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 ‘attempt to violate’; kαriə, ‘stag’, Di. cairrfhiadh; b′r′iʃk′ ꬶlɔ:rαχ, ‘lively’, Di. brioscghlórach; kũwαnəN, ‘alike’, Di. coimhionann; L′ïnədαχ, ‘linen’, Di. lín-éadach.

2. Metathesis. Metathesis is a frequent phenomenon in Gaelic dialects as will be patent to anyone turning over the leaves of Dinneen’s dictionary. It is scarcely possible to formulate any general principle but a tendency to place l and r sounds before the stressed vowel is observable in a number of instances (cp. Henebry p. 75), e.g. klo̤pwid′ə, ‘wrinkle in cloth, small enclosure’, Di. cluipide < M.Ir. culpait, cp. Meyer clupait; krõ̤χər, ‘Connor’, M.Ir. Conchobar; krö̤:rək, ‘light red’, Di. craorac > caor-dhearg; ro̤bəL, ‘tail’, M.Ir. erball; trαsNə, ‘athwart’, M.Ir. tarsnu; t′r′ïmuw, ‘drying’, Di. tiormughadh; t′l′ig′ən, ‘vomiting’, Di. teilgim. Cp. further Di. cruadal < comhluadar.

Common to all Gaelic dialects is the substitution of ʃt′ for t′ʃ in native and old loan-words such as eiʃt′αχt, ‘to listen’, O.Ir. éitsecht; bwæʃt′əm, ‘I baptize’, O.Ir. baitsim; as well as in later borrowings from English, where ʃt′ also represents dʒ, e.g. kαræʃt′ə, ‘carriage’; k′iʃt′ənαχ, ‘kitchen’; Lɔ:ʃt′i:n′, ‘lodging’.

Further instances of metathesis – αsəlṟiαχt, ‘magic, divination’, Di. asarluidheacht; αLtuw, ‘grace (before meat)’, O.Ir. atluchur; αskəL, ‘arm-pit’, M.Ir. ochsal; αspəl, ‘apostle’, O.Ir. apstal; d′iʃL′ə, gen. sing. fem. of d′i:l′iʃ ‘dear’, α χri: Nə d′i:ʃL′ə, a term of great endearment, cp. CI. S. 18 vi ’04 p. 5 col. 4; eN′t′ə, ‘kernel’, Di. eithne, Macbain eite, eitean, M.Ir. ettne; kõhərə, ‘sign’, Di. comhartha; kõ:nir′, ‘coffin’, < comhrainn inflected form of comhra, ‘chest’, Meyer comra (comhraidh Sg. Fearn. p. 96); ko̤f′αlαn, ‘crowd’, < M.Ir. comthinól; kɔʃr′ïkəm, ‘I consecrate’, Di. coisreacaim, Lat. consecro; rɛəLt, ‘star’, M.Ir. retla.

3. Dissimilation. Dissimilation of two nasals – α:rN′αl, ‘sitting up late’, Di. áirneán < M.Ir. airne; iN′ær′, ‘anvil’, O.Ir. indéin, for the ending cp. er′ mə χɔN′ʃær′, ‘by my conscience’; ʃαnəmɔr′, ‘sermon’, Di. seanmóir, cp. ʃαnəmαNti:, ‘preacher’, Di. seanmóntaidhe; note also Kilmacrenan = Cill-mac-nenain, Joyce, Irish Names of Places i 49. One of the nasals may be lost as in bα:ri:n′, ‘queen’, by the side of bα:nṟi:n′; smwi:t′uw, ‘to think’,