Page:A contribution to the phonology of Desi-Irish to serve as an introduction to the metrical system of Munster Poetry (IA contributiontoph00henerich).pdf/12

 Munster Irish. It was called „Munster Poetry“ perhaps from the collection bearing the title „Poets and Poetry of Munster“ printed by O'Daly, At any rate though prevalent all over Ireland the system attained its highest degree of perfection in the hands of the 17$th$ and 18$th$ century professional rhymers of that province.

A triple subdivision of Munster is made necessary by the fact that short accented vowels in heavy syllables assume at least three distinct grades of intonation. The members of this partition shall be called 1· Thomond (Clare, Limerick), 2· Desmond (Cork, Kerry), and 3· the country of the Dési comprising Waterford and the southern portion of Tipperary. As the last-mentioned division is my native language-territory I shall treat of its dialect specially giving such references to the variant usages in the others as will be helpful towards the reading of the whole body of Munster Poetry.

The district here called the country of the Dēsi or shortly Dēsi, is that comprised by the present Dioceses of Waterford an Lismore. To this add the baronies of Iverk and Ida in Kilkenny. Boundaries: From the Meeting of the three Waters below Waterford to Dunmore, along the coast to Youghal, by the Blackwater to Lismore, over Cnoc Mael domnaig to the meeting point of Cork, Limerick and Tipperary at Kilbehenny, along the Galtees to Sliabh na mban, along the Walsh Mountains to Tory Hill and to The Meeting of the Three Waters. The inhabitants may be distinguished by their sur-names into various races; Irish, Cymric, Danish, Norman and English. In East Waterford the Norman element prevails hence the name Duthaigh Paorach, the territory of the Le Poers.

§1. Small uncials and text will be used to connote broad and slender sounds respectively. This distinction will extend to the vowels also in so far as they suffer variation