KELTEAG NUEADH (LESSON NOTES)

KELTEAG NUEADH
LESSON NOTES

THE CELTIC VERB
í ó á
In English (as in other Germanic languages) the basic form of the verb is the 'infinitive' e.g. 'to sing', 'to die'. By contrast the basic verbform in Celtic languages is the 'verbnoun' (sometimes called the'gerund') i.e. the verbnoun can act as both verb and noun. For example; cantu means 'singing' in both senses, agory means 'opening' and 'an opening', and, similarly, maru means both 'dieing' and 'death'. The verbnoun often ends in -u (Mimicked English '-w') or -y (M.E. '-ee') or -o (M.E. 'oh') or -adh ( M.E. 'ah').

Ta an cantu go bráf (M.E. 'tah an kantoo go braav')
Cantu go bráf e ta hi
Dao am maru datom ni holl

The singing is fine.
She sings well.
Death comes to us all.

THE ARTICLE ('THE') IN KELTEAG

In Kelteag there are three forms of the article (known as the 'definite article' in English):- An, am, and ana (or 'na).
Am is used before singular nouns starting p, b, m, l, r. An is used before other singular nouns. Ana is used before all plural nouns. For example:am pratan ('the potato'), ana pratain ('the potatoes'). Note there is no 'indefinite article' (E. 'a', 'an') in Celtic languages.
An, am, ana can be combined with a ('to'), do ('of', 'from'):- a'n, a'm, a'na; do'n, do'm, do'na.

EXAMPLES OF SOME IDIOMS ILLUSTRATING THE USE OF AG (WITH) AND AR (ON)

Ta acras arnam
Ta gorst arnam
Ta sechad/poethad arnam
Ta nair arnam
Ta oerni arnam
Ta athas arnam
Ta dróg/bruin arnam/agam
Ta fearg arnam
Ta eagla/aon arnam
Ta maitha agam
Ta arno bpunt daim
Ma is (ma's) maith agad
Is dagh/maith agam
Is bráf agam
Is mían agam
Is tuil agam

I'm hungry (there is a hunger on me)
I'm famished
I'm thirsty
I'm ashamed
I'm cold
I'm delighted
I'm sorry
I'm angry
I'm afraid
I prefer (it is better with me)
He owes me a pound
If you want
I like, am glad (it is good with me)
I like (it is pleasant with me)
I want/desire (i.e 'it is a desire with me')
I like

In the Semitic languages, 'Q' (which is like 'K' but pronounced further back in the throat) was a different phoneme from 'K', and so when the Greeks adopted the Semitic alphabet they kept the two signs (Kappa and Qoppa). Eventually it stopped being used, since it was not a separate phoneme (it only appeared before O and U, I believe). However, by that time, it had been adopted by the Romans in their alphabet. Unlike the Greeks, they had preserved the Indo-European "labio-velar" stop "k-superscript w", which is a 'K' pronounced with rounded lips -- that is, a 'K' and 'W' pronounced simultaneously (as opposed to the current English pronunciation of 'QU' where they are pronounced sequentially). They used the Qoppa + 'U' to represent this sound, and that is where we get our present 'Q'.