A Dialect of Donegal/The Consonants

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B. The consonants.

§ 173. Corresponding to the two main vowel-divisions, back and front, we find the conso­nants grouped into palatal (palatal­ised) and non-palatal (non-palatal­ised) conso­nants, so that to every non-palatal sound there answers one of the other group. In some cases separate symbols are used to denote the palatal sound as in the case of j, v, ɲ, ç, ʃ, but in the majority of cases the palatal sound is represent­ed by writing ʹ after the consonant, thus tʹ. It will be seen later that strictly speaking it is incorrect to call Donegal pʹ, bʹ, mʹ palatal sounds, but as they cor­respond to the palatal forms of the other conso­nants it will be con­venient to include them among the latter. We propose to deal with the conso­nants in the following order:

(a) h, j, w.

(b) the liquids and nasals L, l, Lʹ, lʹ; N, n, Nʹ, nʹ; R, r, rʹ; m, mʹ; ŋ, ɲ.

(c) the spirants f, fʹ, v; χ, ꬶ, ç; s, ʃ.

(d) the labial, dental and guttural stops p, pʹ, b, bʹ; t, tʹ, d, dʹ; k, kʹ, g, gʹ.

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(a) h, j, w.

1. h.

§ 174. In Donegal the aspirate corresponds in sound to an English h and except in stressed syllables is not pro­nounced very forcibly. When standing between vowels at the end of a stressed syllable it is often very faint, cp. Jespersen, Lehrbuch der Phonetik pp. 94, 95 and footnote. In mono­syllables a clipped h occurs very frequent­ly after short vowels, for the formation cp. Jespersen l. c. p. 100. After palatal vowels ç frequent­ly appears instead of h.

§ 175. Most frequently h represents a written th. When th is immediate­ly preceded or followed by a voiced consonant, it makes that consonant voiceless. In the case of voiceless conso­nants h < th under these circum­stances can produce no change as k, t, p, s are already aspirated. It will be conve­nient to deal with cases of loss of voice caused by h < th whilst we are treating of h. Examples of h < th—αhuirʹ, ‘a second time’, Di. ath-uair; bʹαhə, ‘life’, O.Ir. bethu; bα꞉huw, ‘to drown’, M.Ir. báthad beside older bádud (see Rhys p. 86 note); bɔhɔg, ‘hut’, Di. bothóg, boh, ‘hut’, M.Ir. both; bɔihαχ, ‘byre’, Meyer bó-thech; brαh, ‘to look upon’, O.Ir. mrath; dri꞉hə, ‘druids, wizards’, Di. draoithe, from this is formed drihαχtə, ‘sorcery’, which further seems to have influ­enced rihαχtə, ‘kingdom’, Di. ríoghacht; dαh, ‘colour’, M.Ir. dath; fʹrʹihirʹ, ‘sore’, Di. frithir; fʹrʹi꞉hə, ‘through her’, cp. M.Ir. tréthi; kαhũw, ‘to throw, spend’, M.Ir. caithem; kαhə, ‘battle’, O.Ir. cath; kʹαhərNαχ, ‘small, impudent person’, Di. ceathar­nach, cp. tridʹ bo̤di꞉ lʹɛ kʹαhərNαχ, ‘the fight of a mouse and a lion’; kɔhuw, ‘to feed’, Meyer cothaigim; mαhαn, ‘muscle’, cp. O’R. mathán, ‘sucker of a tree’ (?); mʹihidʹ, ‘due time’, M.Ir. mithich, mithig, there is also a sub­stantive in use which does not occur in books, viz. mʹihəs as in henʹi ʃə ə vihəs dɔ꞉ ꬶɔl, ‘the time came for him to go’ = de mhitheas; mαihi꞉m, ‘I perceive’, M.Ir. mothaigim; Nʹihαχαn, ‘washing’, Di. nigh­eachán (for the tendency to introduce a hiatus-filling h cp. rihαχtə supra); rehi꞉nʹαχt, ‘ramming’, Di. has reith­eachas; sα꞉huw, ‘to thrust’, M.Ir. sáthud; srαhər, ‘straddle’, O.Ir. srathar; tuəhəl, ‘balancing rind in quern’, < *tuathal.

§ 176. Initially h occurs as the aspirated form of t, tʹ, s, ʃ, e.g. lʹɛ də hɔlʹ, ‘with your leave’, le do thoil; mə hu꞉lʹ, ‘my eye’, ​mo shúil. Else in pausa forms only in the case of a few adverbs and the pronouns huw, hïsə (Pedersen, KZ. xxxv 331 f.), hαL, ‘yonder’, O.Ir. tall; huəs, ‘aloft’, O.Ir. túas; hui, əhui, ‘in the north, to the north’, O.Ir. fa thuaith; herʹ, ‘in the east’, hiər, ‘in the west’, M.Ir. tair, tíar; hærʹ, hærʹə, ‘past, beyond’ (prep.), O.Ir. tar, dar. The h as initial of heidʹ ʃə, ‘he will go’, is due to the loss of the pretonic syllable < do-théit, which has doubtless influ­enced higʹ ʃə, ‘he comes’, M.Ir. tic (future tʹïky꞉). The reason for the constant aspira­tion of the infin. hαχt, O.Ir. techt as also of ꬶɔl, ‘to go’, is not plain. The h of henʹikʹ, ‘came’, O.Ir. tánicc is due to the analogy of other preter­ites.

§ 177. h arises sometimes in combinations like ghth, bhth, thmh, as in Nʹi꞉ αhαr = ní fhághthar; Lʹɛhαrαχt, ‘reading’, Di. léigh­theoir­eacht; tihə, ‘houses’, Di. tighthe; dαhinʹ mʹə, ‘I recog­nised’, < aithgeuin; Nʹα̃ujlʹi꞉hu꞉lʹ (‑jlʹiw̥əlʹ), ‘unlawful’, Di. neamh-dhligh­theamhuil; LUhə, ‘rotten’, < lobhtha; Lũ꞉hər, ‘vigorous, active’, Di. lúthmhar.

§ 178. χ has a tendency to give up its spirant character and become h. This seems to be general in Ulster, cp. O’Donovan, Grammar p. 48; G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2. See also Rhys p. 71. Initially we find h for χ in hαnikʹ, henʹikʹ, ‘saw’, = chonnaic; ho̤gəd, ‘to you’, Mod.Ir. chugad (Spir. Rose p. 5 spelt thugad); hui, ‘went’, O.Ir. docuaid; hαskər sə, ‘it thawed’, cp. M.Ir. coscrad; ku꞉gʹi꞉ ho̤Nαχtə, ‘Province of Connaught’, M.Ir. cóiced Connacht; hα(꞉), ‘not’, < ní co (the distri­bution of ní and cha as negatives in Donegal is discussed by Lloyd in Seachrán Chairn tSiadhail p. 124. I can only say that in Meena­wannia cha is generally confined to emphatic answers and here principal­ly in hα ·nɛlʹ, hα row̥ being much rarer. Further east round Balli­namore cha seems to be much more frequent). Medially h may be heard in αhαsαn, ‘reviling’, Di. achmhusán, Meyer ath­chomsan; brαhαn, ‘porridge’, O.Ir. brothchán; fʹlʹαhuw, ‘to starve’, fʹlʹætʹə, ‘perished with cold’, M.Ir. flechud. See further § 333.

§ 179. In a few words h arises from ç, cp. Finck i p. 85. This is the case in hïnəfʹænʹ, ‘already’, Mod.Ir. cheana, O.Ir. cena + féin; fʹihə, ‘twenty’, O.Ir. fiche; ĩ꞉hə, ‘night’, O.Ir. aidche.

§ 180. In certain stress-groups initial f when standing after a word which does not aspirate tends to become h. This is also the case with medial fr. Compare Rhys pp. 72, 165; Pedersen ​p. 19. With the different sources of this f we need not trouble ourselves here. Examples—mʹɛ heinʹ, ‘myself, O.Ir. féin but fʹeinʹαχ, ‘selfish’; Nʹi꞉s α꞉r, ‘better’, sa꞉r = is fearr (the h is not heard after s, cp. § 175), Manx share but also Nʹi꞉s fʹα꞉r, cp. Pedersen, KZ. xxxv p. 319; Nʹi꞉ ho̤rəst, ‘it is not easy’ but fo̤rəst, Wi. ur-ussa; ɔr̥ælʹ, ‘offertory’, gen. sing. Nə hɔr̥αlə, plur. ɔr̥αlαχə, Di. ofráil, cp. Manx oural; kɔ꞉r̥ə, ‘chest’, Di. cófra. ifʹrʹəN, ‘hell’; αfʹrʹəN, ‘mass’ and fʹiəfri꞉, ‘to ask’, retain f in Donegal but other dialects shew the normal develope­ment, cp. ZCP. v 98 and Chr. Bros. Aids to Irish Pron. p. 15. Cp. Manx fer-oik, ‘officer’, oic < oific, Rhys p. 182.

The f of the future (O.Ir. b, f) has given h which is not heard after voiceless sounds such as p, t, k, s &c. but which unvoices b, g, d, w, r, l, m, n &c. Examples—bo̤guw, ‘to stir’, Di. bogadh, fut. bo̤kə mʹə; bridʹuw, 1. ‘to nudge’, Di. broid­ighim, 2. ‘to smart, ache’, infin. bridʹərNỹ꞉, subst. bridʹərNαχ ‘smarting’, fut. britʹi꞉ ʃə; ʃiəbuw, ‘to sweep away’, Di. siabhadh, Manx sheebey, fut. ʃiəpwi꞉ ʃə; tʹrʹouw, ‘to plough’, M.Ir. trebad, fut. tʹrʹo꞉w̥ə mʹə. As instances of stems ending in a vowel (in the spoken language) Lʹeihə mʹə, ‘I shall read’, infin. Lʹɛuw; Lo꞉hi꞉ < Louw, ‘to rot’; tö̤꞉hə mʹə, te꞉hə mʹə, ‘I shall choose’ < tö̤uw; Nʹi꞉hə mʹə < Nʹi꞉(ə), ‘to wash’. In the condi­tional passive forms with fʹ alternate with forms with h, as vɛ꞉r̥i꞉, vɛ꞉rfʹi꞉ from bʹerʹəm, O.Ir. beirimm; fɔ꞉ky꞉, fɔ꞉kfʹi꞉ from pɔ꞉guw, ‘to kiss’. The future passive in­variably has ‑hər. Apart from the condi­tional passive the f is only preserved in two instances, viz. in the case of the verbs for ‘to run’ and ‘to see’, rαfə mʹə beside riçə mʹə, ‘I shall run’, infin. r⅄ç, rαhi꞉, rαχtælʹ; tʹi꞉fʹə mʹə, ‘I shall see’, M.Ir. 2nd sing. atcífe (Atk.).

§ 181. The enclitic forms of the verb dʹα꞉nuw, ‘to do’, are peculiar, as they contain forms with h where we should expect j, e.g. Nʹi꞉ hα꞉nəm, ‘I do not do’, interr. dʹα꞉nəm, Nʹi꞉ hα꞉rN, ‘I did not do’, interr. (ə) dʹα꞉rN, fut. jα꞉n̥ə mʹə, ‘I will do’ but neg. Nʹi꞉ hα꞉n̥ə mʹə, interr. ə Nʹα꞉n̥ə mʹə. Dinneen p. 796 says “the Dependent, Perfect, and Future and Condi­tional begin with a t in Ulster”. Cp. Lloyd, Seachrán Chairn tSiadhail p. 150, ní theanaim. The question is how did this state of affairs arise. I suspect that the above forms with h for j may be due to analogy with some of the parts of the verb ‘to go’. The 3rd sing. pres. ind. of this verb is heidʹ, O.Ir. do-téit, to which the perfect is Nʹi꞉ hαχi꞉, interr. dʹαχi꞉, O.Ir. ‑dechuid, with h for j from the present. From these forms the h has been intro­duced ​into the cor­respond­ing tenses of dʹα꞉nuw. Monaghan dialect has gone a step further and makes the infin­itive teanamh, G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2. If the h were due to any other cause we should expect to find it making its appear­ance in the paradigms of the verb for ‘to say’, but J. H. always has dʹerʹəm—Nʹi꞉ erʹəm, pret. du꞉rtʹ mʹə—Nʹi꞉ u꞉rtʹ mʹə (Nʹi꞉r u꞉rtʹ), interr. ərʹ u꞉rtʹ mʹə, fut. dʹɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə—Nʹi꞉ ɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə, interr. Nə Nαχ Nʹɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə. From the younger people one may however hear Nʹi꞉ hɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə.

The h in ho̤bwirʹ, ‘almost’, ho̤bwirʹ gə dʹitʹiNʹ, ‘I almost fell’, is very peculiar. ho̤bwirʹ repre­sents a preterite dh’fhuabair, Wi. fóbairim, but it is possible that fóbairim became *tóbairim in Donegal just as fuaim, fill appear as tuaim, till (§ 383).

§ 182. As we have seen above, Donegal Irish retains inter­vocalic h to a much greater extent than Connaught or Munster, but even in the north h < th dis­appears under well-defined condi­tions. Although h < th is retained in mono­syllables after a short vowel, it in­variably dis­appears after a long vowel or diphthong, e.g. α꞉, ‘ford’, M.Ir. áth (plur. α꞉Nỹ꞉); blα꞉, ‘flower’, M.Ir. bláth (plur. blα꞉hə); bw⅄꞉, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith; dluw, ‘warp of a web’, Di. dlúth; fα꞉, ‘reason’, M.Ir. fáth, fád; g⅄꞉, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáith (gen. sing. g⅄꞉hə, g⅄꞉çə); i꞉, ‘fat’, M.Ir. íth; kʹlʹiə, ‘harrow’, O.Ir. clíath (plur. kʹlʹehαχə); Luw, ‘vigour’, M.Ir. lúth; mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; ɛr skα꞉, ‘for the sake of, ɛr skα꞉ ə wïlʹ ə ji꞉ç erʹ, ‘for all that it wants’, Di. scáth, O.Ir. scáath; sNα꞉, ‘bundle of thread’, M.Ir. snáth; trα꞉, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth (plur. trα꞉Nỹ꞉), cp. trα·nõ꞉nə, ‘afternoon, evening’.

§ 183. In dissyllables of the type cons. + áthach we commonly find loss of h and contrac­tion, e.g. blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, M.Ir. bláthach; grα̃꞉χ, ‘usual’, M.Ir. gnáthach; sα꞉χ, ‘sated person’ (proverb Nʹi꞉ higʹəN ə sα꞉χ ə ʃαŋ ‘the sated person does not under­stand the starved’), Wi. sathech, saithech, sathach; sLα꞉χ, also sLαhαχ, ‘slush on the sea-shore’, Di. sláthach (gen. sing. sLα꞉i or sLαhi꞉). This same contrac­tion occurs sometimes when the first vowel is short, e.g. bʹα꞉χ, ‘beast’, Meyer bethadach (plur. bʹαhi꞉, bʹɛhi꞉); fα꞉χ, ‘giant’, more commonly fαihαχ, Meyer athech, aithech, cp. Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list where fách and faithiach are given; αNtrα꞉χ, ‘untimely’, Di. an­tráthach. Similarly su꞉L Nə hα꞉, ‘the eye of the kiln’, súil na hátha. The form kʹαrN in kʹαrN ·χyLʹuw, ‘outlaw’, may here be mentioned. kʹαrN stands for kʹα꞉rN with shorten­ing before the chief stress < Meyer cethern if the word has not come in from another ​dialect. For tα꞉juw, ‘to weld, solder’, M.Ir. táthad see § 190. Further grõuw, ‘to gain’, Di. gnóth­ughadh.

§ 184. In unstressed syllables ghth is always silent, e.g. kɔhiər pres. pass. of kɔhuw, ‘to feed, fatten’, Meyer cothaigim; bʹαNỹ꞉, ‘blessed’, Di. beann­uighte (note tʹiNʹəs bʹαNỹ꞉, ‘epilepsy’).

§ 185. rth, lth in inflected forms of substantives and verbs in un­stressed syllables appear as r, l instead of r̥, l̥, with which compare the loss of h in un­accented syllables in Welsh. Examples—αm αdərə, ‘milking-time’, cp. Di. eadar­shudh, dõ꞉nαχ Nə Nʹαdərαχə, Di. Domhnach na n‑eadar­shuidhe q.v.; gʹrʹi꞉wəri꞉, ‘deeds’, Keating gníomh­artha; ko̤Nərə, gen. sing. of ko̤nṟuw, ‘bargain’, Atk. cundrad, gen. sing. cundartha; Lα꞉ kαskərə, ‘a thawing day’, blɔk kαskərə, ‘a block for splitting wood upon’ = coscartha, gen. sing. of Di. coscairt, Meyer coscrad; vi꞉ mwidʹ ə bw⅄꞉luw n wæʃtʹərə, ‘we were churning’, cp. Di. mais­treadh, gen. sing. mais­teartha; tʹɛəgərαχ, ‘snug’, Di. téagar­thach. Also in the future of verbs with dis­syllabic stem, e.g. gʹrʹisαli ʃə, ‘he will drub’; rõ꞉wərə mʹə, ‘I shall dig’, Di. rómhar; sα꞉wαlə mʹə, ‘I shall save’, Di. sábháil; tʹeʃαnə mʹə, ‘I shall shew’, infin. tʹiʃiNʹtʹ, Di. tais­beáint. Similarly gʹlʹɛəs ïmʹərə, ‘articles for amusement, dice, cards &c.’, Di. imeartha, gen. sing. of imirt.

§ 186. In a number of words the voiceless sound has given way to the voiced without any apparent reason. Examples—blα꞉nəd, ‘the female of the weasel’, Meyer bláthnait; dʹαlαN dα꞉rə, ‘an ember from the fire made on St John’s eve which is thrown at a cow to make her bear’, = dealán dártha, here the genitive seems to have followed the nomi­native; du꞉rαi, ‘founda­tion’, Di. dúthrach, in Donegal the word is feminine; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. immthecht; kʹerʹə, ‘four’, M.Ir. cethri but always kʹαr̥ər, O.Ir. cethrar (kʹerʹə has probably arisen through being used before the chief stress in such combi­nations as kʹer̥ʹə kʹiNʹ ·dʹɛəg); ræNʹαχ, ‘fern’, more commonly ræn̥ʹαχ, M.Ir. raithnech. The prefix ath‑, ‘re‑’, seems not to unvoice a following lʹ, e.g. ælʹαs, ‘second manure’, = ath-leas; ælʹïguw, ‘a relapse of sickness’, = ath-leagadh. But aw̥ilʹ, ‘change of appear­ance’, = ath-bhuil.

§ 187. Rarely does it happen that Donegal has a voiceless sound where the other dialects have the voiced. This is the case in bʹal̥uw, ‘grease’, Di. bealadh, Meyer belad; dʹïn̥əsαχ, ‘diligent’, O’R. díonasach, Di. déanasach; el̥ʹidʹ, ‘fawn’, M.Ir. eilit; kʹer̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘plaster’, Di. ceirín, Meyer céirín; plα꞉n̥ædʹ, plα꞉n̥ʹædʹ, ‘state of ​the atmo­sphere, climate’, Di. plainéid. It may also be noted that before the ending ‑αχə (fem. plur. of nouns and fut. act. of the second conju­gation) there is a distinct tendency to unvoice a preceding media, e.g. dʹαrəkαχə mʹə from dʹαrəguw, ‘to light’, Di. deargadh; dʹarəfαχə mʹə, ‘I shall assert’, from dʹαrəwi꞉m, Di. dearbh­uighim; dʹi꞉kαχə, plur. of dʹi꞉g, ‘dyke, trench’, Di. díog, plur. díogacha.

The plural bαh, ‘cows’, <bα` M.Ir. ba (acc.), is due to the tendency to make a short final accented vowel end in breath (§ 42). Words which in Donegal have come to end in ç in the singular sometimes have h in the plural, e.g. ĩ꞉wα̃iç, ‘image’, M.Ir. imaig, plur. ĩ꞉wα̃ihəNỹ꞉.

2. j.

§ 188. This symbol denotes the y sound in Engl, ‘yes’ but the organs are tense during the produc­tion of the Irish sound and the middle of the tongue is raised much higher towards the hard palate. As is the case with all palatal (palata­lised) sounds in Donegal the tip of the tongue is pressed more or less firmly against the lower teeth.

§ 189. Most commonly j represents an aspirated initial d or g before O.Ir. e, i, e.g. α jiə, ‘O God’; mə je꞉i, ‘behind me’; jrʹαs mʹə, ‘I drove away’, Di. dreas­uighim; fwi꞉ jĩ꞉vαs, ‘scorned, despised’, = faoi dhímheas; ji꞉lʹɛi mʹə, ‘I digested’, Di. díleagh­aim; ty꞉w o jαs, ‘south side’; ə jiɲ, ‘the wedge’, = an ghing; ə jαlαχ, ‘the moon’; jα꞉r mʹə, ‘I cut’; bo̤d ə jɛrtə, ‘blast of wind’, = bod an ghiorta, cp. Di. giorraide, giorta; αiçərə n χytʹ fʹrʹ꞉dʹ ə jrʹi꞉si꞉ = aith­ghiorra an chait fríd an ghríos­aigh, i.e. trying to take a short cut and coming to grief, cp. also Lʹeimʹ əNʹ tʹinʹi əNə gʹrʹi꞉suw, ‘from Scylla into Charybdis’; jrʹαd, pret. of gʹrʹαduw, ‘to thrash’; pαræʃtʹə jliNʹə, ‘Parish of Glen(colum­kille)’.

§ 190. Medially we sometimes find j arising from dh = O.Ir. d before e, i. This is the case after a long vowel in kα꞉jαχ, ‘filthy’, Keat. cáidheach; prα꞉jiNʹαχ, ‘diligent’, O’R. práidhin­each, Di. práidh­neach. Further in bə ·je꞉, budh e, bə ·jα, budh eadh, cp. Henebry p. 61, KZ. xxxv 325. But note the proclitic form in bwi ən mαduw ə riNʹ ə, ‘it was the dog that did it’. mʹα꞉jəm, ‘I weigh’, Di. meadhaim, is a new formation to the pret. vα̃꞉i < *mheadh­uigh and has become the model for other verbs whose stems end in a long vowel, such as te꞉jəm, ‘I choose’, from tö̤uw, Di. toghadh; tʹrʹo꞉jəm, ‘plough’, Di. treabhaim; ​spʹrʹeijəm, ‘I spread’, Di. spréidhim; kruijəm, ‘I harden’, Di. cruadh­uighim, but this may come direct from krui, ‘hard’, kruijə, ‘steel’, Di. cruaidhe. Similarly tα꞉jəm, ‘I weld, solder’, Di. táithim, táthaim; grõ꞉jəm,’I gain’, Di. gnóth­uighim, infin. grõuw.

j is lost in mʹi꞉rʹəN, ‘discord’, Di. míghreann.

§ 191. The prepositions do, de are frequently reduced to ə and when standing before a sub­stantive with vocalic initial, a j or ꬶ is inserted according as the O.Ir. initial was palatal or not. This ə j- (ə ꬶ‑) is usually explained as being a redupli­cation of the do, de and the j (ꬶ) is written dh’ (Henebry pp. 60, 61). In many cases the j (ꬶ) were original­ly doubtless nothing more than glides, cp. the insertion of w § 199. In parts of Munster this redupli­cation of do has even been extended to the preter­ites of verbs, e.g. do dhól sé for d’ól sé (Molloy, 25th dialect-list). Examples—hu꞉si꞉ ʃəd ə jo̤mpər, ‘they started carrying’; Lα꞉n ə çleiv ə jeiʃkʹ, ‘the basket full of fish’, α lʹɛhəd(ʹ) də jαr, ‘such a man’; Nʹi꞉s mo꞉ ə jïglə, ‘greater fear’; tα꞉ ʃɛ gɔl ə jïmʹαχt, ‘he is going to go away’; tα꞉ ʃïnʹ ə jiNʹtʹiNʹ əgəm, ‘that is my intention’; ho̤g ʃɛ bɔ꞉ əNə welʹə ə jinʹigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘he brought a cow home to graze’; əmwiç sə ti꞉w o jαs də jeirʹiNʹ, ‘down in the south of Ireland’; hu꞉si꞉ ʃi꞉ ə jiçə ætʹəni꞉, ‘she started eating furze’; ə jɛəNtɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘at one birth’; tα꞉ ʃɛ jiəχfwi꞉ ɔrəm, ‘it is incumbent upon me’, = de fhiach­aibh, v. Dinneen; ə jæNʹænʹ (gə), ‘although’, v. Di. aimh­dheoin.

§ 192. fʹ, mʹ, bʹ before accented ɔ꞉, o꞉ are followed by j, cp. Henebry p. 40, Dottin, RC. xiv 107. Examples—bʹjɔ꞉, ‘alive’, O.Ir. beó; bʹjɔirʹ, ‘beer’, Meyer beóir; fʹjɔ꞉ləmʹ, ‘to learn’, O.Ir. foglaimm (§ 321); fʹjɔ꞉lʹ, ‘flesh, meat’, M.Ir. feóil; fʹjɔ꞉χən, ‘seasoning, drying’, Di. feochadh; fʹjɔ꞉tʹə, ‘seasoned’, Di. feoidhte; fʹjɔχαn, ‘breeze, puff’ (?); fʹjo꞉s, ‘excel­lence’, M.Ir. febas; mʹjo꞉nʹ, ‘means’ (§ 40); mʹjõ꞉rʹ, ‘mind’, O.Ir. mebuir. O.Ir. eó became jɔ꞉, eba gave jo꞉ but in the case of all conso­nants except fʹ, mʹ, bʹ the j coalesced with the preceding palatal consonant. The labials as such can only be palatal­ised by raising the tongue into the j position simul­taneous­ly with the loosening of the lip-contact. This renders the assump­tion necessary that Donegal, the Decies (Henebry p. 40) and N. Connaught (RC. xiv 107) have given up palatal­ised labials before other vowels than those mentioned in this paragraph. This I believe to be the case. The Aran dialect and Scotch Gaelic have preserved the j, cp. ​Finck i 43; Henderson, ZCP. iv 251 ff. This loss of j in Donegal may be compared with the substi­tution of palatal for palatal­ised articu­lation in the other conso­nants, cp. § 173. That the j forms part and parcel of the labial is shewn by its dis­appear­ance with fʹ when the latter is aspirated, e.g. bʹα꞉χ ə o꞉s ə = beath­adhach da fheabhas é, ‘however excellent a beast it may be’. Before u꞉ we find fʹj by stress-shifting in fʹjuw, ‘worthy’, O.Ir. fiú; fʹju꞉Ntəs in riNʹ ʃɛ fʹju꞉Ntəs mo꞉r lʹïm, ‘he treated me very decently’, Di. fiúntas. Similarly bʹiuw 3rd sing. imper. of tα꞉ in rapid speech becomes bʹjuw as in bʹjuw gαL gə mʹɛ ʃə əNsə welʹə rĩv ə Nĩ꞉çə ‘I bet you he will be home before night’.

§ 193. When standing initially the diphthong iə tends to become jiə, e.g. jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó; jiərəgu꞉l, ‘wilder­ness’, Di. iargcúil, jiərəgu꞉Ltə, ‘timid, uncouth’, jiərəgu꞉Ltαχt, ‘remote, wild place’; gədʹe꞉ vi꞉ ʃɛ jiəri꞉ (jïri꞉), ‘what was he wanting’, = dia iarraidh.

3. w.

§ 194. This symbol denotes a bilabial w which however does not become confused with v as on Aran (Finck i 66). The differ­ence between Donegal w and English w is clearly heard in final ‑uw. In English who (huw) the lips glide into the w position but no friction is audible whilst it is very evident in a word like kuw, ‘hound’. Those speakers who subst­itute labio­dental for bilabial v in pro­nouncing w draw back the lower lip towards the edge of the upper teeth without neces­sarily touching them and friction is thus set up.

§ 195. w occurs initially as the aspirated form of non-palatal b, m, e.g. mə wα꞉d, ‘my boat’; ĩ꞉çə wo̤g, ‘a wet night’; fα꞉lʹ wα꞉ʃ ‘dying’; wæʃtʹə mʹə, ‘I baptised’; wrαiç mʹə, ‘I betrayed’; wlæʃ mʹə, ‘I tasted’; α wα̃hærʹ, ‘O mother’; wαLə mʹə, ‘I cursed’; wɔihi꞉ mʹə, ‘I felt, perceived’; wĩ꞉v mʹə, ‘I begrudged’; ə wædʹïnʹ, ‘since morning’; əs mo꞉dʹə di꞉d ʃïnʹ ərs iNʹ dʹrʹɔ꞉lαn Nerʹ ə wu꞉Nʹ ʃə sə Nαrəgʹə = is móide díod sin, arsa’n dreólan, nuair do mhún sé san fhairge.

w therefore never stands initially in pausa forms except in cases like w⅄꞉m, ‘from me’, infra § 199. wægʹə in assevera­tions, wægʹə mæʃə heinʹ ətα꞉, ‘well indeed it is to be sure’, is a dis­tortion of the name of the Virgin. In the case of wĩ꞉, ‘mane’, a word not in common use, the original initial has been forgotten, cp. bhárdail, mhárdul in Molloy’s 30th dialect-list.

​w is also the eclipsed form of initial f, e.g. ə wα꞉Nʹʃə = dha bhfagh­ainn­se; ə wo̤gəs də, ‘near to’, = i bhfogus. Nʹi꞉ wi꞉ mʹə, ‘I shall not get’, cp. M.Ir. fúigbe, probably owes its w to the preterite Nʹi꞉ wuirʹ, for which see § 199, and cp. ĩ꞉ç(ə) i꞉r, ‘a cold night’. But this is not certain as I have no exact parallel.

§ 196. Except when joining with a vowel and becoming vocalised (§§ 40, 48) w is the regular represen­tative of O.Ir. inter­vocalic m, b before a, o, u, e.g. bʹi꞉wiəNtə, ‘slyly, mischiev­ous’, Meyer bibdaide; dʹəwælʹ, ‘want, lack’, O.Ir. dígbail; dʹĩ꞉wi꞉nʹ, ‘single, unmarried’, M.Ir. dímain; ĩ꞉wαiç, ‘image’, M.Ir. imaig; kʹlʹiəwαn, ‘cradle’, Meyer cliabán; krũwɔg, ‘maggot’, Di. crumhóg; krα̃꞉wə, ‘bones’, M.Ir. cnáma; Lα̃꞉wαχ, ‘firing’, Di. lámhach; Lα̃꞉wəkαn, ‘moving on all fours’, Di. lámhacán; Nα̃꞉widʹ, ‘enemy’, O.Ir. námait (acc.); rα꞉wəLʹi꞉, ‘raving, being in a state of delirium’, Di. rámh­ailligh; sNα꞉wəm, ‘I swim’, Di. snámhaim; ʃkʹrʹi꞉wəm, ‘I write’, O.Ir. scríbaim; ʃNʹi꞉wəm, ‘I spin’, Di. sníomhaim, M.Ir. sním; tα꞉wαχt, ‘industry’, Di. tábhacht. Between u(꞉) and α w drops out, e.g. duαn, ‘hook, kidney’, Di. dubhán, duαn αLy꞉, ‘spider’; duαχ, ‘ink’, Di. dubhach; suαχ, ‘merry’, M.Ir. subach. bα꞉wən, ‘enclosure’, is obscure. Dinneen writes bádhbh­dhún, Meyer bádún, O’Brien bábhún. In Lα꞉ lʹ ·α꞉wɛgʹə, ‘St Swithin’s day’, we have w for v. The saint is Dabeoc who is com­memorated on July 24. It may be noted that Ware speaks of “lectulus vel circulus Abogi”.

§ 197. Post-consonantic w disappears in αhαsαn, ‘reviling’, < Di. achmhusan < Meyer ath­chomsan; α꞉nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe; fα꞉gælʹ, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil; ʃaχtinʹ, ‘week’, M.Ir. sechtmain (acc.), I am given to under­stand that further north the form ʃαχtu꞉nʹ occurs; tα꞉rLαχ, ‘Toirdheal­bhach’; u꞉dəlαn, ‘swivel’, O.Ir. utmall. On the other hand w is retained in αχwirʹkʹ, ‘heat in horses’, Di. eachmairt; α꞉rwαχ, ‘slaughter’, árbhach; αswi꞉, ‘want’, M.Ir. esbuid, cp. Pedersen p. 164; bʹɛəlwαχ, ‘bridle-bit’, Meyer bélbach; fʹjɔ꞉lwαχi꞉, ‘different kinds of meat’, Di. feólmhach, feólbhach; kʹαrwαχ, ‘gamester’, Di. cearr­bhach; tʹαswαχ, ‘heat’, Di. teasbhach.

§ 198. For w as the second element of uw in syllables with chief and secondary stress see §§ 47, 49.

§ 199. In a few instances we find w prefixed to words beginning with u, e.g. wuidʹ, ‘from you’, O.Ir. úait, wuə, w⅄ə, ‘from him’, O.Ir. úad; Nʹi꞉ wuirʹ = ní fhuair where the w seems ​to be hiatus-filling, as is also the case in ə wuəχtər, ‘from above’, cp. ə jiəχtər, ‘from below’. In gə gyrʹi dʹiə N tα꞉w ɔrt (= go gcuiridh Dia an t‑ádh ort) we seem to have a w-glide.

ui < uai becomes wi꞉ by stress-shifting in smwi꞉tʹuw, ‘to think’, Di. smuain­tigheadh, M.Ir. smuained (§ 443); fwi꞉rʹ mʹɛ, ‘I got’, < fuirʹ mʹə. Further in fwi꞉r < fw⅄꞉r, ‘cold’, M.Ir. fúar. uə < ua becomes wα before χ in fʹïNwαχt, ‘coolness’, Di. fionn­fhuacht.

§ 200. All non-palatal labials tend to develope a w before a following vowel, i.e. at the moment when the contact is loosened the tongue is in the position for u. For the lip-action see § 289. This w is heard most clearly before front vowels and ⅄꞉ and in this book is regularly written in these cases, e.g. before æ, in fwærʹə, ‘wake’; mwædʹə, ‘stick’; mwælʹkʹ, ‘soreness from riding bareback’; mwærʹig, ‘woe’; mwærʹəm, ‘I remain’; mwæʃtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘mastiff’ (as term of abuse); ə mwæNʹænʹ, ‘in spite of me’; mwæʃtʹruw, ‘to churn’; pwædʹirʹ, ‘prayer’; smwæLʹtʹə, past part. of smαluw, ‘to wither’. Before i in bwiLʹə, ‘blow’; bwi꞉dʹαχ, ‘small’; dʹrʹαpwirʹαχt, ‘climbing’; klo̤pwidʹə, ‘dip in land, wrinkle in cloth’; kʹαpwirʹə, ‘slice of bread and butter’; Lʹabwi꞉, ‘bed’; mwiLʹə, compar. of mαL, ‘late’; spwiɲkʹə, gen. sing. of spo̤ŋk, ‘tinder’; tapwi꞉, ‘quick’. Before ⅄꞉ in mw⅄꞉r, ‘keeper’; mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’; mw⅄꞉l, ‘bald, blunt’. Before ï in mwïgʹlʹi꞉, ‘mild, modest’. This w may also be clearly heard if the labial is the final of one word and the next begins with a front vowel, as in tα꞉ tʹrʹi꞉ fo̤Nt əgəm werʹ = tá trí phunta agam air; tʹi꞉m wi꞉ = tím í. In the case of initial f the w is lost on aspira­tion, thus fwïlʹ, ‘blood’ but fα Nïlʹ, ‘concern­ing the blood’.

§ 201. A voiceless w (w̥) arising from various sources is very frequent in Donegal. It is found regularly when aspirated b, m are followed by h < th, fh or preceded by h < th, e.g. αw̥ilʹ, ‘change of appear­ance’, Di. athbhuil; row̥ər = rabhthar. In futures and past parti­ciples, sNα꞉w̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall swim’; ʃNʹiuw̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall spin’, past part. ʃNʹiuw̥ə, imperf. pass. nʹiuw̥i꞉. By contrac­tion in si꞉w̥əlʹ, ‘odd’, Di. saoith­eamhail (similarly riw̥əlʹ, ‘royal’); Nʹα̃ujli꞉w̥əlʹ, ‘unlawful’, Di. neamh-dhligh­theamhail; mʹi꞉w̥ər, ‘ugly’, Craig (Iasg.) míofuar seems to be mío-(fh)uathmhar. tα̃꞉uw, ‘doze’, Di. támh, M.Ir. tám, tα̃꞉w̥irʹαχt, ‘dozing’, have been influ­enced by some word or other, whilst tαuw̥əN(t), ‘barking’, M.Ir. toffund contains w̥ < sv. As to the diffi­culty in dis­tinguish­ing between f and w̥ see § 309.

​§ 202. In monosyllables with short root-vowel followed by aspirated b, m, the w arising from the latter loses its voice in accordance with the Donegal fondness for breath-endings in short syllables, cp. § 12. At the same time the back of the tongue seems to be raised from the u-position towards the soft palate, thus producing in addition a slight χ sound. When the next word begins with a consonant, the w̥ usually dis­appears, thus row̥ = rabh, but lʹɛ ro lʹɛ dʹα꞉nuw ɛgʹə. Examples—brow̥, ‘blade’, Meyer brobb, brod; dα̃uw, ‘ox’, O.Ir. dam; dUw̥, ‘black’, O.Ir. dub; dŨw̥, ‘to me’, O.Ir. dom; kʹrʹα̃uw̥, ‘garlic’, Meyer crem; sklα̃uw̥, ‘snarl’, Di. sclamh; Nʹα̃uw̥, ‘heaven’, O.Ir. nem. Nʹα̃uw̥ is now rarely heard except in the Lord’s Prayer and in NʹɛəLti꞉ Nʹï̃və, ‘very high clouds’. Cp. ər Nʹα̃uw Nɔ ər tαluw Nʹi꞉ αkəs ə lʹehədʹ. Uw̥ is also the result of cons. + u + th in grUw̥ (grU bwiə), ‘biestings’, M.Ir. gruth; gUw̥, ‘voice’, O.Ir. guth; krUw̥, ‘form’, O.Ir. cruth; srUw̥, ‘stream’, O.Ir. sruth, also srUw̥αn. Similarly tʹrʹUw̥, ‘hooping-cough’, Di. triuch. In these cases w̥ passes sporadic­ally into f, cp. the Scotch Gaelic spelling stuth < Engl. stuff, puth < puff, and duf, ‘black’, uf, ‘egg’, quoted for Sligo in Molloy’s 29th dialect-list. A few other words shew a dislike for the ending U`, e.g. tʹUw̥, ‘thick, frequent’, M.Ir. tiug; əNʹUw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu, Spir. Rose p. 8 anuth. The words for ‘horse-shoe’ and ‘dowry’, M.Ir. cró, have been influ­enced by cruth, ‘form’, as they are both krUw̥, krU kαpwilʹ, ‘horse-shoe’. The genitive of the word for ‘dowry’ I have heard as krïv. tlŨw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh, has further joined this group.

(b) The liquids and nasals.

Note on l, m, n and r sounds.

§ 203. The first accurate description of the various l, n sounds in Irish was given by a writer in the Gaelic Journal for 1887 (p. 8), who styled himself Clann Chon­chobair. More recently Pedersen in his ‘As­piration­en i Irsk’ contribut­ed much to the eluci­dation of the puzzling r-sounds. Practical­ly all writers of Irish Grammars with the exception of Neilson and O’Brien have based their observa­tions on the dialects of Munster or Connaught, whilst the speech of Donegal might long ago have supplied the key to the most difficult problem of Irish phonetics. It is now well known that L and l, Lʹ and lʹ, N and n, Nʹ and nʹ differ from one another in the matter of articula­tion but in Donegal they also differ from one another in the matter of length. ​This is most clearly heard when these sounds occur as the finals of mono­syllables after a short vowel. Compare mo̤L, ‘heap’, kʹïN, ‘head’, bo̤N, ‘sole’, ʃïnʹ, ‘this’, with mo̤l, ‘mill-shaft’, kʹïn, ‘affection’, bo̤n, ‘bottom’, ʃiNʹ, imper. ‘play’ and the differ­ence in length is just as striking as the differ­ence in articu­lation. l, lʹ, n, nʹ in this position are perhaps over-short, whilst L, Lʹ, N, Nʹ are very long sounds. Initially the differ­ence between the pairs is naturally not quite so marked but it never­the­less exists, whilst in syllables with secondary stress the long sounds are somewhat reduced, so that confusion easily takes place. Precisely the same is true of R, r, though the dialect has not preserved the sounds in their original relations and Rʹ has been entirely given up. m, mʹ after short stressed vowels are invari­ably long. Donegal Irish, it would seem, is the only living Irish dialect which preserves in some measure the original differ­ence between the single and double conso­nants of O.Ir. ortho­graphy. For the remaining conso­nants see § 357. From Henderson one gathers that Scotch Gaelic agrees in a measure with Donegal, cp. ZCP. v 515 (s), 521 (Nʹ), 523 (R).

1. L.

§ 204. This symbol denotes a so-called ambi-dental divided l (fan or spread l), which is formed by pressing the front rim of the tongue very forcibly against the upper teeth or the edge of the lower teeth. Henderson (ZCP. v 92) says of Scotch Gaelic L: “The point of the tongue is spread out like a fan so that the whole of its rim is brought against the teeth while the back of the tongue is at the same time slightly raised”. In Donegal the back of the tongue seems to be raised in producing this sound but the raising is of no conse­quence, as it also occurs in the case of l, N, n (Pedersen pp. 21, 22). Before t, k and s L is partly voiceless. L and N are very thick, heavy sounds and modify a following i, § 125.

§ 205. L occurs initially representing O.Ir. l before a, o, u when the preceding word is not capable of causing aspira­tion. Examples—Lα꞉, ‘day’, O.Ir. láthe; Lα̃꞉uw, ‘hand’, O.Ir. lám; Lo꞉rtʹ, ‘to speak’, M.Ir. labrad; Luə, ‘early’, M.Ir. luath; Luw, ‘less’, O.Ir. lugu; Lũ꞉hər, ‘nimble’, M.Ir. lúthmar; Ly꞉, ‘to lie’, O.Ir. lige (influ­enced by the causative laigim, Thurn­eysen, IF. Anz. vi 46); Lo̤g, ‘weak’, M.Ir. lac.

​§ 206. Medially and finally L corresponds to O.Ir. non-palatal ll of whatever origin, e.g. αLαχ, ‘cattle’, O.Ir. ellach; αLəs, ‘sweat’, Meyer allas; bαL, ‘spot’, O.Ir. ball; bαLαn, ‘teat’, Meyer ballán; bαLə, ‘wall’, < Engl. ‘wall’; brαLαχ, ‘bosom’, M.Ir. brollach; bʹrʹaL, ‘glans penis’, Meyer brell, whence bʹrʹαLαn, ‘simpleton’; dõ꞉nəL, M.Ir. Domnall, dõ꞉nəL Nə gʹαli꞉, ‘the man in the moon’; əNαL, ‘hither’, O.Ir. anall; fʹαL, ‘treachery’, M.Ir. fell; gαL, ‘foreigner, English­man’, M.Ir. gall; iəL, ‘whang, leather boot-lace’, M.Ir. íall; kαL, ‘hazel’, M.Ir. coll; kαLαn, ‘noisy talk’, Di. Macbain callán, cp. M.Ir. callaire; kynʹigʹəL, ‘condition’, Meyer coingell; ko̤Lαχ, ‘boar’, O.Ir. cullach; mαL, ‘late’, O.Ir. mall; mʹαLuw, ‘decoy, deceive’, M.Ir. mellaim; po̤L, ‘hole’, M.Ir. poll.

§ 207. L has arisen in a number of cases from the assimila­tion of l and another consonant, e.g. o̤Lə, gen. sing. of ɔləN, ‘wool’, M.Ir. oland; ko̤Lə, O.Ir. collno, gen. sing. of colinn, cp. ə tαrt ə tɔkrəs əgəs ə tɔχəs, tʹrʹi꞉ Nαvdʹə Nə ko̤Lə, ‘thirst, hunger and itching are the three enemies of the body’; ko̤Luw, ‘sleep’, O.Ir. cotlud; mʹɛəLαχαn, ‘corpulent person’, < mʹɛədəl, Di. méadal; No̤Likʹ, ‘Christmas’, M.Ir. notlaic; tʹiəLəky꞉, ‘talents’, Di. tiodh­lacadh, M.Ir. tidlacim; tʹαLαχ, ‘hearth’, M.Ir. tenlach. Further fαLænʹ, ‘healthy’, M.Ir. follán < fo-slán; duwLαn, ‘challenge, defiance’, Di. dubhshlán, cp. Craig Iasg.; αuwLə, ‘wafer’, O.Ir. obla (the word also means ‘a cluster of nuts’).

§ 208. L occurs after s both initially and medially, e.g. sLα꞉n, ‘healthy’, M.Ir. slán; sLαuwruw, ‘chain’, O.Ir. slabrad sLαt, ‘rod’, M.Ir. slat; sLö̤꞉dαn, ‘cold’, Di. slaghdán; sLαχtər, ‘slaughter’, < Engl.; sLα꞉χ, ‘slush’, Di. sláthach; sLo꞉k, ‘sloke’, < Engl.; sLïNʹuw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. slondud; sLo̤t, ‘wick’; sLuə, ‘host’, O.Ir. slúag; sLuəsəd, ‘shovel’, Di. sluasad; sLo̤gəm, ‘I swallow’, M.Ir. slocim; mαsLuw, ‘trouble, tease, worry’, Di. maslugh­adh, Keat. masla; brɔsLuw, ‘to incite’, < Meyer bros­taigim.

§ 209. L stands before t, d, N, s, e.g. αLt, ‘cliff’, M.Ir. alt; αLtuw, ‘grace’, M.Ir. altugud < atlugud; dʹu꞉Ltuw, ‘to refuse’, O.Ir. díltud; gα꞉Ltə, ‘Protes­tant’, Di. gallda; ku꞉həLtə, ‘backward, retiring’, Di. cúthaltas, Meyer cuthal; kʹαŋəltαn, ‘parcel’, Di. ceangal­tán; mɔLt, ‘wether’, M.Ir. molt; mʹαLtə, ‘deceived’, M.Ir. mellaim. For L before t in sandhi cp. § 459. L can only occur before d in late loan-words, as O.Ir. ld gave L. My only example is go̤ldər, ‘roar’, Craig Iasg. guldar. LN is only found ​in sandhi (§ 459) as O.Ir. ln became L, supra § 207. Examples of L before s—bo̤Lsirʹə, ‘a crier’, Di. bollsaire; fαLsə, ‘idle’, Di. fallsa; fʹαLsky꞉, ‘burning grass or heather off the ground’.

§ 210. L stands after r, e.g. bʹɛ꞉rLə, ‘English’, M.Ir. bérla < bélre; hα꞉rLy꞉, ‘happened’, M.Ir. tarla; kɔrLαχ, ‘small remainder’, Di. corrluach; mo̤rLəs, ‘mackerel’, Di. murlus; ɔ꞉rLə, ‘to vomit’, O’R. orlúghadh; ɔ꞉rLαχ, ‘inch’, M.Ir. ordlach; o̤rLə, ‘eaves’, M.Ir. urla; o̤rLuw, ‘speech, eloquence’, M.Ir. erlabra; tα꞉rLαχ ‘Toirdheal­bhach’.

§ 211. After m w l frequently has the thick sound of L in words like o̤mlαn, ‘whole, entire’; eʃəmLɔrʹ, ‘example’, Di. eisiom­pláir. It may be noted that Finck states that L occurs after w, v on Aran (i 72, 73) and cp. Molloy’s comlain whatever the word may be (quoted by Pedersen p. 30).

§ 212. L occurs in a number of forms where we should expect to find l. Finck notes that the descen­dant of O.Ir. tempul has L on Aran (i 73) and this is also the case in Donegal, = tʹα(꞉)mpəL. There is a consider­able amount of hesita­tion between L and l, as in αskəL, ‘arm-pit’ (pʹαt(ə) αskiLʹə, ‘mother’s darling, spoilt child or beast’, skαrtʹ αskiLʹə, ‘a boil under the arm-pit’), Craig only writes one l and great un­certain­ty is observ­able in older stages of the language, cp. Meyer ascall, ochsal, axall, axal; dʹəwəl, ‘devil’, O.Ir. diabul, Craig diabhall; kαuwlædʹ, ‘noisy talk’, Di. collóid, callóid (§ 143); mo̤gəl, ‘husk, mesh, eyelid’, Di. mogall; tuəfʹəL, ‘a whirl, the wrong way’, M.Ir. tuaithbel. mo̤L, ‘a heap, pile’, Di. O’R. mol, may have been influ­enced by the plur. mo̤Ltri꞉ to differen­tiate it from mo̤l, ‘shaft of a mill-wheel’, M.Ir. mol, with which it is really identical. In uwLə, ‘apples’, and mʹαruwLαn, ‘giddiness, fit of dizziness’, Di. mearbhlán, the L has been trans­ferred from uwL, ‘apple’, M.Ir. uball, and Di. mearbhall.

§ 213. A voiceless L with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in the future of verbs whose stem ends in L, e.g. fʹαL̥ə mʹə ‘I shall betray’; gʹαL̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall promise’; mʹαL̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall deceive’; po̤L̥ə mʹə from po̤Luw used of catching hares &c. in gins, of bulls goring persons &c.; to̤L̥i꞉ fut. of to̤Luw, cp. to̤L § 55. Further pα꞉rL̥αn, ‘Partholon’. For the articu­lation of L̥ and other voiceless liquids and nasals see Jespersen’s remarks on the cor­respond­ing Welsh sounds (Lehrbuch der Phonetik p. 80). ​

2. l.

§ 214. This sound seems to me to correspond pretty nearly to the ordinary English l, though the point of the tongue rests just above the upper teeth and not against the arch-rim. The raising of the back of the tongue gives this l, when standing at the end of a syllable other than a clipped one, the same dull sound that is so charac­teristic of Engl. l. In other positions this quality is not so notice­able.

§ 215. l corresponds to O.Ir. l before original a, o, u whether preserved or lost in any position except initially and apart from the special cases mentioned in §§ 207–210. Examples—αlə, ‘swan’, M.Ir. ela; αlpαn, ‘lump, bit’, Meyer alp; αləbə, ‘Scotland’, M.Ir. Alba; α꞉luw, ‘sudden grip’, M.Ir. álad; α̃꞉ləʃ, ‘mixture of milk and water’, Meyer anglas, englas; blαs, ‘taste’, O.Ir. mlass; bɔluw, ‘smell’, M.Ir, bolad; bɔləg, ‘belly’, M.Ir. bolg; kʹαŋəl, ‘trying’, M.Ir. cengal; mʹɛədəl, ‘paunch’, Di. méadal; mʹïtəl, ‘metal, mettle’, Di. miotal; ɔ꞉l, ‘drink’, M.Ir. ól; ʃiəl, ‘seed’, O.Ir. síl.

§ 216. l stands before r (= r, rʹ), although lṟ must once have been LR, LʹRʹ, e.g. bɔlṟiαχ, ‘scenting’ (of a blood-hound); gαlṟi꞉, ‘diseases’; ku꞉lṟö̤꞉skαχ, ‘backward’, Di. cúil­riascmhar; kʹïlṟiænʹ, ‘Kilraine’, = Cill Riáin; o̤lṟuw, ‘shouting’, cp. ulfairt (?); ʃiəlṟuw, Di. síol­rughadh. For lṟ in sandhi see § 460.

§ 217. It might be expected that we should find L following t, d as it always precedes these sounds. But such is not the case, for tl, dl like most Irish combi­nations of conso­nants do not coalesce (§ 437). The off-glide of the t, d is clearly heard as the tongue moves into the position for l. This off-glide is so distinct that Finck actually inserts a vowel and writes dəlū́—dluth, ‘warp’ (ii p. 266). Examples—dli꞉, ‘lock, wisp of straw’, dli꞉ ə wo̤Ly꞉, ‘top-stopple, the thatch on the top of a cottage’, M.Ir. dlai; tlũw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh (rare, the usual term is mwædʹə bʹrʹiʃtə); ə tlui = an tsluaigh (gen. sing.); ə tluəsəd, ‘the shovel’, an tsluasad; erʹ ə tlαuwruw = air an tslabh­radh.

§ 218. In those cases where other consonants are aspirated initially, l takes the place of L. This only happens however in the speech of the older people. The younger folk make no distinc­tion between L and l initially, cp. Finck i p. 76; Henderson, ZCP. v 90. Examples—ə fʹαr ə lo꞉r lʹïm, ‘the man who spoke to me’; lu꞉b mʹə, ‘I bent’; lö̤꞉di mʹə, ‘I lessened’; lɔtʹ mʹə, ‘I ​wounded’; lɔk mə χri꞉, ‘my heart failed me’; ïŋə lö̤꞉rʹ, ‘toenail’; dʹe꞉lo꞉r̥ə, ‘eloquent’; ku꞉gʹi꞉ ləiən, ‘the province of Leinster’; bʹlʹiïnʹ luə, ‘an early year’; gʹαrænʹ lα꞉dʹirʹə, ‘strong horses’; tro̤mli꞉, ‘nightmare’; dən vαn lo̤g, ‘to the weak woman’; sə wα꞉d lα꞉n, ‘in the full boat’; tα꞉ ʃɛ əN αr wo꞉r lα꞉dʹirʹ, ‘he’s a big strong man’. L is however never aspirated after the article or çïd, ‘first’, e.g. ə Lo̤χɔg, ‘the mouse’; ə çïd Lα꞉, ‘the first day’. The same holds good for Lʹ, N, Nʹ.

The aspiration of initial sL which should be L̥ is L, cp. Pedersen p. 23, e.g. də lα꞉Nʹtʹə, ‘your health’; lα꞉ni, pret. of sLα꞉nuw, ‘to redeem’; kα lïNʹuw huw, ‘what’s your name (surname)?’

L is not aspirated after r, e.g. gʹαr` Lα꞉dirʹ, ‘middling strong’; fʹiərLo̤g, ‘very weak’; fʹïr Lα꞉dʹirʹə, ‘strong men’. Similarly after erʹ, ‘upon’, as in ər Lα꞉r, ‘down, on the ground’.

§ 219. In gɔl ·ço꞉lʹ, ‘singing’, < gabháil cheóil, the palatal quality is often given up in the syllable preceding the stress, cp. ə fʹαr sən, ‘that man’ and Zimmer, Unter­suchungen über den Satz­accent des Alt­irischen p. 4.

§ 220. An unvoiced l with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in futures and a few substan­tives, e.g. dʹiəl̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall sell’; dʹu꞉l̥i ʃə, ‘he will suck’; mɔl̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall praise’; ɔ꞉l̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall drink’, bʹαl̥uw, ‘grease’, Di. bealadh, Meyer belad; mʹαl̥ɔ꞉, ‘inter­ruption, delay’, Di. meathladh; ʃiəl̥α꞉, ‘strain’, cp. Di. siothladh, M.Ir. sithlaim, ʃiəl̥αn, ‘strainer’, Di. siothlán.

3. Lʹ.

§ 221. This symbol denotes a palatal l followed by a j-sound. For the formation cp. Jespersen p. 129. Of Lʹ and Nʹ Pedersen says (p. 21)꞉ “Lʹ and Nʹ are much more strongly palatal­ised (i.e. than lʹ and nʹ), so strongly, that in the transi­tion from these sounds to a (back‑) vowel one seems to hear a j-glide (which is not the case with lʹ and nʹ)”. This j-glide is also clearly heard before palatal vowels. Dottin writes (RC. xiv 107) ꞉ “L’l et l’n devant une voyelle palatale ne sont pas exacte­ment le l et le n mouillé du français ; l’élément palatal n’est pas entière­ment fondu avec la consonne”. The articula­tion of Lʹ and indeed of almost all the palatal conso­nants (Nʹ, ʃ, tʹ, dʹ, kʹ, gʹ) resembles that of L. The front rim of the tongue is pressed firmly against the lower teeth whilst the front of the tongue covers the greater part of the hard palate. Cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish p. 19. ​It may be noted that i always appears for ə in un­stressed syllables before Lʹ and Nʹ.

§ 222. Lʹ represents O.Ir. initial l before e, i, e.g. Lʹα`, ‘half’, O.Ir. leth; Lʹαhən, ‘broad’, O.Ir. lethan; Lʹαk, ‘flag’, M.Ir. lec; Lʹαnu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to follow’, O.Ir. lenmain; Lʹαr in tα꞉ Lʹαr erʹ, ‘he’s wrong in his head’, M.Ir. ler; LʹɛəN, ‘learning’, O.Ir. legend; Lʹɛəs, ‘healing’, M.Ir. leges; Lʹiə, ‘grey’, M.Ir. líath; Lʹiənuw, ‘to fill’, O.Ir. linath; Lʹitʹirʹ, ‘letter’, O.Ir. liter; Lʹo꞉r, ‘book’, O.Ir. lebor.

§ 223. Medially and finally Lʹ arises from O.Ir. ll before original e, i whether retained or lost, e.g. bwiLʹə, ‘blow’, M.Ir. bulle; fʹiLʹ mʹə, ‘I returned’, M.Ir. fillim (i.e. phill mé); kæLʹαχ, ‘hag’, O.Ir. caillech; kæLʹəm, ‘I lose’, M.Ir. coillim; kʹiLʹ, ‘church­yard’, M.Ir. cill (dat.); mʹiLʹuw, ‘to spoil’, M.Ir. milliud; sæLʹ, ‘grease, fat’, M.Ir. saill; tʹiLʹuw, ‘addition’, O.Ir. tuilled.

§ 224. Medially Lʹ may arise by assimilation, e.g. guiLʹαχə, ‘shoulders’, plur. of guəliNʹ; bræLʹi꞉nʹ, ‘sheet’, Di. braitlinn; kyLʹαχə mʹə, ‘I shall sleep’, < coidleach­aidh mé; fwi꞉Lαχ, ‘leavings’, fwi꞉Lʹi꞉, ‘February’, not ‘January’ as Dinneen has under fuighle, cp.

Gaoth Faoilighe niharbhas caoiridhe

Gaoth Mhárta mharbhas daoine. G.J. 1891 p. 96.

See further Wi. fuidell.

§ 225. Lʹ comes to stand before Nʹ in modern contracted forms, e.g. ʃkʹiLʹiNʹ, ‘shilling’, plur. ʃkʹiLʹNʹə; fwïLʹNʹi꞉m, ‘I endure’, pret. dïlʹiNʹ (diLʹiNʹ), fut. fwiLʹNʹαχə mʹə, Di. fuilingim, O.Ir. foloing.

Lʹ stands further before ʃ, tʹ, e.g. æLʹʃə, ‘cancer’, Meyer allse; bʹrʹiLʹʃkʹə, ‘light-headed, half-witted fellow’, Di. breillsce; mʹiLʹʃə, ‘sweeter’, M.Ir. millsiu; sɔLʹʃuw, ‘to shine’, M.Ir. soill­siugad; tʹrʹiLʹʃαn, ‘plaited rush, wick’, Di. trilseán, earlier trilsen. iLʹtʹ, plur. of αLt, ‘cliff’; kʹeLʹtʹ, ‘to conceal’, Di. ceilt; tɔLʹtʹənəs, ‘consent’, Di. toilteanas. For Lʹ before dʹ I have no examples.

§ 226. r (< *Rʹ) and ʃ require to be followed by Lʹ, e.g. kõ꞉rLʹə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; i꞉ʃLʹuw, ‘to lower’, Di. ísliugh­adh; kæʃLʹαn, ‘castle’, Meyer caslén; ʃLʹα꞉n, ‘turf-spade’; tæʃLʹαχ, ‘wet weather’, Di. taisleach, cp. fʹlʹïχlαχ. For rLʹ, ʃLʹ in sandhi see §§ 455, 459.

§ 227. A voiceless Lʹ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs principal­ly in futures, e.g. gyL̥ʹi꞉, future of Di. goillim; gʹeiL̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall yield’; kæL̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall lose’; miL̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall ​spoil’; sæL̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall pickle, salt’. kʹαrL̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘ball of string, wool’, < kʹαrtʹlʹi꞉nʹ which may also be heard, Meyer certle. J. H. has a further form, kʹɛrL̥ʹi꞉nʹ, which he says means ‘a lifeless or awkward mass’.

4. lʹ.

§ 228. By lʹ we denote a clear alveolar l like that in German ‘hell’ but slightly palatal­ised. The palatal­isation is most clearly heard when lʹ is final after æ. The younger genera­tion largely substi­tute Lʹ for lʹ, see infra § 231 and Finck i 76.

§ 229. lʹ represents O.Ir. medial and final l before e, i whether retained or lost and also l standing before or after other palatal conso­nants than those mentioned in §§ 225, 226. Examples—bwelʹə, ‘townland’, M.Ir. baile; bwidʹælʹ, ‘bottles’; fʹiəkilʹ, ‘tooth’, O.Ir. fiacail; fʹjɔ꞉lʹ, ‘flesh’, O.Ir. feúil; kælʹkʹ, ‘chalk’, M.Ir. cailc; kʹαŋilʹ, imper. ‘bind’; mwælʹkʹ, ‘soreness from riding bareback’; pʹïlʹəpʹi꞉nʹ, ‘plover’, Di. pilibín; ʃelʹigʹ, ‘chase’, O.Ir. seilgg (acc.); ʃelʹɔg, ‘willow’, M.Ir. sail; ʃïlʹαg, ‘saliva’, Di. seile < M.Ir. saile. dʹlʹiuw, ‘law’, O.Ir. dliged; fʹlʹïχ ‘wet’, O.Ir. fliuch; tʹlʹigʹən, ‘vomit’, < M.Ir. teilcim, tʹlʹikʹə N bα꞉ʃ, ‘sentenced to death’.

§ 230. Except in the case of the preposition lʹɛ together with the pronom­inal forms lʹïm, lʹαt &c. lʹ can only stand initially as the aspirated form of Lʹ, fʹlʹ, e.g. lʹαn mwidʹ, ‘we followed’; lʹαsi ʃiəd, ‘they improved’; lʹɛəs tuw, ‘you healed’; lʹei ʃə, ‘he read, melted’; lʹiən mʹə, ‘I filled’; lʹi` mʹə, ‘I licked’; lʹïg mʹə, ‘I overthrow’; lʹɔi mʹə, ‘I heckled’; lʹo꞉n mʹə, ‘I sprained’. lʹɛ mə lʹiNʹ, ‘in my time’; tʹrʹi꞉ lʹitʹirʹ, ‘three letters’; gʹαrlʹo꞉r, ‘a moderate book’; gʹɛ꞉rlʹαnũ꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘perse­cution’; gʹαrlʹiəNtə, ‘fairly well filled’; ĩ꞉çə lʹïχ ‘a wet night’. One may hear sə Lʹəχlαχ ‘in the wet weather’ but this is to be attribut­ed to the younger genera­tion.

Lʹ generally remains after the preposition erʹ, e.g. ər Lʹαhu꞉lʹ, ‘one-eyed’; ər Lʹαbwi꞉, ‘on a bed’; ər Lʹαr, ‘in a fix, astray’ lit. ‘at sea’, Wi. ler, also vi꞉ Lo̤ŋ əmwiç ər Lʹαr, ‘there was a ship lying out at anchor’. But I have heard ər lʹαχɔrænʹ, ‘for half-a-crown’ from J. H. Similarly after the article, e.g. kʹïN ə Lʹinʹəv, ‘the infant’s head’.

The aspiration of words beginning with ʃLʹ is lʹ never l̥ʹ. It is interest­ing to note that when J. H. imitates Connaught speech, he pro­nounces ko̤Ndαi l̥ʹigʹi꞉, ‘County Sligo’, whereas his own pronun­ciation is always k. lʹigʹi꞉. Examples—Nʹi꞉lʹ mʹə əN α lʹi꞉, ​‘I am not beholden to him’ (slige); kαsænʹ lʹα̃uwnə, ‘slippery paths’; αskəN lʹα̃uwinʹ, ‘a slippery eel’; lʹα̃uwnə tuw, ‘you slipped’; lʹi꞉k ʃə, ‘he stroked, smoothed’; u꞉r lʹeivə, ‘sage’, Hogan iubhar sléibhe.

§ 231. The younger generation have given up the aspiration of Lʹ and in a number of words Lʹ is substi­tuted for lʹ. The inflected forms of ïLʹə, ‘elbow’, Wi. ule, have ll already in M.Ir. stα꞉wi꞉lʹ, ‘stumbling’, occurs beside stα꞉wəLʹi꞉, Di. stabh­ghail; kɔr huefʹiLʹ, ‘whirlpool’, Di. cor tuaithbil. I have usually heard gə fɔ꞉Lʹ, ‘yet’ but Craig writes go fóil.

§ 232. A voiceless l̥ʹ with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent in futures, e.g. el̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall rear’; gil̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall boil’; gyl̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall weep’; kʹel̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall conceal’; mʹel̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall grind’. In substan­tives < thl, lth, e.g. l̥ʹigʹ mʹə, ‘vomited’, Di. tligim; krïl̥ʹɔg, ‘stalk of barley’, cp. Meyer crothal (?); el̥ʹidʹ, ‘fawn’, M.Ir. eilit; fα꞉l̥ʹi꞉, ‘shy’; rïl̥ʹαn, ‘wheel in spindle’, Di. roithleán. Also frequent­ly in wïl̥ʹ in questions = an bhfuil?

In the case of kyl̥ʹəd, ‘knave at cards’, l̥ʹ seems to have arisen out of rʹ, Di. cuireat.

§ 233. spʹiɲkʹ, ‘precipice’, seems to have lost an lʹ, cp. Di. spinnc, splinnc.

5. N.

§ 234. N denotes a thick ambi-dental n similar in formation to L (§ 204). In the produc­tion of the Irish nasals the resonance in the nose is much greater than is the case in English and in conse­quence all vowels flanking an n or m sound are liable to be nasalised, more par­ticular­ly in stressed syllables (§ 172). This nasal­isation of vowels in the neighbour­hood of n, m sometimes leads to the insertion of a nasal as in mu꞉NLə, ‘a mould, a kind of button’ < Engl. ‘mould’, cp. Manx cronk (Pedersen p. 23). Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘Lammas, August’, M.Ir. lúgnasad, owes its second N to an attempt to make the un­stressed syllables alike.

§ 235. N stands initially as the representative of O.Ir. n preceding a, o, u, e.g. Nα̃꞉widʹ, ‘enemy’, O.Ir. náme; Nα꞉rʹə, ‘share’, M.Ir. náre; Nɔχtəm, ‘I lay bare’, Wi. nochtaim; Nõ꞉s, ‘custom’, M.Ir. nós; No̤Likʹ, ‘Christmas’, M.Ir. notlaic; Nïnu꞉r, ‘set of nine’, O.Ir. nónbur; Nuw, ‘new’, O.Ir. núe; Nỹuw, ‘saint’, O.Ir. nóib; N⅄꞉skəN, ‘snipe’, Di. naosca.

​The n of the article (as also the eclipse n of a, ‘their’, erʹ, ‘our’, mər, ‘your’, dα, ‘if’) before a vocalic initial or aspirated f is treated as if it belonged to the following word and is therefore N before a substan­tive or verb beginning in O.Ir. with a, o, u, e.g. ə NɔləN, ‘the wool’; ə Nαsəl, ‘their donkey’ or ‘from the donkey’; ɛgʹ ə Nærʹə, ‘at the wake’ (faire); erʹ ə N⅄꞉nαχ, ‘at the fair’; sə Nõ꞉wər, ‘in the autumn’; mə hαχt Nαnəm də hu꞉lʹ, ʃe꞉ du꞉rtʹ ə kαt lʹeʃ ə Nʹiəsk = mo sheacht n‑anam do shúil, sé dubhairt an cat leis an iasc. Compare the spellings Mac a nathar, cuid a nfir censured by Donlevy (quoted by O’Donovan, Grammar p. lxxvi) and the proper names Naul, Navan < an Áill, an Emain. The conjunc­tion an uair, ‘when’, is similarly Nerʹ. Parallel to these cases are the adverbs əNuəs, əNαL, əNo̤N, əNɔ꞉ri꞉rʹ, < anúas, an-all, inonn, i n‑airthiur. We might expect N in əniʃ, ‘now’, but I have only heard əniʃ < *ind fhoiss. əNo̤χt is regular < O.Ir. innocht. The prepo­sition dochum was reduced to chum, chun, ’un and from those cases where the final n regularly became N as in the case of the article, the form əN was general­ised, e.g. gɔl ə NαfrʹiNʹ, ‘going to mass’. Craig’s state­ments about this prepo­sition are in­complete (Grammar² p. 210). Before mascu­lines with conso­nantal initial and all feminines the full form əNə < ’un an is perhaps as frequent as the contract­ed Nα, Nə. The n after prepo­sitions before the posses­sive pronoun a ‘his, her, their’, is also N, lʹɛ Nαhærʹ, ‘with his father.’ According to Pedersen (p. 123) le n‑a éan is pro­nounced on Aran lʹe꞉ Nʹe꞉n. In Donegal this would be lʹɛ Nɛən. We have already seen that the word for ‘one’ may be reduced from ɛən to ən, n which before a vocalic initial becomes N, e.g. ə Nɔkəl əwα̃꞉n, ‘a single word’.

§ 236. Medially and finally N represents O.Ir. nn, nd, e.g. αNũw, ‘seldom’, M.Ir. andam; bo̤N, ‘sole’, M.Ir. bond; bʹαNuw, ‘to bless’, cp. O.Ir. bendacht; bwinʹəN, ‘female’, Meyer boinend; fo̤N, ‘desire’, M.Ir. fonn; fʹïN, ‘fair’, O.Ir. find; gαN, ‘scarce’, O.Ir. gann, gand; grα꞉Nə, ‘ugly, repulsive’, M.Ir. gránna, gránde; gʹlʹαN, ‘valley’, M.Ir. glenn, glend; ko̤Nỹ꞉(ʃtʹə), ‘tame’, M.Ir. cendaid (§ 416); k⅄꞉r̥əN, ‘rowan-tree’, Meyer cáerthann; kʹαNy꞉m, ‘I buy’, M.Ir. cennaigim; kʹïN, ‘head’, O.Ir. cenn; Lo̤skəN, ‘toad’, M.Ir. loscann; LʹαNæNʹ ʃi꞉, ‘fairy lover’, M.Ir. lennán; LʹɛəN, ‘learning’, O.Ir. legend; mʹαNαn, ‘kid’, Di. meannán; mʹïNə, ‘oaths’, M.Ir. mind; po̤NəN, ‘sheaf’, M.Ir. punnann; tʹαNəm, ‘I tighten’, O.Ir. tend.

It may be noted that the enclitic ending of the present indic­ative is ‑əN with J. H. I have listened repeated­ly and ​have only heard ‑əN. Craig writes pósan muid but he is not reliable for l and n sounds.

§ 237. Medial N sometimes arises from assimilation of n with another consonant, e.g. fʹiəNiʃ, ‘witness’, O.Ir. fiadnisse; çiəNə, ‘same’, O.Ir. cétne; Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘Lammas, August’, M.Ir. lúgnasad; ə mʹlʹiəNə, ‘this year’, cp. O.Ir. gen. sing. bliadne; Nα, ‘than’, O.Ir. inda. Similarly the na forms of the article have N, O.Ir. inna. nd > N also occurs in certain stereo­typed compounds, e.g. ·αNinʹə, ‘un­gracious person’, Di. anduine; ɛəNynʹə, ‘anybody’, Di. aonduine; ʃαNinʹə, ‘old man’, Di. seanduine. With these cases we may compare the eclipse n before initial d which also produces N, e.g. ə Nα꞉n, ‘fated, in store’, Di. i. ndán.

§ 238. N stands before L, t, d, s, e.g. αNLo̤g, ‘very weak’; αNLo̤m, ‘very bare’; αNLũ꞉χər, ‘very nimble’; bʹαN ·Lyə, ‘mistress’; bʹlʹɛəNLαχə, plur. of bʹlʹein, ‘groin’, O.Ir. mlén; ɛəNLαiç, ‘fowl’, M.Ir. énlaith; tα꞉ ʃiəd ə go̤bwirʹ əs ɛəNLα̃꞉v, ‘they are hand and glove together’; ko̤NLαχ, ‘stubble’, Meyer connlach, connlech; Nỹ꞉ NLy꞉ = naoi ndlaoi; sLα꞉NLəs, ‘plantain’, Di. slánlus; spʹrʹïNLə, ‘lazy fellow’, cp. Di. sprionn­lóg. αli꞉Ntə, ‘tricky, artful’, Di. ealadh­anta; ɛəNtiəs, ‘living in the same house’, aon­tuigheas; gʹαNtrαχə, plur. of gʹiɲ, ‘wedge’; kαNtər, pres. pass. of kαnəm, ‘I speak’; LʹαNtər, pres. pass. of Lʹαnəm, ‘I follow’; LʹiəNtə, ‘filled’; mαNtə, ‘lot, amount’, < Engl. ‘amount’; mαNtαχ, ‘talking in­distinct­ly’, Di. manntach; so꞉Ntαχ, ‘simple’, Di. sonntach. For Nt in sandhi see § 465. According to § 236 Nd can only occur in sandhi, for which see § 465. kʹαNsuw, ‘to pacify’, M.Ir. cendsugud; o̤Nsuw, ‘to face, make for’, M.Ir. indsaigim; o̤Nsə, ‘ounce’, Di. únsa; sko̤Nsə, ‘fence’, Di. sconnsa.

§ 239. N follows r (< R) and s, e.g. bʹα꞉rN, ‘gap’, M.Ir. bern; dɔ꞉rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; kα꞉rNαn i꞉lʹi꞉, ‘dunghill’; kɔ꞉rNuw, ‘to roll up’, Di. cornaim; kʹαhərNαχ, ‘small, impudent person’, Meyer cether­nach; Lu꞉bərNỹ꞉, ‘wriggling’, Di. lúbar­naighil. In mono­syllables ending in rN (rNʹ) the N (Nʹ) is almost syllabic. αsNə, ‘rib’, M.Ir. asna; brɔsNə, ‘single piece of firewood’, Meyer brosna; kɔsNuw, ‘to cost’; ɔsNə, ‘sigh’, O.Ir. osnad; sNαg, ‘hiccough’, Di. snag; sNαhαd, ‘needle’, O.Ir. snáthat; sNα꞉, ‘bundle of thread’, sNα꞉içə, ‘thread’, O.Ir. snáthe; sNα꞉uw, ‘to swim’, M.Ir. snám; sNuw, ‘com­plexion’, M.Ir. snúad; sNỹ꞉, ‘bier’, Macbain snaoidh; sNỹ꞉mʹ, ‘knot’, M.Ir. snaidm.

​§ 240. Occasionally there is hesitation between N and n, as hαNikʹ beside hαnikʹ (also henʹikʹ) = chonnaic, M.Ir. atchonnairc. o꞉Nə = abhna, gen. sing., has been influ­enced by the Nʹ of the nomi­native o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, = abhainn.

§ 241. N arises out of ng in a few instances, e.g. αskəN, ‘eel’, O.Ir. escung; kũ꞉N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung, cp. Manx coon, Scotch G. cumhann; ə Nαχ Lα̃꞉v = i ngach láimh.

§ 242. A voiceless N with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in fʹïN̥uw, ‘hair of animal’, M.Ir. findfad, and in the futures fʹαN̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall flay’; tʹαN̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall tighten’.

6. n.

§ 243. n is an alveolar nasal sound corresponding in formation to l and therefore not unlike Engl. n, except that the point of the tongue is nearer the upper teeth.

§ 244. n represents O.Ir. medial and final n followed or once followed by a, o, u, or preceding a consonant followed by these vowels, apart from the special cases mentioned in §§ 236–239. Examples—αrαn, ‘bread’, M.Ir. arán; bα꞉n, ‘white, fair’, O.Ir. bán; bʹαn, ‘woman’, O.Ir. ben; bro꞉n, ‘sorrow’, O.Ir. brón; bαnəfαn, ‘sucking pig’, M.Ir. banb; dαmni꞉m, ‘I condemn’, M.Ir. damnaim; drɔχwu꞉nuw, ‘bad manners’; do꞉n, ‘world’, O.Ir. domun; dʹαləgnαχ, ‘chicken-pox’; ɛən, ‘bird’, M.Ir. én; fαnαχt, ‘to remain’, O.Ir. anaim; Lʹαnu꞉Nʹt, ‘to follow’, O.Ir. lenmain; Lʹαnuw, ‘child’, M.Ir. lenab; ɔ꞉n, ‘Owen’, M.Ir. Eogan; ʃkʹïn, ‘knife’, M.Ir. scían.

§ 245. With the older people n is the aspirated form of N, e.g. mə nα꞉widʹ, ‘my enemy’; bʹαn nα꞉wədαχ ‘a vicious woman’; ꬶα꞉ n⅄꞉skiNʹ, ‘two snipe’; nɔχt mʹə, ‘I stripped’. The aspira­tion does not take place after the article, e.g. Nαχ mo꞉r ə Nα꞉rʹə ꬶydʹə, ‘is it not a shame for you?’; bʹeigʹəN du꞉Nʹ tu꞉suw əNsə Nuw, ‘we had to begin over again’. J. H. aspirates initial N after the prepo­sition erʹ, e.g. tα꞉ ʃə ər nõ꞉s χo̤mə lʹïm, ‘he’s a careless, in­different fellow’; bʹi꞉ ər nõ꞉s Nə ku꞉rtʹə, ‘do at Rome as Rome does’.

The aspiration of sN is n, e.g. ni꞉mʹ tuw, ‘you fastened’; α nũw, ‘his com­plexion’; nα̃꞉uw tuw, ‘you swam’.

§ 246. n occurs before r where once NR (NʹRʹ) must have stood, e.g. α꞉nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe (proverb əs olk ə kïlʹαχ Nαχ fʹjuw α꞉nṟi ɔ꞉l, ‘it is a bad cock that is not worth a sup of ​broth’ said of a suitor a girl won’t look at); α꞉nṟɔ꞉, ‘misery’, M.Ir. andró; bα꞉nṟi꞉n, ‘queen’; ko꞉nṟαχə, ‘coffins’ (§ 442); ko̤nṟuw, ‘bargain’, O.Ir. cundrad (gen. sing. ko̤Nərə); krα꞉nṟə, ‘corn on the foot, knot in wood’, Di. crannra; Lʹïnṟuə, ‘a complaint of the stomach’, Di. lionn­ruadh; Lʹïnṟαχ a contract­ed form of LʹïNʹərαχ, ‘bright’, Di. loin­neardha; o̤nṟikʹə, ‘upright’, O.Ir. inricc (I have also heard o̤Nrikʹə from younger people); skα꞉nṟuw, ‘to frighten’, Di. scannradh; smʹɛənṟə didʹ, ‘it is fortunate for you’, < M.Ir. mo-genar (also smʹɛərə § 443). See further § 276. But Nʹrʹ occurs in to̤m̥αχə Nə Nʹrʹiʃαg, ‘the bramble-bushes’ (driseóg); vi꞉ ʃɛ α Nʹrʹαsuw, ‘he was hunting them’ (dreas­ughadh).

§ 247. n represents an older ngn in ku꞉nuw, ‘assistance’, O.Ir. congnam; i꞉nuw, ‘wonder’, < ingnáth, ingnád. n appears for nʹ in ə fʹαr sən, ‘that man’, owing to lack of stress (§ 219). Also dαhən mʹə (?) beside dαhinʹ mʹə, ‘I recog­nised’, cp. Cl. S. 19 ix ’03 p. 3 col. 1. αnəm, ‘soul’, O.Ir. anim, is a new formation after the oblique cases, gen. sing. anma, partly due doubtless to a desire to keep the word separate from ainm, ‘name’. ku꞉nælʹ, ‘perishing with cold’, in tα꞉ mʹɛ ə mə χu꞉nælʹ, Di. cúnáil, Lα꞉ ku꞉nαlαχ, ‘a perishing day’, may possibly represent the old infin­itive congbáil retained in this partic­ular sense. The ordinary infin­itive is kyNʹæLʹtʹ.

§ 248. A voiceless n with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent in futures and substan­tives, e.g. kαn̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall talk’; Lʹαn̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall follow’; Lʹiən̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall fill’; Lʹo꞉n̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall sprain’; mu꞉n̥ə mʹə from mu꞉nəm, ‘mingo’. bʹrʹαn̥uw, ‘expect’, Meyer breth­naigim; kro̤n̥i꞉m, ‘I miss’, Di. crun­thuighim, croth­nuighim; kʹrʹαn̥uw, ‘terror, to terrify’, Di. creath­nughadh, pret. çrαn̥i꞉, kʹrʹαn̥iαχ, ‘terrible’, Meyer crith­naigim; sro̤n̥uw, ‘to scatter, spread’, Di. srath­nuighim.

7. Nʹ.

§ 249. Nʹ is a palatal n corresponding in formation to Lʹ. The younger genera­tion substi­tute Nʹ for nʹ par­ticular­ly after conso­nants, e.g. fɔrʹəmʹNʹiʃαχ, ‘steady’; gïvNʹə, ‘smiths’; suivNʹαχ, ‘at rest’. Craig following the speech of the younger people writes nn for nʹ in many words, thus beál­tainne, M.Ir. beltene; cluinnim, M.Ir. cluinim, O.Ir. ro­cluine­thar; fear­thainn, M.Ir. ferthain; gloinne, M.Ir. glaine, gloine; sínneadh, M.Ir. sínim. From most speakers one hears forms such as diNʹə, ​‘man’; diNʹəN, ‘bad weather’; kyNʹi꞉nʹ, ‘rabbit’; mwiNʹαl, ‘neck’; ræNʹαχ (= ræn̥ʹαχ), ‘fern’; ʃαχtiNʹ, ‘week’; ʃiNʹə, compar. of ʃαn, O.Ir. siniu. As far as can be gathered from Rhys’s descrip­tion this confusion has taken place in Manx (l.c. p. 135). For Connaught see Finck i p. 62. On the whole J. H. and some of the oldest people preserve the differ­ence between Nʹ and nʹ almost intact.

§ 250. Nʹ represents an O.Ir. initial n before e, i, e.g. Nʹαd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net; Nʹαχ, ‘any one’, O.Ir. nech; Nʹαmɔrt, ‘neglect’ (§ 27); NʹαNtαg, ‘nettle’, late M.Ir. nenntóg, earlier nenaid; Nʹαrt, ‘strength’, O.Ir. nert; Nʹαrtrαχ, ‘rough grass’; Nαs, ‘near’, O.Ir. nessa; Nʹαskɔdʹ, ‘boil’, M.Ir. nescóit; Nʹα̃u-hiLʹəmwiαχ, ‘in­dependent’, O.Ir. neb‑, neph‑; Nʹɛəl, ‘cloud’, O.Ir. nél; Nʹïv (Nʹïfʹ), ‘poison’, O.Ir. nem; Nʹi꞉, ‘not’, O.Ir. ní; Ni, ‘thing’, O.Ir. ní; Nʹi꞉m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim; Nʹo꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, ‘daisy’, < nóinín by assimi­lation, also Nʹo꞉nʹ, ‘evening’, cp. əs ɛəskyαχə Nʹo꞉nʹ Nα mwædʹïnʹ. O.Ir. ingen has been trans­formed on the model of the pretonic form ní, M.Ir. iní and Nʹ has been intro­duced by analogy.

§ 251. Medially and finally Nʹ arises from O.Ir. nn, nd before a palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, e.g. bwæNʹə, ‘milk’, O.Ir. banne; bwiNʹαχ, ‘diarrhœa’, Meyer bunnech; bwiNʹαn, ‘a young, fresh stalk’, Meyer bunnén, also bwiNʹαn bwi꞉, some kind of bird; bʹiNʹ, ‘melodious’, O.Ir. bind; bʹiNʹ, ‘gable, peak’, from oblique cases of O.Ir. benn; əNʹe꞉, ‘yesterday’, O.Ir. indhé; əNʹUw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu; fα꞉Nʹə, ‘ring’, O.Ir. ánne; fwiNʹɔg, ‘window’, M.Ir. fuindeóc; fʹi꞉rʹiNʹə,, ‘truth’, O.Ir. fírinne; iNʹαχ, ‘woof’, M.Ir. innech; iNʹəLtə, ‘neat’, < M.Ir. indell; iNʹærʹ, ‘anvil’, O.Ir. indéin; in̥ʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘brain’, M.Ir. inchinn; kyNʹə, əs kyNʹə, ‘opposite’, M.Ir. conne; kyNʹəl, ‘candle’, M.Ir. caindel; mwæNʹirʹ, ‘sheep-fold’, M.Ir. maindir; o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. aba; rïNʹ, ‘dealing’, M.Ir. roinn (dat.); sLïNʹuw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. slonniud < O.Ir. slondud. The forms ə ꬶæNʹænʹ, ə mwæNʹænʹ, ‘in spite of him, me’, belong here as they represent Meyer’s an-deón, dom-andeoin-sa, cp. Henebry p. 31. æNʹαs, ‘very pretty’, may be heard for æNʹdʹαs from some speakers.

§ 252. Nʹ may arise by assimilation of tʹnʹ, dʹnʹ, but the only instance I have is mwæNʹə, gen. sing. of mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’. mwædʹinʹə is however more frequent­ly heard. αrəNʹ, plur. αrəNʹαχə), ‘stitches, pains’, αrəNʹαχə bα꞉ʃ, ‘pains of death’, ​is probably a case of Nʹ for nʹ, cp. Meyer aradain, gen. sing. aradna. Cp. támaoinne < támuidne D. P. 28 i ’05 p. 3 col. 7.

§ 253. The n of the article before O.Ir. e, i gives Nʹ, e.g. lʹeʃ ə NʹαLαχ, ‘with the cattle’; ə Nʹiʃαg, ‘the lark’ (§ 452); də Nʹɔilʹ, ‘of the flesh’; sə Nʹɛ꞉r, ‘in the grass’; iNʹʃerʹ ə Nʹαr, ‘to the man’; kyrʹuw əNə Nʹɛəstə, ‘an invita­tion to the feast’; cp. the common formula of thanks sɔnəs əgəs ʃɛən ɔrt əgəs dʹαrəməd fαd ə Nʹɛəg. Note the differ­ence between ə Nʹαr, ‘from the man’, and (mʹαsəm gə wïlʹ pʹαdər) əN αr heivirʹ, ‘I imagine Peter is a rich man’. ɛən, ‘a single one’, is often reduced to n, which before a word beginning with (O.Ir.) e, i, appears as Nʹ, e.g. lʹɛ Nʹαr əwα̃꞉nʹ ɔkuw, ‘with one single man of them’. Similarly in the case of əNə n‑, the leng­thened form of ə, i, O.Ir. i n‑, e.g. vi꞉ ʃi꞉ kʹαŋəLʹtʹə suəs əNə Nʹɛədi꞉ d⅄꞉rə, ‘she was got up in expensive clothes’. Other examples of the eclipse n after erʹ, ‘our’; mər, ‘your’; α, ‘their’; gə, ‘that’; ə, α, dα, ‘if’; ə(n), the inter­rogative particle before a word beginning in O.Ir. with e, i or d followed by the same vowels—ər Nʹi꞉Nʹαr, ‘our dinner’, mər NʹinʹigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘your grazing’; ə NʹiNʹtʹiNʹ, ‘their intention’; ə Nʹɛr sə, ‘does he say?’; gə Nʹi꞉sət(ʹ) ʃə, ‘that he would eat’; ə Nʹiəl̥ət(ʹ) ʃə, ‘if he were to pay’. For əNʹiər, ‘out of the west’, O.Ir. an-íar; əNʹerʹ, ‘out of the east’, O.Ir. an-air; əNʹi꞉s, ‘from below’, M.Ir. anís, see § 235.

§ 254. Nʹ precedes Lʹ, lʹ, dʹ, ʃ, e.g. α꞉NʹLʹɔg, ‘swallow’, Di. fáinleóg, áinleóg, < O.Ir. fannall; kyNʹLʹɔrʹ, ‘candle­stick’, Di. coinn­leoir; Lo̤s mʹi꞉NʹLʹə, ‘white bed-straw’, Hogan lus mínle; ʃæNʹLʹeimʹ < sean + léim, in bʹɛ mʹə ərʹ mə hæNʹLʹeimʹ əmα꞉rαχ, ‘I shall be myself to-morrow’; Nʹi꞉ hα꞉NʹLʹïm ə, ‘I do not like it’, O.Ir. án, a phrase that is now only familiar to a few. Note also æNʹLʹɛənu꞉r, ‘very painful’, an + léanmhar. bwiNʹtʹ, ‘to pull, pluck, cut’; kæNʹtʹ, ‘talk’, Di. caint; kʹiNʹtʹuw, ‘to determine’, Di. cinn­tiughadh; Lʹαnu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to follow’; siNʹtʹ, ‘avarice’, O.Ir. sainte (gen. sing.); tα꞉Nʹtʹə, ‘reported’; tïNʹtʹə, ‘stitch’, Di. tuinnte, taoinnte; ɛgʹ əNʹ tʹɔ꞉riNʹ, ‘at the boundary’. Except in a very few cases such as æNʹdʹαs, ‘very pretty’; spαrtʹ viNʹdʹə, ‘milk curdled with rennet’ (bʹinʹidʹ), Nʹdʹ can only occur in sandhi. bwæNʹʃə, gen. sing. of bαniʃ, ‘wedding’; əNʹʃinʹ, əNʹʃɔ, ‘there, here’, M.Ir. andsen, andso; iNʹʃə, ‘to relate’, M.Ir. do innissin; iNʹʃαχəs, ‘a sheltered place in the mountains for cattle’; kyNʹʃkʹlʹɔ꞉, ‘disturb­ance’, cp. Meyer cumscle; o꞉Nʹʃαχ, ‘hussy’, Di. óinseach; iNʹʃɔrəm, iNʹʃɔrt, ‘to me, to you’ < o̤Nsɔrəm, ​o̤Nsɔrt = d’ionn­suidhe orm. The forms with Nʹʃ arose in the 3rd sing. masc. iNʹʃerʹ < o̤Nserʹ under the influence of ʃerʹ, iNʹʃɔ. Craig condemns the forms with Nʹʃ (Grammar² p. 75) but they are much more frequent­ly used than those with Ns.

§ 255. Nʹ occurs after ʃ and Lʹ, e.g. fʹrʹiʃNʹæʃαχ, ‘irritable’; ʃNʹαχtə, ‘snow’, O.Ir. snechta; ʃNʹiuw, ‘to spin’, M.Ir. sním; tαrkiʃNʹə, ‘contempt, slight’, M.Ir. tarcuisne; fαrsNʹə < *fæRʹʃNʹə, compar. of O.Ir. fairsing, cp. fαrsNʹu꞉l, ‘abundant’, fαrsNʹαχ, fαrsNʹαχəs, ‘abundance’. For examples of Nʹ after Lʹ see § 225.

§ 256. tʹnʹ should be assimilated to Nʹ (Pedersen p. 20) but I have no examples. In tætʹnʹi꞉m, ‘I please’, Di. tait­nighim, O.Ir. taitnem, the tʹ has evidently been restored from the pret. hætʹi꞉nʹ. n + nʹ or Nʹ give Nʹ, e.g. æNʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘very painful’; ʃæNʹαhəNỹ꞉, ‘old things’. For sandhi examples see § 456.

§ 257. In a series of words Nʹ arises from an older ng. Nʹ and ɲ are sounds which are very close to one another and are liable to be confused, cp. the Munster substi­tution of ɲ for Nʹ and for ɲ > Nʹ see Rhys p. 136. Examples—αku꞉Nʹ, ‘strength, endurance’, Di. acfuinn, M.Ir. accmaing; dïlʹiNʹ mʹə, ‘I suffered’, = d’fhuiling me, Atk. ro-fhulaing; dɔ꞉riNʹ, ‘afflic­tion’, tα꞉ dɔ꞉riNʹ wo꞉r (hiNʹiʃ) erʹ hö̤꞉g, ‘Thady is in great pain’, dɔ꞉riNʹαχ, ‘severe’, Keat. doghraing; fαrsiNʹ, ‘plentiful’, O.Ir. fairsing; kïvlʹiNʹ, ‘to emulate, emulation’, Meyer comleng; kyNʹαl, kyNʹæLʹtʹ, ‘to keep’, M.Ir. congbáil, the forms with Nʹ < palatal ng arose in cases like the future coingéba; riNʹ, ‘made’, M.Ir. doringni < O.Ir. dorigéni (KZ. xxx 62); tα꞉rNʹə, ‘nail’, M.Ir. tairnge; tαrNʹtʹ, ‘to pull, draw’, M.Ir. tarraing, Manx tayrn, Scotch G. tarruinn.

§ 258. In the written language when in inflected forms nn comes to stand after a consonant only one n is written but in speaking Nʹ is usually heard before palatal vowels. One does indeed hear krækʹnʹə, ‘skins’, but invariably ɛvNʹαχə, ‘rivers’, plur. of o꞉Nʹ; igʹNʹαχə, plur. of igʹiNʹ, ‘a ring to put round the neck of cattle’. This Nʹ is doubtless due to analogy with the singular, cp. Pedersen p. 33.

§ 259. A voiceless Nʹ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in ʃiN̥ʹə mʹə, future of ʃiNʹəmʹ, M.Ir. senim.

​

8. nʹ.

§ 260. The symbol nʹ denotes a very slightly palatalised alveolar n. As stated above the younger genera­tion fail to distin­guish nʹ and Nʹ and in the majority of cases substi­tute Nʹ.

§ 261. nʹ occurs initially in nʹi꞉m, ‘I do’, O.Ir. dogniu. Craig gives the pronun­ciation as nnidhim (Grammar² p. 15), i.e. Nʹi꞉m, but here again he is following the younger genera­tion which does not distin­guish this word from Nʹi꞉m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim.

§ 262. nʹ appears further as the aspirated form of initial Nʹ but only with the older people, e.g. Lα꞉rʹikʹ nʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘a sore thigh’; Nʹαskɔd(ʹ) nʹïvnʹαχ, ‘a painful boil’; gʹαr nʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘rather painful’; tʹrʹi꞉ nʹαd, ‘three nests’; Nʹi꞉rʹ iNʹiʃ mʹə ə ʃkʹɛəl də nʹαχ ə mwerʹəN, ‘I did not tell the story to a soul alive’; tα꞉ ʃɛ ko̤r nʹαχtə, ‘it is snowing’. ər Nʹαuw̥, ‘in heaven’, has Nʹ according to J. H.’s pronun­ciation.

The aspiration of ʃNʹ is nʹ, e.g. nʹiuw mʹə, ‘I span’, imperf. pass. nʹiuw̥i꞉.

§ 263. nʹ represents O.Ir. medial or final n before an original palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, in all positions except those mentioned in §§ 254, 255, e.g. bʹlʹiïnʹ, ‘year’, O.Ir. bliadain; dinʹə, ‘person’, O.Ir. duine; enʹəmʹ, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm (æNʹəmʹ); əwα̃꞉nʹ, ‘only’, M.Ir. amáin; fuiʃkʹnʹuw, ‘shudder’; genʹə̃v, ‘sand’, M.Ir. ganim (dat.); heinʹ, ‘self’, O.Ir. féin; inʹiʃ, ‘island’, M.Ir. inis; kαsænʹ, ‘paths’, < casáin; kα꞉nʹ, ‘fine’, M.Ir. cáin; Lʹeinʹi, ‘shirt’, M.Ir. léne; mwænʹærʹ, ‘manor, division of land’, Di. mainear; Nʹα̃ujõ꞉nʹ (gə), ‘although’, Meyer am-deón (§ 38); ri꞉nʹ, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin; smαχtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘mallet’, Di. smaichtín; ʃαχtinʹ, ‘week’, M.Ir. sechtmain (acc.); ʃαskinʹ, ‘quagmire’; ʃikʹnʹə, ‘hernia’, Di. seicin, seicne; ʃi꞉nʹuw, ‘to stretch’, M.Ir. síned; ʃLʹα̃uwinʹ, ‘slippery’, M.Ir. slemain; to꞉nʹ, ‘bottom’, M.Ir. tóin (dat.); tʹinʹi, ‘fire’, O.Ir. tene; uigʹnʹαχ, ‘solitary’, M.Ir. uagnech.

§ 264. A voiceless nʹ with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent and arises from various sources, (a) in futures, e.g. bwin̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall reap’; grα꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall loathe’ (Di. gráin­ighim); kα꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall speak ill of’; klïn̥ʹə mʹə. ‘I shall hear’; ky꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall weep’; mu꞉n̥ʹə mə < mu꞉n, ‘mingere’. (b) < thn, nth, e.g. en̥ʹi꞉m, ‘I recognise’, Meyer aith­gninim; fwæn̥ʹə, ‘wart’, Di. faithne; kα꞉n̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘husk’, Di. cáithnín; ​krïn̥ʹαχtə, ‘wheat’, O.Ir. cruith­necht; kʹɔ꞉ ·brin̥ʹə, ‘haze portend­ing heat’, cp. Di. ceobhrán; Lʹin̥ʹə, compar. of Lʹαhən, ‘broad’; ræn̥ʹαχ, rαin̥ʹαχ, ‘fern’, M.Ir. raithnech. (c) < chn, e.g. dʹïn̥ʹu꞉r, ‘set of ten’, Di. deich­neabhar, O.Ir. dechenbor; in̥ʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘brain’, M.Ir. inchind.

Note on the r sounds.

§ 265. Corresponding to the four l and four n sounds described above we expect to find four parallel r sounds (R, r, Rʹ, r), but it would seem that almost every­where r has been general­ised for R and there are no remains what­so­ever of Rʹ. If any traces of Rʹ had survived we might expect to find them in such sandhi combi­nations as Nʹi꞉rʹ rʹïgər se, ‘he did not answer’; fʹαrəg ə Nʹirʹ rʹiʃNʹæʃi꞉ (fʹrʹiʃNʹæʃαχ), ‘the temper of the irritable man’. I have tried all imagin­able combi­nations but have never heard anything but rʹ. It is easy to form a palatal r with the articu­lation of Lʹ, Nʹ, i.e. with the front rim of the tongue pressing against the lower teeth, but I cannot conceive why the sound was given up. Of R on the other hand there are distinct traces, but not in the initial position where it has become r. Fortunate­ly Donegal has not leng­thened the vowel in every case before R as Munster and Connaught have done and it is at the end of mono­syllables after a short vowel that we must look for the sound.

9. R.

§ 266. By this symbol we denote a long, strongly trilled r with the tongue vibrating against the alveoles just above the upper teeth. Whether in pro­nouncing R the point of the tongue original­ly acted against the teeth as in the case of L, N, it is now impos­sible to say. O’Brien in his Grammar says (p. 11)꞉ “It (viz. r) is sometimes written double, as barrach tow; earr, champion; and is then strongly pro­nounced, with a longer dwelling on the sound of r than if it were written singly”. Now O’Brien was according to O’Donovan a native of Meath and it is quite likely that traces of R were preserved in that district as they have been in the west of Ulster. Quite un­necessari­ly Pedersen remarks (p. 38) that it is in­conceiv­able that rr in barrach should be long. For traces of R in Scotland see Henderson, ZCP. iv 523.

​§ 267. I have heard R from J. H. in the following words, though even he frequent­ly substi­tutes r—bαRə, plur. of bα꞉r, ‘crop’, O.Ir. barr; do̤R said to a dog to encourage him, Di. dorrghail; ə gʹïRi꞉ (iəri꞉, see § 105), ‘asking, seeking’; kɔR, ‘odd’, Meyer corr (1); kɔR (wo꞉nuw), ‘crane’, Meyer corr (2), with which kɔR, ‘a sand-eel’, is probably identical. These forms must be carefully distin­guished from ko̤r`, Meyer cor. ko̤R, ‘edge’, Meyer corr (2); ko̤Rαχ, ‘quagmire’, M.Ir. currech; kɔRαχ, ‘steep’, klɔχ χo̤Rαχ, ‘a stone with many edges’, Meyer corrach; kɔRαn, ‘sickle’, Meyer corrán; kɔRuw lʹɛ, ‘upwards of; kαR, ‘car’, M.Ir. carr, to be distin­guished from kα꞉r, ‘ugly face, grin’, Meyer carr (5); mo̤Rαχəs, ‘superior­ity’, < mór­dhachas; o̤Rə çlʹαsiαχt, ‘playmate’, Wi. urra; o̤Rəmαχ, ‘obedient’, M.Ir. urraim; spo̤Rαχ, ‘a lanky fellow’.

§ 268. Usually however R is reduced to r, e.g. bαrçiç, ‘a light shower’, = barr-chith; bα꞉riəL, ‘a leather boot-lace’, = barr-iall; bαriαχt, ‘super­abundance’, Di. barraidh­eacht; bαrαχ, ‘tow’, Meyer barrach; dɔrəgə, ‘cross-looking’, Keat. dorrdha; gɔrαn, ‘rim round snout of pig’ (in Westmore­land called ‘grin’), Di. corran, ‘jaw’ (?); go̤ru꞉n, ‘haunch’, Di. gurrún; gʹαrαn, ‘horse’, lit. ‘gelding’ < gʹαruw, ‘to cut’, M.Ir. gerrad, plur. gʹα꞉r̥αχə (§ 21); kαriə, ‘deer’, Di. cairr­fhiadh; kαrikʹ, ‘rock’, O.Ir. carric; kʹαrwαχ, ‘gamester’, Di. cearr­bhach; ʃαrαχ, ‘foal’, M.Ir. serrach; tαrαχ, ‘pregnant’, M.Ir. torrach; to̤rskər, ‘refuse’, M.Ir. turrscar.

10. r.

§ 269. The ordinary Donegal r is a reduced form of a trilled r. There is usually only one flip of the point of the tongue against the alveoles. At the end of mono­syllables after a short vowel r is clipped and very short, e.g. fʹαr`, ‘man’; go̤r`, ‘sitting’ (of a hen).

§ 270. r represents O.Ir. initial, medial r before a, o, u and final r when original­ly followed by a, o, u, e.g. bʹïr, ‘spit’, O.Ir. bir; dri꞉, ‘druid’, O.Ir. drui; fr⅄꞉χ, ‘heather’, O.Ir. froech; fʹαrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferc; gruəg, ‘hair’, Di. gruag; mαrəwi꞉m, ‘I kill’, M.Ir. marbaim; trα꞉, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth; u꞉r, ‘fresh’, M.Ir. úr.

§ 271. r has taken the place of older initial Rʹ and in conse­quence the following vowel is frequent­ly affected (§§ 73, 156), e.g. rαhəm, ‘I run’, M.Ir. rethim; rɛi (rəi), ‘ready’, O.Ir. ​réid; ri꞉, ‘king’, O.Ir. rí; ri꞉nʹ, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin; rïχt, ‘strength, state’, O.Ir. richt; rö̤꞉χtənəs, ‘need, necessity’, M.Ir. riach­tanus.

§ 272. Initial r is unaffected by aspirating words. The aspirated form of fr is r, e.g. kʹαrk ri꞉, ‘a moor-hen’, cearc fhraoich; sə ræɲkʹ, ‘in France’.

§ 273. Initial sr whether standing before O.Ir. a, o, u, or e, i, has a sound peculiar to itself. The r is not trilled in this case and seems to cause the tongue to be retracted from the ordinary s position. The two sounds coalesce and a kind of modified s is produced. Cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish (p. 18)꞉ “The two conso­nants are often pro­nounced almost simul­taneous­ly, so that it is difficult to know which consonant is pro­nounced the first”. Examples—srα`, ‘holm, field lying by a river’, M.Ir. srath; srα꞉dʹ, ‘street, space round a cottage’, M.Ir. sráit; srα꞉dʹɔg, ‘a bed on the floor’, Di. sráideóg; srαhər, ‘straddle’, O.Ir. srathar; srɛən, ‘bridle’, M.Ir. srían; srUhαn, ‘stream’, O.Ir. sruth. Initially ʃRʹ has become sr but medially we find ʃrʹ (§ 283) except in αsrïgər, ‘a sharp retort’, < ais + freagar.

The aspirated form of initial sr is always r, never r̥, e.g. ro̤n̥ə mʹə, ‘I scattered’, Di. srath­nuighim; Nʹi꞉ rihαχi ʃə, ‘he will not reach’, Di. sroichim; ko̤r fo̤l ṟo꞉nə, ‘to have nose-bleeding’.

§ 274. r arises from n in the groups cn, gn, tn, but the nasal character of the syllable is generally retained, e.g. krαguw, ‘to strike’, < Engl. ‘knock’; krα̃꞉bʹə, ‘hemp’, Meyer cnáip; krα̃꞉v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim; krɛpʹə, ‘button’, M.Ir. cnap; krõ꞉, ‘nut’, O.Ir. cnú; kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; kʹrʹitʹαl, ‘to knit’, < Engl.; grẽ꞉hə, ‘business’, Di. gnó; grĩ꞉, ‘good looks’, Di. gnaoi. lʹeʃ ə trα̃hidʹ, ‘with the needle’; mʹeidʹ ə trα̃꞉, ‘the size of the yarn’; fαd ə trα̃꞉içə, ‘the length of the thread’; χUi ʃiəd əmαχ erʹ ə trα̃꞉uw, ‘they went out swimming’; erʹ ə trĩ꞉, ‘on the bier’; erʹ ə trĩ꞉mʹ, ‘on the knot’; erʹ ə trũw, ‘on the com­plexion’.

§ 275. Before L, N, t, d, where r arises from R, and also before Lʹ, Nʹ, tʹ, dʹ, where r repre­sents Rʹ, r is not trilled and in stressed syllables is perhaps slightly longer than the ordinary sound. The point of the tongue is raised towards the arch-rim and then slides along the alveoles into the position for the following sound. It is un­fortunate that Pedersen has not given us a descrip­tion of the cor­respond­ing sound on Aran l.c. pp. 28, 67. After r in the final position N, Nʹ, Lʹ are almost syllabic. ​Examples—hα꞉rLy꞉, M.Ir. tarla. kα꞉rN, ‘heap’, M.Ir. carn; bʹα꞉rN, ‘gap’, M.Ir. bern; dɔ꞉rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; kʹαhər Nαχ ‘small, impudent person’. bʹαrt, ‘burden’, Meyer bert; kʹαrt, ‘right’, M.Ir. cert. α꞉rd, ‘high’, O.Ir. árd. kõ꞉rLʹə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; kαbərLʹi꞉nʹ, ‘small, saucy-mouthed person or animal’; mαgərLʹə, ‘testicles’, M.Ir. macraille; α꞉rNʹə, ‘sloe’, Meyer airne; α꞉rNʹαl, ‘sitting up late’, M.Ir. airne; dïrNʹi꞉nʹ, ‘handle’, Di. doirnín; hαrNʹ ʃɛ, ‘he drew’, M.Ir. tairrngim; kα꞉rNʹ, gen. sing. of kα꞉rN, ‘heap’; kɔrNʹαl, ‘corner’; kʹlʹiʃmʹərNʹi꞉, ‘starting up in sleep’, Di. s. clisim; Lo̤bərNʹə, ꬶɔl əN L., ‘to go to rack and ruin’; mα꞉rNʹαlαχ, ‘sailor’, Di. mair­néalach; mo̤rNʹi꞉nʹ, ‘darling’, M.Ir. múirn, muirn; dʹα sαhərNʹ, ‘Saturday’, M.Ir. dia sathairnd; tα꞉rNʹαχ, ‘thunder’, cp. Wi. tornech; tα꞉rNʹə, ‘nail’, M.Ir. tairnge; also in tαrgirʹαχt, ‘prophecy’, O.Ir. tairngire. bαgərtʹ, ‘to threaten’; gɔrtʹɔg, ‘slight injury, sprain’; kæʃmʹərtʹ, ‘squabble’, Meyer caismert; ko̤nərtʹ, ‘hounds’, M.Ir. conairt (dat.); ku꞉rtʹ, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cúairt; spαrtʹ, ‘turf that has lain for a year without being raised’ (also called spαdər), spαrtʹ viNʹdʹə, ‘milk curdled with rennet’, Di. spairt; skαrtʹ, ‘a shout’, Di. scairt. o̤rdʹə, ‘height’, M.Ir. arde; α꞉rdʹ, ‘point of the sky’, M.Ir. aird; o̤rdʹ, plur. of ɔ꞉rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, M.Ir. ord; also kαrəʃ ·kʹrʹi꞉stə, ‘sponsor’, Meyer cairdes Críst.

For fαrəgʹə, ‘sea’, O.Ir. fairggæ, foirrce see Pedersen p. 117. Similarly gʹïrə, compar. of gʹα꞉r, ‘short’, M.Ir. gerr, ib. p. 24.

§ 276. After n, l < N, L we have perhaps a further trace of R in that r in this position is strongly trilled which we denote by writing a small bar under the letter, thus ṟ. nṟ, lṟ are now-a-days incapable of palatal­isation (except in the case mentioned in § 246) and therefore represent both earlier NR, LR and NʹRʹ, LʹRʹ. Examples—so꞉nṟuw, ‘to notice’, so꞉nṟiαχ, ‘remark­able’, Di. sonn­rughadh, O.Ir. sainreth, sainred; ku꞉lṟö̤꞉skαχ, ‘backward’, Di. cúil­riascmhar; ʃiəlṟuw, ‘to claim descent from’, Di. síol­rughadh; αn-ṟifle, ‘a fine rifle’; αnṟo̤d, ‘an excellent thing, a great quantity’; αsəlṟiαχt, ‘perform­ing a spell, enchant­ment’, Di. asarlaidh­eacht; əNə nrɔχχα꞉s, ‘in a bad plight’. nṟ, lṟ are also found in sandhi, e.g. bo̤n ṟïbʹə, ‘a sore with hair growing out of it’, Di. bun ribe; ko̤r fo̤l ṟo꞉nə, ‘to have nose-bleeding’.

§ 277. In a few words mainly enclitics r represents an older l or n, cp. Diss. pp. 10, 18 and Zimmer, Sitzungs­ber. d. Berl. Akad. 6 iv 1905 p. 3. Examples—mər, ‘as’, O.Ir. amal, amail; mər, ‘unless’, O.Ir. mani; dαrə, ‘second’, O.Ir. indala. Similarly gə mαrəm, if it contains αnəm, ‘soul’, see § 63.

​§ 278. Medial rʹ+ ʃ gives rs, e.g. fɔrsuw, ‘to harrow’, Di. foirseadh; ïrsαχə, plur. of irʹiʃ, ‘hanger on creel’, Di. iris; kʹɛ꞉rsαχ, ‘hen blackbird’, Meyer céirsech; ʃkʹu꞉rsi꞉, ‘scourges’, Keat. sgiuirse; tïrsαχ, ‘tired’, O.Ir. toirsech; tɔrsαχ, ‘threshold’, M.Ir. tairsech. For sandhi instances see § 461.

In the groups rʹ + ʃ + tʹ, rʹ + ʃ + Nʹ the rʹ is depalatalised, whilst the first part of the ʃ is a retracted alveolar s and the second ʃ. Examples—fαrsNʹə, compar. of fαrsiNʹ, ‘abundant’, fαrsNʹu꞉lʹ, fαrsNʹαχ, ‘abundance’; fɔ꞉rstʹə, ‘harrowed’; fɔ꞉rstʹən, ‘to suit’, fɔ꞉rstʹənʹαχ, ‘suitable’, Di. fóirsti­neach; kʹlʹi ·ɔrstʹə, ‘harrow’, Di. cliath fuirste.

rʹ has been further depalatalised in ə Nαrəkyʃ, ‘to meet’, Meyer airchess.

§ 279. A voiceless r with strongly breathed off-glide is a very frequent sound in Donegal. It arises from (a) r + fh in futures, e.g. bʹα꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall shear, clip’; gʹα꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall cut’; iər̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall ask’. Similarly in kɔ꞉r̥ə, ‘chest’, < cófra (§ 180). (b) O.Ir. r followed or preceded by th gives r̥ in a large number of words, e.g. α꞉r̥uw, ‘change’, M.Ir. aith­erraigim; bʹrʹiər̥ə, ‘words, speech’, M.Ir. briathra; du꞉r̥αχt, ‘zeal, fervour’, O.Ir. dúthracht; fʹαr̥iNʹ, ‘rain’, M.Ir. ferthain; gʹα꞉r̥αχə, ‘cuts’; kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthrom; kαr̥ənəs, ‘friendli­ness’, Di. car­thannas; kʹαr̥ər, ‘set of four’, O.Ir. cethrar; kʹαr̥uw, ‘quarter’, O.Ir. cethramad; kʹïr̥əm, ‘defi­ciency in some member’, kʹïr̥əmαχ, ‘maimed, incapaci­tated’, Macbain ciorram, O’R. cior­thumach, cior­rumach, Di. ciorr­thuimeach, cithréim­each, M.Ir. cirrim; Lʹαr̥αχə, ‘stirrup-leathers’, Di. leath­racha; Lʹo꞉r̥i꞉, ‘books”, Craig leabhar­thaí; pα꞉r̥u꞉s, ‘paradise’, Di. parrthas, O.Ir. pardus; s⅄꞉r̥uw, ‘to earn’, Atk. saeth­rugud; tα꞉r̥ælʹ, ‘to assist’, Di. tárrtháil, tα꞉r̥αlαχ, ‘useful, profit­able’; tʹi꞉r̥i꞉, ‘lands’. Similarly in past parti­ciples, e.g. bw⅄꞉r̥ə, ‘troubled’, O.Ir. búadartha; tuər̥ə, ‘bleached’, Di. tuaraim.

§ 280. rʹ before h < th also gives r̥, not r̥ʹ, e.g. dʹɛr̥ər (dʹɛrtər), pres. pass. of rα꞉tʹ, ‘to say’; kïr̥ə, Di. coirthe, plur. of kyrʹ, ‘crime’, Meyer cair, kïr̥αχ, ‘guilty’, Di. coir­theach; kïr̥αχə, ko̤r̥αχə, ‘invita­tions’, plur. of kyrʹuw, Keat. cuireadh; ɔr̥i꞉, ‘upon her’, ɔr̥uw, ‘upon them’, O.Ir. airthiu; ə Nɔ꞉r̥i꞉r, ‘the day after to-morrow’, Di. lá a n‑oirthear, Wi. airthear (Craig writes an orthaidh, for which see § 444). Similarly in past parti­ciples—do̤r̥ə, ‘bulled’, from dáirim; go̤r̥ə, ‘called’, < M.Ir. gairim; ko̤r̥ə, ‘buried’, O.Ir. cuirthe. ​rrch gives r̥ in tɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘number at birth, partu­rition’, M.Ir. torrchius.

This is one of the few internal changes which does not hold good in sandhi, e.g. ky꞉rʹ hinʹuw ɔrt = caoir theineadh ort.

§ 281. r̥ is the aspirated form of initial tr, e.g. r̥α꞉χt mʹə, ‘I dis­coursed’; r̥idʹ ʃə, ‘he fought’; r̥ïʃLʹi꞉ ʃə, ‘he stumbled’, Di. tuis­lighim, O.Ir. tuisled; r̥ɔsk mʹə, ‘I fasted’. In the case of initial tʹrʹ the palatal­isation seems to me to have been given up but r̥ in this case is a sound midway between r̥ and r̥ʹ, e.g. r̥eigʹ mʹə, ‘I abandoned’; r̥ïmwi꞉ ʃə, ‘it dried’, = thriom­uigh < thior­muigh; α r̥iən, ‘his third’; r̥o꞉ mʹə, ‘I ploughed’, M.Ir. trebaim; r̥o꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘I led’; α r̥u꞉r, ‘his three’, may sometimes have r̥ʹ. At any rate the r̥ in these cases is very different from the r̥ʹ in § 288.

11. rʹ.

§ 282. The Donegal palatal r is a very elusive sound and is perhaps more easy to acquire than to describe. The tip of the tongue hangs down slightly behind the upper teeth though not in such exaggerat­ed fashion as in the case of s and ʃ. The front of the tongue a little over half an inch from the tip rests against the arch-rim leaving a narrow horizon­tal slit through which the breath rushes. The Aran rʹ as I have heard it from a friend who has spent some time on the islands has not the same acoustic effect as the Donegal sound and according to Finck’s descrip­tion the two must be quite distinct from one another. As far as I am able to observe the hollowing out of the front of the tongue essential for the pro­duction of s, ʃ is entirely absent. Perhaps the Desmond sound described in the Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish (p. 23) is different. There it is stated that “the slender sound of r is produced by spreading the tongue and forming a small hollow in the front portion of it. The point of the tongue is brought close to the gum just above the upper teeth.” When I first heard the Donegal rʹ, I was reminded of a j-sound formed against the arch-rim instead of against the hard palate. Cp. Henderson’s remark “in Tiree air ‘on’ sounds like eigh (eij) ‘ice’” (ZCP. iv 523). On the other hand rʹ has a distinct affinity with đ and an English­man may easily acquire the sound by slightly retract­ing the tongue from the edge of the upper teeth and substitut­ing the contact with the arch-rim. Hence it is very natural to find đ appearing for rʹ in Scotch dialects (Henderson, ZCP. iv 516). At ​the end of a mono­syllable with short root-vowel rʹ is always clipped like l, lʹ, n, nʹ, r, e.g. fʹirʹ, ‘men’; kyrʹ`, ‘send’.

The rʹ just described is doubtless not the original sound. According to its articu­lation it lies between *rʹ and *Rʹ.

§ 283. rʹ represents O.Ir. medial and final r followed by an original e, i whether preserved or lost. Initially Rʹ has become r. Examples—ærʹə, ‘care’, O.Ir. aire; ærʹiαχ, ‘herd, watchman’, Di. airigh­each; dærʹ, ‘oak’, M.Ir. dair; fwærʹə, ‘wake of the dead’, M.Ir. faire; gα꞉rʹə, ‘laugh’, M.Ir. gáire; mwærʹəm, ‘I remain’, M.Ir. maraim; ʃerʹ, ‘eastwards’, M.Ir. sair. We may note that by the side of əmα꞉rαχ, ‘to-morrow’, the form əmα꞉rʹαχ occurs. The two seem to run according to families and also exist side by side on Aran, cp. Finck ii p. 253.

rʹ precedes other palatal consonants than Lʹ, Nʹ, tʹ, dʹ, ʃ, e.g. ærʹəgʹïd, ‘money’, O.Ir. arget; dirʹibʹ, ‘waterworm’, Di. dairb; ïmʹirʹkʹə, ‘removing’, M.Ir. immirge, immirce; irʹimʹ, ‘armies’, M.Ir. airm; kɔrʹkʹə, ‘oats’, Meyer coirce; kyrʹpʹ, ‘corpses’, M.Ir. cuirp; χyrʹfʹi꞉, condit. pass. of kyrʹ ‘to put’. Following bʹ, dʹ, fʹ, gʹ, j, kʹ, ç, mʹ, pʹ, e.g. bʹrʹɛə, ‘fine’, Meyer bregda; dʹrʹeimʹirʹə, ‘ladder’, M.Ir. drémire; fʹrʹïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; gʹrʹiən, ‘sun’, O.Ir. grían; tα꞉ də jrʹeimʹ ə Nαsky꞉, ‘your expecta­tion is vain’; kʹrʹïs, ‘girdle’, O.Ir. cris; tʹinʹi çrαsə, ‘tinder-box’, Meyer s. criss; ko̤mʹrʹi꞉, ‘protec­tion’, Di. coimrighe, Meyer comairghe s. commairge (cp. comraighe Sg. Fearn. p. 96); kUʃkʹrʹəχαn, ‘place covered with reeds’, O’Don. Suppl. cuis­creach, Di. cuise, cuiseag; pʹrʹαbαn sα꞉lʹə, ‘lifter, patch on the heel of a boot’, Di. preabán; tʹrʹouw, ‘to plough’, M.Ir. trebad. Initially ʃ+rʹ gives sr (§ 273) but medially except in the case of αsrïgər, ‘sharp retort’, ʃrʹ remains, e.g. kɔʃrʹikʹi꞉m, kɔʃrʹïkəm, ‘I con­secrate’, Meyer cois­regadh < cosecrad; ɔʃrʹαχ, ‘oyster’, Di. oisre; pʹiʃrʹɔg, ‘incanta­tion’, Di. pisreog; ʃeʃrʹαχ, ‘plough’, M.Ir. sessrech.

§ 284. rʹ arises from nʹ after tʹ, kʹ, e.g. ko̤r ə tʹrʹαχtə, ‘fall of snow’; kʹrʹαtαn, ‘asthma’, Macleod cneatan < M.Ir. cnett; kʹrʹαdi꞉, ‘groan’, Di. cneadach; kʹrʹαsuw, ‘cicatrise’, M.Ir. cnessugud.

§ 285. A number of proclitic forms ending in r have rʹ in Donegal. This is partly due to the influence of the preposi­tion erʹ, ‘upon’, which is strictly speaking a pronom­inal form arising from a confusion of O.Ir. aire and fair. erʹ for ar would further arise regularly in the inter­rogative particle ar < in ro before a preterite with palatal initial, cp. Nʹ < n in the article § 253. ​From these two cases a fondness arose for rʹ in pro­clitics, which Pedersen mentions as existing to some extent on Aran (pp. 25, 26). Cp. also tar, tair in Molloy’s 27th dialect-list. Examples—ərʹ iər sə, ‘did he ask?’; erʹ fɔ꞉ʃ ʃi꞉, ‘did she marry?’; ərʹ eirʹi ʃə, ‘did he get up?’; ərʹ α̃uwirʹkʹ ʃə, ‘did he look?’; ərʹ hït tuw, ‘did you fall?’ Similarly with the negative forms Nærʹ, Nʹi꞉rʹ, e.g. Nər Nærʹ iər sə, ‘when he did not ask’; Nə Nærʹ ïmʹi꞉ tuw, ‘did you not go away?’; Nærʹ αN tuw sə welʹə, ‘did you not stop at home?’; Nʹi꞉rʹ çαləg ʃi꞉ Nʹ Lʹαnuw, ‘she did not put the child to sleep’; Nʹi꞉rʹ çrʹidʹ Nα di꞉nʹi ə, ‘people did not believe him’. But Nʹi꞉r nʹi꞉ mʹə, ‘I did not wash’; Nʹi꞉r lo꞉rʹ mʹə, ‘I did not speak’ (§ 459). gər < go ro forms the only exception. In this ease r is never palatal, e.g. gər i mʹə, ‘that I ate’; gər eilʹi꞉ mʹə, ‘that I begged’. In like manner O.Ir. ar, ‘our’, appears as erʹ in erʹ mʹαn, ‘our lady’; erʹ mʹiə, ‘our food’. M.Ir. ar, ‘quoth’, is generally heard as ərsə but Dottin gives a form with palatal r as occurring in N. Connaught (RC. xiv 114). We expect erʹ ⅄꞉n, ‘together’, M.Ir. ar oen, but the connec­tion with the prepo­sition does not seem to be felt. The O.Ir. prepo­sition tar follows erʹ and becomes hærʹ, e.g. hærʹə Nα ꬶα꞉ ꬶlu꞉n, ‘beyond his two knees’; tα꞉ ʃïnʹ hærʹ ə jα꞉nuw, ‘that is beyond doing, cannot be done’. From this has been differen­tiated the dar of oath formulas which in Donegal appears as dirʹ. O.Ir. eter, etir, itar appear as ɛdirʹ, whilst in compo­sition we find the regular αdər‑, e.g. in αdərꬶyə, ‘inter­cession’, Di. eadar­ghuidhe. The O.Ir. adjec­tives fír, ‘true, genuine’, sír, ‘ever­last­ing’, when forming the first member of a compound assume the forms fʹi꞉rʹ, ʃi꞉rʹ, e.g. ʃi꞉rʹαhəs, ‘ever­last­ing delight’, cp. the proverb α꞉wər gɔlə gə fʹi꞉r fʹαr̥iNʹ əgəs ʃi꞉rʹ ꬶ⅄꞉, ‘rain and constant wind are verily a cause for lamen­tation’; fʹi꞉rʹiʃkʹə, ‘spring water’; fʹi꞉rʹwα̃iç, ‘ex­ceptional­ly good’; fʹi꞉rʹvïg, ‘very small’; but fʹi꞉rLo̤g, ‘very weak’, fʹierʹ, ‘crooked, athwart’, M.Ir. fiar, is peculiar.

§ 286. It is interesting to find isolated traces of initial rʹ as the aspirated form of Rʹ. It is quite possible that other instances occur but I have only heard the following from J. H.—rï̃və rʹe꞉, ‘already’, by the side of re꞉, ‘time’, O.Ir. ree; α rʹi꞉ Nə pα꞉rtʹə, ‘gracious God’, or α rʹi꞉ χũαχti꞉, ‘Almighty God’, used as assevera­tions; hi꞉nʹ ə rʹαhə, ‘with diffi­culty’, cp. dʹïmʹi꞉ mʹə erʹ ə tαruw hi꞉nʹ ə rʹαhə αgəs ə wαr̥αχə bα꞉ʃ, ‘I escaped from the bull with great diffi­culty’, ro̤g ə kuw ərʹ jαriə hi꞉nʹə rʹαhə, ‘it was with enough to do that the hound caught a hare’. In the Gaelic Journal for 1891 p. 94 this is spelt h‑aonair­eatha and Dinneen says s. ​torad—“In Teelin, Don., a righin a reatha (either = de righin an reatha or ar éigin an reatha) = hardly, scarcely”. This is very unlikely and I always imagined that the phrase contained ʃi꞉nʹuw, ‘to extend’, = de shíneadh reatha, which will be found in Dinneen under síneadh but the s should be aspirated. With hi꞉nʹ ə rʹαhə compare iʃkʹə rαhə, ‘running water’ with r. ərʹeirʹ, ‘according to’, < do réir, retains the rʹ, whilst O.Ir. ríar has become rö̤꞉r (r⅄꞉r), Di. soi-riartha = sɔr⅄꞉r̥ə. The rʹ dis­tinguish­es this phrase from ərɛirʹ, ‘last night’, M.Ir. irráir. With rï̃və, ‘before’, we may compare ərʹiuw, ‘over’, O.Ir. ríam (so also in Monaghan, v. G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2). ərʹiuw has been influ­enced by erʹ eʃ, ‘back’, = air ais with ar for dar, tar; similarly ərʹi꞉ʃtʹ, ‘again’, Meyer arís. mʹi꞉rʹiαLtə, ‘unruly’, Di. mi-riaghalta, is of interest when compared with rö̤꞉l, ‘rule’, O.Ir. ríagul, riagol.

§ 287. rʹ is the aspirated form of initial fʹrʹ, e.g. ərʹ rʹïgər sə, ‘did he reply?’; Nʹi꞉ fo̤rəst mwirʹ əs trα꞉i ə rʹαstəl = ní furust muir agus tráigh do fhreastal. But even here r is often substi­tuted, e.g. rïgər sə, ‘he answered’.

§ 288. A voiceless rʹ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in a few words, (a) r̥ʹ = rʹ + h < fh in futures, e.g. gyr̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall call’; kyr̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall put’; Lo꞉r̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall speak’. (b) r̥ʹ = r + ç, e.g. bwer̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘spancel’, < buarach + ín; mwir̥ʹi꞉Lʹə, ‘sleeve’, Di. muin­chille. (c) r̥ʹ = h (< th) + rʹ, e.g. ær̥ʹαχə, ‘fathers’; ær̥ʹi꞉, ‘regret, penance’, M.Ir. aithrige; ærʹαχəs, ‘repent­ance, compunc­tion’, M.Ir. aith­rechus; kαir̥ʹαmʹ, ‘triumph’, M.Ir. caithréim; kαir̥ʹiɔrʹ, ‘citizen’, Meyer cathraig­theóir, kαir̥αχə, ‘cities’; ky꞉r̥ʹə, gen. sing. of ky꞉r’, ‘flame’; kyr̥ʹimʹ, gen. sing. of kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, where ə has come to be regarded as a svara­bhakti vowel, cp. ku꞉rʹimʹ gen. sing. of ku꞉rəm, ‘care’; kʹer̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘plaster’, Di. ceirín, Meyer céirín (§ 187); kʹɛdi꞉nʹ ə Luər̥ʹi꞉, ‘Ash Wednesday’, Di. luaith­reach; Luir̥ʹəwαn, ‘ashes’, Di. luaith­reamhán; mαir̥αχə, ‘mothers’. (d) r̥ʹ = rʹ +h < sh in fʹier̥ʹu꞉lʹ, ‘squint-eye’, cp. Di. fíar-shúileach.

12. m.

§ 289. Of the labials in general Henebry writes (p. 49): “The upper teeth are not used and so there is freedom for the produc­tion of broad and slender timbre. In regard to distance from teeth, rounding, or tension, the lips are by antici­pation in position for the following vowel before the contact or approach for consonant produc­tion is made, and so broad and slender ​timbre can be at once distin­guished. The former is produced with rounded, soft, protruded lips (as when one with lips held in position for ū makes the consonant contact for p), the latter with lips drawn tight, close to the teeth and inturned (as in the ü position)”. As to the protru­sion of the lips the position is between the neutral and advanced. In forming the non-palatal labials which are extremely heavy and dull sounds the lips are very loose indeed and even initially these sounds give the impres­sion of more than ordinary duration, though they are actually no longer than the cor­respond­ing palatal labials. In addition to lip-protru­sion the tongue is raised towards the u-position which causes a w-sound to be heard on releasing the lip contact. This w is always more or less present but is most clearly heard before the front vowels and ⅄ in which cases it is written in this book. It is also very notice­able when the labial is final and the next word begins with a palatal vowel, e.g. αmwi꞉Ntαχ = am éigin­teach. In English as spoken locally both sets of labials occur and it would almost seem as if the power to discard the non-palatal sounds were a mark of respect­ability.

§ 290. At the end of monosyllables containing a short vowel both m and mʹ are long and thus corres­pond to L, N, Lʹ, Nʹ, R. Hence in O.Ir. when they occur alone after short accented vowels they are written double, cp. Pedersen pp. 101 ff. In other positions the length is reduced but a short m does not occur in Donegal. Initially m corres­ponds to O.Ir. m before a, o, u, e.g. mαhærʹ, ‘mother’, O.Ir. máthir; mαiç, ‘good’, O.Ir. maith; mαihi꞉m, ‘I forgive’, M.Ir. mathim; mαrəwə, ‘to kill’, M.Ir. marbad; mα꞉sə, ‘thigh’, M.Ir. máss; mɔluw, ‘to praise’, O.Ir. molad; mo̤l, ‘mill-shaft’, M.Ir. mol; mwædʹə, ‘stick’, M.Ir. maite; mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.); mwærigʹ, ‘woe’, O.Ir. moircc; mwærʹəm, ‘I remain’, M.Ir. maraim; mwiLʹ, ‘delay’, Keat. maill; mwilʹəN, ‘mill’, O.Ir. mulenn; mwirʹ, ‘sea’, O.Ir. muir; mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; mw⅄꞉l, ‘bald’, O.Ir. máel; mwəidʹən, ‘Virgin’, M.Ir. maighden.

After particles which eclipse a following word we get m for b, e.g. erʹ mwelʹə, ‘our townland’; mər mα꞉d, ‘your boat’; ə mɔ꞉, ‘their cow’; gə mwin̥ʹit(ʹ) ʃə, ‘that he would reap’.

§ 291. Medially and finally m represents O.Ir. mm (mb) before an original a, o, u, whether preserved or lost, e.g. αm, ​‘time’, M.Ir. am, amm; α꞉məd, ‘timber’, M.Ir. admat; dʹrʹαm, ‘crowd, set’, M.Ir. dremm; kαm, ‘bent’, O.Ir. camm; ko̤mə, ‘indif­ferent’, O.Ir. cumme; kro̤m, ‘bent’, M.Ir. cromm; kʹïmαχ, ‘clout, lout’, Di. Macbain ciomach, cp. O.Ir. cimbid; Lo̤m, ‘bare’, O.Ir. lomm; o̤mlαn, ‘whole’, M.Ir. imlán; o̤mpər, ‘to carry’, M.Ir. immchor; to̤m, ‘bush’, M.Ir. tomm; tro̤m, ‘heavy’, M.Ir. tromm.

m also stands after r and l in αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm; kαləmə, ‘bold, brave’, M.Ir. calma; kɔləmαn, ‘dove’.

§ 292. In the ending of the first pers. sing. of the pres. ind. the palatal­isation has been given up by analogy with pronom­inal forms like ɔrəm, ‘upon me’, lʹïm, ‘with me’, which have them­selves been followed by w⅄꞉m, ‘from me’, O.Ir. uaimm. Examples—Lʹeijəm, ‘I read’, Wi. legim, also = legaim, ‘I melt’; Lo꞉rʹəm, ‘I speak’, M.Ir. labraim; nʹi꞉m, ‘I do’. Cp. the Scotch G. ending ‑am of the first sing. of the imper­ative, Gillies, Gaelic Grammar² p. 85.

§ 293. m arises from w in mər, ‘your’, O.Ir. bar, cp. G. J. 1891 p. 79. According to Zimmer (Sitzungs­ber. d. Berl. Akad. 6 iv 1905 p. 4) the m is due to the fact that the form would frequent­ly be nasalised by the eclipse n. It seems to me more likely that the prepo­sition əN in phrases of the type tα꞉ ʃɛ əN αr heivirʹ has given rise to the form with m. Cp. the forms nar for ar, ‘our’, in Antrim (G. J. 1892 p. 123), Meath (Duffy, Mion­chaint na Midhe p. 4) and Manx (Rhys p. 142), and núr for bhur in Waterford. Also kʹαNəmαn dUχɔsαχ, ‘orchid’ (?), < Di. ceannbhán.

§ 294. Sporadically Donegal m corresponds to mh in the other dialects, e.g. Nʹαmɔrt, ‘careless­ness’, Di. neamháird, Derry People 2 xii ’05 p. 2 col. 5 leader has neamart; so꞉məs, ‘pleasant ease’, Di. sámhas, M.Ir. sám, so꞉məsαχ ‘drowsy’; tʹiLʹəmwi꞉ in tα꞉ mʹɛ əN α hiLʹəmwi꞉, ‘I am in his power, dependent on him’, tʹiLʹəmwiαχ, ‘dependent’, Nʹα̃uhiLʹəmwiαχ, ‘indepen­dent’, seems to be connected with Di. tuilleamh, ‘wages’, M.Ir. tuillem, O’R. tuilleamh­nach, ‘a hireling’; u꞉məlædʹ, ‘capacity’, Di. umhlóid (§ 78). Further dʹαrəməd, ‘forgetful­ness’, O.Ir. dermet = Munster dearmhad, Manx jarrood, with m < mʹ with which compare o̤məd, ‘a number’, O.Ir. imbed.

§ 295. A voiceless m with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in a few words, mainly futures, e.g. ko̤m̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall compose, invent’; kro̤m̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall bend’; Lo̤m̥wi ʃə, ‘he will shear, ​peel’; to̤m̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall dip’. m̥ = mth occurs in the past parti­ciples of these verbs and also in fʹαm̥inʹə, ‘a single stalk of anything pliable’, formed from Di. feam (‘wrack’ is fʹαmnαχ, Di. feamnach).

13. mʹ.

§ 296. mʹ like other palatal labials in Donegal is produced by drawing the lips back very tightly on to the teeth, thus giving a very sharp, clear m. The position of the tongue is im­material, as in the majority of cases the j which accom­panies the palatal­ised labials in other dialects is wanting (§ 192). mʹ, fʹ, v, pʹ, bʹ are very tense sounds and mʹ, pʹ, bʹ are sometimes heard from mincing speakers of English. In the English of many parts of the North of Ireland these tense labials are regular. At the end of mono­syllables with short root-vowel mʹ is in­variably long.

§ 297. Initially mʹ corresponds to O.Ir. m before e, i, e.g. mʹα`, ‘to fail’, M.Ir. meth; mʹα`, ‘scale’, M.Ir. med; mʹαkænʹ, ‘carrots’, O.Ir. mecon; mʹαLuw, ‘to decoy’, M.Ir. mellad; mʹα꞉n, ‘middle’, O.Ir. medón; mʹe꞉, ‘fat’, O.Ir. méith (gen. sing.); mʹɛəg, ‘whey’, M.Ir. medg; mʹiəl, ‘louse’, M.Ir. míl; mʹirʹigʹ, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg, meirc; mʹi꞉, ‘month’, O.Ir. mí; mʹïlʹiʃ, ‘sweet’, M.Ir. milis.

Medially and finally before original e, i, whether preserved or lost, mʹ repre­sents O.Ir. mm, mb (also before another palatal consonant), e.g. αmʹʃirʹ, ‘weather’, O.Ir. amser; brïmʹ, ‘crepitus ventris’, Meyer broimm; drïmʹ, ‘back’, O.Ir. druimm; dʹrʹeimʹirʹə, ‘ladder’, Di. dréimire, < M.Ir. dréimm; fuəmʹ, ‘sound’, M.Ir. fuaimm; gruəmʹ, ‘dark look’, Di. gruaim; gʹrʹimʹ, ‘morsel, mouthful’, O.Ir. greim; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. imthecht; ïmʹ, ‘butter’, O.Ir. imb.

mʹ also represents O.Ir. m after nʹ in enʹəmʹ, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm.

§ 298. The oldest people seem to develope mʹ out of ṽ. I have never observed this in the speech of any of the younger gener­ation but it cannot be ascribed to faulty articu­lation, as it seems pretty wide-spread, cp. Dinneen s. uimhir, and Larminie in his “West Irish Folktales” (p. 250) writes qiminæx for cuimh­neach in a story taken down in Glen­columb­kille. Molloy in his 33rd dialect-list quotes suimneach for suaimh­neach for Sligo and Galway. With the older people v is exclusive­ly bilabial and the breath escapes at the corners of the mouth, the middle part of the ​lips being closed. The expi­ration is very feeble and when the v is nasalised, the weak stream of breath passes through the nose. Hence we get mʹ for v. It is not clear to me why those younger people who retain the bilabial v should not substi­tute mʹ for this sound but it should be borne in mind that they are giving up nasal­isation. This mʹ is common in rïmʹə = rï̃və, ‘before’; kïmʹnʹə, kïmʹnʹαχ = kï̃vnʹə, kï̃vnʹαχ; ïmʹirʹ, ï̃virʹ, ‘number’, is a rare word only known to a few. Perhaps the doublets dʹi꞉mʹαs, dʹi꞉vαs, ‘dis­respect’, O.Ir. dímess are to be accounted for in this way, but the same un­certainty exists in dʹi꞉wu꞉nuw, dʹi꞉munuw, ‘bad manners’.

αmʹlʹuw, ‘bad usage, abuse’ in Nα to꞉rʹ αmʹlʹuw də NʹαLαχ lʹeʃ ə wαduw, ‘do not let the dog hound the cattle’, adj. αmʹlʹi꞉ is obscure. Dinneen has amhluadh, amhlat.

§ 299. A voiceless mʹ occurs in the futures Lʹeim̥ʹi ʃə, ‘he will jump’; sNỹ꞉m̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall fasten’, also past part. sNỹ꞉m̥ʹə.

§ 300. mə, ‘my’, becomes mʹ before an O.Ir. palatal initial or before fʹ, e.g. erʹ mʹiNʹtʹiNʹ, ‘on my mind’; mʹαr, ‘my husband’; and even mʹïpʹ, ‘my whip’ (fwïpʹ).

14. ŋ.

§ 301. The sound denoted by this symbol is formed much further back against the soft palate than is the case with English or German ŋ. Initially it only occurs as the eclipsed form of g, e.g. ə ŋrα꞉, ‘in love’; mər ŋo꞉r, ‘your goat’; erʹ ŋö̤꞉r, ‘our hound’; ə ŋlakit(ʹ) ʃə, ‘if he should take’.

§ 302. ŋ usually corresponds to O.Ir. medial and final ng, as in αŋ, ‘splice in a shirt’, cp. tα꞉ αŋ wα͠ıç tαlïv əgəd, Di. eang (with different meaning); αŋαχ, ‘fisherman’s net’, Di. eangach; bʹαŋlαn, ‘prong’, Meyer bengán, benglán; dro̤ŋ, ‘crowd’, M.Ir. drong; ïŋə, ‘nail’, O.Ir. inga; kʹαŋləm, ‘I tie’, M.Ir. cenglaim; Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’, M.Ir. long; mʹαŋuw gα꞉rʹə, ‘smile’, cp. Di. meanghail < M.Ir. meng; srαŋ, ‘band, string’, M.Ir. sreng; srɑŋədi꞉, ‘reaching over’, cp. Di. sreangaim; ʃαŋ, v. § 183, M.Ir. seng; ʃαŋαn, ‘ant’, M.Ir. sengán; tʹαŋy, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge.

In one word borrowed from Teutonic and in a number of obscure forms we find the combi­nation ŋg as in English ‘finger’, viz. Lαŋgə, ‘ling (a fish)’, Norse langa (Macbain); αŋguw, ‘a festering sore’, adj. αŋguwαχ, cp. Meyer angbaid-echt; kɔrəbʹïŋgə, ‘haunch’, Di. coragiob, bʹïŋguw, ‘stagger’, cp. wuiLʹ ʃə dɔ꞉rN mo꞉r ɔrəm αχ Nʹi꞉rʹ wiNʹ ʃə bʹïŋguw əsəm, ‘he gave me a heavy blow ​with his fist but I did not flinch’, ho̤bwirʹ gə dʹitʹiNʹ əNuəs əs ə χαiçirʹ αχ bwinʹuw bʹïŋguw əsəm, ‘I almost fell down off the chair but I staggered on to my feet (and saved myself)’. These two forms look as if they represent­ed M.Ir. bidcim but I am at a loss to account for the ŋ. bʹïŋguw may have come in from outside. For ŋg cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to Irish Pron. p. 22. Latin ungere also appears with ŋg, infin. o̤ŋguw, pres. o̤ŋgy꞉m, Atk. ongad. ŋk occurs in mαŋkαn, ‘a fair for selling stockings’, pαŋk, ‘a cow-market’, Di. panc, both ultimate­ly from Engl. ‘bank’, v. Di. pancán, bancán; splαŋk, ‘lightning’, Di. splannc; spo̤ŋk, ‘tinder’, Cormac spongc < Lat. spongia. Before k ŋ is very long.

§ 303. In parts of Ulster and in Scotch Gaelic (cp. ZCP. iv 522) ng is apt to disappear leaving behind as only trace nasal­isation of the vowel in stressed syllables. Lloyd writes (G. J. 1890 p. 146 col. 2): “In Orrery when medial or final, it is equiva­lent to gh, i.e., it is silent and lengthens preceding vowel which is often nasal, e.g. luing = luigh, ceangal = céaghal, teanga = téagha, aingeal = aigheal &c.” In Donegal ŋ (ɲ) dis­appears in a number of instances but only when there is another nasal in the word. Examples – dα͠ıən, ‘firm, tight’, O.Ir. daingen; i꞉Ntαχ, y꞉Ntαχ, ö̤꞉Ntαχ, ⅄꞉Ntαχ, ‘wonderful, strange’, M.Ir. ingantach, i꞉Ntəs, ‘wonder’, cp. Manx yindys; pʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘penny’, M.Ir. pinginn; wĩ꞉, ‘mane’, M.Ir. moing (acc.), cp. G. J. 1896 p. 185 col. 1 an mhuigh, and muighe in Molloy’s fourth dialect-list. In some cases ŋ, ɲ have become g, gʹ, Nʹi꞉s kũ꞉gʹə, compar. of ku꞉N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung (but also O.Ir. cumce in the compar.); kũ꞉glαχ, ‘strait of the sea’, Dinneen gives cumhang­lach as the Donegal form of cumhang­rach, Macleod cunglach; kũ꞉gəs, ‘remedy’, Di. coguis­idhe, Macleod cungaidh-leighis under ‘medicine’, ‘remedy’, Macbain has cungaidh, cungais­ich, Ir. cunghas, cung­naighim, cungnam. In tαrgirʹə, ‘prophet’, tαrgirʹαχt, ‘prophecy’, O.Ir. tairngire, there is no trace of the nasal. Note also the absence of the svara­bhakti vowel between r and g. ŋ has further dis­appeared before l in α̃꞉liʃ, ‘a mixture of milk and water’, Meyer anglas = englas, Di. eanglais, anglais. kynʹigəL, ‘condition’, Meyer coingell is a late formation and has developed i between nʹ and gʹ.

§ 304. A voiceless ŋ with strongly breathed off-glide arises from ng followed by th, e.g. in gʹɛ꞉r̥αŋ̥αχ, ‘sharp-tongued’, < géar­theang­thach; srαŋ̥αχə, plur. of srαŋ, ‘band, string’, M.Ir. sreng; tʹαŋ̥αχə, ‘tongues’, Di. teang­thacha. ​

15. ɲ.

§ 305. This symbol denotes a palatal ng formed with the back of the tongue against the place where the hard and soft palates meet and is therefore similar to the French gn in ‘signe’. Initially ɲ can only occur as the eclipsed form of gʹ, as in ə ɲα꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘shall I cut’; ə ɲe꞉, ‘their goose’; tα꞉ mʹɛ i ɲeivəN, ‘I am in distress’; kʹlʹiuw Nə ɲlʹïmαχ, ‘lobster-pot’; ⅄꞉nαχ Nə ɲlʹαNtαχ, ‘Glenties fair’. Before kʹ ɲ is very long.

§ 306. ɲ corresponds to O.Ir. ng before an original palatal vowel which may be preserved or lost, e.g. αχyɲə, ‘request’, M.Ir. ath­chuingid; æɲkʹαl, ‘irrita­bility’, Meyer an-cél, also adj. æɲkʹαLtə, subst. æɲkʹαLtəs, cp. Nʹi꞉lʹ əN də ꬶrẽ꞉hə αχ æɲkʹαl, ‘you can do nothing but complain’; æɲəl, ‘angel’, O.Ir. angel; æɲgʹiαχ, ‘given to complain­ing’, cp. Meyer andgid, andgid­echt; kyɲ, ‘bond, obli­gation’, M.Ir. cuing; kyɲirʹ, ‘team of oxen’, Di. cuingir (according to J. H. the actual yoke in Donegal is termed hαmwi꞉ < Scotch ‘hames’); kyɲkʹ, ‘verdigris’, adj. kyɲkʹαχ; kʹiɲkʹi꞉ʃ, ‘Whitsun­tide’, M.Ir. cengciges; Lyɲ, dat. sing. of Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’, Lyɲiʃ, ‘ships, fleet’, Di. luingeas; ə ræɲkʹ, ‘France’, Di. Frainnc; spʹiɲkʹ, ‘precipice’, Di. spinnc < splinnc; ʃkʹi ·æɲkʹiʃ, ‘quinsy’, Di. sceith-aingcís.

§ 307. In Munster a very natural confusion of Nʹ and ɲ has taken place but in Donegal the two sounds are kept rigidly apart. The only example known to me of ɲ for Nʹ is gʹiɲ, ‘wedge’, M.Ir. geind, where ɲ is probably due to assimi­lation. The plural is gʹαNtrαχə.

§ 308. ɲ̥ does not occur as far as I am aware.

(c) The spirants f, fʹ, v, χ, ꬶ, ç, s, ʃ

1. f.

§ 309. f denotes a bilabial f with the lips in the position described for m in § 289. The normal mode of produc­tion seems to be as follows – the lips meet in the middle and the breath escapes either on both sides of this point of contact, the corners being closed, or at the corners of the mouth. For a long time I doubted the correct­ness of Henebry’s statement that labio-dental sounds are non-existent in Irish (p. 49). But after repeated obser­vations I have not been able to discover labio-dental f or v in people over forty years of age either in Irish or English but ​persons under that age are rapidly substitut­ing the labio-dental for the bilabial sound. Finck regards the Aran f, v as labio-dental (i pp. 64, 77) and it would be interest­ing to know if any distri­bution of the sounds similar to that described above exists in the west. Dottin (RC. xiv 104) gives fʹ as labio-dental but is not explicit on the subject of f, v. For Munster cp. further Chr. Bros. Grammar p. 9 (probably based on Henebry). Henderson (ZCP. v 97) and Rhys (p. 87) both regard labio­dental f, v as the normal sounds in Scotch and Manx Gaelic but I think that if the following facts are taken into considera­tion it is impos­sible to avoid the conclu­sion that bilabial f, v were every­where the original sounds. i. Irish initial f arose from Idg. u̯. ii. At the present day inter­vocalic f repre­sents bhth, mhth, i.e. an unvoiced w. It is frequent­ly impos­sible to distin­guish between w̥ and bilabial f, as they are so closely related to one another in formation, iii. χ + w frequent­ly passes into fw (§ 313). iv. English words beginning with wh appear in Irish and Anglo-Irish with fw, cp. the spellings fwenever, fweel.

§ 310. Initial f represents O.Ir. f before a, o, u or before l, r followed by the same vowels, e.g. fαdə, ‘long’ M.Ir. fota; fαruw, ‘roost’, M.Ir. forud; fαrsiNʹ, ‘plentiful’, O.Ir. fairsing; fαlαχ, ‘hiding’, M.Ir. folach; fα꞉, ‘cause’, M.Ir. fáth, fád; fα꞉gælʹ, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil; flαihiʃ (pl.), ‘heaven’, Di. flaitheas, O.Ir. flaith; fokəl, ‘word’, O.Ir. focul; fõ꞉wər, ‘autumn’, M.Ir. fogamur; fr⅄꞉χ, ‘heather’, O.Ir. froech; fwærʹə ‘wake of the dead’, M.Ir. faire; fwəidʹə, ‘patience’, O.Ir. foditiu; fwïLʹNʹi꞉m, ‘I suffer’, O.Ir. foloing (3rd sing.); fwïlʹ, ‘blood’, O.Ir. fuil; fwirʹαχt, ‘to tarry’, M.Ir. furecht; fwi꞉Lʹi꞉, ‘leavings’, Wi. fuidell; fwi꞉ʃuw, ‘improve­ment’, M.Ir. foessam; fwi꞉wər, ‘edge’, M.Ir. fáebur; fw⅄꞉grə, ‘to proclaim’, O.Ir. fócre; fw⅄꞉χɔg, ‘limpet’, M.Ir. faochóg.

f also occurs as the aspirated form of initial p, e.g. sə fαræʃtʹə, ‘in the parish’; flu꞉χ ʃə, ‘he choked’; tʹαχ ə fo̤bwilʹ, ‘Roman Catholic chapel’; ꬶα꞉ fα꞉ʃtʹə, ‘two children’.

§ 311. Medial f usually arises from O.Ir. b, m followed by th or ch. The off-glide is a kind of w̥ and is clearly audible. Examples – gαfəN, ‘aloes’; kα꞉fri꞉, ‘sowins’, Di. cáith-bhruith; Lα꞉frəN, ‘one of the handles of a flail’, Di. lámh-chrann; mαrəfαχ, ‘slaughter’, cp. Atk. marbthach; Nỹufə, ‘sancti­fied’, Di. naomhtha, Nỹufər, pres. pass. M.Ir. noemthar. The ending ‑fə of the preposi­tional pronouns in the third person plural is probably due to ​a confusion of the O.Ir. dative and accu­sative forms. The accus. ending ‑thu of O.Ir. lethu, trethu, airrthiu was added to the dative ‑b, thus producing ‑fə which is now attached to all simple prepo­sitions ending in a vowel, e.g. lʹɔ꞉fə, ‘with them’, di꞉fə, ‘from them’, dɔ꞉fə, ‘to them’, w⅄꞉fə, ‘from them’, fʹrʹi꞉fə, ‘through them’, fwi꞉fə, ‘under them’. Further in verbs with root ending in bh, mh we get f in the future tenses < bh, mh + f (= h), as in ʃkʹrʹi꞉fə mʹə, ‘I shall write’. The only instances in which the f of the future has been preserved are rαfə mʹə, tʹi꞉fʹə mʹə, v. § 180. But fʹ is more frequent than h in the ending of the condi­tional passive.

§ 312. In two instances of loan-words from English f has been inserted for no evident reason, viz. in gʹαftə, ‘gate’; rαftαn, ‘rat’, < Engl. ‘ratten’. k⅄꞉frαn, ‘a dry clod’, seems to corres­pond in meaning to Di. caorán but I am unable to explain the form.

§ 313. χw sometimes produces f a change which O’Donovan only admits for N. Connaught (cp. RC. xiv 115) but which is very common in parts of Ulster, v. Dinneen s. cuafadh, faofóg, triufanna. I have frequent­ly heard gα ·fwelʹə ꬶinʹə (also gαχ fwelʹə ꬶinʹə), = gach uile dhuine. In fwïpʹ < Engl. ‘whip’ we have substi­tution of fw (fw̥) with bilabial w (w̥) for Engl. w̥.

§ 314. The O.Ir. preposition fo appears to have split up into fwi꞉, ‘under’ (< 3rd sing. fói), and fα(꞉), ‘around, about’. It is easy to see from the passages quoted in Windisch how the meaning of ‘around, about’ could arise but I am inclined to think that fα also repre­sents O.Ir. imm. Cp. M.Ir. ba for ma = imma Diss. p. 27 and Scotch G. mu, Manx my- in mygeayrt, my-chione. In Donegal this prepo­sition usually aspirates but we find it eclipsing in fα ·di꞉widə, ‘concern­ing’, < fa dtaobh de; fα du꞉rʹimʹ in bwiLʹə fα d., ‘a guess’, but fα hu rʹimʹ kʹɛəd, ‘about a hundred’.

§ 315. When aspirated by a preceding word f disappears together with the w off-glide which accom­panies it. Examples – dyəi ʃi꞉, ‘she sewed’; erʹ ə Nαruw, ‘on the roost’; əNsə Nõ꞉wər, ‘in the autumn’; mʹïpʹ, ‘my whip’; də Nïlʹ, ‘to the blood’; α lʹehəd(ʹ) ʃɔ ə ꬶïlʹ, ‘such blood’. In compounds fh has no effect on a preceding mh or bh, e.g. krα̃꞉viαχ, ‘a sea-bird’, Di. cnáimh-fhiach; krα̃꞉vɔ꞉d, ‘a narrow strip of grass-covered turf between two culti­vated patches’, < cnáimh-fhód. Con­sequent­ly f is frequent­ly wrongly prefixed to words with vocalic initial but in this ​the dialects differ from one another. This pros­thetic f appears already in M.Ir. Examples – fαdɔ꞉, ‘make into a blaze’, Meyer ad-súim; fαnαχt, ‘to remain’, O.Ir. anaim; fα꞉Nʹə, ‘ring’, O.Ir. ánne; fαstɔjəm, ‘I hire’, O.Ir. astaim; fαihαχ, ‘giant’, O.Ir. athach; fα꞉s, ‘grow’, O.Ir. ás; fwi꞉jəm, ‘I sew’, M.Ir. úagim; fuər, fwyər; ‘cold’, O.Ir. úar; fwiəχt, ‘cold’, O.Ir. uacht; fwyə, ‘hatred’, M.Ir. úath; fwiNʹɔg, ‘window’, <Engl.; fʹïg, ‘length’, O.Ir. ed. Peculiar to Donegal are fαurə, ‘eclipse’, Di. urdhubh­adh, Finck orə (ii p. 207); fɔirʹəm, ‘I suit’, elsewhere oirim; fo̤ruw tiə, ‘furniture’, Di. iorradh, earradh, O’R. urradh, M.Ir. errad, eirred (cp. LL 268 b 11 ic errad tigi).

On the other hand iʃαg, ‘lark’, never has f in Donegal (Macbain uiseag, Di. fuiseog), and α꞉NʹLʹɔg, ‘swallow’, has lost its f, O.Ir. fannall.

§ 316. w̥ gives f in bαnəfαn, ‘sucking-pig’, < *banbhthán, Di. banbhán; mʹi꞉fər, ‘ugly’, Craig miofuar, also spelt míofar G. J. Jan. ’02 p. 8, Cl. S. 27 xii ’02 p. 702 col. 2, < mío-úathmhar. Sporad­ically with certain speakers at the end of mono­syllables, e.g. dUf for dUw̥, cp. G. J. 1895 p. 11, ZCP. v 98.

2. fʹ.

§ 317. This symbol denotes a bilabial f with the lips drawn back tightly on to the teeth for which the younger people substi­tute labio-dental fʹ. The breath escapes in the same way as in the case of f.

§ 318. fʹ represents O.Ir. initial f before e, i or before r, l followed by these vowels. Examples – fʹαL, ‘treachery’, M.Ir. fell; fʹαmnαχ, ‘wrack’, M.Ir. femnach; fʹαNəm, ‘skin, flay’, O.Ir. fennaim; fʹαr, ‘man’, O.Ir. fer; fʹαrsəd, ‘spindle’, Wi. fersad; fʹαrəg, O.Ir. ferc; fʹαr̥iNʹ, ‘rain’, M.Ir. ferthain; fʹα꞉r, ‘better’, O.Ir. ferr; fʹɛəsɔg, ‘beard’, M.Ir. fésóc; fʹɛ꞉r, ‘grass’, M.Ir. fér; fʹeilʹə, ‘saint’s-day’, O.Ir. féle (gen.); fʹiαχ, ‘crow’, O.Ir. fiach; fʹiə, ‘weave’, M.Ir. fige; fʹiəkilʹ, ‘tooth’, O.Ir. fiacail; fʹihə, ‘twenty’, O.Ir. fiche; fʹïlʹə, ‘poet’, O.Ir. fili; fʹïN, ‘fair’, O.Ir. find; fʹirʹəN, ‘male’, M.Ir. firend; fʹi꞉rʹiNʹə, ‘truth’, O.Ir. fírinne; fʹlʹïg, ‘chickweed’, Di. flich, Hogan fliodh, fligh; fʹlʹïχ, ‘wet’, O.Ir. fliuch; fʹrʹi꞉, ‘flesh-worm’, M.Ir. frigde; fʹrʹïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; fʹrʹiʃNʹæʃαχ, ‘peevish, irritable’; fʹrʹihirʹ, ‘sore’, Di. frithir.

fʹ is further the aspirated form of initial pʹ, e.g. mə fʹαN, ‘my pen’; də fʹαtə, ‘your petʹ; α fʹi꞉pə, ‘his pipe’; ꬶα꞉ fʹi꞉Nʹ, ​‘two pence’; dən fʹiʃi꞉nʹ, ‘to the kitten’; fʹiLʹ ʃə, ‘he returned (pʹiLʹuw).

§ 319. Medially combinations of th or sh with bh, mh produce fʹ. (a) bh + th, mh + th, e.g. jɛfʹər, pres. pass. of jɛvəm, ‘I get’, cp. Nerʹ ə χæLʹtʹər ə ꬶ⅄꞉ jɛfʹər ə jαs i꞉, ‘when the wind is lost, it is found in the south’; gα꞉fʹαχ, ‘spongy (of land)’, Di. gaibhtheach; ki꞉fʹαχ, ‘bed-fellow’, Meyer comthach; krα꞉fʹαχ, ‘devout’, Meyer cráibdech. (b) th + bh, th + mh, e.g. dʹefʹrʹə, ‘haste’, cp. O’Clery deithbireach; kα꞉fʹαχ, ‘spendthrift’, Di. caithmheach; klα̃ifʹαχə (klə̃ifʹαχə), ‘swords’, cp. M.Ir. claidbiu (acc. plur.); ʃifʹi꞉nʹ, ‘bulrush’, Wi. síthbe, síthfe; tuəfʹəL, ‘a whirl, the wrong way’, M.Ir. tuaithbel; uəfʹiαLtə, ‘wild-looking’, Di. uaithbhéalta (due to a confusion of Wi. óibéla with úath, ‘terror’), (c) bh + sh in dʹerʹəfər, ‘sister’, O.Ir. derb + siur. (d) In tʹifʹə, comparative of tʹUw̥, ‘thick, frequent’.

§ 320. fʹ is inserted before tʹ in skαfʹtʹə, ‘group, lot, flock’, spelt sgaifte Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5, Di. scata, cp. § 312. fʹrʹ has taken the place of r̥ʹ in fʹrʹi꞉dʹ, ‘through’, O.Ir. triit, on Aran with hr or xr (KZ. xxxv 337).

§ 321. On aspiration fʹ disappears, e.g. mʹαr, ‘my husband’; dʹeʃtʹi mʹə, ‘I furnished’, Di. feistighim; tα꞉ ʃïnʹ ə jeimʹ ɔrəm, ‘I need that’, Di. feidhm; ꬶα꞉ iəkilʹ, ‘two teeth’; ĩ꞉çə lʹïχ, ‘a wet night’. Consequently as f and fʹ when aspirated give the same result, confusion is liable to arise as in the case of fʹjɔ꞉ləmʹ, ‘to learn’, < fɔ꞉ləmʹ, O.Ir. foglaim. We have further fʹαstə, ‘yet’, < M.Ir. fodesta but fɔstə, fɔstαt, fɔstαχt = O.Ir. beus.

§ 322. In monosyllables ending in v there is a tendency with some speakers to unvoice the final and make it into fʹ (J. H. always has v), e.g. in Lïfʹ, ‘weed’, = Lïv, O.Ir. luib; ə Nʹïfʹ, ‘the egg’ (§ 326); Nʹïfʹ, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; Lʹefʹrʹi꞉nαχ, also Lʹevrʹi꞉nαχ, ‘half-witted’, subst. Lʹevrʹi꞉nʹ, cp. Di. leimhe.

3. v.

§ 323. The Donegal v is a voiced bilabial sound corresponding in formation to fʹ. The corners of the mouth seem to be left open and the portions of the lips on either side of the point of contact in the middle (§ 309) approach very nearly to one another and vibrate. Hence when this sound is strongly nasalised and a large part of the breath passes through the nose, it has a distinct tendency to develope into mʹ (§ 298). The younger people however are substituting a labio-dental for the bilabial v.

​§ 324. v usually represents O.Ir. medial or final b or m which originally stood before e, i, e.g. α꞉veʃ, ‘ocean’, M.Ir. aibís; i꞉v, ‘appear­ance, counte­nance’, O.Ir. óiph; i꞉viNʹ, ‘pleasant’, M.Ir. óibind; Lïv, ‘weed’, O.Ir. luib; seivirʹ, ‘rich’, M.Ir. saidbir; ʃelʹəv, ‘posses­sion’, M.Ir. seilb (dat.); tαvʃə, ‘ghost’, O.Ir. taidbse. α̃vrʹəi, ə Nα̃vrʹəi, ‘tangled’, Meyer amréid, α̃vrʹəitʹαχ, ‘contrary, cross-tempered’; dα̃꞉v, ‘affection, fondness’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. dám; dʹẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess; kï̃viαχ, ‘strange, foreign’, M.Ir. comaith­chech; kïvlʹiNʹ, ‘emulate, emulation’, M.Ir. comleng; kï̃vnʹαχ, ‘mindful’, O.Ir. cumnech; kïvrʹəN, ‘field for planting’; krα̃꞉v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim; Nαvdʹə, ‘enemies’, O.Ir. naimtea (acc.); Nʹï̃v, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; rï̃və, ‘before’, M.Ir. remi.

αvαrαχ, ‘airy, light’, is obscure. It is pronounced the same as Di. aith­bhearach, ‘blaming, censor­ious’.

§ 325. The aspiration of initial bʹ, mʹ is v. In the case of mʹ the vowel is usually not nasalised, unless it is followed by an n or m sound or by h, ç, (§ 172). Examples – mə vαn, ‘my wife’; α vαrαd, ‘his cap’; ɛgʹ ə vα꞉rNỹ꞉, ‘at the gap’; vαNə mʹə, ‘I greeted’; bʹiNʹ vïg, ‘a small gable’.

v is also the eclipsed form of fʹ, e.g. Nỹ꞉ vi꞉dɔrʹi꞉, ‘9 weavers’; ə vɛkʹiNʹ, ‘if I were to see.’ Medially in enʹəvïs, ‘ignorance’, M.Ir. anfiss.

§ 326. In the inflected forms of several words containing o꞉, u we find v arising after the analogy of go꞉, ‘smith’, plur. gïvnʹə; o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, plur. ɛvNʹαχə); dUw̥, ‘black’, gen. sing. dïv. Such are bïvrʹə, compar. of bo꞉r, ‘deaf’, M.Ir. bodar; krïv, gen. sing. of krUw̥, ‘dowry’; iNʹe꞉i ə Lα꞉ əNʹï̃v, ‘after to-day’, which contains a genitive formed from əNʹUw̥; ïv, ‘egg’, is a new nomi­native to a stem *uw- < M.Ir. nom. plur. ugai. The word is always fem. in Donegal and the palatal­isation of the gen. and dat. sing. has been intro­duced into the nom. as is commonly the case with feminines, cp. mwĩ꞉v, ‘to begrudge’, O.Ir. móidem, gen. sing. móidme. ərʹĩ꞉v, a by-form of erʹiuw, ‘ever’, may have been influ­enced by ərï̃və, ‘before’, as the two are frequent­ly used together in the phrase ərʹiuw ərï̃və.

In ʃevtʹuw, ‘to shift for oneself’, Di. seibhtiughadh, the v is peculiar, as the word comes from the English.

§ 327. Post-consonantic mh, bh disappear in α꞉rʹi꞉m, ‘I reckon’, O.Ir. áirmiu, but α꞉rʹi꞉m strictly speaking is a new formation from α꞉rʹuw, which is used of counting sprats, kale &c. ​in threes; ædʹi꞉m, ‘I confess’, infin. ædʹvælʹ, M.Ir. 1st sing. atmu, perhaps by analogy with kʹrʹedʹəm, ‘I believe’, infin. kʹrʹedʹvælʹ (Spir. Rose p. 6 has aidvimuid); bʹihu꞉nαχ, ‘rascal’, M.Ir. bith­binech; dʹerʹəm, ‘I say’, M.Ir. atberim; tʹiʃiNʹtʹ, ‘to shew’, M.Ir. taisbenad.

4. χ.

§ 328. This symbol denotes the voiceless guttural spirant formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate which occurs in German but there is much less friction in the produc­tion of the Donegal sound than is the case in German, Scotch or Welsh. For this reason it sometimes inter­changes with h (§ 178) and finally it is often so faint especial­ly in the termi­nation ‑αχ that at first I did not seem to hear it at all. The feeble articu­lation of this spirant is perhaps character­istic of Ulster Irish generally as Lloyd states that in Monaghan “when final it is silent with compen­satory lengthen­ing; before t it is always silent” (G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2). Cp. the spelling morghat for mordhacht Spir. Rose pp. 31, 47. Before palatal vowels χ as also ꬶ, k, g, being velar sounds cause the tongue to be retracted which tends to change a following i(꞉) into y(꞉), see § 125.

§ 329. Initially χ can only occur as the aspirated form of k, e.g. mə χydʹ ‘my share’; χæLʹ mʹə, ‘I lost’. kɔ, ‘as’, which in the other dialects always appears with χ remains un­aspirated in Donegal. On the other hand (ə) χy꞉çə, ‘ever’, M.Ir. caidche, coidche is always aspirated. Other cases such as henʹikʹ mʹə, ‘I saw’; hα, ‘not’, < nocha; χUə mʹə, ‘I went’, are merely apparent as the pretonic syllable has been lost.

§ 330. Medially and finally χ is very frequent and represents an O.Ir. ch before an original­ly non-palatal vowel or non-palatal consonant, e.g. αχmwirtʹ, ‘heat in horses’, Di. eachmairc; aχmwirʹ, ‘ready, quick, smart’, achmair Cl. S. 18 vii ’03 p. 3 col. 2, cp. O’R. achmuire, ‘readiness’, formed from O.Ir. ech (?); bαχəL, ‘tress’, O.Ir. bachall; bαχtə, ‘bank of peat’, bachta Craig, Irish Compo­sition p. 166; bɔχt, ‘poor’, O.Ir. bocht; bα꞉χrαn, ‘bog-bean’, Hogan bacharán, cp. Meyer bachar, ‘acorn’; bʹαχɔg, ‘bee’, dimin­utive of M.Ir. bech, which occurs in bαχ ·χαpwiLʹ, ‘a wasp’; bʹαlαχ, ‘road’, M.Ir. belach; rαχə mʹə, ‘I shall go’, O.Ir. do-reg; ʃiər fα ʃαχ, ‘and so forth’, O.Ir. sech; ʃαχnuw, ‘to avoid’, Di. seachnadh; ər ʃαχrαn, ‘astray’, M.Ir. sechrán; ʃαχt, ‘seven’, O.Ir. secht.

​In futures h < f after χ coalesces with the spirant, e.g. k⅄꞉χə mʹə, ‘I shall wink’; plu꞉χə mʹə, ‘I shall extin­guish’.

§ 331. χ arises from thgh, thch in LUχærʹ, ‘joy’, M.Ir. luthgáir; αχyɲə, ‘request’, M.Ir. ath­chuinge; du꞉χəs, ‘birth­right’, M.Ir. duthchus.

§ 332. Donegal has developed a new comparative termination ‑αχə instead of ə which is used with adjec­tives of more than one syllable ending in a vowel, e.g. dælʹiαχə < dælʹi꞉, ‘difficult’; dαlə­bwiαχə < dαləbə, ‘impudent’. The endings ‑ə and ‑αχə occur side by side in other connec­tions, e.g. in the future of verbs and the plural of fem. nouns and ‑αχə is evidently used as a compar­ative ending for the sake of distinc­tion. We find something similar in bʹrʹɛαχə the plural form of bʹrʹɛə, ‘fine’, Meyer bregda.

§ 333. We have already seen (§ 178) that χ easily passes into h, and the converse is true for Donegal in isolated cases. χ for h seems to be frequent in Scotch dialects, cp. ZCP. iv 509. See further Henebry p. 19 (ca shoin). Examples – mo̤χuw, ‘springing of cows’, pret. wo̤χ, cp. Di. moth, ‘the male of any animal’, Cormac moth .i. ball ferda, Stokes-Bezz. *muto- (p. 219), mo̤χəsαn, ‘a springing heifer’, O’R. motach, ‘fruitful’, M.Ir. mothach LL 13b 7 rendered by Hyde ‘fertile’. The χ in LαχərNə ·wα꞉rαχ, ‘to-morrow’ (spelt lá thar na bhárach Cl. S. 22 viii ’03 p. 3 col. 2) can hardly be due to O.Ir. láthe. It is more likely that the prepo­sition hærʹ, O.Ir. tar, has been subst­ituted for iar which is obsolete except in erʹ gu꞉l, ‘back, behind’; ər du꞉s, ‘in front’; erʹ fα꞉lʹ, ‘found’ &c.

gə brα꞉χ, ‘for ever’, can hardly represent co bráth, as th after long vowels dis­appears. bráth may have become bráthach under the influence of əmα꞉rαχ, ‘to-morrow’. The spelling co brach occurs RC. xxiv 371, 373, cp. Manx dy bragh (Rhys’s expla­nation of the latter l.c. p. 129 will not hold good for Donegal).

§ 334. It should be noted that χ and not ç stands before tʹ. Henebry pp. 55, 35 says that “the group ‑cht is un­affected and always broad. The palatal­ised boicht of O.Ir. and found also in Keatynge was merely a sym­metrical writing”. This is incorrect. The t may not be palatal in Waterford but O’Leary quotes a form with tʹ for Cork and Finck (i 187) gives bøçcə as the gen. sing. fem. of bocht, ‘poor’. I have noted the following forms with ‑χtʹ in Donegal, bɔχtʹ, gen. sing. of bɔχt, ‘poor’; bʹαχtʹi꞉, ​compar. of bʹαχt, ‘sensible, shrewd’, M.Ir. becht; bʹjɔ꞉χtʹə, compar. of bʹjɔ꞉, ‘alive’; bʹrʹɛαxtʹə, compar. of bʹrʹɛə, ‘fine’; eifʹαχtʹ, gen. sing. of eifʹαχt, ‘prodigy’; kʹɛαχtʹə, gen. sing. of kʹɛαχt, ‘plough’; smαχtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘mallet’, also ‘a rude fellow’.

§ 335. That χ has a tendency to pass into f in certain parts of the north and north-west has been mentioned in § 313. We may possibly have the converse in the form Uχərtʹ, ‘wallowing’, spelt uchairt Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5 for Di. ionfairt.

5. ꬶ.

§ 336. ꬶ represents a voiced velar spirant formed by the back of the tongue against the soft palate. For the off-glide see § 328. As in the case of χ there is an absence of the rasping which accom­panies this sound when it is strongly articu­lated. Hence it is natural that except in the initial position ꬶ should tend to disappear. Henebry and Finck do not quote a single instance of ꬶ except initially but Donegal offers several examples of the sound in medial position. The position of the tongue for a feebly articu­lated ꬶ is very nearly that of my ö̤꞉ and this vowel-sound always has a suspicion of a spirant nature as might be expected, seeing that it arises from adh‑, agh‑. Cp. Lloyd’s statement as to the frequent retention of dh, gh in Orrery in seadh, feadh and other words G. J. 1896 p. 147. Scotch Gaelic often keeps final ꬶ in the verb ending ‑adh but in Donegal the latter may have given ə⅄ or əö̤, which with rounding became əu, u꞉, uw.

§ 337. Initially ꬶ only occurs as the aspirated form of d, g, e.g. ꬶritʹ ʃə, ‘he shut’; kʹi(꞉)bʹ ꬶUw̥, ‘sedge’; lʹeʃ ə ꬶɔlər, ‘with the disease’; mə ꬶlu꞉n, ‘my knee’; in compo­sition αdərꬶiə, ‘inter­cession’. ꬶα꞉, ‘two’, and ꬶɔl, ‘going’, are usually aspirated but dα꞉ appears for ꬶα꞉ after the article and əgəs, əs, ‘and’. When preceded by əg gɔl loses its ꬶ. In the pronom­inal forms of the prepo­sition do the forms with aspirated d (ꬶ) are confined to the 2nd sing. ꬶydʹ, ‘to you.’

§ 338. Medially ꬶ occurs in the following words: fʹiəꬶirʹə, ‘huntsman’, < M.Ir. fíad; fʹïꬶəriαχt (also fʹə⅄riαχt), ‘counte­nance, face’, cp. Di. fíogh­ruighim; ïꬶəri꞉m, ‘I adore,’ Di. adhraim, Meyer adoraim (also ə⅄ri꞉m); tʹïꬶəlαχ, ‘family’, O.Ir. teglach; ⅄꞉ꬶirʹə, ‘herdsman’, O.Ir. augaire; dʹi꞉ꬶɔ(꞉)i, ‘the wrong way’, dí + dóigh.

​In all other cases ꬶ has either disappeared without leaving a trace or has served to lengthen or modify the preceding vowel. Between conso­nants ꬶ dis­appears in dʹα꞉rNəd, ‘flea’, M.Ir. dergnat.

§ 339. A hiatus-filling ꬶ is inserted between ə < do, de, when they precede an infin­itive or substan­tive which begins or once began with a non-palatal vowel, cp. § 191. Examples – Lα꞉n gre꞉pʹ də ꬶy꞉lʹαχ, ‘a forkful of dung’; α lʹehəd(ʹ) ʃɔ də ꬶα꞉tʹ, ‘such a place as this’; Nʹi꞉ henʹi ʃə ə ꬶα̃uwərk ɔrəm, ‘he did not come to see me’; ə ꬶæNʹænʹ, ‘in spite of’; ʃαl ə ꬶαm, ‘a space of time’; ꬶlαk ʃə Nʹi꞉s Luw ꬶαm, ‘it took less time’; səihαχ ə ꬶuəχtər, ‘a vessel of cream’; Lα꞉n α ꬶïrNʹ də ꬶɔ꞉r, ‘a fistful of gold’; gʹïtə ꬶo̤Nsə, ‘a bit of a fence’, = giota de fhonnsa; hu꞉si꞉ mʹɛədən ə ꬶαt, ‘my face started to swell’.

6. ç

§ 340. This symbol represents a voiceless spirant formed by the middle of the tongue against the hard palate near to the edge of the soft palate, cp. Jespersen p. 49. There is much less friction than in the case of German ç in ‘ich’, on which account it inter­changes with h. It is sometimes very difficult to decide whether one hears ç or h after a close i or e.

§ 341. Initially ç usually represents an aspirated kʹ, e.g. gɔl çɔ꞉lʹ, ‘singing’; ə çαrk, ‘the hen’; çαNy mʹə, ‘I bought’; çrʹαχ mʹə, ‘I ruined’; sə çlʹiuw, ‘in the basket’. çiəNə, ‘same’, and çïd, ‘first’, never appear in the un­aspirated form.

§ 342. In a few cases ç appears as the aspirated form of initial ʃ cp. Molloy p. 7, Henebry p. 76, Finck i 83. Examples – erʹ çu꞉l, ‘away’, also ər su꞉l, çu꞉lʹ mʹə, ‘I walked’, Di. siubhal; çα꞉nʹ, gen. sing. of ʃα꞉n, ‘John’; çɔ꞉l mʹə, ‘I sailed’; α çɔ꞉rsə, vocative of ʃɔ꞉rsə, ‘George’. But note mə ho꞉k, ‘my hawk’; mə hαmrə, ‘my chamber’. This would seem to bear out the expla­nation given by Pedersen pp. 17–18.

According to Rhys pp. 74, 104 f. initial tʹ when aspirated gives ç in Manx. This does not occur in Donegal except in two mauled forms of tʹiərNə, ‘Lord’, as used in assever­ations. These are çiərNə mαnəmwidʹ, ‘good gracious’, see § 63; and α çiəkæʃ in wïlʹ ærʹəgʹïd əgəd? çiəkæʃ heinʹ ətα꞉, ‘have you any money? I should just think I have’, Craig Iasg. spells chiacais. It is sometimes written tiarcais.

​§ 343. Medially and finally ç represents O.Ir. ch when original­ly followed by e, i, e.g. brαiç, ‘malt’, Di. braich < O.Ir. mraich; dʹeç, ‘ten’, O.Ir. deich; dʹiçəL, ‘one’s best’, Di. dícheall; fαiç, ‘green’, M.Ir. faithche, faidche; fαiçiLʹ, ‘care’, Di. faith­chill; ĩ꞉çə, ‘night’, O.Ir. aidche; kliçə (kləiçə), ‘game’, M.Ir. cluche; ə χy꞉çə, ‘ever’, M.Ir. caidche; ʃeiçə, ‘hide’, M.Ir. seche. Frequent­ly in the inflected forms of words ending in χ, as blα꞉içə, gen. sing. of blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, kʹi꞉çə, gen. sing. of kʹiəχ, ‘breast’. thgh gives ç in αiçərə, ‘short cut’, Di. aith­ghearra; du꞉çə, ‘landed property’, cp. O.Ir. duthoig. dɔ(꞉)içə, ‘likely, probable’, = dóiche Craig Iasg., is a new formation from O.Ir. dochu compar. of dóig, dóich after the model of the majority of compar­atives with palatal­isation.

§ 344. ç tends to become h in some words for which see § 179. Finally it dis­appears after a long vowel or diphthong except αi`, e.g. kʹαrk ri꞉, ‘moor-hen’, = cearc fhraoich; ꬶα꞉ χrui, ‘two stacks’; bʹαlαχ fʹəi, ‘Bally­bofey’, = Bealach Feich. Similarly in ĩ꞉çə when the final vowel is elided, e.g. ĩ꞉ əgəs Lα꞉, ‘night and day’; ĩ꞉ hα̃uwnə, ‘Halloween’. Medially also in kï̃viαχ, ‘strange, foreign’, M.Ir. comaith­chech.

§ 345. By far the most frequent source of ç is th after a palatal vowel par­ticular­ly at the end of mono­syllables with short root-vowel. In such cases ç is often very faint which may be denoted by writing a small ç over the line. Examples: erʹ bʹiç, ‘at all’, ar bith; kα̃iç, imper. ‘throw, spend, smoke’; kʹrʹiç, ‘trembling’, M.Ir. crith; ər Lʹe^ç, ‘apart’; mαiç, ‘good’, O.Ir. maith; skαiç, ‘the best of anything’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. scoth, ‘flower’ (the old meaning is preserved in fʹïNskαiç, ‘corn­flower’); ʃkʹeç, ‘vomit’, M.Ir. sceith; wα(꞉)iç, pret. of bα꞉huw, ‘to drown’. Note further ə sαu(w)ruw ʃɔiçαrt, ‘this last summer’, = an samhradh seo thart. This ç commonly dis­appears before another word beginning with a consonant in the same stress-group, e.g. dʹɛ mαh, ‘ten cows’, cp. the spelling deth in Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list; χα mʹə, ‘I spent’, χæ ʃə, ‘he spent’; dʹi mʹə, ‘I ate’, imper. iç.

əmwiç, ‘outside’, and əstiç (əsti꞉ç), ‘inside’, are peculiar, as in M.Ir. we have immaig, istaig. True we also find ĩ꞉wαiç, ‘image’, Wi. imaig, and triç, ‘foot’, O.Ir. traig. But the latter has been influ­enced by the plural M.Ir. traigthe and dis­syllables in ‑áigh usually have ‑αi` which is equiva­lent to ‑αiç (§ 141). əstiç is all the more surpris­ing as the dative form ti꞉ < M.Ir. taig is ​frequent. əmwiç, əstiç are possibly extended from əmwi`, əsti`, i.e. they are proclitic forms.

§ 346. ç also frequently represents a medial th flanked by palatal vowels, e.g. içə, ‘eating’, O.Ir. ithe, pret. pass. hihuw, kαiçirʹ, ‘chair’, M.Ir. catháir (§ 139); kʹlʹeiçə, gen. sing. of kʹlʹiə, ‘harrow’, M.Ir. cliath; Luiçə, compar. of Luə, ‘early’; Lʹeiçə, gen. sing. fem. of Lʹiə, ‘grey’; lʹeiçə (lʹeihə), ‘with her’, similarly fu꞉çə, ‘under her’; mʹeiçe, compar. of mʹe꞉, ‘fat’, M.Ir. meth; rα꞉içə, ‘quarter of a year’, M.Ir. ráithe; sNα꞉içə, ‘thread’, O.Ir. snáthe; suiçə, ‘soot’, M.Ir. suithe, O.Ir. suidi. Verbs contain­ing h < th in the infin­itive frequent­ly have ç in the present and preterite, e.g. suəhuw, ‘mix together’, pres. suiçəm, pret. huiç mʹə but past part. suitʹə; skαiçə mʹə, ‘I shall wean’, beside skαihə mʹə < skαhuw), M.Ir. scothaim.

Similarly ç is frequent in the future of several simple verb-stems ending in a long vowel or diphthong. These ç futures usually corres­pond to a present contain­ing j for which see § 190. Examples – bα꞉çə mʹə, ‘I shall drown’; dɔ꞉içə mʹə, ‘I shall burn’; krα꞉çə mʹə, ‘I shall torment’; spʹrʹeiçə mʹə, ‘I shall spread’; tα꞉çə mʹə, ‘I shall weld’; tʹrʹo꞉çə mʹə, ‘I shall plough’ but pres. pass. tʹrʹo꞉hər. Also bru꞉çə mʹə, ‘I shall press down’, pret. wrui ʃə, M.Ir. brúim; su꞉çi ʃə, ‘it will soak up’, < suw, M.Ir. súgim.

7. s.

§ 347. Henderson’s description of Scotch Gaelic s applies equally to the Donegal sound. “The tongue-blade, along the central line of which the breath is directed, approach­es the gums behind the upper teeth and the breath becomes sibilant owing to the friction it undergoes in passing between the upper and lower front teeth. The tip of the tongue may rest against the lower front teeth. It is usually more forcible than Engl. s, the tongue-articu­lation being closer” (ZCP. iv 515). A large number of speakers tend to widen the nick in the tongue through which the breath passes, thus producing a lisped s. The curious effect produced on initial s by a following r has been described in § 273. The voiced sound cor­respond­ing to s does not occur in Irish but is regular in the local English and produces a very peculiar effect. As is the case with the voiceless stops s is commonly aspirated, cp. Sweet, Primer of Phonetics² p. 60. Hence the h of the future termi­nations coalesces with a final s and is not heard as a separate element, e.g. pɔ꞉sə mʹə, ‘I shall ​marry’; krɔsə tuw, ‘you will forbid’. On this account a number of verb-stems ending in s prefer the ending of the second conju­gation, e.g. dʹrʹαsαχə mʹə, ‘I shall drive away’, pres. dʹrʹαsəm. For the length of the sound see § 357.

§ 348. s represents O.Ir. initial s before other than palatal vowels, e.g. sα꞉l, ‘heel’, O.Ir. sál; siNʹtʹ, ‘covetous­ness’, O.Ir. sant; sɔləN, ‘salt’, O.Ir. saland; su꞉lʹ, ‘eye’, O.Ir. súil; su꞉ʃtʹə, ‘flail’, M.Ir. sust, suiste < Lat. fustis; s⅄꞉l, ‘life’, O.Ir. saigul. For s before L, N see §§ 208, 239. s further stands before O.Ir. m, p, c followed by the vowels a, o, u and in a few loan-words before t under the same condi­tions, e.g. smwi꞉tʹuw, ‘to think’, M.Ir. smuained; spɔχuw, ‘to geld’, M.Ir. spochad; skα̃uwænʹ, ‘lungs’, M.Ir. scaman; sky꞉lʹuw, ‘to let loose’, M.Ir. scáilim; stαd, ‘to stop’, formed on Lat. status; stɔ꞉l, ‘chair’, < O.E. stól.

§ 349. Before mʹ and pʹ s has taken the place of ʃ at the beginning of a word, e.g. smʹerʹ, ‘marrow’, M.Ir. smir; smʹɛ꞉r, ‘black­berry’, M.Ir. smér; spʹαl, ‘scythe’, M.Ir. spel; spʹïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut. Note also (ə)smʹe꞉, ‘it is I’, by the side of ʃe꞉, ‘it is he’. For the hesita­tion between s and ʃ before certain conso­nants cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish p. 17 and O’Donovan, Grammar p. 38. For s before r < rʹ see § 273.

§ 350. Medially and finally s corresponds to O.Ir. ss, s original­ly followed by a, o, u and which usually arose from the assimi­lation of two conso­nants, except in the group sk, where s = Idg. s. Examples – αs, ‘out of’, O.Ir. ass; bo̤s, ‘flat of the hand’, M.Ir. bass, boss; bʹɛəs, ‘custom’, O.Ir. bés; dʹẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess; fα꞉s, ‘growing’, O.Ir. ás; iəsk, ‘fish’, O.Ir. íasc; kɔs, ‘leg’, O.Ir. coss.

In other cases medial and final s appears in loan-words from Latin, e.g. αsəl, ‘donkey’, M.Ir. assal < Lat. asellus; kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, M.Ir. corgus < Lat. quadra­gesima.

8. ʃ.

§ 351. The position of the tongue for ʃ resembles that for s. The tip of the tongue seems to hang down behind the lower front teeth and may rest against them. The lips are neutral as in English but the middle part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, thus con­siderab­ly lengthen­ing the narrowing necessary for the produc­tion of ʃ. The acoustic effect of the Donegal sound is very different from that of English, French or German ʃ. It suggests to me s + j and it is interest­ing to note that Henderson ​compares N. Inverness ʃ with Danish sj ZCP. iv 516. I am not familiar with the latter sound but from Jespersen’s descrip­tion (Fonetik p. 244) it appears to be formed in somewhat similar manner to Donegal ʃ.

§ 352. ʃ represents O.Ir. initial s before palatal vowels and before O.Ir. c, l, n, t followed by the same vowels, e.g. ʃαχtinʹ, ‘week’, O.Ir. sechtman; ʃαn, ‘old’, O.Ir. sen; ʃiNʹimʹ, ‘to play a musical instru­ment’, M.Ir. senim; ʃo꞉k, ‘hawk’, M.Ir. sebac; ʃu꞉l, ‘to walk’, M.Ir. siubal; ʃkʹαχ, ‘hawthorn-bush’, M.Ir. scé; ʃtʹiəL, ‘strip, stripe’, M.Ir. stíall. For examples of ʃLʹ, ʃNʹ see §§ 226, 255.

§ 353. Medially and finally ʃ arises from O.Ir. ss, s followed by e or i. This ss, s generally arose from the assimi­lation of two conso­nants. Examples – αmʹʃirʹ, ‘weather’, O.Ir. amser; bʹrʹiʃuw, ‘to break’, M.Ir. brissiud; iNʹiʃ imper. ‘tell’, M.Ir. innissim; klæʃ ‘furrow’, M.Ir. claiss (dat.). ʃ also stands medially before Lʹ, Nʹ, rʹ, mʹ, tʹ, kʹ, e.g. pʹiʃrʹɔg, ‘charm’, Di. pisreóg; ʃeʃrʹαχ ‘plough’, M.Ir. sesrech; kæʃmʹərtʹ, ‘squabble’, Meyer caismert; kʹlʹiʃmʹərNy꞉, ‘starting up in sleep’, Di. clisim; tæʃmʹə, ‘accident’, Di. taisme; gæʃtʹə, ‘trap’, O.Ir. goiste; iʃkʹə, ‘water’, O.Ir. usce; kæʃkʹïmʹ, ‘step’, Meyer coss-céimm. Examples of ʃ before pʹ do not occur to my knowledge.

§ 354. As the aspirated form of both s and ʃ is h, confusion is apt to arise. Hence we get ʃ for s in ʃɔ꞉rt, ‘kind, sort’, spelt seórt Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5, Craig Iasg. < Engl. ‘sort’; ʃïlʹəstrαχ, ‘yellow iris’, Di. soil­eastar, M.Ir. soil­eastar; ʃïlαg, ‘spit’, Di. seil, O.Ir. saile; cp. further Macbain seileach with Di. saileóg; ʃi꞉lʹəm, ‘I think’, M.Ir. sáilim. Converse­ly su꞉Ntə, ‘seam in quarry’, stands for ʃu꞉Ntə = Di. siúnta < Engl. ‘joint’. ʃerʹ, ‘eastwards’, has been influ­enced by ʃiər, ‘westwards’, cp. Rhys p. 53.

§ 355. In loan-words from English ʃ represents Engl. s before e and i sounds and also Engl. j, e.g. ʃɛ꞉ʃu꞉r, ‘season’; ʃɛ꞉məs, ‘James’; ʃα꞉n, ‘John’; ʃu꞉krə, ‘sugar’.

§ 356. The past participle of verbs of the second declension ends in ‑i꞉ < uighthe or ‑i(꞉)ʃtʹə. The latter probably arose in some word like iNʹiʃ. The two conjuga­tions have been hopeless­ly confused and we may safely assume that iNʹiʃtʹə and iNʹʃi꞉ existed side by side, whence the modern iNʹʃi(꞉)ʃtʹə. ​

(d) The labial, dental and guttural stops.

Note on the stops and s (ʃ).

§ 357. In the case of l, m and n sounds and partly in the case of the r sounds in Donegal we have found that under certain condi­tions long conso­nants appear where double conso­nants are now or were formerly written. We further know that in the majority of cases modern Gaelic labial, dental and guttural stops together with s go back to original­ly double conso­nants which are commonly so written in O.Irish after short accented vowels, see Pedersen pp. 84 ff. The question therefore naturally arises: Are there no traces of these original double stops in the manner of articu­lation of the present day? I venture to think that this question may be answered in the affirma­tive. What strikes an English ear most in the speech of the north of Ireland is the way in which final stops are articu­lated. As was the case with the liquids and nasals it is chiefly at the end of mono­syllables that differ­ences of length in conso­nants are most clearly heard. Now if we compare the pronun­ciation of fʹαr`, ‘man’, with that of fʹïg ‘length’, we cannot fail to be struck by the differ­ence in duration of the finals. It may be stated once and for all that the only short or clipped conso­nants which Donegal Irish knows are l, lʹ, n, nʹ, r, rʹ, ç, w. At the end of stressed mono­syllables with short vowel the stops and s, ʃ are held for a longer time than is the case with voiced conso­nants in standard English after a short vowel, though parallels occur in northern dialects, e.g. in the Swaledale pronun­ciation of ‘had’, ‘bad’. At the same time the contact is loosened very gradually, so that an off-glide is clearly heard. l, lʹ, n, nʹ, r, rʹ at the end of stressed mono­syllables may be regarded as over-short, in other positions as short. L, Lʹ, N, Nʹ, R, m, mʹ, the stops and s (ʃ) at the end of stressed mono­syllables after short vowels are long. In other positions they are either long or half-long. Even initially they are dwelt upon and often seem to be half-long. In all cases the articu­lation of a final consonant is finished and the off-glide is invari­ably heard.

1. p.

§ 358. p is formed with the lips slightly protruded in the w position and is strongly aspirated. On releasing the contact a w̥ off-glide is heard which is most notice­able before æ, ɛ, e, i. For the lenis p cp. § 438.

​§ 359. p occurs initially before a, o, u in loan-words from Latin and English, e.g. pwædʹrʹi꞉nʹ, ‘the rosary’, Lat. pater noster; pɔ꞉g, ‘kiss’, Lat. pacem; pɔ꞉suw, ‘marry’, Lat. sponsus; po̤bəl, ‘congre­gation’, Lat. populus; plα꞉i, ‘plague’, Lat. plaga; plα꞉n̥ædʹ, ‘climate’, Lat. planeta; spɔhuw, ‘to geld’, M.Ir. spochad < Lat. spado. pα꞉ʃtʹə, ‘child’, < Engl. page; pα꞉rʹkʹ, ‘meadow’, < Engl. ‘park’; pɔtə, ‘pot’; pɔ꞉kə, ‘pocket’, < Engl. ‘poke, pocket’; po̤Ntə, ‘pound’; po̤tɔg, ‘pudding’, plu꞉r, ‘flour’, has p for f due to mistaken de-aspira­tion.

Although originally no genuine Irish words began with p, this sound is now-a-days a very favourite one in coining new words the origin of which is frequent­ly obscure, cp. prαkər, ‘leavings of potatoes’, prα꞉kαs, ‘a small, deformed person’, Di. prácás; spuikʹ, ‘blister’, Di. spuaic.

§ 360. In several loan-words p occurs initially where the language from which they are borrowed has b, e.g. po̤NəN, ‘sheaf’, < Norse bundin, Engl. bundle; pɔ꞉nirʹə, ‘beans’, Norse baun, Ohg. pôna; pαŋk, ‘fair for selling stockings’, < Engl. ‘bank’; plo̤k, ‘cheek’, < ‘block’ (?). Cp. further Di. praiseach; Macbain prais, priobaid, pronnasg. Donegal p also cor­responds to b of the other dialects in prα꞉ʃkʹi꞉nʹ, ‘apron’, Di. práiscín, Duffy, Mion-chaint na Midhe has práiscín and bráiscín; pro̤Nəm, ‘I present’, M.Ir. bronnaim, pro̤Ntənəs, ‘present’, Meyer bronn­tanas, cp. Spir. Rose p. 30 pronn. po̤s, ‘lip’, more commonly pwiʃi꞉nʹ, is M.Ir. bus. Medially we find p for b in αpwi꞉, ‘ripe’, Di. abaidh, Meyer abbuig.

§ 361. Medially and finally p arises from older pp = O. and M.Ir. pp, p, e.g. krαp, ‘lump’, M.Ir. cnapp, < Norse knappr; kʹαpəm, ‘I stop, head off’, Meyer ceppaim from kʹαp, ‘shoemaker’s last’, Meyer cepp < Lat. cippus, cp. kʹαp Nə viəkəl, ‘gum’; sαp, ‘wisp’, M.Ir. sopp; tαpuw ɔrt, ‘God speed you’, M.Ir. tapad. The relation of kαpəL, ‘mare’, M.Ir. capull, Welsh ceffyl and Lat. caballus is obscure.

p also occurs after l, r, m and s in loan-words, e.g. skαlpuw, ‘to snarl’, Di. scealpadh (with different meaning), < Engl. skelp (?); kɔrp, ‘corpse’, O.Ir. corp, < Lat. corpus; αspək, ‘bishop’, O.Ir. espoc; αspəl, ‘apostle’, O.Ir. apstal; tα(꞉)mpəL, ‘Protes­tant chapel’, O.Ir. tempol. Similarly klo̤pwidʹə, ‘wrinkle in cloth, dip in land’, = M.Ir. clupait < culpait.

In the latest loan-words from English we find p = Engl. p, e.g. kɔpαn, ‘cup’; pʹi꞉pə, ‘pipe’; rɔ꞉pə, ‘rope’; ʃïpə, ‘shop’; ​ʃLʹïpərNỹ꞉, ‘tottering’, < Engl. ‘slip’. From Lat. papa, ‘pope’, we expect *pα꞉bə and not pα꞉pə.

§ 362. b + th gives p in Lʹαpə, gen. sing. of Lʹαbwi꞉, ‘bed’, nom. plur. Lʹαpαχə, M.Ir. lepad; Lʹɛəpαχə, plur. of Lʹɛəb, ‘strip’, Di. leadhb. Similarly in futures, e.g. Lu꞉pwi ʃə, ‘he will bend’; ʃiəpwi ʃə, ‘it will blow’. p further arises from bh + th in the adverbs ti꞉puəs, ‘above’, ti꞉pαL, ‘beyond’, ti꞉pʹiər, ‘to the west of’ = taobh-thuas, taobh-thiar, taobh-thall, cp. § 470 and Pedersen p. 161.

o̤mpər, ‘to carry’, occurs by the side of o̤mχər, M.Ir. immchor; kɔləpə, ‘calf of the leg’ (not common) = Meyer colptha; kɔləpαχ, ‘stirk’, = Meyer colpthach. Both the latter seem to go back to the Teutonic word for ‘calf’.

§ 363. In the future forms of stems ending in p the h < f can cause no change as the p is already aspirated. Hence the present and future are often the same in form, e.g. kʹαpwi꞉ ʃə, ‘he stops’ or ‘will stop’; kro̤pwi꞉ ʃə, ‘it shrinks’ or ‘will shrink’.

2. pʹ.

§ 364. pʹ is formed with the lips tightly drawn back on to the teeth and may be aspirated. For pʹ as a lenis cp. § 438.

§ 365. Initial pʹ represents O. and M.Ir. p before e, i. The words in question are mostly borrowed from Latin or English, some are late forma­tions modelled on English words, whilst one or two others such as spʹαl, ‘scythe’, M.Ir. spel, are obscure. Examples – pʹαkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad < Lat. peccatum; pʹαN, ‘pen’, M.Ir. penn < Lat. pinna; pʹαtə, ‘pet’, M.Ir. petta; pʹïlʹəpʹi꞉nʹ, ‘peewit’, Di. pilibín, < Philip (?); pʹïnu꞉s, ‘penance’, Di. píonús, píonós < Lat. poena, with possibly a leaning on Engl. ‘punish’ (Macbain); pʹïkɔdʹ, ‘pick’ and pʹïkuw, ‘to pick’, < Engl.; pʹigʹi꞉nʹ, ‘a piggin’; pʹiʃi꞉nʹ, ‘kitten’; pʹitʹ, ‘cunnus’, Di. pit < Engl. ‘pit’ or O.E. pyt; pʹiNʹ, ‘penny’, M.Ir. pinginn; pʹi꞉sə, ‘piece’; pʹlʹɛəskuw, ‘to burst, crack’, founded on Engl. ‘flash’ (?); pʹlʹeiʃu꞉r, ‘pleasure’; pʹrʹɛətə, ‘potato’; pʹrʹïs, ‘cupboard’, <Engl. ‘press’; spʹeirʹ, ‘sky’, < Lat. sphaera; spʹiənuw, ‘to tease wool’, < Lat. spina; spʹïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut.

In pʹeiʃtʹ (χapwiLʹ), ‘a black and yellow caterpillar’, we have pʹ for bʹ, cp. § 360 and Scotch G. preathal for breitheal.

pʹiəχαn, ‘hoarseness’, seems to be onomatopœic and exhibits ​a variety of forms. Macbain has pìochan, Fournier ceochan, O’R. spiochan.

§ 366. Medial and final pʹ occurs only in inflected or deriva­tive forms of words contain­ing p, e.g. kʹipʹi꞉nʹ, ‘small stick’, dimin. of kʹαp; krɛpʹə, ‘button’, < M.Ir. cnapp. Also in fwïpʹ < Engl. ‘whip’.

pʹ arises after mʹ in tʹimʹpʹiəL, ‘about’, O.Ir. timmchell, cp. o̤mpər § 362.

§ 367. As pʹ and fʹ interchange in aspiration, pʹ is sometimes wrongly sub­stituted for fʹ, e.g. in pʹiLʹuw, ‘to return’, M.Ir. filliud; pʹrʹiælʹ, ‘to fry’, < Engl.

3. b

§ 368. b is the voiced sound corresponding to p. The off-glide is w which we write in this book before palatal vowels.

§ 369. b occurs initially in a large number of words cor­respond­ing to O. and M.Ir. b before a, o, u or l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. bαkαχ, ‘lame’, M.Ir. baccach; bαL, ‘spot’, O.Ir. ball; bα꞉huw, ‘to drown’, M.Ir. bádud; blα꞉, ‘flower’, M.Ir. bláth; blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, M.Ir. bláthach; brα꞉dʹ, ‘throat’, O.Ir. bráge; brïNʹ, ‘womb’, M.Ir. broind (dat.); bɔ꞉, ‘cow’, O.Ir. bó; bo̤g, ‘soft’, M.Ir. bocc; bwæNʹə, ‘milk’, O.Ir. banne; bwæʃtʹəm, ‘I baptize’, O.Ir. baitsim; bwelʹə, ‘townland’, M.Ir. baile; bwiə, ‘yellow’, O.Ir. bude; bwiLʹə, ‘blow’, O.Ir. buille; bw⅄꞉, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith.

b corresponds to O.Ir. m in brαiç, ‘malt’, O.Ir. mraich; blαs, ‘taste’, O.Ir. mlas; brαihəm, ‘I betray’, cp. M.Ir. mrath.

The eclipsed form of p is b, e.g. α bɔ꞉sit(ʹ) ʃə, ‘if he were to marry’; vi꞉ ʃi α bɔ꞉guw, ‘she was kissing them’; mər bα꞉ʃʹtʹə, ‘your child’; Nỹ꞉ bo̤NəNαχə, ‘nine sheaves’.

§ 370. Medially and finally b represents an earlier bb which generally arose by assimi­lation and which in O. and M.Ir. is written pp, p, e.g. αbwirʹ (imper.), ‘say’, M.Ir. apair with a from atbeir; αbər, ‘mud’, M.Ir. ebor; go̤b, ‘beak, mouth’, M.Ir. gop; gʹïbɔg, ‘bit, morsel’, cp. O.Ir. gibbne; kαb, ‘mouth’, kαbwirʹə, ‘prater’, < M.Engl. gabben; Lʹαbwi꞉, ‘bed’, M.Ir. lepaid, lepad; skαbuw, ‘to scatter’, Di. scabaim, scapaim, scaipim; to̤bər, ‘well’, O.Ir. topur; to̤bəN, ‘sudden’, M.Ir. oponn. b cor­responds to M.Ir. b after d in Lʹɛəb, ‘strip’, M.Ir. ledb. In this case the group db is not the same as db in M.Ir. Medb, Sadb which are ​now pro­nounced mʹɛəwə, sα꞉wə. Similarly after l and r in αləbə, ‘Scotland’, M.Ir. Alba; kαrəbəd, ‘chariot’, O.Ir. carpat, Gaulish carbantia.

§ 371. In earlier loan-words a medial p was received into Irish as a lenis which gave the same result as bb, e.g. kα꞉bə, ‘cape’, Meyer cápa, < O.Fr. cape; o̤bwirʹ, ‘work’, Lat. opera, O.Ir. only oipred; po̤bəl, ‘congre­gation’, Lat. populus; pʹiəb, ‘throat, pipe’, Lat. pipa, from which are formed pʹïbərNỹ꞉, ‘wheezing’, pʹïbruw, ‘rousing to fight’; skrɔ꞉bαn, ‘crop of birds’, formed on Engl. ‘crop’ and ‘scrape’ (?); skuəb, ‘besom’, M.Ir. scuap < Lat. scopa; ʃkʹïbɔl, ‘barn’, O.Welsh scipaur, Cornish scibor, < Lat. *scoparium.

Late loan-words from English have b = Engl. b, e.g. bαbɔg, ‘doll’, < Engl. ‘babe’; bɔbwirʹαχt, ‘trickery’, < Engl. ‘bob’; to̤bαn, ‘tub’. In a few instances we find Engl. w, v appearing as b on the analogy of bα꞉d, ‘boat’, α wα꞉d, ‘his boat’, e.g. bαLə, ‘wall’; bo̤Ntæʃtʹə, ‘advantage’. Similarly b for m occurs in bo̤mwitʹə, ‘minute’, < Lat. momentum.

tʹrʹïblɔdʹ, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. tréblait, seems to have been borrowed during the M.Ir. period from Lat. tribu­latio.

§ 372. In several cases Donegal b corresponds to bh in the other dialects, e.g. kru꞉b, ‘paw, hand’, Di. crúb, crobh, Macbain crubh, Meyer crob, crúb; ʃkʹrʹi꞉b, ‘scratch, furrow’, M.Ir. scríb, scrípad, Lat. scribo but ʃkʹrʹiuw, ‘to write’; ʃo̤bərNỹ꞉ (ʃïbərNỹ꞉), ‘neglect’, gɔl əNʹ ʃ., ʃïbərNαχ Cl. S. 30 v ’03 p. 1 col. 1 (used of cattle getting mixed up and going astray), this seems to be the same word as Di. siabrán, ‑acht, cp. further Di. seabhais, seabhóid­eacht, seabh­óidim; ʃiəbuw, ‘to blow’, Di. siabhadh, Macbain siab, siabh, Manx sheebey.

mər bwiLʹ ʃə, ‘unless he is’, scarcely belongs here. The b doubtless repre­sents the copula inserted from αχ mər bʹə꞉, ‘if it had not been for him’, in the same way as a meaning­less əs (agus) is intro­duced in gədʹe꞉ mər əs tα꞉ tuw, ‘how are you?’ from phrases like Ni꞉Lʹ ʃə kɔ mαiç əs vi꞉ ʃə, ‘he is not as good as he was’.

4. bʹ.

§ 373. bʹ is formed in the same way as pʹ but is voiced.

§ 374. bʹ corresponds to O.Ir. initial b before e and i or preceding l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. bʹαn, ‘woman’, O.Ir. ben; bʹαNαχt, ‘blessing’, O.Ir. bendacht; bʹinʹidʹ, ‘rennet’, O.Ir. binid; bʹi꞉wi꞉, ‘slyly mis­chievous’, Meyer bibdaide; bʹlʹiïnʹ, ​‘year’, O.Ir. bliadain; bʹrʹi꞉, ‘vigour, force’, O.Ir. bríg; bʹrʹi꞉hər, ‘speech’, O.Ir. bríathar.

The eclipsed form of initial pʹ is bʹ, e.g. α bʹαtə, ‘their pet’; pʹi꞉sə he꞉ bʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘a sixpenny bit’.

§ 375. Medial and final bʹ arises from the same sources as b in §§ 371, 372 before originally palatal vowels. bʹ is far from being as frequent as b and a number of words in which it occurs are somewhat obscure. Examples – kʹi꞉bʹ, ‘sedge’, Di. cíb; kʹlʹibʹi꞉nʹ, ‘lump of dirt on the legs of a beast, matted hair on a person’, Di. clib, Macbain cliob, cp. ʃïnʹ ɛən çlʹibʹi꞉nʹ əwα̃꞉nʹ, ‘that is all one kettle of fish’; rïbʹə, ‘hair’, Di. ribe, ruibe, Macbain rib, ribeag < Engl. riban. In foreign words < p in ebʹrʹαn, ‘April’, Lat. aprilis (see ZCP. i 358); ïbʹrʹuw, ‘to work’, ïbʹrʹi꞉, ‘workman’, cp. O.Ir. oipred; pʹïbʹər, ‘pepper’, Lat. piper.

§ 376. bʹ has been analogically substituted for v in bʹigʹilʹ, ‘abstinence, vigil’, < Lat. vigilia; bʹi꞉ʃ ‘vice’, < Engl. ‘vice’. dʹirʹibʹ, ‘the name of a creeping thing that lives at the bottom of pools and is liable to be swallowed by cattle’, = Di. doirbh.

§ 377. sïbʹəLtə, ‘impudent’, seems to correspond to O’R. sodalta, Macbain saidealta, cp. Di. sotal.

5. t.

§ 378. t is formed by firmly pressing the front rim of the tongue against the upper teeth as in the case of L and N. The compression is very great and as contact is loosened very gradually a θ glide is distinctly heard. For t as a lenis see § 438.

§ 379. Initial t represents O.Ir. t before a, o, u or preceding r, l followed by these vowels, e.g. tαluw, ‘land’, O.Ir. talam; tαrgirʹə, ‘prophet’, cp. O.Ir. tairrngire; tαruw, ‘bull’, O.Ir. tarb; tïgʹəm, ‘I understand’, O.Ir. tuiccim; tɔlʹ, ‘will’, O.Ir. tol; tɔruw, ‘fruit’, M.Ir. torad; to꞉gælʹ ‘to raise’, M.Ir. tócbáil; tui (çαhə), ‘rainbow’, O.Ir. tuag; tyuw, ‘side’, O.Ir. tóib; tlUw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh; trα꞉, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth; trα꞉i, ‘shore’, M.Ir. trág, tráig.

t is prefixed in the nominative case to masculine substantives which began with a, o, u in O.Ir. when preceded by the article, e.g. ə tαhærʹ, ‘the father’. In the case of O.Ir. áis, óis, ‘people’, the t has become part and parcel of the word, e.g. dəN ti꞉s ɔ꞉g, ‘to the young people’. t is further prefixed to a feminine substantive with initial s followed in O.Ir. by one of the vowels ​a, o, u or by l or r, before the same vowels, when preceded by the article an, e.g. ə tro꞉n, ‘the nose’; erʹ ə trα꞉dʹ, ‘in the street’. Also to a masculine substan­tive under like condi­tions when preceded by a prepo­sition and the definite article, e.g. dəN tïgərt, ‘to the priest’.

§ 380. t after r, l, χ in words of native origin goes back to Idg. t, e.g. αLt, ‘joint’, M.Ir. alt, < *paltos; mɔLt, ‘wether’, cp. Lat. multo; tαrt, ‘thirst’, cp. Engl. thirst; ʃαχt, ‘seven’, Lat. septem; tʹαχt ‘coming’, O.Ir. techt, <*tiktā; bɔχt, ‘poor’, O.Ir. bocht, < *bog-to‑; o̤χt, ‘breast’, O.Ir. ucht, cp. Lat. pectus; əNo̤χt, ‘to-night’, O.Ir. innocht, cp. Lat. noct-is; kαrtαn, ‘sheep-louse’, M.Ir. cart; bʹα꞉Ltinʹə, ‘May’, M.Ir. beltene, belltaine; gα꞉Ltə, ‘Prot­estant’, Di. gallta, for the ending cp. gαstə, ‘quick, smart’, M.Ir. gasta. Similarly in loan-words from Latin, e.g. kʹαrt, ‘right’, O.Ir. cert < Lat. certus; sïgərt, ‘priest’, O.Ir. sacart, sacardd (why t and not d? the form is peculiar in other respects, cp. § 103); bʹαNαχt, ‘blessing, greeting’, O.Ir. bendacht < Lat. bene­dictio.

§ 381. Otherwise medial and final t usually represents an older tt before original a, o, u (O. and M.Ir. tt, t), e.g. αt, ‘swelling’, O.Ir. att; bαtə, ‘stick’, M.Engl. batte; brαt, ‘flag’ (brαt mαruw, ‘shroud’), O.Ir. bratt; bʹiətαχ, ‘hospital­ler’, M.Ir. bíattach; tʹi꞉r Nə mʹrʹαtən, ‘Wales’, M.Ir. Brettan (gen. plur.), the word for ‘Welshman’ is bʹrʹαn̥αχ; kαt, ‘cat’, M.Ir. catt; pʹαtə, ‘pet’, M.Ir. petta (evidently an early borrowing but its precise origin is not clear); sLαt, ‘rod’, M.Ir. slat.

In late loan-words from English Donegal t = Engl. t, e.g. hαtə, ‘hat’; kɔ꞉tə, ‘coat’; ru꞉tə, ‘root’. bαtæLʹtʹə, ‘an armful’, b. fʹeirʹ, ‘a wap of hay’, < Engl. bottle (?), may have come in in the middle period or quite recently, cp. Sg. Fearn. botán p. 100 = O’R. boiteán.

§ 382. t and tʹ not infrequently interchange as the initial of substan­tives, a natural confusion seeing that the aspirated form of both is h, e.g. tαstælʹ, ‘to want’, Di. teas­tuighim, cp. O.Ir. tesstá. The alter­nation in tʹαχ, ‘house’, gen. sing. tiə, occurs already in O.Ir. and is due to vowel-gradation.

§ 383. t has in a few cases been prefixed to words beginning with a vowel or f, cp. ə ti꞉s ɔ꞉g § 379. Examples – to̤bəN, ‘sudden’, M.Ir. opond; tuəmʹ tα̃꞉uw, ‘an idle rumour’, v. Di. tuaim = fuaim. Cp. tʹiLʹuw by the side of fʹiLʹuw, ‘to return’, v. Di. tilleadh.

​§ 384. d followed by fh, th or ch gives t, e.g. dʹɛətiNʹ, ‘I might’, = d’fheudfainn; statə mʹə, ‘I shall stop’; kətiə, ‘why’, < cad chuige.

§ 385. In the present and imperfect passive the tendency is to substitute t for th in the ending in order to distinguish these tenses from the future and conditional in such cases as kʹαptər, çαpti꞉, bʹrʹαktər, ꬶlαkti꞉, iərtər. From dʹerʹəm, ‘I say’, the usual form is dʹɛrtər, though dʹɛr̥ər may be heard. For dʹɛrtər cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to Pron. of Irish p. 18 ꞉ “In Munster the t in the termination of the autonomous present is usually broad – e.g. innstear is pronounced ínnstar”. In the second conjugation the termination of the imperfect passive is ‑i꞉sti, never ‑i꞉ʃtʹi꞉, e.g. dʹiNʹʃi꞉sti꞉, ‘used to be related’. For the ending cp. the new past participle termination ‑i꞉ʃtʹə.

§ 386. A parasitic t is frequently added after χ, L, N, s, t, e.g. i꞉Nʹtʹαχt, ‘a certain’, Di. éiginteach s. éigin (cp. G. J. June ’03 p. 337); tαməLt, ‘a while’, Di. tamall; tα̃uw̥əNt, ‘barking’, M.Ir. toffund; fo̤rəst, ‘easy’, M.Ir. urussa; grα꞉st (also grα꞉stə), ‘grace’, Di. grás; bʹrʹïst huw, ‘a plague on you’ = bʹirʹ əs huw. Also fɔstαχt, fɔstαt, ‘besides’, < fɔstə, fɔ꞉st, Di. fós influenced by fʹαstə, ‘yet’.

6. tʹ.

§ 387. In producing this sound the front rim of the tongue is pressed against the top teeth or the edge of the lower teeth whilst the front of the tongue is brought against the front part of the hard palate. A similar sound is frequent in English in words like ‘ritual’ when not pronounced with tʃ. I have not noticed any tendency in Donegal for tʹ to pass into tʃ as in parts of Connaught, Manx and Scotch Gaelic. The contact for tʹ is however broken very gradually and a glide resembling ʃ is heard. For tʹ as a lenis see § 438.

§ 388. tʹ corresponds to O.Ir. initial t before e, i or preceding r followed by those vowels, e.g. tαχ ‘house’, O.Ir. tech; tʹαN, ‘tight’, O.Ir. tend; tʹαŋy꞉, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge; tʹe`, ‘hot’, M.Ir. teith beside tee, té; tʹiəχɔg, ‘chest for meal’, M.Ir. tíach; tʹinʹi, ‘fireʹ, O.Ir. tene; tʹiNʹəs, ‘sickness’, M.Ir. tinnes; tʹïNtα, ‘to turn’, cp. O.Ir. tintúuth; tʹrʹɛən, ‘strong’, M.Ir. trén; tʹrʹiən, ‘third’, M.Ir. trian; tʹrʹeigʹəm, ‘I abandon’, M.Ir. trécim. tʹ precedes lʹ in tʹlʹigʹən but this is due to a late metathesis (§ 440).

​tʹ is prefixed to a feminine substantive beginning with ʃ followed by a vowel or Lʹ, Nʹ, when the article an precedes, and also to masculine and feminine substan­tives under similar condi­tions when preceded by a prepo­sition and the definite article, e.g. ə tʹαnvαn, ‘the old woman’; ə tʹlʹiʃ, ‘the chip’; erʹ ə tʹrʹαχtə, ‘on the snow’. Masculine substan­tives which in O.Ir. began with e, i take tʹ after the article in the nomi­native singular, e.g. ə tʹαLαχ, ‘the cattle’, but lʹeʃ ə NʹαLαχ, ‘with the cattle’. However the younger genera­tion is beginning to introduce tʹ in the latter case also.

§ 389. Medially and finally tʹ arises from an earlier tt which original­ly stood before e or i. In O. and M.Ir. tt, t is written. Examples – α꞉tʹ, ‘place’, M.Ir. áit; ætʹənαχ, ‘furze’, M.Ir. aittenn; etʹɔg, ‘wing’, O.Ir. ette. Similarly in the loan-word Lʹitʹirʹ, ‘letter’, O.Ir. liter, Welsh llythyr. tʹ (< t) also occurs after Lʹ, Nʹ, r, ʃ in native and borrowed words, e.g. ku꞉rtʹ, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cúairt: kʹeʃtʹ, ‘question’, M.Ir. ceist, < Lat. quaestio; kyNʹtʹiNʹ, ‘dispute’, < Lat. contentio; dʹα mα꞉rtʹ, ‘Tuesday’, Lat. Martis; sLα꞉Nʹtʹə, ‘health’, M.Ir. sláinte.

§ 390. t and tʹ frequently interchange initially, see § 383. tʹ regularly appears in tʹïtʹəmʹ, ‘to fall’, M.Ir. tuitim; tʹiLʹuw, ‘to deserve, addi­tional amount’, M.Ir. tuilled. The Donegal form of Di. aistear is αstər (χlïNʹə), ‘labour’.

§ 391. tʹ results from i. dʹ + h (< fh, th) in gytʹə mʹə, ‘I shall steal’, pres. pass. gytʹər, past part. gytʹə; trïtʹə mʹə, ‘I shall fight’, imperf. pass. r̥ïtʹi꞉; brïtʹə mʹə, ‘I shall nudge’, Di. broid­ighim; ʃeitʹi ʃə, ‘it will blow’, Di. séidim. ii. th + sh in Lʹetʹeçə, ‘a half-hide’, = leath-sheithche (also called Lʹα`ʃeçə), but ·Lʹα·hα꞉stə, ‘half-satisfied’. iii. d + ch in tʹi꞉m, ‘I see’, M.Ir. atchímm. iv. the third singular termi­nation ‑adh becomes ‑ït(ʹ), ət(ʹ), ‑itʹ when followed by one of the pronouns e꞉ ʃi꞉ ʃiəd, e.g. gə wi꞉tʹ ʃə, ‘that he would get’. Pedersen maintains that the syllable is ‑əd and not ‑itʹ (p. 161). What I believe I hear is t(ʹ) or a lenis t(ʹ) (see infra § 393).

In αχmwirtʹ, ‘heat in horses’, tʹ has taken the place of kʹ, cp. Di. eachmairc.

§ 392. A parasitic tʹ is frequently added to words ending in lʹ, nʹ, ʃ, e.g. sα͠uwiLʹtʹ in Nʹi꞉ αkə mʹə ə sα͠uwiLʹtʹ də wrĩ꞉, ‘I never saw such a woman’, Di. samhail; kyNʹæLʹtʹ, ‘to keep’, Di. congbháil; fα꞉gæLʹtʹ, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil and so with other infini­tives in ‑ælʹ, kʹrʹedʹvæLʹtʹ, ædʹvæLʹtʹ; bwiNʹtʹ, ‘to pull, ​pluck, reap’, O.Ir. buain; kαnu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘speech’, Di. canamhain; Lʹαnu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to follow’, M.Ir. lenmain; fwïlʹiNʹtʹ, ‘to suffer’, Di. fuiling; tαrNʹtʹ, ‘to pull’, Di. tarraing. On the analogy of these and other infin­itives in tʹ we get rα꞉tʹ, ‘to say’, O.Ir. rád (cp. foghlaimt Sg. Fearn. p. 24). Further ərʹi꞉ʃtʹ, ‘again’, Di. arís; erʹeʃtʹ, ‘back’, < ar ais; -mwiʃtʹ in the 1st plur. of the imperfect (J. C. Ward denies the existence of this ending in Donegal and it is not admitted by Craig either, but J. H. uses it regularly), cp. Spir. Rose p. 8 smuadh­uamuist.

§ 393. The off-glide mentioned above as accompanying tʹ is frequent­ly not heard when another consonant immediate­ly follows. This we denote by writing t(ʹ) Examples – tæt(ʹ)nʹi꞉m, ‘I please’; skαrt(ʹ) kïlʹi꞉, ‘cock-crow’; ə ho꞉rt(ʹ) lʹïm, ‘to bring with me’; to꞉rt(ʹ) ko꞉rLʹə, ‘giving advice’; ho꞉rt(ʹ) suəs, ‘giving up’, also hɔrt suəs; kæNʹt(ʹ) lʹïm, ‘talking with me’.

An ordinary alveolar t occurs in late loan-words from English such as te꞉, ‘tea’; tre꞉n, ‘train’.

7. d.

§ 394. d corresponds in formation to t, the stop itself and the off-glide being voiced.

§ 395. Initial d corresponds to O.Ir. d before a, o, u or preceding l, r followed by the same vowels, e.g. dα̃iən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen; dαL, ‘blind’, M.Ir. dall; dælʹi꞉, ‘difficult’, M.Ir. doilig; devrʹəs, ‘poverty’ (not common), cp. M.Ir. daidbre; dinʹə, ‘man’, O.Ir. dune; dɔ꞉rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; dUw̥, ‘black’, M.Ir. dub; du꞉r̥αχt, ‘zeal’, O.Ir. dúthracht; dli꞉, ‘lock of hair, handful of straw, hay, potatoes &c.’, dli꞉ ə wo̤Ly꞉, ‘top-stopple in thatching’, Di. dlaoi; dreçəd, ‘bridge’, M.Ir. drochet.

d also occurs initially as the eclipsed form of t, e.g. ə dαruw, ‘their bull’; gə dαrNʹi mʹə, ‘till I pull’; ə dæʃkʹi꞉, ‘put by, in a place of safety’, cp. M.Ir. taiscim.

fα di꞉widə, ‘about it, about’, also αχə·di꞉widə is not clear. The prepo­sition fα usually aspirates as in the toast fα hu꞉rʹəmʹ huw ə və sLα꞉n. Perhaps we may compare Manx mygeayrt, ‘about’, = O.Ir. imacúairt with stereo­typed 3rd plur. form.

§ 396. Medial and final d in native words goes back to an older dd which arose from various sources. In O. and M.Ir. tt, t is written. i. For d < Prim. Keltic dd I have no examples, ii. Prim. Keltic zd occurs in fαdə, ‘long’, O.Ir. fota; fʹαd, ​‘a whistle’, M.Ir. fetán, Welsh chwythu; gαd, ‘withe’, M.Ir. gat, Gothic gazds, Lat. hasta; kʹαd, ‘permis­sion’, O.Ir. cet; Nʹαd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net, Ohg. nest. iii. nt gave dd with compen­satory lengthen­ing, e.g. dʹɛəd, ‘row of teeth’, O.Ir. dét, Welsh dant, Lat. dentem; ɛəd, ‘jealousy’, O.Ir. ét, Gaulish Iantu-marus; fʹɛədəm, ‘I may’, M.Ir. fétaim; kʹɛəd, ‘hundred’, O.Ir. cét, Welsh cant, Lat. centum.

After r Prim. Keltic d remains but not after l, n, e.g. ɔ꞉rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, O.Ir. ordd, Welsh ordd; kʹɛrdʹ = ceird for ceard, ‘trade, profes­sion’, M.Ir. cerd, Welsh cerdd, Gk. κέρδος. Similarly in Lat. loan-words, e.g. ɔ꞉rd, ‘order’, O.Ir. ord, Lat. ordo.

§ 397. In earlier loan-words medial and final d corresponds to a Romance or Engl. t which was received as a lenis and later became d. In the earliest borrow­ings we find th = Lat t, v. Pedersen p. 170. Examples – bα꞉d, ‘boat’, M.Ir. bát, O.E. bát, Norse bátr; bʹαrαd, ‘cap’, Di. bairéad, < Low Lat. birretum; klo̤gəd, ‘helmet’, M.Ir. cloc-att, Norse hattr, Engl. hat; pα꞉drikʹ, ‘Patrick’, O.Ir. Patricc, Lat. Patricius; pʹαdər, ‘Peter’, Lat. Petrus; sö̤꞉d, ‘flint’, O.Ir. saiget, < Lat. sagitta; spʹïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut, Lat. spiritus; stαd, ‘stop’, founded on Lat. status; tʹïdəl, ‘title’, Lat. titulus; u꞉dər, ‘author’, O.Ir. auctor. t probably became a lenis in pretonic syllables (Pedersen p. 153), whence the d of də, ‘your’, də, ‘to’; dirʹ fʹiə, ‘by my faith’, Di. dar, O.Ir. tar. The pronom­inal suffix of the second pers. sing. used after prepo­sitions in Donegal is always d, e.g. fʹrʹi꞉d, ‘through you’; fu꞉d, ‘below you’; rõ꞉d, ‘before you’; əgəd, ‘with you’.

§ 398. In other loan-words medial or final d corresponds to Engl. d, e.g. bɔ꞉rdi꞉ erʹ, ‘ap­proximate­ly’, < Engl. border; mʹi꞉du꞉n, ‘meadow’; pα꞉rdu꞉n, ‘pardon’; skαdαn, ‘herring’, M.Ir. scatan, < O.E. sceadda, Engl. shad; spαdαNtə, ‘seedy, exhausted’, Lat. spado; spα꞉d, ‘spade’.

§ 399. kruədαlαχ, ‘hardy’, Di. cruadhalach, cruadálach, probably owes its d to fαdαlαχ, ‘slow’, = fad-dálach. ə Nʹo̤məd, ‘great number’, o̤mədu꞉lʹ, ‘numerous’, ə Nʹo̤mətə = ə Nʹo̤məd, go back to O.Ir. imbed which should give *ïmʹuw. Judging from the spellings immat, iumat, imat in Atk., imat (Laws), the modern form with d already occurred in M.Ir. Can the d be due to form-associa­tion with O.Ir. méit, mét, which is closely allied in meaning? dægʹαn, ‘depths’, M.Ir. oician has got its d from do꞉nʹ, ‘deep’.

​

8. dʹ

§ 400. dʹ corresponds in formation to tʹ but is voiced. A somewhat similar sound occurs in such English words as ‘indi­vidual’ when not pro­nounced with dʒ.

§ 401. Initially dʹ represents O.Ir. d before e, i, or preceding r, l, followed by these vowels, e.g. dʹαləg, ‘thorn’, O.Ir. delg; dʹαrəməd, ‘forgetful­ness’, O.Ir. dermet; dʹerʹuw, ‘end’, O.Ir. dered; dʹiə, ‘God’, O.Ir. día; dʹĩ꞉wi꞉nʹ, ‘single’, M.Ir. dímáin; dʹlʹiuw, ‘law’, O.Ir. dliged; dʹɔ꞉r, ‘tear’, M.Ir. dér; dʹrʹeimʹirʹə, ‘ladder’, cp. M.Ir. dréimm; dʹrʹiʃɔg, ‘briar’, O.Ir. driss; dʹu꞉Ltuw, ‘refuse’, O.Ir. díltud.

The eclipsed form of tʹ is also dʹ, e.g. to̤guw ə dʹi꞉rʹ ə, ‘he was brought round’ (of a sick person); ꬶα꞉ dʹrʹiən, ‘two thirds’; χUə mwidʹ ər dʹrʹu꞉r, ‘the three of us went’.

§ 402. Medial and final dʹ in native words arose from an earlier dd standing before e or i which in O. and M.Ir. was written tt, t. This dd repre­sents i. Prim. Keltic dd in kʹrʹedʹəm, ‘I believe’, O.Ir. cretim, Welsh credu, Sanskrit šrad-dhā‑. ii. Prim. Keltic nt in mʹeidʹ, ‘size’, O.Ir. méit, Welsh maint; fwəidʹ, ‘patience’, O.Ir. foditiu from fo-damim; bʹrʹeidʹi꞉nʹ, ‘rag’, M.Ir. bréit. iii. Prim. Keltic zd in kydʹ, ‘piece, share’, O.Ir. cuit; mwædʹə, ‘stick’, cp. M.Ir. maite, matan, Engl. mast; ʃeidʹuw, ‘to blow’, M.Ir. sétim.

§ 403. In earlier loan-words medial and final dʹ corresponds to a Romance or English t which was received as a lenis and later became dʹ, e.g. bwidʹαl, ‘bottle’; inʹidʹ, in mα꞉rtʹ inʹidʹə, ‘Shrove Tuesday’, M.Ir. init, Lat. initium; Lædʹïn, ‘Latin’, < Latina; mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.), Lat. matutina; pwædʹrʹi꞉nʹ, ‘rosary’, < Lat. pater; srα꞉dʹ, ‘street’, M.Ir. sráit, Norse sráit. Latin words ending in ‑atio appear with ‑ɔdʹ, ‑ædʹ, e.g. po̤rəgɔdʹ, ‘purgative’, Di. purgóid; tʹrʹïblɔdʹ, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. treblait, < tribu­latio; ɔ꞉rædʹ, ‘speech’, < Lat. orate, oratio. This ending was also wrongly abstract­ed from one or two native words such as Nʹαskɔdʹ, ‘boil’, M.Ir. nescoit; o̤rəχɔdʹ, ‘harm’, O.Ir. erchoit and was trans­ferred to English loan-words such as bαskɔdʹ, ‘basket’; bo̤kɔdʹ, ‘bucket’; pʹïkɔdʹ, ‘pick’. bʹrʹïŋlɔdʹ, ‘dream’, Meyer bringlóit, perhaps also belongs here.

§ 404. Occasionally there is confusion between d and dʹ. M.Ir. drúcht generally appears as dʹrʹu꞉χtə; ædʹvælʹ, ‘to confess’, M.Ir. atmail, has been influ­enced by kʹrʹedʹvælʹ; o̤lꬶα꞉rdəs, ‘re​joicing’, is the Donegal for Di. iol­gháirdeas; dʹαr·di꞉nʹ, ‘Thursday’, O.Ir. dardóen, has dʹ by analogy with dʹα Lu꞉nʹ, ‘Monday’ &c.

do, ‘tuus’, and the verbal particle do before an O.Ir. palatal initial usually appear as dʹ, e.g. dʹαr, ‘your husband’; dʹɛədən, ‘your face’; but generally tα꞉ Lʹeʃkʹ ɔrəm detʹuw, ‘I am loath to refuse you’; dʹiNiʃ mʹə, ‘I related’.

§ 405. The relation of mʹihidʹ, ‘due time’, to Wi. mithich, mithig is not clear. Donegal also has a sub­stantive mʹihəs. It is perhaps worthy of note that mʹihidʹ is commonly accom­panied by the prepo­sition də, ‘to’, and both *mʹihih and mʹihidʹ would appear as mʹihi before də. bwi꞉dʹαχ, ‘tiny’, is perhaps the same as Scotch G. bóidheach, ‘pretty’, < M.Ir. buadech, ‘victori­ous’. bwi꞉dʹαχ is generally used along with bʹïg, as in gʹïtə bʹïg bwi꞉dʹαχ, ‘a tiny, little bit’. The dʹ is due to such adjec­tives as mʹieidʹαχ, ‘impatient’. For the meaning cp. German klein with Engl. clean.

§ 406. dʹ disappears after the negative Nʹi꞉ in the parts of dʹerʹəm, ‘I say’, e.g. Nʹi꞉ ɛrsə, ‘he does not say’; Nʹi꞉ ɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall not say’; Nʹi꞉ u꞉rtʹ mʹə, ‘I did not say’ (more commonly Nʹi꞉rʹ u꞉rtʹ mʹə); but mα dʹɛrsə, ‘if he says’.

§ 407. The off-glide which accompanies dʹ is frequently not heard before a following consonant. This we denote by writing d(ʹ), e.g. vi꞉ bαskɔd(ʹ) lʹeihə, ə mʹɛd(ʹ) klɔχ, du꞉rt(ʹ) mʹə.

§ 408. In dʹαləgαn, ‘the white of an egg’, dʹ arises by dissimi­lation from gʹ cp. Di. gealacán, Macleod gealagán.

9. k.

§ 409. The Irish k is formed much further back against the soft palate than is the case in English or German. This marked velar quality is not without influence on neighbour­ing vowels, thus i(꞉) commonly becomes retracted to y(꞉) after k and g. Before palatal vowels an off-glide resemb­ling a w-sound is clearly heard. Like p and t k is strongly aspirated and therefore a verb with stem ending in k may be identical in the present and future, e.g. dʹαrky(꞉) ʃə, ‘he looks’ or ‘will look’. For k as a lenis see § 438.

§ 410. Initially k corresponds to O.Ir. c before other vowels than e or i, or preceding l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. kαm, ‘bent’, O.Ir. camm; kαridʹ, ‘friend’, O.Ir. cara; kïlʹαn, ‘pup’, M.Ir. cuilen; kɔləg, ‘awn’, M.Ir. colg; kɔsu꞉lʹ, ‘similar’, ​O.Ir. cosmail; kõ꞉rLʹə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; ko̤Luw, ‘sleep’, O.Ir. cotlud; ko̤Lαχ, ‘boar’, O.Ir. cullach; ku꞉rtʹ, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cuairt; ku꞉l, ‘back’, O.Ir. cúul; kyLʹ ‘wood’, M.Ir. caill; klα꞉r, ‘board’, O.Ir. claar; klæʃ, ‘furrow’, M.Ir. class; krækʹəN, ‘skin’, O.Ir. croccenn; krα̃꞉v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim.

§ 411. Medial and final k in native words represents an older kk which in O.Ir. is written cc, e.g. αku꞉Nʹ ‘strength, endurance’, Di. acfuinn, M.Ir. accmaing; bαkαχ ‘lame’, M.Ir. baccach; bαkαn, ‘hook, peg, armful’, O.Ir. bacc (ə mo̤n ə wαkænʹ, ‘staying at home to keep house’); bɔk, ‘he-goat’, O.Ir. bocc, Welsh bwch, Sanskrit bukka; bʹrʹαk, ‘varie­gated, a trout’, M.Ir. brecc; glαkuw, ‘to take’, M.Ir. glaccad; kαk, ‘excrement’, M.Ir. cacc, Gk. κάκκη; kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; Lʹαkinʹ, ‘cheek’, M.Ir. lecco; mαk, ‘son’, O.Ir. macc; mʹαkænʹ, ‘turnips’, O.Ir. mecon; ɔkrəs, ‘hunger’, M.Ir. accorus; trɔ꞉kirʹə, ‘mercy’, should have g but has probably been influ­enced by O.Ir. carimm, see Pedersen p. 148.

Latin loan-words with cc also appear with k, e.g. pʹαkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad, Lat. peccatum; sαk, ‘bag, sack’, M.Ir. sacc, O.E. sacc, Lat. saccus; ʃïk, ‘frost’, M.Ir. sicc, < Lat. siccum.

§ 412. After l, r and s Ir. k represents Prim. Keltic k which in O.Ir. is written cc, c, e.g. ɔlk, ‘bad’, O.Ir. olcc; αrk ʃLʹeivə, ‘lizard’, M.Ir. erc; dʹαrkəm, ‘I look’, M.Ir. dercaim; ö̤꞉rk, ‘horn’, O.Ir. adarc.

§ 413. In late loan-words from English k represents Engl. k, e.g. pɔ꞉kə, ‘pocket’, < Engl. poke, pocket; stα꞉kə, ‘stake’; stɔkə, ‘stocking’; sLo꞉k, ‘sloke’. Probably also plo̤k, ‘cheek’, < Engl. block; pu꞉kə, ‘a sprite’, Norse puki (?); ʃu꞉krə, ‘sugar’, French sucre.

§ 414. k sometimes arises from g followed by h < th, e.g. Lʹïkə, ‘over­thrown’, infin. Lʹïgən; pɔ꞉kə mʹə, ‘I shall kiss’, from pɔ꞉guw. In ʃLʹi꞉kuw, ‘to smooth down’, the k of the past part. and future seems to have been carried through, cp. Di. slíogadh. ko̤ki꞉ʃ, ‘fortnight’, has k for kʹ, M.Ir. cóic­thiges.

§ 415. In a number of words the various Gaelic dialects hesitate between g and k. Donegal usually has k in these cases, e.g. klα꞉bər, ‘mire’, Di. Macbain clábar and gláib; krɔ꞉gʹuw, ‘footing peat’, krɔ꞉gʹαn, ‘a foot of peat, a dimin­utive person’, Di. cruiceadh, gruaig­eadh, grógán, O’R. gróigein, Macbain gròigean; klα͠uwərtʹ, ‘picking where there is no grass’ (of cows), ​cp. Di. glámaim; kruəgy:, ‘liver’, O’R. grubhan, Macbain grùthan, grùan (for the ending cp. skα͠ukwɔg); koihαn, ‘torch’, O’R. gaithean, ‘a straight branch’ (?); kαb, ‘the part of the face between the upper lip and the nose, mouth’, kαbαχ, ‘with gusto’, Di. cab, which Macbain derives from Engl. gap and gab. αspUk, ‘bishop’, stands for αskəb, αskUb by metathesis.

§ 416. truəkαNtə, ‘wretched’, Di. truaghánta, owes its ending to words like mαkαNtə. A parasitic k occurs in ʃαnəχəsk, ‘gossiping, story-telling’, M.Ir. senchus. In gɔrti:wə l′ɛ, ‘depending on’, = i gcortaobh le, we probably have the older form of Di. tortaobh: “P. O’C. says tortaobh = cortaobh”.

k appears instead of k′ in ko̤Nỹ:, ‘tame’, M.Ir. cendaid.

10. k′.

§ 417. By this symbol we denote a palatal k formed with the middle of the tongue against the hard palate. When final a j-off-glide is visually heard. Like k k′ is aspirated and a following th, fh is therefore not heard as a separate sound, e.g. fα:ʃk′ər = fáiscthear. For k′ as lenis see § 438.

§ 418. Initial k′ represents O.Ir. c before e, i, or preceding l, r followed by these vowels, e.g. k′αd, ‘leave’, O.Ir. cet; k′αχtər, ‘either’, O.Ir. cechtar; k′αNsuw, ‘to pacify’, O.Ir. cense; k′αp, ‘last’, M.Ir. cep; k′αrt, ‘right’, M.Ir. cert; k′ɛəsLαχ, ‘fine wool on the legs of a sheep, stick for propelling a coracle’, Di. céaslach; k′el′əm, ‘I hide’, O.Ir. celimm; k′ïn, ‘regard’, Meyer cin; k′iəL, ‘sense’, O.Ir. cíall; k′in′uw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. ciniud; k′ɔ:, ‘mist’, M.Ir. ceó; k′ɔ:l, ‘music’, M.Ir. ceól; k′u:n′, ‘still’, M.Ir. ciúin; k′ũ:ʃ ‘edge’, Meyer cimas; k′l′iuw, ‘basket’, M.Ir. clíab; k′l′αuwni:, ‘son-in-law’, Meyer clíamain; k′r′αχ, ‘damage, ruin’, M.Ir. crech; k′r′i^ç, ‘trembling’, M.Ir. crith.

§ 419. Medial and final k′ in native words goes back to an older kk before original e, i whether preserved or lost. In O.Ir. cc, c is written, e.g. m′in′ik′, ‘frequent’, O.Ir. menicc, Welsh mynych. In inflected forms of words ending in k as kro̤k, gen. sing. krik′, sαk, gen. sing. sik′.

In earlier loan-words k′ = kk in ʃteik′αχə, ‘bowels’, M.Ir. stæc, Norse stakka (RC. xii 460).

In late borrowings from English k′ = Engl. k, e.g. strα:k′, ‘swath’, < strake.

§ 420. Prim. Keltic (Idg.) k is retained after l, r, s, e.g., ​d′eir′k′ə, ‘alms’, O.Ir. deirce; ïm′ir′k′ə, ‘removing’, M.Ir. immirce, immirge; kɔr′k′ə, ‘oats’, Meyer coirce; iʃk′ə, ‘water’, O.Ir. uisce.

§ 421. k′ appears for g′ in Lα:r′ik′, ‘thigh’, Macbain làirig, M.Ir. laarg, O.Ir. loarcc. Here k′ may be due to the plural form Lα:r′ik′αχə, but this explanation will not hold good in other cases where Donegal seems to prefer final k′ to g′. The words in question are ge:l′ik′, ‘Irish’, M.Ir. goedeilg (in this word the voiceless sound is wide-spread, e.g. in the Isle of Man and Waterford, cp. Henebry p. 64); No̤Lik′, ‘Christmas’, Di. nodlaig (Finck has k′); kαrik′, ‘rock’, Di. Macbain carraig (Finck has g′); pα:drik′, ‘Patrick’, Pádruig (Finck has g′); hen′ik′, ‘came’, Di. tháinig, partly influenced by hen′ik′, ‘saw’. kɔʃr′ik′i:m, ‘I consecrate’, Di. coisreacaim, with k′ from the participle kɔʃr′əkə which is the commonest form of the verb used.

§ 422. k′ arises in futures and past participles from g′ + h (< fh, th), e.g. L′ik′ə m′ə, ‘I shall let’; t′r′eik′ə, ‘abandoned’.

§ 423. k′ appears instead of k in k′l′uw, ‘fame’, O.Ir. clú, k′l′u:t′αχ, ‘famous’, Scotch G. cliù; k′i:mwæl′, ‘to worry, contend’, Di. ciomaim < Engl. comb.

11. g.

§ 424. This symbol denotes the voiced sound corresponding to k for which see § 409.

§ 425. Initially g corresponds to O.Ir. g before the vowels a, o, u or preceding l, r, n, followed by these vowels, e.g. gαd, ‘switch’, M.Ir. gat; gα:r′ə, ‘a laugh’, M.Ir. gáire; gα:wuw, ‘jeopardy’, M.Ir. gábud; ger′id′, ‘short’, O.Ir. garit; ge:l′ik′, ‘Irish’, M.Ir. goedeilg; gɔlər, ‘disease’, O.Ir. galar; go:, ‘smith’, O.Ir. goba; g⅄:, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáith; gö̤:r, ‘hound’, M.Ir. gagar, gadar; gyr′im′, ‘call’, M.Ir. gairm; gy:, ‘beseech’, O.Ir. gude, guide; glαn, ‘clean’, O.Ir. glan; grui, ‘cheek’, M.Ir. gruad; grα:χ, ‘usual’, = gnáthach < O.Ir. gnáth.

The eclipsed form of k is g, e.g. mər gyd′, ‘your share’; ə gαhær′, ‘in a city’; er′ gu:l, ‘back, behind’, cp. jiərəgu:l, ‘remote spot’, Di. iargcúil. The prefix con- further causes this change in old compounds with initial c, e.g. ko̤gər, ‘whisper’, M.Ir. cocur = con-cur; kαgnuw, ‘to chew’, M.Ir. cocnam = con-cnám; ko̤gu:s, ‘conscience’, O.Ir. cocubus. See also next paragraph.

​§ 426. Medially and finally g arises from older gg which in O. and M.Ir. is written cc, c. This gg arises from i. Prim. Keltic gg by assimilation in αgəs, ‘and’, O.Ir. ocus, also ə wo̤gəs, ‘near’, O.Ir. ocus; bo̤g, ‘soft’, O.Ir. bocc; bαgər, ‘threaten’, M.Ir. bacur; Lo̤g, ‘weak’, M.Ir. lac; sLo̤gəm, ‘I swallow’, M.Ir. slucim, slocim; smo̤g, ‘snot’, Di. smug. ii. nk with compensatory lengthening, e.g. ɛəg, ‘death’, M.Ir. éc, O.Welsh ancou; g′ɛəg, ‘branch’, M.Ir. géc, Welsh cainc; ɛəgsα͠uwəLtə, ‘prodigious’, cp. O.Ir. écsamail < *n̥ + consm̥malis. iii. Prim. Keltic zg, e.g. m′ɛəg, ‘whey’, M.Ir. medg, Gaulish Lat. mesga; tö̤:g, ‘Thady’, O.Ir. Tadg, Gaulish Moritascus; mo̤gəl, ‘mesh’, O.Ir. mocol <*mozgu-, but why is there no lengthening of the vowel as in the two previous cases? The same question arises if we connect b′ïg, ‘small’, O.Ir. becc, with Lat. vescus. iv. O.Ir. assimilation of th + g, th + c in f′r′ïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; t′ïgəsk, ‘teaching’, M.Ir. tecosc < to-aith-cosc.

Prim. Keltic g is preserved after l, r, e.g. d′αləg, ‘thorn’, O.Ir. delg; d′αrəg, ‘red’, O.Ir. derg; f′αrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferg; ʃɛl′ig′ < ʃαləg, ‘hunting’, O.Ir. selg. Similarly in the loan-word po̤rəgɔd′, ‘purgative’. Donegal also has kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, M.Ir. corgus < Lat. quadragesima, but as the other dialects have gh (Di. corghas, Macbain carghus) the form is to be compared with the cases mentioned below in § 429.

§ 427. In earlier loan-words Lat. and Norse medial (final) c entered Irish as a lenis and ultimately gave g. The earliest borrowings undergo aspiration, e.g. bachall < baculus, laoch < laicus, for other instances see Pedersen p. 170. Examples – ïgliʃ, ‘the clergy’, O.Ir. eclais, Lat. ecclesia; brɔ:g, ‘shoe’, Meyer bróc, Norse brók; g′r′ɛəgαχ, ‘Greek’; mαrəguw, ‘market’, M.Ir. margad, Norse markaðr (RC. xi 494); pɔ:g, ‘kiss’, O.Ir. póc, Lat. pacem; sïgərt, ‘priest’, O.Ir. sacard, Lat. sacerdos; ʃïgəl, ‘rye’, M.Ir. secul, Lat. secale; d′ïgənαχ, ‘dean’, Lat. decanus.

§ 428. g arises from O.Ir. c in pretonic syllables. For gαχ, O.Ir. cach, cech; gən, ‘without’, O.Ir. cen; gə, O.Ir. co; gə·d′e:, O.Ir. cate, cote see Diss. pp. 12, 14, 33, 36. k′ɛ in k′ɛ gə, ‘though’, k′e:, ‘who’, and kα, k′α, ‘where’, never have g, g′. This also occurs before the stress in gæ·ʃαrəwan, ‘dandelion’, Di. caisearbhán; gæ·ʃα:, ‘pant’, cp. casachtach (?). The g of gɔʃt′ə, ‘jury’, Di. coiste, cannot be explained in this way. The form is to be compared with the cases of hesitation between k and g mentioned in § 415.

​§ 429. In a number of instances we find O.Ir. d (i.e. dh) occurring in Donegal as g. Monosyllables ending in ‑eadh, ‑eagh, ‑iogh, regularly appear with ‑ïg, e.g. f′ïg, ‘length’, O.Ir. ed (commonly written feag by Donegal writers, cp. D. P. 21 xi ’03 p. 3 col. 3, Craig Iasg.); f′l′ïg, ‘chickweed’, Manx flig or flee, Hogan, O’R. fliodh, fligh, Di. flich; ʃL′ïg, ‘spear’, M.Ir. sleg; f′ïg, ‘rush’, according to J. H. has the alternative pronunciation f′ə⅄ and may therefore represent M.Ir. *fed but Hogan has fiag, Di. feog. The adjective termination ‑dha tends to become ‑gə < ‑ꬶə, cp. Henebry p. 60, G. J. 1891 p. 79 col. 2, e.g. dɔrəgə, ‘stern, cross-looking’, Keat. dorrdha, Macbain durga, also dɔrəgə, ‘fishing-line’, Di. dorugha, doruighe; krɔ:gə, ‘valiant’, M.Ir. cróda; further d′iəgαNtə, ‘pious’, d′iəgir′ə, ‘a pious person’ <*diəgə, Henebry diaga p. 60, O.Ir. díade. Similarly to̤gə, ‘strap on flail’ (?). g represents gh jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó; kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, Di. corghas, M.Ir. corgus. rïgræʃt′ə beside rə⅄ræʃt′ə, ‘arrears’, Di. riaraiste, seems based on Engl. ‘arrears’ but I cannot explain the form.

12. g′.

§ 430. This symbol represents a palatal g similar in formation to k′ but voiced.

§ 431. g′ corresponds to O.Ir. initial g followed by e, i or preceding r, l, n followed by these vowels, e.g. g′αL, ‘promise’, O.Ir. gell; g′ɛvr′uw, ‘winter’, M.Ir. gemred; g′ɛ:r, ‘sharp’, M.Ir. gér; g′ïLə, ‘servant’, M.Ir. gilla; g′u:s, ‘fir’, M.Ir. gíus; g′l′αN, ‘valley’, M.Ir. glend; g′l′ɛəs, ‘meaus, instrument’, M.Ir. glés; g′r′ɛəsαn, ‘web’, M.Ir. gréss; g′r′iən, ‘sun’, O.Ir. grían.

g′ also occurs initially as the eclipsed form of k′, e.g. ə g′αrt, ‘alright’, i gceart; bo̤nuw Nə g′αL, ‘the people of Killybegs’, bunadh na gCeall. Medially in eig′iəL, ‘lack of sense’, cp. Di. éigcialluidhe.

§ 432. Medially and finally g′ goes back to an older gg before a palatal vowel (O.Ir. written cc, c), e.g. sm′ig′, ‘chin’, M.Ir. smeice; ʃL′ig′αn, ‘shell’, O.Ir. slice. This gg frequently represents Prim. Kelt. nk, e.g. eig′ən, ‘necessity’, O.Ir. écen, W. angen; ku:g′, ‘five’, O.Ir. cóic < *qonqe; L′ig′əm, ‘I let’, O.Ir. léiccim, cp. Lat. linquo; t′ig′əm, ‘I come’, O.Ir. ticc; t′r′eig′əm, ‘I abandon’, M.Ir. trécim, W. trancu.

g′ goes back to a lenis in the loan-word dæg′αn, ‘depths’, M.Ir. oician, Lat. oceanus; also in klæg′əN, ‘skull’, Di. cloigeann, Meyer cloccenn < *cloch-chenn, cp. Pedersen p. 146.

​§ 433. After r, l g′ goes back to Idg. g, e.g. m′ir′ig′, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg; fαrəg′ə, ‘sea’, O.Ir. fairggæ, foirrce; ær′əg′ïd, ‘money’, O.Ir. arget, W. ariant.

§ 434. g′ appears for d′ in two words. This substitution seems to take place not infrequently in Sc. Gaelic dialects, cp. ZCP. iv 507. The words in question are g′r′i:dαn, ‘dregs’, = Di. Macbain dríodar; g′ɔ:kαn to̤·bαkə, ‘a small lump of tobacco’, Di. geocán and diúcán, deocán. The form with d′ also occurs in d′ïkαn m′ïn′ə, ‘a small quantity of meal’. For k′ and g′ in krɔ:g′uw see § 415.

g′ represents Engl. j in g′ïtə, Di. giota, ‘bit’, < Engl. ‘jot’.

§ 435. Occasionally g′ is hardened from O.Ir. d, g (=gh), thus regularly in the imperative second plur. of all verbs, though it must have arisen in verbs of the second conjugation. The ending was ‑ighidh, i.e. iji: which gave ‑ig′i:, e.g. ïm′ig′i:, ‘depart’; b′ig′i:, ‘be’; d′α:nig′i:, ‘do’. Craig (Grammar² p. 123) quotes a form with d (= d′) which I have never heard. This is evidently the same as Manx ‑jee (Rhys p. 154 where a wrong explanation is given). We further find g′ for gh in ũig′, ‘cave’ (also ũi) < uaigh, M.Ir. uag (the words for ‘cave’ and ‘grave’ have been confused), cp. Di. uaig; in′ig′iL′t′, ‘grazing’, Di. ingheilt; ig′iN′, ‘ring to put round the neck of cattle’ (not in dictionaries), formed from M.Ir. id (?).

§ 436. Intervocalic g seems to have a tendency to become a spirant and to disappear in Donegal. The only instance I find in Finck is the case of the preposition ag with the pronominal suffixes (l.c. i p. 127, əs < əgəs does not belong here), cp. § 170. But in the peninsula of Glencolumbkille this treatment of intervocalic g seems to be regular in the word for ‘priest’ and the pronominal forms of ag, see G. J. 1891 p. 79 col. 2. In Meenawannia g′ is treated in this way in kə·tiə, ‘why’, < cad chuige; i:N′t′αχ, ‘a certain’, < éiginteach, íginteach (i:n′αχ also occurs < eig′in′αχ), cp. Di. s. éigin.

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