Chapter XXIV: Section V: Of the Government of Prepositions

The Proper Prepositions aig, air, &c., govern the Dative; as, aig mo chois, _at my foot_; air mo laimh, _on my hand_. They are always placed before the word they govern. The following Prepositions require the Noun governed to be put in the Aspirated Form, viz., de, do, fuidh, fo, fa, gun, mar, mu, o, tre. Air sometimes governs the Noun in the Aspirated Form; as, air bharraibh sgiath na gaoithe, _on the extremities of the {161} wings of the wind_, Psal. xviii. 10. Gun governs either the Nominative or Dative; as, gun chrioch, _without end_, Heb. vii. 16; gun ch['e]ill, _without understanding_, Psal. xxxii. 9; gun chloinn, Gen. xv. 2. Mar, and gus or gu, when prefixed to a Noun without the Article, usually govern the Dative case; as, mar nighin, _as a daughter_, 2 Sam. xii. 13; mar amhainn mh[`o]ir, _like a great river_, Psal. cv. 41; gu cr[`i]ch mo shaoghail fein, _to the end of my life-time_, Psal. cxix. 33, xlviii. 10. But if the Article be joined to the Noun, it is governed in the Nominative; as, mar a' ghrian, _like the sun_, Psal. lxxxix. 36, 37; gus an sruth, _to the stream_, Deut. iii. 16; gus a' chrioch, _to the end_, Heb. iii. 6, 14. Eadar governs the Nom.; as, eadar a' chraobh agus a' chlach, _between the tree and the stone_. Eadar, when signifying _between_, requires the Primary Form; as, eadar maighstir agus muinntireach, _between a master and a servant_; when it signifies _both_, it requires the Aspirated Form; as, eadar shean agus [`o]g, _both old and young_; eadar fheara agus mhnai, _both men and women_, Acts viii. 12.

The Prepositions as, gus, leis, ris, are used before the Monosyllables an, am, a'. The corresponding Prepositions a, gu, le, ri, often take an _h_ before an initial Vowel; as, a h-Eirin, _out of Ireland_; gu h-ealamh, _readily_; le h-eagal, _with fear_.

The Improper Prepositions govern the following Noun in the Genitive; as, air feadh na t[`i]re, _throughout the land_; an aghaidh an t-sluaigh, _against the people_; r['e] na h-[`u]ine, _during the time_. It is manifest that this Genitive is governed by the Noun feadh, aghaidh, r['e], &c., which is always included in the Preposition. See Part II. Chap. VII.

Prepositions are often prefixed to a Clause of a sentence; and then they have no regimen; as, gus am bord a ghiulan, _to carry the table_, Exod. xxv. 27; luath chum fuil a dhortadh, _swift to shed blood_, Rom. iii. 15. Edit. 1767; an d['e]igh an obair a chriochnachadh, _after finishing the work_. {162}