Gaelic by Roderick Mackinnon

August 2019 - I know this is an out-of-print book and only available used.   However, this is a book I have found very helpful and would recommend for anyone learning Gaelic.

This book includes 35 lessons in Scottish Gaelic grammar with associated appendices.  It was written before the Gaelic Orthographic Conventions so its spelling differs sometimes from current spelling.   Also, both grave and acute accents are used.   However, I think it is extremely helpful to have clear, specific instructions with many examples for each grammar topic.   I use the book for reference when I want a grammar explanation from a different point of view or would like to have more practice exercises.

Each lesson is less than 10 pages long and consists of grammar points for that lesson, a vocabulary list, and both Gaelic – English and English – Gaelic exercises.   Answers are provided for all exercises in the back of the book.

The author does emphasize the importance of memorizing all the vocabulary – so if you don’t do all the lessons in order, later lessons may contain unfamiliar vocabulary.   However, the Gaelic-English Vocabulary List includes the lesson # where each word first appears.

The hardcover version may (or may not) come with a dust jacket.   The paperback version has several different designs for the front cover.   Here are a few examples:

Don’t mix up this book (by Roderick MacKinnon, © 1970s) with the current Teach Yourself book (by Boyd Robertson and Iain Taylor @ 1990s and 2000s).   There are recordings for the new book (cassette tapes or CDs), but as far as I am aware there are no recordings for the version by Mackinnon.

Table of Contents:  

Introduction
The Gaelic Alphabet and the Phonetic Scheme
1.  The Simple  Sentence
1a.  The Simple Sentence (continued)

2.  The Verb “To Be”, Present Tense, Dependent Form

3.  The Verb “To Be”, Past Tense, Independent and Dependent Forms; Masculine Nouns with Article
4.  Possession with “aig”; the Emphatic Particles

5.  Assertive Forms of the Verb “To Be”; Possession with “le”
6.  Feminine Nouns beginning with b, m, p, c, g or f; General Rules for Feminine Dative Case
7.  The Regular Verb, Past Tense
8.  The Regular Verb, Future Tense
9.  Masculine Nouns beginning with a vowel
10.  Feminine Nouns beginning with a Vowel
11.  Masculine Nouns beginning with “s” followed by l, n, r, or a Vowel
12.  Feminine Nouns beginning with “s” followed by l, n, r, or a Vowel
13.  Plurals
14.  Demonstrative and Relative Pronouns
15.  Interrogatives
16.  Indefinite Pronouns
17.  The Genitive Case of Masculine Nouns
18.  The Genitive Case of Masculine Nouns (continued)
19.  The Genitive Case of Masculine Nouns (continued)
20.  The Genitive Case of Masculine Nouns (continued)
21.  The Genitive Case of Feminine Nouns
22.  The Genitive Case of Feminine Nouns (continued)
23.  The Genitive Case of Feminine Nouns (continued)
24.  Masculine and Feminine Nouns having Augment “a” in the Genitive Singular
25.  Indeclinable Nouns and some Irregular Nouns
26.  The Regular Verb – Infinitives and Verbal Nouns
27.  Prepositional Possessives and their Uses
28.  Adjectives; Compound Prepositions
29.  The Comparison of Adjectives
30.  Numerals
31.  The Regular Verb – Imperative and Subjunctive Moods, Active Voice
32.  The Regular Verb – Passive Voice
33.  The Vocative Case
34.  Irregular and Defective Verbs
35.  De ’n uair a tha e? – What time is it?
Additional Reading Exercises and the 1970 Ordinary Grade Gaelic (Learners) Question Papers
Appendix A – “Bi”
Appendix B – The Irregular Verbs
Appendix C – Defective and Defective Auxiliary Verbs
Appendix D – The Prepositional Pronouns
Key to Exercises
Vocabularies – Gaelic-English and English Gaelic

Book Details

Author:  Roderick Mackinnon, M.A.
Title:  Gaelic
Form:  Paperback or Hardcover
Publication/printing date:  1971, and other reprint dates in the 1970’s
Publisher:  Teach Yourself Books
Dimensions: mm, width x height x thickness: 111X179X20(PB) and 113X180X24(HC)
Pages:  324
ISBN:  0-340-26195-1 (PB) and 0-340-15153-6 (HC)
Table of Contents:  Yes, 35 Lessons
Index:  Yes, Gaelic-English Vocabulary List, 23 pages, provides the lesson number where each word first appears; (followed by English-Gaelic Vocabulary List, 21 pages, without Lesson number references)
 

Finally, I found a bit of information about the author, Roderick Mackinnon, on the Notable People page of the Gaelic Society of Perth (https://www.gaelicsocietyofperth.com/notable-people):

Roderick MacKinnon

 “Born in Skye, he was Headmaster of The Caledonian Road School, Perth from 1950 to 1968, Chief of the Gaelic Society of Perth from 1950 -1957 and National President of An Comunn Gaidhealach from 1971-75. In 1971 Roderick MacKinnon was teaching Gaelic at Perth Academy 6th Form when he wrote the well regarded manual for Gaelic Learners – ‘Teach Yourself Gaelic’. It was reprinted seven times by 1977 and is still in frequent use today. When the Mὸd was held in Perth in 2004 a Plaque was erected by the Gaelic Society of Perth at the Caledonian Road School to celebrate his life and achievements.”

© 2021