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 By i we denote several shades of i-sounds varying from a middle to a close i. In the neighbour&shy;hood of non-palatal conso&shy;nants i undergoes certain modifi&shy;cations which will be mentioned under y in §.

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

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

Before palatal consonants i appears instead of ï in accented syllables contain&shy;ing a, o, u. Examples—–


 * O.Ir. a—dirʹə, ‘Derry’, O.Ir. daire; diLʹ, gen. sing. of dαL, ‘blind’, M.Ir. dall; girʹivə, compar. of gαruw, ‘rough’, O.Ir. garb; giNʹə, compar. of gαN, ‘scarce’, O.Ir. gand; giNʹəstə, ‘unawares’ < gan fhios; girʹimʹ, ‘call’, M.Ir. gairm; irʹimʹ, nom. plur. of αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm; siNʹtʹ, ‘avarice’, Di. sainnt < O.Ir. sant; tʹiʃïNʹtʹ, ‘to shew’, M.Ir. taisfénad, cp. Pedersen p. 163 f.
 * O.Ir. o—brimʹ, ‘crepitus ventris’, M.Ir. broimm; dirʹibʹ, ‘a water-worm living at the bottom of pools, when swallowed by cattle it causes a disease which only the Cassidy’s can cure’, Di. doirbh; girʹimʹə, compar. of gɔrəm, ‘blue’, M.Ir. gorm; iʃɔilʹ, ‘game’, < os, ‘deer’ + feóil; kligʹ, gen. sing. of klo̤g, ‘bell’, O.Ir. clocc; krikʹ, nom. plur. of kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; Liɲ, dat. of Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’; mwiLʹtʹ, nom. plur. of mɔLt, ‘wether’, O.Ir. molt. Note also the new gen. sing. kyr̥ʹimʹ formed from kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthrom.