and a noun in the singular causes eclipsis[1]: tá sé ar an gcapall, he is on the horse; ṫáinig sé leis an ḃfear, he came with the man.
(d) The numeral adjectives seaċt, oċt, naoi, and deiċ (7, 8, 9, and 10), and their compounds, as 27, 28, 29, &c., cause eclipsis: seaċt mba, seven cows; oċt gcaoiriġ, eight sheep; seaċt ḃ‑fir fiċead, twenty-seven men.
(e) The initial consonant of a verb is eclipsed after the particles ċa, not; an, whether; cá, where; naċ, whether … not or that … not; go, that; muna, unless; dá, if; and after the relative particle a when it is preceded by a preposition, or when it means “all that” or “what.” The relative preceded by a preposition does not eclipse if the verb be past tense, except in the case of a very few verbs, which will be given later on: an dtuigeann tú, do you understand? naċ ḃfuil sé tinn, isn’t he sick? cá ḃfuil sé, where is it? duḃairt sé go dtiocfaḋ sé, he said that he would come; an fear ag a ḃfuil an leaḃar,[2] the man who has the book.
The Insertion of n.
27. (a) When a word begins with a vowel, the letter n is usually prefixed in all those cases in which a con-
