A Dialect of Donegal/The Consonants
§ 173. Corresponding to the two main vowel-divisions, back and front, we find the consonants grouped into palatal (palatalised) and non-palatal (non-palatalised) consonants, so that to every non-palatal sound there answers one of the other group[A 1]. In some cases separate symbols are used to denote the palatal sound as in the case of j, v, ɲ, ç, ʃ, but in the majority of cases the palatal sound is represented by writing ′ after the consonant, thus t′. It will be seen later that strictly speaking it is incorrect to call Donegal p′, b′, m′ palatal sounds, but as they correspond to the palatal forms of the other consonants it will be convenient to include them among the latter. We propose to deal with the consonants in the following order:
- (a) h, j, w.
- (b) the liquids and nasals L, l, L′, l′; N, n, N′, n′; R, r, r′; m, m′; ŋ, ɲ.
- (c) the spirants f, f′, v; χ, ℊ, ç; s, ʃ.
- (d) the labial, dental and guttural stops p, p′, b, b′; t, t′, d, d′; k, k′, g, g′.
§ 174. In Donegal the aspirate corresponds in sound to an English h and except in stressed syllables is not pronounced very forcibly. When standing between vowels at the end of a stressed syllable it is often very faint, cp. Jespersen, Lehrbuch der Phonetik pp. 94, 95 and footnote. In monosyllables a clipped h occurs very frequently after short vowels, for the formation cp. Jespersen l. c. p. 100. After palatal vowels ç frequently appears instead of h.
§ 175. Most frequently h represents a written th. When th is immediately preceded or followed by a voiced consonant, it makes that consonant voiceless. In the case of voiceless consonants h < th under these circumstances can produce no change as k, t, p, s are already aspirated. It will be convenient to deal with cases of loss of voice caused by h < th whilst we are treating of h. Examples of h < th – αhuir′, ‘a second time’, Di. ath-uair; b′αhə, ‘life’, O.Ir. bethu; bα:huw, ‘to drown’, M.Ir. báthad beside older bádud (see Rhys p. 86 note); bɔhɔg, ‘hut’, Di. bothóg, boh, ‘hut’, M.Ir. both; bɔihαχ, ‘byre’, Meyer bó-thech; brαh, ‘to look upon’, O.Ir. mrath; dri:hə, ‘druids, wizards’, Di. draoithe, from this is formed drihαχtə, ‘sorcery’, which further seems to have influenced rihαχtə, ‘kingdom’, Di. ríoghacht; dαh, ‘colour’, M.Ir. dath; f′r′ihir′, ‘sore’, Di. frithir; f′r′i:hə, ‘through her’, cp. M.Ir. tréthi; kαhũw, ‘to throw, spend’, M.Ir. caithem; kαhə, ‘battle’, O.Ir. cath; k′αhərNαχ, ‘small, impudent person’, Di. ceatharnach, cp. trid′ bo̤di: l′ɛ k′αhərNαχ, ‘the fight of a mouse and a lion’; kɔhuw, ‘to feed’, Meyer cothaigim; mαhαn, ‘muscle’, cp. O’R. mathán, ‘sucker of a tree’ (?); m′ihid′, ‘due time’, M.Ir. mithich, mithig, there is also a substantive in use which does not occur in books, viz. m′ihəs as in hen′i ʃə ə vihəs dɔ: ℊɔl, ‘the time came for him to go’ = de mhitheas; mαihi:m, ‘I perceive’, M.Ir. mothaigim; N′ihαχαn, ‘washing’, Di. nigheachán (for the tendency to introduce a hiatus-filling h cp. rihαχtə supra); rehi:n′αχt, ‘ramming’, Di. has reitheachas; sα:huw, ‘to thrust’, M.Ir. sáthud; srαhər, ‘straddle’, O.Ir. srathar; tuəhəl, ‘balancing rind in quern’, < *tuathal.
§ 176. Initially h occurs as the aspirated form of t, t′, s, ʃ, e.g. l′ɛ də hɔl′, ‘with your leave’, le do thoil; mə hu:l′, ‘my eye’, mo shúil. Else in pausa forms only in the case of a few adverbs and the pronouns huw, hïsə (Pedersen, KZ. xxxv 331 f.), hαL, ‘yonder’, O.Ir. tall; huəs, ‘aloft’, O.Ir. túas; hui, əhui, ‘in the north, to the north’, O.Ir. fa thuaith; her′, ‘in the east’, hiər, ‘in the west’, M.Ir. tair, tíar; hær′, hær′ə, ‘past, beyond’ (prep.), O.Ir. tar, dar. The h as initial of heid′ ʃə, ‘he will go’, is due to the loss of the pretonic syllable < do-théit, which has doubtless influenced hig′ ʃə, ‘he comes’, M.Ir. tic (future t′ïky:). The reason for the constant aspiration of the infin. hαχt, O.Ir. techt as also of ℊɔl, ‘to go’, is not plain. The h of hen′ik′, ‘came’, O.Ir. tánicc is due to the analogy of other preterites.
§ 177. h arises sometimes in combinations like ghth, bhth, thmh, as in N′i: αhαr = ní fhághthar; L′ɛhαrαχt, ‘reading’, Di. léightheoireacht; tihə, ‘houses’, Di. tighthe; dαhin′ m′ə, ‘I recognised’, < aithgeuin; N′α̃ujl′i:hu:l′ (-jl′iw̥əl), ‘unlawful’, Di. neamh-dhlightheamhuil; LUhə, ‘rotten’, < lobhtha; Lũ:hər, ‘vigorous, active’, Di. lúthmhar.
§ 178. χ has a tendency to give up its spirant character and become h. This seems to be general in Ulster, cp. O’Donovan, Grammar p. 48; G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2. See also Rhys p. 71. Initially we find h for χ in hαnik′, hen′ik′, ‘saw’, = chonnaic; ho̤gəd, ‘to you’, Mod.Ir. chugad (Spir. Rose p. 5 spelt thugad); hui, ‘went’, O.Ir. docuaid; hαskər sə, ‘it thawed’, cp. M.Ir. coscrad; ku:g′i: ho̤Nαχtə, ‘Province of Connaught’, M.Ir. cóiced Connacht; hα(:), ‘not’, < ní co (the distribution of ní and cha as negatives in Donegal is discussed by Lloyd in Seachrán Chairn tSiadhail p. 124. I can only say that in Meenawannia cha is generally confined to emphatic answers and here principally in hα ·nɛl′, hα row̥ being much rarer. Further east round Ballinamore cha seems to be much more frequent). Medially h may be heard in αhαsαn, ‘reviling’, Di. achmhusán, Meyer athchomsan; brαhαn, ‘porridge’, O.Ir. brothchán; f′l′αhuw, ‘to starve’, f′l′æt′ə, ‘perished with cold’, M.Ir. flechud. See further § 333.
§ 179. In a few words h arises from ç, cp. Finck i p. 85. This is the case in hïnəf′æn′, ‘already’, Mod.Ir. cheana, O.Ir. cena + féin; f′ihə, ‘twenty’, O.Ir. fiche; ĩ:hə, ‘night’, O.Ir. aidche.
§ 180. In certain stress-groups initial f when standing after a word which does not aspirate tends to become h. This is also the case with medial fr. Compare Rhys pp. 72, 165; Pedersen p. 19. With the different sources of this f we need not trouble ourselves here. Examples – m′ɛ hein′, ‘myself, O.Ir. féin but f′ein′αχ, ‘selfish’; N′i:s α:r, ‘better’, sa:r = is fearr (the h is not heard after s, cp. § 175), Manx share but also N′i:s f′α:r, cp. Pedersen, KZ. xxxv p. 319; N′i: ho̤rəst, ‘it is not easy’ but fo̤rəst, Wi. ur-ussa; ɔr̥æl′, ‘offertory’, gen. sing. Nə hɔr̥αlə, plur. ɔr̥αlαχə, Di. ofráil, cp. Manx oural; kɔ:r̥ə, ‘chest’, Di. cófra. if′r′əN, ‘hell’; αf′r′əN, ‘mass’ and f′iəfri:, ‘to ask’, retain f in Donegal but other dialects shew the normal developement, cp. ZCP. v 98 and Chr. Bros. Aids to Irish Pron. p. 15. Cp. Manx fer-oik, ‘officer’, oic < oific, Rhys p. 182.
The f of the future (O.Ir. b, f) has given h which is not heard after voiceless sounds such as p, t, k, s &c. but which unvoices b, g, d, w, r, l, m, n &c. Examples – bo̤guw, ‘to stir’, Di. bogadh, fut. bo̤kə m′ə; brid′uw, 1. ‘to nudge’, Di. broidighim, 2. ‘to smart, ache’, infin. brid′ərNỹ:, subst. brid′ərNαχ ‘smarting’, fut. brit′i: ʃə; ʃiəbuw, ‘to sweep away’, Di. siabhadh, Manx sheebey, fut. ʃiəpwi: ʃə; t′r′ouw, ‘to plough’, M.Ir. trebad, fut. t′r′o:w̥ə m′ə. As instances of stems ending in a vowel (in the spoken language) L′eihə m′ə, ‘I shall read’, infin. L′ɛuw; Lo:hi: < Louw, ‘to rot’; tö̤:hə m′ə, te:hə m′ə, ‘I shall choose’ < tö̤uw; N′i:hə m′ə < N′i:(ə), ‘to wash’. In the conditional passive forms with f′ alternate with forms with h, as vɛ:r̥i:, vɛ:rf′i: from b′er′əm, O.Ir. beirimm; fɔ:ky:, fɔ:kf′i: from pɔ:guw, ‘to kiss’. The future passive invariably has -hər. Apart from the conditional passive the f is only preserved in two instances, viz. in the case of the verbs for ‘to run’ and ‘to see’, rαfə m′ə beside riçə m′ə, ‘I shall run’, infin. r⅄ç, rαhi:, rαχtæl′; t′i:f′ə m′ə, ‘I shall see’, M.Ir. 2nd sing. atcífe (Atk.).
§ 181. The enclitic forms of the verb d′α:nuw, ‘to do’, are peculiar, as they contain forms with h where we should expect j, e.g. N′i: hα:nəm, ‘I do not do’, interr. d′α:nəm, N′i: hα:rN, ‘I did not do’, interr. (ə) d′α:rN, fut. jα:n̥ə m′ə, ‘I will do’ but neg. N′i: hα:n̥ə m′ə, interr. ə N′α:n̥ə m′ə. Dinneen p. 796 says “the Dependent, Perfect, and Future and Conditional begin with a t in Ulster”. Cp. Lloyd, Seachrán Chairn tSiadhail p. 150, ní theanaim. The question is how did this state of affairs arise. I suspect that the above forms with h for j may be due to analogy with some of the parts of the verb ‘to go’. The 3rd sing. pres. ind. of this verb is heid′, O.Ir. do-téit, to which the perfect is N′i: hαχi:, interr. d′αχi:, O.Ir. -dechuid, with h for j from the present. From these forms the h has been introduced into the corresponding tenses of d′α:nuw. Monaghan dialect has gone a step further and makes the infinitive teanainh, G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2. If the h were due to any other cause we should expect to find it making its appearance in the paradigms of the verb for ‘to say’, but J. H. always has d′er′əm – N′i: er′əm, pret. du:rt′ m′ə – N′i: u:rt′ m′ə (N′i:r u:rt′), interr. ər′ u:rt′ m′ə, fut. d′ɛ:r̥ə m′ə – N′i: ɛ:r̥ə m′ə, interr. Nə Nαχ N′ɛ:r̥ə m′ə. From the younger people one may however hear N′i: hɛ:r̥ə m′ə.
The h in ho̤bwir′, ‘almost’, ho̤bwir′ gə d′it′iN′, ‘I almost fell’, is very peculiar. ho̤bwir′ represents a preterite dh’fhuabair, Wi. fóbairim, but it is possible that fóbairim became *tóbairim in Donegal just as fuaim, fill appear as tuaim, till (§ 383).
§ 182. As we have seen above, Donegal Irish retains intervocalic h to a much greater extent than Connaught or Munster, but even in the north h < th disappears under well-defined conditions. Although h < th is retained in monosyllables after a short vowel, it invariably disappears after a long vowel or diphthong, e.g. α:, ‘ford’, M.Ir. ath (plur. α:Nỹ:); blα:, ‘flower’, M.Ir. bláth (plur. blα:hə); bw⅄:, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith; dluw, ‘warp of a web’, Di. dlúth; fα:, ‘reason’, M.Ir. fáth, fád; g⅄:, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáith (gen. sing. g⅄:hə, g⅄:çə); i:, ‘fat’, M.Ir. íth; k′l′iə, ‘harrow’, O.Ir. clíath (plur. k′l′ehαχə); Luw, ‘vigour’, M.Ir. lúth; mw⅄̃:, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; ɛr skα:, ‘for the sake of, ɛr skα: ə wïl′ ə ji:ç er′, ‘for all that it wants’, Di. scáth, O.Ir. scáath; sNα:, ‘bundle of thread’, M.Ir. snáth; trα:, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth (plur. trα:Nỹ:), cp. trα·nõ:nə, ‘afternoon, evening’.
§ 183. In dissyllables of the type cons. + áthach we commonly find loss of h and contraction, e.g. blα:χ, ‘buttermilk’, M.Ir. bláthach; grα̃:χ, ‘usual’, M.Ir. gnáthach; sα:χ, ‘sated person’ (proverb N′i: hig′əN ə sα:χ ə ʃaŋ ‘the sated person does not understand the starved’), Wi. sathech, saithech, sathach; sLα:χ, also sLαhαχ, ‘slush on the sea-shore’, Di. sláthach (gen. sing. sLα:i or sLαhi:). This same contraction occurs sometimes when the first vowel is short, e.g. b′α:χ, ‘beast’, Meyer bethadach (plur. b′αhi:, b′ɛhi:); fα:χ, ‘giant’, more commonly fαihαχ, Meyer athech, aithech, cp. Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list where fách and faithiach are given; αNtrα:χ, ‘untimely’, Di. antráthach. Similarly su:L Nə hα:, ‘the eye of the kiln’, súil na hátha. The form k′αrN in k′αrN ·χyL′uw, ‘outlaw’, may here be mentioned. k′αrN stands for k′α:rN with shortening before the chief stress < Meyer cethern if the word has not come in from another dialect. For tα:juw, ‘to weld, solder’, M.Ir. táthad see § 190. Further grõuw, ‘to gain’, Di. gnóthughadh.
§ 184. In unstressed syllables ghth is always silent, e.g. kɔhiər pres. pass. of kɔhuw, ‘to feed, fatten’, Meyer cothaigim; b′αNỹ:, ‘blessed’, Di. beannuighte (note t′iN′əs b′αNỹ:, ‘epilepsy’).
§ 185. rth, lth in inflected forms of substantives and verbs in unstressed syllables appear as r, l instead of r̥, l̥, with which compare the loss of h in unaccented syllables in Welsh. Examples – αm αdərə, ‘milking-time’, cp. Di. eadarshudh, dõ:nαχ Nə N′αdərαχə, Di. Domhnach na n-eadarshuidhe q.v.; g′r′i:wəri:, ‘deeds’, Keating gníomhartha; ko̤Nərə, gen. sing. of ko̤nṟuw, ‘bargain’, Atk. cundrad, gen. sing. cundartha; Lα: kαskərə, ‘a thawing day’, blɔk kαskərə, ‘a block for splitting wood upon’ = coscartha, gen. sing. of Di. coscairt, Meyer coscrad; vi: mwid′ ə bw⅄:luw n wæʃt′ərə, ‘we were churning’, cp. Di. maistreadh, gen. sing. maisteartha; t′ɛəgərαχ, ‘snug’, Di. téagarthach. Also in the future of verbs with dissyllabic stem, e.g. g′r′isαli ʃə, ‘he will drub’; rõ:wərə m′ə, ‘I shall dig’, Di. rómhar; sα:wαlə m′ə, ‘I shall save’, Di. sábháil; t′eʃαnə m′ə, ‘I shall shew’, infin. t′iʃiN′t′, Di. taisbeáint. Similarly g′l′ɛəs ïm′ərə, ‘articles for amusement, dice, cards &c.’, Di. imeartha, gen. sing. of imirt.
§ 186. In a number of words the voiceless sound has given way to the voiced without any apparent reason. Examples – blα:nəd, ‘the female of the weasel’, Meyer bláthnait; d′αlαN dα:rə, ‘an ember from the fire made on St John’s eve which is thrown at a cow to make her bear’, = dealán dártha, here the genitive seems to have followed the nominative; du:rαi, ‘foundation’, Di. dúthrach, in Donegal the word is feminine; ïm′αχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. immthecht; k′er′ə, ‘four’, M.Ir. cethri but always k′αr̥ər, O.Ir. cethrar (k′er′ə has probably arisen through being used before the chief stress in such combinations as k′er̥′ə k′iN′ ·d′ɛəg); ræN′αχ, ‘fern’, more commonly ræn̥′αχ, M.Ir. raithnech. The prefix ath-, ‘re-‘, seems not to unvoice a following l′, e.g. æl′αs, ‘second manure’, = ath-leas; æl′ïguw, ‘a relapse of sickness’, = ath-leagadh. But aw̥il′, ‘change of appearance’, = ath-bhuil.
§ 187. Rarely does it happen that Donegal has a voiceless sound where the other dialects have the voiced. This is the case in b′al̥uw, ‘grease’, Di. bealadh, Meyer belad; d′ïn̥əsαχ, ‘diligent’, O’R. díonasach, Di. déanasach; el̥′id′, ‘fawn’, M.Ir. eilit; k′er̥′i:n′, ‘plaster’, Di. ceirín, Meyer céirín; plα:n̥æd′, plα:n̥′æd′, ‘state of the atmosphere, climate’, Di. plainéid. It may also be noted that before the ending -αχə (fem. plur. of nouns and fut. act. of the second conjugation) there is a distinct tendency to unvoice a preceding media, e.g. d′αrəkαχə m′ə from d′αrəguw, ‘to light’, Di. deargadh; d′arəfαχə m′ə, ‘I shall assert’, from d′αrəwi:m, Di. dearbhuighim; d′i:kαχə, plur. of d′i:g, ‘dyke, trench’, Di. díog, plur. díogacha.
The plural bαh, ‘cows’, <bα` M.Ir. ba (acc.), is due to the tendency to make a short final accented vowel end in breath (§ 42). Words which in Donegal have come to end in ç in the singular sometimes have h in the plural, e.g. ĩ:wα̃iç, ‘image’, M.Ir. imaig, plur. ĩ:wα̃ihəNỹ:.
§ 188. This symbol denotes the y sound in Engl, ‘yes’ but the organs are tense during the production of the Irish sound and the middle of the tongue is raised much higher towards the hard palate. As is the case with all palatal (palatalised) sounds in Donegal the tip of the tongue is pressed more or less firmly against the lower teeth.
§ 189. Most commonly j represents an aspirated initial d or g before O.Ir. e, i, e.g. α jiə, ‘O God’; mə je:i, ‘behind me’; jr′αs m′ə, ‘I drove away’, Di. dreasuighim; fwi: jĩ:vαs, ‘scorned, despised’, = faoi dhímheas; ji:l′ɛi m′ə, ‘I digested’, Di. díleaghaim; ty:w o jαs, ‘south side’; ə jiɲ, ‘the wedge’, = an ghing; ə jαlαχ, ‘the moon’; jα:r m′ə, ‘I cut’; bo̤d ə jɛrtə, ‘blast of wind’, = bod an ghiorta, cp. Di. giorraide, giorta; αiçərə n χyt′ f′r′:d′ ə jr′i:si: = aithghiorra an chait fríd an ghríosaigh, i.e. trying to take a short cut and coming to grief, cp. also L′eim′ əN′ t′in′i əNə g′r′i:suw, ‘from Scylla into Charybdis’; jr′αd, pret. of g′r′αduw, ‘to thrash’; pαræʃt′ə jliN′ə, ‘Parish of Glen(columkille)’.
§ 190. Medially we sometimes find j arising from dh = O.Ir. d before e, i. This is the case after a long vowel in kα:jαχ, ‘filthy’, Keat. cáidheach; prα:jiN′αχ, ‘diligent’, O’R. práidhineach, Di. práidhneach. Further in bə ·je:, budh e, bə ·jα, budh eadh, cp. Henebry p. 61, KZ. xxxv 325. But note the proclitic form in bwi ən mαduw ə riN′ ə, ‘it was the dog that did it’. m′α:jəm, ‘I weigh’, Di. meadhaim, is a new formation to the pret. vα̃:i < *mheadhuigh and has become the model for other verbs whose stems end in a long vowel, such as te:jəm, ‘I choose’, from tö̤uw, Di. toghadh; t′r′o:jəm, ‘plough’, Di. treabhaim; sp′r′eijəm, ‘I spread’, Di. spréidhim; kruijəm, ‘I harden’, Di. cruadhuighim, but this may come direct from krui, ‘hard’, kruijə, ‘steel’, Di. cruaidhe. Similarly tα:jəm, ‘I weld, solder’, Di. táithim, táthaim; grõ:jəm,’I gain’, Di. gnóthuighim, infin. grõuw.
j is lost in m′i:r′əN, ‘discord’, Di. míghreann.
§ 191. The prepositions do, de are frequently reduced to ə and when standing before a substantive with vocalic initial, a j or ℊ is inserted according as the O.Ir. initial was palatal or not. This ə j- (ə ℊ-) is usually explained as being a reduplication of the do, de and the j (ℊ) is written dh’ (Henebry pp. 60, 61). In many cases the j (ℊ) were originally doubtless nothing more than glides, cp. the insertion of w § 199. In parts of Munster this reduplication of do has even been extended to the preterites of verbs, e.g. do dhól sé for d’ól sé (Molloy, 25th dialect-list). Examples – hu:si: ʃəd ə jo̤mpər, ‘they started carrying’; Lα:n ə çleiv ə jeiʃk′, ‘the basket full of fish’, α l′ɛhəd(′) də jαr, ‘such a man’; N′i:s mo: ə jïglə, ‘greater fear’; tα: ʃɛ gɔl ə jïm′αχt, ‘he is going to go away’; tα: ʃïn′ ə jiN′t′iN′ əgəm, ‘that is my intention’; ho̤g ʃɛ bɔ: əNə wel′ə ə jin′ig′iL′t′, ‘he brought a cow home to graze’; əmwiç sə ti:w o jαs də jeir′iN′, ‘down in the south of Ireland’; hu:si: ʃi: ə jiçə æt′əni:, ‘she started eating furze’; ə jɛəNtɔ:r̥i:s, ‘at one birth’; tα: ʃɛ jiəχfwi: ɔrəm, ‘it is incumbent upon me’, = de fhiachaibh, v. Dinneen; ə jæN′æn′ (gə), ‘although’, v. Di. aimhdheoin.
§ 192. f′, m′, b′ before accented ɔ:, o: are followed by j, cp. Henebry p. 40, Dottin, RC. xiv 107. Examples – b′jɔ:, ‘alive’, O.Ir. beó; b′jɔir′, ‘beer’, Meyer beóir; f′jɔ:ləm′, ‘to learn’, O.Ir. foglaimm (§ 321); f′jɔ:l′, ‘flesh, meat’, M.Ir. feóil; f′jo:χən, ‘seasoning, drying’, Di. feochadh; f′jɔ:t′ə, ‘seasoned’, Di. feoidhte; f′jɔχαn, ‘breeze, puff’ (?); f′jo:s, ‘excellence’, M.Ir. febas; m′jo:n′, ‘means’ (§ 40); m′jõ:r′, ‘mind’, O.Ir. mebuir. O.Ir. eó became jɔ:, eba gave jo: but in the case of all consonants except f′, m′, b′ the j coalesced with the preceding palatal consonant. The labials as such can only be palatalised by raising the tongue into the j position simultaneously with the loosening of the lip-contact. This renders the assumption necessary that Donegal, the Decies (Henebry p. 40) and N. Connaught (RC. xiv 107) have given up palatalised labials before other vowels than those mentioned in this paragraph. This I believe to be the case. The Aran dialect and Scotch Gaelic have preserved the j, cp. Finck i 43; Henderson, ZCP. iv 251 ff. This loss of j in Donegal may be compared with the substitution of palatal for palatalised articulation in the other consonants, cp. § 173. That the j forms part and parcel of the labial is shewn by its disappearance with f′ when the latter is aspirated, e.g. b′α:χ ə o:s ə = beathadhach da fheabhas é, ‘however excellent a beast it may be’. Before u: we find f′j by stress-shifting in f′juw, ‘worthy’, O.Ir. fiú; f′ju:Ntəs in riN′ ʃɛ f′ju:Ntəs mo:r l′ïm, ‘he treated me very decently’, Di. fiúntas. Similarly b′iuw 3rd sing. imper. of tα: in rapid speech becomes b′juw as in b′juw gαL gə m′ɛ ʃə əNsə wel′ə rĩv ə Nĩ:çə ‘I bet you he will be home before night’.
§ 193. When standing initially the diphthong iə tends to become jiə, e.g. jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó; jiərəgu:l, ‘wilderness’, Di. iargcúil, jiərəgu:Ltə, ‘timid, uncouth’, jiərəgu:ltαχt, ‘remote, wild place’; gəd′e: vi: ʃɛ jiəri: (jïri:), ‘what was he wanting’, = dia iarraidh.
§ 194. This symbol denotes a bilabial w which however does not become confused with v as on Aran (Finck i 66). The difference between Donegal w and English w is clearly heard in final -uw. In English who (huw) the lips glide into the w position but no friction is audible whilst it is very evident in a word like kuw, ‘hound’. Those speakers who substitute labiodental for bilabial v in pronouncing w draw back the lower lip towards the edge of the upper teeth without necessarily touching them and friction is thus set up.
§ 195. w occurs initially as the aspirated form of non-palatal b, m, e.g. mə wα:d, ‘my boat’; ĩ:çə wo̤g, ‘a wet night’; fα:l′ wα:ʃ ‘dying’; wæʃt′ə m′ə, ‘I baptised’; wrαiç m′ə, ‘I betrayed’; wlæʃ m′ə, ‘I tasted’; α wα̃hær′, ‘O mother’; wαLə m′ə, ‘I cursed’; wɔihi: m′ə, ‘I felt, perceived’; wĩ:v m′ə, ‘I begrudged’; ə wæd′ïn′, ‘since morning’; əs mo:d′ə di:d ʃïn′ ərs iN′ d′r′ɔ:lαn Ner′ ə wu:N′ ʃə sə Nαrəg′ə = is móide díod sin, arsa’n dreólan, nuair do mhún sé san fhairge.
w therefore never stands initially in pausa forms except in cases like w⅄:m, ‘from me’, infra § 199. wæg′ə in asseverations, wæg′ə mæʃə hein′ ətα:, ‘well indeed it is to be sure’, is a distortion of the name of the Virgin. In the case of wĩ:, ‘mane’, a word not in common use, the original initial has been forgotten, cp. bhárdail, mhárdul in Molloy’s 30th dialect-list.
w is also the eclipsed form of initial f, e.g. ə wα:N′ʃə = dha bhfaghainnse; ə wo̤gəs də, ‘near to’, = i bhfogus. N′i: wi: m′ə, ‘I shall not get’, cp. M.Ir. fúigbe, probably owes its w to the preterite N′i: wuir′, for which see § 199, and cp. ĩ:ç(ə) i:r, ‘a cold night’. But this is not certain as I have no exact parallel.
§ 196. Except when joining with a vowel and becoming vocalised (§§ 40, 48) w is the regular representative of O.Ir. intervocalic m, b before a, o, u, e.g. b′i:wiəNtə, ‘slyly, mischievous’, Meyer bibdaide; d′əwæl′, ‘want, lack’, O.Ir. dígbail; d′ĩ:wi:n′, ‘single, unmarried’, M.Ir. dímain; ĩ:wαiç, ‘image’, M.Ir. imaig; k′l′iəwαn, ‘cradle’, Meyer cliabán; krũwɔg, ‘maggot’, Di. crumhóg; krα̃:wə, ‘bones’, M.Ir. cnáma; Lα̃:wαχ, ‘firing’, Di. lámhach; Lα̃:wəkαn, ‘moving on all fours’, Di. lámhacán; Nα̃:wid′, ‘enemy’, O.Ir. námait (acc.); rα:wəL′i:, ‘raving, being in a state of delirium’, Di. rámhailligh; sNα:wəm, ‘I swim’, Di. snámhaim; ʃk′r′i:wəm, ‘I write’, O.Ir. scríbaim; ʃN′i:wəm, ‘I spin’, Di. sníomhaim, M.Ir. sním; tα:wαχt, ‘industry’, Di. tábhacht. Between u(:) and α w drops out, e.g. duαn, ‘hook, kidney’, Di. dubhán, duαn αLy:, ‘spider’; duαχ, ‘ink’, Di. dubhach; suαχ, ‘merry’, M.Ir. subach. bα:wən, ‘enclosure’, is obscure. Dinneen writes bádhbhdhún, Meyer bádún, O’Brien bábhún. In Lα: l′ ·α:wɛg′ə, ‘St Swithin’s day’, we have w for v. The saint is Dabeoc who is commemorated on July 24. It may be noted that Ware speaks of “lectulus vel circulus Abogi”.
§ 197. Post-consonantic w disappears in αhαsαn, ‘reviling’, < Di. achmhusan < Meyer athchomsan; α:nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe; fα:gæl′, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil; ʃaχtin′, ‘week’, M.Ir. sechtmain (acc.), I am given to understand that further north the form ʃαχtu:n′ occurs; tα:rLαχ, ‘Toirdhealbhach’; u:dəlαn, ‘swivel’, O.Ir. utmall. On the other hand w is retained in aχwir′k′, ‘heat in horses’, Di. eachmairt; α:rwαχ, ‘slaughter’, árbhach; αswi:, ‘want’, M.Ir. esbuid, cp. Pedersen p. 164; b′ɛəlwαχ, ‘bridle-bit’, Meyer bélbach; f′jɔ:lwαχi:, ‘different kinds of meat’, Di. feólmhach, feólbhach; k′αrwαχ, ‘gamester’, Di. cearrbhach; t′αswαχ, ‘heat’, Di. teasbhach.
§ 199. In a few instances we find w prefixed to words beginning with u, e.g. wuid′, ‘from you’, O.Ir. úait, wuə, w⅄ə, ‘from him’, O.Ir. úad; N′i: wuir′ = ní fhuair where the w seems to be hiatus-filling, as is also the case in ə wuəχtər, ‘from above’, cp. ə jiəχtər, ‘from below’. In gə gyr′i d′iə N tα:w ɔrt (= go gcuiridh Dia an t-ádh ort) we seem to have a w-glide.
ui < uai becomes wi: by stress-shifting in smwi:t′uw, ‘to think’, Di. smuaintigheadh, M.Ir. smuained (§ 443); fwi:r′ m′ɛ, ‘I got’, < fuir′ m′ə. Further in fwi:r < fw⅄:r, ‘cold’, M.Ir. fúar. uə < ua becomes wα before χ in f′ïNwαχt, ‘coolness’, Di. fionnfhuacht.
§ 200. All non-palatal labials tend to develope a w before a following vowel, i.e. at the moment when the contact is loosened the tongue is in the position for u. For the lip-action see § 289. This w is heard most clearly before front vowels and ⅄: and in this book is regularly written in these cases, e.g. before æ, in fwær′ə), ‘wake’; mwæd′ə, ‘stick’; mwæl′k′, ‘soreness from riding bareback’; mwær′ig, ‘woo’; mwær′əm, ‘I remain’; mwæʃt′i:n′, ‘mastiff’ (as term of abuse); ə mwæN′æn′, ‘in spite of me’; mwæʃt′ruw, ‘to churn’; pwæd′ir′, ‘prayer’; smwæL′t′ə, past part. of smαluw, ‘to wither’. Before i in bwiL′ə, ‘blow’; bwi:d′αχ, ‘small’; d′r′αpwir′αχt, ‘climbing’; klo̤pwid′ə, ‘dip in land, wrinkle in cloth’; k′αpwir′ə, ‘slice of bread and butter’; L′abwi:, ‘bed’; mwiL′ə, compar. of mαL, ‘late’; spwiɲk′ə, gen. sing. of spo̤ŋk, ‘tinder’; tapwi:, ‘quick’. Before ⅄: in mw⅄:r, ‘keeper’; mw⅄̃:, ‘pliable’; mw⅄:l, ‘bald, blunt’. Before ï in mwïg′l′i:, ‘mild, modest’. This w may also be clearly heard if the labial is the final of one word and the next begins with a front vowel, as in tα: t′r′i: fo̤Nt əgəm wer′ = tá trí phunta agam air; t′i:m wi: = tím í. In the case of initial f the w is lost on aspiration, thus fwïl′, ‘blood’ but fα Nïl′, ‘concerning the blood’.
§ 201. A voiceless w (w̥) arising from various sources is very frequent in Donegal. It is found regularly when aspirated b, m are followed by h < th, fh or preceded by h < th, e.g. αw̥il′, ‘change of appearance’, Di. athbhuil; row̥ər = rabhthar. In futures and past participles, sNα:w̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall swim’; ʃN′iuw̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall spin’, past part. ʃN′iuw̥ə, imperf. pass. n′iuw̥i:. By contraction in si:w̥əl′, ‘odd’, Di. saoitheamhail (similarly riw̥əl′, ‘royal’); N′α̃ujli:w̥əl′, ‘unlawful’, Di. neamh-dhlightheamhail; m′i:w̥ər, ‘ugly’, Craig (Iasg.) míofuar seems to be mío-(fh)uathmhar. tα̃:uw, ‘doze’, Di. támh, M.Ir. tám, tα̃:w̥ir′αχt, ‘dozing’, have been influenced by some word or other, whilst tαuw̥əN(t), ‘barking’, M.Ir. toffund contains w̥ < sv. As to the difficulty in distinguishing between f and w̥ see § 309.
§ 202. In monosyllables with short root-vowel followed by aspirated b, m, the w arising from the latter loses its voice in accordance with the Donegal fondness for breath-endings in short syllables, cp. § 12. At the same time the back of the tongue seems to be raised from the u-position towards the soft palate, thus producing in addition a slight χ sound. When the next word begins with a consonant, the w̥ usually disappears, thus row̥ = rabh, but l′ɛ ro l′ɛ d′α:nuw ɛg′ə. Examples – brow̥, ‘blade’, Meyer brobb, brod; dα̃uw, ‘ox’, O.Ir. dam; dUw̥, ‘black’, O.Ir. dub; dŨw̥, ‘to me’, O.Ir. dom; k′r′α̃uw̥, ‘garlic’, Meyer crem; sklα̃uw̥, ‘snarl’, Di. sclamh; N′α̃uw̥, ‘heaven’, O.Ir. nem. N′α̃uw̥ is now rarely heard except in the Lord’s Prayer and in N′ɛəLti: N′ï̃və, ‘very high clouds’. Cp. ər N′α̃uw Nɔ ər tαluw N′i: αkəs ə l′ehəd′. Uw̥ is also the result of cons. + u + th in grUw̥ (grU bwiə), ‘biestings’, M.Ir. gruth; gUw̥, ‘voice’, O.Ir. guth; krUw̥, ‘form’, O.Ir. cruth; srUw̥, ‘stream’, O.Ir. sruth, also srUw̥αn. Similarly t′r′Uw̥, ‘hooping-cough’, Di. triuch. In these cases w̥ passes sporadically into f, cp. the Scotch Gaelic spelling stuth < Engl. stuff, puth < puff, and duf, ‘black’, uf, ‘egg’, quoted for Sligo in Molloy’s 29th dialect-list. A few other words shew a dislike for the ending U`, e.g. t′Uw̥, ‘thick, frequent’, M.Ir. tiug; əN′Uw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu, Spir. Rose p. 8 anuth. The words for ‘horse-shoe’ and ‘dowry’, M.Ir. cró, have been influenced by cruth, ‘form’, as they are both krUw̥, krU kαpwil′, ‘horse-shoe’. The genitive of the word for ‘dowry’ I have heard as krïv. tlŨw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh, has further joined this group.
§ 203. The first accurate description of the various l, n sounds in Irish was given by a writer in the Gaelic Journal for 1887 (p. 8), who styled himself Clann Chonchobair. More recently Pedersen in his ‘Aspirationen i Irsk’ contributed much to the elucidation of the puzzling r-sounds. Practically all writers of Irish Grammars with the exception of Neilson and O’Brien have based their observations on the dialects of Munster or Connaught, whilst the speech of Donegal might long ago have supplied the key to the most difficult problem of Irish phonetics. It is now well known that L and l, L′ and l′, N and n, N′ and n′ differ from one another in the matter of articulation but in Donegal they also differ from one another in the matter of length. This is most clearly heard when these sounds occur as the finals of monosyllables after a short vowel. Compare mo̤L, ‘heap’, k′ïN, ‘head’, bo̤N, ‘sole’, ʃïn′, ‘this’, with mo̤l, ‘mill-shaft’, k′ïn, ‘affection’, bo̤n, ‘bottom’, ʃiN′, imper. ‘play’ and the difference in length is just as striking as the difference in articulation. l, l′, n, n′ in this position are perhaps over-short[A 2], whilst L, L′, N, N′ are very long sounds. Initially the difference between the pairs is naturally not quite so marked but it nevertheless exists, whilst in syllables with secondary stress the long sounds are somewhat reduced, so that confusion easily takes place. Precisely the same is true of R, r, though the dialect has not preserved the sounds in their original relations and R′ has been entirely given up. m, m′ after short stressed vowels are invariably long. Donegal Irish, it would seem, is the only living Irish dialect which preserves in some measure the original difference between the single and double consonants of O.Ir. orthography. For the remaining consonants see § 357. From Henderson one gathers that Scotch Gaelic agrees in a measure with Donegal, cp. ZCP. v 515 (s), 521 (N′), 523 (R).
§ 204. This symbol denotes a so-called ambi-dental divided l (fan or spread l), which is formed by pressing the front rim of the tongue very forcibly against the upper teeth or the edge of the lower teeth. Henderson (ZCP. v 92) says of Scotch Gaelic L: “The point of the tongue is spread out like a fan so that the whole of its rim is brought against the teeth while the back of the tongue is at the same time slightly raised”. In Donegal the back of the tongue seems to be raised in producing this sound but the raising is of no consequence, as it also occurs in the case of l, N, n (Pedersen pp. 21, 22). Before t, k and s L is partly voiceless. L and N are very thick, heavy sounds and modify a following i, § 125.
§ 205. L occurs initially representing O.Ir. l before a, o, u when the preceding word is not capable of causing aspiration. Examples – Lα:, ‘day’, O.Ir. láthe; Lα̃:uw, ‘hand’, O.Ir. lám; Lo:rt′, ‘to speak’, M.Ir. labrad; Luə, ‘early’, M.Ir. luath; Luw, ‘less’, O.Ir. lugu; Lũ:hər, ‘nimble’, M.Ir. lúthmar; Ly:, ‘to lie’, O.Ir. lige (influenced by the causative laigim, Thurneysen, IF. Anz. vi 46); Lo̤g, ‘weak’, M.Ir. lac.
§ 206. Medially and finally L corresponds to O.Ir. non-palatal ll of whatever origin, e.g. αLαχ, ‘cattle’, O.Ir. ellach; αLəs, ‘sweat’, Meyer allas; bαL, ‘spot’, O.Ir. ball; bαLαn, ‘teat’, Meyer ballán; bαLə, ‘wall’, < Engl. ‘wall’; brαLαχ, ‘bosom’, M.Ir. brollach; b′r′aL, ‘glans penis’, Meyer brell, whence b′r′αLαn, ‘simpleton’; dõ:nəL, M.Ir. Domnall, dõ:nəL Nə g′αli:, ‘the man in the moon’; əNαL, ‘hither’, O.Ir. anall; f′αL, ‘treachery’, M.Ir. fell; gαL, ‘foreigner, Englishman’, M.Ir. gall; iəL, ‘whang, leather boot-lace’, M.Ir. íall; kαL, ‘hazel’, M.Ir. coll; kαLαn, ‘noisy talk’, Di. Macbain callán, cp. M.Ir. callaire; kyn′ig′əL, ‘condition’, Meyer coingell; ko̤Lαχ, ‘boar’, O.Ir. cullach; mαL, ‘late’, O.Ir. mall; m′αLuw, ‘decoy, deceive’, M.Ir. mellaim; po̤L, ‘hole’, M.Ir. poll.
§ 207. L has arisen in a number of cases from the assimilation of l and another consonant, e.g. o̤Lə, gen. sing. of ɔləN, ‘wool’, M.Ir. oland; ko̤Lə, O.Ir. collno, gen. sing. of colinn, cp. ə tαrt ə tɔkrəs əgəs ə tɔχəs, t′r′i: Nαvd′ə Nə ko̤Lə, ‘thirst, hunger and itching are the three enemies of the body’; ko̤Luw, ‘sleep’, O.Ir. cotlud; m′ɛəLαχαn, ‘corpulent person’, < m′ɛədəl, Di. méadal; No̤Lik′, ‘Christmas’, M.Ir. notlaic; t′iəLəky:, ‘talents’, Di. tiodhlacadh, M.Ir. tidlacim; t′αLαχ, ‘hearth’, M.Ir. tenlach. Further fαLæn′, ‘healthy’, M.Ir. follán < fo-slán; duwLαn, ‘challenge, defiance’, Di. dubhshlán, cp. Craig Iasg.; αuwLə, ‘wafer’, O.Ir. obla (the word also means ‘a cluster of nuts’).
§ 208. L occurs after s both initially and medially, e.g. sLα:n, ‘healthy’, M.Ir. slán; sLαuwruw, ‘chain’, O.Ir. slabrad sLαt, ‘rod’, M.Ir. slat; sLö̤:dαn, ‘cold’, Di. slaghdán; sLαχtər, ‘slaughter’, < Engl.; sLα:χ, ‘slush’, Di. sláthach; sLo:k, ‘sloke’, < Engl.; sLïN′uw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. slondud; sLo̤t, ‘wick’; sLuə, ‘host’, O.Ir. slúag; sLuəsəd, ‘shovel’, Di. sluasad; sLo̤gəm, ‘I swallow’, M.Ir. slocim; mαsLuw, ‘trouble, tease, worry’, Di. maslughadh, Keat. masla; brɔsLuw, ‘to incite’, < Meyer brostaigim.
§ 209. L stands before t, d, N, s, e.g. αLt, ‘cliff’, M.Ir. alt; αLtuw, ‘grace’, M.Ir. altugud < atlugud; d′u:Ltuw, ‘to refuse’, O.Ir. díltud; gα:Ltə, ‘Protestant’, Di. gallda; ku:həLtə, ‘backward, retiring’, Di. cúthaltas, Meyer cuthal; k′αŋəltαn, ‘parcel’, Di. ceangaltán; mɔLt, ‘wether’, M.Ir. molt; m′αLtə, ‘deceived’, M.Ir. mellaim. For L before t in sandhi cp. § 459. L can only occur before d in late loan-words, as O.Ir. ld gave L. My only example is go̤ldər, ‘roar’, Craig Iasg. guldar. LN is only found in sandhi (§ 459) as O.Ir. ln became L, supra § 207. Examples of L before s – bo̤Lsir′ə, ‘a crier’, Di. bollsaire; fαLsə, ‘idle’, Di. fallsa; f′αLsky:, ‘burning grass or heather off the ground’.
§ 210. L stands after r, e.g. b′ɛ:rLə, ‘English’, M.Ir. bérla < bélre; hα:rLy:, ‘happened’, M.Ir. tarla; kɔrLαχ, ‘small remainder’, Di. corrluach; mo̤rLəs, ‘mackerel’, Di. murlus; ɔ:rLə, ‘to vomit’, O’R. orlúghadh; ɔ:rLαχ, ‘inch’, M.Ir. ordlach; o̤rLə, ‘eaves’, M.Ir. urla; o̤rLuw, ‘speech, eloquence’, M.Ir. erlabra; tα:rLαχ ‘Toirdhealbhach’.
§ 211. After m w l frequently has the thick sound of L in words like o̤mlαn, ‘whole, entire’; eʃəmLɔr′, ‘example’, Di. eisiompláir. It may be noted that Finck states that L occurs after w, v on Aran (i 72, 73) and cp. Molloy’s comlain whatever the word may be (quoted by Pedersen p. 30).
§ 212. L occurs in a number of forms where we should expect to find l. Finck notes that the descendant of O.Ir. tempul has L on Aran (i 73) and this is also the case in Donegal, = t′α(:)mpəL. There is a considerable amount of hesitation between L and l, as in αskəL, ‘arm-pit’ (p′αt(ə) αskiL′ə, ‘mother’s darling, spoilt child or beast’, skαrt′ αskiL′ə, ‘a boil under the arm-pit’), Craig only writes one l and great uncertainly is observable in older stages of the language, cp. Meyer ascall, ochsal, axall, axal; d′əwəl, ‘devil’, O.Ir. diabul, Craig diabhall; kαuwlæd′, ‘noisy talk’, Di. collóid, callóid (§ 143); mo̤gəl, ‘husk, mesh, eyelid’, Di. mogall; tuəf′əL, ‘a whirl, the wrong way’, M.Ir. tuaithbel. mo̤L, ‘a heap, pile’, Di. O’R. mol, may have been influenced by the plur. mo̤Ltri: to differentiate it from mo̤l, ‘shaft of a mill-wheel’, M.Ir. mol, with which it is really identical. In uwLə, ‘apples’, and m′αruwLαn, ‘giddiness, fit of dizziness’, Di. mearbhlán, the L has been transferred from uwL, ‘apple’, M.Ir. uball, and Di. mearbhall.§ 213. A voiceless L with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in the future of verbs whose stem ends in L, e.g. f′αL̥ə m′ə ‘I shall betray’; g′αL̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall promise’; m′αL̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall deceive’; po̤L̥ə m′ə from po̤Luw used of catching hares &c. in gins, of bulls goring persons &c.; to̤L̥i: fut. of to̤Luw, cp. to̤L § 55. Further pα:rL̥αn, ‘Partholon’. For the articulation of L̥ and other voiceless liquids and nasals see Jespersen’s remarks on the corresponding Welsh sounds (Lehrbuch der Phonetik p. 80).
§ 214. This sound seems to me to correspond pretty nearly to the ordinary English l, though the point of the tongue rests just above the upper teeth and not against the arch-rim. The raising of the back of the tongue gives this l, when standing at the end of a syllable other than a clipped one, the same dull sound that is so characteristic of Engl. l. In other positions this quality is not so noticeable.
§ 215. l corresponds to O.Ir. l before original a, o, u whether preserved or lost in any position except initially and apart from the special cases mentioned in §§ 207–210. Examples – αlə, ‘swan’, M.Ir. ela; αlpαn, ‘lump, bit’, Meyer alp; αləbə, ‘Scotland’, M.Ir. Alba; α:luw, ‘sudden grip’, M.Ir. álad; α̃:ləʃ, ‘mixture of milk and water’, Meyer anglas, englas; blαs, ‘taste’, O.Ir. mlass; bɔluw, ‘smell’, M.Ir, bolad; bɔləg, ‘belly’, M.Ir. bolg; k′αŋəl, ‘trying’, M.Ir. cengal; m′ɛədəl, ‘paunch’, Di. méadal; m′ïtəl, ‘metal, mettle’, Di. miotal; ɔ:l, ‘drink’, M.Ir. ól; ʃiəl, ‘seed’, O.Ir. síl.
§ 216. l stands before r (= r, r′), although lṟ must once have been LR, L′R′, e.g. bɔlṟiαχ, ‘scenting’ (of a blood-hound); gαlṟi:, ‘diseases’; ku:lṟö̤:skαχ, ‘backward’, Di. cúilriascmhar; k′ïlṟiæn′, ‘Kilraine’, =Cill Riáin; o̤lṟuw, ‘shouting’, cp. ulfairt (?); ʃiəlṟuw, Di. síolrughadh. For lṟ in sandhi see § 460.
§ 217. It might be expected that we should find L following t, d as it always precedes these sounds. But such is not the case, for tl, dl like most Irish combinations of consonants do not coalesce (§ 437). The off-glide of the t, d is clearly heard as the tongue moves into the position for l. This off-glide is so distinct that Finck actually inserts a vowel and writes dəlū́ – dluth, ‘warp’ (ii p. 266). Examples – dli:, ‘lock, wisp of straw’, dli: ə wo̤Ly:, ‘top-stopple, the thatch on the top of a cottage’, M.Ir. dlai; tlũw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh (rare, the usual term is mwæd′ə b′r′iʃtə); ə tlui = an tsluaigh (gen. sing.); ə tluəsəd, ‘the shovel’, an tsluasad; er′ ə tlαuwruw = air an tslabhradh.
§ 218. In those cases where other consonants are aspirated initially, l takes the place of L. This only happens however in the speech of the older people. The younger folk make no distinction between L and l initially, cp. Finck i p. 76; Henderson, ZCP. v 90. Examples – ə f′αr ə lo:r l′ïm, ‘the man who spoke to me’; lu:b m′ə, ‘I bent’; lö̤:di m′ə, ‘I lessened’; lɔt′ m′ə, ‘I wounded’; lɔk mə χri:, ‘my heart failed me’; ïŋə lö̤:r′, ‘toenail’; d′e:lo:r̥ə, ‘eloquent’; ku:g′i: ləiən, ‘the province of Leinster’; b′l′iïn′ luə, ‘an early year’; g′αræn′ lα:d′ir′ə, ‘strong horses’; tro̤mli:, ‘nightmare’; dən vαn lo̤g, ‘to the weak woman’; sə wα:d lα:n, ‘in the full boat’; tα: ʃɛ əN αr wo:r lα:d′ir′, ‘he’s a big strong man’. L is however never aspirated after the article or çïd, ‘first’, e.g. ə Lo̤χɔg, ‘the mouse’; ə çïd Lα:, ‘the first day’. The same holds good for L′, N, N′.
The aspiration of initial sL which should be L̥ is L, cp. Pedersen p. 23, e.g. də lα:N′t′ə, ‘your health’; lα:ni, pret. of sLα:nuw, ‘to redeem’; kα lïN′uw huw, ‘what’s your name (surname)?’
L is not aspirated after r, e.g. g′αr` Lα:dir′, ‘middling strong’; f′iərLo̤g, ‘very weak’; f′ïr Lα:d′ir′ə, ‘strong men’. Similarly after er′, ‘upon’, as in ər Lα:r, ‘down, on the ground’.
§ 219. In gɔl ·ço:l′, ‘singing’, < gabháil cheóil, the palatal quality is often given up in the syllable preceding the stress, cp. ə f′αr sən, ‘that man’ and Zimmer, Untersuchungen über den Satzaccent des Altirischen p. 4.
§ 220. An unvoiced l with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in futures and a few substantives, e.g. d′iəl̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall sell’; d′u:l̥i ʃə, ‘he will suck’; mɔl̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall praise’; ɔ:l̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall drink’, b′αl̥uw, ‘grease’, Di. bealadh, Meyer belad; m′αl̥ɔ:, ‘interruption, delay’, Di. meathladh; ʃiəl̥α:, ‘strain’, cp. Di. siothladh, M.Ir. sithlaim, ʃiəl̥αn, ‘strainer’, Di. siothlán.
§ 221. This symbol denotes a palatal l followed by a j-sound. For the formation cp. Jespersen p. 129. Of L′ and N′ Pedersen says (p. 21): “L′ and N′ are much more strongly palatalised (i.e. than l′ and n′), so strongly, that in the transition from these sounds to a (back-) vowel one seems to hear a j-glide (which is not the case with l′ and n′)”. This j-glide is also clearly heard before palatal vowels. Dottin writes (RC. xiv 107) : “L’l et l’n devant une voyelle palatale ne sont pas exactement le l et le n mouillé du français; l’élément palatal n’est pas entièrement fondu avec la consonne”. The articulation of L′ and indeed of almost all the palatal consonants (N′, ʃ, t′, d′, k′, g′) resembles that of L. The front rim of the tongue is pressed firmly against the lower teeth whilst the front of the tongue covers the greater part of the hard palate. Cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish p. 19. It may be noted that i always appears for ə in unstressed syllables before L′ and N′.
§ 222. L′ represents O.Ir. initial l before e, i, e.g. L′α`, ‘half’, O.Ir. leth; L′αhən, ‘broad’, O.Ir. lethan; L′αk, ‘flag’, M.Ir. lec; L′αnu:N′t′, ‘to follow’, O.Ir. lenmain; L′αr in tα: L′αr er′, ‘he’s wrong in his head’, M.Ir. ler; L′ɛəN, ‘learning’, O.Ir. legend; L′ɛəs, ‘healing’, M.Ir. leges; L′iə, ‘grey’, M.Ir. líath; L′iənuw, ‘to fill’, O.Ir. linath; L′it′ir′, ‘letter’, O.Ir. liter; L′o:r, ‘book’, O.Ir. lebor.
§ 223. Medially and finally L′ arises from O.Ir. ll before original e, i whether retained or lost, e.g. bwiL′ə, ‘blow’, M.Ir. bulle; f′iL′ m′ə, ‘I returned’, M.Ir. fillim (i.e. phill mé); kæL′αχ, ‘hag’, O.Ir. caillech; kæL′əm, ‘I lose’, M.Ir. coillim; k′iL′, ‘churchyard’, M.Ir. cill (dat.); m′iL′uw, ‘to spoil’, M.Ir. milliud; sæL′, ‘grease, fat’, M.Ir. saill; t′iL′uw, ‘addition’, O.Ir. tuilled.
§ 224. Medially L′ may arise by assimilation, e.g. guiL′αχə, ‘shoulders’, plur. of guəliN′; bræL′i:n′, ‘sheet’, Di. braitlinn; kyL′αχə m′ə, ‘I shall sleep’, < coidleachaidh mé; fwi:Lαχ, ‘leavings’, fwi:L′i:, ‘February’, not ‘January’ as Dinneen has under fuighle, cp.
- Gaoth Faoilighe niharbhas caoiridhe
- Gaoth Mhárta mharbhas daoine. G.J. 1891 p. 96.
See further Wi. fuidell.
§ 225. L′ comes to stand before N′ in modern contracted forms, e.g. ʃk′iL′iN′, ‘shilling’, plur. ʃk′iL′N′ə; fwïL′N′i:m, ‘I endure’, pret. dïl′iN′ (diL′iN′), fut. fwiL′N′αχə m′ə, Di. fuilingim, O.Ir. foloing.
L′ stands further before ʃ, t′, e.g. æL′ʃə, ‘cancer’, Meyer allse; b′r′iL′ʃk′ə, ‘light-headed, half-witted fellow’, Di. breillsce; m′iL′ʃə, ‘sweeter’, M.Ir. millsiu; sɔL′ʃuw, ‘to shine’, M.Ir. soillsiugad; t′r′iL′ʃαn, ‘plaited rush, wick’, Di. trilseán, earlier trilsen. iL′t′, plur. of αLt, ‘cliff’; k′eL′t′, ‘to conceal’, Di. ceilt; tɔL′t′ənəs, ‘consent’, Di. toilteanas. For L′ before d′ I have no examples.
§ 226. r (< *R′) and ʃ require to be followed by L′, e.g. kõ:rL′ə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; i:ʃL′uw, ‘to lower’, Di. ísliughadh; kæʃL′αn, ‘castle’, Meyer caslén; ʃL′α:n, ‘turf-spade’; tæʃL′αχ, ‘wet weather’, Di. taisleach, cp. f′l′ïχlαχ. For rL′, ʃL′ in sandhi see §§ 455, 459.
§ 227. A voiceless L′ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs principally in futures, e.g. gyL̥′i:, future of Di. goillim; g′eiL̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall yield’; kæL̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall lose’; miL̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall spoil’; sæL̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall pickle, salt’. k′αrL̥′i:n′, ‘ball of string, wool’, < k′αrt′l′i:n′ which may also be heard, Meyer certle. J. H. has a further form, k′ɛrL̥′i:n′, which he says means ‘a lifeless or awkward mass’.
§ 228. By l′ we denote a clear alveolar l like that in German ‘hell’ but slightly palatalised. The palatalisation is most clearly heard when l′ is final after æ. The younger generation largely substitute L′ for l′, see infra § 231 and Finck i 76.
§ 229. l′ represents O.Ir. medial and final l before e, i whether retained or lost and also l standing before or after other palatal consonants than those mentioned in §§ 225, 226. Examples – bwel′ə, ‘townland’, M.Ir. baile; bwid′æl′, ‘bottles’; f′iəkil′, ‘tooth’, O.Ir. fiacail; f′jɔ:l′, ‘flesh’, O.Ir. feúil; kæl′k′, ‘chalk’, M.Ir. cailc; k′αŋil′, imper. ‘bind’; mwæl′k′, ‘soreness from riding bareback’; p′ïl′əp′i:n′, ‘plover’, Di. pilibín; ʃel′ig′, ‘chase’, O.Ir. seilgg (acc.); ʃel′ɔg, ‘willow’, M.Ir. sail; ʃïl′αg, ‘saliva’, Di. seile < M.Ir. saile. d′l′iuw, ‘law’, O.Ir. dliged; f′l′ï'χ ‘wet’, O.Ir. fliuch; t′l′ig′ən, ‘vomit’, < M.Ir. teilcim, t′l′ik′ə N bα:ʃ, ‘sentenced to death’.
§ 230. Except in the case of the preposition l′ɛ together with the pronominal forms l′ïm, l′αt &c. l′ can only stand initially as the aspirated form of L′, f′l′, e.g. l′αn mwid′, ‘we followed’; l′αsi ʃiəd, ‘they improved’; l′ɛəs tuw, ‘you healed’; l′ei ʃə, ‘he read, melted’; l′iən m′ə, ‘I filled’; l′i` m′ə, ‘I licked’; l′ïg m′ə, ‘I overthrow’; l′ɔi m′ə, ‘I heckled’; l′o:n m′ə, ‘I sprained’. l′ɛ mə l′iN′, ‘in my time’; t′r′i: l′it′ir′, ‘three letters’; g′αrl′o:r, ‘a moderate book’; g′ɛ:rl′αnũ:N′t′, ‘persecution’; g′αrl′iəNtə, ‘fairly well filled’; ĩ:çə l′ïχ ‘a wet night’. One may hear sə L′əχlαχ ‘in the wet weather’ but this is to be attributed to the younger generation.
L′ generally remains after the preposition er′, e.g. ər L′αhu:l′, ‘one-eyed’; ər L′αbwi:, ‘on a bed’; ər L′αr, ‘in a fix, astray’ lit. ‘at sea’, Wi. ler, also vi: Lo̤ŋ əmwiç ər L′αr, ‘there was a ship lying out at anchor’. But I have heard ər l′αχɔræn′, ‘for half-a-crown’ from J. H. Similarly after the article, e.g. k′ïN ə L′in′əv, ‘the infant’s head’.
The aspiration of words beginning with ʃL′ is l′ never l̥′. It is interesting to note that when J. H. imitates Connaught speech, he pronounces ko̤Ndαi l̥′ig′i:, ‘County Sligo’, whereas his own pronunciation is always k. l′ig′i:. Examples – N′i:l′ m′ə əN α l′i:, ‘I am not beholden to him’ (slige); kαsæn′ l′α̃uwnə, ‘slippery paths’; αskəN l′α̃uwin′, ‘a slippery eel’; l′α̃uwnə tuw, ‘you slipped’; l′i:k ʃə, ‘he stroked, smoothed’; u:r l′eivə, ‘sage’, Hogan iubhar sléibhe.
§ 231. The younger generation have given up the aspiration of L′ and in a number of words L′ is substituted for l′. The inflected forms of ïL′ə, ‘elbow’, Wi. ule, have ll already in M.Ir. stα:wi:l′, ‘stumbling’, occurs beside stα:wəL′i:, Di. stabhghail; kɔr huef′iL′, ‘whirlpool’, Di. cor tuaithbil. I have usually heard gə fɔ:L′, ‘yet’ but Craig writes go fóil.
§ 232. A voiceless l̥′ with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent in futures, e.g. el̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall rear’; gil̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall boil’; gyl̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall weep’; k′el̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall conceal’; m′el̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall grind’. In substantives < thl, lth, e.g. l̥′ig′ m′ə, ‘vomited’, Di. tligim; krïl̥′ɔg, ‘stalk of barley’, cp. Meyer crothal (?); el̥′id′, ‘fawn’, M.Ir. eilit; fα:l̥′i:, ‘shy’; rïl̥′αn, ‘wheel in spindle’, Di. roithleán. Also frequently in wïl̥′ in questions = an bhfuil?
In the case of kyl̥′əd, ‘knave at cards’, l̥′ seems to have arisen out of r′, Di. cuireat.
§ 233. sp′iɲk′, ‘precipice’, seems to have lost an l′, cp. Di. spinnc, splinnc.
§ 234. N denotes a thick ambi-dental n similar in formation to L (§ 204). In the production of the Irish nasals the resonance in the nose is much greater than is the case in English and in consequence all vowels flanking an n or m sound are liable to be nasalised, more particularly in stressed syllables (§ 172). This nasalisation of vowels in the neighbourhood of n, m sometimes leads to the insertion of a nasal as in mu:NLə, ‘a mould, a kind of button’ < Engl. ‘mould’, cp. Manx cronk (Pedersen p. 23). Lu:NəsNə, ‘Lammas, August’, M.Ir. lúgnasad, owes its second N to an attempt to make the unstressed syllables alike.
§ 235. N stands initially as the representative of O.Ir. n preceding a, o, u, e.g. Nα̃:wid′, ‘enemy’, O.Ir. náme; Nα:r′ə, ‘share’, M.Ir. náre; Nɔχtəm, ‘I lay bare’, Wi. nochtaim; Nõ:s, ‘custom’, M.Ir. nós; No̤Lik′, ‘Christmas’, M.Ir. notlaic; Nïnu:r, ‘set of nine’, O.Ir. nónbur; Nuw, ‘new’, O.Ir. núe; Nỹuw, ‘saint’, O.Ir. nóib; N⅄:skəN, ‘snipe’, Di. naosca.
The n of the article (as also the eclipse n of a, ‘their’, er′, ‘our’, mər, ‘your’, dα, ‘if’) before a vocalic initial or aspirated f is treated as if it belonged to the following word and is therefore N before a substantive or verb beginning in O.Ir. with a, o, u, e.g. ə NɔləN, ‘the wool’; ə Nαsəl, ‘their donkey’ or ‘from the donkey’; ɛg′ ə Nær′ə, ‘at the wake’ (faire); er′ ə N⅄:nαχ, ‘at the fair’; sə Nõ:wər, ‘in the autumn’; mə hαχt Nαnəm də hu:l′, ʃe: du:rt′ ə kαt l′eʃ ə N′iəsk = mo sheacht n-anam do shúil, sé dubhairt an cat leis an iasc. Compare the spellings Mac a nathar, cuid a nfir censured by Donlevy (quoted by O’Donovan, Grammar p. lxxvi) and the proper names Naul, Navan < an Áill, an Emain. The conjunction an uair, ‘when’, is similarly Ner′. Parallel to these cases are the adverbs əNuəs, əNαL, əNo̤N, əNɔ:r̥i:r′, < anúas, an-all, inonn, i n-airthiur. We might expect N in əniʃ, ‘now’, but I have only heard əniʃ < *ind fhoiss. əNo̤χt is regular < O.Ir. innocht. The preposition dochum was reduced to chum, chun, ’un and from those cases where the final n regularly became N as in the case of the article, the form əN was generalised, e.g. gɔl ə Nαfr′iN′, ‘going to mass’. Craig’s statements about this preposition are incomplete (Grammar² p. 210). Before masculines with consonantal initial and all feminines the full form əNə < ’un an is perhaps as frequent as the contracted Nα, Nə. The n after prepositions before the possessive pronoun a ‘his, her, their’, is also N, l′ɛ Nαhær′, ‘with his father.’ According to Pedersen (p. 123) le n-a éan is pronounced on Aran l′e: N′e:n. In Donegal this would be l′ɛ Nɛən. We have already seen that the word for ‘one’ may be reduced from ɛən to ən, n which before a vocalic initial becomes N, e.g. ə Nɔkəl əwα̃:n, ‘a single word’.
§ 236. Medially and finally N represents O.Ir. nn, nd, e.g. αNũw, ‘seldom’, M.Ir. andam; bo̤N, ‘sole’, M.Ir. bond; b′αNuw, ‘to bless’, cp. O.Ir. bendacht; bwin′əN, ‘female’, Meyer boinend; fo̤N, ‘desire’, M.Ir. fonn; f′ïN, ‘fair’, O.Ir. find; gαN, ‘scarce’, O.Ir. gann, gand; grα:Nə, ‘ugly, repulsive’, M.Ir. gránna, gránde; g′l′αN, ‘valley’, M.Ir. glenn, glend; ko̤Nỹ:(ʃt′ə), ‘tame’, M.Ir. cendaid (§ 416); k⅄:r̥əN, ‘rowan-tree’, Meyer cáerthann; k′αNy:m, ‘I buy’, M.Ir. cennaigim; k′ïN, ‘head’, O.Ir. cenn; Lo̤skəN, ‘toad’, M.Ir. loscann; L′αNæN′ ʃi:, ‘fairy lover’, M.Ir. lennán; L′ɛəN, ‘learning’, O.Ir. legend; m′αNαn, ‘kid’, Di. meannán; m′ïNə, ‘oaths’, M.Ir. mind; po̤NəN, ‘sheaf’, M.Ir. punnann; t′αNəm, ‘I tighten’, O.Ir. tend.
It may be noted that the enclitic ending of the present indicative is -əN with J. H. I have listened repeatedly and have only heard -əN. Craig writes pósan muid but he is not reliable for l and n sounds.
§ 237. Medial N sometimes arises from assimilation of n with another consonant, e.g. f′iəNiʃ, ‘witness’, O.Ir. fiadnisse; çiəNə, ‘same’, O.Ir. cétne; Lu:NəsNə, ‘Lammas, August’, M.Ir. lúgnasad; ə m′l′iəNə, ‘this year’, cp. O.Ir. gen. sing. bliadne; Nα, ‘than’, O.Ir. inda. Similarly the na forms of the article have N, O.Ir inna. nd > N also occurs in certain stereotyped compounds, e.g. ·αNin′ə, ‘ungracious person’, Di. anduine; ɛəNyn′ə, ‘anybody’, Di. aonduine; ʃαNin′ə, ‘old man’, Di. seanduine. With these cases we may compare the eclipse n before initial d which also produces N, e.g. ə Nα:n, ‘fated, in store’, Di. i. ndán.
§ 238. N stands before L, t, d, s, e.g. αNLo̤g, ‘very weak’; αNLo̤m, ‘very bare’; αNLũ:χər, ‘very nimble’; b′αN ·Lyə, ‘mistress’; b′l′ɛəNLαχə, plur. of b′l′ein, ‘groin’, O.Ir. mlén; ɛəNLαiç, ‘fowl’, M.Ir. énlaith; tα: ʃiəd ə go̤bwir′ əs ɛəNLα̃:v, ‘they are hand and glove together’; ko̤NLαχ, ‘stubble’, Meyer connlach, connlech; Nỹ: NLy: = naoi ndlaoi; sLα:NLəs, ‘plantain’, Di. slánlus; sp′r′ïNLə, ‘lazy fellow’, cp. Di. sprionnlóg. αli:Ntə, ‘tricky, artful’, Di. ealadhanta; ɛəNtiəs, ‘living in the same house’, aontuigheas; g′αNtrαχə, plur. of g′iɲ, ‘wedge’; kαNtər, pres. pass. of kαnəm, ‘I speak’; L′αNtər, pres. pass. of L′αnəm, ‘I follow’; L′iəNtə, ‘filled’; mαNtə, ‘lot, amount’, < Engl. ‘amount’; mαNtαχ, ‘talking indistinctly’, Di. manntach; so:Ntαχ, ‘simple’, Di. sonntach. For Nt in sandhi see § 465. According to § 236 Nd can only occur in sandhi, for which see § 465. k′αNsuw, ‘to pacify’, M.Ir. cendsugud; o̤Nsuw, ‘to face, make for’, M.Ir. indsaigim; o̤Nsə, ‘ounce’, Di. únsa; sko̤Nsə, ‘fence’, Di. sconnsa.
§ 239. N follows r (< R) and s, e.g. b′α:rN, ‘gap’, M.Ir. bern; dɔ:rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; kα:rNαn i:l′i:, ‘dunghill’; kɔ:rNuw, ‘to roll up’, Di. cornaim; k′αhərNαχ, ‘small, impudent person’, Meyer cethernach; Lu:bərNỹ:, ‘wriggling’, Di. lúbarnaighil. In monosyllables ending in rN (rN′) the N (N′) is almost syllabic. αsNə, ‘rib’, M.Ir. asna; brɔsNə, ‘single piece of firewood’, Meyer brosna; kɔsNuw, ‘to cost’; ɔsNə, ‘sigh’, O.Ir. osnad; sNαg, ‘hiccough’, Di. snag; sNαhαd, ‘needle’, O.Ir. snáthat; sNα:, ‘bundle of thread’, sNα:içə, ‘thread’, O.Ir. snáthe; sNα:uw, ‘to swim’, M.Ir. snám; sNuw, ‘complexion’, M.Ir. snúad; sNỹ:, ‘bier’, Macbain snaoidh; sNỹ:m′, ‘knot’, M.Ir. snaidm.
§ 240. Occasionally there is hesitation between N and n, as hαNik′ beside hαnik′ (also hen′ik′) = chonnaic, M.Ir. atchonnairc. o:Nə = abhna, gen. sing., has been influenced by the N′ of the nominative o:N′, ‘river’, = abhainn.
§ 241. N arises out of ng in a few instances, e.g. αskəN, ‘eel’, O.Ir. escung; kũ:N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung, cp. Manx coon, Scotch G. cumhann; ə Nαχ Lα̃:v = i ngach láimh.
§ 242. A voiceless N with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in f′ïN̥uw, ‘hair of animal’, M.Ir. findfad, and in the futures f′αN̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall flay’; t′αN̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall tighten’.
§ 243. n is an alveolar nasal sound corresponding in formation to l and therefore not unlike Engl. n, except that the point of the tongue is nearer the tipper teeth.
§ 244. n represents O.Ir. medial and final n followed or once followed by a, o, u, or preceding a consonant followed by these vowels, apart from the special cases mentioned in §§ 236–239. Examples – αrαn, ‘bread’, M.Ir. arán; bα:n, ‘white, fair’, O.Ir. bán; b′αn, ‘woman’, O.Ir. ben; bro:n, ‘sorrow’, O.Ir. brón; bαnəfαn, ‘sucking pig’, M.Ir. banb; dαmni:m, ‘I condemn’, M.Ir. damnaim; drɔχwu:nuw, ‘bad manners’; do:n, ‘world’, O.Ir. domun; d′αləgnαχ, ‘chicken-pox’; ɛən, ‘bird’, M.Ir. én; fαnαχt, ‘to remain’, O.Ir. anaim; L′αnu:N′t, ‘to follow’, O.Ir. lenmain; L′αnuw, ‘child’, M.Ir. lenab; ɔ:n, ‘Owen’, M.Ir. Eogan; ʃk′ïn, ‘knife’, M.Ir. scían.
§ 245. With the older people n is the aspirated form of N, e.g. mə nα:wid′, ‘my enemy’; b′αn nα:wədαχ ‘a vicious woman’; ℊα: n⅄:skiN′, ‘two snipe’; nɔχt m′ə, ‘I stripped’. The aspiration does not take place after the article, e.g. Nαχ mo:r ə Nα:r′ə ℊyd′ə, ‘is it not a shame for you?’; b′eig′əN du:N′ tu:suw əNsə Nuw, ‘we had to begin over again’. J. H. aspirates initial N after the preposition er′, e.g. tα: ʃə ər nõ:s χo̤mə l′ïm, ‘he’s a careless, indifferent fellow’; b′i: ər nõ:s Nə ku:rt′ə, ‘do at Rome as Rome does’.
The aspiration of sN is n, e.g. ni:m′ tuw, ‘you fastened’; α nũw, ‘his complexion’; nα̃:uw tuw, ‘you swam’.
§ 246. n occurs before r where once NR (N′R′) must have stood, e.g. α:nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe (proverb əs olk ə kïl′αχ Nαχ f′juw α:nṟi ɔ:l, ‘it is a bad cock that is not worth a sup of broth’ said of a suitor a girl won’t look at); α:nṟɔ:, ‘misery’, M.Ir. andró; bα:nṟi:n, ‘queen’; ko:nṟαχə, ‘coffins’ (§ 442); ko̤nṟuw, ‘bargain’, O.Ir. cundrad (gen. sing. ko̤Nərə); krα:nṟə, ‘corn on the foot, knot in wood’, Di. crannra; L′ïnṟuə, ‘a complaint of the stomach’, Di. lionnruadh; L′ïnṟαχ a contracted form of L′ïN′ərαχ, ‘bright’, Di. loinneardha; o̤nṟik′ə, ‘upright’, O.Ir. inricc (I have also heard o̤Nrik′ə from younger people); skα:nṟuw, ‘to frighten’, Di. scannradh; sm′ɛənṟə did′, ‘it is fortunate for you’, < M.Ir. mo-genar (also sm′ɛərə § 443). See further § 276. But N′r′ occurs in to̤m̥αχə Nə N′r′iʃαg, ‘the bramble-bushes’ (driseóg); vi: ʃɛ α N′r′αsuw, ‘he was hunting them’ (dreasughadh).
§ 247. n represents an older ngn in ku:nuw, ‘assistance’, O.Ir. congnam; i:nuw, ‘wonder’, < ingnáth, ingnád. n appears for n′ in ə f′αr sən, ‘that man’, owing to lack of stress (§ 219). Also dαhən m′ə (?) beside dαhin′ m′ə, ‘I recognised’, cp. Cl. S. 19 ix ’03 p. 3 col. 1. αnəm, ‘soul’, O.Ir. anim, is a new formation after the oblique cases, gen. sing. anma, partly due doubtless to a desire to keep the word separate from ainm, ‘name’. ku:næl′, ‘perishing with cold’, in tα: m′ɛ ə mə χu:næl′, Di. cúnáil, Lα: ku:nαlαχ, ‘a perishing day’, may possibly represent the old infinitive congbáil retained in this particular sense. The ordinary infinitive is kyN′æL′t′.
§ 248. A voiceless n with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent in futures and substantives, e.g. kαn̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall talk’; L′αn̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall follow’; L′iən̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall fill’; L′o:n̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall sprain’; mu:n̥ə m′ə from mu:nəm, ‘mingo’. b′r′αn̥uw, ‘expect’, Meyer brethnaigim; kro̤n̥i:m, ‘I miss’, Di. crunthuighim, crothnuighim; k′r′αn̥uw, ‘terror, to terrify’, Di. creathnughadh, pret. çrαn̥i:, k′r′αn̥iαχ, ‘terrible’, Meyer crithnaigim; sro̤n̥uw, ‘to scatter, spread’, Di. srathnuighim.
§ 249. N′ is a palatal n corresponding in formation to L′. The younger generation substitute N′ for n′ particularly after consonants, e.g. fɔr′əm′N′iʃαχ, ‘steady’; gïvN′ə, ‘smiths’; suivN′αχ, ‘at rest’. Craig following the speech of the younger people writes nn for n′ in many words, thus beáltainne, M.Ir. beltene; cluinnim, M.Ir. cluinim, O.Ir. rocluinethar; fearthainn, M.Ir. ferthain; gloinne, M.Ir. glaine, gloine; sínneadh, M.Ir. sínim. From most speakers one hears forms such as diN′ə, ‘man’; diN′əN, ‘bad weather’; kyN′i:n′, ‘rabbit’; mwiN′αl, ‘neck’; ræN′αχ (= ræn̥′αχ), ‘fern’; ʃαχtiN′, ‘week’; ʃiN′ə, compar. of ʃαn, O.Ir. siniu. As far as can be gathered from Rhys’s description this confusion has taken place in Manx (l.c. p. 135). For Counaught see Finck i p. 62. On the whole J. H. and some of the oldest people preserve the difference between N′ and n′ almost intact.
§ 250. N′ represents an O.Ir. initial n before e, i, e.g. N′αd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net; N′αχ, ‘any one’, O.Ir. nech; N′αmɔrt, ‘neglect’ (§ 27); N′αNtαg, ‘nettle’, late M.Ir. nenntóg, earlier nenaid; N′αrt, ‘strength’, O.Ir. nert; N′αrtrαχ, ‘rough grass’; Nαs, ‘near’, O.Ir. nessa; N′αskɔd′, ‘boil’, M.Ir. nescóit; N′α̃u-hiL′əmwiαχ, ‘independent’, O.Ir. neb-, neph-; N′ɛəl, ‘cloud’, O.Ir. nél; N′ïv (N′ïf′), ‘poison’, O.Ir. nem; N′i:, ‘not’, O.Ir. ní; Ni, ‘thing’, O.Ir. ní; N′i:m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim; N′o:n′i:n′, ‘daisy’, < nóinín by assimilation, also N′o:n′, ‘evening’, cp. əs ɛəskyαχə N′o:n′ Nα mwæd′ïn′. O.Ir. ingen has been transformed on the model of the pretonic form ní, M.Ir. iní and N′ has been introduced by analogy.
§ 251. Medially and finally N′ arises from O.Ir. nn, nd before a palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, e.g. bwæN′ə, ‘milk’, O.Ir. banne; bwiN′αχ, ‘diarrhœa’, Meyer bunnech; bwiN′αn, ‘a young, fresh stalk’, Meyer bunnén, also bwiN′αn bwi:, some kind of bird; b′iN′, ‘melodious’, O.Ir. bind; b′iN′, ‘gable, peak’, from oblique cases of O.Ir. benn; əN′e:, ‘yesterday’, O.Ir. indhé; əN′Uw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu; fα:N′ə, ‘ring’, O.Ir. ánne; fwiN′ɔg, ‘window’, M.Ir. fuindeóc; f′i:r′iN′ə,, ‘truth’, O.Ir. fírinne; iN′αχ, ‘woof’, M.Ir. innech; iN′əLtə, ‘neat’, < M.Ir. indell; iN′ær′, ‘anvil’, O.Ir. indéin; in̥′i:N′, ‘brain’, M.Ir. inchinn; kyN′ə, əs kyN′ə, ‘opposite’, M.Ir. conne; kyN′əl, ‘candle’, M.Ir. caindel; mwæN′ir′, ‘sheep-fold’, M.Ir. maindir; o:N′, ‘river’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. aba; rïN′, ‘dealing’, M.Ir. roinn (dat.); sLïN′uw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. slonniud < O.Ir. slondud. The forms ə ℊæN′æn′, ə mwæN′æn′, ‘in spite of him, me’, belong here as they represent Meyer’s an-deón, dom-andeoin-sa, cp. Henebry p. 31. æN′αs, ‘very pretty’, may be heard for æN′d′αs from some speakers.
§ 252. N′ may arise by assimilation of t′n′, d′n′, but the only instance I have is mwæN′ə, gen. sing. of mwæd′ïn′, ‘morning’. mwæd′in′ə is however more frequently heard. αrəN′, plur. αrəN′αχə), ‘stitches, pains’, αrəN′αχə bα:ʃ, ‘pains of death’, is probably a case of N′ for n′, cp. Meyer aradain, gen. sing. aradna. Cp. támaoinne < támuidne D. P. 28 i ’05 p. 3 col. 7.
§ 253. The n of the article before O.Ir. e, i gives N′, e.g. l′eʃ ə N′αLαχ, ‘with the cattle’; ə N′iʃαg, ‘the lark’ (§ 452); də N′ɔil′, ‘of the flesh’; sə N′ɛ:r, ‘in the grass’; iN′ʃer′ ə N′αr, ‘to the man’; kyr′uw əNə N′ɛəstə, ‘an invitation to the feast’; cp. the common formula of thanks sɔnəs əgəs ʃɛən ɔrt əgəs d′αrəməd fαd ə N′ɛəg. Note the difference between ə N′αr, ‘from the man’, and (m′αsəm gə wïl′ p′αdər) əN αr heivir′, ‘I imagine Peter is a rich man’. ɛən, ‘a single one’, is often reduced to n, which before a word beginning with (O.Ir.) e, i, appears as N′, e.g. l′ɛ N′αr əwα̃:n′ ɔkuw, ‘with one single man of them’. Similarly in the case of əNə n-, the lengthened form of ə, i, O.Ir. i n-, e.g. vi: ʃi: k′αŋəL′t′ə suəs əNə N′ɛədi: d⅄:rə, ‘she was got up in expensive clothes’. Other examples of the eclipse n after er′, ‘our’; mər, ‘your’; α, ‘their’; gə, ‘that’; ə, α, dα, ‘if’; ə(n), the interrogative particle before a word beginning in O.Ir. with e, i or d followed by the same vowels – ər N′i:N′αr, ‘our dinner’, mər N′in′ig′iL′t′, ‘your grazing’; ə N′iN′t′iN′, ‘their intention’; ə N′ɛr sə, ‘does he say?’; gə N′i:sət(′) ʃə, ‘that he would eat’; ə N′iəl̥ət(′) ʃə, ‘if he were to pay’. For əN′iər, ‘out of the west’, O.Ir. an-íar; əN′er′, ‘out of the east’, O.Ir. an-air; əN′i:s, ‘from below’, M.Ir. anís, see § 235.
§ 254. N′ precedes L′, l′, d′, ʃ, e.g. α:N′L′ɔg, ‘swallow’, Di. fáinleóg, áinleóg, < O.Ir. fannall; kyN′L′ɔr′, ‘candlestick’, Di. coinnleoir; Lo̤s m′i:N′L′ə, ‘white bed-straw’, Hogan lus mínle; ʃæN′L′eim′ < sean + léim, in b′ɛ m′ə ər′ mə hæN′L′eim′ əmα:rαχ, ‘I shall be myself to-morrow’; N′i: hα:N′L′ïm ə, ‘I do not like it’, O.Ir. án, a phrase that is now only familiar to a few. Note also æN′L′ɛənu:r, ‘very painful’, an + léanmhar. bwiN′t′, ‘to pull, pluck, cut’; kæN′t′, ‘talk’, Di. caint; k′iN′t′uw, ‘to determine’, Di. cinntiughadh; L′αnu:N′t′, ‘to follow’; siN′t′, ‘avarice’, O.Ir. sainte (gen. sing.); tα:N′t′ə, ‘reported’; tïN′t′ə, ‘stitch’, Di. tuinnte, taoinnte; ɛg′ əN′ t′ɔ:riN′, ‘at the boundary’. Except in a very few cases such as æN′d′αs, ‘very pretty’; spαrt′ viN′d′ə, ‘milk curdled with rennet’ (b′in′id′), N′d′ can only occur in sandhi. bwæN′ʃə, gen. sing. of bαniʃ, ‘wedding’; əN′ʃin′, əN′ʃɔ, ‘there, here’, M.Ir. andsen, andso; iN′ʃə, ‘to relate’, M.Ir. do innissin; iN′ʃαχəs, ‘a sheltered place in the mountains for cattle’; kyN′ʃk′l′ɔ:, ‘disturbance’, cp. Meyer cumscle; o:N′ʃαχ, ‘hussy’, Di. óinseach; iN′ʃɔrəm, iN′ʃɔrt, ‘to me, to you’ < o̤Nsɔrəm, o̤Nsɔrt = d’ionnsuidhe orm. The forms with N′ʃ arose in the 3rd sing. masc. iN′ʃer′ < o̤Nser′ under the influence of ʃer′, iN′ʃɔ. Craig condemns the forms with N′ʃ (Grammar² p. 75) but they are much more frequently used than those with Ns.
§ 255. N′ occurs after ʃ and L′, e.g. f′r′iʃN′æʃαχ, ‘irritable’; ʃN′αχtə, ‘snow’, O.Ir. snechta; ʃN′iuw, ‘to spin’, M.Ir. sním; tαrkiʃN′ə, ‘contempt, slight’, M.Ir. tarcuisne; fαrsN′ə < *fæR′ʃN′ə, compar. of O.Ir. fairsing, cp. fαrsN′u:l, ‘abundant’, fαrsN′αχ, fαrsN′αχəs, ‘abundance’. For examples of N′ after L′ see § 225.
§ 256. t′n′ should be assimilated to N′ (Pedersen p. 20) but I have no examples. In tæt′n′i:m, ‘I please’, Di. taitnighim, O.Ir. taitnem, the t′ has evidently been restored from the pret. hæt′i:n′. n + n′ or N′ give N′, e.g. æN′ï̃vn′αχ, ‘very painful’; ʃæN′αhəNỹ:, ‘old things’. For sandhi examples see § 456.
§ 257. In a series of words N′ arises from an older ng. N′ and ɲ are sounds which are very close to one another and are liable to be confused, cp. the Munster substitution of ɲ for N′ and for ɲ > N′ see Rhys p. 136. Examples – αku:N′, ‘strength, endurance’, Di. acfuinn, M.Ir. accmaing; dïl′iN′ m′ə, ‘I suffered’, = d’fhuiling me, Atk. ro-fhulaing; dɔ:riN′, ‘affliction’, tα: dɔ:riN′ wo:r (hiN′iʃ) er′ hö̤:g, ‘Thady is in great pain’, dɔ:riN′αχ, ‘severe’, Keat. doghraing; fαrsiN′, ‘plentiful’, O.Ir. fairsing; kïvl′iN′, ‘to emulate, emulation’, Meyer comleng; kyN′αl, kyN′æL′t′, ‘to keep’, M.Ir. congbáil, the forms with N′ < palatal ng arose in cases like the future coingéba; riN′, ‘made’, M.Ir. doringni < O.Ir. dorigéni (KZ. xxx 62); tα:rN′ə, ‘nail’, M.Ir. tairnge; tαrN′t′, ‘to pull, draw’, M.Ir. tarraing, Manx tayrn, Scotch G. tarruinn.
§ 258. In the written language when in inflected forms nn comes to stand after a consonant only one n is written but in speaking N′ is usually heard before palatal vowels. One does indeed hear kræk′n′ə, ‘skins’, but invariably ɛvN′αχə, ‘rivers’, plur. of o:N′; ig′N′αχə, plur. of ig′iN′, ‘a ring to put round the neck of cattle’. This N′ is doubtless due to analogy with the singular, cp. Pedersen p. 33.§ 259. A voiceless N′ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in ʃiN̥′ə m′ə, future of ʃiN′əm′, M.Ir. senim.
§ 260. The symbol n′ denotes a very slightly palatalised alveolar n. As stated above the younger generation fail to distinguish n′ and N′ and in the majority of cases substitute N′.
§ 261. n′ occurs initially in n′i:m, ‘I do’, O.Ir. dogniu. Craig gives the pronunciation as nnidhim (Grammar² p. 15), i.e. N′i:m, but here again he is following the younger generation which does not distinguish this word from N′i:m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim.
§ 262. n′ appears further as the aspirated form of initial N′ but only with the older people, e.g. Lα:r′ik′ n′ï̃vn′αχ, ‘a sore thigh’; N′αskɔd(′) n′ïvn′αχ, ‘a painful boil’; g′αr n′ï̃vn′αχ, ‘rather painful’; t′r′i: n′αd, ‘three nests’; N′i:r′ iN′iʃ m′ə ə ʃk′ɛəl də n′αχ ə mwer′əN, ‘I did not tell the story to a soul alive’; tα: ʃɛ ko̤r n′αχtə, ‘it is snowing’. ər N′αuw̥, ‘in heaven’, has N′ according to J. H.’s pronunciation.
The aspiration of ʃN′ is n′, e.g. n′iuw m′ə, ‘I span’, imperf. pass. n′iuw̥i:.
§ 263. n′ represents O.Ir. medial or final n before an original palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, in all positions except those mentioned in §§ 254, 255, e.g. b′l′iïn′, ‘year’, O.Ir. bliadain; din′ə, ‘person’, O.Ir. duine; en′əm′, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm (æN′əm′); əwα̃:n′, ‘only’, M.Ir. amáin; fuiʃk′n′uw, ‘shudder’; gen′ə̃v, ‘sand’, M.Ir. ganim (dat.); hein′, ‘self’, O.Ir. féin; in′iʃ, ‘island’, M.Ir. inis; kαsæn′, ‘paths’, < casáin; kα:n′, ‘line’, M.Ir. cáin; L′ein′i, ‘shirt’, M.Ir. léne; mwæn′ær′, ‘manor, division of land’, Di. mainear; N′α̃ujõ:n′ (gə), ‘although’, Meyer am-deón (§ 38); ri:n′, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin; smαχt′i:n′, ‘mallet’, Di. smaichtín; ʃαχtin′, ‘week’, M.Ir. sechtmain (acc.); ʃαskin′, ‘quagmire’; ʃik′n′ə, ‘hernia’, Di. seicin, seicne; ʃi:n′uw, ‘to stretch’, M.Ir. síned; ʃL′α̃uwin′, ‘slippery’, M.Ir. slemain; to:n′, ‘bottom’, M.Ir. tóin (dat.); t′in′i, ‘fire’, O.Ir. tene; uig′n′αχ, ‘solitary’, M.Ir. uagnech.
§ 264. A voiceless n′ with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent and arises from various sources, (a) in futures, e.g. bwin̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall reap’; grα:n̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall loathe’ (Di. gráinighim); kα:n̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall speak ill of’; klïn̥′ə m′ə. ‘I shall hear’; ky:n̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall weep’; mu:n̥′ə mə < mu:n, ‘mingere’. (b) < thn, nth, e.g. en̥′i:m, ‘I recognise’, Meyer aithgninim; fwæn̥′ə, ‘wart’, Di. faithne; kα:n̥′i:n′, ‘husk’, Di. cáithnín; krïn̥′αχtə, ‘wheat’, O.Ir. cruithnecht; k′ɔ: ·brin̥′ə, ‘haze portending heat’, cp. Di. ceobhrán; L′in̥′ə, compar. of L′αhən, ‘broad’; ræn̥′αχ, rαin̥′αχ, ‘fern’, M.Ir. raithnech. (c) < chn, e.g. d′ïn̥′u:r, ‘set of ten’, Di. deichneabhar, O.Ir. dechenbor; in̥′i:N′, ‘brain’, M.Ir. inchind.
Note on the r sounds.
§ 265. Corresponding to the four l and four n sounds described above we expect to find four parallel r sounds (R, r, R′, r), but it would seem that almost everywhere r has been generalised for R and there are no remains whatsoever of R′. If any traces of R′ had survived we might expect to find them in such sandhi combinations as N′i:r′ r′ïgər se, ‘he did not answer’; f′αrəg ə N′ir′ r′iʃN′æʃi: (f′r′iʃN′æʃαχ), ‘the temper of the irritable man’. I have tried all imaginable combinations but have never heard anything but r′. It is easy to form a palatal r with the articulation of L′, N′, i.e. with the front rim of the tongue pressing against the lower teeth, but I cannot conceive why the sound was given up. Of R on the other hand there are distinct traces, but not in the initial position where it has become r. Fortunately Donegal has not lengthened the vowel in every case before R as Munster and Connaught have done and it is at the end of monosyllables after a short vowel that we must look for the sound.
§ 266. By this symbol we denote a long, strongly trilled r with the tongue vibrating against the alveoles just above the upper teeth. Whether in pronouncing R the point of the tongue originally acted against the teeth as in the case of L, N, it is now impossible to say. O’Brien in his Grammar says (p. 11): “It (viz. r) is sometimes written double, as barrach tow; earr, champion; and is then strongly pronounced, with a longer dwelling on the sound of r than if it were written singly”. Now O’Brien was according to O’Donovan a native of Meath and it is quite likely that traces of R were preserved in that district as they have been in the west of Ulster. Quite unnecessarily Pedersen remarks (p. 38) that it is inconceivable that rr in barrach should be long. For traces of R in Scotland see Henderson, ZCP. iv 523.
§ 267. I have heard R from J. H. in the following words, though even he frequently substitutes r – bαRə, plur. of bα:r, ‘crop’, O.Ir. barr; do̤R said to a dog to encourage him, Di. dorrghail; ə g′ïRi: (iəri:, see § 105), ‘asking, seeking’; kɔR, ‘odd’, Meyer corr (1); kɔR (wo:nuw), ‘crane’, Meyer corr (2), with which kɔR, ‘a sand-eel’, is probably identical. These forms must be carefully distinguished from ko̤r`, Meyer cor. ko̤R, ‘edge’, Meyer corr (2); ko̤Rαχ, ‘quagmire’, M.Ir. curreoh; kɔRαχ, ‘steep’, klɔχ χo̤Rαχ, ‘a stone with many edges’, Meyer corrach; kɔRαn, ‘sickle’, Meyer corrán; kɔRuw l′ɛ, ‘upwards of; kαR, ‘car’, M.Ir. carr, to be distinguished from kα:r, ‘ugly face, grin’, Meyer carr (5); mo̤Rαχəs, ‘superiority’, < mórdhachas; o̤Rə çl′αsiαχt, ‘playmate’, Wi. urra; o̤Rəmαχ, ‘obedient’, M.Ir. urraim; spo̤Rαχ, ‘a lanky fellow’.
§ 268. Usually however R is reduced to r, e.g. bαrçiç, ‘a light shower’, = barr-chith; bα:riəL, ‘a leather boot-lace’, = barr-iall; bαriαχt, ‘superabundance’, Di. barraidheacht; bαrαχ, ‘tow’, Meyer barrach; dɔrəgə, ‘cross-looking’, Keat. dorrdha; gɔrαn, ‘rim round snout of pig’ (in Westmoreland called ‘grin’), Di. corran, ‘jaw’ (?); go̤ru:n, ‘haunch’, Di. gurrún; g′αrαn, ‘horse’, lit. ‘gelding’ < g′αruw, ‘to cut’, M.Ir. gerrad, plur. g′αrαχə (§ 21); kαriə, ‘deer’, Di. cairrfhiadh; kαrik′, ‘rock’, O.Ir. carric; k′αrwαχ, ‘gamester’, Di. cearrbhach; ʃαrαχ, ‘foal’, M.Ir. serrach; tαrαχ, ‘pregnant’, M.Ir. torrach; to̤rskər, ‘refuse’, M.Ir. turrscar.
§ 269. The ordinary Donegal r is a reduced form of a trilled r. There is usually only one flip of the point of the tongue against the alveoles. At the end of monosyllables after a short vowel r is clipped and very short, e.g. f′αr`, ‘man’; go̤r`, ‘sitting’ (of a hen).
§ 270. r represents O.Ir. initial, medial r before a, o, u and final r when originally followed by a, o, u, e.g. b′ïr, ‘spit’, O.Ir. bir; dri:, ‘druid’, O.Ir. drui; fr⅄:χ, ‘heather’, O.Ir. froech; f′αrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferc; gruəg, ‘hair’, Di. gruag; mαrəwi:m, ‘I kill’, M.Ir. marbaim; trα:, ‘meal’, M.Ir. trath; u:r, ‘fresh’, M.Ir. úr.
§ 271. r has taken the place of older initial R′ and in consequence the following vowel is frequently affected (§§ 73, 156), e.g. rαhəm, ‘I run’, M.Ir. rethim; rɛi (rəi), ‘ready’, O.Ir. réid; ri:, ‘king’, O.Ir. rí; ri:n′, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin; rïχt, ‘strength, state’, O.Ir. richt; rö̤:χtənəs, ‘need, necessity’, M.Ir. riachtanus.
§ 272. Initial r is unaffected by aspirating words. The aspirated form of fr is r, e.g. k′αrk ri:, ‘a moor-hen’, cearc fhraoich; sə ræɲk′, ‘in France’.
§ 273. Initial sr whether standing before O.Ir. a, o, u, or e, i, has a sound peculiar to itself. The r is not trilled in this case and seems to cause the tongue to be retracted from the ordinary s position. The two sounds coalesce and a kind of modified s is produced. Cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish (p. 18): “The two consonants are often pronounced almost simultaneously, so that it is difficult to know which consonant is pronounced the first”. Examples – srα`, ‘holm, field lying by a river’, M.Ir. srath; srα:d′, ‘street, space round a cottage’, M.Ir. sráit; srα:d′ɔg, ‘a bed on the floor’, Di. sráideóg; srαhər, ‘straddle’, O.Ir. srathar; srɛən, ‘bridle’, M.Ir. srían; srUhαn, ‘stream’, O.Ir. sruth. Initially ʃR′ has become sr but medially we find ʃr′ (§ 283) except in αsrïgər, ‘a sharp retort’, < ais + freagar.
The aspirated form of initial sr is always r, never r̥, e.g. ro̤n̥ə m′ə, ‘I scattered’, Di. srathnuighim; N′i: rihαχi ʃə, ‘he will not reach’, Di. sroichim; ko̤r fo̤l ṟo:nə, ‘to have nose-bleeding’.
§ 274. r arises from n in the groups cn, gn, tn, but the nasal character of the syllable is generally retained, e.g. krαguw, ‘to strike’, < Engl. ‘knock’; krα̃:b′ə, ‘hemp’, Meyer cnáip; krα̃:v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim; krɛp′ə, ‘button’, M.Ir. cnap; krõ:, ‘nut’, O.Ir. cnú; kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; k′r′it′αl, ‘to knit’, < Engl.; grẽ:hə, ‘business’, Di. gnó; grĩ:, ‘good looks’, Di. gnaoi. l′eʃ ə trα̃hid′, ‘with the needle’; m′eid′ ə trα̃:, ‘the size of the yarn’; fαd ə trα̃:içə, ‘the length of the thread’; χUi ʃiəd əmαχ er′ ə trα̃:uw, ‘they went out swimming’; er′ ə trĩ:, ‘on the bier’; er′ ə trĩ:m′, ‘on the knot’; er′ ə trũw, ‘on the complexion’.
§ 275. Before L, N, t, d, where r arises from R, and also before L′, N′, t′, d′, where r represents R′, r is not trilled and in stressed syllables is perhaps slightly longer than the ordinary sound. The point of the tongue is raised towards the arch-rim and then slides along the alveoles into the position for the following sound. It is unfortunate that Pedersen has not given us a description of the corresponding sound on Aran l.c. pp. 28, 67. After r in the final position N, N′, L′ are almost syllabic. Examples – hα:rLy:, M.Ir. tarla. kα:rN, ‘heap’, M.Ir. carn; b′α:rN, ‘gap’, M.Ir. bern; dɔ:rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; k′αhər Nαχ ‘small, impudent person’. b′αrt, ‘burden’, Meyer bert; k′αrt, ‘right’, M.Ir. cert. α:rd, ‘high’, O.Ir. árd. kõ:rL′ə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; kαbərL′i:n′, ‘small, saucy-mouthed person or animal’; mαgərL′ə, ‘testicles’, M.Ir. macraille; α:rN′ə, ‘sloe’, Meyer airne; α:rN′αl, ‘sitting up late’, M.Ir. airne; dïrN′i:n′, ‘handle’, Di. doirnín; hαrN′ ʃɛ, ‘he drew’, M.Ir. tairrngim; kα:rN′, gen. sing. of kα:rN, ‘heap’; kɔrN′αl, ‘corner’; k′l′iʃm′ərN′i:, ‘starting up in sleep’, Di. s. clisim; Lo̤bərN′ə, ℊo̤l əN L., ‘to go to rack and ruin’; mα:rN′αlαχ, ‘sailor’, Di. mairnéalach; mo̤rN′i:n′, ‘darling’, M.Ir. múirn, muirn; d′α sαhərN′, ‘Saturday’, M.Ir. dia sathairnd; tα:rN′αχ, ‘thunder’, cp. Wi. tornech; tα:rN′ə, ‘nail’, M.Ir. tairnge; also in tαrgir′αχt, ‘prophecy’, O.Ir. tairngire. bαgərt′, ‘to threaten’; gɔrt′ɔg, ‘slight injury, sprain’; kæʃm′ərt′, ‘squabble’, Meyer caismert; ko̤nərt′, ‘hounds’, M.Ir. conairt (dat.); ku:rt′, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cúairt; spαrt′, ‘turf that has lain for a year without being raised’ (also called spαdər), spαrt′ viN′d′ə, ‘milk curdled with rennet’, Di. spairt; skαrt′, ‘a shout’, Di. scairt. o̤rd′ə, ‘height’, M.Ir. arde; α:rd′, ‘point of the sky’, M.Ir. aird; o̤rd′, plur. of ɔ:rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, M.Ir. ord; also kαrəʃ ·k′r′i:stə, ‘sponsor’, Meyer cairdes Críst.
For fαrəg′ə, ‘sea’, O.Ir. fairggæ, foirrce see Pedersen p. 117. Similarly g′ïrə, compar. of g′α:r, ‘short’, M.Ir. gerr, ib. p. 24.
§ 276. After n, l < N, L we have perhaps a further trace of R in that r in this position is strongly trilled which we denote by writing a small bar under the letter, thus ṟ. nṟ, lṟ are now-a-days incapable of palatalisation (except in the case mentioned in § 246) and therefore represent both earlier NR, LR and N′R′, L′R′. Examples – so:nṟuw, ‘to notice’, so:nṟiαχ, ‘remarkable’, Di. sonnrughadh, O.Ir. sainreth, sainred; ku:lṟö̤:skαχ, ‘backward’, Di. cúilriascmhar; ʃiəlṟuw, ‘to claim descent from’, Di. síolrughadh; αn-ṟifle, ‘a fine rifle’; αnṟo̤d, ‘an excellent thing, a great quantity’; αsəlṟiαχt, ‘performing a spell, enchantment’, Di. asarlaidheacht; əNə nrɔχχα:s, ‘in a bad plight’. nṟ, lṟ are also found in sandhi, e.g. bo̤n ṟïb′ə, ‘a sore with hair growing out of it’, Di. bun ribe; ko̤r fo̤l ṟo:nə, ‘to have nose-bleeding’.
§ 277. In a few words mainly enclitics r represents an older l or n, cp. Diss. pp. 10, 18 and Zimmer, Sitzungsber. d. Berl. Akad. 6 iv 1905 p. 3. Examples – mər, ‘as’, O.Ir. amal, amail; mər, ‘unless’, O.Ir. mani; dαrə, ‘second’, O.Ir. indala. Similarly gə mαrəm, if it contains αnəm, ‘soul’, see § 63.
§ 278. Medial r′+ ʃ gives rs, e.g. fɔrsuw, ‘to harrow’, Di. foirseadh; ïrsαχə, plur. of ir′iʃ, ‘hanger on creel’, Di. iris; k′ɛ:rsαχ, ‘hen blackbird’, Meyer céirsech; ʃk′u:rsi:, ‘scourges’, Keat. sgiuirse; tïrsαχ, ‘tired’, O.Ir. toirsech; tɔrsαχ, ‘threshold’, M.Ir. tairsech. For sandhi instances see § 461.
In the groups r′ + ʃ + t′, r′ + ʃ + N′ the r′ is depalatalised, whilst the first part of the ʃ is a retracted alveolar s and the second ʃ. Examples – fαrsN′ə, compar. of fαrsiN′, ‘abundant’, fαrsN′u:l′, fαrsN′αχ, ‘abundance’; fɔ:rst′ə, ‘harrowed’; fɔ:rst′ən, ‘to suit’, fɔ:rst′ən′αχ, ‘suitable’, Di. fóirstineach; k′l′i ·ɔrst′ə, ‘harrow’, Di. cliath fuirste.
r′ has been further depalatalised in ə Nαrəkyʃ, ‘to meet’, Meyer airchess.
§ 279. A voiceless r with strongly breathed off-glide is a very frequent sound in Donegal. It arises from (a) r + fh in futures, e.g. b′α:r̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall shear, clip’; g′α:r̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall cut’; iər̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall ask’. Similarly in kɔ:r̥ə, ‘chest’, < cófra (§ 180). (b) O.Ir. r followed or preceded by th gives r̥ in a large number of words, e.g. α:r̥uw, ‘change’, M.Ir. aitherraigim; b′r′iər̥ə, ‘words, speech’, M.Ir. briathra; du:r̥αχt, ‘zeal, fervour’, O.Ir. dúthracht; f′αr̥iN′, ‘rain’, M.Ir. ferthain; g′α:r̥αχə, ‘cuts’; kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthrom; kαr̥ənəs, ‘friendliness’, Di. carthannas; k′αr̥ər, ‘set of four’, O.Ir. cethrar; k′αr̥uw, ‘quarter’, O.Ir. cethramad; k′ïr̥əm, ‘deficiency in some member’, k′ïr̥əmαχ, ‘maimed, incapacitated’, Macbain ciorram, O’R. ciorthumach, ciorrumach, Di. ciorrthuimeach, cithréimeach, M.Ir. cirrim; L′αr̥αχə, ‘stirrup-leathers’, Di. leathracha; L′o:r̥i:, ‘books”, Craig leabharthaí; pα:r̥u:s, ‘paradise’, Di. parrthas, O.Ir. pardus; s⅄:r̥uw, ‘to earn’, Atk. saethrugud; tα:r̥æl′, ‘to assist’, Di. tárrtháil, tα:r̥αlαχ, ‘useful, profitable’; t′i:r̥i:, ‘lands’. Similarly in past participles, e.g. bw⅄:r̥ə, ‘troubled’, O.Ir. búadartha; tuər̥ə, ‘bleached’, Di. tuaraim.
§ 280. r′ before h < th also gives r̥, not r̥′, e.g. d′ɛr̥ər (d′ɛrtər), pres. pass. of rα:t′, ‘to say’; kïr̥ə, Di. coirthe, plur. of kyr′, ‘crime’, Meyer cair, kïr̥αχ, ‘guilty’, Di. coirtheach; kïr̥αχə, ko̤r̥αχə, ‘invitations’, plur. of kyr′uw, Keat. cuireadh; ɔr̥i:, ‘upon her’, ɔr̥uw, ‘upon them’, O.Ir. airthiu; ə Nɔ:r̥i:r, ‘the day after to-morrow’, Di. lá a n-oirthear, Wi. airthear (Craig writes an orthaidh, for which see § 444). Similarly in past participles – do̤r̥ə, ‘bulled’, from dáirim; go̤r̥ə, ‘called’, < M.Ir. gairim; ko̤r̥ə, ‘buried’, O.Ir. cuirthe. rrch gives r̥ in tɔ:r̥i:s, ‘number at birth, parturition’, M.Ir. torrchius.
This is one of the few internal changes which does not hold good in sandhi, e.g. ky:r′ hin′uw ɔrt = caoir theineadh ort.
§ 281. r̥ is the aspirated form of initial tr, e.g. r̥α:χt m′ə, ‘I discoursed’; r̥id′ ʃə, ‘he fought’; r̥ïʃL′i: ʃə, ‘he stumbled’, Di. tuislighim, O.Ir. tuisled; r̥ɔsk m′ə, ‘I fasted’. In the case of initial t′r′ the palatalisation seems to me to have been given up but r̥ in this case is a sound midway between r̥ and r̥′, e.g. r̥eig′ m′ə, ‘I abandoned’; r̥ïmwi: ʃə, ‘it dried’, = thriomuigh < thiormuigh; α r̥iən, ‘his third’; r̥o: m′ə, ‘I ploughed’, M.Ir. trebaim; r̥o:r̥ə m′ə, ‘I led’; α r̥u:r, ‘his three’, may sometimes have r̥′. At any rate the r̥ in these cases is very different from the r̥′ in § 288.
§ 282. The Donegal palatal r is a very elusive sound and is perhaps more easy to acquire than to describe. The tip of the tongue hangs down slightly behind the upper teeth though not in such exaggerated fashion as in the case of s and ʃ. The front of the tongue a little over half an inch from the tip rests against the arch-rim leaving a narrow horizontal slit through which the breath rushes. The Aran r′ as I have heard it from a friend who has spent some time on the islands has not the same acoustic effect as the Donegal sound and according to Finck’s description the two must be quite distinct from one another. As far as I am able to observe the hollowing out of the front of the tongue essential for the production of s, ʃ is entirely absent. Perhaps the Desmond sound described in the Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish (p. 23) is different. There it is stated that “the slender sound of r is produced by spreading the tongue and forming a small hollow in the front portion of it. The point of the tongue is brought close to the gum just above the upper teeth.” When I first heard the Donegal r′, I was reminded of a j-sound formed against the arch-rim instead of against the hard palate. Cp. Henderson’s remark “in Tiree air ‘on’ sounds like eigh (eij) ‘ice’” (ZCP. iv 523). On the other hand r′ has a distinct affinity with đ and an Englishman may easily acquire the sound by slightly retracting the tongue from the edge of the upper teeth and substituting the contact with the arch-rim. Hence it is very natural to find đ appearing for r′ in Scotch dialects (Henderson, ZCP. iv 516). At the end of a monosyllable with short root-vowel r′ is always clipped like l, l′, n, n′, r, e.g. f′ir′, ‘men’; kyr′`, ‘send’.
The r′ just described is doubtless not the original sound. According to its articulation it lies between *r′ and *R′.
§ 283. r′ represents O.Ir. medial and final r followed by an original e, i whether preserved or lost. Initially R′ has become r. Examples – ær′ə, ‘care’, O.Ir. aire; ær′iαχ, ‘herd, watchman’, Di. airigheach; dær′, ‘oak’, M.Ir. dair; fwær′ə, ‘wake of the dead’, M.Ir. faire; gα:r′ə, ‘laugh’, M.Ir. gáire; mwær′əm, ‘I remain’, M.Ir. maraim; ʃer′, ‘eastwards’, M.Ir. sair. We may note that by the side of əmα:rαχ, ‘to-morrow’, the form əmα:r′αχ occurs. The two seem to run according to families and also exist side by side on Aran, cp. Finck ii p. 253.
r′ precedes other palatal consonants than L′, N′, t′, d′, ʃ, e.g. ær′əg′ïd, ‘money’, O.Ir. arget; dir′ib′, ‘waterworm’, Di. dairb; ïm′ir′k′ə, ‘removing’, M.Ir. immirge, immirce; ir′im′, ‘armies’, M.Ir. airm; kɔr′k′ə, ‘oats’, Meyer coirce; kyr′p′, ‘corpses’, M.Ir. cuirp; χyr′f′i:, condit. pass. of kyr′ ‘to put’. Following b′, d′, f′, g′, j, k′, ç, m′, p′, e.g. b′r′ɛə, ‘fine’, Meyer bregda; d′r′eim′ir′ə, ‘ladder’, M.Ir. drémire; f′r′ïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; g′r′iən, ‘sun’, O.Ir. grían; tα: də jr′eim′ ə Nαsky:, ‘your expectation is vain’; k′r′ïs, ‘girdle’, O.Ir. cris; t′in′i çrαsə, ‘tinder-box’, Meyer s. criss; ko̤m′r′i:, ‘protection’, Di. coimrighe, Meyer comairghe s. commairge (cp. comraighe Sg. Fearn. p. 96); kUʃk′r′əχαn, ‘place covered with reeds’, O’Don. Suppl. cuiscreach, Di. cuise, cuiseag; p′r′αbαn sα:l′ə, ‘lifter, patch on the heel of a boot’, Di. preabán; t′r′ouw, ‘to plough’, M.Ir. trebad. Initially ʃ+r′ gives sr (§ 273) but medially except in the case of αsrïgər, ‘sharp retort’, ʃr′ remains, e.g. kɔʃr′ik′i:m, kɔʃr′ïkəm, ‘I consecrate’, Meyer coisregadh < cosecrad; ɔʃr′αχ, ‘oyster’, Di. oisre; p′iʃr′ɔg, ‘incantation’, Di. pisreog; ʃeʃr′αχ, ‘plough’, M.Ir. sessrech.
§ 284. r′ arises from n′ after t′, k′, e.g. ko̤r ə t′r′αχtə, ‘fall of snow’; k′r′αtαn, ‘asthma’, Macleod cneatan < M.Ir. cnett; k′r′αdi:, ‘groan’, Di. cneadach; k′r′αsuw, ‘cicatrise’, M.Ir. cnessugud.
§ 285. A number of proclitic forms ending in r have r′ in Donegal. This is partly due to the influence of the preposition er′, ‘upon’, which is strictly speaking a pronominal form arising from a confusion of O.Ir. aire and fair. er′ for ar would further arise regularly in the interrogative particle ar < in ro before a preterite with palatal initial, cp. N′ < n in the article § 253. From these two cases a fondness arose for r′ in proclitics, which Pedersen mentions as existing to some extent on Aran (pp. 25, 26). Cp. also tar, tair in Molloy’s 27th dialect-list. Examples – ər′ iər sə, ‘did he ask?’; er′ fɔ:ʃ ʃi:, ‘did she marry?’; ər′ eir′i ʃə, ‘did he get up?’; ər′ α̃uwir′k′ ʃə, ‘did he look?’; ər′ hït tuw, ‘did you fall?’ Similarly with the negative forms Nær′, N′i:r′, e.g. Nər Nær′ iər sə, ‘when he did not ask’; Nə Nær′ ïm′i: tuw, ‘did you not go away?’; Nær′ αN tuw sə wel′ə, ‘did you not stop at home?’; N′i:r′ çαləg ʃi: N′ L′αnuw, ‘she did not put the child to sleep’; N′i:r′ çr′id′ Nα di:n′i ə, ‘people did not believe him’. But N′i:r n′i: m′ə, ‘I did not wash’; N′i:r lo:r′ m′ə, ‘I did not speak’ (§ 459). gər < go ro forms the only exception. In this ease r is never palatal, e.g. gər i m′ə, ‘that I ate’; gər eil′i: m′ə, ‘that I begged’. In like manner O.Ir. ar, ‘our’, appears as er′ in er′ m′αn, ‘our lady’; er′ m′iə, ‘our food’. M.Ir. ar, ‘quoth’, is generally heard as ərsə but Dottin gives a form with palatal r as occurring in N. Connaught (RC. xiv 114). We expect er′ ⅄:n, ‘together’, M.Ir. ar oen, but the connection with the preposition does not seem to be felt. The O.Ir. preposition tar follows er′ and becomes hær′, e.g. hær′ə Nα ℊα: ℊlu:n, ‘beyond his two knees’; tα: ʃïn′ hær′ ə jα:nuw, ‘that is beyond doing, cannot be done’. From this has been differentiated the dar of oath formulas which in Donegal appears as dir′. O.Ir. eter, etir, itar appear as ɛdir′, whilst in composition we find the regular αdər-, e.g. in αdərℊyə, ‘intercession’, Di. eadarghuidhe. The O.Ir. adjectives fír, ‘true, genuine’, sír, ‘everlasting’, when forming the first member of a compound assume the forms f′i:r′, ʃi:r′, e.g. ʃi:r′αhəs, ‘everlasting delight’, cp. the proverb α:wər gɔlə gə f′i:r f′αr̥iN′ əgəs ʃi:r′ ℊ⅄:, ‘rain and constant wind are verily a cause for lamentation’; f′i:r′iʃk′ə, ‘spring water’; f′i:r′wα̃iç, ‘exceptionally good’; f′i:r′vïg, ‘very small’; but f′i:rLo̤g, ‘very weak’, f′ier′, ‘crooked, athwart’, M.Ir. fiar, is peculiar.
§ 286. It is interesting to find isolated traces of initial r′ as the aspirated form of R′. It is quite possible that other instances occur but I have only heard the following from J. H. – rï̃və r′e:, ‘already’, by the side of re:, ‘time’, O.Ir. ree; α r′i: Nə pα:rt′ə, ‘gracious God’, or α r′i: χũαχti:, ‘Almighty God’, used as asseverations; hi:n′ ə r′αhə, ‘with difficulty’, cp. d′ïm′i: m′ə er′ ə tαruw hi:n′ ə r′αhə αgəs ə wαr̥αχə bα:ʃ, ‘I escaped from the bull with great difficulty’, ro̤g ə kuw ər′ jαriə hi:n′ə r′αhə, ‘it was with enough to do that the hound caught a hare’. In the Gaelic Journal for 1891 p. 94 this is spelt h-aonaireatha and Dinneen says s. torad – “In Teelin, Don., a righin a reatha (either = de righin an reatha or ar éigin an reatha) = hardly, scarcely”. This is very unlikely and I always imagined that the phrase contained ʃi:n′uw, ‘to extend’, = de shíneadh reatha, which will be found in Dinneen under síneadh but the s should be aspirated. With hi:n′ ə r′αhə compare iʃk′ə rαhə, ‘running water’ with r. ər′eir′, ‘according to’, < do réir, retains the r′, whilst O.Ir. ríar has become rö̤:r (r⅄:r), Di. soi-riartha = sɔr⅄:r̥ə. The r′ distinguishes this phrase from ərɛir′, ‘last night’, M.Ir. irráir. With rï̃və, ‘before’, we may compare ər′iuw, ‘over’, O.Ir. ríam (so also in Monagban, v. G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2). ər′iuw has been influenced by er′ eʃ, ‘back’, = air ais with ar for dar, tar; similarly ər′i:ʃt′, ‘again’, Meyer arís. m′i:r′iαLtə, ‘unruly’, Di. mi-riaghalta, is of interest when compared with rö̤:l, ‘rule’, O.Ir. ríagul, riagol.
§ 287. r′ is the aspirated form of initial f′r′, e.g. ər′ r′ïgər sə, ‘did he reply?’; N′i: fo̤rəst mwir′ əs trα:i ə r′αstəl = ní furust muir agus tráigh do fhreastal. But even here r is often substituted, e.g. rïgər sə, ‘he answered’.
§ 288. A voiceless r′ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in a few words, (a) r̥′ = r′ + h < fh in futures, e.g. gyr̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall call’; kyr̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall put’; Lo:r̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall speak’. (b) r̥′ = r + ç, e.g. bwer̥′i:n′, ‘spancel’, < buarach + ín; mwir̥′i:L′ə, ‘sleeve’, Di. muinchille. (c) r̥′ = h (< th) + r′, e.g. ær̥′αχə, ‘fathers’; ær̥′i:, ‘regret, penance’, M.Ir. aithrige; ær′αχəs, ‘repentance, compunction’, M.Ir. aithrechus; kαir̥′αm′, ‘triumph’, M.Ir. caithréim; kαir̥′iɔr′, ‘citizen’, Meyer cathraigtheóir, kαir̥αχə, ‘cities’; ky:r̥′ə, gen. sing. of ky:r’, ‘flame’; kyr̥′im′, gen. sing. of kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, where ə has come to be regarded as a svarabhakti vowel, cp. ku:r′im′ gen. sing. of ku:rəm, ‘care’; k′er̥′i:n′, ‘plaster’, Di. ceirín, Meyer céirín (§ 187); k′ɛdi:n′ ə Luər̥′i:, ‘Ash Wednesday’, Di. luaithreach; Luir̥′əwαn, ‘ashes’, Di. luaithreamhán; mαir̥αχə, ‘mothers’. (d) r̥′ = r′ +h < sh in f′ier̥′u:l′, ‘squint-eye’, cp. Di. fíar-shúileach.
§ 289. Of the labials in general Henebry writes (p. 49): “The upper teeth are not used and so there is freedom for the production of broad and slender timbre. In regard to distance from teeth, rounding, or tension, the lips are by anticipation in position for the following vowel before the contact or approach for consonant production is made, and so broad and slender timbre can be at once distinguished. The former is produced with rounded, soft, protruded lips (as when one with lips held in position for ū makes the consonant contact for p), the latter with lips drawn tight, close to the teeth and inturned (as in the ü position)”. As to the protrusion of the lips the position is between the neutral and advanced. In forming the non-palatal labials which are extremely heavy and dull sounds the lips are very loose indeed and even initially these sounds give the impression of more than ordinary duration, though they are actually no longer than the corresponding palatal labials. In addition to lip-protrusion the tongue is raised towards the u-position which causes a w-sound to be heard on releasing the lip contact. This w is always more or less present but is most clearly heard before the front vowels and ⅄ in which cases it is written in this book. It is also very noticeable when the labial is final and the next word begins with a palatal vowel, e.g. αmwi:Ntαχ = am éiginteach. In English as spoken locally both sets of labials occur and it would almost seem as if the power to discard the non-palatal sounds were a mark of respectability.
§ 290. At the end of monosyllables containing a short vowel both m and m′ are long and thus correspond to L, N, L′, N′, R[A 3]. Hence in O.Ir. when they occur alone after short accented vowels they are written double, cp. Pedersen pp. 101 ff. In other positions the length is reduced but a short m does not occur in Donegal. Initially m corresponds to O.Ir. m before a, o, u, e.g. mαhær′, ‘mother’, O.Ir. máthir; mαiç, ‘good’, O.Ir. maith; mαihi:m, ‘I forgive’, M.Ir. mathim; mαrəwə, ‘to kill’, M.Ir. marbad; mα:sə, ‘thigh’, M.Ir. máss; mɔluw, ‘to praise’, O.Ir. molad; mo̤l, ‘mill-shaft’, M.Ir. mol; mwæd′ə, ‘stick’, M.Ir. maite; mwæd′ïn′, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.); mwærig′, ‘woe’, O.Ir. moircc; mwær′əm, ‘I remain’, M.Ir. maraim; mwiL′, ‘delay’, Keat. maill; mwil′əN, ‘mill’, O.Ir. mulenn; mwir′, ‘sea’, O.Ir. muir; mw⅄̃:, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; mw⅄:l, ‘bald’, O.Ir. máel; mwəid′ən, ‘Virgin’, M.Ir. maighden.
After particles which eclipse a following word we get m for b, e.g. er′ mwel′ə, ‘our townland’; mər mα:d, ‘your boat’; ə mɔ:, ‘their cow’; gə mwin̥′it(′) ʃə, ‘that he would reap’.
§ 291. Medially and finally m represents O.Ir. mm (mb) before an original a, o, u, whether preserved or lost, e.g. αm, ‘time’, M.Ir. am, amm; α:məd, ‘timber’, M.Ir. admat; d′r′αm, ‘crowd, set’, M.Ir. dremm; kαm, ‘bent’, O.Ir. camm; ko̤mə, ‘indifferent’, O.Ir. cumme; kro̤m, ‘bent’, M.Ir. cromm; k′ïmαχ, ‘clout, lout’, Di. Macbain ciomach, cp. O.Ir. cimbid; Lo̤m, ‘bare’, O.Ir. lomm; o̤mlαn, ‘whole’, M.Ir. imlán; o̤mpər, ‘to carry’, M.Ir. immchor; to̤m, ‘bush’, M.Ir. tomm; tro̤m, ‘heavy’, M.Ir. tromm.
m also stands after r and l in αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm; kαləmə, ‘bold, brave’, M.Ir. calma; kɔləmαn, ‘dove’.
§ 292. In the ending of the first pers. sing. of the pres. ind. the palatalisation has been given up by analogy with pronominal forms like ɔrəm, ‘upon me’, l′ïm, ‘with me’, which have themselves been followed by w⅄:m, ‘from me’, O.Ir. uaimm. Examples – L′eijəm, ‘I read’, Wi. legim, also = legaim, ‘I melt’; Lo:r′əm, ‘I speak’, M.Ir. labraim; n′i:m, ‘I do’. Cp. the Scotch G. ending -am of the first sing. of the imperative, Gillies, Gaelic Grammar² p. 85.
§ 293. m arises from w in mər, ‘your’, O.Ir. bar, cp. G. J. 1891 p. 79. According to Zimmer (Sitzungsber. d. Berl. Akad. 6 iv 1905 p. 4) the m is due to the fact that the form would frequently be nasalised by the eclipse n. It seems to me more likely that the preposition əN in phrases of the type tα: ʃɛ əN αr heivir′ has given rise to the form with m. Cp. the forms nar for ar, ‘our’, in Antrim (G. J. 1892 p. 123), Meath (Duffy, Mionchaint na Midhe p. 4) and Manx (Rhys p. 142), and núr for bhur in Waterford. Also k′αNəmαn dUχɔsαχ, ‘orchid’ (?), < Di. ceannbhán.
§ 294. Sporadically Donegal m corresponds to mh in the other dialects, e.g. N′αmɔrt, ‘carelessness’, Di. neamháird, Derry People 2 xii ’05 p. 2 col. 5 leader has neamart; so:məs, ‘pleasant ease’, Di. sámhas, M.Ir. sám, so:məsαχ ‘drowsy’; t′iL′əmwi: in tα: m′ɛ əN α hiL′əmwi:, ‘I am in his power, dependent on him’, t′iL′əmwiαχ, ‘dependent’, N′α̃uhiL′əmwiαχ, ‘independent’, seems to be connected with Di. tuilleamh, ‘wages’, M.Ir. tuillem, O’R. tuilleamhnach, ‘a hireling’; u:məlæd′, ‘capacity’, Di. umhlóid (§ 78). Further d′αrəməd, ‘forgetfulness’, O.Ir. dermet = Munster dearmhad, Manx jarrood, with m < m′ with which compare o̤məd, ‘a number’, O.Ir. imbed.
§ 295. A voiceless m with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in a few words, mainly futures, e.g. ko̤m̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall compose, invent’; kro̤m̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall bend’; Lo̤m̥wi ʃə, ‘he will shear, peel’; to̤m̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall dip’. m̥ = mth occurs in the past participles of these verbs and also in f′αm̥in′ə, ‘a single stalk of anything pliable’, formed from Di. feam (‘wrack’ is f′αmnαχ, Di. feamnach).
§ 296. m′ like other palatal labials in Donegal is produced by drawing the lips back very tightly on to the teeth, thus giving a very sharp, clear m. The position of the tongue is immaterial, as in the majority of cases the j which accompanies the palatalised labials in other dialects is wanting (§ 192). m′, f′, v, p′, b′ are very tense sounds and m′, p′, b′ are sometimes heard from mincing speakers of English. In the English of many parts of the North of Ireland these tense labials are regular. At the end of monosyllables with short root-vowel m′ is invariably long.
§ 297. Initially m′ corresponds to O.Ir. m before e, i, e.g. m′α`, ‘to fail’, M.Ir. meth; m′α`, ‘scale’, M.Ir. med; m′αkæn′, ‘carrots’, O.Ir. mecon; m′αLuw, ‘to decoy’, M.Ir. mellad; m′α:n, ‘middle’, O.Ir. medón; m′e:, ‘fat’, O.Ir. méith (gen. sing.); m′ɛəg, ‘whey’, M.Ir. medg; m′iəl, ‘louse’, M.Ir. míl; m′ir′ig′, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg, meirc; m′i:, ‘mouth’, O.Ir. mí; m′ïl′iʃ, ‘sweet’, M.Ir. milis.
Medially and finally before original e, i, whether preserved or lost, m′ represents O.Ir. mm, mb (also before another palatal consonant), e.g. αm′ʃir′, ‘weather’, O.Ir. amser; brïm′, ‘crepitus ventris’, Meyer broimm; drïm′, ‘back’, O.Ir. druimm; d′r′eim′ir′ə, ‘ladder’, Di. dréimire, < M.Ir. dréimm; fuəm′, ‘sound’, M.Ir. fuaimm; gruəm′, ‘dark look’, Di. gruaim; g′r′im′, ‘morsel, mouthful’, O.Ir. greim; ïm′αχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. imthecht; ïm′, ‘butter’, O.Ir. imb.
m′ also represents O.Ir. m after n′ in en′əm′, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm.
§ 298. The oldest people seem to develope m′ out of ṽ. I have never observed this in the speech of any of the younger generation but it cannot be ascribed to faulty articulation, as it seems pretty wide-spread, cp. Dinneen s. uimhir, and Larminie in his “West Irish Folktales” (p. 250) writes qiminæx for cuimhneach in a story taken down in Glencolumbkille. Molloy in his 33rd dialect-list quotes suimneach for suaimhneach for Sligo and Galway. With the older people v is exclusively bilabial and the breath escapes at the corners of the mouth, the middle part of the lips being closed. The expiration is very feeble and when the v is nasalised, the weak stream of breath passes through the nose. Hence we get m′ for v. It is not clear to me why those younger people who retain the bilabial v should not substitute m′ for this sound but it should be borne in mind that they are giving up nasalisation. This m′ is common in rïm′ə = rï̃və, ‘before’; kïm′n′ə, kïm′n′αχ = kï̃vn′ə, kï̃vn′αχ; ïm′ir′, ï̃vir′, ‘number’, is a rare word only known to a few. Perhaps the doublets d′i:m′αs, d′i:vαs, ‘disrespect’, O.Ir. dímess are to be accounted for in this way, but the same uncertainty exists in d′i:wu:nuw, d′i:munuw, ‘bad manners’.
αm′l′uw, ‘bad usage, abuse’ in Nα to:r′ αm′l′uw də N′αLαχ l′eʃ ə wαduw, ‘do not let the dog hound the cattle’, adj. αm′l′i: is obscure. Dimieen has amhluadh, amhlat.
§ 299. A voiceless m′ occurs in the futures L′eim̥′i ʃə, ‘he will jump’; sNỹ:m̥′ə m′ə, ‘I shall fasten’, also past part. sNỹ:m̥′ə.
§ 300. mə, ‘my’, becomes m′ before an O.Ir. palatal initial or before f′, e.g. er′ m′iN′t′iN′, ‘on my mind’; m′αr, ‘my husband’; and oven m′ïp′, ‘my whip’ (fwïp′).
§ 301. The sound denoted by this symbol is formed much further back against the soft palate than is the case with English or German ŋ. Initially it only occurs as the eclipsed form of g, e.g. ə ŋrα:, ‘in love’; mər ŋo:r, ‘your goat’; er′ ŋö̤:r, ‘our hound’; ə ŋlakit(′) ʃə, ‘if he should take’.
§ 302. ŋ usually corresponds to O.Ir. medial and final ng, as in αŋ, ‘splice in a shirt’, cp. tα: αŋ wα͠ıç tαlïv əgəd, Di. eang (with different meaning); αŋαχ, ‘fisherman’s net’, Di. eangach; b′αŋlαn, ‘prong’, Meyer bengán, benglán; dro̤ŋ, ‘crowd’, M.Ir. drong; ïŋə, ‘nail’, O.Ir. inga; k′αŋləm, ‘I tie’, M.Ir. cenglaim; Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’, M.Ir. long; m′αŋuw gα:r′ə, ‘smile’, cp. Di. meanghail < M.Ir. meng; srαŋ, ‘band, string’, M.Ir. sreng; srɑŋədi:, ‘reaching over’, cp. Di. sreangaim; ʃαŋ, v. § 183, M.Ir. seng; ʃαŋαn, ‘ant’, M.Ir. sengán; t′αŋy, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge.
In one word borrowed from Teutonic and in a number of obscure forms we find the combination ŋg as in English ‘finger’, viz. Lαŋgə, ‘ling (a fish)’, Norse langa (Macbain); αŋguw, ‘a festering sore’, adj. αŋguwαχ, cp. Meyer angbaid-echt; kɔrəb′ïŋgə, ‘haunch’, Di. coragiob, b′ïŋguw, ‘stagger’, cp. wuiL′ ʃə dɔ:rN mo:r ɔrəm αχ N′i:r′ wiN′ ʃə b′ïŋguw əsəm, ‘he gave me a heavy blow with his fist but I did not flinch’, ho̤bwir′ gə d′it′iN′ əNuəs əs ə χαiçir′ αχ bwin′uw b′ïŋguw əsəm, ‘I almost fell down off the chair but I staggered on to my feet (and saved myself)’. These two forms look as if they represented M.Ir. bidcim but I am at a loss to account for the ŋ. b′iŋguw may have come in from outside. For ŋg cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to Irish Pron. p. 22. Latin ungere also appears with ŋg, infin. o̤ŋguw, pres. o̤ŋgy:m, Atk. ongad. ŋk occurs in mαŋkαn, ‘a fair for selling stockings’, pαŋk, ‘a cow-market’, Di. panc, both ultimately from Engl. ‘bank’, v. Di. pancán, bancán; splαŋk, ‘lightning’, Di. splannc; spo̤ŋk, ‘tinder’, Cormac spongc < Lat. spongia. Before k ŋ is very long.
§ 303. In parts of Ulster and in Scotch Gaelic (cp. ZCP. iv 522) ng is apt to disappear leaving behind as only trace nasalisation of the vowel in stressed syllables. Lloyd writes (G. J. 1890 p. 146 col. 2): “In Orrery when medial or final, it is equivalent to gh, i.e., it is silent and lengthens preceding vowel which is often nasal, e.g. luing = luigh, ceangal = céaghal, teanga = téagha, aingeal = aigheal &c.” In Donegal ŋ (ɲ) disappears in a number of instances but only when there is another nasal in the word. Examples – dα͠ıən, ‘firm, tight’, O.Ir. daingen; i:Ntαχ, y:Ntαχ, ö̤:Ntαχ, ⅄:Ntαχ, ‘wonderful, strange’, M.Ir. ingantach, i:Ntəs, ‘wonder’, cp. Manx yindys; p′i:N′, ‘penny’, M.Ir. pinginn; wĩ:, ‘mane’, M.Ir. moing (acc.), cp. G. J. 1896 p. 185 col. 1 an mhuigh, and muighe in Molloy’s fourth dialect-list. In some cases ŋ, ɲ have become g, g′, N′i:s kũ:g′ə, compar. of ku:N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung (but also O.Ir. cumce in the compar.); kũ:glαχ, ‘strait of the sea’, Dinneen gives cumhanglach as the Donegal form of cumhangrach, Macleod cunglach; kũ:gəs, ‘remedy’, Di. coguisidhe, Macleod cungaidh-leighis under ‘medicine’, ‘remedy’, Macbain has cungaidh, cungaisich, Ir. cunghas, cungnaighim, cungnam. In tαrgir′ə, ‘prophet’, tαrgir′αχt, ‘prophecy’, O.Ir. tairngire, there is no trace of the nasal. Note also the absence of the svarabhakti vowel between r and g. ŋ has further disappeared before l in α̃:liʃ, ‘a mixture of milk and water’, Meyer anglas = englas, Di. eanglais, anglais. kyn′igəL, ‘condition’, Meyer coingell is a late formation and has developed i between n′ and g′.§ 304. A voiceless ŋ with strongly breathed off-glide arises from ng followed by th, e.g. in g′ɛ:r̥αŋ̥αχ, ‘sharp-tongued’, < géartheangthach; srαŋ̥αχə, plur. of srαŋ, ‘band, string’, M.Ir. sreng; t′αŋ̥αχə, ‘tongues’, Di. teangthacha.
§ 305. This symbol denotes a palatal ng formed with the back of the tongue against the place where the hard and soft palates meet and is therefore similar to the French gn in ‘signe’. Initially ɲ can only occur as the eclipsed form of g′, as in ə ɲα:r̥ə m′ə, ‘shall I cut’; ə ɲe:, ‘their goose’; tα: m′ɛ i ɲeivəN, ‘I am in distress’; k′l′iuw Nə ɲl′ïmαχ, ‘lobster-pot’; ⅄:nαχ Nə ɲl′αNtαχ, ‘Glenties fair’. Before k′ ɲ is very long.
§ 306. ɲ corresponds to O.Ir. ng before an original palatal vowel which may be preserved or lost, e.g. αχyɲə, ‘request’, M.Ir. athchuingid; æɲk′αl, ‘irritability’, Meyer an-cél, also adj. æɲk′αLtə, subst. æɲk′αLtəs, cp. N′i:l′ əN də ℊrẽ:hə αχ æɲk′αl, ‘you can do nothing but complain’; æɲəl, ‘angel’, O.Ir. angel; æɲg′iαχ, ‘given to complaining’, cp. Meyer andgid, andgidecht; kyɲ, ‘bond, obligation’, M.Ir. cuing; kyɲir′, ‘team of oxen’, Di. cuingir (according to J. H. the actual yoke in Donegal is termed hαmwi: < Scotch ‘hames’); kyɲk′, ‘verdigris’, adj. kyɲk′αχ; k′iɲk′i:ʃ, ‘Whitsuntide’, M.Ir. cengciges; Lyɲ, dat. sing. of Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’, Lyɲiʃ, ‘ships, fleet’, Di. luingeas; ə ræɲk′, ‘France’, Di. Frainnc; sp′iɲk′, ‘precipice’, Di. spinnc < splinnc; ʃk′i ·æɲk′iʃ, ‘quinsy’, Di. sceith-aingcís.
§ 307. In Munster a very natural confusion of N′ and ɲ has taken place but in Donegal the two sounds are kept rigidly apart. The only example known to me of ɲ for N′ is g′iɲ, ‘wedge’, M.Ir. geind, where ɲ is probably due to assimilation. The plural is g′αNtrαχə.
§ 308. ɲ̥ does not occur as far as I am aware.
§ 309. f denotes a bilabial f with the lips in the position described for m in § 289. The normal mode of production seems to be as follows – the lips meet in the middle and the breath escapes either on both sides of this point of contact, the corners being closed, or at the corners of the mouth. For a long time I doubted the correctness of Henebry’s statement that labio-dental sounds are non-existent in Irish (p. 49). But after repeated observations I have not been able to discover labio-dental f or v in people over forty years of age either in Irish or English but persons under that age are rapidly substituting the labio-dental for the bilabial sound. Finck regards the Aran f, v as labio-dental (i pp. 64, 77) and it would be interesting to know if any distribution of the sounds similar to that described above exists in the west. Dottin (RC. xiv 104) gives f′ as labio-dental but is not explicit on the subject of f, v. For Munster cp. further Chr. Bros. Grammar p. 9 (probably based on Henebry). Henderson (ZCP. v 97) and Rhys (p. 87) both regard labiodental f, v as the normal sounds in Scotch and Manx Gaelic but I think that if the following facts are taken into consideration it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that bilabial f, v were everywhere the original sounds. i. Irish initial f arose from Idg. u̯. ii. At the present day intervocalic f represents bhth, mhth, i.e. an unvoiced w. It is frequently impossible to distinguish between w̥ and bilabial f, as they are so closely related to one another in formation, iii. χ + w frequently passes into fw (§ 313). iv. English words beginning with wh appear in Irish and Anglo-Irish with fw, cp. the spellings fwenever, fweel.
§ 310. Initial f represents O.Ir. f before a, o, u or before l, r followed by the same vowels, e.g. fαdə, ‘long’ M.Ir. fota; fαruw, ‘roost’, M.Ir. forud; fαrsiN′, ‘plentiful’, O.Ir. fairsing; fαlαχ, ‘hiding’, M.Ir. folach; fα:, ‘cause’, M.Ir. fáth, fád; fα:gæl′, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil; flαihiʃ (pl.), ‘heaven’, Di. flaitheas, O.Ir. flaith; fokəl, ‘word’, O.Ir. focul; fõ:wər, ‘autumn’, M.Ir. fogamur; fr⅄:χ, ‘heather’, O.Ir. froech; fwær′ə ‘wake of the dead’, M.Ir. faire; fwəid′ə, ‘patience’, O.Ir. foditiu; fwïL′N′i:m, ‘I suffer’, O.Ir. foloing (3rd sing.); fwïl′, ‘blood’, O.Ir. fuil; fwir′αχt, ‘to tarry’, M.Ir. furecht; fwi:L′i:, ‘leavings’, Wi. fuidell; fwi:ʃuw, ‘improvement’, M.Ir. foessam; fwi:wər, ‘edge’, M.Ir. fáebur; fw⅄:grə, ‘to proclaim’, O.Ir. fócre; fw⅄:χɔg, ‘limpet’, M.Ir. faochóg.
f also occurs as the aspirated form of initial p, e.g. sə fαræʃt′ə, ‘in the parish’; flu:χ ʃə, ‘he choked’; t′αχ ə fo̤bwil′, ‘Roman Catholic chapel’; ℊα: fα:ʃt′ə, ‘two children’.
§ 311. Medial f usually arises from O.Ir. b, m followed by th or ch. The off-glide is a kind of w̥ and is clearly audible. Examples – gαfəN, ‘aloes’; kα:fri:, ‘sowins’, Di. cáith-bhruith; Lα:frəN, ‘one of the handles of a flail’, Di. lámh-chrann; mαrəfαχ, ‘slaughter’, cp. Atk. marbthach; Nỹufə, ‘sanctified’, Di. naomhtha, Nỹufər, pres. pass. M.Ir. noemthar. The ending -fə of the prepositional pronouns in the third person plural is probably due to a confusion of the O.Ir. dative and accusative forms. The accus. ending -thu of O.Ir. lethu, trethu, airrthiu was added to the dative -b, thus producing -fə which is now attached to all simple prepositions ending in a vowel, e.g. l′ɔ:fə, ‘with them’, di:fə, ‘from them’, dɔ:fə, ‘to them’, w⅄:fə, ‘from them’, f′r′i:fə, ‘through them’, fwi:fə, ‘under them’. Further in verbs with root ending in bh, mh we get f in the future tenses <bh, mh + f (= h), as in ʃk′r′i:fə m′ə, ‘I shall write’. The only instances in which the f of the future has been preserved are rαfə m′ə, t′i:f′ə m′ə, v. § 180. But f′ is more frequent than h in the ending of the conditional passive.
§ 312. In two instances of loan-words from English f has been inserted for no evident reason, viz. in g′αftə, ‘gate’; rαftαn, ‘rat’, <Engl. ‘ratten’. k⅄:frαn, ‘a dry clod’, seems to correspond in meaning to Di. caorán but I am unable to explain the form.
§ 313. χw sometimes produces f a change which O’Donovan only admits for N. Connaught (cp. RC. xiv 115) but which is very common in parts of Ulster, v. Dinneen s. cuafadh, faofóg, triufanna. I have frequently heard gα ·fwel′ə ℊin′ə (also gαχ fwel′ə ℊin′ə), = gach uile dhuine. In fwïp′ < Engl. ‘whip’ we have substitution of fw (fw̥) with bilabial w (w̥) for Engl. w̥.
§ 314. The O.Ir. preposition fo appears to have split up into fwi:, ‘under’ (< 3rd sing. fói), and fα(:), ‘around, about’. It is easy to see from the passages quoted in Windisch how the meaning of ‘around, about’ could arise but I am inclined to think that fα also represents O.Ir. imm. Cp. M.Ir. ba for ma = imma Diss. p. 27 and Scotch G. mu, Manx my- in mygeayrt, my-chione. In Donegal this preposition usually aspirates but we find it eclipsing in fα ·di:widə, ‘concerning’, < fa dtaobh de; fα du:r′im′ in bwiL′ə fα d., ‘a guess’, but fα hu r′im′ k′ɛəd, ‘about a huudred’.
§ 315. When aspirated by a preceding word f disappears together with the w off-glide which accompanies it. Examples – dyəi ʃi:, ‘she sewed’; er′ ə Nαruw, ‘on the roost’; əNsə Nõ:wər, ‘in the autumn’; m′ïp′, ‘my whip’; də Nïl′, ‘to the blood’; α l′ehəd(′) ʃɔ ə ℊïl′, ‘such blood’. In compounds fh has no effect on a preceding mh or bh, e.g. krα̃:viαχ, ‘a sea-bird’, Di. cnáimh-fhiach; krα̃:vɔ:d, ‘a narrow strip of grass-covered turf between two cultivated patches’, < cnáimh-fhód. Consequently f is frequently wrongly prefixed to words with vocalic initial but in this the dialects differ from one another. This prosthetic f appears already in M.Ir. Examples – fαdɔ:, ‘make into a blaze’, Meyer ad-súim; fαnαχt, ‘to remain’, O.Ir. anaim; fα:N′ə, ‘ring’, O.Ir. ánne; fαstɔjəm, ‘I hire’, O.Ir. astaim; fαihαχ, ‘giant’, O.Ir. athach; fα:s, ‘grow’, O.Ir. ás; fwi:jəm, ‘I sew’, M.Ir. úagim; fuər, fwyər; ‘cold’, O.Ir. úar; fwiəχt, ‘cold’, O.Ir. uacht; fwyə, ‘hatred’, M.Ir. úath; fwiN′ɔg, ‘window’, <Engl.; f′ïg, ‘length’, O.Ir. ed. Peculiar to Donegal are fαurə, ‘eclipse’, Di. urdhubhadh, Finck orə (ii p. 207); fɔir′əm, ‘I suit’, elsewhere oirim; fo̤ruw tiə, ‘furniture’, Di. iorradh, earradh, O’R. urradh, M.Ir. errad, eirred (cp. LL 268 b 11 ic errad tigi).
On the other hand iʃαg, ‘lark’, never has f in Donegal (Macbain uiseag, Di. fuiseog), and α:N′L′ɔg, ‘swallow’, has lost its f, O.Ir. fannall.
§ 316. w̥ gives f in bαnəfαn, ‘sucking-pig’, < *banbhthán, Di. banbhán; m′i:fər, ‘ugly’, Craig miofuar, also spelt míofar G. J. Jan. ’02 p. 8, Cl. S. 27 xii ’02 p. 702 col. 2, < mío-úathmhar. Sporadically with certain speakers at the end of monosyllables, e.g. dUf for dUw̥, cp. G. J. 1895 p. 11, ZCP. v 98.
§ 317. This symbol denotes a bilabial f with the lips drawn back tightly on to the teeth for which the younger people substitute labio-dental f′. The breath escapes in the same way as in the case of f.
§ 318. f′ represents O.Ir. initial f before e, i or before r, l followed by these vowels. Examples – f′αL, ‘treachery’, M.Ir. fell; f′αmnαχ, ‘wrack’, M.Ir. femnach; f′αNəm, ‘skin, flay’, O.Ir. fennaim; f′αr, ‘man’, O.Ir. fer; f′αrsəd, ‘spindle’, Wi. fersad; f′αrəg, O.Ir. ferc; f′αr̥iN′, ‘rain’, M.Ir. ferthain; f′α:r, ‘better’, O.Ir. ferr; f′ɛəsɔg, ‘beard’, M.Ir. fésóc; f′ɛ:r, ‘grass’, M.Ir. fér; f′eil′ə, ‘saint’s-day’, O.Ir. féle (gen.); f′iαχ, ‘crow’, O.Ir. fiach; f′iə, ‘weave’, M.Ir. fige; f′iəkil′, ‘tooth’, O.Ir. fiacail; f′ihə, ‘twenty’, O.Ir. fiche; f′ïl′ə, ‘poet’, O.Ir. fili; f′ïN, ‘fair’, O.Ir. find; f′ir′əN, ‘male’, M.Ir. firend; f′i:r′iN′ə, ‘truth’, O.Ir. fírinne; f′l′ïg, ‘chickweed’, Di. flich, Hogan fliodh, fligh; f′l′ïχ, ‘wet’, O.Ir. fliuch; f′r′i:, ‘flesh-worm’, M.Ir. frigde; f′r′ïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; f′r′iʃN′æʃαχ, ‘peevish, irritable’; f′r′ihir′, ‘sore’, Di. frithir.
f′ is further the aspirated form of initial p′, e.g. mə f′αN, ‘my pen’; də f′αtə, ‘your pet′; α f′i:pə, ‘his pipe’; ℊα: f′i:N′, ‘two pence’; dən f′iʃi:n′, ‘to the kitten’; f′iL′ ʃə, ‘he returned (p′iL′uw).
§ 319. Medially combinations of th or sh with bh, mh produce f′. (a) bh + th, mh + th, e.g. jɛf′ər, pres. pass. of jɛvəm, ‘I get’, cp. Ner′ ə χæL′t′ər ə ℊ⅄: jɛf′ər ə jαs i:, ‘when the wind is lost, it is found in the south’; gα:f′αχ, ‘spongy (of land)’, Di. gaibhtheach; ki:f′αχ, ‘bed-fellow’, Meyer comthach; krα:f′αχ, ‘devout’, Meyer cráibdech. (b) th + bh, th + mh, e.g. d′ef′r′ə, ‘haste’, cp. O’Clery deithbireach; kα:f′αχ, ‘spendthrift’, Di. caithmheach; klα̃if′αχə (klə̃if′αχə), ‘swords’, cp. M.Ir. claidbiu (acc. plur.); ʃif′i:n′, ‘bulrush’, Wi. síthbe, síthfe; tuəf′əL, ‘a whirl, the wrong way’, M.Ir. tuaithbel; uəf′iαLtə, ‘wild-looking’, Di. uaithbhéalta (due to a confusion of Wi. óibéla with úath, ‘terror’), (c) bh + sh in d′er′əfər, ‘sister’, O.Ir. derb + siur. (d) In t′if′ə, comparative of t′Uw̥, ‘thick, frequent’.
§ 320. f′ is inserted before t′ in skαf′t′ə, ‘group, lot, flock’, spelt sgaifte Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5, Di. scata, cp. § 312. f′r′ has taken the place of r̥′ in f′r′i:d′, ‘through’, O.Ir. triit, on Aran with hr or xr (KZ. xxxv 337).
§ 321. On aspiration f′ disappears, e.g. m′αr, ‘my husband’; d′eʃt′i m′ə, ‘I furnished’, Di. feistighim; tα: ʃïn′ ə jeim′ ɔrəm, ‘I need that’, Di. feidhm; ℊα: iəkil′, ‘two teeth’; ĩ:çə l′ïχ, ‘a wet night’. Consequently as f and f′ when aspirated give the same result, confusion is liable to arise as in the case of f′jɔ:ləm′, ‘to learn’, < fɔ:ləm′, O.Ir. foglaim. We have further f′αstə, ‘yet’, < M.Ir. fodesta but fɔstə, fɔstαt, fɔstαχt = O.Ir. beus.
§ 322. In monosyllables ending in v there is a tendency with some speakers to unvoice the final and make it into f′ (J. H. always has v), e.g. in Lïf′, ‘weed’, = Lïv, O.Ir. luib; ə N′ïf′, ‘the egg’ (§ 326); N′ïf′, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; L′ef′r′i:nαχ, also L′evr′i:nαχ, ‘half-witted’, subst. L′evr′i:n′, cp. Di. leimhe.
§ 323. The Donegal v is a voiced bilabial sound corresponding in formation to f′. The corners of the mouth seem to be left open and the portions of the lips on either side of the point of contact in the middle (§ 309) approach very nearly to one another and vibrate. Hence when this sound is strongly nasalised and a large part of the breath passes through the nose, it has a distinct tendency to develope into m′ (§ 298). The younger people however are substituting a labio-dental for the bilabial v.
§ 324. v usually represents O.Ir. medial or final b or m which originally stood before e, i, e.g. α:veʃ, ‘ocean’, M.Ir. aibís; i:v, ‘appearance, countenance’, O.Ir. óiph; i:viN′, ‘pleasant’, M.Ir. óibind; Lïv, ‘weed’, O.Ir. luib; seivir′, ‘rich’, M.Ir. saidbir; ʃel′əv, ‘possession’, M.Ir. seilb (dat.); tαvʃə, ‘ghost’, O.Ir. taidbse. α̃vr′əi, ə Nα̃vr′əi, ‘tangled’, Meyer amréid, α̃vr′əit′αχ, ‘contrary, cross-tempered’; dα̃:v, ‘affection, fondness’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. dám; d′ẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess; kï̃viαχ, ‘strange, foreign’, M.Ir. comaithchech; kïvl′iN′, ‘emulate, emulation’, M.Ir. comleng; kï̃vn′αχ, ‘mindful’, O.Ir. cumnech; kïvr′əN, ‘field for planting’; krα̃:v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim; Nαvd′ə, ‘enemies’, O.Ir. naimtea (acc.); N′ï̃v, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; rï̃və, ‘before’, M.Ir. remi.
αvαrαχ, ‘airy, light’, is obscure. It is pronounced the same as Di. aithbhearach, ‘blaming, censorious’.
§ 325. The aspiration of initial b′, m′ is v. In the case of m′ the vowel is usually not nasalised, unless it is followed by an n or m sound or by h, ç, (§ 172). Examples – mə vαn, ‘my wife’; α vαrαd, ‘his cap’; ɛg′ ə vα:rNỹ:, ‘at the gap’; vαNə m′ə, ‘I greeted’; b′iN′ vïg, ‘a small gable’.
v is also the eclipsed form of f′, e.g. Nỹ: vi:dɔr′i:, ‘9 weavers’; ə vɛk′iN′, ‘if I were to see.’ Medially in en′əvïs, ‘ignorance’, M.Ir. anfiss.
§ 326. In the inflected forms of several words containing o:, u we find v arising after the analogy of go:, ‘smith’, plur. gïvn′ə; o:N′, ‘river’, plur. ɛvN′αχə); dUw̥, ‘black’, gen. sing. dïv. Such are bïvr′ə, compar. of bo:r, ‘deaf’, M.Ir. bodar; krïv, gen. sing. of krUw̥, ‘dowry’; iN′e:i ə Lα: əN′ï̃v, ‘after to-day’, which contains a genitive formed from əN′Uw̥; ïv, ‘egg’, is a new nominative to a stem *uw- < M.Ir. nom. plur. ugai. The word is always fem. in Donegal and the palatalisation of the gen. and dat. sing. has been introduced into the nom. as is commonly the case with feminines, cp. mwĩ:v, ‘to begrudge’, O.Ir. móidem, gen. sing. móidme. ər′ĩ:v, a by-form of er′iuw, ‘ever’, may have been influenced by ərï̃və, ‘before’, as the two are frequently used together in the phrase ər′iuw ərï̃və.
In ʃevt′uw, ‘to shift for oneself’, Di. seibhtiughadh, the v is peculiar, as the word comes from the English.
§ 327. Post-consonantic mh, bh disappear in α:r′i:m, ‘I reckon’, O.Ir. áirmiu, but α:r′i:m strictly speaking is a new formation from α:r′uw, which is used of counting sprats, kale &c. in threes; æd′i:m, ‘I confess’, infin. æd′væl′, M.Ir. 1st sing. atmu, perhaps by analogy with k′r′ed′əm, ‘I believe’, infin. k′r′ed′væl′ (Spir. Rose p. 6 has aidvimuid); b′ihu:nαχ, ‘rascal’, M.Ir. bithbinech; d′er′əm, ‘I say’, M.Ir. atberim; t′iʃiN′t′, ‘to shew’, M.Ir. taisbenad.
§ 328. This symbol denotes the voiceless guttural spirant formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate which occurs in German but there is much less friction in the production of the Donegal sound than is the case in German, Scotch or Welsh. For this reason it sometimes interchanges with h (§ 178) and finally it is often so faint especially in the termination -αχ that at first I did not seem to hear it at all. The feeble articulation of this spirant is perhaps characteristic of Ulster Irish generally as Lloyd states that in Monaghan “when final it is silent with compensatory lengthening; before t it is always silent” (G. J. 1896 p. 146 col. 2). Cp. the spelling morghat for mordhacht Spir. Rose pp. 31, 47. Before palatal vowels χ as also ℊ, k, g, being velar sounds cause the tongue to be retracted which tends to change a following i(:) into y(:), see § 125.
§ 329. Initially χ can only occur as the aspirated form of k, e.g. mə χyd′ ‘my share’; χæL′ m′ə, ‘I lost’. kɔ, ‘as’, which in the other dialects always appears with χ remains unaspirated in Donegal. On the other hand (ə) χy:çə, ‘ever’, M.Ir. caidche, coidche is always aspirated. Other cases such as hen′ik′ m′ə, ‘I saw’; hα, ‘not’, < nocha; χUə m′ə, ‘I went’, are merely apparent as the pretonic syllable has been lost.
§ 330. Medially and finally χ is very frequent and represents an O.Ir. ch before an originally non-palatal vowel or non-palatal consonant, e.g. αχmwirt′, ‘heat in horses’, Di. eachmairc; aχmwir′, ‘ready, quick, smart’, achmair Cl. S. 18 vii ’03 p. 3 col. 2, cp. O’R. achmuire, ‘readiness’, formed from O.Ir. ech (?); bαχəL, ‘tress’, O.Ir. bachall; bαχtə, ‘bank of peat’, bachta Craig, Irish Composition p. 166; bɔχt, ‘poor’, O.Ir. bocht; bα:χrαn, ‘bog-bean’, Hogan bacharán, cp. Meyer bachar, ‘acorn’; b′αχɔg, ‘bee’, diminutive of M.Ir. bech, which occurs in bαχ ·χαpwiL′, ‘a wasp’; b′αlαχ, ‘road’, M.Ir. belach; rαχə m′ə, ‘I shall go’, O.Ir. do-reg; ʃiər fα ʃαχ, ‘and so forth’, O.Ir. sech; ʃαχnuw, ‘to avoid’, Di. seachnadh; ər ʃαχrαn, ‘astray’, M.Ir. sechrán; ʃαχt, ‘seven’, O.Ir. secht.
In futures h < f after χ coalesces with the spirant, e.g. k⅄:χə m′ə, ‘I shall wink’; plu:χə m′ə, ‘I shall extinguish’.
§ 331. χ arises from thgh, thch in LUχær′, ‘joy’, M.Ir. luthgáir; αχyɲə, ‘request’, M.Ir. athchuinge; du:χəs, ‘birthright’, M.Ir. duthchus.
§ 332. Donegal has developed a new comparative termination -αχə instead of ə which is used with adjectives of more than one syllable ending in a vowel, e.g. dæl′iαχə < dæl′i:, ‘difficult’; dαləbwiαχə < dαləbə, ‘impudent’. The endings -ə and -αχə occur side by side in other connections, e.g. in the future of verbs and the plural of fem. nouns and -αχə is evidently used as a comparative ending for the sake of distinction. We find something similar in b′r′ɛαχə the plural form of b′r′ɛə, ‘fine’, Meyer bregda.
§ 333. We have already seen (§ 178) that χ easily passes into h, and the converse is true for Donegal in isolated cases. χ for h seems to be frequent in Scotch dialects, cp. ZCP. iv 509. See further Henebry p. 19 (ca shoin). Examples – mo̤χuw, ‘springing of cows’, pret. wo̤χ, cp. Di. moth, ‘the male of any animal’, Cormac moth .i. ball ferda, Stokes-Bezz. *muto- (p. 219), mo̤χəsαn, ‘a springing heifer’, O’R. motach, ‘fruitful’, M.Ir. mothach LL 13b 7 rendered by Hyde ‘fertile’. The χ in LαχərNə ·wα:rαχ, ‘to-morrow’ (spelt lá thar na bhárach Cl. S. 22 viii ’03 p. 3 col. 2) can hardly be due to O.Ir. láthe. It is more likely that the preposition hær′, O.Ir. tar, has been substituted for iar which is obsolete except in er′ gu:l, ‘back, behind’; ər du:s, ‘in front’; er′ fα:l′, ‘found’ &c.
gə brα:χ, ‘for ever’, can hardly represent co bráth, as th after long vowels disappears. bráth may have become bráthach under the influence of əmα:rαχ, ‘to-morrow’. The spelling co brach occurs RC. xxiv 371, 373, cp. Manx dy bragh (Rhys’s explanation of the latter l.c. p. 129 will not hold good for Donegal).
§ 334. It should be noted that χ and not ç stands before t′. Henebry pp. 55, 35 says that “the group -cht is unaffected and always broad. The palatalised boicht of O.Ir. and found also in Keatynge was merely a symmetrical writing”. This is incorrect. The t may not be palatal in Waterford but O’Leary quotes a form with t′ for Cork and Finck (i 187) gives bøçcə as the gen. sing. fem. of bocht, ‘poor’. I have noted the following forms with -χt′ in Donegal, bɔχt′, gen. sing. of bɔχt, ‘poor’; b′αχt′i:, compar. of b′αχt, ‘sensible, shrewd’, M.Ir. becht; b′jɔ:χt′ə, compar. of b′jɔ:, ‘alive’; b′r′ɛαxt′ə, compar. of b′r′ɛə, ‘fine’; eif′αχt′, gen. sing. of eif′αχt, ‘prodigy’; k′ɛαχt′ə, gen. sing. of k′ɛαχt, ‘plough’; smαχt′i:n′, ‘mallet’, also ‘a rude fellow’.
§ 335. That χ has a tendency to pass into f in certain parts of the north and north-west has been mentioned in § 313. We may possibly have the converse in the form Uχərt′, ‘wallowing’, spelt uchairt Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5 for Di. ionfairt.
§ 336. ℊ represents a voiced velar spirant formed by the back of the tongue against the soft palate. For the off-glide see § 328. As in the case of χ there is an absence of the rasping which accompanies this sound when it is strongly articulated. Hence it is natural that except in the initial position ℊ should tend to disappear. Henebry and Finck do not quote a single instance of ℊ except initially but Donegal offers several examples of the sound in medial position. The position of the tongue for a feebly articulated ℊ is very nearly that of my ö̤: and this vowel-sound always has a suspicion of a spirant nature as might be expected, seeing that it arises from adh-, agh-. Cp. Lloyd’s statement as to the frequent retention of dh, gh in Orrery in seadh, feadh and other words G. J. 1896 p. 147. Scotch Gaelic often keeps final ℊ in the verb ending -adh but in Donegal the latter may have given ə⅄ or əö̤, which with rounding became əu, u:, uw.
§ 337. Initially ℊ only occurs as the aspirated form of d, g, e.g. ℊrit′ ʃə, ‘he shut’; k′i(:)b′ ℊUw̥, ‘sedge’; l′eʃ ə ℊɔlər, ‘with the disease’; mə ℊlu:n, ‘my knee’; in composition αdərℊiə, ‘intercession’. ℊα:, ‘two’, and ℊɔl, ‘going’, are usually aspirated but dα: appears for ℊα: after the article and əgəs, əs, ‘and’. When preceded by əg gɔl loses its ℊ. In the pronominal forms of the preposition do the forms with aspirated d (ℊ) are confined to the 2nd sing. ℊyd′, ‘to you.’
§ 338. Medially ℊ occurs in the following words: f′iəℊir′ə, ‘huntsman’, < M.Ir. fíad; f′ïℊəriαχt (also f′ə⅄riαχt), ‘countenance, face’, cp. Di. fíoghruighim; ïℊəri:m, ‘I adore,’ Di. adhraim, Meyer adoraim (also ə⅄ri:m); t′ïℊəlαχ, ‘family’, O.Ir. teglach; ⅄:ℊir′ə, ‘herdsman’, O.Ir. augaire; d′i:ℊɔ(:)i, ‘the wrong way’, dí + dóigh.
In all other cases ℊ has either disappeared without leaving a trace or has served to lengthen or modify the preceding vowel. Between consonants ℊ disappears in d′α:rNəd, ‘flea’, M.Ir. dergnat.
§ 339. A hiatus-filling ℊ is inserted between ə < do, de, when they precede an infinitive or substantive which begins or once began with a non-palatal vowel, cp. § 191. Examples – Lα:n gre:p′ də ℊy:l′αχ, ‘a forkful of dung’; α l′ehəd(′) ʃɔ də ℊα:t′, ‘such a place as this’; N′i: hen′i ʃə ə ℊα̃uwərk ɔrəm, ‘he did not come to see me’; ə ℊæN′æn′, ‘in spite of’; ʃαl ə ℊαm, ‘a space of time’; ℊlαk ʃə N′i:s Luw ℊαm, ‘it took less time’; səihαχ ə ℊuəχtər, ‘a vessel of cream’; Lα:n α ℊïrN′ də ℊɔ:r, ‘a fistful of gold’; g′ïtə ℊo̤Nsə, ‘a bit of a fence’, = giota de fhonnsa; hu:si: m′ɛədən ə ℊαt, ‘my face started to swell’.
§ 340. This symbol represents a voiceless spirant formed by the middle of the tongue against the hard palate near to the edge of the soft palate, cp. Jespersen p. 49. There is much less friction than in the case of German ç in ‘ich’, on which account it interchanges with h. It is sometimes very difficult to decide whether one hears ç or h after a close i or e.
§ 341. Initially ç usually represents an aspirated k′, e.g. gɔl çɔ:l′, ‘singing’; ə çαrk, ‘the hen’; çαNy m′ə, ‘I bought’; çr′αχ m′ə, ‘I ruined’; sə çl′iuw, ‘in the basket’. çiəNə, ‘same’, and çïd, ‘first’, never appear in the unaspirated form.
§ 342. In a few cases ç appears as the aspirated form of initial ʃ cp. Molloy p. 7, Henebry p. 76, Finck i 83. Examples – er′ çu:l, ‘away’, also ər su:l, çu:l′ m′ə, ‘I walked’, Di. siubhal; çα:n′, gen. sing. of ʃα:n, ‘John’; çɔ:l m′ə, ‘I sailed’; α çɔ:rsə, vocative of ʃɔ:rsə, ‘George’. But note mə ho:k, ‘my hawk’; mə hαmrə, ‘my chamber’. This would seem to bear out the explanation given by Pedersen pp. 17–18.
According to Rhys pp. 74, 104 f. initial t′ when aspirated gives ç in Manx. This does not occur in Donegal except in two mauled forms of t′iərNə, ‘Lord’, as used in asseverations. These are çiərNə mαnəmwid′, ‘good gracious’, see § 63; and α çiəkæʃ in wïl′ ær′əg′ïd əgəd? çiəkæʃ hein′ ətα:, ‘have you any money? I should just think I have’, Craig Iasg. spells chiacais. It is sometimes written tiarcais.
§ 343. Medially and finally ç represents O.Ir. ch when originally followed by e, i, e.g. brαiç, ‘malt’, Di. braich < O.Ir. mraich; d′eç, ‘ten’, O.Ir. deich; d′içəL, ‘one’s best’, Di. dícheall; fαiç, ‘green’, M.Ir. faithche, faidche; fαiçiL′, ‘care’, Di. faithchill; ĩ:çə, ‘night’, O.Ir. aidche; kliçə (kləiçə), ‘game’, M.Ir. cluche; ə χy:çə, ‘ever’, M.Ir. caidche; ʃeiçə, ‘hide’, M.Ir. seche. Frequently in the inflected forms of words ending in χ, as blα:içə, gen. sing. of blα:χ, ‘buttermilk’, k′i:çə, gen. sing. of k′iəχ, ‘breast’. thgh gives ç in αiçərə, ‘short cut’, Di. aithghearra; du:çə, ‘landed property’, cp. O.Ir. duthoig. dɔ(:)içə, ‘likely, probable’, = dóiche Craig Iasg., is a new formation from O.Ir. dochu compar. of dóig, dóich after the model of the majority of comparatives with palatalisation.
§ 344. ç tends to become h in some words for which see § 179. Finally it disappears after a long vowel or diphthong except αi`, e.g. k′αrk ri:, ‘moor-hen’, = cearc fhraoich; ℊα: χrui, ‘two stacks’; b′αlαχ f′əi, ‘Ballybofey’, = Bealach Feich. Similarly in ĩ:çə when the final vowel is elided, e.g. ĩ: əgəs Lα:, ‘night and day’; ĩ: hα̃uwnə, ‘Halloween’. Medially also in kï̃viαχ, ‘strange, foreign’, M.Ir. comaithchech.
§ 345. By far the most frequent source of ç is th after a palatal vowel particularly at the end of monosyllables with short root-vowel. In such cases ç is often very faint which may be denoted by writing a small ç over the line. Examples: er′ b′iç, ‘at all’, ar bith; kα̃iç, imper. ‘throw, spend, smoke’; k′r′iç, ‘trembling’, M.Ir. crith; ər L′eç, ‘apart’; mαiç, ‘good’, O.Ir. maith; skαiç, ‘the best of anything’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. scoth, ‘flower’ (the old meaning is preserved in f′ïNskαiç, ‘cornflower’); ʃk′eç, ‘vomit’, M.Ir. sceith; wα(:)iç, pret. of bα:huw, ‘to drown’. Note further ə sαu(w)ruw ʃɔiçαrt, ‘this last summer’, = an samhradh seo thart. This ç commonly disappears before another word beginning with a consonant in the same stress-group, e.g. d′ɛ mαh, ‘ten cows’, cp. the spelling deth in Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list; χα m′ə, ‘I spent’, χæ ʃə, ‘he spent’; d′i m′ə, ‘I ate’, imper. iç.
əmwiç, ‘outside’, and əstiç (əsti:ç), ‘inside’, are peculiar, as in M.Ir. we have immaig, istaig. True we also find ĩ:wαiç, ‘image’, Wi. imaig, and triç, ‘foot’, O.Ir. traig. But the latter has been influenced by the plural M.Ir. traigthe and dissyllables in -áigh usually have -αi` which is equivalent to -αiç (§ 141). əstiç is all the more surprising as the dative form ti: < M.Ir. taig is frequent. əmwiç, əstiç are possibly extended from əmwi`, əsti`, i.e. they are proclitic forms.
§ 346. ç also frequently represents a medial th flanked by palatal vowels, e.g. içə, ‘eating’, O.Ir. ithe, pret. pass. hihuw, kαiçir′, ‘chair’, M.Ir. catháir (§ 139); k′l′eiçə, gen. sing. of k′l′iə, ‘harrow’, M.Ir. cliath; Luiçə, compar. of Luə, ‘early’; L′eiçə, gen. sing. fem. of L′iə, ‘grey’; l′eiçə (l′eihə), ‘with her’, similarly fu:çə, ‘under her’; m′eiçe, compar. of m′e:, ‘fat’, M.Ir. meth; rα:içə, ‘quarter of a year’, M.Ir. ráithe; sNα:içə, ‘thread’, O.Ir. snáthe; suiçə, ‘soot’, M.Ir. suithe, O.Ir. suidi. Verbs containing h < th in the infinitive frequently have ç in the present and preterite, e.g. suəhuw, ‘mix together’, pres. suiçəm, pret. huiç m′ə but past part. suit′ə; skαiçə m′ə, ‘I shall wean’, beside skαihə m′ə < skαhuw), M.Ir. scothaim.
Similarly ç is frequent in the future of several simple verb-stems ending in a long vowel or diphthong. These ç futures usually correspond to a present containing j for which see § 190. Examples – bα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall drown’; dɔ:içə m′ə, ‘I shall burn’; krα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall torment’; sp′r′eiçə m′ə, ‘I shall spread’; tα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall weld’; t′r′o:çə m′ə, ‘I shall plough’ but pres. pass. t′r′o:hər. Also bru:çə m′ə, ‘I shall press down’, pret. wrui ʃə, M.Ir. brúim; su:çi ʃə, ‘it will soak up’, < suw, M.Ir. súgim.
§ 347. Henderson’s description of Scotch Gaelic s applies equally to the Donegal sound. “The tongue-blade, along the central line of which the breath is directed, approaches the gums behind the upper teeth and the breath becomes sibilant owing to the friction it undergoes in passing between the upper and lower front teeth. The tip of the tongue may rest against the lower front teeth. It is usually more forcible than Engl. s, the tongue-articulation being closer” (ZCP. iv 515). A large number of speakers tend to widen the nick in the tongue through which the breath passes, thus producing a lisped s. The curious effect produced on initial s by a following r has been described in § 273. The voiced sound corresponding to s does not occur in Irish but is regular in the local English and produces a very peculiar effect. As is the case with the voiceless stops s is commonly aspirated, cp. Sweet, Primer of Phonetics² p. 60. Hence the h of the future terminations coalesces with a final s and is not heard as a separate element, e.g. pɔ:sə m′ə, ‘I shall marry’; krɔsə tuw, ‘you will forbid’. On this account a number of verb-stems ending in s prefer the ending of the second conjugation, e.g. d′r′αsαχə m′ə, ‘I shall drive away’, pres. d′r′αsəm. For the length of the sound see § 357.
§ 348. s represents O.Ir. initial s before other than palatal vowels, e.g. sα:l, ‘heel’, O.Ir. sál; siN′t′, ‘covetousness’, O.Ir. sant; sɔləN, ‘salt’, O.Ir. saland; su:l′, ‘eye’, O.Ir. súil; suʃt′ə, ‘flail’, M.Ir. sust, suiste < Lat. fustis; s⅄:l, ‘life’, O.Ir. saigul. For s before L, N see §§ 208, 239. s further stands before O.Ir. m, p, c followed by the vowels a, o, u and in a few loan-words before t under the same conditions, e.g. smwi:t′uw, ‘to think’, M.Ir. smuained; spɔχuw, ‘to geld’, M.Ir. spochad; skα̃uwæn′, ‘lungs’, M.Ir. scaman; sky:l′uw, ‘to let loose’, M.Ir. scáilim; stαd, ‘to stop’, formed on Lat. status; stɔ:l, ‘chair’, < O.E. stól.
§ 349. Before m′ and p′ s has taken the place of ʃ at the beginning of a word, e.g. sm′er′, ‘marrow’, M.Ir. smir; sm′ɛ:r, ‘blackberry’, M.Ir. smér; sp′αl, ‘scythe’, M.Ir. spel; sp′ïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut. Note also (ə)sm′e:, ‘it is I’, by the side of ʃe:, ‘it is he’. For the hesitation between s and ʃ before certain consonants cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish p. 17 and O’Donovan, Grammar p. 38. For s before r < r′ see § 273.
§ 350. Medially and finally s corresponds to O.Ir. ss, s originally followed by a, o, u and which usually arose from the assimilation of two consonants, except in the group sk, where s = Idg. s. Examples – αs, ‘out of’, O.Ir. ass; bo̤s, ‘flat of the hand’, M.Ir. bass, boss; b′ɛəs, ‘custom’, O.Ir. bés; d′ẽvəs, ‘shears’, M.Ir. demess; fα:s, ‘growing’, O.Ir. ás; iəsk, ‘fish’, O.Ir. íasc; kɔs, ‘leg’, O.Ir. coss.
In other cases medial and final s appears in loan-words from Latin, e.g. αsəl, ‘donkey’, M.Ir. assal < Lat. asellus; kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, M.Ir. corgus < Lat. quadragesima.
§ 351. The position of the tongue for ʃ resembles that for s. The tip of the tongue seems to hang down behind the lower front teeth and may rest against them. The lips are neutral as in English but the middle part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, thus considerably lengthening the narrowing necessary for the production of ʃ. The acoustic effect of the Donegal sound is very different from that of English, French or German ʃ. It suggests to me s + j and it is interesting to note that Henderson compares N. Inverness ʃ with Danish sj ZCP. iv 516. I am not familiar with the latter sound but from Jespersen’s description (Fonetik p. 244) it appears to be formed in somewhat similar manner to Donegal ʃ.
§ 352. ʃ represents O.Ir. initial s before palatal vowels and before O.Ir. c, l, n, t followed by the same vowels, e.g. ʃαχtin′, ‘week’, O.Ir. sechtman; ʃan, ‘old’, O.Ir. sen; ʃiN′im′, ‘to play a musical instrument’, M.Ir. senim; ʃo:k, ‘hawk’, M.Ir. sebac; ʃu:l, ‘to walk’, M.Ir. siubal; ʃk′αχ, ‘hawthorn-bush’, M.Ir. scé; ʃt′iəL, ‘strip, stripe’, M.Ir. stíall. For examples of ʃL′, ʃN′ see §§ 226, 255.
§ 353. Medially and finally ʃ arises from O.Ir. ss, s followed by e or i. This ss, s generally arose from the assimilation of two consonants. Examples – αm′ʃir′, ‘weather’, O.Ir. amser; b′r′iʃuw, ‘to break’, M.Ir. brissiud; iN′iʃ iinper. ‘tell’, M.Ir. innissim; klæʃ ‘furrow’, M.Ir. claiss (dat.). ʃ also stands medially before L′, N′, r′, m′, t′, k′, e.g. p′iʃr′ɔg, ‘charm’, Di. pisreóg; ʃeʃr′αχ ‘plough’, M.Ir. sesrech; kæʃm′ərt′, ‘squabble’, Meyer caismert; k′l′iʃm′ərNy:, ‘starting up in sleep’, Di. clisim; tæʃm′ə, ‘accident’, Di. taisme; gæʃt′ə, ‘trap’, O.Ir. goiste; iʃk′ə, ‘water’, O.Ir. usce; kæʃk′ïm′, ‘step’, Meyer coss-céimm. Examples of ʃ before p′ do not occur to my knowledge.
§ 354. As the aspirated form of both s and ʃ is h, confusion is apt to arise. Hence we get ʃ for s in ʃɔ:rt, ‘kind, sort’, spelt seórt Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5, Craig Iasg. < Engl. ‘sort’; ʃïl′əstrαχ, ‘yellow iris’, Di. soileastar, M.Ir. soileastar; ʃïlαg, ‘spit’, Di. seil, O.Ir. saile; cp. further Macbain seileach with Di. saileóg; ʃi:l′əm, ‘I think’, M.Ir. sáilim. Conversely su:Ntə, ‘seam in quarry’, stands for ʃu:Ntə = Di. siúnta < Engl. ‘joint’. ʃer′, ‘eastwards’, has been influenced by ʃiər, ‘westwards’, cp. Rhys p. 53.
§ 355. In loan-words from English ʃ represents Engl. s before e and i sounds and also Engl. j, e.g. ʃɛ:ʃu:r, ‘season’; ʃɛ:məs, ‘James’; ʃα:n, ‘John’; ʃu:krə, ‘sugar’.§ 356. The past participle of verbs of the second declension ends in -i: < uighthe or -i(:)ʃt′ə. The latter probably arose in some word like iN′iʃ. The two conjugations have been hopelessly confused and we may safely assume that iN′iʃt′ə and iN′ʃi: existed side by side, whence the modern iN′ʃi(:)ʃt′ə.
(d) The labial, dental and guttural stops.
Note on the stops and s (ʃ).
§ 357. In the case of l, m and n sounds and partly in the case of the r sounds in Donegal we have found that under certain conditions long consonants appear where double consonants are now or were formerly written. We further know that in the majority of cases modern Gaelic labial, dental and guttural stops together with s go back to originally double consonants which are commonly so written in O.Irish after short accented vowels, see Pedersen pp. 84 ff. The question therefore naturally arises: Are there no traces of these original double stops in the manner of articulation of the present day? I venture to think that this question may be answered in the affirmative. What strikes an English ear most in the speech of the north of Ireland is the way in which final stops are articulated. As was the case with the liquids and nasals it is chiefly at the end of monosyllables that differences of length in consonants are most clearly heard. Now if we compare the pronunciation of f′αr`, ‘man’, with that of f′ïg ‘length’, we cannot fail to be struck by the difference in duration of the finals. It may be stated once and for all that the only short or clipped consonants which Donegal Irish knows are l, l′, n, n′, r, r′, ç, w. At the end of stressed monosyllables with short vowel the stops and s, ʃ are held for a longer time than is the case with voiced consonants in standard English after a short vowel, though parallels occur in northern dialects, e.g. in the Swaledale pronunciation of ‘had’, ‘bad’. At the same time the contact is loosened very gradually, so that an off-glide is clearly heard. l, l′, n, n′, r, r′ at the end of stressed monosyllables may be regarded as over-short, in other positions as short. L, L′, N, N′, R, m, m′, the stops and s (ʃ) at the end of stressed monosyllables after short vowels are long. In other positions they are either long or half-long. Even initially they are dwelt upon and often seem to be half-long. In all cases the articulation of a final consonant is finished and the off-glide is invariably heard.
§ 358. p is formed with the lips slightly protruded in the w position and is strongly aspirated. On releasing the contact a w̥ off-glide is heard which is most noticeable before æ, ɛ, e, i. For the lenis p cp. § 438.
§ 359. p occurs initially before a, o, u in loan-words from Latin and English, e.g. pwæd′r′i:n′, ‘the rosary’, Lat. pater noster; pɔ:g, ‘kiss’, Lat. pacem; pɔ:suw, ‘marry’, Lat. sponsus; po̤bəl, ‘congregation’, Lat. populus; plα:i, ‘plague’, Lat. plaga; plα:n̥æd′, ‘climate’, Lat. planeta; spɔhuw, ‘to geld’, M.Ir. spochad < Lat. spado. pα:ʃt′ə, ‘child’, < Engl. page; pα:r′k′, ‘meadow’, < Engl. ‘park’; pɔtə, ‘pot’; pɔ:kə, ‘pocket’, < Engl. ‘poke, pocket’; po̤Ntə, ‘pound’; po̤tɔg, ‘pudding’, plu:r, ‘flour’, has p for f due to mistaken de-aspiration.
Although originally no genuine Irish words began with p, this sound is now-a-days a very favourite one in coining new words the origin of which is frequently obscure, cp. prαkər, ‘leavings of potatoes’, prα:kαs, ‘a small, deformed person’, Di. prácás; spuik′, ‘blister’, Di. spuaic.
§ 360. In several loan-words p occurs initially where the language from which they are borrowed has b, e.g. po̤NəN, ‘sheaf’, < Norse bundin, Engl. bundle; pɔ:nir′ə, ‘beans’, Norse baun, Ohg. pôna; pαŋk, ‘fair for selling stockings’, < Engl. ‘bank’; plo̤k, ‘cheek’, < ‘block’ (?). Cp. further Di. praiseach; Macbain prais, priobaid, pronnasg. Donegal p also corresponds to b of the other dialects in prα:ʃk′i:n′, ‘apron’, Di. práiscín, Duffy, Mion-chaint na Midhe has práiscín and bráiscín; pro̤Nəm, ‘I present’, M.Ir. bronnaim, pro̤Ntənəs, ‘present’, Meyer bronntanas, cp. Spir. Rose p. 30 pronn. po̤s, ‘lip’, more commonly pwiʃi:n′, is M.Ir. bus. Medially we find p for b in αpwi:, ‘ripe’, Di. abaidh, Meyer abbuig.
§ 361. Medially and finally p arises from older pp = O. and M.Ir. pp, p, e.g. krαp, ‘lump’, M.Ir. cnapp, < Norse knappr; k′αpəm, ‘I stop, head off’, Meyer ceppairn from k′αp, ‘shoemaker’s last’, Meyer cepp < Lat. cippus, cp. k′αp Nə viəkəl, ‘gum’; sαp, ‘wisp’, M.Ir. sopp; tαpuw ɔrt, ‘God speed you’, M.Ir. tapad. The relation of kαpəL, ‘mare’, M.Ir. capull, Welsh ceffyl and Lat. caballus is obscure.
p also occurs after l, r, m and s in loan-words, e.g. skαlpuw, ‘to snarl’, Di. scealpadh (with different meaning), < Engl. skelp (?); kɔrp, ‘corpse’, O.Ir. corp, < Lat. corpus; αspək, ‘bishop’, O.Ir. espoc; αspəl, ‘apostle’, O.Ir. apstal; tα(:)mpəL, ‘Protestant chapel’, O.Ir. tempol. Similarly klo̤pwid′ə, ‘wrinkle in cloth, dip in land’, = M.Ir. clupait < culpait.
In the latest loan-words from English we find p = Engl. p, e.g. kɔpαn, ‘cup’; p′i:pə, ‘pipe’; rɔ:pə, ‘rope’; ʃïpə, ‘shop’; ʃL′ïpərNỹ:, ‘tottering’, < Engl. ‘slip’. From Lat. papa, ‘pope’, we expect *pα:bə and not pα:pə.
§ 362. b + th gives p in L′αpə, gen. sing. of L′αbwi:, ‘bed’, nom. plur. L′αpαχə, M.Ir. lepad; L′ɛəpαχə, plur. of L′ɛəb, ‘strip’, Di. leadhb. Similarly in futures, e.g. Lu:pwi ʃə, ‘he will bend’; ʃiəpwi ʃə, ‘it will blow’. p further arises from bh + th in the adverbs ti:puəs, ‘above’, ti:pαL, ‘beyond’, ti:p′iər, ‘to the west of’ = taobh-thuas, taobh-thiar, taobh-thall, cp. § 470 and Pedersen p. 161.
o̤mpər, ‘to carry’, occurs by the side of o̤mχər, M.Ir. immchor; kɔləpə, ‘calf of the leg’ (not common) = Meyer colptha; kɔləpαχ, ‘stirk’, = Meyer colpthach. Both the latter seem to go back to the Teutonic word for ‘calf’.
§ 363. In the future forms of stems ending in p the h < f can cause no change as the p is already aspirated. Hence the present and future are often the same in form, e.g. k′αpwi: ʃə, ‘he stops’ or ‘will stop’; kro̤pwi: ʃə, ‘it shrinks’ or ‘will shrink’.
§ 364. p′ is formed with the lips tightly drawn back on to the teeth and may be aspirated. For p′ as a lenis cp. § 438.
§ 365. Initial p′ represents O. and M.Ir. p before e, i. The words in question are mostly borrowed from Latin or English, some are late formations modelled on English words, whilst one or two others such as sp′αl, ‘scythe’, M.Ir. spel, are obscure. Examples – p′αkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad < Lat. peccatum; p′αN, ‘pen’, M.Ir. penn < Lat. pinna; p′αtə, ‘pet’, M.Ir. petta; p′ïl′əp′i:n′, ‘peewit’, Di. pilibín, < Philip (?); p′ïnu:s, ‘penance’, Di. píonús, píonós < Lat. poena, with possibly a leaning on Engl. ‘punish’ (Macbain); p′ïkɔd′, ‘pick’ and p′ïkuw, ‘to pick’, < Engl.; p′ig′i:n′, ‘a piggin’; p′iʃi:n′, ‘kitten’; p′it′, ‘cunnus’, Di. pit < Engl. ‘pit’ or O.E. pyt; p′iN′, ‘penny’, M.Ir. pinginn; p′i:sə, ‘piece’; p′l′ɛəskuw, ‘to burst, crack’, founded on Engl. ‘flash’ (?); p′l′eiʃu:r, ‘pleasure’; p′r′ɛətə, ‘potato’; p′r′ïs, ‘cupboard’, <Engl. ‘press’; sp′eir′, ‘sky’, < Lat. sphaera; sp′iənuw, ‘to tease wool’, < Lat. spina; sp′ïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut.
In p′eiʃt′ (χapwiL′), ‘a black and yellow caterpillar’, we have p′ for b′, cp. § 360 and Scotch G. preathal for breitheal.
p′iəχαn, ‘hoarseness’, seems to be onomatopœic and exhibits a variety of forms. Macbain has pìochan, Fournier ceochan, O’R. spiochan.
§ 366. Medial and final p′ occurs only in inflected or derivative forms of words containing p, e.g. k′ip′i:n′, ‘small stick’, dimin. of k′αp; krɛp′ə, ‘button’, < M.Ir. cnapp. Also in fwïp′ < Engl. ‘whip’.
p′ arises after m′ in t′im′p′iəL, ‘about’, O.Ir. timmchell, cp. o̤mpər § 362.
§ 367. As p′ and f′ interchange in aspiration, p′ is sometimes wrongly substituted for f′, e.g. in p′iL′uw, ‘to return’, M.Ir. filliud; p′r′iæl′, ‘to fry’, < Engl.
§ 368. b is the voiced sound corresponding to p. The off-glide is w which we write in this book before palatal vowels.
§ 369. b occurs initially in a large number of words corresponding to O. and M.Ir. b before a, o, u or l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. bαkαχ, ‘lame’, M.Ir. baccach; bαL, ‘spot’, O.Ir. ball; bα:huw, ‘to drown’, M.Ir. bádud; blα:, ‘flower’, M.Ir. bláth; blα:χ, ‘buttermilk’, M.Ir. bláthach; brα:d′, ‘throat’, O.Ir. bráge; brïN′, ‘womb’, M.Ir. broind (dat.); bɔ:, ‘cow’, O.Ir. bó; bo̤g, ‘soft’, M.Ir. bocc; bwæN′ə, ‘milk’, O.Ir. banne; bwæʃt′əm, ‘I baptize’, O.Ir. baitsim; bwel′ə, ‘townland’, M.Ir. baile; bwiə, ‘yellow’, O.Ir. bude; bwiL′ə, ‘blow’, O.Ir. buille; bw⅄:, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith.
b corresponds to O.Ir. m in brαiç, ‘malt’, O.Ir. mraich; blαs, ‘taste’, O.Ir. mlas; brαihəm, ‘I betray’, cp. M.Ir. mrath.
The eclipsed form of p is b, e.g. α bɔ:sit(′) ʃə, ‘if he were to marry’; vi: ʃi α bɔ:guw, ‘she was kissing them’; mər bα:ʃ′t′ə, ‘your child’; Nỹ: bo̤NəNαχə, ‘nine sheaves’.
§ 370. Medially and finally b represents an earlier bb which generally arose by assimilation and which in O. and M.Ir. is written pp, p, e.g. αbwir′ (imper.), ‘say’, M.Ir. apair with a from atbeir; αbər, ‘mud’, M.Ir. ebor; go̤b, ‘beak, mouth’, M.Ir. gop; g′ïbɔg, ‘bit, morsel’, cp. O.Ir. gibbne; kαb, ‘mouth’, kαbwir′ə, ‘prater’, < M.Engl. gabben; L′αbwi:, ‘bed’, M.Ir. lepaid, lepad; skαbuw, ‘to scatter’, Di. scabaim, scapaim, scaipim; to̤bər, ‘well’, O.Ir. topur; to̤bəN, ‘sudden’, M.Ir. oponn. b corresponds to M.Ir. b after d in L′ɛəb, ‘strip’, M.Ir. ledb. In this case the group db is not the same as db in M.Ir. Medb, Sadb which are now pronounced m′ɛəwə, sα:wə. Similarly after l and r in αləbə, ‘Scotland’, M.Ir. Alba; kαrəbəd, ‘chariot’, O.Ir. carpat, Gaulish carbantia.
§ 371. In earlier loan-words a medial p was received into Irish as a lenis which gave the same result as bb, e.g. kα:bə, ‘cape’, Meyer cápa, < O.Fr. cape; o̤bwir′, ‘work’, Lat. opera, O.Ir. only oipred; po̤bəl, ‘congregation’, Lat. populus; p′iəb, ‘throat, pipe’, Lat. pipa, from which are formed p′ïbərNỹ:, ‘wheezing’, p′ïbruw, ‘rousing to fight’; skrɔ:bαn, ‘crop of birds’, formed on Engl. ‘crop’ and ‘scrape’ (?); skuəb, ‘besom’, M.Ir. scuap < Lat. scopa; ʃk′ïbɔl, ‘barn’, O.Welsh scipaur, Cornish scibor, < Lat. *scoparium.
Late loan-words from English have b = Engl. b, e.g. bαbɔg, ‘doll’, < Engl. ‘babe’; bɔbwir′αχt, ‘trickery’, < Engl. ‘bob’; to̤bαn, ‘tub’. In a few instances we find Engl. w, v appearing as b on the analogy of bα:d, ‘boat’, α wα:d, ‘his boat’, e.g. bαLə, ‘wall’; bo̤Ntæʃt′ə, ‘advantage’. Similarly b for m occurs in bo̤mwit′ə, ‘minute’, < Lat. momentum.
t′r′ïblɔd′, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. tréblait, seems to have been borrowed during the M.Ir. period from Lat. tribulatio.
§ 372. In several cases Donegal b corresponds to bh in the other dialects, e.g. kru:b, ‘paw, hand’, Di. crúb, crobh, Macbain crubh, Meyer crob, crúb; ʃk′r′i:b, ‘scratch, furrow’, M.Ir. scríb, scrípad, Lat. scribo but ʃk′r′iuw, ‘to write’; ʃo̤bərNỹ: (ʃïbərNỹ:), ‘neglect’, gɔl əN′ ʃ., ʃïbərNαχ Cl. S. 30 v ’03 p. 1 col. 1 (used of cattle getting mixed up and going astray), this seems to be the same word as Di. siabrán, -acht, cp. further Di. seabhais, seabhóideacht, seabhóidim; ʃiəbuw, ‘to blow’, Di. siabhadh, Macbain siab, siabh, Manx sheebey.
mər bwiL′ ʃə, ‘unless he is’, scarcely belongs here. The b doubtless represents the copula inserted from αχ mər b′ə:, ‘if it had not been for him’, in the same way as a meaningless əs (agus) is introduced in gəd′e: mər əs tα: tuw, ‘how are you?’ from phrases like Ni:L′ ʃə kɔ mαiç əs vi: ʃə, ‘he is not as good as he was’.
§ 373. b′ is formed in the same way as p′ but is voiced.
§ 374. b′ corresponds to O.Ir. initial b before e and i or preceding l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. b′αn, ‘woman’, O.Ir. ben; b′αNαχt, ‘blessing’, O.Ir. bendacht; b′in′id′, ‘rennet’, O.Ir. binid; b′i:wi:, ‘slyly mischievous’, Meyer bibdaide; b′l′iïn′, ‘year’, O.Ir. bliadain; b′r′i:, ‘vigour, force’, O.Ir. bríg; b′r′i:hər, ‘speech’, O.Ir. bríathar.
The eclipsed form of initial p′ is b′, e.g. α b′αtə, ‘their pet’; p′i:sə he: b′i:N′, ‘a sixpenny bit’.
§ 375. Medial and final b′ arises from the same sources as b in §§ 371, 372 before originally palatal vowels. b′ is far from being as frequent as b and a number of words in which it occurs are somewhat obscure. Examples – k′i:b′, ‘sedge’, Di. cíb; k′l′ib′i:n′, ‘lump of dirt on the legs of a beast, matted hair on a person’, Di. clib, Macbain cliob, cp. ʃïn′ ɛən çl′ib′i:n′ əwα̃:n′, ‘that is all one kettle of fish’; rïb′ə, ‘hair’, Di. ribe, ruibe, Macbain rib, ribeag < Engl. riban. In foreign words < p in eb′r′αn, ‘April’, Lat. aprilis (see ZCP. i 358); ïb′r′uw, ‘to work’, ïb′r′i:, ‘workman’, cp. O.Ir. oipred; p′ïb′ər, ‘pepper’, Lat. piper.
§ 376. b′ has been analogically substituted for v in b′ig′il′, ‘abstinence, vigil’, < Lat. vigilia; b′i:ʃ ‘vice’, < Engl. ‘vice’. d′ir′ib′, ‘the name of a creeping thing that lives at the bottom of pools and is liable to be swallowed by cattle’, = Di. doirbh.
§ 377. sïb′əLtə, ‘impudent’, seems to correspond to O’R. sodalta, Macbain saidealta, cp. Di. sotal.
§ 378. t is formed by firmly pressing the front rim of the tongue against the upper teeth as in the case of L and N. The compression is very great and as contact is loosened very gradually a θ glide is distinctly heard. For t as a lenis see § 438.
§ 379. Initial t represents O.Ir. t before a, o, u or preceding r, l followed by these vowels, e.g. tαluw, ‘land’, O.Ir. talam; tαrgir′ə, ‘prophet’, cp. O.Ir. tairrngire; tαruw, ‘bull’, O.Ir. tarb; tïg′əm, ‘I understand’, O.Ir. tuiccim; tɔl′, ‘will’, O.Ir. tol; tɔruw, ‘fruit’, M.Ir. torad; to:gæl′ ‘to raise’, M.Ir. tócbáil; tui (çαhə), ‘rainbow’, O.Ir. tuag; tyuw, ‘side’, O.Ir. tóib; tlUw̥, ‘tongs’, Di. tlúgh; trα:, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth; trα:i, ‘shore’, M.Ir. trág, tráig.
t is prefixed in the nominative case to masculine substantives which began with a, o, u in O.Ir. when preceded by the article, e.g. ə tαhær′, ‘the father’. In the case of O.Ir. áis, óis, ‘people’, the t has become part and parcel of the word, e.g. dəN ti:s ɔ:g, ‘to the young people’. t is further prefixed to a feminine substantive with initial s followed in O.Ir. by one of the vowels a, o, u or by l or r, before the same vowels, when preceded by the article an, e.g. ə tro:n, ‘the nose’; er′ ə trα:d′, ‘in the street’. Also to a masculine substantive under like conditions when preceded by a preposition and the definite article, e.g. dəN tïgərt, ‘to the priest’.
§ 380. t after r, l, χ in words of native origin goes back to Idg. t, e.g. αLt, ‘joint’, M.Ir. alt, < *paltos; mɔLt, ‘wether’, cp. Lat. multo; tαrt, ‘thirst’, cp. Engl. thirst; ʃαχt, ‘seven’, Lat. septem; t′αχt ‘coming’, O.Ir. techt, <*tiktā; bɔχt, ‘poor’, O.Ir. bocht, < *bog-to-; o̤χt, ‘breast’, O.Ir. ucht, cp. Lat. pectus; əNo̤χt, ‘to-night’, O.Ir. innocht, cp. Lat. noct-is; kαrtαn, ‘sheep-louse’, M.Ir. cart; b′α:Ltin′ə, ‘May’, M.Ir. beltene, belltaine; gα:Ltə, ‘Protestant’, Di. gallta, for the ending cp. gαstə, ‘quick, smart’, M.Ir. gasta. Similarly in loan-words from Latin, e.g. k′αrt, ‘right’, O.Ir. cert < Lat. certus; sïgərt, ‘priest’, O.Ir. sacart, sacardd (why t and not d? the form is peculiar in other respects, cp. § 103); b′αNαχt, ‘blessing, greeting’, O.Ir. bendacht < Lat. benedictio.
§ 381. Otherwise medial and final t usually represents an older tt before original a, o, u (O. and M.Ir. tt, t), e.g. αt, ‘swelling’, O.Ir. att; bαtə, ‘stick’, M.Engl. batte; brαt, ‘flag’ (brαt mαruw, ‘shroud’), O.Ir. bratt; b′iətαχ, ‘hospitaller’, M.Ir. bíattach; t′i:r Nə m′r′αtən, ‘Wales’, M.Ir. Brettan (gen. plur.), the word for ‘Welshman’ is b′r′αn̥αχ; kαt, ‘cat’, M.Ir. catt; p′αtə, ‘pet’, M.Ir. petta (evidently an early borrowing but its precise origin is not clear); sLαt, ‘rod’, M.Ir. slat.
In late loan-words from English Donegal t = Engl. t, e.g. hαtə, ‘hat’; kɔ:tə, ‘coat’; ru:tə, ‘root’. bαtæL′t′ə, ‘an armful’, b. f′eir′, ‘a wap of hay’, < Engl. bottle (?), may have come in in the middle period or quite recently, cp. Sg. Fearn. botán p. 100 = O’R. boiteán.
§ 382. t and t′ not infrequently interchange as the initial of substantives, a natural confusion seeing that the aspirated form of both is h, e.g. tαstæl′, ‘to want’, Di. teastuighim, cp. O.Ir. tesstá. The alternation in t′αχ, ‘house’, gen. sing. tiə, occurs already in O.Ir. and is due to vowel-gradation.
§ 383. t has in a few cases been prefixed to words beginning with a vowel or f, cp. ə ti:s ɔ:g § 379. Examples – to̤bəN, ‘sudden’, M.Ir. opond; tuəm′ tα̃:uw, ‘an idle rumour’, v. Di. tuaim = fuaim. Cp. t′iL′uw by the side of f′iL′uw, ‘to return’, v. Di. tilleadh.
§ 384. d followed by fh, th or ch gives t, e.g. d′ɛətiN′, ‘I might’, = d’fheudfainn; statə m′ə, ‘I shall stop’; kətiə, ‘why’, < cad chuige.
§ 385. In the present and imperfect passive the tendency is to substitute t for th in the ending in order to distinguish these tenses from the future and conditional in such cases as k′αptər, çαpti:, b′r′αktər, ℊlαkti:, iərtər. From d′er′əm, ‘I say’, the usual form is d′ɛrtər, though d′ɛr̥ər may be heard. For d′ɛrtər cp. Chr. Bros. Aids to Pron. of Irish p. 18 : “In Munster the t in the termination of the autonomous present is usually broad – e.g. innstear is pronounced ínnstar”. In the second conjugation the termination of the imperfect passive is -i:sti, never -i:ʃt′i:, e.g. d′iN′ʃi:sti:, ‘used to be related’. For the ending cp. the new past participle termination -i:ʃt′ə.
§ 386. A parasitic t is frequently added after χ, L, N, s, t, e.g. i:N′t′αχt, ‘a certain’, Di. éiginteach s. éigin (cp. G. J. June ’03 p. 337); tαməLt, ‘a while’, Di. tamall; tα̃uw̥əNt, ‘barking’, M.Ir. toffund; fo̤rəst, ‘easy’, M.Ir. urussa; grα:st (also grα:stə), ‘grace’, Di. grás; b′r′ïst huw, ‘a plague on you’ = b′ir′ əs huw. Also fɔstαχt, fɔstαt, ‘besides’, < fɔstə, fɔ:st, Di. fós influenced by f′αstfə, ‘yet’.
§ 387. In producing this sound the front rim of the tongue is pressed against the top teeth or the edge of the lower teeth whilst the front of the tongue is brought against the front part of the hard palate. A similar sound is frequent in English in words like ‘ritual’ when not pronounced with tʃ. I have not noticed any tendency in Donegal for t′ to pass into tʃ as in parts of Connaught, Manx and Scotch Gaelic. The contact for t′ is however broken very gradually and a glide resembling ʃ is heard. For t′ as a lenis see § 438.
§ 388. t′ corresponds to O.Ir. initial t before e, i or preceding r followed by those vowels, e.g. tαχ, ‘house’, O.Ir. tech; t′αN, ‘tight’, O.Ir. tend; t′αŋy:, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge; t′e`, ‘hot’, M.Ir. teith beside tee, té; t′iəχɔg, ‘chest for meal’, M.Ir. tíach; t′in′i, Mire′, O.Ir. tene; t′iN′əs, ‘sickness’, M.Ir. tinnes; t′ïNtα, ‘to turn’, cp. O.Ir. tintúuth; t′r′ɛən, ‘strong’, M.Ir. trén; t′r′iən, ‘third’, M.Ir. trian; t′r′eig′əm, ‘I abandon’, M.Ir. trécim. t′ precedes l′ in t′l′ig′ən but this is due to a late metathesis (§ 440).
t′ is prefixed to a feminine substantive beginning with ʃ followed by a vowel or L′, N′, when the article an precedes, and also to masculine and feminine substantives under similar conditions when preceded by a preposition and the definite article, e.g. ə t′αnvαn, ‘the old woman’; ə t′l′iʃ, ‘the chip’; er′ ə t′r′αχtə, ‘on the snow’. Masculine substantives which in O.Ir. began with e, i take t′ after the article in the nominative singular, e.g. ə t′αLαχ, ‘the cattle’, but l′eʃ ə N′αLαχ, ‘with the cattle’. However the younger generation is beginning to introduce t′ in the latter case also.
§ 389. Medially and finally t′ arises from an earlier tt which originally stood before e or i. In O. and M.Ir. tt, t is written. Examples – α:t′, ‘place’, M.Ir. áit; æt′ənαχ, ‘furze’, M.Ir. aittenn; et′ɔg, ‘wing’, O.Ir. ette. Similarly in the loan-word L′it′ir′, ‘letter’, O.Ir. liter, Welsh llythyr. t′ (< t) also occurs after L′, N′, r, ʃ in native and borrowed words, e.g. ku:rt′, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cúairt: k′eʃt′, ‘question’, M.Ir. ceist, < Lat. quaestio; kyN′t′iN′, ‘dispute’, < Lat. contentio; d′α mα:rt′, ‘Tuesday’, Lat. Martis; sLα:N′t′ə, ‘health’, M.Ir. sláinte.
§ 390. t and t′ frequently interchange initially, see § 383. t′ regularly appears in t′ït′əm′, ‘to fall’, M.Ir. tuitim; t′iL′uw, ‘to deserve, additional amount’, M.Ir. tuilled. The Donegal form of Di. aistear is αster (χlïN′ə), ‘labour’.
§ 391. t′ results from i. d′ + h (< fh, th) in gyt′ə m′ə, ‘I shall steal’, pres. pass. gyt′ər, past part. gyt′ə; trït′ə m′ə, ‘I shall fight’, imperf. pass. r̥ït′i:; brït′ə m′ə, ‘I shall nudge’, Di. broidighim; ʃeit′i ʃə, ‘it will blow’, Di. séidim. ii. th + sh in L′et′eçə, ‘a half-hide’, = leath-sheithche (also called L′α`ʃeçə), but ·L′α·hα:stə, ‘half-satisfied’. iii. d + ch in t′i:m, ‘I see’, M.Ir. atchímm. iv. the third singular termination -adh becomes -ït(′), ət(′), -it′ when followed by one of the pronouns e:, ʃi: ʃiəd, e.g. gə wi:t′ ʃə, ‘that he would get’. Pedersen maintains that the syllable is -əd and not -it′ (p. 161). What I believe I hear is t(′) or a lenis t(′) (see infra § 393).
In αχmwirt′, ‘heat in horses’, t′ has taken the place of k′, cp. Di. eachmairc.
§ 392. A parasitic t′ is frequently added to words ending in l′, n′, ʃ, e.g. sα͠uwiL′t′ in N′i: αkə m′ə ə sα͠uwiL′t′ də wrĩ:, ‘I never saw such a woman’, Di. samhail; kyN′æL′t′, ‘to keep’, Di. congbháil; fα:gæL′t′, ‘to leave’, M.Ir. fácbáil and so with other infinitives in -æl′, k′r′ed′væL′t′, æd′væL′t′; bwiN′t′, ‘to pull, pluck, reap’, O.Ir. buain; kαnu:N′t′, ‘speech’, Di. canamhain; L′αnu:N′t′, ‘to follow’, M.Ir. lenmain; fwïliN′t′, ‘to suffer’, Di. fulling; tαrN′t′, ‘to pull’, Di. tarraing. On the analogy of these and other infinitives in t′ we get rα:t′, ‘to say’, O.Ir. rád (cp. foghlaimt Sg. Fearn. p. 24). Further ər′i:ʃt′, ‘again’, Di. arís; er′eʃt′, ‘back’, < ar ais; -mwiʃt′ in the 1st plur. of the imperfect (J. C. Ward denies the existence of this ending in Donegal and it is not admitted by Craig either, but J. H. uses it regularly), cp. Spir. Rose p. 8 smuadhuamuist.
§ 393. The off-glide mentioned above as accompanying t′ is frequently not heard when another consonant immediately follows. This we denote by writing t(′) Examples – tæt(′)n′i:m, ‘I please’; skαrt(′) kïl′i:, ‘cock-crow’; ə ho:rt(′) l′ïm, ‘to bring with me’; to:rt(′) ko:rL′ə, ‘giving advice’; ho:rt(′) suəs, ‘giving up’, also hɔrt suəs; kæN′t(′) l′ïm, ‘talking with me’.
An ordinary alveolar t occurs in late loan-words from English such as te:, ‘tea’; tre:n, ‘train’.
§ 394. d corresponds in formation to t, the stop itself and the off-glide being voiced.
§ 395. Initial d corresponds to O.Ir. d before a, o, u or preceding l, r followed by the same vowels, e.g. dα̃iən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen; dαL, ‘blind’, M.Ir. dall; dæl′i:, ‘difficult’, M.Ir. doilig; devr′əs, ‘poverty’ (not common), cp. M.Ir. daidbre; din′ə, ‘man’, O.Ir. dune; dɔ:rN, ‘fist’, M.Ir. dorn; dUw̥, ‘black’, M.Ir. dub; du:r̥αχt, ‘zeal’, O.Ir. dúthracht; dli:, ‘lock of hair, handful of straw, hay, potatoes &c.’, dli: ə wo̤Ly:, ‘top-stopple in thatching’, Di. dlaoi; dreçəd, ‘bridge’, M.Ir. drochet.
d also occurs initially as the eclipsed form of t, e.g. ə dαruw, ‘their bull’; gə dαrN′i m′ə, ‘till I pull’; ə dæʃk′i:, ‘put by, in a place of safety’, cp. M.Ir. taiscim.
fα di:widə, ‘about it, about’, also αχə·di:widə is not clear. The preposition fα usually aspirates as in the toast fα hu:r′əm′ huw ə və sLα:n. Perhaps we may compare Manx mygeayrt, ‘about’, = O.Ir. imacúairt with stereotyped 3rd plur. form.
§ 396. Medial and final d in native words goes back to an older dd which arose from various sources. In O. and M.Ir. tt, t is written. i. For d < Prim. Keltic dd I have no examples, ii. Prim. Keltic zd occurs in fαdə, ‘long’, O.Ir. fota; f′αd, ‘a whistle’, M.Ir. fetán, Welsh chwythu; gαd, ‘withe’, M.Ir. gat, Gothic gazds, Lat. hasta; k′αd, ‘permission’, O.Ir. cet; N′αd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net, Ohg. nest. iii. nt gave dd with compensatory lengthening, e.g. d′ɛəd, ‘row of teeth’, O.Ir. dét, Welsh dant, Lat. dentem; ɛəd, ‘jealousy’, O.Ir. ét, Gaulish Iantu-marus; f′ɛədəm, ‘I may’, M.Ir. fétaim; k′ɛəd, ‘hundred’, O.Ir. cét, Welsh cant, Lat. centum.
After r Prim. Keltic d remains but not after l, n, e.g. ɔ:rd, ‘sledge-hammer’, O.Ir. ordd, Welsh ordd; k′ɛrd′ = ceird for ceard, ‘trade, profession’, M.Ir. cerd, Welsh cerdd, Gk. κέρδος. Similarly in Lat. loan-words, e.g. ɔ:rd, ‘order’, O.Ir. ord, Lat. ordo.
§ 397. In earlier loan-words medial and final d corresponds to a Romance or Engl. t which was received as a lenis and later became d. In the earliest borrowings we find th = Lat t, v. Pedersen p. 170. Examples – bα:d, ‘boat’, M.Ir. bát, O.E. bát, Norse bátr; b′αrαd, ‘cap’, Di. bairéad, < Low Lat. birretum; klo̤gəd, ‘helmet’, M.Ir. cloc-att, Norse hattr, Engl. hat; pα:drik′, ‘Patrick’, O.Ir. Patricc, Lat. Patricius; p′αdər, ‘Peter’, Lat. Petrus; sö̤:d, ‘flint’, O.Ir. saiget, < Lat. sagitta; sp′ïrəd, ‘spirit’, O.Ir. spirut, Lat. spiritus; stαd, ‘stop’, founded on Lat. status; t′ïdəl, ‘title’, Lat. titulus; u:dər, ‘author’, O.Ir. auctor. t probably became a lenis in pretonic syllables (Pedersen p. 153), whence the d of də, ‘your’, də, ‘to’; dir′ f′iə, ‘by my faith’, Di. dar, O.Ir. tar. The pronominal suffix of the second pers. sing. used after prepositions in Donegal is always d, e.g. f′r′i:d, ‘through you’; fu:d, ‘below you’; rõ:d, ‘before you’; əgəd, ‘with you’.
§ 398. In other loan-words medial or final d corresponds to Engl. d, e.g. bɔ:rdi: er′, ‘approximately’, < Engl. border; m′i:du:n, ‘meadow’; pα:rdu:n, ‘pardon’; skαdαn, ‘herring’, M.Ir. scatan, < O.E. sceadda, Engl. shad; spαdαNtə, ‘seedy, exhausted’, Lat. spado; spα:d, ‘spade’.§ 399. kruədαlαχ, ‘hardy’, Di. cruadhalach, cruadálach, probably owes its d to fαdαlαχ, ‘slow’, = fad-dálach. ə N′o̤məd, ‘great number’, o̤mədu:l′, ‘numerous’, ə N′o̤mətə = ə N′o̤məd, go back to O.Ir. imbed which should give *ïm′uw. Judging from the spellings immat, iumat, imat in Atk., imat (Laws), the modern form with d already occurred in M.Ir. Can the d be due to form-association with O.Ir. méit, mét, which is closely allied in meaning? dæg′αn, ‘depths’, M.Ir. oician has got its d from do:n′, ‘deep’.
§ 400. d′ corresponds in formation to t′ but is voiced. A somewhat similar sound occurs in such English words as ‘individual’ when not pronounced with dʒ.
§ 401. Initially d′ represents O.Ir. d before e, i, or preceding r, l, followed by these vowels, e.g. d′αləg, ‘thorn’, O.Ir. delg; d′αrəməd, ‘forgetfulness’, O.Ir. dermet; d′er′uw, ‘end’, O.Ir. dered; d′iə, ‘God’, O.Ir. día; d′ĩ:wi:n′, ‘single’, M.Ir. dímáin; d′l′iuw, ‘law’, O.Ir. dliged; d′ɔ:r, ‘tear’, M.Ir. dér; d′r′eim′ir′ə, ‘ladder’, cp. M.Ir. dréimm; d′r′iʃɔg, ‘briar’, O.Ir. driss; d′u:Ltuw, ‘refuse’, O.Ir. díltud.
The eclipsed form of t′ is also d′, e.g. to̤guw ə d′i:r′ ə, ‘he was brought round’ (of a sick person); ℊα: d′r′iən, ‘two thirds’; χUə mwid′ ər d′r′u:r, ‘the three of us went’.
§ 402. Medial and final d′ in native words arose from an earlier dd standing before e or i which in O. and M.Ir. was written tt, t. This dd represents i. Prim. Keltic dd in k′r′ed′əm, ‘I believe’, O.Ir. cretim, Welsh credu, Sanskrit šrad-dhā-. ii. Prim. Keltic nt in m′eid′, ‘size’, O.Ir. méit, Welsh maint; fwəid′, ‘patience’, O.Ir. foditiu from fo-damim; b′r′eid′i:n′, ‘rag’, M.Ir. bréit. iii. Prim. Keltic zd in kyd′, ‘piece, share’, O.Ir. cuit; mwæd′ə, ‘stick’, cp. M.Ir. maite, matan, Engl. mast; ʃeid′uw, ‘to blow’, M.Ir. sétim.
§ 403. In earlier loan-words medial and final d′ corresponds to a Romance or English t which was received as a lenis and later became d′, e.g. bwid′αl, ‘bottle’; in′id′, in mα:rt′ in′id′ə, ‘Shrove Tuesday’, M.Ir. init, Lat. initium; Læd′ïn, ‘Latin’, < Latina; mwæd′ïn′, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.), Lat. matutina; pwæd′r′i:n′, ‘rosary’, < Lat. pater; srα:d′, ‘street’, M.Ir. sráit, Norse sráit. Latin words ending in -atio appear with -ɔd′, -æd′, e.g. po̤rəgɔd′, ‘purgative’, Di. purgóid; t′r′ïblɔd′, ‘trouble’, M.Ir. treblait, < tribulatio; ɔ:ræd′, ‘speech’, < Lat. orate, oratio. This ending was also wrongly abstracted from one or two native words such as N′αskɔd′, ‘boil’, M.Ir. nescoit; o̤rəχɔd′, ‘harm’, O.Ir. erchoit and was transferred to English loan-words such as bαskɔd′, ‘basket’; bo̤kɔd′, ‘bucket’; p′ïkɔd′, ‘pick’. b′r′ïŋlɔd′, ‘dream’, Meyer bringlóit, perhaps also belongs here.
§ 404. Occasionally there is confusion between d and d′. M.Ir. drúcht generally appears as d′r′u:χtə; æd′væl′, ‘to confess’, M.Ir. atmail, has been influenced by k′r′ed′væl′; o̤lℊα:rdəs, ‘rejoicing’, is the Donegal for Di. iolgháirdeas; d′αr·di:n′, ‘Thursday’, O.Ir. dardóen, has d′ by analogy with d′α Lu:n′, ‘Monday’ &c.
do, ‘tuus’, and the verbal particle do before an O.Ir. palatal initial usually appear as d′, e.g. d′αr, ‘your husband’; d′ɛədən, ‘your face’; but generally tα: L′eʃk′ ɔrəm det′uw, ‘I am loath to refuse you’; d′iNiʃ m′ə, ‘I related’.
§ 405. The relation of m′ihid′, ‘due time’, to Wi. mithich, mithig is not clear. Donegal also has a substantive m′ihəs. It is perhaps worthy of note that m′ihid′ is commonly accompanied by the preposition də, ‘to’, and both *m′ihih and m′ihid′ would appear as m′ihi before də. bwi:d′αχ, ‘tiny’, is perhaps the same as Scotch G. bóidheach, ‘pretty’, < M.Ir. buadech, ‘victorious’. bwi:d′αχ is generally used along with b′ïg, as in g′ïtə b′ïg bwi:d′αχ, ‘a tiny, little bit’. The d′ is due to such adjectives as m′ieid′αχ, ‘impatient’. For the meaning cp. German klein with Engl. clean.
§ 406. d′ disappears after the negative N′i: in the parts of d′er′əm, ‘I say’, e.g. N′i: ɛrsə, ‘he does not say’; N′i: ɛ:r̥ə m′ə, ‘I shall not say’; N′i: u:rt′ m′ə, ‘I did not say’ (more commonly N′i:r′ u:rt′ m′ə); but mα d′ɛrsə, ‘if he says’.
§ 407. The off-glide which accompanies d′ is frequently not heard before a following consonant. This we denote by writing d(′), e.g. vi: bαskɔd(′) l′eihə, ə m′ɛd(′) klɔχ, du:rt(′) m′ə.
§ 408. In d′αləgαn, ‘the white of an egg’, d′ arises by dissimilation from g′ cp. Di. gealacán, Macleod gealagán.
§ 409. The Irish k is formed much further back against the soft palate than is the case in English or German. This marked velar quality is not without influence on neighbouring vowels, thus i(:) commonly becomes retracted to y(:) after k and g. Before palatal vowels an off-glide resembling a w-sound is clearly heard. Like p and t k is strongly aspirated and therefore a verb with stem ending in k may be identical in the present and future, e.g. d′αrky(:) ʃə, ‘he looks’ or ‘will look’. For k as a lenis see § 438.
§ 410. Initially k corresponds to O.Ir. c before other vowels than e or i, or preceding l and r followed by these vowels, e.g. kαm, ‘bent’, O.Ir. camm; kαrid′, ‘friend’, O.Ir. cara; kïl′αn, ‘pup’, M.Ir. cuilen; kɔləg, ‘awn’, M.Ir. colg; kɔsu:l′, ‘similar’, O.Ir. cosmail; kõ:rL′ə, ‘advice’, O.Ir. comairle; ko̤Luw, ‘sleep’, O.Ir. cotlud; ko̤Lαχ, ‘boar’, O.Ir. cullach; ku:rt′, ‘visit’, O.Ir. cuairt; ku:l, ‘back’, O.Ir. cúul; kyL′ ‘wood’, M.Ir. caill; klα:r, ‘board’, O.Ir. claar; klæʃ, ‘furrow’, M.Ir. class; kræk′əN, ‘skin’, O.Ir. croccenn; krα̃:v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim.
§ 411. Medial and final k in native words represents an older kk which in O.Ir. is written cc, e.g. αku:N′ ‘strength, endurance’, Di. acfuinn, M.Ir. accmaing; bαkαχ ‘lame’, M.Ir. baccach; bαkαn, ‘hook, peg, armful’, O.Ir. bacc (ə mo̤n ə wαkæn′, ‘staying at home to keep house’); bɔk, ‘he-goat’, O.Ir. bocc, Welsh bwch, Sanskrit bukka; b′r′αk, ‘variegated, a trout’, M.Ir. brecc; glαkuw, ‘to take’, M.Ir. glaccad; kαk, ‘excrement’, M.Ir. cacc, Gk. κάκκη; kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; L′αkin′, ‘cheek’, M.Ir. lecco; mαk, ‘son’, O.Ir. macc; m′αkæn′, ‘turnips’, O.Ir. mecon; ɔkrəs, ‘hunger’, M.Ir. accorus; trɔ:kir′ə, ‘mercy’, should have g but has probably been influenced by O.Ir. carimm, see Pedersen p. 148.
Latin loan-words with cc also appear with k, e.g. p′αkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad, Lat. peccatum; sαk, ‘bag, sack’, M.Ir. sacc, O.E. sacc, Lat. saccus; ʃïk, ‘frost’, M.Ir. sicc, < Lat. siccum.
§ 412. After l, r and s Ir. k represents Prim. Keltic k which in O.Ir. is written cc, c, e.g. ɔlk, ‘bad’, O.Ir. olcc; αrk ʃL′eivə, ‘lizard’, M.Ir. erc; d′αrkəm, ‘I look’, M.Ir. dercaim; ö̤:rk, ‘horn’, O.Ir. adarc.
§ 413. In late loan-words from English k represents Engl. k, e.g. pɔ:kə, ‘pocket’, < Engl. poke, pocket; stα:kə, ‘stake’; stɔkə, ‘stocking’; sLo:k, ‘sloke’. Probably also plo̤k, ‘cheek’, < Engl. block; pu:kə, ‘a sprite’, Norse puki (?); ʃu:krə, ‘sugar’, French sucre.
§ 414. k sometimes arises from g followed by h < th, e.g. L′ïkə, ‘overthrown’, infin. L′ïgən; pɔ:kə m′ə, ‘I shall kiss’, from pɔ:guw. In ʃL′i:kuw, ‘to smooth down’, the k of the past part. and future seems to have been carried through, cp. Di. slíogadh. ko̤ki:ʃ, ‘fortnight’, has k for k′, M.Ir. cóicthiges.
§ 415. In a number of words the various Gaelic dialects hesitate between g and k. Donegal usually has k in these cases, e.g. klα:bər, ‘mire’, Di. Macbain clábar and gláib; krɔ:g′uw, ‘footing peat’, krɔ:g′αn, ‘a foot of peat, a diminutive person’, Di. cruiceadh, gruaigeadh, grógán, O’R. gróigein, Macbain gròigean; klα͠uwərt′, ‘picking where there is no grass’ (of cows), cp. Di. glámaim; kruəgy:, ‘liver’, O’R. grubhan, Macbain grùthan, grùan (for the ending cp. skα͠ukwɔg); koihαn, ‘torch’, O’R. gaithean, ‘a straight branch’ (?); kαb, ‘the part of the face between the upper lip and the nose, mouth’, kαbαχ, ‘with gusto’, Di. cab, which Macbain derives from Engl. gap and gab. αspUk, ‘bishop’, stands for αskəb, αskUb by metathesis.
§ 416. truəkαNtə, ‘wretched’, Di. truaghánta, owes its ending to words like mαkαNtə. A parasitic k occurs in ʃαnəχəsk, ‘gossiping, story-telling’, M.Ir. senchus. In gɔrti:wə l′ɛ, ‘depending on’, = i gcortaobh le, we probably have the older form of Di. tortaobh: “P. O’C. says tortaobh = cortaobh”.
k appears instead of k′ in ko̤Nỹ:, ‘tame’, M.Ir. cendaid.
§ 417. By this symbol we denote a palatal k formed with the middle of the tongue against the hard palate. When final a j-off-glide is visually heard. Like k k′ is aspirated and a following th, fh is therefore not heard as a separate sound, e.g. fα:ʃk′ər = fáiscthear. For k′ as lenis see § 438.
§ 418. Initial k′ represents O.Ir. c before e, i, or preceding l, r followed by these vowels, e.g. k′αd, ‘leave’, O.Ir. cet; k′αχtər, ‘either’, O.Ir. cechtar; k′αNsuw, ‘to pacify’, O.Ir. cense; k′αp, ‘last’, M.Ir. cep; k′αrt, ‘right’, M.Ir. cert; k′ɛəsLαχ, ‘fine wool on the legs of a sheep, stick for propelling a coracle’, Di. céaslach; k′el′əm, ‘I hide’, O.Ir. celimm; k′ïn, ‘regard’, Meyer cin; k′iəL, ‘sense’, O.Ir. cíall; k′in′uw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. ciniud; k′ɔ:, ‘mist’, M.Ir. ceó; k′ɔ:l, ‘music’, M.Ir. ceól; k′u:n′, ‘still’, M.Ir. ciúin; k′ũ:ʃ ‘edge’, Meyer cimas; k′l′iuw, ‘basket’, M.Ir. clíab; k′l′αuwni:, ‘son-in-law’, Meyer clíamain; k′r′αχ, ‘damage, ruin’, M.Ir. crech; k′r′iç, ‘trembling’, M.Ir. crith.
§ 419. Medial and final k′ in native words goes back to an older kk before original e, i whether preserved or lost. In O.Ir. cc, c is written, e.g. m′in′ik′, ‘frequent’, O.Ir. menicc, Welsh mynych. In inflected forms of words ending in k as kro̤k, gen. sing. krik′, sαk, gen. sing. sik′.
In earlier loan-words k′ = kk in ʃteik′αχə, ‘bowels’, M.Ir. stæc, Norse stakka (RC. xii 460).
In late borrowings from English k′ = Engl. k, e.g. strα:k′, ‘swath’, < strake.
§ 420. Prim. Keltic (Idg.) k is retained after l, r, s, e.g., d′eir′k′ə, ‘alms’, O.Ir. deirce; ïm′ir′k′ə, ‘removing’, M.Ir. immirce, immirge; kɔr′k′ə, ‘oats’, Meyer coirce; iʃk′ə, ‘water’, O.Ir. uisce.
§ 421. k′ appears for g′ in Lα:r′ik′, ‘thigh’, Macbain làirig, M.Ir. laarg, O.Ir. loarcc. Here k′ may be due to the plural form Lα:r′ik′αχə, but this explanation will not hold good in other cases where Donegal seems to prefer final k′ to g′. The words in question are ge:l′ik′, ‘Irish’, M.Ir. goedeilg (in this word the voiceless sound is wide-spread, e.g. in the Isle of Man and Waterford, cp. Henebry p. 64); No̤Lik′, ‘Christmas’, Di. nodlaig (Finck has k′); kαrik′, ‘rock’, Di. Macbain carraig (Finck has g′); pα:drik′, ‘Patrick’, Pádruig (Finck has g′); hen′ik′, ‘came’, Di. tháinig, partly influenced by hen′ik′, ‘saw’. kɔʃr′ik′i:m, ‘I consecrate’, Di. coisreacaim, with k′ from the participle kɔʃr′əkə which is the commonest form of the verb used.
§ 422. k′ arises in futures and past participles from g′ + h (< fh, th), e.g. L′ik′ə m′ə, ‘I shall let’; t′r′eik′ə, ‘abandoned’.
§ 423. k′ appears instead of k in k′l′uw, ‘fame’, O.Ir. clú, k′l′u:t′αχ, ‘famous’, Scotch G. cliù; k′i:mwæl′, ‘to worry, contend’, Di. ciomaim < Engl. comb.
§ 424. This symbol denotes the voiced sound corresponding to k for which see § 409.
§ 425. Initially g corresponds to O.Ir. g before the vowels a, o, u or preceding l, r, n, followed by these vowels, e.g. gαd, ‘switch’, M.Ir. gat; gα:r′ə, ‘a laugh’, M.Ir. gáire; gα:wuw, ‘jeopardy’, M.Ir. gábud; ger′id′, ‘short’, O.Ir. garit; ge:l′ik′, ‘Irish’, M.Ir. goedeilg; gɔlər, ‘disease’, O.Ir. galar; go:, ‘smith’, O.Ir. goba; g⅄:, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáith; gö̤:r, ‘hound’, M.Ir. gagar, gadar; gyr′im′, ‘call’, M.Ir. gairm; gy:, ‘beseech’, O.Ir. gude, guide; glαn, ‘clean’, O.Ir. glan; grui, ‘cheek’, M.Ir. gruad; grα:χ, ‘usual’, = gnáthach < O.Ir. gnáth.
The eclipsed form of k is g, e.g. mər gyd′, ‘your share’; ə gαhær′, ‘in a city’; er′ gu:l, ‘back, behind’, cp. jiərəgu:l, ‘remote spot’, Di. iargcúil. The prefix con- further causes this change in old compounds with initial c, e.g. ko̤gər, ‘whisper’, M.Ir. cocur = con-cur; kαgnuw, ‘to chew’, M.Ir. cocnam = con-cnám; ko̤gu:s, ‘conscience’, O.Ir. cocubus. See also next paragraph.
§ 426. Medially and finally g arises from older gg which in O. and M.Ir. is written cc, c. This gg arises from i. Prim. Keltic gg by assimilation in αgəs, ‘and’, O.Ir. ocus, also ə wo̤gəs, ‘near’, O.Ir. ocus; bo̤g, ‘soft’, O.Ir. bocc; bαgər, ‘threaten’, M.Ir. bacur; Lo̤g, ‘weak’, M.Ir. lac; sLo̤gəm, ‘I swallow’, M.Ir. slucim, slocim; smo̤g, ‘snot’, Di. smug. ii. nk with compensatory lengthening, e.g. ɛəg, ‘death’, M.Ir. éc, O.Welsh ancou; g′ɛəg, ‘branch’, M.Ir. géc, Welsh cainc; ɛəgsα͠uwəLtə, ‘prodigious’, cp. O.Ir. écsamail < *n̥ + consm̥malis. iii. Prim. Keltic zg, e.g. m′ɛəg, ‘whey’, M.Ir. medg, Gaulish Lat. mesga; tö̤:g, ‘Thady’, O.Ir. Tadg, Gaulish Moritascus; mo̤gəl, ‘mesh’, O.Ir. mocol <*mozgu-, but why is there no lengthening of the vowel as in the two previous cases? The same question arises if we connect b′ïg, ‘small’, O.Ir. becc, with Lat. vescus. iv. O.Ir. assimilation of th + g, th + c in f′r′ïgrə, ‘answer’, O.Ir. frecre; t′ïgəsk, ‘teaching’, M.Ir. tecosc < to-aith-cosc.
Prim. Keltic g is preserved after l, r, e.g. d′αləg, ‘thorn’, O.Ir. delg; d′αrəg, ‘red’, O.Ir. derg; f′αrəg, ‘anger’, O.Ir. ferg; ʃɛl′ig′ < ʃαləg, ‘hunting’, O.Ir. selg. Similarly in the loan-word po̤rəgɔd′, ‘purgative’. Donegal also has kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, M.Ir. corgus < Lat. quadragesima, but as the other dialects have gh (Di. corghas, Macbain carghus) the form is to be compared with the cases mentioned below in § 429.
§ 427. In earlier loan-words Lat. and Norse medial (final) c entered Irish as a lenis and ultimately gave g. The earliest borrowings undergo aspiration, e.g. bachall < baculus, laoch < laicus, for other instances see Pedersen p. 170. Examples – ïgliʃ, ‘the clergy’, O.Ir. eclais, Lat. ecclesia; brɔ:g, ‘shoe’, Meyer bróc, Norse brók; g′r′ɛəgαχ, ‘Greek’; mαrəguw, ‘market’, M.Ir. margad, Norse markaðr (RC. xi 494); pɔ:g, ‘kiss’, O.Ir. póc, Lat. pacem; sïgərt, ‘priest’, O.Ir. sacard, Lat. sacerdos; ʃïgəl, ‘rye’, M.Ir. secul, Lat. secale; d′ïgənαχ, ‘dean’, Lat. decanus.
§ 428. g arises from O.Ir. c in pretonic syllables. For gαχ, O.Ir. cach, cech; gən, ‘without’, O.Ir. cen; gə, O.Ir. co; gə·d′e:, O.Ir. cate, cote see Diss. pp. 12, 14, 33, 36. k′ɛ in k′ɛ gə, ‘though’, k′e:, ‘who’, and kα, k′α, ‘where’, never have g, g′. This also occurs before the stress in gæ·ʃαrəwan, ‘dandelion’, Di. caisearbhán; gæ·ʃα:, ‘pant’, cp. casachtach (?). The g of gɔʃt′ə, ‘jury’, Di. coiste, cannot be explained in this way. The form is to be compared with the cases of hesitation between k and g mentioned in § 415.
§ 429. In a number of instances we find O.Ir. d (i.e. dh) occurring in Donegal as g. Monosyllables ending in -eadh, -eagh, -iogh, regularly appear with -ïg, e.g. f′ïg, ‘length’, O.Ir. ed (commonly written feag by Donegal writers, cp. D. P. 21 xi ’03 p. 3 col. 3, Craig Iasg.); f′l′ïg, ‘chickweed’, Manx flig or flee, Hogan, O’R. fliodh, fligh, Di. flich; ʃL′ïg, ‘spear’, M.Ir. sleg; f′ïg, ‘rush’, according to J. H. has the alternative pronunciation f′ə⅄ and may therefore represent M.Ir. *fed but Hogan has fiag, Di. feog. The adjective termination -dha tends to become -gə < -ℊə, cp. Henebry p. 60, G. J. 1891 p. 79 col. 2, e.g. dɔrəgə, ‘stern, cross-looking’, Keat. dorrdha, Macbain durga, also dɔrəgə, ‘fishing-line’, Di. dorugha, doruighe; krɔ:gə, ‘valiant’, M.Ir. cróda; further d′iəgαNtə, ‘pious’, d′iəgir′ə, ‘a pious person’ <*diəgə, Henebry diaga p. 60, O.Ir. díade. Similarly to̤gə, ‘strap on flail’ (?). g represents gh jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó; kɔrəgəs, ‘Lent’, Di. corghas, M.Ir. corgus. rïgræʃt′ə beside rə⅄ræʃt′ə, ‘arrears’, Di. riaraiste, seems based on Engl. ‘arrears’ but I cannot explain the form.
§ 430. This symbol represents a palatal g similar in formation to k′ but voiced.
§ 431. g′ corresponds to O.Ir. initial g followed by e, i or preceding r, l, n followed by these vowels, e.g. g′αL, ‘promise’, O.Ir. gell; g′ɛvr′uw, ‘winter’, M.Ir. gemred; g′ɛ:r, ‘sharp’, M.Ir. gér; g′ïLə, ‘servant’, M.Ir. gilla; g′u:s, ‘fir’, M.Ir. gíus; g′l′αN, ‘valley’, M.Ir. glend; g′l′ɛəs, ‘meaus, instrument’, M.Ir. glés; g′r′ɛəsαn, ‘web’, M.Ir. gréss; g′r′iən, ‘sun’, O.Ir. grían.
g′ also occurs initially as the eclipsed form of k′, e.g. ə g′αrt, ‘alright’, i gceart; bo̤nuw Nə g′αL, ‘the people of Killybegs’, bunadh na gCeall. Medially in eig′iəL, ‘lack of sense’, cp. Di. éigcialluidhe.
§ 432. Medially and finally g′ goes back to an older gg before a palatal vowel (O.Ir. written cc, c), e.g. sm′ig′, ‘chin’, M.Ir. smeice; ʃL′ig′αn, ‘shell’, O.Ir. slice. This gg frequently represents Prim. Kelt. nk, e.g. eig′ən, ‘necessity’, O.Ir. écen, W. angen; ku:g′, ‘five’, O.Ir. cóic < *qonqe; L′ig′əm, ‘I let’, O.Ir. léiccim, cp. Lat. linquo; t′ig′əm, ‘I come’, O.Ir. ticc; t′r′eig′əm, ‘I abandon’, M.Ir. trécim, W. trancu.
g′ goes back to a lenis in the loan-word dæg′αn, ‘depths’, M.Ir. oician, Lat. oceanus; also in klæg′əN, ‘skull’, Di. cloigeann, Meyer cloccenn < *cloch-chenn, cp. Pedersen p. 146.
§ 433. After r, l g′ goes back to Idg. g, e.g. m′ir′ig′, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg; fαrəg′ə, ‘sea’, O.Ir. fairggæ, foirrce; ær′əg′ïd, ‘money’, O.Ir. arget, W. ariant.
§ 434. g′ appears for d′ in two words. This substitution seems to take place not infrequently in Sc. Gaelic dialects, cp. ZCP. iv 507. The words in question are g′r′i:dαn, ‘dregs’, = Di. Macbain dríodar; g′ɔ:kαn to̤·bαkə, ‘a small lump of tobacco’, Di. geocán and diúcán, deocán. The form with d′ also occurs in d′ïkαn m′ïn′ə, ‘a small quantity of meal’. For k′ and g′ in krɔ:g′uw see § 415.
g′ represents Engl. j in g′ïtə, Di. giota, ‘bit’, < Engl. ‘jot’.
§ 435. Occasionally g′ is hardened from O.Ir. d, g (=gh), thus regularly in the imperative second plur. of all verbs, though it must have arisen in verbs of the second conjugation. The ending was -ighidh, i.e. iji: which gave -ig′i:, e.g. ïm′ig′i:, ‘depart’; b′ig′i:, ‘be’; d′α:nig′i:, ‘do’. Craig (Grammar² p. 123) quotes a form with d (= d′) which I have never heard. This is evidently the same as Manx -jee (Rhys p. 154 where a wrong explanation is given). We further find g′ for gh in ũig′, ‘cave’ (also ũi) < uaigh, M.Ir. uag (the words for ‘cave’ and ‘grave’ have been confused), cp. Di. uaig; in′ig′iL′t′, ‘grazing’, Di. ingheilt; ig′iN′, ‘ring to put round the neck of cattle’ (not in dictionaries), formed from M.Ir. id (?).
§ 436. Intervocalic g seems to have a tendency to become a spirant and to disappear in Donegal. The only instance I find in Finck is the case of the preposition ag with the pronominal suffixes (l.c. i p. 127, əs < əgəs does not belong here), cp. § 170. But in the peninsula of Glencolumbkille this treatment of intervocalic g seems to be regular in the word for ‘priest’ and the pronominal forms of ag, see G. J. 1891 p. 79 col. 2. In Meenawannia g′ is treated in this way in kə·tiə, ‘why’, < cad chuige; i:N′t′αχ, ‘a certain’, < éiginteach, íginteach (i:n′αχ also occurs < eig′in′αχ), cp. Di. s. éigin.
- Notes (author)
- Nearly all the Irish sounds which are usually termed palatalised are palatal but for purposes of convenience the same symbol is used for both indiscriminately in this book. The palatal articulation has of course developed out of palatalisation.
- These sounds are perhaps to be compared with Danish final consonants, cp. Jespersen, Fonetik p. 511.
- It is interesting to note that the native prosody classes ll, nn, rr, m and ng together.
- Notes (Wikisource)
- Sic; f′r′i:d′
- Missing punctuation mark: ;
- Sic; go̤Ldər?
- Sic; b′r′iʃt′ə
- Sic; apparently l according to the following examples.
- Sic; ‘shame’
- Sic; α or ə
- Sic; O.Ir.
- Sic; i
- Sic; L′αnu:N′t′
- Sic; N′i:
- The last example belongs in the following paragraph as it shows the lenition (in Quiggin’s terminology, “aspiration”) of ʃN′αχtə.
- Sic; m′ə
- Sic; k′αhərNαχ
- Missing punctuation mark: ’
- Sic; m′eiçə.
- Sic; b′e:
- Sic; t′αχ
- Sic; ʃe:
- Sic; stræti.
- Also n.