o̤Nsɔrt = d’ionnsuidhe orm. The forms with Nʹʃ arose in the 3rd sing. masc. iNʹʃerʹ < o̤Nserʹ under the influence of ʃerʹ, iNʹʃɔ. Craig condemns the forms with Nʹʃ (Grammar² p. 75) but they are much more frequently used than those with Ns.
§ 255. Nʹ occurs after ʃ and Lʹ, e.g. fʹrʹiʃNʹæʃαχ, ‘irritable’; ʃNʹαχtə, ‘snow’, O.Ir. snechta; ʃNʹiuw, ‘to spin’, M.Ir. sním; tαrkiʃNʹə, ‘contempt, slight’, M.Ir. tarcuisne; fαrsNʹə < *fæRʹʃNʹə, compar. of O.Ir. fairsing, cp. fαrsNʹu꞉l, ‘abundant’, fαrsNʹαχ, fαrsNʹαχəs, ‘abundance’. For examples of Nʹ after Lʹ see § 225.
§ 256. tʹnʹ should be assimilated to Nʹ (Pedersen p. 20) but I have no examples. In tætʹnʹi꞉m, ‘I please’, Di. taitnighim, O.Ir. taitnem, the tʹ has evidently been restored from the pret. hætʹi꞉nʹ. n + nʹ or Nʹ give Nʹ, e.g. æNʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘very painful’; ʃæNʹαhəNỹ꞉, ‘old things’. For sandhi examples see § 456.
§ 257. In a series of words Nʹ arises from an older ng. Nʹ and ɲ are sounds which are very close to one another and are liable to be confused, cp. the Munster substitution of ɲ for Nʹ and for ɲ > Nʹ see Rhys p. 136. Examples—αku꞉Nʹ, ‘strength, endurance’, Di. acfuinn, M.Ir. accmaing; dïlʹiNʹ mʹə, ‘I suffered’, = d’fhuiling me, Atk. ro-fhulaing; dɔ꞉riNʹ, ‘affliction’, tα꞉ dɔ꞉riNʹ wo꞉r (hiNʹiʃ) erʹ hö̤꞉g, ‘Thady is in great pain’, dɔ꞉riNʹαχ, ‘severe’, Keat. doghraing; fαrsiNʹ, ‘plentiful’, O.Ir. fairsing; kïvlʹiNʹ, ‘to emulate, emulation’, Meyer comleng; kyNʹαl, kyNʹæLʹtʹ, ‘to keep’, M.Ir. congbáil, the forms with Nʹ < palatal ng arose in cases like the future coingéba; riNʹ, ‘made’, M.Ir. doringni < O.Ir. dorigéni (KZ. xxx 62); tα꞉rNʹə, ‘nail’, M.Ir. tairnge; tαrNʹtʹ, ‘to pull, draw’, M.Ir. tarraing, Manx tayrn, Scotch G. tarruinn.
§ 258. In the written language when in inflected forms nn comes to stand after a consonant only one n is written but in speaking Nʹ is usually heard before palatal vowels. One does indeed hear krækʹnʹə, ‘skins’, but invariably ɛvNʹαχə, ‘rivers’, plur. of o꞉Nʹ; igʹNʹαχə, plur. of igʹiNʹ, ‘a ring to put round the neck of cattle’. This Nʹ is doubtless due to analogy with the singular, cp. Pedersen p. 33.
§ 259. A voiceless Nʹ with strongly breathed off-glide occurs in ʃiN̥ʹə mʹə, future of ʃiNʹəmʹ, M.Ir. senim.
