Archibald Cregeen's Dictionary

363 Pages·2015·5.72 MB·English

by  Archibald Cregeen

Fockleyr Chregeen aa-orderit

liorish

Max W. Wheeler

Rhumsaa, Averil 2015
i

Archibald Cregeen’s Dictionary of the Manks Language is a major work of lexicography that
has been used by generations of Manx learners since its publication in 1835. The distinctive
way in which the information is presented has meant, however, that some of the dictionary’s
potential value is not readily apparent to the user. Both the first edition of the Dictionary
(1835) and the second (1910) comprise a strictly alphabetical list of word forms, which is
particularly valuable for users not entirely familiar with the nature and range of variation in
the initial letter of Manx words, due to initial consonant mutations, and to the addition of
consonants (such as d- or n-) before certain forms of vowel-initial verbs. A consequence of
this strictly alphabetical procedure, though, is that related forms of the same word, or word-
family, are scattered throughout the dictionary. Thus, in a sense, Cregeen’s Dictionary as
published is more like an index to a lexicon than a lexicon itself.

In this re-ordering of the entries of the Dictionary, lexically related forms are grouped
together under a base form or lemma. It thereby becomes possible to consider together the
various inflectional forms of each item, its affixal derivatives, and the phrases and
compounds containing them. The reordering depends, of course, on correctly identifying the
word relationships, and I may have made some erroneous connections, and missed some links
that would be appropriate. I hope users will suggest improvements in this respect. Compound
words are repeated under the heading of each element: thus ard-ainle ‘archangel’ is included
both under ard and under ainle. As this edition is prepared for electronic publication, any
particular word form in the Dictionary can be located by using a Search facility. This new
regrouping also brings to the fore the degree to which Cregeen’s work is a source of reference
for Manx grammar, as the author went to considerable pains to give full illustration1 of the
inflectional variations of Manx nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions. Partly this was
done just by listing each of the inflectional variants in its strictly alphabetical place, and
partly by cross-reference to the paragraphs of the introductory ‘Remarks’ that explain the
phonological and morphological alternations. I suspect that users have not often followed up
these references to the ‘Remarks’ in order to check, for example, the appropriate plural form
of nouns. In this edition, I have inserted the information about noun plurals from the
‘Remarks’ wherever Cregeen used expressions like “pl. 69” or “pl. 71”, which now read: “pl.
69 [change -ey to -yn]”; “pl. 71 [change -agh to -ee]”. Other cross-references to the
introductory ‘Remarks’ have been converted to hyperlinks: clicking on a hyperlink will bring
up the remark in question. Use Alt+LeftArrow to return to the page you clicked from.

Another lexicographical virtue of the Dictionary lies in its citations, of some 200 Manx
proverbs, and passages from the Manx Bible, plus a few from the Methodist Lioar dy
Hymnyn, to illustrate the meaning and usage of some of the entries. But the value of the
citations is to some degree diminished in the original publication by the fact that the proverbs
are included in Manx only, and the other citations contain only the reference to the biblical or
other passages, not the passages themselves. The 1910 edition and subsequent reprints do
give English translations of the Manx proverbs, and I include these translations here also. The
present edition, however, incorporates the text of the Biblical passages referred to, along with
the corresponding English from the Authorized Version, except for the citations from the
Apocrypha (mostly Ecclesiasticus), the text of which was not republished in the 1819 Manx
Bible, and thus has not been accessible to me. Texts of passages occasionally cited from other

1 The desire for comprehensiveness in this regard can lead Cregeen to include grammatical forms that one
doubts can ever have been used, such as “e whid, s. his penises.”
ii

works, such as the Lioar dy Hymnyn, are also included insofar as I have been able to locate
them, with my own English versions, indicated with the initials MWW.

Procedures for preparing the new edition
The text is based on an Optical Character Recognition processing of a PDF scan of the 1835
edition available from Google Books. I have manually corrected the OCR output, but some
errors may have remained undetected. Cregeen’s main entries and inflections in CAPITALS
have been reproduced in lower case bold type. His accompanying Manx words and cross-
references in italic have been reproduced in lower case italic. There are typographical and
other manifest errors in the 1835 publication. I indicate elements for suppression between < >
and corrections and elements for addition between [ ]. Reassembling Cregeen’s material
under lemmas makes variation in Manx orthography particularly evident.

A notable virtue of the Dictionary is the indication of word stress. In the original this is done
with a prime sign <´> in or after the stressed syllable, e.g. “E HAG´GLE, s. her fear”.
Retaining this indication unaltered would, however, have defeated the aim of making the
word forms digitally searchable. By default Manx words are stressed on the first syllable,
while compound words have primary stress on the final element; thus in most entries the
stress indication is redundant. In this edition, only Cregeen’s stress indication in a non-initial
syllable, or where it might otherwise be unexpected or controversial, is indicated, with an
underline, e.g. “abane, s. f. ankle; pl. -yn.”2 There is a considerable degree of inconsistency
in Cregeen’s marking of stress. Some of this, perhaps all, may correspond to real variation in
pronunciation. Such variation is particularly noticeable in the agent suffix -eyr: e.g.
“bwoalteyr, s. m. a striker, &c; pl. -yn; yn woailteyr, s. 42. the striker or smiter.” Sometimes
I have drawn attention to a surprising stress indication with “(sic: stress)”.

Reorganizing the entries in lexical groups reveals that in a number of cases the expected
headword or lemma is missing from Cregeen. For example, among c- words, Cregeen gives
yn Chaisht, and Jeheiney Chaisht, but not Caisht ‘Easter’; yn chalmane, s. the pigeon, but
not calmane; cammey a. pl., s’cam, ro chamm, chamm, v., but not camm or cam, a.
‘crooked’; yn chashtal, s. the castle, but not cashtal. Missing lemmas are inserted in this
edition in lower case roman. On the other hand, Cregeen sometimes gives an apparent cross-
reference to a word or word form that is absent; these are indicated with [deest] (Latin ‘is
missing’).

Where a word stem has more than one orthographic form, Cregeen marked the form to which
inflections are added with an initial asterisk as in “*BREIG or BREAG, v. coax”. To facilitate
alphabetical listing and digital searching, the asterisk is here moved to the end, as: “breig* or
breag, v. coax”.

Cregeen did not use the letter ç, but indicated with figure 5 (referring to §5 of the ‘Remarks’)
which cases of ch were pronounced with an affricate consonant. In this edition ç has been
incorporated throughout Cregeen’s text, but not in the citations introduced from the Bible and
elsewhere.

2 There is some loss of information here, since not all polysyllabic words bear a stress mark. But this edition
does not seek to replace the original, or the 1910 edition.
iii

Cregeen’s use of capitalization, and hyphenation (e.g. of compound words) is markedly
inconsistent. Capitalization has been regularized, and suggested hyphenation (of compounds)
where not already marked is indicated with [-].

Cregeen often gives the gender of nouns. His gender assignments are not always to be relied
on, though, and are sometimes contradicted by the evidence of the phrases and citations
accompanying them. His etymological suggestions are nearly always fanciful and/or
arbitrary, e.g. “hoshtal, a. left. Would the etymology of this word be too far fetched, if it
were said to be from tasht?—the hand kept or stored up more than the other,” “Boaldyn, s. f.
May; … The etymology of this word is not well known; some say it is derived from boal (a
wall), and teine (fire), Irish, in reference to the practice of going round the walls or fences
with fire on the eve of this day; others, that it is derived from laa bwoailtçhyn, the day cattle
or sheep are first put to the fold; others, a corruption of blieauntyn, ‘the month of three
milkings,’ as the Saxons called this month;” “lhiabbee, s. f. a bed. Some say from liehbee
(half meat)”; they should not be taken seriously by the modern user. The science of
etymology was hardly even in its infancy in 1835.
A

DICTIONARY

OF THE

MANKS LA NGUA GE ,

WITH THE
CORRESPONDING WORDS OR EXPLANATIONS
IN ENGLISH ;
INTERSPERSED WITH MANY GAELIC PROVERBS:
THE PARTS OF SPEECH, THE GENDERS, AND THE ACCENTS OF THE MANKS WORDS
ARE CAREFULLY MARKED;
WITH SOME ETYMOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.
BY ARCHIBALD CREGEEN,
Arbory, Isle of Man.

Baillym dy loayragh shiu ooilley lesh Glaraghyn, &c.-ST. PAUL. 1 Cor. xiv 5.

DOUGLAS :
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR,
BY J. QUIGGIN, NORTH-QUAY ;
WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND ARNOT, LONDON ;
EVANS, CHEGWIN, AND HALL, LIVERPOOL.

MDCCCXXXV.

PREFACE.
THE following Vocabulary of the Manks language has been compiled with
considerable labour and assiduity. It is designed to facilitate the attainment of
that ancient language, and to furnish the reader not only with a variety of
vocables, idiomatic phrases, and proverbial expressions, but also the outlines of
a Manks Grammar.
That a language so venerable for its antiquity and so estimable on many
accounts should be so generally neglected, is much to be lamented. The
consequence of this neglect has been, that numerous corruptions have crept into
the dialect in general use, and so many anglicisms been adopted, that the Manks
is now seldom spoken or written in its original purity. Despised and neglected,
however, as the language appears to be at present, it is susceptible of high
improvement, and justly entitled to the attention of the scholar. The sublime
strains of OSSIAN mark the capabilities of the language, and commend it to the
regard of the philologist as a subject of curious enquiry, and deserving accurate
investigation.
At the present period, when this interesting little Island promises to become
once more the abode of science and literature, it is hoped that Gaelic learning
will revive, and that every facility will be afforded for the acquisition of a
language so essentially necessary within the precincts of Mona to the students
of Divinity, and the students of Law. To both these classes, it is presumed, the
compilation now offered to the public will prove an important acquisition. Such
a publication has long been a desideratum in Manks literature, and possesses fair
claims to general acceptance. Whilst the natives of Wales and the natives of
North Britain are enthusiastically attached to the language of their forefathers,
let it not be said that the natives of Mona regard “Çhengey ny mayrey Vannin veg
veen” with disgraceful apathy and heartless indifference. As long as the Manks
Bible and the Manks Liturgy remain they will testify that our ancestors thought
and felt more correctly.
PREFACE.

Amongst the numerous literary advantages which “King William's College”
is expected to afford the sons of Mona, it is devoutly to be wished that the
cultivation of the vernacular tongue be not overlooked. The establishment of a
professorship for that specific object would be highly desirable,—such an
arrangement would be in perfect unison with the pious and benevolent design
of the Founder of the Academic Fund, whose primary object appears to have
been to prepare candidates for the Holy Ministry in the Isle of Man, and thus
promote the highest and best interests of the country.
If the following work should contribute in the smallest degree to advance so
important an end, the Compiler will have reason to regard his labour as well
bestowed.
INTRODUCTION

TO THE
MANKS LANGUAGE.
I AM well aware that the utility or the following work will be variously appreciated by my
brother Manksmen. Some will be disposed to deride the endeavour to restore vigour to a
decaying language. Those who reckon the extirpation of the Manks a necessary step towards
that general extension of the English, which they deem essential to the interest of the Isle of
Man, will condemn every effort which seems likely to retard its extinction.
But those will think otherwise who consider that there are thousands of the natives of the
Island that can at present receive no useful knowledge whatever, except through the medium of
the Manks language; they will judge from experience, as well as from the nature of the case,
that no work of this description will hinder the progress of the English, but in fact have the
contrary effect.
It is obvious, that when tribes of men are intermixed who speak different languages, a great
part of the knowledge which man should afford his neighbour must be diminished. The
Magistrate cannot address his suitors, —the Pastor his flock, but through the imperfect medium
of an interpreter. Lawyers, Divines, Physicians, Merchants, Manufacturers, and Farmers, all feel
more or less this inconvenience when they transact business with whom they have no language
in common.
To remedy such defect, the following Manks Dictionary, with the corresponding words in
English, may, it is hoped by the Compiler, contribute in some degree to facilitate the acquisition
of both the Manks and English languages; and, if received with indulgence, may be followed by
its counterpart, “ENGLISH RENDERED INTO MANKS.”
To place the present publication within the reach of the peasantry of the Isle of Man, it has
been greatly abridged from what was at first purposed by the author; notwithstanding which, it is
hoped will give general satisfaction, and be a standing memorial of that very ancient language—
the Manks or Gaelic, to generations yet unborn; as it may with a degree of truth be asserted that
we have little more than two-thirds of the language preserved in the published translation of the
Scriptures and the Church Liturgy.
The following Remarks of Reference, with the work itself, will enable the reader to form
some idea of the construction of the language.
1
Remarks, to which are annexed figures of reference.

Of the letters and their sounds. 10. The long or circumflexed e, as in mêriu, t’êh,
tê, vê, &c., like the English they, bey; or as a in
1. THE Alphabet consists of seventeen single and
way, hay, say, &c.
three double consonants, and seven vowels —a, e,
i, o, u, w, y. Of the consonants, fifteen are 11. F is called a weak consonant; because, when
mutable—b, c, çh, d, f, g, j, k, m, p, q, s, sh, sl, t. aspirated, it loses all its force; as FEA (rest); E EA
The immutables are—l, n, r, which always retain (his rest). It corresponds in many cases with v; and
their sound; and alter not, except when preceded by has the English sound in FA, FAASE, FOAYS, &c.
s in the beginning of a word to show the degrees of
12. G is a heavy consonant, and pronounced as
comparison. Gh and ph begin no radical, or at least
g, in English, in gain, get, go; as, GAMMAN,
ought to begin none, as the language now stands;
GOAILL, GARRISH; but has no soft sound as in the
although there are words that are so written: these
words gentle, generous, &c.
are shown where they occur in the work, and will
be seen only to be aspirations, gh of g and of d, and 13. When g is aspirated to gh, it is reckoned a
ph of p. Sh and sl must be considered double light consonant, and has a guttural sound; no such
consonants as they have a change peculiar to sound is in the English language; and although gh is
themselves, and differ from the other radical in ghost and ghastly, they are only sounded gost,
initialled s’s. The v is considered a secondary mute. gastly.
2. A is reckoned a broad vowel, and in some 14. H is pronounced as h in the words hand,
words sounded as o, as in CLAGH (a stone), clogh; hind, hold, &c. in English. Some would rather call
and as u, as in GOAN (scarce), goun. It is h an auxiliary than a letter. because it rarely begins
pronounced as a in the English words of man, pan; any radical word except a few small ones, as,
as, BAD, LAD, BAB, &c.; and when circumflexed, as HANNAH, HYM, &c., and serves only to aspirate the
in mâroo, sârey, is sounded as in matron, &c. other consonants, as, ch, gh, mh, ph, th, &c; or the
vowels, as, ha, he, hi, &c. When it aspirates from t,
3. B is a labial, or lip-letter, and pronounced as b,
followed by an r, it is often sounded as ch, as E
in English; as, BARE, BOAYL.
HRAA (his time); E HROO (his envy); &c. It is an
4. C preserves a strong sound in its unaspirated initial in feminine genitive nouns; as, E HEDDIN (her
state, as the English k, or as c in can; as, CAM, face); E HAIGNEY (her mind or will); E HENNYM (her
CAPPAN. It never, however, usurps the name). The masculine of those would be E EDDIN
pronunciation of s, as in the English words cistern, (his face); E AIGNEY (his mind); E ENNYM (his
city, cedar, &c. name).
5. ÇH has a soft sound, as in ÇHAGHTER, 15. I is one of the small vowels, and pronounced
ÇHARBAA, ÇHINGYS; like ch in English, in cherry, as i (in English) in pin, win, sin; as, SHIMMEY, SHID,
charcoal, chime, &c. SHILLEY.
6. CH has a hard or harsh sound, which sound is 16. J is pronounced exactly like the soft English
not in the English language. I cannot express it g, and is perfectly uniform in its sound.
better than by a word which I would write or spell
17. K. This letter has precisely the sound of hard
egh or egg-yth, and a, CHA (not); and which sound
c, in English, and is never silent as the English k in
would go through with the vowels, thus: egh e,
knee, knave, know, &c.
CHE; egh i, CHI; egh o, CHO; egh u, CHU; egh y,
CHY; and with CHLA, CHLE, &c.; and CHRA, CHRE, 18. L. Some say this letter admits of no
&c., &c. aspiration, and is pronounced as l (in English) in
law, live, love; as, LAUE, LIOAR, LANE; but I think
7. D is pronounced as d, in English, in drone,
there is a distinction between lie or ly in English
dunnal, &c.
and LHIE in Manks; and had the words LOO, LOOR,
8. But d, in other words, as if written and &c., been spelled or written LHOO and LHOOR, they
pronounced dh, as in DAA, DOO, &c.3 would have answered the Manks pronunciation
better; for without the h the sound is too narrow,
9. E is reckoned a small vowel, but is sometimes
except to those who know that they require that
sounded long, and sometimes short; the latter sound
sound.
as heard in men, ten, bed (in English) answers to
the Manks BEN, REN, SHEN, &c. 19. M is a strong consonant, but it is often
changed into v; and when it is followed by w, oo, or

u, it changes to v or w, when aspirated.
3 In §§ 7 and 8 Cregeen appears to refer to a
20. N is sounded as n in English; it is never
contrast between a voiced alveolar plosive (§7) and
aspirated nor eclipsed, but yet called a light
a voiced dental plosive (§8), the default
pronunciation corresponding to d or dh.