<A Dialect of Donegal

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§ 1. We distinguish the following:—

Short vowels:—α, æ, ɛ, e, ï,i, ɔ, o, U, o̤, y, ⅄, ə.

Long vowels:—α꞉, ɛ꞉, e꞉, i꞉, ɔ꞉, o꞉, u꞉, y꞉, ⅄꞉, ö̤꞉

Diphthongs:—αi, αu, α꞉i, α꞉u, ɛi, ɛu, ɛə, ei, e꞉i, iə, iu, ɔi, ɔ꞉i, uə, ui, yə, əu, ə⅄.

§ 2. The only a-sound which occurs in Donegal is thea of French ‘ma’ (Sweet mid-back-wide-outer). In this bookα is written for purposes of con­venience.

§ 3. This sound frequently represents O.Ir. a in accented syllables before non-palatal con­sonants, e.g.αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm;αt, ‘swelling’, O.Ir. att;fαnαχt ‘to stay, remain’, O.Ir. anaim;kαpəL, ‘mare’, M.Ir. capall;mαk, ‘son’, O.Ir. macc;mαLαχt, ‘curse’, O.Ir. maldacht;tαχtuw, ‘to choke’, O.Ir. tachtad;tαrt, ‘thirst’, O.Ir. tart;tαruw, ‘bull’, M.Ir. tarb.

§ 4. O.Ir. e before non-palatal con­sonants in accented syllables usually givesα, e.g.αχ, ‘steed’, O.Ir. ech;αlə, ‘swan’, M.Ir. ela;αŋ, ‘splice, strip’,αŋαχ, ‘fisherman’s net’, M.Ir. eng;dʹrʹαm, ‘crowd’, M.Ir. dremm;dʹαrəg, ‘red’, O.Ir. derg;fʹαr, ‘man’, O.Ir. fer;gʹαl, ‘white’, M.Ir. gel;kʹαχtər, ‘either’, O.Ir. cechtar;Lʹαnuw, ‘child’, M.Ir. lenab;Nʹαd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net;pʹαkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad;ʃαsuw, ‘to stand’, M.Ir. sessom;tʹαχ, ‘house’, O.Ir. tech. The fact that O.Ir. accented e and a result in the same sound leads to great confusion when they​occur initially. Hence the final of the article is frequent­ly palatal in cases where in O.Ir. the initial was a, not e, e.g.tα꞉ ʃɛ erʹ ə Nʹαsəl = tá sé air an asal, ‘he’s badly drunk’, M.Ir. assal; similarly one only hearsə tʹαspəl, ‘the apostle’, O.Ir. apstal, cp. easbal M^cCurtin, Grammar p. 103;ə tʹαsrïgər, ‘a back-answer, sharp retort’ < ais-fhreagar. This un­certain­ty as to the quality of the old initial we shall have occasion to deal with in § 452. In this con­nection we might mention the curious formαnəN inmər ə NʹαnəN, kũαnəN, ‘alike, level, equal’, O.Ir. inonn. We should expect *o̤nəN but compare ea for io in Co. Monaghan in ionad, tionn­tuigh &c. (Gaelic Journal 1896 p. 147 col. 2).

§ 5. Not infrequentlyα stands for O.Ir. a in accented syllables followed by a palatal consonant, for which ai is now written. This is par­ticular­ly the case before inter­vocalich < th, where the change seems to have occurred already in M.Ir., cp. Meyer athaigim < aithigim. aith- > ath- is also a feature of Desmond Irish, v.Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish p. 86. Examples:kαhũw, ‘to spend, wear, throw’, O.Ir. caithem (Craig writes cathadh);ə wα̃hə lʹɛ, ‘for the sake of’, Di. mar (ar) mhaithe le, as inə wα̃hə lʹeihə heinʹ ə nʹi꞉s ə kαt krɔ꞉nαn, ‘it is for her own good that the cat purs’,Nʹi꞉ gə ho̤mlα꞉n ə wα̃hə lʹeʃ ə wUNtæʃtʹə αχ wα̃hə lʹeʃ ə fʹlʹeiʃu꞉r, ‘not al­together for the sake of profit but also for pleasure’;mα gə Lʹɔ꞉r, ‘alright’ = maith go leor (in every other case maith appears asmαiç);αhəNtəs, ‘acquaint­ance’,αhəNtə, ‘acquaint­ed’, Di. aithe­antas, aitheanta formed fromen̥ʹə, O.Ir. aithgne, pret.dαhinʹ mʹə, ‘I recog­nised’, Di. d’aithin;αhəNtə, ‘command­ments’, Di. aitheanta pl. of aithne, so O.Ir.;αhiNʹə, ‘brand’, M.Ir. aithinne;mαhũw, ‘to forgive’, O.Ir. mathem; similarly beforer <rʹ infαrəgʹə, ‘sea’, O.Ir. fairgge;fαrsiNʹ, ‘ample’, O.Ir. fairsing;mαrstʹən, infin. of mairim, ‘I remain, last’, Wi. maraim. Further beforemʹ, v, e.g.αmʹʃirʹ, ‘weather’, O.Ir. aimser;tαvʃə, ‘ghost’, M.Ir. taidbsiu (note the phraseə ŋlαkə tuw kɔpαn te꞉ (ə)niʃ? Nʹi꞉ tαvʃ(ə) e꞉, ‘will you take a cup of tea now? It would be very accept­able’).

§ 6. In the same way M.Ir. o before palatal consonant givesα inαfʹrʹəN, ‘mass’, Wi. oifrend.

§ 7. We shall find that all long vowels are apt to be shortened before inter­vocalich < th. O.Ir. á appears shortened insNαhəd, ‘needle’, O.Ir. snáthat;sNαhəd, sNαhuw, ‘to wash down, spice’, pres.sNα꞉ihəm, pret.nα꞉iç, past part.sNα꞉tʹə, Di. snathadh;αhəs, ‘joy’, M.Ir. áithes;tαhər, ‘man ist’, M.Ir.​atáthar;Nʹi꞉ αhαr < ní fhaghthar as in the proverbNʹi꞉ αhər sæLʹ gən çαNαχt, ‘lard is not got without buying’;mαhærʹ, ‘mother’, O.Ir. máthir;drαh ə Nαmə ʃɔ, ‘about this time’ = i dtráth an ama seo, cp. Craig, Iasg. s. dratha;Lαhirʹ insə Nαm ə Lαhirʹ, ‘at the present time’, always occurs withα but double forms seem to have existed in the older language.

§ 8. Shortening before a consonant group takes place inNα̃vdʹə plural ofNα̃꞉widʹ, ‘enemy’, O.Ir. acc. pl. náimtea.

§ 9. Irish throughout its history has never been very careful to dis­tinguish ă and ŏ (cp. Wi. bass, boss) and Donegal speech forms no exception in this respect. In a number of wordsα commonly appears instead ofɔ, o̤. These are:αgəs, ‘and’, O.Ir. ocus;αskəL, ‘arm-pit’, M.Ir. ochsal;bαrəb, ‘rough’, M.Ir. borb;bαtæLʹtʹə, ‘wap of hay’, Di. batailte < Engl., ‘bottle’;blαgədʹ, ‘bald patch’ if < Meyer’s bloc .i. cruinn;brαhαn, ‘porridge’, Di. Macbain brochán, Meyer brothchán;brαLαχ, ‘breast’, Meyer brollach;fαLænʹ, ‘healthy’, Di. fóllain (cp. Molloy’s 13th dialect-list);fαχlə, ‘parched’, Di. fochla (with different meaning);fαruw, ‘roost’, M.Ir. forud;fαskuw, ‘shelter’, O.Ir. foscad;kαgnuw, ‘to chew’, M.Ir. cocnam;kαL, ‘hazel’, O.Ir. coll;kαskərtʹ, ‘to strike, thaw’, O.Ir. coscar;mαguw, ‘to mock’ < Engl., cp. Louth mogadh;sαp, ‘wisp’, M.Ir. sopp (noteʃïnʹ ə sαp ə row ə tʹiəsk əN, ‘das also war des Pudels Kern’);skαhuw, ‘to wean’, M.Ir. scothaim;spαrαn but alsospɔrαn, ‘purse’, M.Ir. sporán;tαrəmαn, ‘noise’, Wi. Ir. T. iv 1 tormán. In other words sometimesα appears, sometimesɔ, cp.fɔskluw, ‘to open’, fut.Nʹi꞉ αsklαχi꞉. Cp. further §§ 25,60.

§ 10.α is also frequent in syllables having secondary stress, where it most commonly repre­sents an O.Ir. long vowel. Thus O.Ir. á in the deriv­ative suffix ‑án givesα, e.g.gʹαrαn, ‘horse’, lit. ‘gelding’, M.Ir. gerrán;skαhαn, ‘mirror’, M.Ir. scathán;glu꞉rəkαn, ‘numbness’, cp.tα꞉ ko̤Luw glu꞉rəkænʹ əN mə χɔʃ, ‘my foot is asleep’. As in O.Ir. there are other sub­stantival termina­tions which give‑ən in Donegal, e.g. ‑on, ‑un in mecon, in a number of words we find hesi­tation between‑αn and‑ən. Thus the form just mentioned occurs asmʹαkən andmʹαkαn (the word is used principal­ly of ‘carrots’ but it is also applied to the roots ofdock andagrimony,Lo̤s Nə mʹαkαn, ‘fungus, moss’). By the side of the regular formLαhən, ‘wide’, O.Ir. lethan, one also hearsLʹαhαn. Similarlygʹαləwαn, gʹαləwən, ‘sparrow’, Dinneen gealbhan, M.Ir. gelbund;ruəkən, ‘cockle’ = Di. ruacán. Adjec​­tives are formed from sub­stantives ending in‑αn by the addition of‑tə, e.g.mαkαNtə, ‘civil, decent’, lit. ‘filial’ < O.Ir. maccán, ‘puerulus’;spαdαNtə, ‘seedy, out of sorts’, Di. spadánta;fʹiαNtə, ‘wild’ (used of people), Di. fiadhanta;α̃uwlaNtə), ‘foolishly prating’, formed fromα̃uwlɔrʹ, Di. amhlóir, M.Ir. oblóir.

α similarly arises from á, infʹiəstαlαχ, ‘rush’, Di. fiastal­ach (which should be spelt with ‑á‑);fʹαdαli꞉, ‘to whistle’,fʹαdαlαχ, ‘whistling’, Di. feadálach;fʹɛkʹαlαχ, ‘con­spicuous, remark­able, handsome’;fαdαlαχ, ‘slow’, Di. fadálach;ɔr̥αlαχə, ‘offerings’, plur. ofɔr̥ælʹ, Di. ofráil. Furtheru꞉hαs, ‘prodigy’, M.Ir. uathbás;prα꞉kαs, ‘small, deformed person’, Di. prácás;rα꞉mαs, ‘idle talk’;dʹrʹəuwlαs, ‘licen­tious­ness’,dʹrʹəuwlαsαχ, ‘licen­tious’, cp. Di. dreabhlas, drobhlas;o̤rLαr, ‘floor’, Di. urlár.

§ 11. In a number of casesα represents an older ó (for the same change in S. Ulster see G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 1). The suffix denoting the agent ‑óir appears regularly in Donegal as‑ɔrʹ, but when the abstract suffix‑αχt is addedα appears forɔ—thusti꞉dɔrʹ, ‘thatcher’, Di. tuigh­eadóir butti꞉dαrαχt, ‘thatching’. Similarlyspwæʃtʹαrαχt, ‘strolling about’, Di. spais­teoir­eacht;NʹɛəLtαrαχt, ‘idling’, cp. Engl. ‘star-gazing’, Di. néal­ladóir­eacht. Here we may also mentionʃαnəmαNti꞉, ‘preacher’, Di. seanmón­taidhe, cp.ʃαnəmɔrʹ, ‘sermon’. Just as ‑óir becomes‑ɔrʹ, so the feminine termina­tion ‑óg, O.Ir. ‑óc is reduced to‑ɔg and commonly to‑αg, especial­ly by the younger people, e.g.fwiNʹɔg, ‑αg, ‘window’, M.Ir. fuindeóg;fwi꞉lʹαg, ‘sea-gull’, cp. O.Ir. foilenn;kyNʹαg,‘churn-dash’, M.Ir. cuindeóg. In the plural theɔ is perhaps more firmly rooted, e.g.mʹiəLtɔgy꞉, ‘nudges’;αsɔgy꞉, ‘weasels’;bʹαχɔgy꞉, ‘bees’. In the genitive and dative singular the vowel is generallyæ,erʹ ə NyNʹægʹ, ‘on the window’;gαh bʹαχægʹə, ‘the sting of a bee’.

§ 12. O.Ir. é in the terminations ‑én, ‑él, ‑ét appears asα. A similar change seems to have taken place in all the Irish dialects, cp.Finck i p. 26; Henebry p. 29. é first gaveɛə as in accented syllables, thenjα(꞉). eá < O.Ir. é is not unknown in stressed syllables, cp. Henderson, ZCP. iv 90 and Molloy’s 36th dialect-list, where the forms eád, eádail, eádtrom and eágcáoine are quoted. Examples:kï̃vαd, ‘to watch, look at’, also ‘to mind’ inkï̃vαd də χɔsə, ‘mind your feet’, Di. coimhéad, Wi. comét;kʹïnʹαl, ‘sort, kind’, O.Ir. cinél, cenél, Di. cinéal, similarlykʹïnʹαLtə, ‘kind’ (adj.);kïlʹαn, ‘pup’, M.Ir. culén;kɔrNʹαl, ‘corner’, Di. coirnéal;kαir̥ʹαmʹ, ‘triumph’, M.Ir. caithréim;dïvαn, ‘ascart’,​Di. duibhéan (‘cormorant’),bʹαrαd, ‘cap’, Di. bairéad has doubtless been in­fluenced by some word likebʹαruw, M.Ir. berrad, ‘to shave, dress the hair’. In any case the Donegal form has kept theα which we should expect from the Munster form. bearad which Dinneen gives as the Donegal form should have the length-mark. Dinneen’s sources of informa­tion for Donegal forms, J. P. Craig and J. C. Ward, un­fortunate­ly make a practice of omitting the length-mark in ‑án, ‑áil, ‑óir &c., which is most repre­hensible, as their manner of spelling gives no clue to the pronun­ciation.

§ 13. Donegal Irish shews a distinct preference forα beforeχ in the termina­tion ‑ach (O.Ir. ‑ach, ‑ech), e.g.αLαχ, ‘cattle’, O.Ir. ellach;əmα꞉rαχ, ‘to-morrow’, M.Ir. i mbárach;gʹαrαχ, gen. sing. ofgʹerʹ, ‘tallow’; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, M.Ir. imthecht;rαplαχαn, ‘rough and ready going fellow’, cp.rαpləhu꞉tə, ‘hubbub’, Di. rapla húta;ʃeʃrʹαχ, ‘plough’, M.Ir. sessrech;tʹαLαχ, ‘hearth­stone’, M.Ir. tenlach;ũ꞉hαχə, ũ꞉kαχə, ‘caves’, plur. ofũi.

This same fondness forα beforeχ is further seen in accented syllables in the case of diph­thongs, which containə as their second element, e.g.fʹiαχ, ‘crow’, O.Ir. fíach;fʹiαχə, ‘debts’, also plur. offʹiə, ‘deer’, M.Ir. fíad;fʹiαχælʹ, ‘to try’, Wi. féchaim;kʹɛαχt, ‘plough’ (not common), O.Ir. cécht;pʹrʹɛαχtə, ‘perished with cold’, Di. préachta;uαχə. plur. ofuw, ‘udder’, M.Ir. uth;uαχt(ə), ‘pledge’, Di. udhacht.

§ 14. In procliticsα represents a variety of vowels:fα, ‘about’, Di. fá (for the form v. § 314);α heinʹ, ‘himself, é fhéin;α Nʹα꞉n̥iNʹ, dia dheán­fhainn;dʹα ·hi꞉nʹə, ‘Friday’, dia haoine ;α, ‘descend­ant’ (in proper names)α bwi꞉Lʹ, ‘O’Boyle’, the full form isɔ꞉;mα (mə), ‘my’, O.Ir. mo.

§ 15.α꞉ represents in this book the vowel-sound in French ‘rage’ (=a꞉) which is the same sound as the shortα but leng­thened. It remains in­dependent of the quality of the following consonant, as indʹα꞉n, ‘ferry’, gen. sing.dʹα꞉nʹ;grα꞉Nə, ‘ugly’, comp.grα꞉kʹə;krα꞉nʹ, ‘sow’.

§ 16. Most frequentlyα꞉ arises from O.Ir. á in an accented syllable:fα꞉gælʹ, ‘to leave’, Wi. fácbaim;fα꞉s, ‘to grow’, Wi. ás;grα꞉nʹ, ‘disgust, dislike’, M.Ir. gráin;krα꞉fʹαχ, ‘religious’, M.Ir. cráibdech;Lα꞉n, ‘full’, O.Ir. lán.

§ 17. O.Ir. a in accented syllables followed by d, g (Mod.Ir. dh, gh) precedingw < O.Ir. m, b givesα꞉, e.g.α꞉məd, ‘timber’,​M.Ir. admat;ʃiəl α꞉w əgəs ɛəwə, ‘the descend­ants of Adam and Eve’, cp. Di. gen. sing. Ádhmha, in Atk. Pass. and Hom. the a has no length-mark;α꞉wər, ‘material, cause’, M.Ir. adbar;sα꞉wə, ‘woman’s name’, Mod.Ir. Sadhbha, M.Ir. Sadb. SimilarlyNʹi꞉ α꞉Nʹʃə, ‘he does not get’, cp. Wi. fagbaim.

§ 18. O.Ir. accented e (not a, see § 70) followed by d, g + a or o gaveαꬶα,αꬶə which contract­ed toα꞉, e.g.mʹα꞉χən, ‘weight’, Di. meadh­achan, cp. Wi. med;mʹα꞉N Le꞉, ‘mid-day’, Wi. medón;ʃLʹα꞉n, ‘turf-spade’, Di. sleaghán, M.Ir. sleg. Oc­casional­ly in mono­syllables ending in O.Ir. in ed, thusfʹα꞉, ‘fathom’,gα꞉ α꞉, ‘2 fathoms’, Di. feadh, O.Ir. ed (for the pronun­ciationsfʹïg andfʹə⅄` cp. §§ 170,429).

§ 19. O.Ir. accented a, e, followed by th + a result inα꞉ but here we sometimes find double forms, e.g.rα꞉χ ʃNʹαχtə, ‘a drift of snow’, Dinneen has ráithe, plur. ráthacha (Derry), according to J. H. the nom. sing. is masc. but the gen.rα꞉çə is fem., as is frequent­ly the case with words not often used, nom. plur.rα꞉χəNỹ꞉ (forms contain­ing á before th may be quoted here as according to § 7 the long vowel would be shortened);sLα꞉χ, ‘slush on the sea-shore’, alsosLαhαχ Di. sláthach;bʹα꞉χ, ‘beast, horse’, Meyer bethadach, plur.bʹαhi꞉;blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, M.Ir. bláthach.

§ 20. Theα꞉ indʹα꞉nuw, ‘to do’, O.Ir. dénum, is surprising and is probably to be attribut­ed to the influence of the preterite formNʹi꞉ hα꞉rN, where the vowel develop­ment is regular.tα꞉rNʹαχ, ‘thunder’, M.Ir. toirnech by the side oftɔ꞉rNʹæʃ, ‘a great noise’, Di. tóirnéis, is peculiar but may be due to a different grade in the root.

§ 21.α꞉ arises regularly by lengthening before certain com­binations of l, r, n with another consonant^{[A 2]}. This occurs before

Intʹα(꞉)mpəL, ‘a Protestant church or chapel’ there is hesitation betweenα andα꞉.

§ 22. In this bookɔ is used to denote an unrounded form of the low-back-wide-round English vowel in ‘not’. This low-backɔ is general in the English of the in­habitants of the north-west of Ireland and suggests to an English ear rather an a than an o-sound butα andɔ are kept fairly distinct, thoughα,ɔ,o̤ are very close to one another in formation.

§ 23. In stressed syllablesɔ usually arises from O.Ir. o before non-palatal con­sonants. Un­fortunate­lyo̤ frequent­ly occurs under the same con­ditions and hard and fast rules cannot be​estab­lished. Howeverɔ seems to stand principal­ly before certain sounds,o̤ before others.ɔ appears before

ɔ only occurs very exceptionally before other non-palatal sounds, e.g.bɔbwirʹαχt, ‘roguery’, formed on Engl. ‘bob’;gɔnαn, ‘canine tooth’, formed from gonaim (?);kɔpαn, ‘cup’ < Engl.;kɔpɔg, ‘dock’, Meyer coppóc.

§ 24.ɔ also occurs before palatal consonants, but chiefly when the palatal is an essential part of the root-syllable and not when it only serves as a flexional element, e.g.kɔrʹkʹə, ‘oats’, Meyer coirce;Lɔtʹαχ, ‘harmful, injurious’, M.Ir. loitim;ɔʃirʹ, ‘oyster’, Macbain oisir, Di. oisre;ɔtʹirʹ, ‘turf-bank’, Di. oitir;rɔʃuw, ‘rip up’, O’R. roiseadh;tɔtʹ, ‘smoke’, Di. toit, Atk. tutt;gɔrʹuw, ‘to heat, warm’, Di.goruw (cp. the proverbəs fʹα꞉r ə veLʹtʹ ə hαNuw Nα n ꬶrui ə ꬶɔrʹuw, ‘it is better to tighten the belt than to burn one’s cheek’). In other casesɔ before a palatal consonant has been prevented from becoming ï,i by the rest of the paradigm, e.g.tɔlʹ, ‘will’, O.Ir. tol;skɔlʹ, ‘school’, M.Ir. scol;kɔʃə, gen. sing. ofkɔs, ‘foot’,kɔʃiαχt, ‘walking’, Di. coisidh­eacht;krɔʃi꞉nʹ, ‘stick with curved handle’, Di. croisín < cros. But in the majority of mono­syllables we find ï,i, cp.brɔk, ‘badger’, gen. sing.brikʹ and § 98.

§ 25. In § 9 we saw that a number of forms containing o in O.Ir. at the present day haveα. The converse is also true and some speakers go very far in substitut­ingɔ forα. This is principal­ly the case in the neighbour­hood ofl,L (cp. for Monaghan G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 1) and J. H. hasɔ in the following:—bɔluw, ‘dumb’, M.Ir. balb;gɔlər, ‘disease’, O.Ir. galar;Lɔsuw, ‘to light, kindle’, M.Ir. lassaim,Lɔsirʹ, ‘blaze’, M.Ir. lassair;mɔlərt’, ‘exchange’, M.Ir. malairt;mɔli꞉, ‘brow, incline’, O.Ir. mala;sɔləN, ‘salt’, O.Ir. saland;bɔlkuw besidebαlkuw, ‘futuere’, Di. balcaim, Meyer balccim, cp.bo̤N bαlky꞉, ‘a col­lection made to pay for whiskey &c. at a gathering or dance on the first Sunday after a wedding’. From younger people one hearstɔluw, ‘land’, O.Ir. talam;hɔL, ‘over yonder’,əNɔL, ‘hither’, O.Ir. tall, anall;smɔlkuw, ‘to smoke vigorous­ly’, Di.​smalcadh;bɔlk besidebαlk,bɔlkəNỹ꞉ Nə Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘August rains’, Di. balc. The hesi­tation betweenα andɔ in the O.Ir. suffix ‑óc has been mentioned in § 11 and a number of words appear with both vowels, e.g.fɔli꞉m, ‘I hide’,ə wɔlαχ, wαlαχ, ‘in hiding’, M.Ir. folach, pret.dαli꞉ ʃə, past part.fαli꞉ʃtʹə;αχruw,ɔχruw, an ex­clamation = ‘why, good heavens, I should just think so’, Craig writes áchrú (Iasg.);αtəruw,ɔtəruw, ‘between them’, Di. eatortha;ɔdi꞉,αdi꞉, ‘yon’ = adaí, Di. úd;Noχti꞉, ‘stripped, bare’ buttα꞉rNαχti꞉, ‘naked’, M.Ir. nocht;kɔrə·mʹiLʹə, ‘heath-pease’, Di. carra mhilis;mohuw, ‘to feel’, fut. act.mαihαχə mʹə, pres.mαihi꞉m, pres. pass.mɔtʹər.wɔkə tuw may be heard by the side ofwαkə tuw, ‘did you see?’,bɔriαχt, ‘too much’ forbαriαχt, Di. bárraidh­eacht. One might naturally think that thisɔ was spreading into W. Ulster from Connaught, but in the light of the Monaghan forms quoted by Lloyd we may assume thatɔ forα occurs sporadic­ally in northern dialects as well as in the west and south.

§ 26.ɔ represents M.Ir. eo inɔχyrʹ, ‘key’, M.Ir. eochuir. This word has doubtless in­fluencedɔχyrʹ, ‘the roe of a fish’, M.Ir. iuchair. We expect *o̤χyrʹ. O.Ir. fliuch, ‘wet’, is sometimes pro­nouncedfʹlʹɔχ besidefʹlʹïχ,fʹlʹəχ,fʹlʹUχ.dʹoχ, ‘drink’ < O.Ir. deug, gen. sing. dige, on the lines of tech, ‘house’, gen. sing. tige, owes its vowel to the u-temper of the final in O.Ir.

§ 27. An O.Ir. ó is reduced toɔ in syllables with secondary stress, e.g.fi꞉dɔrʹ, ‘weaver’, Di. figh­eadóir;spʹαlədɔrʹ, ‘mower’;ti꞉dɔrʹ, ‘thatcher’;bʹrʹïŋlɔdʹ, ‘dream’, Meyer brinn­glóid;mα꞉lɔdʹ, ‘a foolish woman’, Di. málaid;tʹrʹïblɔdʹ, ‘trouble’, Di. trioblóid, M.Ir. treblait;ʃkʹïbɔl (ʃkʹïbαl), ‘barn’, Di. scioból;sæLʹɔrʹ besidesæLʹerʹ, ‘evident’, Di. soilléir.Nʹαmɔrt, ‘neglect, careless­ness’,Nʹαmɔrtαχ, ‘careless’, are peculiar. Dinneen writes neamháird. In the Derry People 2 xii ’05 p. 2 col. 5, we find neamart. A remark­able reduction ofuə >ɔ before the stress occurs inLɔχ·pʹi꞉Nʹə, ‘a penny­worth’ <Luəχ, Di. luach;krɔχ ·eirʹ, ‘hay-stack’, < cruach. With this is to be comparedsLɔ꞉ ʃi꞉, ‘the fairies’, < sluagh.gɔl ·çɔ꞉lʹ, ‘to sing’ (‘to sing a song’ isɔ꞉rαn ə rα꞉(tʹ), im­perativeαbwirʹ ɔ꞉rαn) < gabháil cheóil, shews loss of palatal­isation in a weakly stressed syllable. The full formgɔ꞉lʹ is used to mean ‘yeast’, Di. gabháil.gɔlʹ andgɔl are used side by side for ‘going’, = ag gabháil and ag dul. Similarlytɔrt ·dŨw̥`, ‘giving to me’ <to꞉rtʹ, Di. tabhairt, imper.tɔr,tər ·dŨw̥` ‘give me’;mɔrαn, ‘many, a quantity of’, Di.​mórán is the usual form, as the word principal­ly comes before the stress, butmɔ꞉rαn,mo꞉rαn are the emphatic forms. Cp. § 451.

§ 28. This is the same sound as the previous one, only long.

§ 29.ɔ꞉ usually represents O.Ir.o in accented syllables, e.g.bɔ꞉, ‘cow’, O.Ir. bó (but note gen. plur.Nə mo꞉);ə dɔ꞉ləuw, ‘always, still’, Di. i dtolamh (?);dɔ꞉uw, ‘to burn’, M.Ir. dóud;fɔ꞉d, ‘sod’, O.Ir. fót;gə fɔ꞉Lʹ, ‘still, yet’, M.Ir. co foill;glɔ꞉r, ‘noise, sound of talking’, M.Ir. glór;kɔ꞉rʹ, ‘proper, meet’, O.Ir. cóir from whichkɔ꞉rʹuw, ‘to mend’;kɔ꞉r̥ə, ‘chest’, Di. cófra,kɔ꞉tə, ‘coat’, Di. cóta;krɔ꞉ (mwikʹə), ‘sty’, O.Ir. cró;krɔ꞉gʹαn, ‘a foot, small heap of peat set up to dry’,krɔ꞉gʹuw, ‘to foot’, Di. gruaig­eadh;ɔ꞉g, ‘young’, O.Ir. óc;ɔ꞉l, ‘drink’, O.Ir. ól;ɔ꞉r, ‘gold’, O.Ir. ór;ɔ꞉kædʹ, ‘oppor­tunity’, Di. ócáid;plɔ꞉dʹ ɔrt, ‘confound you’ suggests pláigh, ‘plague’;pɔ꞉g, ‘kiss’, O.Ir. póc;pɔ꞉kə, ‘pocket’, Di. póca;pɔ꞉suw, ‘to marry’, Di. pósadh;pɔ꞉r, ‘seed’,pɔ꞉ruw, ‘to breed’, Di. pór;rɔ꞉gəNtə, ‘roguish’;rɔ꞉pə, ‘rope’;skrɔ꞉bαn, ‘crop of birds’, Di. scrobán;skɔ꞉r̥ə inbə skɔ꞉r̥ə lʹïm ə və buiLʹtʹə, ‘it would be beneath my dignity’;skɔ꞉gʹ, ‘neck of a bottle’, Di. scóig;smɔ꞉lαχ, ‘thrush’, Di. smólach;sɔ꞉ insɔ(꞉)çrʹetʹə, ‘credible’;sɔ(꞉)hikʹʃi꞉, ‘intel­ligible’ (similarlydɔ꞉ indɔ꞉rαNə, ‘hard to deal with’);sɔ꞉kəl, ‘ease’, Keating sócamhal (cp. Derry People 30 v ’04, ionnus nach robh suaimh­neas na sócal aici);stɔ꞉kαχ, ‘lad’, Di. stócach;stɔ꞉l, ‘stool’;strɔ꞉kuw, ‘to tear’, Di. strócadh;srɔ꞉fαχ, ‘sneezing’, O’R. srófur­tach;trɔ꞉kirʹə, ‘mercy’, O.Ir. trócaire.

It is perhaps worth while noting that, whenɔ꞉ comes to be flanked by palatal conso­nants, no change occurs, e.g.kʹɔ꞉lʹ, gen. sing. ofkʹɔ꞉l, ‘music, song’;dʹɔ꞉r, ‘tear, drop’, gen. sing.dʹɔ꞉rʹə.

§ 30.ɔ꞉ occurs in syllables with both chief and secondary stress as the result of o (ó) followed by dh, gh, which have become quiescent, e.g.sɔ꞉, ‘happiness’, Di. sógh, cp. the proverbNʹi꞉ fʹjuw sɔ꞉ Nαχ wiLʹαnuw α꞉nṟɔ꞉, ‘no content­ment is worth anything that will not weather adversity’;dɔ꞉riNʹαχ, ‘severe, distress­ing’, Keating do­ghraing­each butfõ꞉wər, ‘autumn’, cp. § 38;fαdɔ꞉, ‘to kindle, make into a blaze’, M.Ir. fatód. This termi­nation‑ɔ꞉ has been extended to several other words,ɛəlɔ꞉, ‘flee, escape’, Wi. élud;tʹɛəLtɔ꞉, ‘saunter’, Di. téaltógh;mʹαl̥ɔ꞉, ‘inter­ruption, delay’, Di. has meathlódh s. meathladh;Lʹɛərɔ꞉, ‘glimmer of sight’ (?).

​§ 31.ɔ꞉ arises fromɔ by lengthening beforeR,r̥,rN,rt,rd, e.g.dɔ꞉rN, ‘fist’, Wi. dorn, but nom. plur.dïrNʹ;dɔ꞉rtuw, ‘spill’, M.Ir. dortad;ə Nɔ꞉r̥i꞉rʹ, ‘the day after to-morrow’, Di. oirthear, Wi. oirthir, airthir;ɔ꞉rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, M.Ir. ord, but nom. plur.o̤rdʹ, ïrdʹ;ɔ꞉rdαg, ‘thumb’, Wi. ordu;skɔ꞉rNαχ, ‘throat’, Di. scórnach, Macbain sgòrnan;tɔ꞉ruw, ‘funeral’, Di. tórramh, Wi. torroma;tɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘number at birth’, Wi. torrchius;tɔ꞉rNʹæʃ, ‘big noise, row’, Di. tóirnéis.

§ 32. O.Ir. eu, eó giveɔ꞉ by shifting of the stress inɔ꞉lαχ, ‘acquaint­ed, experi­enced’, cp. O.Ir. eóla;ɔ꞉rNə, ‘barley’, M.Ir. eórna;gə dʹɔ꞉, ‘for ever’, cp. Wi. deod;dʹrʹɔ꞉lαn, ‘wren’, Di. dreólán;fʹjɔ꞉lʹ, ‘flesh’, O.Ir. feóil;kʹɔ꞉, ‘mist’, M.Ir. ceó;gə Lʹɔ꞉r, ‘suf­ficient, plenty’, Wi. leór;Lʹɔuw, ‘to heckle’, Di. leodhaim, Wi. leo;ʃɔ꞉l, ‘sail’, O.Ir. seól;tʹɔ꞉, comp. oftʹe, ‘hot’, cp. Wi. teou s. tee.dʹɔ꞉r, ‘tear, drop’ is M.Ir. dér for which see Strachan Bezz. Beitr. xx 6 n.

§ 33. Occasionallyɔ꞉ is the result of contraction, e.g.kɔ꞉χə mʹə, fut. ofkɔhuw, ‘to feed’, Meyer cothaigim;kɔ꞉rʹ < comhair inNʹi꞉ rαχət(ʹ) ʃi꞉ α χɔ꞉rʹ, ‘she would not go near him’,χɔ꞉r Nə Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘approach­ing August’,χɔ꞉rʹ ə hi꞉n jɛəg, ‘nearly 11’,tα꞉ ʃɛ χɔ꞉rʹ mαruw, ‘he is almost dead’ (χɔ꞉rʹ is further reduced toχɔrʹ inχɔrʹ ə və, ‘almost’);ɔ꞉n, ‘Owen’, M.Ir. Eogan,tʹi꞉rʹ ·ɔ꞉nʹ, ‘Tyrone’.

§ 34. Before the chief stress we sometimes findɔ꞉ foruə, cp.Lɔχ ·pʹi꞉Nʹə § 27. This occurs insLɔ꞉ ·ʃi꞉, ‘the fairies’, sluagh sidhe, plur.sLɔ꞉tʹə;rɔ꞉ ·bʹiNʹ, ‘brown hawk’, ruadh beinne, cp. Di. ruadhán alla, ‘sparrow-hawk’.ɔ꞉, ‘grand­child’, O.Ir. haue, M.Ir. óa, úa, common in the phrasetα꞉ ʃiəd klαN əs ɔ꞉, ‘they are second cousins’. In family names it is reduced toα. In this connec­tion we may note the Anglo-Irish ‘bórach’ (bɔ꞉rαχ) where in Irish one hearsbw⅄꞉rαχ, Di. buarach and cp. further § 151.

§ 35. In a few cases we findɔ꞉ where we should naturally expecto꞉, e.g.ɔ꞉rαn, ‘song’, Meyer amrán;gɔ꞉Ltəs, ‘farm’, Di. gabháltas;gɔ꞉lə, gen. sing. ofgɔ꞉lʹ, ‘yeast’, Di. gabháil butgo꞉l, ‘groin’,go꞉lαχəs, ‘springing’ (of horses),go꞉m = gabhaim, v. § 40.

§ 36. A close shorto is heard in a few words in the vicinity of labials instead ofɔ. Examples꞉brow̥, ‘blade of grass’,​Meyer brobh, brod;boh, ‘sod-house, still-house’, O.Ir. both butbɔhɔg;bomwitʹə, ‘minute’, but more commonly witho̤, Di. móimid;mõhuw, ‘to feel’, Di. moth­ughadh;row̥, enclitic form for ‘was’, = raba < robói. Inkõhərə, ‘sign’, Wi. comartha we have trans­position of theh < th and con­sequent shorten­ing.

§ 37. This is a very close long o-sound like the German vowel in ‘Sohn’ or the Anglo-Irish o in ‘home’. When nasalised it is slightly more open as is the case in French (Vietor, Elemente der Phonetik⁵ p. 158). In the use ofo꞉ Monaghan seems to agree with Donegal (cp. G. J. 1896 p. 146).

§ 38.o꞉ arises from O.Ir. ó chiefly in the vicinity of nasals and labials. It is interest­ing to note that under these circum­stances the dialect described by Henebry hasu꞉, whilst Donegalɔ꞉ cor­responds too꞉ in the Decies (Henebry p. 31). Examples:bro꞉n, ‘sorrow’, O.Ir. brón;krõ꞉, ‘nut’, M.Ir. cnó, O.Ir. cnú;Lo꞉n, ‘store, provision’, O.Ir. loun, lóon;mo꞉, ‘more’, O.Ir. moo, mó;mo꞉dʹə, ‘vow’, M.Ir. móit;mo꞉nʹ, ‘peat’, M.Ir. móin;mo꞉rtəs, ‘boasting’, *mórdatas, cp. M.Ir. mórdatu;mo꞉ʃiαm, ‘irrita­tion’, Di. móisiam < Engl. ‘commotion’ (?);Nõ꞉s, ‘habit’, M.Ir. nós;o꞉Nʹʃαχ, ‘hussy’, Di. óinseach;rõ꞉n, ‘seal’, M.Ir. rón;sro꞉n, ‘nose’, O.Ir. srón;to꞉nʹ, ‘bottom’, M.Ir. tón.so꞉məs, ‘ease’, is peculiar, as Dinneen and O’Reilly have sámhas, Wi. sám. It should be stated that, although the distinc­tion betweenɔ꞉ ando꞉ seems to be pretty generally observed, there are surpris­ing devia­tions, e.g. one may heargə Lʹo꞉r, ‘suf­ficient’, forgə Lʹɔ꞉r. Whyto꞉g, imper. ‘lift’, Wi. tócbaim haso꞉ I am quite unable to say. M.Ir. eo, eói also giveo꞉ before a nasal, e.g.Lʹo꞉nuw, ‘to sprain’, Keating leónaim;dα lo꞉Nti꞉lʹ heinʹ, ‘of his own accord’, Di. gives leóinte as Munster and d’á leon­tuighil féin as the Donegal form. The forms seem to go back to M.Ir. deóin, which is preserved inNʹα̃ujõ꞉nʹ, ‘in spite of’ (r̥eigʹ ʃə mʹə Nʹ. ə dʹα꞉rN mʹə ə wα̃ihəs dɔ꞉, ‘he left me in spite of all the good I did for him’), here M.Ir. i n‑amdeón has been trans­formed into neamh-dheóin. Cp. furtherNʹo꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, ‘daisy’, forNo꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, Di. nóinín.

§ 39. In a few caseso꞉ is the result of lengthening before n + another consonant, e.g.so꞉Ntαχ, ‘innocent, simple’, Di. sonntach;so꞉nṟuw, ‘notice’, Di. sonn­rughadh,so꞉nṟiαχ, ‘remark­able’, both from O.Ir. sainreth, sainred.

​§ 40. Very frequentlyo꞉ arises in stressed syllables containing O.Ir. e, a or o followed by bh or e, o followed by mh. The sound represent­ed by bh, mh was a bilabial w which coalesced with the preceding vowel, the stages being. In some cases the older stageαu has been preserved. Thus indα̃wuən, ‘world’, an alter­native pronun­ciation todo꞉n, O.Ir. domun, which is perhaps more general, cp. G. J. 1896 p. 146;dαuwi꞉, ‘vat’, M.Ir. dabach;dʹαuwi꞉, ‘nagging’, O.Ir. debaid. (a) Examples ofo꞉ < O.Ir. om,dõ꞉nαχ, ‘Sunday’, M.Ir. domnach;do꞉nəL, ‘Donald’, M.Ir. Domnall;do꞉nʹ, ‘deep’, O.Ir. domain;ko꞉gər, ‘tool’ (?);kõ꞉lə, ‘door-valve’, M.Ir. comla;kõ꞉nĩ, ‘dwell’, M.Ir. comnaide;kõ꞉r, ‘partner­ship’ (ə gõ꞉r fα, ‘sharing’), Meyer comar;kõ꞉rsə, ‘neighbour’, Meyer comarsa;kõ꞉rα̃꞉, ‘converse’, M.Ir. comrád;ko꞉rLʹə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle;tõ꞉s, ‘measure, guess’, O.Ir. tomus. Forkõ꞉nirʹ, ‘coffin’, Meyer comra see § 442. Here we may also mention the formsrõ꞉m,rõ꞉d,rõ꞉Nʹ,rõ꞉v < romham, romhad &c. < rem‑. (b) Examples ofo꞉ < O.Ir. ab,go꞉r, ‘goat’, O.Ir. gabor;go꞉l, ‘groin’, O.Ir. gabul (this word is practical­ly forgotten in the meaning of ‘fork’, for which the English word is used. J. H. however has it but pro­nounces itgαuwəl), cp.tα꞉ go꞉l mαiç bwæNʹə ɛgʹ ə wɔ꞉ ʃïnʹ, ‘that cow has a good bag of milk’,vɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə kicksə ꬶo꞉l ꬶydʹ, said by boys,go꞉lαχəs, ‘springing’ (of a horse), cp. Macbain gobh­lachan, ‘person sitting astride’;go꞉m, imper.go꞉, O.Ir. gabimm [in the meaning of ‘take’glαkuw is now used. The presentgo꞉m is chiefly heard ingo꞉m pa꞉rdu꞉n didʹ, ‘excuse me’, the imper­ative is used to mean ‘go’, also ‘come’ asgo꞉ (ə)ʃtʹαχ, ‘come in’,go꞉ əNαL, ‘come over here’. The infin., past part. and passive forms are used in the sense of ‘arrest’, note alsoNʹi꞉ veiNʹ gUtʹə lʹeʃ, ‘I would not be bothered with it’];o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, cp. Meyer aba, gen. sing. aband;to꞉rtʹ, ‘to give’, O.Ir. tabairt (frequent­ly shortened totɔrtʹ),to꞉rtʹəsαχ ʃα Nʹαr, ‘observant’,to꞉rtʹαχ, ‘liberal’,to꞉rtənəs, ‘offering, gift’,Nʹi꞉ ho꞉r̥ʹə mʹə (hu꞉r̥ʹə), ‘I shall not give’, Craig writes ní thabhar­faidh but this I have not heard;Lo꞉rtʹ, ‘speak’, O.Ir. labraim;sLo꞉k, ‘viscid kind of sea-weed’, Hogan slabhacán, comes from English ‘sloke’. (c) Examples ofo꞉ < O.Ir. ob,go꞉, ‘smith’, O.Ir. goba;ko꞉rʹ, ‘relief’, O.Ir. cobir;ro꞉rtə, ‘spring-tide’, O.Ir. robarti;ro꞉wə,ro꞉uw, ‘warning’, M.Ir. robad. (d) Examples ofo꞉ < O.Ir. eb,fʹjo꞉s, ‘excel­lence’, M.Ir. febas;Lʹo꞉r, ‘book’, O.Ir. lebor, also in the asseve­ration formed from this word,Lʹo꞉gə, i.e., by the book’ > ‘indeed’;mʹjõ꞉rʹ,​‘mind’, O.Ir. mebuir;ʃo꞉k, ‘hawk’, M.Ir. sebac;tʹrʹouw, ‘to plough’, pres. ind.tʹrʹo꞉jəm, M.Ir. trebaim;jo꞉ mʹə, fut. ofjɛvəm, ‘I get’, Keating do-ghéabha, fut. pass.jo꞉hαr. (e) Indʹo꞉n, ‘demon’, O.Ir. demuno꞉ arises from O.Ir. em but the case is isolated, cp.ʃLʹα̃uwinʹ, ‘slippery’, M.Ir. slemon.

Two other forms containingo꞉ by contraction may be mentioned here,fõ꞉wər, ‘harvest, autumn’, O.Ir. fogamur;mʹjo꞉nʹ, ‘means’, which seems to go back to O.Ir. medón, though the latter generally appears asmʹα꞉n inmʹα꞉nĩ꞉çə, ‘midnight’,mʹα꞉NLe꞉, ‘mid-day’. Thismʹjo꞉nʹ only occurs in the plural like Engl. ‘means’. Dinneen gives meodhan as a by-form of meadhón.

§ 41. This is a sound which does not occur in many words, but there are several varieties, which makes analysis difficult. One form of the sound is certainly the high-back-wide-round vowel in standard Engl. ‘put’, only differing from it in having under-rounding.U is found most frequent­ly in mono­syllables beforew̥.

§ 42. O.Ir. u in stressed monosyllables followed by b, g, th givesU, e.g.dUw̥, ‘black’, O.Ir. dub (alsodŨw̥, ‘to me’, O.Ir. dom);grUw̥ (grU bwiə), ‘biestings’, Wi. gruth;gUw̥, ‘voice’, O.Ir. guth;krUw̥, ‘form, shape’, O.Ir. cruth;srUw̥, ‘stream’,srUw̥ əNuəs, ‘down-drops, rain coming through the roof’, O.Ir. sruth. In cases liketʹUw̥, ‘thick’, M.Ir. tiug (Craig Iasg. tiuth) andtʹrʹUw̥, ‘hooping-cough’, Di. triuch, the glide developed beforeꬶ < O.Ir.g has ousted the original vowel.

It may be gathered from these examples that Donegal Irish shews a distinct tendency to make a short accented mono­syllable ending in a vowel orw orj terminate in breath. Thus thew in the above instances is unvoiced and this is more clearly seen inəNʹUw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu. Cp. furtherdeh, ‘from him’, O.Ir. de, Scotch Gaelic dheth and §§ 91,202. When another syllable is added to these forms inw̥, we findh, e.g.krUhi꞉m, ‘I prove’, Di. cruth­uighim;srUhαn, ‘a stream’ but alsosrUw̥αn.

§ 43.U occurs in some words where we might expecto̤ or ï, as inkUʃkʹrʹαχ, ‘reeds’, O’Don. Suppl. cuis­creach;ʃUgiNʹ < seo chugainn;bUksə, ‘box’;kUʃLʹə, ‘vein, pulse’, O.Ir. cuisle,kUʃLʹαn də hαluw, ‘a strip of land’;kUʃNʹαχ, ‘very rainy sleet’, Di. cuisne;LUhə, past part. ofLouw, ‘to rot’, O.Ir.​lobad;LUχærʹ, ‘rejoicing’, M.Ir. luthgáir butLũ꞉hər, ‘vigorous, nimble’, M.Ir. lúthmar;Uχərtʹ, ‘to wallow’, uchairt Claidh­eamh Soluis 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5 (cp. § 335). One may also hearU foro̤ inmUk, ‘pig’;mULαχ ‘top’;gUgαn, ‘piggin’;ə dUkfʹi꞉, dá dtugfidhe;bUNtæʃtʹə, ‘advantage’;r̥Utʹi꞉, imperf. pass. oftʹrʹouw, ‘to plough’, alsor̥o̤tʹi꞉,r̥ïtʹi꞉;gUtʹə past part. ofgo꞉m, O.Ir. gabimm (butgytʹə fromgydʹ, ‘to steal’, M.Ir. gait), pres. pass.gUtʹər &c.;kUmplαsk, ‘build of a man’ < Engl. ‘com­plexion’;Ubwirʹ, ‘work’;fʹlʹUχ, ‘wet’ besidefʹlʹïχ,fʹlʹo̤χ.

§ 44. There are several varieties ofu꞉-sounds in Donegal. The normalu꞉ I regard as a lowered variety with under­rounding. The absence of well-marked lip-rounding explains howuə can pass into⅄꞉,iə (infra § 66) and further how the same vowel can be reduced toɔ꞉,ɔ in a syllable before the chief stress (§ 34). In the neighbour­hood of palatal conso­nantsu꞉ is often like the vowel in German ‘gut’ (high-back-narrow-round).u꞉ tends to pass off into a bilabialw which, however, does not appear before conso­nants.

§ 45.u꞉ commonly corresponds to O.Ir. ú, e.g.bru꞉tʹə, past part. ofbruiəm, ‘I mash, press down’, M.Ir. brúim,bru꞉tʹi꞉nʹ, ‘mashed potatoes’, Di. brúightín;dʹrʹu꞉χtə, ‘dew’, M.Ir. drúcht;ku꞉l, ‘back’, O.Ir. cúl;ku꞉rəmαχ, ‘careful’, Di. cúramach;kuw, ‘hound’, O.Ir. cú;kʹlʹuw, ‘fame’ for *kluw, O.Ir. clú;Lu꞉buw, ‘to bend’, M.Ir. lupaim;Lũhər, ‘nimble’, M.Ir. lúthmar;mu꞉n, ‘urine’, M.Ir. mún;plu꞉χəm, ‘I smother’, cp. O.Ir. múchaim ;su꞉lʹ, ‘eye’, O.Ir. súil;tu꞉rtɔg, ‘hillock’, spelt túrtóg Derry People 21 xi ’03 p. 3 col. 3, Di. turtóg;tu꞉rNʹə, ‘spinning-wheel’, Di. túirne s. túrna;u꞉dəlαn, ‘swivel’, Macbain udalan < O.Ir. utmall;u꞉r, ‘fresh’, M.Ir. úr;uw, ‘udder’, O.Ir. uth.ku꞉rʹiαLtə, ‘neat’ hasu꞉, cp. Claidh­eamh Soluis 29 viii ’03 p. 2 col. 5 cúraidh­ealta, against Di., O’R. cuiréalta.

u꞉ also occurs in syllables with secondary stress, e.g.gαsu꞉r, ‘little boy’, Di. gasúr seemingly by form-associa­tion with gas from garsún < Fr. garçon;go̤ru꞉n, ‘haunch’, Di. gurrún;jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó;kαsu꞉r, ‘hammer’, Meyer casúr;mʹi꞉ʃtʹu꞉r̥ə, ‘unruly’;pα꞉rdu꞉n, ‘pardon’;pa꞉r̥u꞉s, ‘paradise’, O.Ir. pardus by analogy with words inu꞉s < Engl, ‘house’ as Meyer bacús,to̤Nu꞉s, ‘tannery’, perhaps also withpʹïnu꞉s, ‘penance’, Di. píonús;ʃɛ꞉ʃu꞉r, ‘season’, Di. séasúr;tα꞉Lʹu꞉r, ‘tailor’.

​§ 46. O.Ir. ua, uai are frequent­ly contract­ed tou꞉, e.g.u꞉n, ‘lamb’, plur.u꞉nʹ (cp. Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list), O.Ir. úan;u꞉hαs, ‘prodigy’, M.Ir. úathbás;ũ꞉hαχə,ũ꞉kαχə, plur. ofũi, ‘cave’, O.Ir. uam;klũ꞉nʹ, ‘aftermath, meadow, allure­ment’, M.Ir. clúain;ku꞉nʹ, gen. sing. ofku꞉n, ‘harbour’, M.Ir. cúan;dʹα ·Lu꞉nʹ, ‘Monday’, Wi. lúan;Nuw, ‘new’, O.Ir. núe, núa;ruwɔg, ‘cobbler’s cord’, Di. ruadhóg;sNuw, ‘com­plexion’, Wi. snúad.bu꞉rʹuw, ‘blood mixed with matter’, cp. Meyer búar, ‘diarrhœa’.

§ 47. O.Ir. b < Idg. u̯ after r, l givesuw, e.g.gαruw, ‘rough’, O.Ir. garb;mαruw, ‘dead’, O.Ir. marb;ʃαruw, ‘bitter’, O.Ir. serb;tαruw, ‘bull’, O.Ir. tarb. Similarly a final b or m when not original­ly followed by a palatal vowel gave a bilabialw and was later vocalised touw, e.g.gʹrʹĩuw, ‘deed’, O.Ir. gním;klũw, ‘plumage’, M.Ir. clúm. Where possible a, e or o preceding the b or m becameə and the resulting combina­tionəw also gaveuw, e.g.kʹlʹiuw, ‘basket, creel’, O.Ir. clíab;Lʹαnuw, ‘infant’, M.Ir. lenab;ʃLʹiuw, ‘mountain’, O.Ir. slíab. In syllables with secondary stress—αNũw, ‘seldom’, Wi. andam;α꞉rʹuw, ‘count’, O.Ir. áram;bʹrʹehuw, ‘judge’,bʹrʹehu꞉nəs, ‘judgment’, O.Ir. brithem;dʹα꞉nuw, ‘to do’, O.Ir. dénom;fwi꞉ʃuw, ‘improve­ment’, Di. faoiseamh, M.Ir. foessam;kαhũw, ‘to wear, throw, spend’, O.Ir. caithem;kũ꞉nuw, ‘assist­ance’, O.Ir. congnam;ʃïLuw, ‘syllable’, O.Ir. sillab.

§ 48. In syllables with secondary stress O.Ir. b, m gavew which coalesced with the vowel of the syllable and producedu꞉(w). In this casew is frequent­ly heard beforer,l,n,s. The adjective termina­tion ‑mar appears as‑u꞉r, e.g.ɛədu꞉r, ‘jealous’, Di. éadmhar;fαsku꞉r, ‘sheltered’ < *foscad-mar;dʹiənu꞉r, ‘water­tight’, Di. díonmhar;g⅄꞉lu꞉r, ‘related’, Di. gaolmhar. The infin­itive termi­nation ‑(a)main, ‑(a)maint gives‑u꞉nʹ,‑u꞉Nʹtʹ, e.g.Lʹαnu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to follow’, Wi. lenmain;elʹu꞉nʹ, ‘to rear’, Wi. ailemain s. alaim;gʹαLu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to promise’, Di. geall­amhain;kαnũ꞉Nʹtʹ, speech, language’, Di. canamhain;gyLʹu꞉Nʹtʹ, ‘to affect, trouble sorely’, Di. goill­eamhain(t). SimilarlyLα꞉nũ꞉nʹ, ‘couple’, M.Ir. lánamain;mαhu꞉nəs, ‘forgive­ness’, Di. maith­eamhnas, Wi. mathem;bʹihu꞉Ntə, ‘rascally’, Di. bitheamh­anta. The adjective termi­nation ‑(a)mail is‑u꞉lʹ (‑əlʹ), e.g.kɔsu꞉lʹ, ‘like’, O.Ir. cosmail;dʹlʹi꞉hu꞉lʹ, ‘lawful’, Di. dligh­theamhail;grα꞉nʹũ꞉lʹ, ‘loathsome, disgust­ing’, Di. gráin­eamhail. Other examples—αku꞉Nʹ, ‘strength, endurance’, M.Ir. accmaing;αnu꞉N, ‘infirm’,​Meyer anfand;·αnχu꞉Nʹʃə, ‘monster’ < an-chuimse (?);diLʹu꞉r, ‘foliage’, Di. duill­eabhar;dʹin̥ʹu꞉r, ‘set of 10’, O.Ir. deichen­bor;ko̤gu꞉s, ‘roof of the mouth, hard palate’, which is pro­nounced the same as the word for ‘con­science’ (O.Ir. cocubus), Di. has cogansach;mʹïru꞉Lʹtʹαχ, ‘marvel­lous’, Di. míor­bhaileach, míor­bhail­teach.

It is only rarely that om, ab becomeu꞉ in stressed syllables. This is chiefly in the prefixkũ꞉‑, O.Ir. com‑, as in·kũ꞉χrïNʹuw, ‘gathering’, Di. cómh­chruin­niughadh;kũ꞉çαŋəLʹtʹə, ‘bound together, connected’, Di. cóimh­chean­glaim;kũαnəN, ‘alike, even’, Di. cóimh­ionann;kũ꞉jαs, ‘ambi­dexter’, Di. cóimh­dheas. Note alsofʹiurəs besidefʹiəurəs, ‘fever’, M.Ir. fiabhrus;dʹu꞉l, ‘devil’, may be heard in oaths, O.Ir. diabul;dʹiunʹəs, ‘celibacy’, arises through suppres­sion of the vowel of the middle syllable and vocali­sation of thew indʹĩ꞉wi꞉nʹ, ‘single’, M.Ir. dímain.ũərk forα̃uwərk, ‘sight’, Meyer amarc, I have heard from a very old woman. The futureNʹi꞉ hu꞉r̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall not give’, besideNʹi꞉ ho꞉r̥ʹə mʹə (§ 40) is al­together irregular.

§ 49. The infinitive terminations ‑ad, ‑ed, ‑ud all giveuw, i.e.əꬶ (preserved in Scotch Gaelic, cp. ZCP. iv 510) >əw >uw. There is no differ­ence in the ending betweenbw⅄꞉luw, ‘striking’, bualadh, andbʹαNuw, ‘blessing’, beann­ughadh, which accounts for the hopeless confusion of the two conjuga­tions. The ending ‑ed, ‑ad in the third sing. of imperf. and condit. active and the preterite passive is also pro­nounced‑uw (for excep­tions see § 391), e.g.pɔ꞉suw əNïri i꞉, ‘she was married last year’,‑uw < ‑ad also occurs inbo̤nuw, ‘people’, lit. ‘stock’, Meyer bunad;bo̤nu꞉s, ‘the greater part’,tα꞉ ə mo̤nu꞉s erʹ ə ʃkʹɛəl əwα̃꞉nʹ, ‘they almost all tell the same tale’, isé an sgéul céadna atá aca uilig bunus (Derry People 6 viii ’04 p. 3 col. 6), very common in the phrasebo̤nu꞉s ïlʹigʹ, ‘almost all’, Di. bunadhas, Meyer bunadas;ə wαru꞉s mər, ‘in compar­ison with’, Di. i bhfharr­adh; in the ordinalskʹαr̥uw, ‘fourth’, O.Ir. cethramad;ku꞉gʹuw, ‘fifth’, O.Ir. cóiced, cúiced.

§ 50. O.Ir. u followed by g (Mod.Ir. gh) in accented syllables givesu꞉ :uw, ‘top cross-beam in house’, O’Don. Suppl. uga, ‘pin of wood’ (?);u꞉muw, ‘to harness’,u꞉mʹ, ‘harness’, Di. ughm­ughadh, úghaim, cp. Macbain uidheam;u꞉dər, ‘author’, M.Ir. ugtar;Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘August’, M.Ir. lúgnasad;Luw, ‘less’, O.Ir. lugu;mu꞉rNαn, ‘ankle’, Macbain mugharn, Di. mudharlán;suw, ‘juice’, O.Ir. súg. Similarly we find lengthen­ing before th followed by another consonant indu꞉χəs, ‘hered­itary right’, M.Ir. duthchus.

​§ 51.u꞉ arises in stressed syllables by contrac­tion ofw arising from O.Ir. b, m with the surround­ing vowels꞉kʹũ꞉s, ‘edge, border’, M.Ir. cimas;kũ꞉glαχ, ‘strait of the sea’, Di. cumhang­lach, cp.kũ꞉N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung;ku꞉gʹə mũ꞉n, ‘Munster’, M.Ir. Muman;ũ꞉(w)l, ‘supple, lithe’, O.Ir. umal,ũ꞉(w)luw, ‘obedience’, Di. umhlugh­adh;u꞉(w)L, ‘apple’, Wi. uball, ubull.

§ 52.gʹu꞉s, ‘fir’,ku꞉gʹ, ‘five’ andku꞉ʃ, ‘case’, O.Ir. cóic, cóis are exception­al. The first shews shifting of the stress íu > jú, cp. M.Ir. gius, which also occurs indʹu꞉l gy꞉hə, ‘draught’,dʹu꞉l, ‘sucking’, M.Ir. diul dat. of del, ‘teat’, and in the obscuredʹu꞉Ltuw, ‘to refuse’, O.Ir. díltud. Finck ascribes theu꞉ inku꞉gʹ,ku꞉ʃ to the influence of the following palatal sounds (i 32) but this will not hold good for Donegal. One might comparekũ꞉- < O.Ir. com- andkũ꞉nuw < O.Ir. congnam.

§ 53. The pronunciation of ao asu꞉ which occurs in the Rosses and other parts of the north I have never heard round Glenties except infα ·du꞉widə, ‘concern­ing’, = fa dtaobh de (forfα see § 314). A rounding of⅄꞉ would giveu꞉ and this is probably what has taken place. Forfα ·du꞉widə cp. G. J. 1892 p. 145 col. 2 where it is spelt fadu d’é (again 1893 p. 208 col. 1). For ao =u꞉ in Scotch Gaelic see Henderson, ZCP. iv 100. It may be noted that in Anglo-Irish ‘a hornless cow’ (maoilín) is locally called amu꞉Lʹi꞉nʹ, which seems to shew that this pronunci­ation of ao has been wide-spread.

§ 54. We use this symbol to denote the characteristically Irish vowel-sound in the pronunci­ation of English words like ‘sir’. Sweet analyses it as low-in-mixed-narrow. It is a very trouble­some sound to acquire and must be attempted by lowering the tongue from the mid-mixed position.o̤ frequent­ly inter­changes withə and ï (cp. § 103).

§ 55.o̤ represents an O.Ir. o before certain consonants. These are—

​

From this it will be seen thato̤ only represents O.Ir. o before voiced sounds.ɔ seems to stand beforel,r,s,h,p,t,k,χ, whileo̤ precedesL,N,n,m,b,d,g.

§ 56.o̤ is further the regular representative of O.Ir. u in stressed syllables before non-palatal conso­nants and is the sound locally associat­ed in English with the letter u, cp. Craig, Grammar² p. 6. Examples—bo̤n, ‘foot’, O.Ir. bun;fo̤rαχəs, ‘watching’, O’R. furachas, Di. fuir­eachas, cp. Wi. furachair, furachrus;fo̤rəst, ‘easy’, Wi. urussa;glo̤g, ‘noise of wet foot​in shoe or of a rotten egg’, Di. glug;go̤rαχəs fα Nʹ tʹinʹi, ‘cuddling round the fire’,go̤r intα꞉ n çαrk erʹ go̤r, ‘the hen is wanting to sit’, Macbain gur, Di. gor;go̤ru꞉n, ‘haunch’, Di. gurrún;go̤s, ‘vigour’, M.Ir. gus;ho̤g, ‘gave’, cp. tuccaim;klo̤pwidʹə, ‘crease, depres­sion’, Meyer culpait (Di. cluipide);ko̤Lαχ, ‘boar’, O.Ir. cullach, callach, caullach;ko̤Ntəs, ‘count’, Di. cunntas;ko̤r, ‘to rain’ (‘to put’ is eitherko̤r orkyrʹ), Di. cur with ana­logical u for older cor;Lo̤rəgə, ‘shin’, M.Ir. lurga;Lo̤s, ‘herb’, M.Ir. lus;Lo̤χt ‘people’, O.Ir. lucht;Lo̤χɔg, ‘mouse’, Wi. luch;·ku꞉gʹ o̤luw, ‘Province of Ulster’, M.Ir. coiced Ulad;o̤Nsə, ‘ounce’;o̤χt, chiefly in oathsəs o̤χt dʹe꞉, Wi. ucht;po̤NəN, ‘sheaf’, M.Ir. punnann;po̤Ntαn, ‘spindle in lower mill-stone’, Di. puntán;po̤s, ‘lip’, Di. pus;sLo̤gəm, ‘I swallow’, M.Ir. slocim, sluccim;smo̤g, ‘snot’, Di. Macbain smug;smo̤ləgαdαn, ‘shoulder-bone’, Di. smulgadán;sto̤kαn, ‘cone on hill’, Di. stúcán;to̤r, ‘dry’ (said of eating potatoes &c. alone), Di. tur, Wi. tar, tair,to̤ruw, ‘dry weather’, M.Ir. turud;to̤rskər, ‘refuse’, Wi. turrscar;to̤rəs, ‘station’, M.Ir. turas.

§ 57. The O.Ir. prefix variously spelt ir-, er-, aur- (now written ur‑) is pro­nouncedo̤r. The common spelling with au was probably intended to denote some sound likeo̤, cp. O’Donovan, Grammar p. 17. Medieval scribes seem to have been at a loss to represent this sound. The frequent appear­ance of e foro̤, cp. terus = turas RC. vii 296, terad for turud Wi. p. 818, finds a parallel in the inter­change ofo̤ and ï in Donegal, cp. § 103. Examples:o̤rəχəsk, ‘injection’, Di. urchosc;o̤rəχɔdʹ, ‘harm’, M.Ir. erchoit, irchoit;o̤rəχər, ‘shot’, M.Ir. erchor, aurchor, irchor, urchor;o̤rLαr, ‘floor’, Wi. orlar;o̤rNỹ꞉, ‘prayer’, M.Ir. ernaigthe, airnaig­the;o̤rχəL, ‘cricket’, Di. urchuil;o̤rsə, ‘jamb’, M.Ir. irsa, ursa;o̤rLə, ‘eaves, fringe’, M.Ir. urla;o̤rNʹæʃ, ‘furniture’, Meyer airnéis;o̤rLuw, ‘speech, eloquence’, O.Ir. erlabra, aurlabra (see § 444). Noteɔ꞉rLə, ‘vomit’, Di. orlughcan, urlacan withɔ꞉, *o̤rbəL, ‘tail’, M.Ir. erball has becomero̤bəL as elsewhere.

§ 58. In words beginning in O.Ir. with i followed by a non-palatal consonant we expect ï buto̤ in­variably occurs, e.g.o̤lər, ‘eagle’, M.Ir. ilur;o̤məd,ə Nʹo̤məd, ‘a great number’ alsoə Nʹo̤mətə, O.Ir. imbed;o̤mərwαi, ‘con­tention’, M.Ir. immarbág;o̤mərkə, ‘overplus’, M.Ir. imarcraid;o̤mlαn, ‘all, entirety’, M.Ir. imlán;o̤mpər, ‘carry’, M.Ir. imm­chuirim;o̤mrα꞉, ‘mention, report’, Atk. imrád s. imrádud;o̤mwi꞉, ‘many’, O.Ir. imda;o̤mwirʹαχə, ‘furrows’, M.Ir. immaire.

​§ 59. As the reduction ofö̤꞉ we geto̤ ino̤lkuw, ‘to bury’, M.Ir. adlacaim < adnacim;No̤nu꞉r, ‘set of nine’, O.Ir. nónbor (alsoNïnu꞉r through associ­ation withdʹin̥ʹu꞉r);ro̤d, ‘thing’, O.Ir. rét, the depalatal­isation of initial *Rʹ caused é to becomeö̤꞉ (v. § 73) and when the word was used en­clitical­lyö̤꞉ was reduced too̤, it is the enclitic form of the word which has survived; similarlyo̤rəd, ‘amount’,αχ o̤rəd, ‘at all’, O.Ir. airet, eret. Di. writes oiread, Macbain uiread but also Sc. G. urad, cp. Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition vol. iii p. 43, Finckerʹəd,erʹid, so that the depalatal­isation is peculiar. Craig usually writes urad, ach urad (Derry People 30 iv ’04 p. 3 col. 4). Perhaps ther is due to associ­ation withro̤d.

§ 60. In a few wordso̤ has taken the place of other vowels. This is the case inko̤rsαn, ‘wheezing’, Di. cársán, Macbain carrasan;kro̤puw, ‘to shrink’, Meyer crapaim but also crúpán;Lo̤g, ‘weak’, M.Ir. lac perhaps in­fluenced bybo̤g, ‘soft’;to̤məL(t) besidetαməL(t), ‘a while’, Di. tamall;sro̤n̥uw, ‘to scatter, spread’, Di. sreath­uighim, srath­uighim, srath­nuighim.o̤ occurs ex­ceptional­ly beforer < *Rʹ ino̤rdʹə, ‘height’, Wi. arde, airde, cp. Manx yrjey but in phrases we findα꞉rdʹə, as inerʹ kɔs ə Nα꞉rdʹə, ‘galloping’, Di. cos i n‑áirde; alsoα꞉rdʹ, ‘point of the sky’, M.Ir. aird but the com­parative ofα꞉rd, ‘high’ iso̤rdʹə (the inflected forms ofα꞉rd follow the nomi­native, gen. sing. fem.α꞉rdʹə). Furthero̤rdʹ, nom. plur. ofɔ꞉rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, M.Ir. ord.

§ 61. This symbol is here used to denote the peculiar sound given to the digraph ao, which appears to be similar to the cor­respond­ing sound in Scotch Gaelic and on Aran, though I cannot say whether they are identical. The Donegal sound is the unrounded form of closeu꞉ in German ‘gut’ and is therefore high-back-narrow.⅄꞉ is always long except when shorten­ing occurs beforeh < th, as ins⅄hər, ‘labour’, O.Ir. sáithar and inr⅄h, ‘run’, O.Ir. rith, where⅄ is due to the depalatal­isation of *Rʹ. The younger people as a general rule have not got this sound and sub­stitute for iti꞉ andy꞉, cp. Craig’s statement (Grammar² p. 4) “ao is pro­nounced like ee in heel”. High-front articula­tion has also taken the place of high-back in some dialects of Scotch Gaelic, cp. Henderson, ZCP. iv 100. That this pronunci­ation of ao has been pretty general in Ulster may be gathered from notes by J. H. Lloyd in the Gaelic Journal, e.g.​G. J. 1892 p. 204 col. 2, à propos of⅄꞉ in Armagh he says: “In the Irish still surviving in Oir­ghialla (Cuailnge) and also in Tyrone, ao has a very strange sound, somewhat like oo, which appears to be inter­mediate between (Irish) ú and the French u, but is very distinct from both. Oidh- of oidhche and choidhche has the same sound”. Native gram­marians are at a loss to describe this sound and equate⅄꞉ with German ö in böse, which they have probably never heard, e.g. Lloyd, G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 1. O’Donovan’s descrip­tion of the sound (Grammar p. 16) on the other hand is pretty accurate.

§ 62.⅄꞉ represents O.Ir. óe, ói, e.g.bl⅄꞉sk, ‘shell’, Meyer blaesc (gen. sing.bl⅄꞉ʃkʹə);br⅄꞉n, ‘drop’, O.Ir. bróen;d⅄꞉l, ‘beetle’, M.Ir. dóel, dáel;d⅄꞉r, ‘dear’, O.Ir. dóir (comp.Nʹi꞉s di꞉rʹə);fr⅄꞉χ ‘heather’, O.Ir. froich butkʹαrk ri꞉, ‘grouse’;kr⅄꞉s, ‘gullet’, O.Ir. crois;k⅄꞉l, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cóil;L⅄꞉, ‘calf’, M.Ir. lóeg (only inbɔ꞉ əN L⅄꞉, ‘cow in calf,Lo̤s Nə L⅄꞉, ‘calf-leek’);mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith,mw⅄̃꞉s inkyrʹ ə mw⅄̃꞉s, ‘to steep’, Di. maos,mw⅄̃꞉χαn, ‘to soften, steep’;s⅄꞉r, ‘free’, O.Ir. sóir, sóer;t⅄꞉wuw lʹɛ, ‘to side with’, Di. taobh­ughadh < O.Ir. tóib (cp. the proverbəs mwærʹigʹ ə h⅄꞉wəs lʹeʃ Nə mrα̃꞉);⅄꞉Nti꞉m, ‘I consent’, Di. aon­tuighim, cp. O.Ir. óentu.

§ 63.⅄꞉ is further the regular representative of O.Ir. ái, e.g.bw⅄꞉, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith,bw⅄꞉χα̃fαχ, ‘extrava­gant’, Di. baoth­chaith­mheach (note the comparativeNʹi꞉s bwi꞉hi꞉),bw⅄꞉s, ‘folly’, M.Ir. báes;bw⅄꞉l, ‘danger’, O.Ir. baigul;fw⅄꞉χɔg, ‘limpet’, Wi. faechóg;gl⅄꞉, ‘call’, *gláid, O.Ir. adgládur, cp. Macbain glaodh (this is regarded as a Connaught word,skαrtʹ being used instead);g⅄꞉, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáid;g⅄꞉l, ‘relation­ship’, M.Ir. gáel;g⅄꞉sαn, ‘nostril’ (wanting in dictio­naries, Craig gaothsan, Sg. Fearn. p. 100);g⅄꞉wər, ‘proximity’, Di. gaobhar;k⅄꞉nαχ, ‘moss’, Meyer caennach;k⅄꞉nwαrαχ, ‘careless’, cp. O’R. cunabh­aireas, ‘slothful­ness’;k⅄꞉r, ‘berry’, O.Ir. cáer;k⅄꞉rαn, ‘moor’, Craig caoran, Di. caorán, ‘fragment of dry peat’ < Meyer cáer, ‘a clod’ (?);k⅄꞉rə, ‘sheep’, cp. O.Ir. cáir­chuide, ‘ovinus’;k⅄꞉r̥αχə, plur. ofki꞉rʹ, ‘blaze’, M.Ir. cáer;k⅄꞉r̥əN, ‘mountain-ash’, M.Ir. cáerthann;k⅄꞉χuw, ‘to wink’, Di. caochaim, caogaim, O.Ir. cáich;L⅄꞉χ, ‘hero’, M.Ir. láech;mw⅄̃꞉l, ‘bald, hornless’, O.Ir. máel;sk⅄꞉lu꞉r, ‘fright­ened, timid’, Di. scaoll­mhar;s⅄꞉l, ‘life’, O.Ir. saigul;t⅄꞉m hiNʹiʃ, ‘sudden attack of illness’, Di. Macbain taom;t⅄꞉s, ‘dough’, O.Ir. táis (gen. sing.ti꞉ʃ);⅄꞉stə, ‘old’ < O.Ir. áis.

​There is a curious phrase containing⅄꞉,hui ʃə erʹ ə d⅄꞉ri꞉, ‘he went raving mad’, cp. Craig, Clann Uisnigh s. daoraidh. It suggests Meyer’s andíaraid.fα·r⅄꞉r, ‘alas’ always seems to haver in spite of Di. fáiríor, Keating fóiríor, Wi. forír. The word is probably a disguised oath formula and may containdʹiə, ‘God’, which is counte­nanced by the accentu­ation. For the initial syllable cp. M.Ir. fae < Norse vei. Other such disguised formulas areçiəkæʃ with the initial syllable recallingα hiərNə, ‘O Lord’;gə mαrəməs tuw, ‘I warrant you’, alsogə mαrəm, which may containmαnəm, ‘my soul’, cp.çiərNə mαnəmwidʹ. The name of the deity is commonly avoided in ordinary speech, cp.tα꞉s egʹ fʹiə, ‘God knows’, v. Di. fiadha;fα꞉gəm lʹɛ dʹrʹu꞉χtə, ‘I swear’;fwi꞉ n ṟi꞉, ‘in the name of Goodness’ is very frequent and for this againfwi꞉ Nɛ꞉r, faoi an aer is commonly heard.

§ 64. In⅄꞉ꬶirʹə, ‘shepherd, keeper’,⅄꞉ goes back to O.Ir. au, O.Ir. augaire.

§ 65. When ao interchanges with aoi in inflexional forms the latter appears either asi꞉ (y꞉) or⅄꞉. According to Lloyd, G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2 the same two pronunci­ations are current in Orrery. There seems to be no fixed rule buti꞉ is much more frequent. In words which are in common usei꞉ is perhaps the rule, whilst others which only occur but seldom have⅄꞉ in order to preserve the connexion with the nomina­tive forms, e.g.mw⅄꞉r, ‘keeper’,mw⅄꞉r ·kyLʹuw, Book of Deer máir, gen. sing.mw⅄꞉rʹ;mwi꞉lʹi꞉nʹ, ‘hornless cow’, Di. maoilín <mw⅄꞉l butmw⅄꞉Lʹtʹαŋy꞉, ‘speaking thickly’;⅄꞉ʃ ‘age’, O.Ir. áis appears also asy꞉ʃ,i꞉ʃ.kïky꞉ʃ, ‘fortnight’ is heard by the side ofkïk⅄꞉ʃ. For further examples see § 124.

§ 66. The O.Ir. diphthong ua when preceded by a labial sound appears in many words as⅄꞉ due to un­rounding of the first element. The younger genera­tion as usual substitute a high-front voweliə (yə). Molloy quotes an instance of this change for Sligo in his 15th dialect-list (braoch for bruach).⅄꞉ foruə is regular in the following words—br⅄꞉χ, ‘bank’, O.Ir. bruach, gen. sing.bri꞉;bw⅄꞉luw, ‘to beat’, M.Ir. búalad;bw⅄꞉n, ‘ever­lasting’,bw⅄꞉nfəs, ‘duration’, Di. buanmhas, buanfas, M.Ir. búan (abstractbwi꞉nʹə, Meyer búane);bw⅄꞉rαχ, ‘rope to put round the neck of cattle, bórach’, Meyer búarach;bw⅄꞉r̥ə, ‘troubled’, M.Ir. búadartha;bw⅄꞉rʹuəNỹ꞉ (bw⅄꞉rʹiαχə), plur. ofbuirʹuw,bwi꞉rʹuw, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. búadred;bw⅄꞉χiLʹ, ‘servant-man, lad’, M.Ir. búachaill;fw⅄꞉χəm, (fwi꞉χəm), ‘hole in potato’,​Di. has fuachais, ‘hole, den’; ex­ceptional­ly inkl⅄꞉nꬶɔrt, ‘a place-name near Gweebarra’ if < Cluan­ghort;sp⅄꞉kαχə, plur. ofspuikʹ,spyeikʹ, ‘blister’, Di. Macbain spuaic;w⅄꞉m, ‘from me’, O.Ir. uaim (withm instead ofmʹ by analogy with orm &c.),wuə,w⅄ə,wiə, ‘from him’, O.Ir. uad.

§ 67. In a few words beginning with fua- theuə is frequently retained when thef is not aspirated. Examples—fuəgruw, ‘to declare, announce’, M.Ir. fócaraim, fúacraim, pret.dyəgər sə,d⅄əgirʹ mʹə, imperf. pass.d⅄əgri꞉sti꞉;fuəruw, ‘to cool’, pret.d⅄꞉ri꞉ ʃə, ərʹ ⅄꞉ri꞉ ʃə?. The word for ‘cold’ itself is (fuər)fwyər,fwi꞉r, compar.fwi꞉rʹə,fu꞉rʹə, abstractfwiəχt; M.Ir. fúath, ‘hatred’, I have generally heard asfwyə. For a somewhat similar treatment of O.Ir. úa in Manx see Rhys pp. 14, 20. However when O.Ir. úa is preceded by other than labial sounds, it remains, e.g.χuəli꞉, ‘heard’, O.Ir. cúala;Luə, ‘early’, M.Ir. lúath.

⅄꞉ occurs exceptionally by contraction inbw⅄꞉gαn, ‘yolk’, Di. buidhea­cán.smw⅄꞉lαχ, ‘cinders’ is surpris­ing, as it cor­responds to Di. smál, smól, Macbain smál.⅄꞉Ntαχ, ‘wonderful’, M.Ir. in­gnáthach is due to contrac­tion. For the form see § 303 and for the⅄꞉ cp. Molloy’s 15th dialect-list.

§ 68.⅄꞉ sometimes interchanges withö̤꞉ particularly beforen, e.g.rö̤꞉lαχə,r⅄꞉lαχə, cp. § 72.⅄꞉Ltrənəs, ‘adultery’, cp. Meyer adaltair, adaltrach should haveö̤꞉ but I have only heard the form with⅄꞉. Similarly⅄꞉nαn, ‘Adamnan’.

§ 69. In Donegal there is a further unrounded back sound which seems to have no parallel in Scotland or Connaught. We described⅄꞉ as an unrounded closeu꞉. If we unround theu꞉ described in § 44 which occurs in words likeu꞉r,Luəχ, we obtain a peculiar sound which we here denote byö̤꞉.ö̤꞉ would therefore be high-back-lowered. In a number of words⅄꞉ andö̤꞉ seem to be inter­change­able but that they are two absolute­ly distinct sounds is shewn by the fact that for⅄꞉ the younger people sub­stitutey꞉,i꞉, whilst forö̤ one hearsɛə,eə,e꞉. Craig again following the younger genera­tion says: “adha, agha are pro­nounced like ay in day”, i.e.e꞉, Grammar² p. 14. Thisö̤꞉ always seems to me to be a kind of vocalisedꬶ, which is accounted for by its origin and there is nearly always a suspicion of friction in the produc­tion of the vowel. It also appears to exist in the Monaghan dialect​described by Lloyd (G. J. 1896 p. 146), who states that “adh, agh appear to have three sounds, viz. that of eu in French, ö in German, or that commonly given to ae”. Lloyd evidently did not know the French and German sounds he mentions but one of his three sounds is doubtless myö̤. The last mentioned pronun­ciation is that of the younger people in Donegal, for a descrip­tion of which see § 95. O’Donovan in his Grammar p. 9 makesö̤꞉ and⅄꞉ identical in North Ulster, whilst for South Ulster and Meath he gives the pronun­ciation ofö̤꞉ asɛə. It may be noted that both⅄꞉ andö̤꞉ have the same sound in some dialects of Scotch Gaelic though in this case it is a low-front and not a high-back sound (ZCP. iv 99).

§ 70.ö̤꞉ arises chiefly from O.Ir. accented a preceding d, g (Mod.Ir. dh, gh), except whenw follows (§ 17). A following vowel is absorbed. This only occurs in stressed syllables. Elsewhere final ‑ad might be expected to giveö̤꞉ but it was rounded to‑uw. Examples—gö̤꞉r, ‘hound’, M.Ir. gadar;klö̤irʹə (kləirʹə,kleirʹə) has not a bad meaning in Donegal but is used like Engl. ‘my fine fellow’, Meyer cladaire;Lö̤꞉duw, ‘to lessen’, Di. laghd­ughadh, cp. Atk. lagatus;Lö̤꞉χ, ‘handsome’, Di. lághach, the younger genera­tion hasLɛəχ, compar.Lö̤iə;Lö̤꞉r; ‘toe’, M.Ir. ladar, gen. sing.Lö̤꞉rʹə;mö̤꞉r, ‘sprat’, Di. maghar, Macbain maghar, Cormac magar^{[A 3]};ö̤꞉rk, ‘horn’, O.Ir. adarc (younger genera­tioneərk), gen. sing.eirʹkʹə, dat. sing.eirʹkʹ;slö̤꞉dαn, ‘a cold’, O’R. slaigh­deán, Di. slaodán (alsosLαidαn,sLe꞉dαn);sö̤꞉, ‘tang of a pitch-fork &c.’, O’R. sadh, ‘a long knife or dagger’, Macbain saidh, ‘a handle or the part of a blade in the handle’, Di. has only sámhthach, ‘helve’;sö̤꞉d, ‘a flint’, i.e. *saghad < Di. saighead, Wi. saiget (note the interest­ing change of meaning,mʹɛ꞉rαg is the term now applied to the flints shot by the fairies at cattle);tö̤꞉g, ‘Thady’, M.Ir. Tadg;rö̤꞉rk, ‘sight’, Wi. radarc, rodarc.

ö̤꞉ also occurs insö̤꞉rkαn, ‘primrose’, Wi. sobarche (Craig writes samharcan but wrongly as the vowel is not nasalised);ö̤꞉Ntəs, ‘wonder’,ö̤꞉Ntαχ, ‘wonderful’, M.Ir. ingnáth­ach, see § 303.

​§ 71. The forms of the verb ‘to choose’ haveö̤꞉, though we should expect an o-sound. Writers of Ulster Irish print raogha, rae (Craig, Lloyd, G. J. vi 146, Di. ré) which represent the pronun­ciation of the younger people. It would seem that a took the place of o in these forms, i.e. that M.Ir. togaim became tagaim whencetö̤꞉m, ‘I choose’, pret.hö̤꞉ mʹə, infin.tö̤uw. Similarlyrö̤꞉, ‘choice’, O.Ir. rogu, from which is formedrö̤꞉nαhαs, ‘choice’;tö̤꞉nə, ‘select, recherché’. The past part. oftö̤uw istïtʹə.

§ 72.ö̤꞉ takes the place of⅄꞉ before a followingn in several words, thusö̤꞉n beside⅄꞉n, ‘one’, O.Ir. óin (alsoi꞉n);ɛrö̤꞉n, ‘together’, Di. araon;klö̤꞉n, ‘incli­nation’,klö̤꞉nuw, ‘to incline’, O.Ir. clóin;trö̤꞉nə, ‘corn-crake’, alsotrɛənə, Di. Macbain traona;krö̤꞉rək,krö̤꞉r, ‘light-red’, Di. craorac < caor-dhearg. One may also hearkö̤꞉rə, ‘sheep’;kö̤꞉rαn, ‘moor’;sö̤꞉l, ‘life’.

§ 73. The depalatalisation of initial *Rʹ may completely change the character of the following vowel. Under these circum­stances O.Ir. ía (i.e.iə) becomesö̤꞉. Lloyd gives two instances of this change for Monaghan, G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 1. Examples—rö̤꞉l, ‘rule’, O.Ir. ríagul;rö̤꞉ruw (r⅄꞉ruw), ‘to look after’ (erʹ), Di. ríarugh­adh,sɔrö̤꞉r̥ə, ‘easily satisfied’, Di. soir­iartha fromrö̤꞉r, O.Ir. ríar, whence alsoərʹeirʹ, ‘according to’, do réir but notetα꞉ ʃïnʹ glαky꞉ ərʹö̤꞉r Nə bʹlʹiəNə, ‘that is taken by the year’;rö̤꞉skən (rɛəskən), ‘a rough, untilled piece of ground’, Di. riasc, whenceku꞉lṟö̤꞉skαχ, ‘backward, out of the world’, alsorö̤꞉skαNtə, ‘wild, rough’;rö̤꞉χtənəs, ‘need’, M.Ir. riach­tanus (alsor⅄꞉χtənəs);rö̤꞉wαχ, ‘brindled’, M.Ir. riabach,Lɛhə Nə rö̤꞉wi꞉, ‘borrowing-days’, see Dinneen s. mí.

§ 74. This is the symbol for the low-front-wide vowel in English ‘man’, ‘cat’. It usually appears taking the place ofα before all conso­nants with palatal (palatal­ised) articu­lation except the labials, i.e. beforeLʹ,lʹ,Nʹ,nʹ,rʹ,ɲ,tʹ,dʹ,kʹ,gʹ,ʃ. In place ofæ a vowel inter­mediate between this sound andα is sometimes heard.

​§ 75.æ corresponds to O.Ir. a in accented syllables standing before any palatal consonant except a labial, e.g.ægʹəNtαχ, ‘jolly, merry’, cp. O.Ir. aicned (proverbnʹi꞉ dʹɔχ wα̃iç dinʹə ægʹəNtαχ);æLʹʃə, ‘cancer’, M.Ir. allse;æɲəl, ‘angel’, O.Ir. angel;æɲkʹαl, ‘irrita­bility’, M.Ir. ancél;ærʹə, ‘care’, O.Ir. aire,ærʹiαχ, ‘caretaker, shepherd’, Di. airigh­each;ærʹi꞉ inbwærʹi꞉ erʹ ə, ‘he was worthy of it’, Macbain airidh < O.Ir. aire (the Donegal use of the word seems rather to suggest M.Ir. airigid);ær̥ʹi꞉, ‘regret, penance’, O.Ir. aithirge,ær̥ʹαχəs, ‘repent­ance, compunc­tion’, M.Ir. aith­rechus;æʃək, ‘to restore’, M.Ir. aissec;ætʹənαχ, ‘furze’, M.Ir. aittenn;gælʹə, ‘stomach, appetite’, M.Ir. gaile;hærʹ, ‘over, across’, O.Ir. tar;kæNʹtʹ, ‘talk’, Meyer caint;mwædʹə, ‘stick’, M.Ir. maite;mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.);mwælʹkʹ, ‘soreness from riding bare-back’ (?);præʃtʹαl, ‘two handfuls of potatoes for roasting’, Di. pruistéal, praisteal;pwædʹirʹ, ‘prayer’, M.Ir. pater;sæLʹ, ‘fat, grease’, M.Ir. saill;skædʹ, ‘23rd grain given to the miller’ (now usually calledmu꞉tər), Di. scaid (with different meaning);skærʹəv, ‘sandy shore of a river’, Di. scairbh;sLædʹ, ‘robbery’, M.Ir. slat;stærʹ, ‘history’, Di. stair;tærʹəvirʹ, imper. ‘hand over, deliver’, M.Ir. tairbrim;tæʃ, ‘damp’,tæʃLʹαχ, ‘wet weather’, M.Ir. tais.α frequent­ly becomesæ in sandhi, cp. §§ 453 ff., as ingʹαl, ‘white’ butkɔ gʹæLʹ Lʹeʃ, ‘as white as it’;LʹαNαn, ‘paramour’ butLʹαNæNʹ ʃi꞉, ‘a fairy lover’.

In some formsæ often becomesɛ or evene. Thus one hearsbwælʹə besidebwɛlʹə andbwelʹə. For further examples see §§ 83,89. Whenrʹ andʃ becomer,s re­spective­ly a precedingæ changes toα, e.g.erʹ æʃ oreʃ, ‘back, returned’, butαsrïgər, ‘a back answer, sharp reply’<æʃ +fʹrʹïgər;mwærʹəm (mwerʹəm), infin.mαrstʹən. In the preterite however we frequent­ly findwɛr sə.

§ 76. O.Ir. accented o often givesæ under the same circum­stances as O.Ir. a in the last paragraph, e.g.dælʹi꞉, ‘difficult’, M.Ir. dolig;gæʃtʹə, ‘trap, snare’, O.Ir. goiste;kæʃkʹəmʹ, ‘step’, Meyer cosscéimm;klægʹəN, ‘skull’, M.Ir. cloccenn;krækʹəN, ‘skin’, O.Ir. crocenn;ə hærʹəvə, ‘on account of’, O.Ir. *de thorbe;mwærʹigʹ, ‘woe’, O.Ir. moircc.

§ 77. In syllables with secondary stressæ stands for an O.Ir. long vowel (á, ó) before the palatal conso­nants mentioned in § 74. Thusæ repre­sents an older á in the infin­itive termi­nation‑ælʹ or with excres­centtʹ‑æLʹtʹ, e.g.fα꞉gælʹ, ‘leaving’, O.Ir. fácbáil;kʹrʹedʹvæLʹtʹ, ‘to believe’, Di. creid­mheáilt, this​word seems to have influenced the word for ‘to confess’,ædʹvæLʹtʹ, pres. ind.ædʹi꞉m (Spir. Rose p. 6 aidvimuid);bαkælʹ, ‘hindering’, Meyer bacáil;kα꞉rdælʹ, ‘to card’, Di. cárdáil;sα꞉wælʹ, ‘to save’,sα꞉wæLʹtʹαχ, ‘of a saving dis­position’. Similarly inɛədælʹ, ‘benefit, boon’, M.Ir. étail;dʹəwælʹ, ‘want, need’, O.Ir. dígbail;ri꞉ʃæLʹtʹə, ‘wizened’ (?). Also in the plural of substan­tives ending in‑αn, O.Ir. ‑án,skα̃uwænʹ, ‘lungs’, M.Ir. scaman. Other instances—fʹiænʹ, ‘wild’, formed from M.Ir. fíad;kαhærʹ, ‘city’, O.Ir. cathir (the terms for ‘city’ and ‘chair’ have been confused);ɔ꞉kædʹ, ‘oppor­tunity’, Di. ócáid;pαræʃtʹə, ‘parish’, Di. parráiste, parróiste;u꞉sædʹ, ‘use’, Di. úsáid. Forætʹ <α꞉tʹ inə Nætʹ i꞉nʹαχ see § 451.

§ 78. O.Ir. ó givesæ under the same circumstances as O.Ir. á in the preceding paragraph, e.g.kɔrænʹ, ‘crown’, M.Ir. coróin, gen. sing.kɔrαnə;o꞉mwædʹαχ, ‘meek’, Di. ómóideach;u꞉məlædʹ, Di. umhlóid, O.Ir. umaldóit (the word is used in the sense of ‘capacity of vessels’, astα꞉ u꞉məlædʹ wo꞉r ɛgʹ əN tαihαχ ʃïnʹ, ‘that vessel holds a good deal’, J. H. says it is a Rosses word,ũ꞉wluw is used for ‘obedience’);kau(w)lædʹ, ‘noisy talk’, Di. collóid, callóid (§ 143).

§ 79. In a few instancesæ is the result of the reduction of O.Ir. é before palatal conso­nants, e.g.α꞉rNʹæʃ (α꞉rNʹeʃ), ‘stock’, also used humourous­ly of ‘lice’, Meyer áirnéis;hïnəfʹænʹ,hαnəfʹænʹ, ‘already’ < O.Ir. cena + féin;plα꞉n̥ʹædʹ, ‘planet, weather’, Di. plainéid;strα꞉mʹædʹ, ‘stroke with a stick’, Di. straiméad, stramáid. It is note­worthy that the termi­nations ‑éir, ‑óir give‑ærʹ in Orrery and Meath (G. J. 1896 p. 147).

§ 80. Beforerʹ we sometimes findæ, where we do not expect it, i.e. there has been a confusion of the endings ‑air, ‑áir, e.g. inαhærʹ, ‘father’, O.Ir. athair;mαhærʹ, ‘mother’, O.Ir. máthir;dʹα꞉r̥ærʹ, ‘brother’, O.Ir. derbrá­thir;Lαhærʹ, ‘presence’, M.Ir. lathair. It should however be stated that this is not the only pronun­ciation, as one also hears‑irʹ,srαhærʹ,srαhirʹ, gen. sing. ofsrαhər, ‘straddle’.‑irʹ is the general ending in the oblique cases of substan­tives in‑ər; cp.mʹαdirʹ, plur. ofmʹαdər, ‘a small wooden vessel’, Di. meadar.

The word for ‘jaundice’ isbwiəχinʹ against Dinneen’s buidh­eacháin.

§ 81. This symbol denotes the Northern English e-sound in such words as ‘men’, ‘get’ (Sweet low-front-narrow). Thisɛ​may arise from various sources and inter­changes withe. Indi­vidual speakers differ very consider­ably in the employ­ment of the e-sounds and hard and fast rules cannot be estab­lished. Indeed it is charac­teristic of Donegal Irish that most of the short vowels can vary within consider­able limits, the on- and off-glides of the neighbour­ing conso­nants being so to speak of greater import­ance for the listener than exactness of vowel timbre. Finck makes no attempt to distin­guish between the various e-sounds but it seems to me advisable to attempt to differen­tiate the Donegal varieties.

§ 82.ɛ often represents O.Ir. accented e before a consonant with palatal temper, e.g.fʹɛkʹαl, ‘to see’, Wi. féccim;jɛv ʃə, ‘he gets’, Wi. ni fogeib s. fo-gabim;Lʹɛfʹtʹαn, ‘flat-foot’, Di. leiftean;Lʹɛkʹə, gen. sing. ofLʹαk, ‘flag’, M.Ir. lec;mʹɛLʹɔg, ‘curb, wattle of a cock’, according to Macbain < O.Ir. bél;mʹɛhəl, ‘party of labourers’, M.Ir. methel (but gen. sing.mʹel̥ʹə);ʃɛvtʹuw, ‘to shift’ < Engl.kʹɛrdʹ, ‘trade, profes­sion’, O.Ir. ceird (acc.) shews retention ofɛ beforer <rʹ (notedʹαnuw kʹɛrdʹə, ‘futuere’).

Not infrequently an older é (now written éi) is shortened toɛ, thus beforeh < th inLʹɛhαrαχt, ‘reading’, Di. léigh­theoir­eacht; in a syllable with medium stress,α çɛlʹə, ‘each other’, O.Ir. céle, Manx chelley, the form with unreduced vowelçeilʹə occurs in poems, cp. p. 194 l. 37.ɛdirʹ, ‘between’, O.Ir. eter, etir seems due to confusion withαdər- inαdərꬶiə, ‘inter­cession’, Wi. etar‑.

§ 83. Owing to palatalisation O.Ir. accented a, o followed by a palatal consonant sometimes giveɛ, e.g.ɛgʹ,ɛgʹə,ɛkʹi, O.Ir. oc, oca, aci;ɛvNʹαχə, plur. ofo꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, M.Ir. abann, plur. aibne;gɛnʹə̃v, ‘sand’, M.Ir. gainim (dat.);gɛnʹαn, ‘gannet’ (?).seivirʹ, ‘rich’, M.Ir. saidbir commonly hasei butsɛvirʹ is also heard, which is probably due to the com­parativeNʹi꞉s sɛvrʹə and the substan­tivesɛvrʹəs, ‘riches’, where the shorten­ing is regular before a group of conso­nants. Here we may mentionLɛhə, plur. ofLα꞉, ‘day’, O.Ir. lathi, lathe.

§ 84. In a few instances we findɛ where we least expect it, cor­respond­ing to an older e before a non-palatal consonant, e.g.bʹɛri꞉, plur. ofbʹαrαχ, ‘heifer’, Di. bearach;kʹɛdi꞉nʹə, ‘Wednesday’, withɛ for ï, cp. § 105;Lʹɛhαχ, ‘sea-weed used as manure’, Di. leathach,kɔrαn Lʹehi꞉, ‘a hook for cutting sea-weed’;Lʹɛmɔg, ‘nip’, Di. líomóg.dʹɛrəmwidʹ, M.Ir. Diarmait, is peculiar.

§ 85. In syllables with secondary stressɛ occurs inα꞉vɛʃ, ‘ocean’, Di. aibhéis, instead ofæ inα꞉rNʹɛʃ (§ 79).​

§ 86.ɛ꞉ is the long vowel corresponding toɛ which occurs in Engl. ‘air’, ‘care’,ɛ꞉ is principal­ly found side by side with the diphthongɛə which has developed out of it, and goes back to O.Ir. é by com­pensatory lengthen­ing, when standing before a non-palatal consonant. Thusɛ꞉ occurs regularly beforer, e.g.bʹɛ꞉rLə, ‘English’, O.Ir. bélre;bʹɛ꞉r̥i꞉,vɛ꞉r̥i꞉, futures tobʹerʹəm,verʹəm;gʹɛ꞉r, ‘sharp’, O.Ir. gér, compar.Nʹi꞉s gʹeirʹə;mʹɛ꞉r; ‘finger’, O.Ir. mér;smʹɛ꞉r, ‘black­berry’, M.Ir. smér. Similarly beforer <rʹ precedingʃ inkʹɛ꞉rsαχ, ‘hen black-bird’, Di. céirseach, Meyer céirsech. Also inɛ꞉r, ‘air’, O.Ir. áer. In some wordsɛ꞉ seems to be preferred toɛə as inʃɛ꞉məs, ‘James’;ʃɛ꞉su꞉r, ‘season’ and this is par­ticular­ly the case in words of more than two syllables, e.g.ɛ꞉dɔχəs, ‘despair’, Di. éadóchas,ɛ꞉dɔχəsαχ, ‘despair­ing’.

ɛ꞉ also occurs by the side ofei beforemʹ. This is J. H.’s pronun­ciation but the younger people preferei, e.g.Lʹɛ꞉mʹnʹi꞉, ‘leaping’, O.Ir. léimm;fʹɛ꞉mʹ, ‘use’,fʹɛ꞉mʹu꞉lʹ, ‘useful’, M.Ir. feidm. Parallel forms also exist in the present of the verb ‘to go’,tʹɛ꞉m, ‘I go’,hɛ꞉ mwidʹ orhei mwidʹ, ‘we go’ (alsohɛəN,tʹɛəN mwidʹ). The imper­ative istʹɛ꞉ ortʹei. These forms are all based on O.Ir. téit which appears asheidʹ.rɛ꞉wɔg, ‘hen-lark, laverock’, is peculiar, as it is doubtless connected with riabhach. Di. has riabhóg, also réabhóg. One might expectrɛ꞉wɔg from the younger people (§ 73) but J. H. should haveö̤꞉.

§ 87. By this symbol we denote a close e similar to French é in été. The sound varies between mid-front-wide and mid-front-narrow and occurs before the following palatal conso­nants—Lʹ,lʹ,Nʹ,nʹ,rʹ,tʹ,dʹ,ç,ʃ.

§ 88.e is the regular representative of O.Ir. accented e before a consonant with palatal temper, e.g.dʹerʹ, ‘says’, O.Ir. atbeir (butdʹɛr sə, ‘he says’);dʹerʹuw, ‘end’, O.Ir. dered;dʹeʃαlαn, ‘crown of the head’, M.Ir. dessel;etʹαg, ‘wing’, O.Ir. ette;etʹirʹə, ‘furrow’, M.Ir. etre;gʹerʹ, ‘tallow’, M.Ir. geir;kʹerʹi꞉nʹ, ‘plaster’, Meyer céirín;ʃelʹəv, ‘posses­sion’, M.Ir. selb;ʃelʹigʹ, ‘hunt, chase’, O.Ir. selg;ʃeʃər, ‘six persons’, O.Ir. seser. Beforefʹ,v bothɛ ande may stand, e.g.dʹefʹrʹə, ‘haste’, M.Ir. dethbire;dʹẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess;gʹevrʹuw, ‘winter’, M.Ir. gemred.dʹeç, ‘ten’, O.Ir. deich, when followed by a substan­tive becomesdʹɛ.e occurs beforeh inLʹehədʹ, ‘like’, M.Ir. lethet.

​e occurs in syllables with secondary stress only insɔLʹer (sæLʹerʹ), ‘evident, plain’, Di. soilléir. In a few casese꞉,ei are shortened toe beforeh < th, e.g.tʹrʹehαχ, ‘excellent’, Di. tréith­each;kʹlʹehαχə, plur. ofkʹlʹiə, ‘hurdle’, M.Ir. clíath.

§ 89. In a number of casese arises from a palatalisation of O.Ir. a, o before a palatal consonant. This change seems to be general, cp. Henebry p. 45;Finck i 17; Dottin, RC, xiv 114 and for S. Ulster G. J. 1896 p. 146. In Donegal it is commonest beforenʹ andrʹ, cp. Craig, Grammar² p. 4. Examples—bwer̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘spancel’ < bó-árach + ín;dreçəd, ‘bridge’, O.Ir. drochet;ebʹrʹαn, ‘April’, Meyer apréil (ZCP. i 358);edʹə, ‘instruct­or’,edʹəs, ‘instruc­tion’, M.Ir. aite;elʹαn, ‘island’, M.Ir. ailén;elʹə, ‘other’, O.Ir. aile;enʹəmʹ, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm;enʹəvïsαχ, ‘ignorant’, M.Ir. anfiss;enʹəvi꞉, ‘animal’, M.Ir. anmide;en̥ʹi꞉m, ‘I recognise’, Meyer aith­gninim (Craig, Grammar² p. 156 gives the pronun­ciation as ennh‑, i.e.eN̥ʹ‑, cp. § 249);erʹ, ‘upon’, cp. O.Ir. aire, fair (it may be noted that all conscious­ness of the old form ar has been lost, as when followed bys orʃerʹ becomesɛr);erʹαχtəs, ‘sojourn’, Meyer airrecht;evlʹαg, ‘live coal’, M.Ir. óibell;werʹ, pret. ofmwerʹəm,mwærʹəm, O.Ir. ro mair;henʹikʹ, ‘came’, < tainic with aspi­ration by analogy;Nerʹ, ‘when’ < in úair;selʹɔg, ‘willow’, M.Ir. sail;gə serʹəvi꞉ n ṟi꞉ huw, ‘may God prosper you’, M.Ir. soirb;ʃerʹ, ‘eastwards’, O.Ir. sair (ʃ by analogy withʃïər, cp. Rhys p. 53).

§ 90. Thise not infrequently interchanges withi, ï, e.g.dʹeʃ,dʹiʃ <dʹeʃə, Di. deis, ‘neatness, order’;elʹə, ïlʹə, ‘wall of peat-stack’, M.Ir. aile (Meyer, O’Don. Suppl.) perhaps = Di. fail; in parts ofelʹu꞉nʹ, ‘to rear’, pret.dilʹ mʹə, Wi. ailemain;kʹrʹetʹə,kʹrʹitʹə past part. ofkʹrʹedʹəm, ‘I believe’;krev,krïv, ‘paw’, M.Ir. crob;Lʹeʃkʹɛəl,Lʹiʃkʹɛəl, ‘excuse’, Di. leith­scéal;Lʹevrʹi꞉nʹ,Lʹivrʹi꞉nʹ, ‘a foolish person’;kɔrə mʹeLʹə,mʹiLʹə, ‘heath pease’, Di. carra mhilis. Similarly we finde,ɛ alternat­ing inLʹɛhαχ, ‘sea-weed’, gen. sing.Lʹehi꞉. Furthere,ei beforeç,Lʹeç,Lʹeiç, ‘half’, also ‘a fluke’, Di. leith, gen. sing.Lʹehə.

§ 91.e occurs as the final of a few monosyllables, e.g.de`, ‘from him’, O.Ir. de;tʹe`, ‘hot’, M.Ir. te;bʹrʹe`, ‘to bring forth’, M.Ir. breith. But these and similar words tend to end in breath, cp. § 42.

§ 92. A very close longe as in German ‘see’ is a frequent​sound arising from various sources. When nasalised it is more open than otherwise.

§ 93.e꞉ corresponds to O.Ir. é as the final of monosyllables, e.g.dʹe꞉, gen. sing. ofdʹiə, ‘God’, O.Ir. dé;gʹrʹe꞉, ‘good appear­ance’, O.Ir. gné;əNʹe꞉, ‘yesterday’, O.Ir. indé. Also frequent­ly in the prefixdʹe꞉, O.Ir. deg, ‘good’, e.g.dʹe꞉lo꞉r̥αχ, ‘eloquent’;dʹe꞉jrʹĩ꞉wəri꞉, ‘good deeds’;dʹe꞉smwi꞉tʹi꞉, ‘good thoughts’;dʹe꞉vrʹiər̥αχ, ‘sweet spoken’;dʹe꞉wɔluw, ‘sweet smell’.dʹɛ꞉ is sometimes heard in these forms besidedʹe꞉.

§ 94.e꞉ occasionally represents O.Ir. accented é before a consonant, e.g.fʹrʹe꞉wαχə, plur. offʹrʹeiv, ‘root’, we expectfʹrʹɛ꞉wαχə but thee꞉ is due to the influence of the vowel of the singular;gʹe꞉, ‘goose’, M.Ir. géd but plur.gʹɛαχə;mʹe꞉, ‘fat’, M.Ir. meth;ʃkʹẽ꞉v, ‘beautiful appear­ance’, Di. scéimh < O.Ir. scíam;sre꞉nʹ, gen. sing. ofsrɛən, ‘bridle’, O.Ir. srían. Thise꞉ also occurs in English loan-words as intre꞉n, ‘train’;te꞉, ‘tea’.grẽ꞉hə, ‘business, affairs’,grẽ꞉hαχ, ‘busy’ are peculiar. Dinneen only has gnó, gnóthach. The Donegal forms rather point to O.Ir. gnéthech withgr and notgʹrʹ due to associ­ation withgrõ꞉hən, ‘to gain’, Di. gnóth­uighim.

§ 95. There is a variety ofe꞉ which occurs when the preceding consonant is not palatal. In modern Irish ae is written to denote this sound but no special symbol is employed in this book. It may be regarded as an unrounded form of the German ö in ‘böse’ and differs from the ordinarye꞉ in two partic­ulars. The latter is formed with the corners of the mouth spread, whilst in the case of this variety the lips are in a neutral position (ap­proximate­ly that of Engl.ɛi in ‘day’) and at the same time the fore part of the tongue is slightly lowered and retracted. Henebry describes his E (p. 6) in such ambiguous terms that it is im­possible to make out whether the sound given to the diagraph ao in Munster is similar to this Donegal variety ofe꞉. Examples—Le꞉, gen. sing. ofLα꞉, ‘day’< O.Ir. láthi, láthe;re꞉, ‘time’, O.Ir. ré (r < *Rʹ);ge꞉(ə)l, gen. sing.ge꞉lʹ (with the ordinarye꞉), ‘Gael, Catholic’, O.Ir. Góedel,ge꞉lαχ, ‘Catholic’ but generallyge꞉lʹikʹ, ‘Irish, Gaelic’, with the ordinarye꞉. The younger people sub­stitute this sound and also the ordinarye꞉ for theö̤꞉ of the older folk, who them­selves use both in a number of words, thustö̤uw,teuw, ‘to choose’ < O.Ir. togu;rö̤꞉,re꞉, ‘choice’, O.Ir. rogu. Thise꞉ further appears shortened in the diphthongei inrei, ‘ready’, O.Ir. réid (oftenrəi).

​

§ 96. We have already seen that considerable uncertainty prevails with regard to the e-sounds in Donegal and the same applies equally to the i-sounds. By the symbol ï we denote a high-mixed-wide vowel. However in several of the cases to be mentioned below various shades are heard ranging between ï and a high-front-wide vowel. Under these circum­stances J. H. inclines more toi whilst the younger folk pronounce a distinct ï. This ï seems to me to be one of the peculiar character­istics of Donegal speech both English and Irish and at first gave me the impres­sion of an e-sound. The tongue-position for the Donegal ir­rational vowel approach­es very nearly to that of ï, indeedə may be regarded as a lowered ï, and the two sounds not in­frequent­ly inter­change. Very remark­able also is the common substi­tution of ï foro̤ and vice versa.

§ 97. ï represents an O.Ir. i preceded by a palatal consonant and followed by one of different quality, e.g.bʹïlər, ‘cress’, M.Ir. biror;gʹïbɔg, ‘a little bit’, Di. giobóg;gʹïdəlαχ, ‘foolishly conceited’, Di. giodalach;gʹïl,gʹïlkαχ, ‘early grass, fog’;gʹïLαχt, ‘work about the house’ (cp.Nʹi꞉ higʹ lʹïmo̤bwirʹ erʹ biç ə jα꞉nuw sə Nʹɛ꞉r gədʹi꞉ Nʹei αm dʹi꞉Nʹαrə lʹɛ wïlʹ ə jïLαχt lʹɛ dʹα꞉nuw əgəm, ‘I cannot get to work in the hay until after dinner on account of all the things I have to do about the house’), cp. Di. giollaidh­eacht;gʹïmαnαχ, ‘livery-servant, coachman’, Di. gíománach, geamánach;gʹïtə, ‘bit, piece’, Di. giota;gʹlʹïmαχ, ‘lobster’, Di. gliomach; ïŋlαχ, ‘tingling in the fingers’, Di. ionglach, eanglach;kʹïmαχ, ‘clout’, also ‘a good-for-nothing fellow’, Di. ciomach;kʹïNti꞉, ‘cause, occasion’, Di. cionnta < O.Ir. cin;kʹïtαg, ‘left-hand’, Di. ciotóg;Lʹïbər, ‘hanging-lip’, Di. liobar;mʹïtαn, ‘small, useless hand’, Di. miotán;pʹïbruw, ‘rousing to fight’;pʹïkɔdʹ, ‘a pick’, Di. piocóid;pʹrʹïs, ‘cupboard’, Engl. ‘press’;ʃïk, ‘frost’, Di. sioc;ʃïkyrʹ, ‘cause’, Di. siocair, alsoʃo̤kyrʹ;ʃïLuw, ‘syllable’, O.Ir. sillab;ʃïstəl, ‘to heckle’, Di. siostal;ʃkʹrʹïs, ‘destruc­tion’, M.Ir. scris (gen. sing.ʃkʹrʹïʃ);ʃLʹïgnuw, ‘good appear­ance of work’ (?);smʹïnəgyrʹ, ‘small fragments’, Di. smionagar;spʹlʹïtə, ‘splinter’;ʃtʹïguw, ‘to die’, Di. stiogadh;tʹïmsuw, ‘gather in, garner’, M.Ir. timsugad;tʹïNtα꞉r sïv, ‘weed, a kind of milk-fever’ (?);tʹrʹïblɔdʹαχ, ‘trouble­some’, Di. trioblóid­each.

For O.Ir. initial i before a non-palatal consonant see § 58.

§ 98. When in a stressed syllable the consonant following​the vowel is palatal but the initial consonant is not, the palatal­isation in the majority of cases has affected the vowel which usually appears as ï, for excep­tions see § 24. We find ï notably in the inflected forms of mono­syllables contain­ing a, o, u, e.g.

In the same way ï is occasionally the result of the palatalisation of O.Ir. e, e.g.Nʹï̃v,Nʹïfʹ, ‘poison’, O.Ir. neim, cp. § 111.

Further examples—dïvαn, ‘cormorant’, Di. duibhéan;ɛədï̃vnʹə, ‘shallow­ness’, Di. éadoimhin;gïvnʹə, plur. ofgo꞉, ‘smith’;kïfʹəlαn, ‘knot of people’, O.Ir. comthinól;kï̃vαd, ‘watch’, O.Ir. comét;kï̃vnʹαχ, ‘mindful’, O.Ir. cuimnech;kïvrʹəN, ‘plot of ground for crops’, M.Ir. comraind;krïn̥ʹαχtə), ‘wheat’, M.Ir. cruith­necht;krïpʹə, ‘button’, Di. cnaipe;rïlʹigʹ, ‘church­yard’, M.Ir. relicc;rïNʹ, ‘share, deal’, Di. roinn;rïtʹə, ‘steep’, Di. ruidhte;rï̃və,rïpʹi꞉, ‘before him, her’, cp. Wi. remi, roime, rempi p. 733;rïχt, ‘state’, O.Ir. richt;sïmʹ, ‘consider­ation’, Di. suim,Nʹα̃uhïmʹu꞉lʹ, ‘careless’;sLïNʹuw, ‘family name’, M.Ir. slondiud;tïgʹəm, ‘I under­stand’, O.Ir. tuccim.

This ï also occurs initially, e.g. ïbʹrʹi꞉, ‘workman’, cp. M.Ir. oibriugad; ïlʹə, ‘the wall round a stack of peat’, Meyer aile; ïv, ïfʹ, ‘egg’, uibh (Craig), O.Ir. og. In a few words in which ï comes from o or u, a slight rounding is to be observed, e.g. inglïnʹə, ‘glass’, M.Ir. glaine, gloine but not inglïnʹə, ‘purity’, M.Ir. glaine (so according to J. H. but doubtful);klïnʹəm, ‘I hear’, O.Ir. ro-cluin-ethar; ïlʹkʹ, O.Ir. uilcc, gen. sing. ofɔlk, ‘bad’; ïLʹə (mʹi꞉ Nə hïLʹə), ‘July’; ïNʹə, ‘June’; ïLʹiəm, ‘William’.

§ 99. Strange to say there seems to be an increasing tendency to employ ï (= O.Ir. e, i) at the expense ofi between two palatal conso­nants. J. H. inclines more toi but the younger people prefer ï in a large number of words, e.g.bʹrʹïLʹʃkʹirʹαχt, ‘light­headed­ness’, Di. breillsce;dʹïlʹ, ‘lathe’, M.Ir. deil;fʹïlʹə, ‘poet’, O.Ir. fili;gʹïbʹə, gen. sing. ofgʹïb, ‘bit’, Di. giob;kʹïnʹαl, ‘kind’, (alsokʹïnαl) O.Ir. cenél (but generallyꬶα꞉ çinʹαl);kʹïʃ, ‘piece of repaired path, spot to be mended’, Di. ceis;mʹïnʹ, ‘meal’, O.Ir. men;mʹïlʹ, ‘honey’, O.Ir. mil;mʹïlʹiʃ, ‘sweet’, O.Ir.​milis;mʹïʃə, ‘me, I’, O.Ir. méssé, méisse;pʹïlʹəpʹi꞉nʹ, ‘plover’, Di. pilibín;pʹlʹïʃ, ‘puddle’, alsopʹlʹo̤ʃ;ʃïlʹαg, ‘spittle’, M.Ir. seile, saile;ʃïlʹuw, ‘matter, pus’ (tʹïky꞉ ʃɛ fα hïlʹuw, ‘it will gather’) also ‘to distil, drop’, M.Ir. silim;ʃïmʹpʹlʹi꞉, ‘foolish, simple’, Di. simplidhe.

§ 100. In modern Irish iu is written for io in some cases before ch but the pronun­ciation is ï, e.g.fʹïχuw, ‘to boil’, M.Ir. fichim;fʹlʹïχ ‘wet’, O.Ir. fliuch (the latter is also heard asfʹlʹəχ,fʹlʹUχ).

§ 101. Beforemʹ initial i is always ï, e.g. ïmʹ, ‘butter’, O.Ir. imb; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. immthecht (according to Rhys p. 7 Manx immeeaght has a short open i); ïmʹəL, ‘edge’, O.Ir. imbel; ïmʹərtʹ, ‘to play’, M.Ir. imirt; ïmʹnʹi꞉, ‘care’, O.Ir. imned; ïmʹpʹi꞉, ‘prayer’, O.Ir. impide. But O.Ir. initial i before a non-palatal consonant is usuallyo̤ (§ 58). However one hears ïnχɔr̥ə, ‘fit to wrestle with, a match for’, cp. ion­churtha Cl. S. 25 vi ’04 p. 6 col. 1.

§ 102. Beforer <rʹ precedings,tʹ &c. O.Ir. e, i is frequently represent­ed by ï, though this is in large measure due to analogy, e.g. ïrsαχə, plur. ofirʹiʃ, ‘hanger’, Di. iris;kïr̥αχ, ‘guilty’, Di. coir­theach <kyrʹ, ‘crime’, plur.kïr̥ə, M.Ir. cair;kʹïrtʹə, compar. ofkʹαrt, ‘right’ (alsoNʹi꞉s kʹαrtə);fïrNʹαχə, plur. offwirʹəN, ‘crew’ (f.Lyɲə,bα꞉dʹ);bʹïrtʹ, ‘a pair’, Di. beirt;tïrsαχ, ‘tired’, O.Ir. torsech. One would naturally expect to findo̤ under these circum­stances after a non-palatal initial (cp.tα꞉ mʹɛ ko̤r fo̤l ṟo꞉nə, ‘my nose is bleeding’,fo̤l <fwïlʹ) and it does occur, e.g. inχo̤r sə < chuir sé,ko̤r̥ə, ‘buried’ < cuirthe;do̤r̥ə, ‘bulled’, Di. dortha fromdα꞉rʹ, pres. pass.dïrtʹər;mo̤rNʹαχ, ‘pleasant, agreeable’, M.Ir. muirnech. But even in these cases there is hesi­tation, thusdïr̥ə may be heard by the side ofdo̤r̥ə andbʹïr̥ə, ‘born’, is the regular parti­ciple of beirim, imperf. pass.vïr̥i꞉.

§ 103. Apart from the cases mentioned in the preceding paragraph ï not in­frequent­ly appears where we should expecto̤ and vice versa, cp. Craig, Grammar² p. 9 note at foot, where some words are needless­ly spelt with iu instead of io. The word for ‘priest’ I have usually heard pro­nouncedsïgərt though I believe the formso̤gərt also occurs (with the latter cp. Molloy’s sogart in his 33rd dialect-list and see also § 60). The Donegal form is possibly due to associ­ation with some word like ïgliʃ, ‘church, the clergy’. We further findrïbəL, ‘tail’, M.Ir. erball,kïky꞉ʃ, ‘a fortnight’, M.Ir. cóicdigis (Craig writes cucaois) by the​side ofro̤bəL,ko̤ky꞉ʃ. Similarlyə Nïri꞉, ‘last year’, O.Ir. innuraid;glïdi꞉, ‘effem­inate, soft person’ (?);rïd, ‘thing’, § 59;lʹo̤m besidelʹïm, ‘with me’;hïsə, ‘you’, O.Ir. tussu, tusso. This un­certainty seems to have existed long ago in the case of the prefix which we find variously spelt aur‑, ur‑, ar‑, er‑, ir‑, cp. ursa, aursa, irsa Wi. p. 868.

§ 104. ï may interchange withe in some words, e.g.dïbər sə, ‘he worked’ but past part.ebʹrʹi꞉ʃtʹə;ʃïlʹəv,ʃelʹəv, ‘posses­sion’;gïrʹidʹ,gerʹidʹ, ‘short’;fʹlʹïn̥uw, ‘sleet’, Di. flichne, flich­shneachta. Cp. further § 90.

§ 105. ï occurs sporadically as the reduction of a long vowel.dʹïwælʹ (dʹəwælʹ), ‘want, need of, O.Ir. dígbail;dʹïmwitʹə, ‘apart from, besides’, cp. Derry People 9 ix ’05 p. 2 col. 7, nach maith is cuimh­neach linn Domhnall is Diarmuid, Páidin agus Seamuisin; Eibhlin is Anna; Grainne agus Síghle; agus go leór diomaoite diobhtha seo. This form seems to contain the privative prefix dí- followed bymwi꞉tʹə, ‘belonging to, dependent on’, cp. sonas agus seun dhuit fhéin agus do gach duine a bhfuil maoidhte ort (from letter written by J. J. Ward of Tory Island), see also Cl. S. 25 vi ’04 p. 6 col. 1. The shorten­ing in bothdʹiwælʹ anddʹïmwitʹə) is probably due to the fact that they commonly stand before the chief stress. O.Ir. cét, ‘first’, seems to have becomeçiəd <kʹɛəd, which has givençïd. The reason for the shorten­ing is not clear in this case as the word always has the stress. The same applies toʃkʹïn, ‘knife’, gen. sing.ʃkʹinʹə, dat. sing.ʃkʹinʹ, M.Ir. scían, Craig writes sgean;ʃkʹïrduw, ‘to move quickly, slip off, slip up’, Di. scíordaim;dʹïn̥əs, ‘diligence’,dʹïnəsαχ, ‘diligent’, O’R. díonasach, Di. déanasach.iəri꞉, M.Ir. iarraid, when preceded by ag frequent­ly becomes ïri꞉, ïRi꞉ as inNʹi꞉Lʹ ʃə αχ ə gʹïri꞉ ə və bʹjɔ꞉, a frequent answer to an enquiry after a person’s health, ‘he’s only just getting along’.Nïnu꞉r, ‘set of nine’, O.Ir. nónbur has perhaps been influ­enced bydʹin̥ʹu꞉r (Lloyd gives a similar pronun­ciation for Monaghan and Meath G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2). In verb stems the stressed vowel is leng­thened by a following gh, but when this gh comes to stand beforetʹ the vowel remains short and appears generally as ï, e.g.tö̤uw, ‘to choose’, pret.hö̤꞉ mʹə, pres. pass.tïtʹər, imperf. pass.hïtʹi꞉, past part.tïtʹə (also used as adj. = ‘choice, select, capital’), cp. O.Ir. togu;Nʹiə, ‘to wash’, M.Ir. nige, pres. pass.Nʹïtʹər, imperf. pass.nʹïtʹi꞉, past part.Nʹïtʹə but fut. act.Nʹi꞉hə mʹə.tʹrʹouw, ‘to plough’, M.Ir. trebaim, is treated in the same way, past part.tʹrʹïtʹə.

​§ 106. In Donegal O.Ir. accented e appears as i (i.e. ï) beforeg whether arising from O.Ir. c or d, g (i.e. Mod.Ir. dh, gh). Examples—bʹïg, ‘small’, O.Ir. becc;bʹlʹïgən, ‘to milk’, M.Ir. blegon (Finck gives blān as the Aran pronun­ciation);fʹïg, ‘a fathom’, M.Ir. ed (alsofʹα꞉,fʹə⅄),erʹ fʹïg, ‘through­out’;fʹïg, ‘rush’, Di. feog, feag;fʹïgαn, ‘the rim of a spinning wheel’, O.Ir. fedán (?);fʹlʹïg, ‘chickweed’, Hogan fliodh, fligh, Di. flich;fʹrʹïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; ïg, ‘notch’, Di. eag s. feag and neagaim, Macbain eag, Wi. fec (?), from this word two names of diseases seem to come, viz. ïgə ꬶUw̥, ‘black hives’, ïgə jαrəg, ‘red hives’; ïglə, ‘fear’, O.Ir. ecla; ïgliʃ, ‘church, clergy’, O.Ir. eclais, ïgləsαχ, ‘clergyman’, Di. eaglais­each; ïgnə, ‘shrewd’, O.Ir. écne;kʹrʹïg, ‘crag’, Meyer crec;Lʹïgən, ‘overthrow’, Keating leagadh;ʃLʹïg, ‘spear’, M.Ir. sleg (cp. § 170). Further in one pronun­ciation of the word for ‘arrears’,rïgræʃtʹə, the formation of which is obscure (cp. § 170).ꬶ has not passed intog intʹïꬶəlαχ, ‘family’, O.Ir. teglach. In this connec­tion we might mention ïꬶəri꞉m, ‘I adore’, O.Ir. adraim (but see also § 170);fʹïꬶəriαχt, ‘likeness, picture’, M.Ir. figuir.

This change of O.Ir. e to i has doubtless been wide-spread, witness the frequency with which it appears for ea in writers of the seven­teenth century, cp. O’Donovan, Grammar p. 18 and compare the pronun­ciation of the word for ‘bed’ in Antrim and Farney written liubaidh, G. J. 1895 p. 109, ib. p. 141, Sg. Fearn. pp. 23, 97. In S. Ulster ea before d, g, s, dh and gh is pro­nounced e (G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2), which cor­responds very closely to the state of affairs in Donegal.

§ 107. ï < O.Ir. e occurs beforen inhïnəfʹænʹ, ‘already’ < cheana-féin but this is only one of several pronunci­ations of the word (Craig writes henifín);kʹïn, ‘affection’, M.Ir. cen.kʹïN, ‘head’ is probably due to the oblique cases (O.Ir. dat. ciunn), asgʹlʹαN,mʹαNαn &c. have retained theα. In an isolated form we get the formkʹαN, viz. in the name of a flower (a kind of orchid?),kʹαNəmαN dUχɔsαχ, the first part of which is evidently Hogan’s ceannbhán. ïlərə, ‘loathing’ is obscure. Dinneen has ealaraim, ‘I salt, pickle’, which may be connected. A word which has had a peculiar history isfo̤ruw tiə, ‘household furniture’. This is evidently M.Ir. errad, eirred, Di. earradh, which first became ïruw and theno̤ruw. All conscious­ness that the word original­ly had a palatal initial was lost and f was prefixed. It might be noted that Di. fionnán, ‘a kind of rough grass’ is in Donegal calledfʹαNαn.

​

§ 108. Byi we denote several shades of i-sounds varying from a middle to a close i. In the neighbour­hood of non-palatal conso­nantsi undergoes certain modifi­cations which will be mentioned undery in § 125.

§ 109.i commonly represents an O.Ir. accented i between two palatal conso­nants, e.g.bʹigʹ, gen. sing. ofbʹïg, ‘little’;bʹiNʹ, ‘melodious’, O.Ir. bind;gʹiɲ, ‘wedge’, M.Ir. geind;pʹiʃi꞉nʹ, ‘kitten’, Di. pisín s. piscín;tʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘poorly, ill’, M.Ir. tind. Initiallyi can only occur before palatal conso­nants (cp. § 58), e.g.iNʹʃə, ‘to relate’, M.Ir. innissim, indissim;inʹigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘grazing, pasture’, Di. ingheilt;irʹiʃ ‘hanger’, Di. iris;irʹis, ‘a contract’, O’R. iris, ‘assig­nation’, cp.tα꞉ irʹis pɔ꞉stə ɛdirʹ mα꞉rʹ əgəs ʃe꞉məs, ‘Mary and James are engaged to be married’, O.Ir. iress.

The line betweeni and ï is not very sharply defined.i sometimes appears for ï especial­ly afterrʹ, e.g. ingʹrʹibαχ, ‘bustle’, cp. Cl. S. 6 ix ’02 p. 432 col. 2, Macbain has griobhag, M.Ir. grip (the word is used especial­ly of a mêlée at camman, e.g.vi꞉ gʹrʹibαχ mo꞉r erʹ ə Nʹo̤mwæNʹ ʃïnʹ, ‘it was a rough game’,vi꞉ gʹrʹibαχ mo꞉r erʹ ⅄꞉nαχ ə Nõ꞉wirʹ Nerʹ ə vi꞉ Nα tirʹiv ə go̤r əmαχ, ‘there was great confusion at the harvest-fair when the bulls were being taken out’);gʹrʹisælʹ, ‘drubbing, slashing’, Di. gríosáil.

§ 110. Before palatal consonantsi appears instead of ï in accented syllables contain­ing a, o, u. Examples—–

§ 111. In the same way O.Ir. e before palatal consonants has frequent­ly becomei, e.g.dʹin̥ʹu꞉r, ‘party of ten’, O.Ir. deichen­bor;fʹirʹigʹə, gen. sing. offʹαrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferc, ferg;gʹrʹimʹ, ‘morsel, grip’, O.Ir. greimm;kʹiɲkʹi꞉ʃ, ‘Whitsun­tide’, M.Ir. cengciges;kʹiʃαn, ‘basket’, Meyer cess;Lʹigʹən, ‘to let, allow’, Wi. lécun;mʹinʹikʹ, ‘frequent’, O.Ir. menicc;mʹirʹigʹ, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg;mʹiʃkʹə, ‘intoxi­cation’, M.Ir. mesce;ʃiNʹəmʹ, ‘playing an instru­ment’, M.Ir. senim;smʹigʹ, ‘chin’, M.Ir. smech;tʹinʹi, ‘fire’, O.Ir. tene.

§ 112. In § 105 we saw that ï occurs in a few verbs ending in dh, gh beforetʹ. Similarlyi꞉ is shortened toi in verb forms beforetʹ andh < fh or th. Henebry mentions this shorten­ing for Waterford (p. 13) but it must be remem­bered that there is a tendency to shorten all long vowels beforeh < th in Donegal. Examples—vlʹi(꞉)mʹə, ‘I milked’, infin.bʹlʹiə but past part.bʹlʹitʹə, fut. act.bʹlʹihə mʹə, pres. pass.bʹlʹitʹər, cond. pass.vlʹihi꞉, O.Ir. mligim;gi꞉ (gy꞉), ‘to beseech’, past part.gitʹə, O.Ir. gude;fʹiə, ‘to weave’, pres. pass.fʹitʹər, imperf.dʹitʹi꞉, past part.fʹitʹə;tʹi꞉ ʃə, ‘he sees’, pres. pass.tʹihər dŨw̥, ‘it seems to me’. This shorten­ing is also found in other words, as ing⅄꞉, ‘wind’, gen. sing.gihə;sihər (s⅄hər), ‘labour’, O.Ir. sáithar;tihə, ‘houses’, Di. tighthe;dʹlʹiw̥əl, ‘lawful’, Di. dligh­theamhail;riw̥əlʹ, ‘royal’, < *riogh­thamhail. In syllables with secondary stressi is common fori꞉ in the parti­cipial ending‑i꞉ʃtʹə (see § 356) as inbʹαhiʃtʹə,bʹiʃiʃtʹə,srïn̥iʃtʹə; also indʹïmwitʹə, ‘besides’ (§ 105). In the preterite of the verbssi꞉, ‘to sit’, O.Ir. suide;Li꞉ (Ly꞉), ‘to lie’, O.Ir. lige and similar verbs a short or half-long i appears instead ofi꞉,y꞉ before the personal pronouns, e.g.lʹi tuw,lʹi ʃə,himʹə.

§ 113.i is frequent in unstressed syllables in place ofə before palatal conso­nants in­dependent of the quality of the preceding consonant, e.g.α꞉rinʹ, Aran, ïlαn α꞉rənə, Aran Island;bɔχtinʹαχt, ‘poverty’, Di. bochtain­eacht;dʹiəLidʹ, ‘saddle’, M.Ir. diallait;əgiNʹ, ‘with us’, O.Ir. ocaind;bʹαχ χαpwiLʹ, ‘wasp’, beach chapaill;kyr̥ʹimʹ, gen. sing. ofkɔr̥əm, M.Ir. comthrom;ɔtʹirʹ, ‘turf-bank’, Di. Macbain oitir.

​§ 114. In the same wayi takes place ofə as svara­bhakti vowel between palatal combi­nations such asrʹgʹ,rʹv,lʹgʹ &c. (cp.Finck i p. 35). Examples—bwilʹigʹɔg, ‘bubble’, O.Ir. bolg, bolc, gen. sing. builc;hærʹigʹ, ‘offered’, M.Ir. taircim;kʹelʹigʹ, ‘deceit’, M.Ir. celg;mʹirʹigʹ, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg;mwærʹigʹ, ‘woe’, O.Ir. mairg;ʃirʹivə, compar. ofʃαruw, ‘bitter’, O.Ir. serb.Lα꞉rʹikʹ, ‘thigh’, beside Macbain làirig, O.Ir. loarcc shews that thekʹ is ana­logical and comes in from the plural, as no svara­bhakti vowel is intro­duced betweenr,rʹ andk,kʹ (§ 138). Similarly the finalə ofi꞉nʹə, ‘Friday’, becomesi ini꞉ni ·çɛəstə, ‘Good Friday’;tui çαhə, ‘rainbow’, = tuagh cheatha.

§ 115. Afterrʹ beforeɔ꞉ the off-glide sometimes developes intoi, as inbʹrʹiɔ꞉tʹə, ‘sickly, delicate’, infin.bʹrʹiɔuw, Di. breodhaim, Meyer breoaim, ‘I burn’.

§ 116. When standing between palatal consonantsi꞉ has a very close sound but in other positions it is slightly more open. It is liable to be modified by non-palatal conso­nants for which see undery (§ 125) and is frequent both in syllables with chief and secondary stress.

§ 117.i꞉ represents O.Ir. í between palatal consonants, e.g. indʹi꞉gʹ, dat. sing. ofdʹi꞉g (with open vowel, alsodʹiəg), ‘gutter’;ʃi꞉nʹuw (ʃi꞉Nʹuw), ‘stretch’, O.Ir. sínim;dʹi꞉ʃ ‘a couple’, cp. dís dat. of días Wi.;kʹi꞉rʹə, gen. sing. ofkʹi꞉r, ‘comb’, O.Ir. cír;fʹrʹi꞉, ‘flesh-worm’, O’R. frith, Di. frigh. Similarly ini꞉, ‘fat’, Raphoe Pastoral 1904 igh, Macbain igh, M.Ir. íth and in the dimin­utive termina­tion‑i꞉nʹ,kælʹi꞉nʹ, ‘girl’. When the final of a mono­syllable which containsiə becomes palatal,iə becomesi꞉, thusdriən, ‘black­thorn’, O.Ir. draigen, gen. sing.dri꞉nʹ.

§ 118. O.Ir. í in words of more than one syllable before non-palatal conso­nants givesi꞉ (in mono­syllables we usually findiə), e.g.dʹĩ꞉wi꞉nʹ, ‘unmarried’, O.Ir. dímain;kʹi꞉krαχ, ‘ravenous’, Meyer cíccarach;kʹi꞉mwælʹ, ‘to worry, contend’, O’R. ciomaim, Macbain, Di. ciom;kαrəʃ ·kʹrʹi꞉stə, ‘sponsor’, Meyer cairdes Críst s. cairddes;mʹi꞉sə, gen. sing. ofmʹi꞉, ‘month’.

§ 119. Sometimes O.Ir. ía (i.e.iə) loses its second element and becomesi꞉. This is par­ticular­ly the case beforeh < th and is therefore parallel to the shorten­ing of long vowels before the same sound. Examples—bʹrʹi꞉hər, ‘word, speech’, O.Ir. bríathar;​kʹlʹi꞉hαn, ‘the front of the chest’,kʹlʹi꞉hαnαχ, ‘narrow-chested’, Di. cliathán;kʹrʹi꞉hər, ‘sieve’, O.Ir. críathar;ʃi꞉msə, ‘pastime’, Di. siamsa.

§ 120. With many speakers the closee꞉ andei tend to becomei꞉, as inmʹi꞉ hi꞉nʹ = mé fhéin;grĩ꞉hαχ, ‘busy’ (§ 94);i꞉rʹi꞉ = eirigh. Regularly ingrĩ꞉, ‘good looks’,grĩwəlʹ, ‘handsome’, O.Ir. gné;ʃkʹi ·æɲkʹiʃ, ‘quinsy’, Di. scéith aingcis;bʹlʹiɔg, ‘effem­inate fellow’, cp. Di. bleith­eachán; ana­logical­ly in the inflected forms ofdʹiən, O.Ir. dían, gen. sing. fem.dʹi꞉nʹə.

§ 121. A palatal O.Ir. d, g (Mod.Ir. dh, gh) gavej which combined with a preceding vowel to formi꞉ both in stressed and un­stressed syllables. (a) in stressed syllables—bwi꞉, ‘yellow’, O.Ir. bude,bwi꞉gαn, ‘yolk of an egg’;bri꞉n, ‘contest, brawl’, Meyer bruden (Craig wrongly writes braoghan);bʹi꞉wi꞉, ‘mischiev­ous’, < *bidbaide, Meyer bibdaide;ꬶi꞉, pret. ofgiə,gyə, ‘to beseech’, O.Ir. gude;ĩ꞉çə, ‘night’, O.Ir. aidche, oidche;ri꞉nʹ, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin;ti꞉dɔrʹ, ‘thatcher’, Di. tuigh­eadóir,mər wα꞉r dri꞉Lʹə, ‘to cap all’, Di. dramh­fhuigh­eall, drabh­fhuigheal, dramh­ghail, drabh­ghail. (b) in un­stressed syllables—αkli꞉, ‘pliable, soft’, Di. aclaidhe;kïki꞉s (kïky꞉ʃ), ‘fortnight’, M.Ir. cóicdigis;kʹiɲkʹi꞉ʃ, ‘Whitsun­tide’, M.Ir. cengciges;mαNti꞉lʹ, ‘to mumble, talk in­distinct­ly’, man­tuighil;mwinʹi꞉nʹ, ‘confi­dence’, M.Ir. muinigin;mwirʹi꞉nʹ, ‘a large family’, Di. muir­ighean, Macbain muirichinn. The genitive of words ending in‑uw < ‑adh, ‑amh is usually‑i꞉, sobɔluw, ‘smell’, O.Ir. bolad, gen. sing.bɔli꞉;bʹrʹehuw, ‘judge’, O.Ir. brithem, gen. sing.bʹrʹehi꞉. Between r (=rʹ) andj a svara­bhakti vowel was developed, hence M.Ir. suirge became *sirʹijə and finallysirʹi (generally with short vowel); similarly O.Ir. eirge gaveeirʹi꞉.

A number of substantives (mainly feminine) which ended in ‑ad in the older language have formed a new nomi­native‑i꞉ < ‑aid from the oblique cases, as indeed there is a general tendency in Donegal to make feminine substan­tives end in a palatal sound, e.g.genʹə̃v, ‘sand’, O.Ir. ganem. Examples:—α꞉ri꞉, ‘main cross-beam in roof’, Di. áraidhe, M.Ir. árad;kũ꞉i꞉, ‘grief’, Meyer cuma, dat. cumaid;Lʹαbwi꞉, ‘bed’, has already in M.Ir. two forms lepad, lepuid;mʹαni꞉, ‘awl’, M.Ir. menad;mɔli꞉, ‘brow, steep incline’, Wi. malaig (dat.);sα̃uwi꞉, ‘sorrel’, Di. samhadh, Macbain samh. Cp. furthertʹinʹi, ‘fire’, < tenid (dat.);tʹαŋy꞉, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge. Other words seem to have been influ­enced by these examples, askʹïNti꞉, ‘cause’, Di. cionnta formed from​O.Ir. cin, ‘guilt’, M.Ir. cintach, ‘guilty’ and I am inclined to think that the‑i꞉ ingα꞉ri꞉, ‘garden, small enclosure’, M.Ir. garda ando̤mwi꞉, ‘many a’, O.Ir. immda, is also due to analogy; for the latter form cp. Derry People 24 x ’03 p. 3—siomaidh sgéul atá innisiste fa daobh dó. Henebry (p. 65) states that “gh broad or slender after l, n, r contracts w or y with the svar. thrown out by the liquid and becomes ū or ī” and quotes as instances fead­ghaile, murrghach. Pedersen (p. 15) says of Mod.Ir. gardha, “the word is now pro­nounced garī on Arran with a regular change of dh > j, develop­ment of svara­bhakti vowel and change ofəjə > ī; Scotch garradh”. Pedersen un­fortunate­ly fails to give us any further instances of the change of non-palatal dh > j and this sound-law has certainly not operated in Donegal, where Mod.Ir. dh after r, m dis­appears, as far as can be seen^{[A 5]}. Thus M.Ir. gruamda appears asgruəmə;α NʹiəLəs, M.Ir. Mac Niallguis (Fergus and Oengus un­fortunate­ly appear asfʹαrəgəs andN⅄̃꞉s); *mór­dhachas, cp. Di. mórdhacht, givesmo̤Rαχəs with assimi­lation of rd >R and shorten­ing of the preceding vowel;fαurə, ‘eclipse’ is obscure, but it may be mentioned here as it repre­sents urdhubh­adh. Further in a number of tri­syllabic adjec­tives in ‑rdha the result is‑rə, e.g.kʹαχərə, ‘miserly’, Meyer cecharda;dαnərə, ‘cruel’, Di. danardha; similarlykɔrpərə (Meyer corporda),mαsərə,mwiNʹtʹərə,ʃαskərə.

§ 122. However in the case of O.Ir. palatal g afterlʹ,rʹ the svara­bhaktii +j + vowel invariab­ly givesi꞉, e.g.dælʹi꞉s, ‘diffi­culty’, Keating doilgheas;Nʹiən, ‘daughter’ <inʹijən (the loss of the initial i is due to the word being frequent­ly used proclitic­ally) O.Ir. ingen. In a few cases a post-consonan­tic palatal ch is treated as if it were g (Mod.Ir. gh), only the preceding consonant must be voiceless, e.g.fwætʹi꞉s, ‘timidity’, M.Ir. faitches;tɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘number at birth, partu­rition’ (ro̤g ʃi꞉ tʹrʹu꞉r ə jɛəN tɔ꞉r̥i꞉s, ‘she had triplets’), Di. toircheas, M.Ir. torrchius.

§ 123. By shifting of stressfuirʹ, ‘got’, O.Ir. fúair, becomesfwi꞉rʹ.smwi꞉tʹuw, ‘to think’, repre­sents M.Ir. smúainim, cp. § 443. Forbwi꞉rʹuw, ‘trouble’, see § 66. Fori꞉,iə < O.Ir. ua see forms withy §§ 66,67.

§ 124. But one of the most frequent sources ofi꞉ is O.Ir. ái, ói, now written aoi, e.g.fwi꞉ʃuw, ‘improve­ment’, Di. faoiseamh​< M.Ir. foessam;i꞉lʹαχ, ‘dung’, O.Ir. ailedu;i꞉nʹə, ‘Friday’, O.Ir. oine;i꞉v wãiç,drɔχi꞉v, ‘good, bad appear­ance’, O.Ir. óiph;i꞉viNʹ, ‘agreeable’, O.Ir. áibind, óibind;i꞉vəL, ‘starting of cattle with heat’, Di. aoibhill;ki꞉nʹuw (ky꞉nʹuw), ‘to cry’, O.Ir. cáiniud (Craig writes caonadh but I have only heard the form withnʹ);ki꞉rʹ hinʹuw, ‘blazing fire’, Di. caor, cp.ki꞉rʹ hinʹuw ɔrt, ‘the curse of blazes upon you’, O.Ir. cáir;kri꞉və, gen. sing. ofkryuw, ‘branch’;mwi꞉lʹ, ‘super­abundance, top’ (proverbəs mʹinʹikʹ ə winʹ ə kï̃vαd mαiç ə wi꞉lʹ dəN to̤bəʃtʹə, ‘a stitch in times saves nine’), Di. maoil;mwĩ꞉v, ‘to grudge’, O.Ir. móidem, cp.Nʹi꞉Lʹ ʃə ən wĩ꞉tʹə ɔrt, ‘it is not to be grudged you’;ʃi꞉lʹəm, ‘I think’, M.Ir. sáilim (ʃ fors, cp. § 354). In other than syllables with chief stress—αχli꞉, ‘relapse in illness’, = ath + claoidh, Di. claoidhim;kαsi꞉dʹ, ‘complaint’, O.Ir. cossóit. In the inflected forms of words contain­ing⅄꞉,ki꞉lʹə, compar. ofk⅄꞉l, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cóel;ki꞉çə, gen. sing. fem. ofk⅄꞉χ, ‘blind’, O.Ir. cáich.

In a number of cases we findi꞉ andy꞉ side by side. For the younger people’s pronun­ciation of⅄꞉ asy꞉,i꞉ see § 61. In a few wordsi꞉ is the only sound one hears, e.g.fi꞉wər, ‘edge’, O.Ir. faibur;tri꞉, ‘to subside’ (tα꞉ N tαt ə tri꞉, ‘the pain is subsiding’) < traogh, Di. traochadh, Macbain traogh, M.Ir. trágud. This word has been differen­tiated fromtrα꞉uw, ‘to ebb’, which corres­ponds exactly to the M.Ir. form.tri꞉ has followed the inflected forms of the verb, e.g. pret.r̥i꞉.gɔr ·ti꞉wə lʹɛ, ‘to depend on’ (tα꞉ mʹə gɔr ·ti꞉wə lʹαt fαn ṟo̤d ətα꞉ ə ji꞉ç ɔrəm, ‘I am relying on you for what I want’) Di. i dtor­taoibh s. taobh (§ 416), but the simple word occurs both astiuw andtyuw, O.Ir. tóib.

§ 125. This symbol represents a modified form ofi due to the influence of certain non-palatal conso­nants. Most commonlyy is an unrounded form of German ü in Güte, i.e. the fore part of the tongue is slightly lowered from the i position and is moreover retracted. Thisy (y꞉) appears instead of ï,i afterL,N,k,g,χ,ꬶ and arises under the same condi­tions as these vowels. Examples—gydʹ, plur. ofgαd, ‘switch’;ꬶydʹ mʹə, ‘I stole’, Di. goidim;gyʃ gen. sing. ofgo̤s, ‘vigour’, M.Ir. gus;kyʃɔg, ‘windle-straw’, Di. cuiseog;kytʹαg, ‘lob-worm’, Craig cuiteog;χyrʹ mʹə, ‘I put’, M.Ir. ro chuir;Nyuw, ‘saint’, O.Ir. nóib;sNỹ꞉, ‘bier’, O’R. snaoi;sNỹ꞉mʹ, ‘knot’, M.Ir. snaidm. In other than syllables with chief stress—αmsky꞉, ‘untidy’, Di. amscaoidh­each;ə Nαsky꞉, ‘gratis’, M.Ir. ascid;dʹαrkyαχ, ‘scrutinis­ing, attentive’ < dear​caigh­theach;αrt α kʹαLy꞉, ‘Art O’Kelly’;kʹαNy꞉m, ‘I buy’, M.Ir. cendaigim.

§ 126. After other non-palatal consonants than those mentioned in the preceding paragraph the character­istic features ofy are not so strongly marked and we get a sound betweeny andi, now approach­ing more nearly to the one, now to the other. This is the case afterw,p,t,d,s, e.g. intyNʹə, gen. sing. ofto̤N, ‘wave’;sy꞉, ‘to sit’, O.Ir. sude;sy꞉, ‘sage’, O.Ir. sui;i꞉nuw, ‘wonder’ butNʹi꞉rʹ wy꞉nuw, ‘it was no wonder’.

§ 127. We have seen thaty꞉,i꞉ frequently take the place of⅄꞉ especial­ly with the younger people but even J. H. hasy꞉ in a number of words such astyuw, ‘side’, O.Ir. tóib;kryuw, ‘branch’, M.Ir. cróeb, cráeb, gen. sing.kri꞉və, plur.kry꞉wαχə). In the case of aoi great uncertain­ty prevails. J. H. sometimes hasy꞉ iny꞉ʃ, ‘age’, O.Ir. áis;y꞉lʹ, gen. sing. of⅄꞉l, ‘lime’, O.Ir. áel and frequent­ly in inflected forms likesy꞉rʹ, gen. sing. ofs⅄꞉r, ‘free, cheap’. But the tendency with the younger genera­tions is to introducei꞉ every­where.

§ 128. The so-called irrational vowel in Donegal seems to lie between the mid-mixedə in German Gabe (narrow according to Sweet) and my ï with which it often appears to inter­change. It may be regarded as a lowered ï and it is interest­ing to find that Craig writes: “in the following a is obscure (i.e. un­stressed), and is pro­nounced like i in mist (= ï):—asam, asat &c.” (Grammar² p. 3). In this book I have chosen to writeə beforel,n,r,m &c. instead ofḷ,ṇ,ṛ,ṃ, as the quality of the vowel seems to me to be generally retained, cp. Finck’s remarksi pp. 34, 35.ə may represent the reduction of any O.Ir. short vowel in syllables not bearing the chief stress, except in the case of the termi­nation ‑ach. Before palatal conso­nantsi takes the place ofə (§ 113).

§ 129. Examples ofə as the reduction of O.Ir. short vowels in un­stressed syllables—(a) O.Ir. a,αləbənαχ, ‘Scotch, Presby­terian’, O.Ir. albanach;αsəl, ‘ass’, M.Ir. assal;αstər (χlïNʹə), ‘labour’, Meyer astar;α̃uwərk, ‘sight’, M.Ir. amarc;α꞉məd, ‘timber’, M.Ir. admat;bαnəLtrə, ‘nurse’, M.Ir. banaltru;bαtə, ‘stick’, M.Ir. bata;gαNtənəs, ‘scarcity’, Di. ganntanas;kαr̥əNαχ, ‘loving’, Meyer carthan­ach;ruəmən Nə gyNʹəl, ‘daddy long-legs’, cp. Di. ruaim, ‘a long hair’, O’R. ruaghmhar, ‘whisker’​(the creature is also calledru꞉rʹi꞉). (b) O.Ir. e,αuwrəs, ‘doubt’, O.Ir. amiress;æɲəl, ‘angel’, O.Ir. aingel;ærʹəgʹəd, ‘money’, O.Ir. arget;bwinʹəN, ‘female’, Meyer boinenn;dα̃iən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen;dʹαrəməd, ‘forget’, O.Ir. dermet;dʹẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess;dreçəd, ‘bridge’, M.Ir. drochet;fʹihə, ‘20’, O.Ir. fiche;fʹirʹəN, ‘male’, M.Ir. firend;fʹrʹïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; ïmʹəL, ‘edge’, M.Ir. imbel;mʹɛhəl, ‘gang of labourers’, M.Ir. methel;mwilʹəN, ‘mill’, O.Ir. mulenn;mwiNʹtʹərə, ‘related’, M.Ir. muinterda;o̤rəd, ‘amount’, O.Ir. eret;skætʹə, ‘dislocated’, Di. scaithte;tiə, ‘thatch’, M.Ir. tuge;tʹiNʹəs, ‘illness’, M.Ir. tinnes. (c) O.Ir. i, in the ending of 1st pers. sing. of the pres. ind.mʹ has becomem by analogy with prepositional pronouns like orm, hence the termination is‑əm,fα꞉gəm, ‘I leave’;genʹə̃v, ‘sand’, Di. gainimh. (d) O.Ir. o, u,αrəwər, ‘corn’, Meyer arbor;α꞉rəs, ‘dwelling’, M.Ir. áros (Nʹi꞉Lʹ tʹαχ Nα α꞉rəs əgəm, ‘I have neither house nor home’);bαnəLtrə, ‘nurse’, Meyer banaltru;bʹïlər, ‘water-cress’, M.Ir. biror;bʹlʹïgən, ‘milking’, M.Ir. blegon;dα̃uwən (dõ꞉n), ‘world’, O.Ir. domun;dɔrəs, ‘door’, O.Ir. dorus;dɔ꞉χəs, ‘hope’, M.Ir. dóchus;dʹəwəl, ‘devil’, O.Ir. diabul;ɛ꞉drəm, ‘light’, O.Ir. étromm;əgəs,αgəs, ‘and’, O.Ir. ocus;fi꞉wər, ‘edge’, O.Ir. faibur;kɔr̥əm, ‘even’, M.Ir. comthromm;Lʹïgən, ‘to overthrow’, for the ending cp. M.Ir. lécun;mo꞉rtəs, ‘boasting’ < *mórdatus, M.Ir. mórdatu;mo̤rLəs, ‘mackerel’, Di. murlus;mʹαkən inLo̤s Nə mʹαkən, ‘fungus’, O.Ir. mecon;o̤mər, ‘trough’, Meyer ambor;sɔləs, ‘light’, M.Ir. solus;to̤bəN, ‘sudden’, M.Ir. opond;to̤bər, ‘well’, O.Ir. topur.

§ 130.ə occurs further as the reduction of certain long vowels in rapid speech. Thus for instance in the preterite of verbs of the second conjugation, when followed by a pronominal subject, the ending‑i꞉ often becomes‑ə. I have heard it in the following—wαLə mʹə, ‘I cursed’, Di. malluighim;wαrə mʹə, ‘I killed’, = mharbhuigh;wo꞉rə mʹə, ‘I deafened’, Di. bodhruighim;wα꞉nə mʹə, ‘I grew pale’, Di. bánuighim;vαNə mʹə, ‘I greeted’, Di. beannuighim;vαl̥ə mʹə, ‘I greased’, Di. bealuighim;vrʹαn̥ə mʹə, ‘I expected’, Di. breathnuighim;hiəlṟə tuw, ‘you descended’, Di. síolruighim;hæʃkʹə mʹə, ‘I stored up’, Di. taiscighim;lʹα̃uwnə tuw, ‘you slipped’, Di. sleamhnuighim;lα̃꞉wə mwidʹ, ‘we handled’, Di. lámhuighim;χɔrə mʹə, ‘I moved’, Di. corruighim;χɔrNə mʹə, ‘I coiled, rolled up’, Di. cornaim;χu꞉də mʹə, ‘I covered’, Di. cumhduighim;ro̤n̥ə mʹə, ‘I scattered’, Di. srathnuighim;jɛərə mʹə, ‘I sharpened’, Di. géaruighim;dα꞉r̥ə mʹə, ‘I altered’,​Di. ath­ruighim;dɔ꞉rLə mʹə, ‘I vomited’, O’R. orlúghadh;do̤ŋgə tuw, ‘you anointed’, Di. ungaim.

Beforeʃə,ʃi꞉,ʃïv,ʃiəd thisə tends to becomei.

§ 131. A similar reduction takes place in the future active before the subject pronoun, see Craig, Grammar² p. 105 note. But in pausa forms and when the subject is a noun the full ending‑i꞉ is heard, e.g.vɛkʹə mʹə əmα꞉rαχ huw? tʹi꞉fʹi꞉, = (an) bhfeic­fidh mé amarach thú? tífidh;tʹïkəmwidʹ ʃiNʹ ər⅄꞉n ə Nɔ꞉r̥i꞉rʹ αχ Nʹi꞉ hïki꞉ ʃα꞉n = tiocfaidh muid sinne araon an oirthear acht ní thioc­faidh Seaghan. Likewise in the present subjunc­tive, e.g.go꞉ əʃtʹαχ gə dʹi꞉ gə Nɔ꞉lə tuw kɔpαN te꞉, ‘go (come) in and drink a cup of tea’.

§ 132. Very exceptionally the infinitive and substantival termi­nation ‑adh appears as‑ə. In most of the cases ‑adh is preceded byw, as infɔluwə, ‘to empty’, Di. folmhugh­adh;gɔr·ti꞉wə lʹɛ, ‘depending on’, Di. tor­taobhadh;gα꞉wə, ‘jeopardy’, Di. gábhadh;mαrəwə, ‘to kill’, Di. mar­bhuighim;ro꞉wə, ‘warning’, Di. rabhadh. Further inɔ꞉rLə, ‘to vomit’, O’R. orlughadh;ɔsNə, ‘sigh’, O.Ir. osnad (osna Sg. Fearn. p. 97);Lu꞉NəsNə, ‘Lammas, August’, < lúgnasad. In words standing before the chief stress inko̤Lə ·glu꞉rαkænʹ, ‘numbness in the feet’, = codladh;ro̤bəL ə wαdə rui, ‘the fox’s tail’, = ruball an mhadaidh ruaidh. Cp. also the following descrip­tion of lucifer matches when they were first intro­duced—kʹipʹi꞉nʹi꞉ bʹïgə rαχə lʹɛ hinʹi^{[A 6]}.

§ 133. Similar reductions occur sporadically insi꞉w̥əlʹ, ‘strange, queer’, Di. saoith­eamhail;grĩ꞉wəlʹ, ‘handsome’, Di. gnaoidh­eamhail;sɔ꞉kəl, ‘ease’, Keating socamhal, cp. Derry People 30 v ’04, ionnus nach rabh suaimh­neas na sócal aici, alsosɔ꞉kəlαχ, luigh mise go sócalach, ib. 21 xi ’03 p. 3 col. 3;dɔ꞉kəl, Di. dócamhal intα꞉ dɔ꞉kəl mo꞉r tʹiNʹiʃ ərʹ ə Nαr sɔ, ‘this man shews signs of being in great pain’. Furtherdαstə mʹə besidedαstɔ꞉ mʹə, ‘I hired’, Di. fastógh­adh;Lʹïnədαχ, ‘linen’, Di. lín-éadach.

§ 134.ə sometimes makes its appearance in stressed syllables instead of ï, e.g. infʹlʹəχ, ‘wet’;Ləv, ‘plant, weed’, O.Ir. luib. Further indʹəwəl (dʹiwəl), ‘devil’, O.Ir. diabul;dʹəwælʹ, ‘want’ (§ 105);ʃəwidʹ < seo dhuid;əməwə, ‘astray, wrong’, Wi. immada;məwilʹ, ‘quiet’, Di. modh­amhail;əN, ‘in, there’,əNəm, ‘in me’. The form i n- in cases likeə Nα꞉tʹαχə has been identi­fied​withəN = ann with the result that the latter has largely driven out the older form. Before a consonant initial a double forməNə is commonly used, e.g.əNə mɔrαn ɔkuw, ‘in many of them’,əNə mʹïgαn Lɛhə, ‘in a few days’,əNə ʃïpə, ‘in a shop’. For a similardevelope­ment in Farney see G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2.

§ 135. A number of words ending in a consonant in O.Ir. have been extended by the addition ofə, cp. Fincki p. 37. Such areα꞉wə, ‘Adam’;drihαχtə, ‘sorcery’, M.Ir. druidecht;dʹeirʹkʹə, ‘alms’, O.Ir. deircc;dʹrʹu꞉χtə, ‘dew’, M.Ir. drúcht; (ə)giNʹəstə dŨw̥, ‘unknown to me’, = gan fhios; ïgə ꬶUw̥,jαrəg, ‘black, red hives’, Di. feag, Wi. fec (?);kαhə, ‘battle’, O.Ir. cath (the usual term for ‘battle’ now-a-days isbʹrʹiʃuw);krα̃꞉bʹə, ‘hemp’, Meyer cnáip;krïn̥ʹαχtə, ‘wheat’, M.Ir. cruth­necht;mα꞉sə, ‘thigh’, M.Ir. máss;mo꞉dʹə, ‘vow’, M.Ir. móit;mʹɛəwə, M.Ir. Medb;rihαχtə, ‘kingdom’, Di. ríoghacht;sα꞉wə, Mod.Ir. Sadhbha, M.Ir. Sadb;uαχtə, ‘pledge’, Di. udhacht.

§ 136. In pretonic syllables all vowels whether short or long and diph­thongs may be reduced toə. os inəs kʹïN, ‘above’, Wi. os chind, os a cind. do, de becomedə,ə, e.g.tα꞉ mʹə ə mə χu꞉nælʹ, ‘I am perishing with cold’. Similarly dia intα꞉ ʃïnʹ ə jəwælʹ ə və dʹα꞉Ntə, ‘that requires to be done’, = dia dhiogh­bháil. But dia just as often appears asα,Nʹi꞉rʹ çrʹidʹ Nα di꞉nʹi꞉ ʃɛ꞉rLəs αχ tα꞉ ʃɛ α çiNʹtʹuw əNʹUw̥, ‘people did not believe Charles but he is proving it to-day’, = dia chinn­tiughadh. There is a very peculiar phrase in which thisə < dia seems to occur, viz.Nʹi꞉lʹ ə mʹiʃtʹə lʹïm, ‘I don’t mind, I should very much like’. With this is to be compared Craig’s dheamhan a miste liom (Iasg.), from which it would seem thatNʹi꞉lʹ has been substi­tuted fordʹəwəl, ‘devil’. dia, ‘if’, also appears asə,α,ə mʹeiNʹʃə, ‘if I were’. ar is reduced toə in the phraseə wα̃hə lʹɛ, ‘for the sake of’, Di. mar (ar) mhaithe le. O.Ir. íar has been lost except in a couple of phrases as inər du꞉s, ‘at first’. But this is an accident as O.Ir. íar, ar and for have been confused and ar alone has survived in the formerʹ (cp. Scotch G. air) which still causes eclipse inər du꞉s,erʹ gu꞉l, ‘back’, but not inerʹ fα꞉lʹ which is used as the past parti­ciple ofjɛvəm. aon, ‘one, a single, any’ when not stressed becomesən,ə, e.g.Nʹi꞉lʹ ə ꬶah ə wiLʹ ɔrəm = ní’l aon dhath de mhoill orm, ‘there is nothing to hinder me’, cp. Craig, Derry People 30 iv ’04 p. 3 col. 4, cha rabh a dhath a mhaith dí sin a dheanadh ach urad;Nʹi꞉lʹ ə·Nynʹə əN, ‘there is not any one there’ butNʹi꞉ row ·ɛə·Nynʹ əstiç, ‘there was not a soul inside’.​Intα꞉ ʃɛ ə jαL erʹαm ə wiNʹtʹ əs, ‘he wants to waste time’,Nʹi꞉lʹ mʹə ə jαL erʹ, ‘I do not like it’,Nʹi꞉lʹ mʹɛ ə jαL erʹ ə ꬶɔLʹ ʃerʹ, ‘I do not want to go over’ we seem to have Dinneen’s ní’l aon gheall aige air, ‘he has no regard for it’ (s. geall) construed personal­ly.

§ 137. The frequent occurrence of thisə before verbs and substan­tives, the origin of which is often forgotten, has led to its extension in cases where it has no histor­ical founda­tion. As an instance of this we may regard the relative pronounə, cp. Finckii p. 269. Similarlyə χy꞉çə, ‘ever’, M.Ir. caidche, coidche;erʹ ə hαχt ə welʹə dŨw̥, ‘after coming home’, = iar dteacht;erʹ ə ꬶɔLʹ ʃi꞉s dɔ꞉, ‘after he had gone down’, = iar ndul;αχə·di꞉widə, ‘about, concern­ing’, < fá gach taoibh de, where however theαχə may stand for gach aon. The d is transport­ed from the shorter phrasefα di꞉widə, for which see §§ 314,395. It is also possible to regardαχə·di꞉widə as standing for gach fá dtaoibh de with a super­fluous gach prefixed as seems to be the case in the curious phraseαχ·dαχərNə lα꞉, ‘every other day’. By the side of this peculiar conglom­eration (g)αχ·dαrə Lα꞉ is also used. The chief diffi­culty lies in the position of the stress, else the phrase might be resolved into gach gach darna lá.

§ 138. A number of non-palatal consonant-groups have developed a svara­bhakti vowelə. Between palatal conso­nantsi takes the place ofə, cp. § 114. The chief cases are the following꞉—

(a)l + cons.

Asv,mʹ are not included among the palatal consonants mentioned in § 74, they may be preceded byə, e.g.dʹelʹəv, ‘form’, M.Ir. deilb (acc.);enʹəvi꞉, ‘animal’, Meyer anmide;enʹəvïsαχ, ‘ignorant’, Meyer anfiss;ə Nʹinʹəv, ‘in a fit state to do a thing’,inʹəv alone is used in the sense of ‘vigour’, as inNerʹ ə fuirʹ mʹə bʹiʃαχ Nʹi꞉ ro inʹəv əNəm, ‘when I recovered, there was no strength in me’. This is doubtless the same word as inme, ‘wealth’ (Laws), Di. inmhe, ‘estate or patrimony’. FurtherLʹinʹəv, gen. sing. ofLʹαnuw, ‘child’;skærʹəv, ‘sandy shore of a river’, Di. scairbh;ʃelʹəv, ‘posses­sion’, M.Ir. seilb (acc.). For examples ofə withꬶr,ꬶl see § 338. Sometimes we fində where we might expecti, as inærʹəgʹïd, ‘money’.

A svarabhakti vowel may also be heard between two words when the first begins^[1] and the second commences with a consonant, as inkʹiLʹə ·χαr̥ə, ‘Kilcar’ (this is J. H.’s in­variable pronun­ciation);əN mw⅄꞉ʃə ʃə, ‘in my time’;ɛgʹ mα hi꞉vəʃə, ‘at my side’.

§ 139.αi usually represents O.Ir. a followed by palatal th, e.g.mαiç, ‘good’, O.Ir. maith;αihərə, ‘short cut’, Meyer aith-gerre;flαihiʃ, ‘heaven’ < O.Ir. flaith;αiç ·o꞉Nə, ‘colt’s foot’, Hogan aithinn;fʹïlu꞉N sαiç, ‘red hives’;bʹαihαχ, ‘lively’, Craig (Iasg.) beaith­each;skαiç, ‘the best of’ as inriNʹ ʃɛ skαiç Le꞉ NʹUw̥, from an oblique case of M.Ir. scoth. In words of the formα,ɔ +h +i꞉ (i) there is a distinct tendency to introduce the palatal vowel of the second syllabic into the first, thus producingαi. Hence athair may become aithir, Chr. Bros. Aids to Pron. of Irish p. 86, similarly maithir for mathair in Glen­columb­kille, G. J. 1891 p. 79. Examples—kαihi꞉, ‘tempta­tion’, alsokαhi꞉, spelt cathaidh in Litir an Chorgais of diocese of Raphoe 1904 and Spir. Rose p. 20, plur.kαihiəNỹ꞉,kαihiɔrʹ, ‘tempter’, Di. cath­uighim, M.Ir. cathaigim. Similarlykαihirʹ, ‘chair’, Di. cathaoir, M.Ir. catháir, Sg. Fearn. caithir p. 63;kαir̥ʹiɔrʹ, ‘citizen’,kαir̥ʹαχə, plur. ofkαhærʹ, M.Ir. cathir (catháir and cathir have been confused in Donegal).Lαiç, ‘mud’, M.Ir. lathach, scarcely belongs here. The word probably followed the declen­sion ofblα꞉χ,blα꞉içə. Hence gen. sing.Lαiçə from which a new nomi­native was formed. Infin­itives of the form x +αhuw might have in the preterite​either x +αiç or x +αh but the former has been general­ised andαi has been intro­duced into the present system, e.g.skαhuw, ‘to wean’, M.Ir. scothaim, pres.skαihəm, pret.skαiç. Similarlykrαihəm, ‘I shake’, M.Ir. crothaim;brαihəm, ‘I betray’, Meyer brath­aigim. Beforerʹ,tʹ αi becomesæ (§ 75).

§ 140.αi represents O.Ir. o before a palatal consonant inkαigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘raking the fire’, M.Ir. coiclim. Also in the parts ofmohuw, ‘to feel, hear’, fut.mαihαχə mʹə, pret.wα̃ihi꞉ mʹə.

§ 141. In syllables with secondary stressαi represents an older á before O.Ir. palatal g as ini꞉wα̃iç, ‘image’, Wi. imaig, Atk. imágin;o̤mərwαi`, ‘conten­tion’, M.Ir. immarbáig (dat.).du꞉rαi`, ‘founda­tion’, is evidently O’R.’s dúrtheach, Wi. durthech, daurthech but the formation is by no means plain. Di. has duthrach.

Indα͠ıən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen, we have a triphthong but the whole only counts as one syllable, compar.Nʹi꞉s dαinʹə. Inmαiʃtʹirʹ, ‘master’,αi is due to contrac­tion ofαji toαi.

§ 142.αu arises from O.Ir. accented a, e, (o) followed by b (Mod.Ir. bh) + another non-palatal consonant. Before r, l, nαu ends in the bilabial spirantw, which we often denote in writing. Examples—αuwri꞉, ‘Jew’, M.Ir. ebraide,αuwriʃ, ‘Hebrew (language)’, alsotαŋ αuwrə;αuwiLʹ, ‘orchard’, Meyer aball;αuwLɔrʹ, ‘cluster of nuts’ (?);αuwLə, ‘wafer’, O.Ir. obla;αuwLɔrʹ, ‘a foolish prater’, M.Ir. oblóir;mʹi꞉ αuwrə, ‘February’, Di. feabhra;fαuwri꞉, ‘eye-lashes’, M.Ir. abra, fabra;fʹiαuwrəs (fʹiəuwrəs), ‘fever’, Keating fiabhras;grαuwər, ‘loose dry turf-mould’, Di. grabhar;kαuwlαχ, ‘fleet’, M.Ir. coblach;kαusə, ‘pathway through boggy land’ < Engl. ‘causeway’;ʃLαuwruw, ‘chain’, M.Ir. slabrad. An obscure word isfαuwrə, ‘eclipse’,henʹi mʹə fαuwr erʹ ə jαli꞉ rɛirʹ, ‘I saw an eclipse of the moon last night’. This is evidently the same as Dinneen’s ur­dhubhadh and Finck’sorə (ii p. 207) the existence of which Pedersen un­necessari­ly doubts (ib. p. 288). In Donegal the word is masc., nom. plur.fαuwri꞉,fαuwriαχə. It may well be that it has been influ­enced by the word for ‘eye-lashes’.

§ 143. The normal pronunciation of O.Ir. eba, aba may be regarded aso꞉, see § 40, but in a few cases we find the older stageαuwə preserved, e.g. inαuwək, ‘dwarf, M.Ir. abacc;dαuwi꞉, ‘vat’, gen. sing.dαuχə, nom. plur.dαuwαχi꞉, M.Ir. dabach;dʹαuwi꞉,​‘urging, nagging’, e.g.kyNʹαxəmʹə dʹαuwi꞉ lʹαt gə dʹi꞉ gə ro ʃinʹ dʹα꞉Ntə, ‘I shall keep on worrying you until that is done’, M.Ir. debaid;kαuwəl klɔχə, ‘heap of stones’, Di. cobhail, cabhail, cabhal (with different meaning);LʹαuwəN, ‘half-sale’, Di. leath-bhonn;ʃtʹrʹαuwɔg, ‘impudent little girl’, cp. 194 l. 20;tαuwuw, ‘to earn, deserve’,tα꞉ α fα꞉jə tαuwi꞉(ʃtʹə)ɛgʹə, ‘he has earned his wages’, Di. tamh­uighim, but J. H. does not nasalise, O’R. gives tabh­uighim, ‘I profit, exact, collect’, hence the word seems to be a deverba­tive from M.Ir. tobach infin. of do-bongim.kαuwlædʹ, ‘the noisy talk of a number of people’,kαuwlædʹαχ, ‘noisy’, cp. M.Ir. callaire, may be due to Connaught influence, cp. Fincki p. 41.

§ 144.α̃u arises from O.Ir. am, em, (om). Before r, l, n a bilabialw is clearly heard and at the end of mono­syllables the spirant loses its voice. Examples—α̃ugər, ‘distress’, Di. Meyer amhgar;α̃uwli꞉, ‘thus’, M.Ir. amlaid;α̃uwrəs, ‘doubt’, O.Ir. am-iress;α̃uwərk, ‘sight’, Meyer amarc;αuw̥, ‘insipid’, M.Ir. om;gα̃uwinʹ, ‘calf’, M.Ir. gamuin;gα̃uwnαχ, ‘a stripper’, M.Ir. gamnach;gʹα̃uwər, ‘young corn’, Di. geamhar;klα̃uwərtʹ, ‘nibbling, gnawing’,klα̃uwαn, ‘a spot where there is little grazing for cattle’, cp. Di. glámaim;klα̃usαn, ‘murmuring, grumbling’, Di. clamhsán;kʹlʹα̃uwni꞉, ‘son-in-law’, Meyer clíamain;kʹrα̃uw̥, ‘garlic’, M.Ir. crem;Lʹα̃uwαn, ‘elm’, M.Ir. lem;Lʹα̃uw, ‘silly’, M.Ir. lem;rα̃uwər, ‘fat’, M.Ir. remor;sα̃uwi꞉, ‘sorrel’, Di. samhadh;sα̃uwiLʹtʹ, ‘to imagine’, Di. samh­luighim, cp.Nʹi꞉ αkə mʹə ə sα̃uwiLʹtʹ də wrĩ꞉, ‘I never saw such a woman’,Nʹi꞉rʹ hα̃uwiLʹ ʃə bwiNʹtʹ dŨw̥, ‘he did not even as much as touch me’;sα̃uwnəs, ‘loathing, nausea’, Di. samhnas;sα̃uwruw, ‘summer’, M.Ir. samrad;sα̃uwinʹ, ‘All Hallows, November’, M.Ir. samuin;skα̃uwænʹ, ‘lungs’, Di. scamhán;sklα̃uw̥, ‘snarl’, Di. sclamh;ʃLʹα̃uwinʹ, ‘smooth, slippery’, M.Ir. slemon.

§ 145.α꞉i usually represents O.Ir. accented á followed by a palatal th, d, g, e.g.α꞉i, gen. sing. ofα꞉, ‘luck’, M.Ir. ág;α̃꞉içə,α̃꞉iç i꞉lʹ, ‘lime-kiln’, Meyer áithe;fα꞉i, ‘prophet’, O.Ir. fáith;grα꞉i, gen. sing. ofgrα꞉, ‘love’;χrα꞉i, pret. ofkrα꞉, ‘to torment’, M.Ir. cráidim;o̤mrα꞉i, gen. sing. ofo̤mrα꞉, ‘report’, M.Ir. imrád (Atk. p. 762);sα꞉ihəm, ‘I thrust’, M.Ir. sáthud, pret.hα꞉i mʹə;sα꞉iç, ‘suffi­ciency’, M.Ir. sáith;trα꞉i, ‘shore’, M.Ir. trág, tráig. When a syllable is added to a form ending inα꞉i i becomesj, as infα꞉jəNỹ꞉, ‘prophets’, plur. offα꞉i. When O.Ir. á is followed by any other palatal consonant we simply​findα꞉, though beforeç,rʹ a kind ofj on-glide is heard. Thustα꞉juw, ‘to weld’, Di. táthaim, pret.hα꞉i mʹə but fut.tα꞉çə mʹə;sα꞉huw, pres. pass.sα꞉tʹər; imperf.hα꞉tʹi꞉;α꞉rʹi꞉ʃtʹə, ‘reckoned, calculat­ed, reputed’, past part. ofα꞉rʹi꞉m, ‘I count’, O.Ir. áirmim (α꞉rʹuw is used principal­ly of counting sprats, kale &c. in threes);mα꞉rʹə, ‘Mary’;α꞉lʹ, gen. sing. ofα꞉l, ‘litter’, Meyer ál;rα꞉çə, ‘quarter of a year’, M.Ir. ráthe;gα꞉rʹə, ‘laugh’ (subst.), M.Ir. gáire;ər dα꞉rʹ, ‘bulling’, M.Ir. dáir (note the pres. pass.dα꞉rtʹər).

§ 146. In several instancesα꞉i arises by the contraction of two syllables caused by the quies­cence of inter­vocalic th, bh, gh, dh, e.g.brα꞉i, ‘hostage, prisoner’, M.Ir. brage (this word is also used to mean ‘unfilled ears of corn’) butbrα꞉dʹ, ‘throat’, from the oblique cases of O.Ir. bráge, cp.kyt wrα꞉dʹ, ‘king’s evil’;blα꞉içə, gen. sing. ofblα꞉χ, ‘butter-milk’, M.Ir. bláthach, dat. sing.blα꞉i;vα̃꞉i mʹə, ‘I weighed’ (fut.mʹα̃꞉ihə mʹə) < mheadh­aigh mé, Di. meadhaim, Donegalmʹα꞉jəm, past part.mʹα꞉tʹə, imperf. pass.vα̃꞉tʹi꞉.

§ 147.α꞉u occurs under the same conditions asα꞉i in the preceding paragraph. For thew in which the diphthong is liable to end see § 142. Examples—grα꞉uw, ‘to love’, Atk. gradaigim;trα꞉uw, ‘to ebb’, M.Ir. trágud.

§ 148.α̃꞉u represents O.Ir. accented á followed by final m (Mod.Ir. mh), e.g.krα̃꞉uw, gen. plur. ofkrα̃꞉v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim,pʹiən Nə grα̃꞉uw, ‘rheuma­tism’;Lα̃꞉uw, ‘hand’, O.Ir. lám;sNα̃꞉uw, ‘swimming’, M.Ir. snám;tuəmʹ tα̃꞉uw, ‘idle rumour’, fortuəmʹ see § 383. When a syllable beginning with a vowel is addedu becomesw, thuslα̃꞉wə ʃi꞉, ‘she handled’, fromLα̃꞉uw, ‘hand’.

§ 149. A diphthongɔi occurs in a few words beforeç,h < O.Ir. th. Hence the second element ofɔi is really the on-glide of the following palatal sound. Examples—bɔihαχ, ‘byre’, Meyer bó-thech;dɔiçəL, ‘shyness (of horses)’, Di. doicheall;klɔiç, dat. sing. ofklɔχ, ‘stone’;kɔiçə, ‘blast, whirlwind’, connected with Di. cobhthach, coifeach;kɔihαn, ‘torch’, O’R. gaithean (?). Oc­casional­lyɔi may be heard in secondary syllables, as inbʹαχɔigʹə alsobʹαχægʹə, gen. sing. ofbʹαχɔg, ‘bee’. Forwɔ̃ihi꞉, pret. ofmαihi꞉m, ‘I feel, perceive’, Di. moth­uighim see​§§ 139,140. By contrac­tion we get forms such asɛəlɔim, ‘I escape’, which is a new formation from the infin.ɛəlɔ꞉, M.Ir. élud, éláim.klɔiçə,Lɔi may be heard by the side ofkləiçə,Ləi forkliçə, ‘game’,Ly꞉, ‘to lie’.

§ 150. Occasionally we findɔ꞉i as a diphthong, e.g.dɔ꞉i, ‘way’, O.Ir. dóig;dɔ꞉iu꞉lʹ, ‘handsome’, Di. dóigh­eamhail;dʹɛəlɔ꞉i ʃə, ‘he escaped’, infin.ɛəlɔ꞉.

§ 151. The first element of this diphthong is the openu described in § 44.uə usually repre­sents O.Ir. ua < ō, e.g. inkruəχ, ‘stack’, M.Ir. crúach;kuəχ, ‘coil, ringlet, cuckoo’, M.Ir. cúach;kuən, ‘harbour’, M.Ir. cúan;Luə, ‘early’, M.Ir. lúath;Luəχ, ‘price’, O.Ir. lúach;Luəskαnαχ, ‘speedy’, Di. luascán­ach;ruəgʹəm, ‘I put to flight’, M.Ir. ruaic;sal·χuəχ, ‘violet’, Di. sail-chuach;suən, ‘a doze, sleep’, M.Ir. súan;truə, ‘wretched’, O.Ir. trúag;tuə, ‘axe’, M.Ir. tuag;tuərəstəl, ‘wages’, M.Ir. tuarustul;uəlαχ, ‘burden’, M.Ir. ualach. Note also the contract­ed formskruəχən, ‘hardening’ < cruadh­achan;kruəgy꞉, ‘liver’ (§ 415). The first element of this diphthong seems to have been very open through­out Ireland as Irish words contain­ing the sound are spelt in English with oa, e.g. Croagh Patrick, bórach = buarach, Straough­ter = Srath-uachtar, Oughter­ard &c. Cp. also bóchaill for buachaill Sg. Fearn. p. 101.

§ 152.ui contains the sameu asuə and represents O.Ir, ui, uai. Examples—buiLʹtʹαχəs, ‘summer grazing in the mountains’, Meyer búal­techas,buiLʹtʹə, ‘a summer pasture’;buiLʹtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘the striking wattle on a flail’, Di. buailtín;buirʹuw, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. búadred, buaidred;bui, ‘obli­gation’, O.Ir. búaid;fuiʃkʹnʹuw, ‘shudder’ (?);gluiʃ, ‘move’, M.Ir. gluaisim;grui, ‘check’, Di. gruaidh < O.Ir. gruad;hui, ‘north’, M.Ir. thuaid;krui, ‘hard’, M.Ir. crúaid;Lui, ‘ashes’, M.Ir. luaith (acc.);Luiə, ‘lead’, M.Ir. luaide;skuidʹ, ‘cow-dung’;uiLʹ, ‘wild talk’, Di. uaill, M.Ir. uall.ui arises by contrac­tion inklũiʃtʹə, ‘feathered, fledged’, < clúmh­aiste;Luiαχt, ‘benefit’, M.Ir. logidecht.ui frequent­ly becomesɔə,o̤ə inχuəli꞉, ‘heard’;χuə, ‘went’.

The cases whereu꞉ occurs forui have been enumerated in § 46. Forms likekũ꞉i꞉, ‘grief, sorrow’, do not belong here, as they are dis­syllables.​

§ 153. The greatest uncertainty prevails when e forms the first and i the second clement of a diphthong. When ei stands before any other palatal consonant than those mentioned in § 74, J. H. usually hasɛi whilst the younger people preferei, e.g.kʹlʹɛiv, gen. sing. ofkʹlʹiuw, ‘basket’;Lʹɛijəm, ‘I read, melt’, but past part.Lʹeitʹə, imperf. pass.lʹeitʹi꞉;dʹi꞉lʹɛiəm, ‘I digest’, M.Ir. dílegim,ji꞉lʹɛi mʹə, ‘I digested’;kʹlʹɛ̃iəv, ‘sword’, plur.kʹlʹɛ̃ifʹαχə. Beforemʹ,ɛi,ei and evenɛə are heard, thusLʹɛimʹ, ‘spring, jump’, M.Ir. léimm;kʹɛimʹ, ‘dignity’, M.Ir. céimm. Henceɛi usually arises from O.Ir. é followed by a palatal consonant and sometimes from O.Ir. accented e followed by palatal g (Mod.Ir. gh).

§ 154. This diphthong occurs in a few infinitives, where an inter­vocalic gh, dh have become silent before the termi­nation‑uw, as inLʹɛuw, ‘to read, melt’, Di. léigheadh, O.Ir. legad (‘to melt’);tʹɛuw, ‘to heat’, Di. téidheadh buttʹeiji꞉ ʃə, ‘he warms’;spʹrʹɛuw, ‘to scatter’, Di. spréidh­eadh, also inspʹrʹɛuw ɔrt, ‘bad cess to you’ written spréadh, spréamh Cl. S. 18 vii ’03 p. 3 col. 2. The infin­itive ofdʹi꞉lʹɛiəm, ‘I digest’, isdʹi꞉lʹɛαuw.

§ 155. This diphthong may be regarded as the regular Donegal represen­tative of O.Ir. accented é by compen­satory lengthen­ing, when standing before a non-palatal consonant. Beforer and oc­casional­ly before other sounds more especial­ly as the initial of tri­syllables, we findɛ꞉ forɛə, cp. § 86. Examples—dʹɛəd, ‘row of teeth’, O.Ir. dét;ɛəd, ‘jealousy’, O.Ir. ét;ɛən, ‘bird’, O.Ir. én;ɛədo꞉nʹ, ‘shallow’, Di. éadoimhin;ɛədrəm, ‘light’, M.Ir. étromm;fʹɛədəm, ‘I may’, M.Ir. fétaim (this verb is also used idi­omatical­ly in the sense of Eng. ‘need’, locally ‘might’,Nʹi꞉ ɛədəN tuw kɔruw, ‘you need not stir’);fʹɛəsɔg, ‘beard’, M.Ir. fésóc;Nʹɛəl, ‘cloud’, O.Ir. nél (gen. sing.Nʹeilʹ);tʹrʹɛən, ‘strong’, O.Ir. trén. Also in the late loan-wordsfʹɛəstə, ‘feast’, Di. féasta;rɛəsu꞉n, ‘reason’, Di. réasún.

§ 156.ɛə also arises in a few instances through contraction owing to the quies­cence of inter­vocalic d, g. Examples—bʹrʹɛə, ‘fine’, Meyer bregda;dʹɛənαχ, ‘last’, O.Ir. dédenach;ɛən, ‘ivy’, M.Ir. edenn;əmʹɛəwəs əgəm = da mbéidh­eadh fhios agam;LʹɛəN,​‘learning’, O.Ir. legend;Lʹɛəs, ‘to cure, healing’, M.Ir. leges. The younger people substi­tuteɛə sometimes forö̤꞉ of the older folks, as inɛərk, ‘horn’. The word for ‘corn-crake’ occurs astrɛənə andtrö̤꞉nə, Di. traona.tʹɛəm, an abbreviat­ed form for ‘give me’, is commonly stated to have come in from Connaught but its develope­ment is not clear and it is also found in Farney, Sg. Fearn. p. 50. By the side oftʹɛəm tαiəm is also heard. O.Ir. ia preceded byr <rʹ,Rʹ givesö̤꞉,ɛə inrö̤꞉χtənəs,rɛəχtənəs, ‘need’;srɛən, ‘bridle’, M.Ir. srían, cp. § 73. The word for ‘one’, O.Ir. óin, has a variety of pronunci­ations.⅄꞉n,ö̤꞉n,i꞉n stand for ‘one’ in counting &c. whilstɛən means ‘a single one, any’,·ɛən ·çïN ə·wα̃꞉nʹ, ‘not a single one’, further reduced toən, for which see § 136.

§ 157. O.Ir. accented e + d + cons. givesɛə inLʹɛəb, ‘strip of cloth, land’, Di. leadhb, Macbain leòb, M.Ir. ledb;mʹɛəg, ‘whey’, M.Ir. medg;mʹɛəwə, M.Ir. Medb;bαnɛə­mataχ, ‘house­keeper’, Di. feadh­mannta.

§ 158.ei represents O.Ir. accented é before a palatal consonant and therefore frequent­ly corres­ponds toɛə before other conso­nants. Examples—bʹeilʹ, gen. sing. ofbʹɛəl, ‘mouth’;bʹlʹeinʹ, ‘groin’, M.Ir. blén, but plur.bʹlʹɛəNLαχə;eilʹuw, ‘to claim’ (commonly used of animals clamour­ing for food, locally ‘to crave’), M.Ir. éliugud;eirʹ, gen. sing. ofɛ꞉r, ‘air’, O.Ir. áer;eiʃkʹ, gen. sing. ofiəsk, ‘fish’;eiʃtʹαχt, ‘listen’, M.Ir. éitsecht;smʹeirʹə, gen. sing. ofsmʹɛ꞉r, ‘black­berry’;spʹeirʹ, ‘sky’, Di. spéir;ʃeidʹuw, ‘to blow’, O.Ir. sétiud;ʃLʹeivtʹə, plur. ofʃLʹiuw, ‘mountain’, O.Ir. sliab (gə Lα꞉ Nʹ tʹlʹeivə, ‘till Doomsday’, cp. Cl. S. 20 viii ’04 p. 6 col. 1).

§ 159.ei may arise by contraction owing to the quiescence of inter­vocalic g, d (Mod.Ir. gh, dh), e.g. inLʹeiNʹ, gen. sing. ofLʹɛəN, ‘learning’, O.Ir. legend;Lʹeiʃ, gen. sing. ofLʹɛəs, ‘healing, cure’, M.Ir. leges. ForLʹeijəm, ‘I read, melt’, see § 153.

§ 160.ei arises spo­radical­ly in a few cases where an accented ai, oi is followed by g, d, e.g.eirʹə, ‘ice’,bʹïrəNỹ꞉ eirʹɔgʹə, ‘icicles’, M.Ir. aigred, oigred;eirʹə, ‘heir’, Atk. oigir;seivir, ‘rich’, M.Ir. saidbir;Lʹei, ‘a leech, doctor’, plur.Lʹeiji꞉,LʹeijəNỹ꞉, O.Ir. liaig.eilʹi꞉nʹ, ‘a brood of chickens’, andeilʹɔg, ‘a young chicken’, are al­together anomalous. They are perhaps due to confusion betweenα꞉l, ‘litter’ andeirʹɔg, ‘a pullet’, Di. éireog, M.Ir. eirin.

​§ 161. A clippedei (ei`) occurs beforeç ineiç, plur. ofαχ, ‘steed’, O.Ir. ech;ʃeiçə, ‘hide’, M.Ir. seche (Lʹæʃeçə,Lʹetʹeçə, ‘a half-hide’);Lʹeiç < ‘half’.

§ 162. In a very few casese꞉i occurs. These aredʹe꞉i,mə je꞉i, ‘behind me’, O.Ir. déad, diaid, degaid;tʹe꞉i, imper. oftʹɛuw, ‘to heat’, Di. teidheadh, pret.he꞉i, past part.tʹe꞉itʹə, but forms withei are also frequent, e.g. fromspʹrʹɛuw beside the pret.spʹrʹe꞉i mʹə the futurespʹrʹeiçə mʹə occurs, past part.spʹrʹeitʹə.

§ 163. This diphthong frequently represents O.Ir. ia, ía of whatever origin, e.g.iəri꞉, ‘to ask’, M.Ir. iarraid;mʹiən, ‘desire’, O.Ir. mían butbə vi꞉Nʹ Lʹïm (§ 457);pʹiən, ‘pain’, O.Ir. pían;kʹiəLəNỹ꞉, ‘black fast’, Di. céalacan, ciallacan. O.Ir. ia is often followed by d, th which are now quiescent, e.g.bʹiə, ‘food’, O.Ir. biad,bʹiətαχ, ‘inn-keeper’, M.Ir. biatach;bʹlʹiən, gen. plur. ofbʹlʹiïnʹ, ‘year’;kʹlʹiə, ‘harrow’, O.Ir. clíath;Lʹiə, ‘gray’, O.Ir. líath;ʃiəbuw, ‘to sweep away’, Macbain siab, Manx sheebey.

§ 164. O.Ir. accented í before a non-palatal consonant became over-long and developed into the diphthongiə, e.g.iəχtər, ‘bottom’, O.Ir. íchtar;iətə, ‘thirst’ (not common), O.Ir. itu;kʹiəχ, ‘breast’, O.Ir. cích;kʹrʹiəNə, ‘wise, prudent’, O.Ir. crín;Lʹiənuw, ‘to fill’, O.Ir. línad;mʹiəl, ‘louse’, M.Ir. míl;pʹiəχαn, ‘hoarse­ness’, Macbain pìochan, Di. piocán, spiocán, O’R. spiochan, Fournier ceochan;ʃiəl, ‘seed’, O.Ir. síl. Inʃiəl̥α꞉, ‘to strain (milk), to ebb away, die’, M.Ir. sithlaim,ʃiəl̥αn, ‘strainer’, Di. siothlán, we have a case ofiə <i꞉ by lengthen­ing before th.

§ 165. In a few casesiə arises by contraction of two vowels due to the quies­cence of dh, gh, e.g.driən, ‘black­thorn’, O.Ir. draigen;kliə, ‘fence’, Di. claidhe, M.Ir. claide infin. of claidim (for the meaning cp. Engl. ‘dyke’);Nʹiən, ‘daughter’ (§ 122);Lʹiə, ‘to lick’, Di. lighe. In a secondary syllable—bʹi꞉wiəNtə, ‘roguish’ <bʹi꞉wi꞉, Meyer bibdaide.

In all these cases as soon asiə comes to stand before a palatal consonant, it passes intoi꞉, thusNʹiən, gen. sing.Nʹi꞉nʹə, dat. sing.Nʹi꞉nʹ;fʹiər, ‘true’, butfʹi꞉rʹ wα̃iç, ‘very good’ (§ 285).

§ 166. With some speakersɛə tends to becomeiə as inʃkʹiəl, ‘story’,bʹrʹiə, ‘fine’. This change which is charac­teristic of​many Scotch dialects (ZCP. iv 92 ff.), occurs in other parts of Ulster. For Monaghan see G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 1.iə is regular inkʹiəNə, ‘same’, O.Ir. cétne and must have existed in the case ofçïd, ‘first’ (§ 105). Oc­casional­ly we findiα foriə, as inuəfʹiαLtə, ‘wild-looking’, Di. uaith-bhéalta, cp. M.Ir. oibéla;fʹiαχ besidefʹiəx imper. offʹiαχælʹ, ‘to try’, M.Ir. féchaim, cp. § 13.

§ 167. In a very few casesi is followed byũw arising from O.Ir.m butiũw only forms one syllable, e.g.gʹrʹiũw, ‘deed’, O.Ir. gním;ʃNʹiũw, ‘to spin’, M.Ir. sním. The substan­tive formed fromdʹi꞉wĩ꞉nʹ, ‘single, unmarried’, isdʹiũ(꞉)nʹəs, M.Ir. dímain.

§ 168.yə appears instead ofuə in a few words which begin withf. This is more par­ticular­ly the case when the initial dis­appears by aspi­ration, e.g.tα꞉ n çeʃtʹ dælʹi꞉ yəskluw, ‘the question is hard to answer’;fwyər, ‘cold’ (§ 66). Further in parts of the verb for ‘to sew’, infin.fwyαl, Di. fuagháil, pres.fwəjəm, Wi. fúagaim, pret.dyəi,Nʹi꞉rʹ yəi, imperf. pass.dyətʹi꞉, condit. pass.dyɛifʹi꞉. Similarly infwyə, ‘hatred’;dyəgirʹ mʹə, pret. offuəgruw, ‘to announce’.

§ 169. I have only heard this diphthong infəutαχ, ‘not right’, cp. Cl. S. 20 viii ’04 p. 6 col. 1, Di. fabhtach;məuwlə, compar. ofməwilʹ, ‘quiet’, Di. modh­amhail.

§ 170. This most peculiar diphthong occurs in a few mono­syllables ending in‑eadh,‑eagh and in one or two other words. The diphthong is always clipped and there is generally a suspicion of a a glide at the finish. For a long time I was at a loss to analyse the sounds, more especial­ly as there is always an alter­native pronun­ciation with ïg (§ 106) andə⅄ is confined to the oldest people. The sound occurs inʃLʹə⅄, ‘spear’, M.Ir. sleg;fʹə⅄, ‘fathom’, Di. feadh, O.Ir. ed;fʹə⅄,fʹïg, ‘rush’, Di. fiag;ʃə⅄ according to J. H. is a Rosses pronun­ciation ofʃα, O.Ir. is ed. Further inə⅄ri꞉m,ïꬶəri꞉m, ‘I adore’, Spir. Rose p. 6​aoghraigh muid, O.Ir. adraim;fʹə⅄riαχt,fʹïꬶəriαχt, ‘counte­nance, face’, cp. Di. fíogh­ruighim;fʹə⅄ri꞉, proper name ‘Fewry’;rə⅄ræʃtʹə,rïgræʃtʹə, ‘arrears’, Di. riaraiste;tʹrʹə⅄ꬶαuwnαχ,tʹrʹeꬶαuwnαχ, ‘furry-farry, cow going 2 years without calving’, spelt trao-ghamhan­ach ZCP. iv 258. J. H. hasə⅄əm as an old form ofəgəm but the latter is the one he generally uses. It is well known that Glen­columb­kille substi­tutesəi in this and other words, whilst from an old man in the Croaghs I have once heardαuəm.

§ 171. This diphthong has probably the same sound as Henebry’s î (p. 7) which arises under similar condi­tions. In stressed syllables it commonly repre­sents O.Ir. accented a followed by palatal g (Mod.Ir. gh). Examples—əi (ö̤i), ‘face’, O.Ir. aged (αiə may also be heard from younger people);ku꞉gʹi꞉ ləiən, ‘Leinster’, M.Ir. coiced Laigen;mwəidʹən, ‘Virgin’, maighden (Four Masters);səidʹu꞉rʹ, ‘soldier’, M.Ir. saigdeoir;səinʹænʹ, ‘aurora borealis’, M.Ir. saignén, cp. Henebry p. 33.

əi occurs further in several cases representing ai, oi, ei usually before O.Ir. d, g (Mod.Ir. dh, gh) which are now quiescent.əi, ‘liver of fish roasted to obtain oil’, plur.əjə, Meyer áe, O.Ir. óa;αvrʹəi,αvrʹəitʹαχ, ‘rough (of land), cross-tempered’, M.Ir. amréid;ərəirʹ, ‘last night’, M.Ir. irráir;bwæNʹtʹrʹəi, gen. sing. ofbwæNʹtʹrʹαχ, ‘widow’;fwəidʹə, ‘patience’,fwəidʹαχ, ‘patient’, O.Ir. foditiu;səihαχ, ‘vessel’, M.Ir. soithech;bʹαlαχ fʹəi, ‘Bally­bofey’ = bealach féich, alsoə Nʹəiç = an eich, gen. sing. of O.Ir. ech;fαdəi, imper. offαdɔ꞉, ‘to blaze up, kindle’, Di. faduighim, fadóghadh, M.Ir. atúd, fatód, past part.fαdəiʃtʹə (fαdɔiʃtʹə);fαstəi (‑αi,‑ɔi), past part. of Di. fasdógh­adh, M.Ir. astud, fastud.əi may also be heard inbʹəi forbʹei = béidh (this is the pausa form in replies, the allegro form is commonlybʹɛ).

§ 172. In Donegal any vowel sound is liable to be nasalised in the vicinity of a nasal but there are various degrees. The speech of the older people is al­together somewhat nasal in character and it is therefore not always easy to be certain whether a vowel is nasalised or not. The younger people on the other hand seem to be giving up nasal­isation entirely, a state of affairs which according to Pedersen also exists on Aran​(p. 17). A vowel immediate­ly preceding or following an m or n sound is generally nasalised (denoted by writing ˜ over the vowel), e.g.kũ꞉nũw, ‘assist­ance’, M.Ir. congnam;mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith;mʹjõ꞉r, ‘mind’, O.Ir. mebuir. A few words with vocalic initial are nasalised from being used with the article (Pedersen p. 65), thusĩ꞉çə, ‘night’;α̃꞉iç i꞉lʹ, ‘lime-kiln’. According to J. H.α̃꞉, ‘ford’, M.Ir. áth, is distin­guished fromα꞉, ‘luck’, M.Ir. ág, by nasal­isation. SimilarlyNʹĩ꞉ hẽ꞉ = ní h‑é. It should however be observed that, although in this book we write the mark of nasal­isation over the vowel, the nasal­isation is inherent in the n, m. Thus if we take the worddõ꞉nαχ, ‘Sunday’, O.Ir. domnach, and divide it into syllables, we getdo꞉-ñαχ, notdõ꞉-nαχ, i.e. there is not a trace of nasal­isation until then starts, but when the syllables are pro­nounced together the velum is lowered during the pronun­ciation of the preceding vowel, thus anticipat­ing the nasal. Av orw arising from aspirated m is commonly nasalised in a stressed syllable but more rarely in other positions. The ˜ of Mod.Ir. mh is however more frequent­ly preserved when thew,v are post-vocalic. When mh is initial the nasal­isation is only regular whenh orç follows the vowel. Examples—α̃uwrəs, ‘doubt’, O.Ir. amiress;α̃uw̥, ‘insipid’, M.Ir. om;α vĩkʹ, ‘O son’;α wα̃hærʹ, ‘his mother’;gən wα̃iç, ‘without profit, useless’;dα̃꞉v, ‘fondness’, Di. dáimh;əNə rõ꞉və, ‘to Rome’, M.Ir. Róim (acc.);mαhũw, ‘to forgive’, O.Ir. mathem;kα̃hũw, ‘to spend, throw’, M.Ir. caithem (in this verb the nasal­isation which is only correct in the infin­itive has been extended to the other forms, e.g. imper.kα̃iç);dʹα꞉nũw, ‘to do’, on account of then butʃαsuw, ‘to stand’, M.Ir. sessom;α꞉rʹuw, ‘number’, O.Ir. áram. The prefixkõ꞉‑,kũ꞉‑, O.Ir. com‑, cum‑, is generally nasalised but the connec­tion has been forgotten inkɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthromm;kɔsu꞉lʹ, ‘similar’, O.Ir. cosmail. The suffixes‑u꞉r < ‑mar,‑u꞉lʹ < ‑mail, ‑email are only nasalised if there is another nasal in the word. In a number of forms where the cause of the nasal­isation has entirely dis­appeared ˜ is still retained, e.g.α̃꞉liʃ, ‘milk and water’, Meyer anglas (englas);dα̃iən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen;dũ꞉i꞉, ‘rabbit-warren’, M.Ir. duma;klũw, ‘down’, M.Ir. clúm;kũ꞉i꞉, ‘sorrow, grief, Meyer cuma;kʹũ꞉s, ‘edge’, M.Ir. cimas;wĩ꞉, ‘mane’, M.Ir. muing (dat., the pausa form has been entirely forgotten);kũ꞉gəʃ, plur.kũ꞉gəʃi꞉, ‘remedy, medicine’, Di. coguis­idhe, Macleod has cungaidh leighis under ‘medicine’, ‘remedy’, Macbain cungaidh, cungais­idh, Ir. cunghas, cung­naighim, cungnamh;Nʹi꞉s​kũ꞉gʹə, compar. ofkũ꞉N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung,kũ꞉glαχ, ‘strait of the sea’, Di. cumhang­lach for cumhang­rach, Macleod cunglach. Here we may mention the cases where n has becomer̃, e.g.grĩ꞉, ‘good looks’, Di. gnaoi;grẽ꞉hə, ‘business’, Di. gnó;krõ꞉, ‘nut’, O.Ir. cnú. On the other hand several words such askʹrʹαdi꞉, ‘to pant, groan’, Meyer cnetaigim andkʹrʹαsuw, ‘to heal’, Meyer cnes­saigim, have given up the nasal.drũ꞉ʃ, ‘lechery’, Atk. drúis, doubtless owes its ˜ to some word like gnúis. The nasal in this word seems to be general, cp. O’Donovan, Grammar p. 37, Pedersen p. 66. But whence the nasal inklə͠ıəv,klɛ͠ıəv, ‘sword’, O.Ir. claideb? Forsõ꞉ruw, ‘to observe’, Craig somh­rughadh, beside the more frequentso꞉nṟuw and other cases of loss of nasal see § 443.