Page:The Celtic Review volume 4.djvu/288

 pronounced, and sometimes written, chunna’ (Grammar, p. 118), while MacAlpine gives this sense of the verb as, ‘Chunna or chonnaic mi, I saw or did see; Chunna or Chonnaic thu,' and so on. The final c when kept is at least in most dialects sounded g and the spelling chunnaig is favoured by one or two writers. Thàinig, came, for thàinic, Irish tháinic, etc., Old Irish tánic is treated similarly as to the final syllable. In Arran and Kintyre it is usually thàini in all positions; in Perthshire thàin, and sometimes thàine, are heard. Mary Macpherson has thàin’ (p. 37). Those shortened forms are heard in replies to questions as well as when followed by their subject; e.g. Am fac thu e?—Chunna or Chunn’ (Perth); Thannai or Thanna (Arran).

In Donegal tháine tu, you came, tháini se, he came, occur.

On the other hand the termination ig or aig has been added to the words chual or chuala, heard, and faca or fac, saw, in Jura, North Argyll, and part of West Ross; thus, An cuala tu e?—Chualaig. Did you hear him ?—I did; Am faca tu e ?—Cha’n fhacaig. Did you see him ?—I did not.

When the vowel following Mac in a surname is slender its influence makes c slender in Arran in two or three instances, as Maie Eamailinn, Englished Bannatyne, Maic Ionmhuinn, Englished Love, and Maic Eanain, local Gaelic for Mackinnon.

In Argyllshire English Mac, it may be remarked, is sometimes pronounced Mag e.g. in MagLeod MagLachlan.

ch broad

In initial position broad ch, as has been noticed, has become th, i.e. h in certain districts in chunnaic: in Manx this word is honnick, and in Donegal Irish thannaic. Chugam, to me, chugad, to you, etc., and the negative cha, have th almost universally for ch; thugam, thugad, etc., indeed are sometimes written. The preposition chun or chon, too, is often thun, and occurs even as un in Skye and Perth, but is ghon in West Ross, e.g. Tha e a’dol ghon a’bhaile, he is going to the town. Chaidh, went, is in Arran thai, in Manx, hie. Cha, not, it