Page:Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie Vol. 5.djvu/103

Rh sounds to an unaccustomed ear as Eng. 'follow' but only approxi- mately for the l is retracted, the tongue being spread against the back arch but otherwise like an unvoiced French l. It is never unilateral with the tongue in the i-position and that distinguishes it from Cymric łł. It is a devocalized supra- dental ḷ, and may be heard in Gairloch in words like: — fogh- lumte, folbh, chuala, glan, ablach, conablach, domblas, annlann — which in N. Inv. would simply have a strong inter-dental. It exists also in: — air an t-sliabh 'on the hill-side' (eṛ aṇ ˑṭlhiia); a shliasaid 'his thigh' (a lhiiasït‘). In the neighbouring Torridon (ṭœœrœrdɑn, with second r inserted as in the Reay mula[r]dach 'sad') the Gairloch (cɛɔɔlh) sounds cɛɔɔḷ‘, almost like N. Inv. (cjɔɔl‘).

NB. What will be noticed more fully under Inflection may be ref erred to here, viz. a tendency in N. Inv. and most northern dialects to discard some proper distinctions; the imperative guil 'weep' is not distinguished from the infinitive gul, but a side-form with a here keeps up the distinction: bha i 's a ghal (-vɑ-i-sa ˑᵹɑḷ‘) 'she was a-crying'. A Reay man would likely say: (va i cōiñu), which latter word would in N. Inv. be (koonak) = tha i caoineadh (O. Ir. cóinim). Also: sealladh na sūil (for sūl): this exists as a marked tendency which is not carried out anywhere.

(6) lls + e becomes, soillse (sooïə) 'brightness', with o half-long.

(7) O'Growney (§ 49—50 of Simple Lessons in Irish) gives the following for Connaught Irish:

"Between vowels single l and n are pronounced as in English; mála (maul′-a) a bag; milis (mil′-ish) sweet; Una (oo′-na) Una; minic (min′-ik) often. At the end of words, single l and n preceded by a vowel, are also pronounced as in English; as bān (baun) white; asal (os′-al) an ass. Single l and n when next any of the gutturals g, c or the labials b, f, p are like English l, n; as olc (ŭlk) bad; blas (blos) taste."

NB. au in O'G.'s notation = au in Eng. naught. The following words he pronounces with what he thought to be Eng. l. In N. Inv. they would have ḷ and in Gairloch, Tiree ḷ devocalized (lh).