Di. duibhéan (‘cormorant’), bʹαrαd, ‘cap’, Di. bairéad has doubtless been influenced by some word like bʹαruw, M.Ir. berrad, ‘to shave, dress the hair’. In any case the Donegal form has kept the α which we should expect from the Munster form. bearad which Dinneen gives as the Donegal form should have the length-mark. Dinneen’s sources of information for Donegal forms, J. P. Craig and J. C. Ward, unfortunately make a practice of omitting the length-mark in ‑án, ‑áil, ‑óir &c., which is most reprehensible, as their manner of spelling gives no clue to the pronunciation.
§ 13. Donegal Irish shews a distinct preference for α before χ in the termination ‑ach (O.Ir. ‑ach, ‑ech), e.g. αLαχ, ‘cattle’, O.Ir. ellach; əmα꞉rαχ, ‘to-morrow’, M.Ir. i mbárach; gʹαrαχ, gen. sing. of gʹerʹ, ‘tallow’; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, M.Ir. imthecht; rαplαχαn, ‘rough and ready going fellow’, cp. rαpləhu꞉tə, ‘hubbub’, Di. rapla húta; ʃeʃrʹαχ, ‘plough’, M.Ir. sessrech; tʹαLαχ, ‘hearthstone’, M.Ir. tenlach; ũ꞉hαχə, ũ꞉kαχə, ‘caves’, plur. of ũi.
This same fondness for α before χ is further seen in accented syllables in the case of diphthongs, which contain ə as their second element, e.g. fʹiαχ, ‘crow’, O.Ir. fíach; fʹiαχə, ‘debts’, also plur. of fʹiə, ‘deer’, M.Ir. fíad; fʹiαχælʹ, ‘to try’, Wi. féchaim; kʹɛαχt, ‘plough’ (not common), O.Ir. cécht; pʹrʹɛαχtə, ‘perished with cold’, Di. préachta; uαχə. plur. of uw, ‘udder’, M.Ir. uth; uαχt(ə), ‘pledge’, Di. udhacht.
§ 14. In proclitics α represents a variety of vowels: fα, ‘about’, Di. fá (for the form v. § 314); α heinʹ, ‘himself, é fhéin; α Nʹα꞉n̥iNʹ, dia dheánfhainn; dʹα ·hi꞉nʹə, ‘Friday’, dia haoine ; α, ‘descendant’ (in proper names) α bwi꞉Lʹ, ‘O’Boyle’, the full form is ɔ꞉; mα (mə), ‘my’, O.Ir. mo.
2. α꞉.
§ 15. α꞉ represents in this book the vowel-sound in French ‘rage’ (= a꞉) which is the same sound as the short α but lengthened. It remains independent of the quality of the following consonant, as in dʹα꞉n, ‘ferry’, gen. sing. dʹα꞉nʹ; grα꞉Nə, ‘ugly’, comp. grα꞉kʹə; krα꞉nʹ, ‘sow’.
§ 16. Most frequently α꞉ arises from O.Ir. á in an accented syllable: fα꞉gælʹ, ‘to leave’, Wi. fácbaim; fα꞉s, ‘to grow’, Wi. ás; grα꞉nʹ, ‘disgust, dislike’, M.Ir. gráin; krα꞉fʹαχ, ‘religious’, M.Ir. cráibdech; Lα꞉n, ‘full’, O.Ir. lán.
§ 17. O.Ir. a in accented syllables followed by d, g (Mod.Ir. dh, gh) preceding w < O.Ir. m, b gives α꞉, e.g. α꞉məd, ‘timber’,
