Page:Alexander Macbain - An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language.djvu/46

xxii. nom. plural before vowels (na h‑òighean = *sendâs augeis), also O’ H- of Irish; and it may be the origin in most cases of prothetic s.

(4) Pre-consonantal s. A prehistoric case of ‑sr is not forth&shy;coming, but éirich comes from *ek-s-regô. Before l, m, and n the s dis&shy;appears, and the liquid is doubled (m of Gaelic being for older mm), as already shown under these letters. Medial sv appears as f in the older language (see seinn), and it is still seen in tabhann (*to-sven‑), feabhas.


 * Before the explosives, s is preserved before the tenues, which in the modern language become mediæ. The combi&shy;nation sp is not certain; but ‑sc becomes ‑sg (see fasgadh, seasg, measg, etc.), st becomes s (older ss) simply, as in seas (= *sisto‑), fois, fàs, dos, etc. Before the medials s becomes z, which see for results in Gaelic; *sg becomes g; sp becomes s.

(5) Post-consonantal s. After the liquid r the s is assimilated to the r, and the result is rr, as in bàrr, èarr, etc. From ‑ls- seemingly s results, at least in the later language; ‑ms, ‑ns become s with compen&shy;satory lengthen&shy;ing for the previous vowel; ‑ds becomes t, as in an t‑each (= *sindos eqos); Thn. adds fitir (= *vid-sar). For m-sh = mp, see under m.


 * The explosives combine with the s and disappear into O. Ir. ss, now s, as in uasal (= *oups- or *ouks‑), lus, leas (*led-so‑), lios, as, out (= eks), and many others.

Gaelic preserved s intervocalic, therefore, arises from (1) st, as in seas; (2) from ‑ms, ‑ns, as in mìos; and (3) from ‑ps, ‑ts, ‑cs. Gaelic ‑st arises from this s by a sort of modern resto&shy;ration of previous st, only, however, x may also become modern st (as in aiste, now aisde, out of her). Final x dis&shy;appears, as in caora, sè.

Even in I. E. this is assured only before the medial explo&shy;sives. Thus G. nead, nest, is from I. E. nizdo‑s: so maide, brod, cead, gad, séid. Again ‑zg seems to have developed in G. into g; compare beag, biog, mèag, griogag, eagal (= ex-gal‑), rag.

The I. E. explosives formed a possible sixteen in number between tenues, mediæ and the double set of aspirates (ph, bh, th, dh, kh, gh, qh, ꬶh). The tenues aspirate were “rare and of no import&shy;ance” in the resulting languages, save only in Sanskrit and Greek. The mediæ aspirates are the prede&shy;cessors of aspirates of the modern languages. But in the Celtic languages these media