Chapter XX: Section I: Of the Government of Nouns

One Noun governs another in the Genitive. The Noun governed is always placed after that which governs it; as, ceann tighe, _the head of a house or family_; solus na gr['e]ine, _light of the sun_; bainne ghabhar _milk of goats_.

The Infinitives of Transitive Verbs, being themselves Nouns, (See Part II. Chap. V. p. 86.) govern in like manner the Genitive of their object; as, ag cur s[`i]l, _sowing seed_; a dh' fhaicinn an t-sluaigh, _to see the people_; iar leughadh an t-soisgeil, _after reading the gospel_[105].

Although no good reason appears why this rule, which is common to the Gaelic with many other languages, should ever be set aside, yet it has been set aside in speaking, and sometimes in writing Gaelic.

1. When the Noun governed does in its turn govern another Noun in the Genitive, the former is often put in the Nominative instead of the Genitive case. The following instances of this anomaly occur in the Gaelic Scriptures:--Guth briathran an t-sluaigh, instead of, bhriathran, _the voice of the words of the people_, Deut. v. 28; do mheas craobhan a' gharaidh, instead of, chraobhan, _of the fruit of the trees of the garden_, {155} Gen. iii. 2; ag itheadh tighean bhantrach, for thighean, _devouring widows' houses_, Matt. xxiii. 14; ag nochdadh obair an lagha, for oibre, _showing the work of the law_, Rom. ii. 15; ag cuimhneachadh gun sgur obair bhur creidimh, agus saothair bhur graidh, for oibre, saoithreach, _remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love_, 1 Thess. i. 3; trid fuil is fearta Chriost, _through the blood and merits of Christ_, Gael. Paraph. 1787, p. 381, for trid fola Chriost, as in Eph. ii. 13; ag [`a]iteach sliabh Shioin, for sleibh, _inhabiting the hill of Zion_, Psal. ix. 11. metr; air son obair Chriosd, Phil. ii. 30, 1767, according to the usage of the language, but changed to oibre, in Edit. 1796, to suit the Grammatical Rule[106]. For the most part, however, the general rule, even in these circumstances, is followed; as, guth fola do bhrathar, _the voice of thy brother's blood_, Gen. iv. 10; amhainn duthcha cloinne a shluaigh _the river of the land of the children of his people_, Numb. xxii. 5; a' nigheadh chos sheirbhiseach mo thighearna, _to wash the feet of the servants of my lord_, 1 Sam. xxv. 41.

2. Such expressions as the following seem to be exceptions to the rule:--Dithis mac, 2 Sam. xv. 27, 36; ceathrar mac, 1 Chron. xxi. 20; leanabaibh mac, Matt. ii. 16. In the following similar instances, the rule is observed:--Dithis mhac, Gen. xli. 50; dithis fhear, 2 Sam. xii. 1; ceathrar fhear, Acts xxi. 23; ceathrar mhaighdiona, Acts xxi. 9.

The same anomaly takes place in the regimen of the infinitive, as in that of other Nouns. Though an Infinitive be in that grammatical relation to a preceding Noun which would require its being put in the Genitive, yet when itself also governs another noun in the Genitive, it often retains the form of the Nominative. The Infinitives naomhachadh, gnathachadh, briseadh, admit of a regular Genitive, naomhachaidh, gnathachaidh, brisidh. In the following examples, {156} these Infinitives, because they govern a subsequent Noun in the Genitive, are themselves in the Nominative, though their relation to the preceding word naturally requires their being put in the Genitive Case. Tha an treas [`a]ithne a' toirmeasg mi-naomhach_adh_ no mi-ghnathach_adh_ ni sam bith, &c., _the third commandment forbids the profaning or the abusing of any thing_, &c. Assem. Cat. Gael. Edin. 1792, Answer to Q. 55. Ged fheud luchdbris_eadh_ na h-aithne so dol as, &c., id. Q. 56., _though the transgressors of this commandment may escape_, &c. Cuis crath_adh_ cinn is cas_adh_ b['e]il, Psal. xxii. 7, as it is in the older edition of the Gaelic Psalms. An deigh leugh_adh_ an lagha, _after the reading of the Law_, Acts. xiii. 15; luchd cum_adh_ uilc, Rom. i. 30[107].

The Infinitive is not put in the Genitive, when preceded {157} by a Possessive Pronoun, because it is in the same limited state as if it governed a Noun in the Genitive Case; as, a chum am marbh_a_dh 's na beanntaibh, _to kill them in the mountains_, Exod. xxxii., not marbh_ai_dh, which is the Case regularly governed by chum. Co tha 'g iarraidh do mharbh_a_dh? John vii. 20, not do mharbh_ai_dh. Thug iad leo e chum a cheus_adh_. Matt. xxvii. 31. Chum an cruinneach_adh_ gu cath. Rev. xx. 8[108].

This coincidence in the Regimen of the Infinitive in two similar situations, viz., when limited by a Possessive Pronoun, and when limited by a subsequent Noun, furnishes no slight argument in support of the construction defended above, of putting the Infin. in the Nom. case when itself governs a Noun in the Genitive; for we find the Infin. is invariably put in the Nom. when limited in its signification by a Possess. Pronoun.

When one Noun governs another in the Genitive, the Article is never joined to both, even though each be limited in its signification, as, mac an righ, _the son of the king_, not am mac an righ; taobh deas a' bhaile, _the south side of the town_, not an taobh deas a' bhaile[109]. For the most part, the Article is thus joined to the latter Noun. Sometimes it is joined to the former Noun; as, an ceann tighe, _the head of the family_; an ceann iuil, _the pilot_; but in such instances the two Nouns figure as one complex term, like _paterfamilias_, rather than as two terms. The following examples, in which the Article is joined to both Nouns, seem to be totally repugnant to the Gaelic idiom: cuimhneachadh _nan_ c[`u]ig aran _nan_ c[`u]ig m[`i]le, Matt. xvi. 9; _nan_ seachd aran _nan_ ceithir m[`i]le, Matt. xvi. 10[110].

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A Possessive Pronoun joined to the Noun governed excludes, in like manner, the Article from the Noun governing; as, barr-iall a bhr[`o]ige, _the latchet of his shoe_, not am barr-iall a bhr[`o]ige; obair bhur lamh, _the work of your hands_, not an obair bhur lamh.

The Noun governed is sometimes in the Primary, sometimes in the Aspirated Form.

Proper Names of the Masculine Gender are in the Aspirated Form; as, br[`a]thair Dhonuill, _Donald's brother_; uaigh Choluim, _Columba's grave_. Except when a final and an initial Lingual meet; as, clann Donuill, _Donald's descendants_; beinn Deirg _Dargo's hill_.

When both Nouns are Appellatives, and no word intervenes between them, the initial Form of the latter Noun follows, for the most part, that of an Adjective agreeing with the former Noun. See p. 144.

Thus, d' a gh[`a]radh _f_iona, g' a gh[`a]radh _f_iona, without the Article, Matt, xx. 1, 2, like do dhuine _m_aith; but do 'n gh[`a]radh _fh_iona, with the Article _v._ 4, 7, like do 'n duine _mh_aith. So we should say do 'n ard fhear-_ch_iuil, rather than do 'n ard fhear-_c_iuil, as in the title of many of the Psalms.

EXCEPT.--If the latter Noun denote an individual of a species, that is, if it take the Article _a_ before it in English, it is put in the _primary form_, although the former Noun be feminine; as, s[`u]il caraid, _the eye of a friend_, not s[`u]il _ch_araid, like s[`u]il _mh_or, duais _f_[`a]idh, _a prophet's reward_, Matt. x. 4, not duais _fh_[`a]idh, like duais _mh_[`o]r. Chum maitheanais _p_eacaidh, Acts, ii. 38, signifies _for the remission of a sin_; rather chum maitheanais _ph_eacaidh _for the remission of sin_.

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