Page:Quiggin Dialect of Donegal 0058.png

 find α꞉, though before ç, rʹ a kind of j on-glide is heard. Thus tα꞉juw, ‘to weld’, Di. táthaim, pret. hα꞉i mʹə but fut. tα꞉çə mʹə; sα꞉huw, pres. pass. sα꞉tʹər; imperf. hα꞉tʹi꞉; α꞉rʹi꞉ʃtʹə, ‘reckoned, calculat&shy;ed, reputed’, past part. of α꞉rʹi꞉m, ‘I count’, O.Ir. áirmim (α꞉rʹuw is used principal&shy;ly of counting sprats, kale &c. in threes); mα꞉rʹə, ‘Mary’; α꞉lʹ, gen. sing. of α꞉l, ‘litter’, Meyer ál; rα꞉çə, ‘quarter of a year’, M.Ir. ráthe; gα꞉rʹə, ‘laugh’ (subst.), M.Ir. gáire; ər dα꞉rʹ, ‘bulling’, M.Ir. dáir (note the pres. pass. dα꞉rtʹər).

In several instances α꞉i arises by the contraction of two syllables caused by the quies&shy;cence of inter&shy;vocalic th, bh, gh, dh, e.g. brα꞉i, ‘hostage, prisoner’, M.Ir. brage (this word is also used to mean ‘unfilled ears of corn’) but brα꞉dʹ, ‘throat’, from the oblique cases of O.Ir. bráge, cp. kyt wrα꞉dʹ, ‘king’s evil’; blα꞉içə, gen. sing. of blα꞉χ, ‘butter-milk’, M.Ir. bláthach, dat. sing. blα꞉i; vα̃꞉i mʹə, ‘I weighed’ (fut. mʹα̃꞉ihə mʹə) < mheadh&shy;aigh mé, Di. meadhaim, Donegal mʹα꞉jəm, past part. mʹα꞉tʹə, imperf. pass. vα̃꞉tʹi꞉.

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

α̃꞉u represents O.Ir. accented á followed by final m (Mod.Ir. mh), e.g. krα̃꞉uw, gen. plur. of krα̃꞉v, ‘bone’, O.Ir. cnáim, pʹiən Nə grα̃꞉uw, ‘rheuma&shy;tism’; Lα̃꞉uw, ‘hand’, O.Ir. lám; sNα̃꞉uw, ‘swimming’, M.Ir. snám; tuəmʹ tα̃꞉uw, ‘idle rumour’, for tuəmʹ see §. When a syllable beginning with a vowel is added u becomes w, thus lα̃꞉wə ʃi꞉, ‘she handled’, from Lα̃꞉uw, ‘hand’.

A diphthong ɔi occurs in a few words before ç, h < O.Ir. th. Hence the second element of ɔi is really the on-glide of the following palatal sound. Examples—bɔihαχ, ‘byre’, Meyer bó-thech; dɔiçəL, ‘shyness (of horses)’, Di. doicheall; klɔiç, dat. sing. of klɔχ, ‘stone’; kɔiçə, ‘blast, whirlwind’, connected with Di. cobhthach, coifeach; kɔihαn, ‘torch’, O’R. gaithean (?). Oc&shy;casional&shy;ly ɔi may be heard in secondary syllables, as in bʹαχɔigʹə also bʹαχægʹə, gen. sing. of bʹαχɔg, ‘bee’. For wɔ̃ihi꞉, pret. of mαihi꞉m, ‘I feel, perceive’, Di. moth&shy;uighim see