative position in a sentence. When used before a noun it usually takes the form Seann, and in such a position does not aspirate nouns beginning with d, t, s (l, n, r).
E.G. Seann duine, seann saighdear, etc. In colloquial speech one hears another form (Seana) which always aspirates its noun, seana ghille, a bachelor, seana chailleach, an old wife.