wings of the wind, Psal. xviii. 10. Gun governs either the Nominative or Dative; as, gun chrioch, without end, Heb. vii. 16; gun chéill, 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 mhòir, like a great river, Psal. cv. 41; gu crìch 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 òg, 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 tìre, throughout the land; an aghaidh an t-sluaigh, against the people; ré na h-ùine, during the time. It is manifest that this Genitive is governed by the Noun feadh, aghaidh, ré, &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 déigh an obair a chriochnachadh, after finishing the work.
Section VI.
Of the Government of Conjunctions.
The Conjunctions agus and, no or, couple the same Cases of Nouns; as, air feadh chreagan agus choilltean, through rocks and woods; ag reubadh nam bruach 's nan crann, tearing the banks and the trees. When two or more Nouns, coupled by a Conjunction, are governed in the Dative by a Preposition, it is usual to repeat the Preposition before each Noun; as, air fad agus air leud, in length and in breadth; 'n an cridhe, 'n an cainnt, agus 'n am beus, in their heart, in their speech, and in their behaviour.
Co as, prefixed to an Adjective, commonly requires the initial consonant of the Adj. to be aspirated; as, co mhaith, as good, co ghrinn, as fine. But sometimes we find co mòr, as great, co buan, as durable, &c., without the aspirate. Sometimes the aspirate is transferred from the Adj. to the Conjunct. as, cho beag, as little, for co bheag. In the North Highlands, an adjective preceded by co is commonly put in the Comparative form; as, co miosa, as bad; co treise, as strong.
The Conjunctions mur if not, gu, gur that, are always joined to the Negative Mood; as, mur 'eil mi, if I be not; gu robh e, that he was. M or n is often inserted, euphoniæ causa, between gu and an initial Consonant; viz., m before a Labial, n before a Palatal or Lingual; as, gu-m faca tu, that you saw; gu-n dubhairt iad, that they said[[111]].