§ 240. Occasionally there is hesitation between N and n, as hαNikʹ beside hαnikʹ (also henʹikʹ) = chonnaic, M.Ir. atchonnairc. o꞉Nə = abhna, gen. sing., has been influenced by the Nʹ of the nominative o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, = abhainn.
§ 241. N arises out of ng in a few instances, e.g. αskəN, ‘eel’, O.Ir. escung; kũ꞉N, ‘narrow’, O.Ir. cumung, cp. Manx coon, Scotch G. cumhann; ə Nαχ Lα̃꞉v = i ngach láimh.
§ 242. A voiceless N with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in fʹïN̥uw, ‘hair of animal’, M.Ir. findfad, and in the futures fʹαN̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall flay’; tʹαN̥ə mʹə, ‘I shall tighten’.
6. n.
§ 243. n is an alveolar nasal sound corresponding in formation to l and therefore not unlike Engl. n, except that the point of the tongue is nearer the upper teeth.
§ 244. n represents O.Ir. medial and final n followed or once followed by a, o, u, or preceding a consonant followed by these vowels, apart from the special cases mentioned in §§ 236–239. Examples—αrαn, ‘bread’, M.Ir. arán; bα꞉n, ‘white, fair’, O.Ir. bán; bʹαn, ‘woman’, O.Ir. ben; bro꞉n, ‘sorrow’, O.Ir. brón; bαnəfαn, ‘sucking pig’, M.Ir. banb; dαmni꞉m, ‘I condemn’, M.Ir. damnaim; drɔχwu꞉nuw, ‘bad manners’; do꞉n, ‘world’, O.Ir. domun; dʹαləgnαχ, ‘chicken-pox’; ɛən, ‘bird’, M.Ir. én; fαnαχt, ‘to remain’, O.Ir. anaim; Lʹαnu꞉Nʹt, ‘to follow’, O.Ir. lenmain; Lʹαnuw, ‘child’, M.Ir. lenab; ɔ꞉n, ‘Owen’, M.Ir. Eogan; ʃkʹïn, ‘knife’, M.Ir. scían.
§ 245. With the older people n is the aspirated form of N, e.g. mə nα꞉widʹ, ‘my enemy’; bʹαn nα꞉wədαχ ‘a vicious woman’; ꬶα꞉ n⅄꞉skiNʹ, ‘two snipe’; nɔχt mʹə, ‘I stripped’. The aspiration does not take place after the article, e.g. Nαχ mo꞉r ə Nα꞉rʹə ꬶydʹə, ‘is it not a shame for you?’; bʹeigʹəN du꞉Nʹ tu꞉suw əNsə Nuw, ‘we had to begin over again’. J. H. aspirates initial N after the preposition erʹ, e.g. tα꞉ ʃə ər nõ꞉s χo̤mə lʹïm, ‘he’s a careless, indifferent fellow’; bʹi꞉ ər nõ꞉s Nə ku꞉rtʹə, ‘do at Rome as Rome does’.
The aspiration of sN is n, e.g. ni꞉mʹ tuw, ‘you fastened’; α nũw, ‘his complexion’; nα̃꞉uw tuw, ‘you swam’.
§ 246. n occurs before r where once NR (NʹRʹ) must have stood, e.g. α꞉nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe (proverb əs olk ə kïlʹαχ Nαχ fʹjuw α꞉nṟi ɔ꞉l, ‘it is a bad cock that is not worth a sup of
