7. i.
§ 108. By i we denote several shades of i-sounds varying from a middle to a close i. In the neighbourhood of non-palatal consonants i undergoes certain modifications which will be mentioned under y in § 125.
§ 109. i commonly represents an O.Ir. accented i between two palatal consonants, e.g. bʹigʹ, gen. sing. of bʹïg, ‘little’; bʹiNʹ, ‘melodious’, O.Ir. bind; gʹiɲ, ‘wedge’, M.Ir. geind; pʹiʃi꞉nʹ, ‘kitten’, Di. pisín s. piscín; tʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘poorly, ill’, M.Ir. tind. Initially i can only occur before palatal consonants (cp. § 58), e.g. iNʹʃə, ‘to relate’, M.Ir. innissim, indissim; inʹigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘grazing, pasture’, Di. ingheilt; irʹiʃ ‘hanger’, Di. iris; irʹis, ‘a contract’, O’R. iris, ‘assignation’, cp. tα꞉ irʹis pɔ꞉stə ɛdirʹ mα꞉rʹ əgəs ʃe꞉məs, ‘Mary and James are engaged to be married’, O.Ir. iress.
The line between i and ï is not very sharply defined. i sometimes appears for ï especially after rʹ, e.g. in gʹrʹibαχ, ‘bustle’, cp. Cl. S. 6 ix ’02 p. 432 col. 2, Macbain has griobhag, M.Ir. grip (the word is used especially of a mêlée at camman, e.g. vi꞉ gʹrʹibαχ mo꞉r erʹ ə Nʹo̤mwæNʹ ʃïnʹ, ‘it was a rough game’, vi꞉ gʹrʹibαχ mo꞉r erʹ ⅄꞉nαχ ə Nõ꞉wirʹ Nerʹ ə vi꞉ Nα tirʹiv ə go̤r əmαχ, ‘there was great confusion at the harvest-fair when the bulls were being taken out’); gʹrʹisælʹ, ‘drubbing, slashing’, Di. gríosáil.
§ 110. Before palatal consonants i appears instead of ï in accented syllables containing a, o, u. Examples—–
- O.Ir. a—dirʹə, ‘Derry’, O.Ir. daire; diLʹ, gen. sing. of dαL, ‘blind’, M.Ir. dall; girʹivə, compar. of gαruw, ‘rough’, O.Ir. garb; giNʹə, compar. of gαN, ‘scarce’, O.Ir. gand; giNʹəstə, ‘unawares’ < gan fhios; girʹimʹ, ‘call’, M.Ir. gairm; irʹimʹ, nom. plur. of αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm; siNʹtʹ, ‘avarice’, Di. sainnt < O.Ir. sant; tʹiʃïNʹtʹ, ‘to shew’, M.Ir. taisfénad, cp. Pedersen p. 163 f.
- O.Ir. o—brimʹ, ‘crepitus ventris’, M.Ir. broimm; dirʹibʹ, ‘a water-worm living at the bottom of pools, when swallowed by cattle it causes a disease which only the Cassidy’s can cure’, Di. doirbh; girʹimʹə, compar. of gɔrəm, ‘blue’, M.Ir. gorm; iʃɔilʹ, ‘game’, < os, ‘deer’ + feóil; kligʹ, gen. sing. of klo̤g, ‘bell’, O.Ir. clocc; krikʹ, nom. plur. of kro̤k, ‘hill’, O.Ir. cnocc; Liɲ, dat. of Lo̤ŋ ‘ship’; mwiLʹtʹ, nom. plur. of mɔLt, ‘wether’, O.Ir. molt. Note also the new gen. sing. kyr̥ʹimʹ formed from kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthrom.
