Читать книгу Reading the Gaelic Landscape - John Murray - Страница 15

The definite article changes for plural nouns, but for both genders it is identical. Before any vowel it is na h- and before any consonant it is na. Plurals rarely occur on their own in place-names. In most cases the plural is indicated by a suffix an, or ean after the slender vowels E or I in the preceding syllable. So the plural of a’ chreag, which is feminine, is na creagan (nuh CRAYkun), whilst for an t-eas (un ches) - the waterfall, which is masculine, it is na h-easan (nuh HESun). For an taigh (un tie) - the house, which is masculine, the plural is na taighean (nuh TYun), whilst for an eaglais (un EKlish) - the church, which is feminine, it is na h-eaglaisean (nuh EKlishun).

Some common terms, such as gleann and beinn, add a T before the usual suffix to make their plurals, gleanntan for example. For beinn, there is an internal vowel change in the first syllable, giving beanntan. Similarly, baile (BAHLuh), meaning farm or village, gives bailtean (BALtchun). Sometimes the singular form of the noun is contracted when making a plural. So machair becomes machraichean (MACHreechun). Irregularities may have developed simply because they proved easier on the tongue than keeping strictly to the rules.

In these examples of the plural, an important spelling rule can be observed. In Gaelic this is called caol ri caol is leathann ri leathann - narrow with narrow and broad with broad. Caol and leathann are common adjectives in place-names. When a slender vowel, like E or I, ends the first syllable of a word and the second syllable is separated from the first by a consonant or consonant combination like dh or mh, then the first vowel of this following syllable is also slender. Similarly, when a broad vowel like A, O or U ends the first syllable of a word and the second syllable is separated from the first by a consonant or consonants, then the first vowel of this latter syllable is also broad. This explains why baile becomes bailtean and eas becomes easan, when plural. Sometimes separating consonant(s) are silent. The Gaelic for field is achadh (ACHugh). Its plural is achaidhean, consistent with the spelling rule and pronounced ACHee-un, where the silent DH acts only to separate the penultimate and final syllables. Achadh provides the common, anglicised place-name prefix Ach or Auch.

Other forms of the plural, particularly for some monosyllabic nouns, are made by a slenderisation of the syllable. An Cnoc (un crochk) the hillock becomes na cnuic (nuh crooichk), for example. Cnoc shows how the combination CN is pronounced like a nasalised CR, another sound unknown in English. Cnap (crahp), meaning lump or button, is similar. Some monosyllabic nouns beginning with a vowel also slenderise when plural. An t-allt (un towlt) - the stream, is masculine and changes to na h-uillt (nuh hooiltch) when there is more than one. To confuse matters, this is exactly the same as its genitive singular, which is covered below.