Page:The Celtic Review volume 4.djvu/191

178 In final position bh sounds as v as a rule in Arran, the three Argyll dialects, and in Skye. In West Ross the v sound is confined generally to monosyllables. Divergences from the v sound occur mostly where the nearest vowel is slender, and are rarest in the three southernmost dialects, more frequent in North Argyll, and extend to a few words with broad adjacent vowels in West Ross. Baobh, cliabh, dèabh, eubh, gabh, leubh, saobh, sgriobh, sibh, sliabh, with words like balbh, falbh, dealbh, deilbh, seilbh, meanbh, dearbh, garbh, doirbh, soirbh, have v in Arran, Kintyre, Islay, and North Argyll, as have also craobh, taobh in Kintyre and Islay, and dèabh in Islay and North Argyll. Baobh, cliabh, eubh (cry), leubh (read), sgriobh, sliabh have v in West Ross, as have also balbh, dealbh, and most others with the nearest vowel broad, and one or two such as seilbh, where that vowel is slender. Ciabh, a lock of hair, in Arran a whisker, has v with MacAlpine, and in Arran, North Argyll, Skye, and West Ross, but is ciabhag (with w) in the last three districts and (with w) also in Sutherland. The v sound prevails in Skye also, at least in many of the words as baobh, cliabh, craobh, eubh, gabh, leubh, sàbh, sibh, sliabh, balbh, falbh, marbh, tarbh, mairbh, etc. Gheibh, which is ‘gheo’ with MacAlpine and in North Argyll, Perth, and West Ross, may be heard as ‘gheo’ in Arran and in Skye. MacAlpine says of gabh ‘gav (murdered by some gow and gaw).’

Aitreabh, beulaobh, cùlaobh, leanabh, have v with MacAlpine and in North Argyll. Beulaobh and cùlaobh have v in Kintyre, and leanabh in Arran and Kintyre. Beulaobh, cùlaobh, which are properly old datives plural, beulaibh, culaibh, and other datives plural, beothaibh, fearaibh, geallanaibh, linnibh, etc., have the v sound in Skye.

The termination of the second person plnual in prepositional pronouns and in imperatives agrees as a rule in the different dialects with the local pronunciation of sibh. Where bh is sounded v in sibh as it is in Arran, Kintyre, Islay, North Argyll, and Skye, it is sounded as v also in agaibh, with you, oirbh, on you, annaibh, in you, asaibh, out of you, dhibh,