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exercise CXXXVII
§ 809. Optative of atá
| raḃad | rou'-ădh | may I be |
| raḃair | rou'-ir | mayest thou be |
| raiḃ | rev | may he (shĕit) be |
| raḃmuid | rou'-mwid | may we be |
| raḃṫaoi | rou'-hee | may ye be |
| raḃaid | rou'-id | may they be |
(In the S.L. the more usual forms are raiḃ mé, tú, sé, sí, sinn, siḃ, siad.)
§ 810. The optative is always preceded by go, except when there is a negative, then the particle is naċ.
EXAMPLE—Go raiḃ tú slán, láidir, may you be well and strong. Go raiḃ maiṫ agat, may good be with you (= thank you). Go raiḃ míle maiṫ agat, 1000 thanks to you. Go raiḃ ceud míle fáilte róṁat, 100,000 times welcome! Im ná bainne ná raiḃ aca, butter or milk may they not have.
§ 811. Optative Mood of is.
Two forms are used, ab and ba. WIth a negative ab is always used. When there is no negative, ba is commonly used in the west and ab in the North. Both are used in Munster.
| gur ab | may (he, she, it) be |
| go mba | may (he, she, it) be |
| nár ab | may (he, she it) not be |
§ 812. Bail ó Ḋia ort! Success from God on you! God speed your work! Go mba h-é (gŭ mă hae) ḋuit, may it be to you (may you have the same); or gur ab é ḋuit, and you likewise (Donegal) or go mb' aṁlaiḋ (gŭ mouL'-ee) ḋuit, may it be thus to you. These are the usual answers to bail ó Ḋia ort! and to bail ó Ḋia ar an obair! When bail ó Ḋia ort is used like go mbeannuiġiḋ Dia ḋuit, it receives the same answer, Dia is Muire ḋuit.
§ 813. Cia ċaoi ḃfuil tú? Go maiṫ slán a ḃéiḋeas tú. Go mba fearr (or go mba seaċt ḃfearr) ḃéiḋeas tú bliaḋain ó indiu. What way are you? Well, may you be well. (this is shortened from go mba slán ḃéiḋeas tú, may it be well taht thou shalt be) May you be better (or, seven times better) a year from today. Seaċt, seven, causes eclipsis (shaCHth vaar) seven (times) better.
§ 814. Dia do ḃeaṫa, and outside munster sé do ḃeaṫa are common grettings. WHen addressing more than one, ḃur mbeaṫa is said. [in Munster often shortened to dé ḃeaṫa, Dé n'ḃur (Noor) mbeaṫa]. The opposite is conveyed by nár ab é do ḃeaṫa, or in Munster nára Dé do ḃeaṫa, never welcome you. See Gaelic Journal, Feb., 1895, p. 166, 173. Dia do ḃeaṫa is also still used in parts of Scotland.
From analogy with nár a Dé do ḃeaṫa, they say in Munster nár a Dé do ġnó (γŭN-ō) may your business not prosper; nár a Dé do ṡláinte, nár a Dé do ṡaoṫar (hae'-har = labour); nár a Dé do leiġeas (lei'-ăs, recovery, cure) As an answer to Dia do ḃeaṫa, go mairr (gŭ mwar-ir) may you live, long life to you, is often said.
§ 815. We may believe that before go raiḃ maiṫ agat, naċ raiḃ é slán, bur ab aṁlaiḋ ḋuit, go mba h-é ḋuit, nár ab é duit, etc, something has been omitted; such as (guiḋim) go raiḃ maiṫ agat (I pray) that good may be to you, etc.
§ 816. The optative of atá or is is omitted i such short phrases as sonas ort (== go raiḃ sonas ort); slán an sgeuluiḋe (= go mba s.) well be the bearer of (good) news (shgael'-ee); slán an ḃó, said on taking a drink of milk. In Aran they say slán an ṁaiṫreaċ (Wauh'-răCH = ewe).
§ 817. Dia do ḃeaṫa a ḃaile, a Ṗádraig; duḃairt Seaġan liom go raḃais ag teaċt indiu. Bail ó Ḋia oraiḃ, a Nóra agus a Úna; cia ċaoi ḃfuil siḃ. Atámuid go maiṫ buiḋeaċas le Dia, slán a ḃéidċeas tú féin. Go mba seaċt ḃfearr ḃéiḋeas siḃ i mbáraċ. "Ċuaiḋ siad a ḃaile annsin, agus do ḃí siad sona (sŭn'-ă, happy) agus muna raiḃ siad-san, go raiḃ sinne.". Mo seaċt mbeannaċta (blessings) ort!
note that
phonetic
symbols
are not
necessarily pronounced
as in English