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a u; mínigh, explain; míniughadh, explanation. If we want to make the f of fidh (the termination of 3rd singular future) broad, we must write faidh. Buailfidh sé, he will strike; meallfaidh sé, he will deceive.

Whenever a slender consonant is preceded by an i which forms part of a diphthong or a triphthong, the consonant is usually made broad by dropping the i. Thus to broaden the l in buail, or the n in goin, we drop the i and the we get bual and gon. The verbal nouns of buail and goin are bualadh and gonadh.

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CHAPTER V.

Caol le caol agus leathan le leathan;

or,

Slender with slender and broad with broad.

32. When a single consonant, or two consonants which easily blend together, come between two vowels, both the vowels must be slender or both must be broad.

This is a general rule of Irish phonetics. It has already been stated that a consonant is broad when beside a broad vowel, and slender when beside a slender vowel; and also that the sounds of the consonants vary according as they are broad or slender: hence if we try to pronounce a word like fearín, the r, being beside the slender vowel i, should get its slender sound; but being also beside the broad vowel a, the r should be broad. But a consonant cannot be slender and broad at the same time; hence, such spelling as fearín, málín, and éanín, does not represent the correct sounds of the words, and,