Page:The Celtic Review volume 4.djvu/357

344 all words of more than one syllable final dh, occasionally pronounced gh, is usually g, as in achadh, field, ‘achag,’ Murchadh, Murdoch, ‘Murchag,’ sileadh, dropping, ‘si1eag,’ shileadh, would drop, ‘shileag,’ adhlaiceadh, burying, ‘adhlaiceag.’ Fasadh, a dwelling, a residence, whence Fassiefern, Dochanassie, and in Perthshire Foss, Gaelic Fas, but genitive as in Bràigh Fasaidh, Brae of Foss appears as fasag, genitive fasaidh, in several place-names throughout West Ross, as Fasag at Torridon, Cromasag (crom, crooked) at Kenlochewe, Fasagrianach (grianach, sunny) at Lochbroom, and am Fasag àluinn, the lovely dwelling, the Gaelic name of the modern Duncraig Castle (or, strictly speaking, of its site) near Plockton.

The sound of Gaelic u, like u in English ‘rule,’ is given almost invariably in Sutherland to adh in words of more than one syllable. Achadh, for example, is ‘achu,' altachadh ‘altachu,’ and so geamhradh, winter, samhradh, summer, Murohadh; parts of verbs, as dheanadh, would do, ag cruinneachadh, gathering, etc. The same pronunciation is met with in Easter Ross, and prevails, excepting in the verbs, in great part of Ireland.

The sound of bh or v, which, as we have seen, is given to broad gh in Sutherland, is given also to broad dh at the end of accented syllables both there and in Easter Ross, as in diadhaidh, diadhair, fiadhaich, and gràdh. This pronunciation is most prevalent probably in Easter Ross. Within the county of Sutherland it is most frequent in the part adjoining Easter Ross; it is rare in the_ east of Sutherland, and has not been noticed in the north.

The same sound is given to dh in subjunctives of verbs in Knapdale, and as far north as the border of Lorne; dheanadh e sin, he would do that, for example, is there dheanabh (‘dheanav’) e sin.

Dh, medially and finally is often silent, and sometimes sounds as w, e.g. bodhar, deaf, often ‘bowar.’