Page:The Celtic Review volume 5.djvu/101

 Perth, and West Ross, snioghan in Badenoch, and snioghag in Sutherland.

Barail, opinion, is balair in Perth, Badenoch, and Strathspey, and is written ballir in the Book of the Dean of Lismore. Coinneal, candle, is coilinn in Perth and coillinn in Badenoch; fairtlich, baffle, is faltraich in Badenoch and Strathspey, and earball, tail, is ealabar in the Laggan division of Badenoch.

Slender ls or lls sometimes becomes sl. Foillsich, reveal, from follus, may be heard as foislich; and soillsich, brighten, from solus, as soislich, e.g. in North Argyll, West Ross, and Lewis. Mìslean, sweet meadow grass, a form used by Duncan Ban Macintyre, is for milsean, from milis, sweet, and soislean, phosphorescence, in West Ross, is for soillsean. Drisleach for drìlseach, glittering, occurs in dictionaries. MacAlpine has disle and dillse as comparative of dileas, faithful, etc., and Armstrong’s duisleag for duileasg, dulse, may be noted.

Sometimes the reverse takes place. In Kintyre ailsing for aisling, vision, and cuilse for cuisle, pulse, may be heard. In Perth and Strathspey, where the forms foillsich, soillsich, dillse are retained, there seems to be a preference for ls or lls. Isle, lower, comparative of iosal, is there illse, and so with the related forms islean, inferiors, ‘illsean,’ and ìslich, to lower, ‘illsich.’ Similarly uaisle, nobler, nobility, from uasal, noble, is uaillse, a form occurring also in Badenoch, and so ‘uaillsean,’ gentry; ‘daoine uaillse,’ gentlemen. Armstrong gives illse, illsich, uaillse and uaillsean; and MacAlpine writes uaisle, but pronounces uaillse.

In all these forms except the two from Kintyre l or ll when standing before s is long, but when s precedes l the vowel, if short, is lengthened. (Drìlseach is properly drillseach with long ll.) In ìsle, for example, i is long while in illse it is short, and ll is long. So with foislich (oi lengthened), etc. In uaisle, uaillse, etc., the vowel—diphthong—is already long and does not change, but ll is long in the latter form.

In Northern Gaelic, or at all events in several of the northern dialects, m often changes places with a following l or