Page:The Celtic Review volume 4.djvu/291

 ich verbs ch is broad, not slender as in other districts, as ceannachaidh, or rather ceannchaidh, will buy, for ceannaichidh; cheannchadh, would buy, for cheannaicheadh; dh' éireachadh, would rise, for dh’ eiricheadh or dh' éireadh; sanntachaidh, will covet, for sanntaichidh. Shaw in his Analysis uses beannuchibh for beannaichibh, coiruchidh for coirichidh (will blame), mhothuchas for mhothaicheas (will perceive, etc.), and others. Ch is broad in such cases also in Kintyre and in some instances at least in Jura, and so no doubt in Islay also.

In one instance—seiche, hide—ch sounds h in Arran.

Final ch is silent almost invariably in Arran when it comes into contact with the slender vowel i, as in doilich, difficult, etc., ‘doili,' or ‘doiligh’; in nouns ending in ich as buainich, a reaper, ‘buainigh’; in oblique cases in ich as coilich, ‘coiligh,’ genitive singular and nominative plural of coileach, cock, in verbs in ich as éirich, rise, ‘ìre'; imich, go ‘imi’; and so on. Shaw has abuigh for abuich, ripe; anabuidh for anabuich, unripe; caoraidh for caoraich, sheep, and renders ‘Picts’ na Cruinnith for na Cruithnich.

That the same thing is at least fairly common in Kintyre is shown by the following list, probably far from being a full one, in which ch has been noted as being si1ent—abaich, doilich, Di-Domhnaich, éirich, ‘ìri,’ fiadhaich (wild), ionnsaich (learn), mallaichte ‘mollaite.’ MacAlpine has abuidh and fiadhaidh along with the usual forms, and, under Càisg, ‘didònaidh càisg, Easter Sunday,’ for Di-Domhnaich.

Some of the instances in which slender ch is heard in Arran are doiliche, more difiicult; oidhche might (in Manx oie); bruich, boil; cluich, play; deich, ten; and deicheamh tenth, but not deichnear, ten persons! Ith, eat, is sometimes i' and sometimes ich. Bàthaich, a byre, is bàiche, and dùthaich, country, dùiche. The former is bòcha in Kintyre, where also bruich and cluich have ch.

c and g

In initial position g and c in borrowed words sometimes