‘two pence’; dən f′iʃi:n′, ‘to the kitten’; f′iL′ ʃə, ‘he returned (p′iL′uw).
§ 319. Medially combinations of th or sh with bh, mh produce f′. (a) bh + th, mh + th, e.g. jɛf′ər, pres. pass. of jɛvəm, ‘I get’, cp. Ner′ ə χæL′t′ər ə ꬶ⅄: jɛf′ər ə jαs i:, ‘when the wind is lost, it is found in the south’; gα:f′αχ, ‘spongy (of land)’, Di. gaibhtheach; ki:f′αχ, ‘bed-fellow’, Meyer comthach; krα:f′αχ, ‘devout’, Meyer cráibdech. (b) th + bh, th + mh, e.g. d′ef′r′ə, ‘haste’, cp. O’Clery deithbireach; kα:f′αχ, ‘spendthrift’, Di. caithmheach; klα̃if′αχə (klə̃if′αχə), ‘swords’, cp. M.Ir. claidbiu (acc. plur.); ʃif′i:n′, ‘bulrush’, Wi. síthbe, síthfe; tuəf′əL, ‘a whirl, the wrong way’, M.Ir. tuaithbel; uəf′iαLtə, ‘wild-looking’, Di. uaithbhéalta (due to a confusion of Wi. óibéla with úath, ‘terror’), (c) bh + sh in d′er′əfər, ‘sister’, O.Ir. derb + siur. (d) In t′if′ə, comparative of t′Uw̥, ‘thick, frequent’.
§ 320. f′ is inserted before t′ in skαf′t′ə, ‘group, lot, flock’, spelt sgaifte Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5, Di. scata, cp. § 312. f′r′ has taken the place of r̥′ in f′r′i:d′, ‘through’, O.Ir. triit, on Aran with hr or xr (KZ. xxxv 337).
§ 321. On aspiration f′ disappears, e.g. m′αr, ‘my husband’; d′eʃt′i m′ə, ‘I furnished’, Di. feistighim; tα: ʃïn′ ə jeim′ ɔrəm, ‘I need that’, Di. feidhm; ꬶα: iəkil′, ‘two teeth’; ĩ:çə l′ïχ, ‘a wet night’. Consequently as f and f′ when aspirated give the same result, confusion is liable to arise as in the case of f′jɔ:ləm′, ‘to learn’, < fɔ:ləm′, O.Ir. foglaim. We have further f′αstə, ‘yet’, < M.Ir. fodesta but fɔstə, fɔstαt, fɔstαχt = O.Ir. beus.
§ 322. In monosyllables ending in v there is a tendency with some speakers to unvoice the final and make it into f′ (J. H. always has v), e.g. in Lïf′, ‘weed’, = Lïv, O.Ir. luib; ə N′ïf′, ‘the egg’ (§ 326); N′ïf′, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; L′ef′r′i:nαχ, also L′evr′i:nαχ, ‘half-witted’, subst. L′evr′i:n′, cp. Di. leimhe.
3. v.
§ 323. The Donegal v is a voiced bilabial sound corresponding in formation to f′. The corners of the mouth seem to be left open and the portions of the lips on either side of the point of contact in the middle (§ 309) approach very nearly to one another and vibrate. Hence when this sound is strongly nasalised and a large part of the breath passes through the nose, it has a distinct tendency to develope into m′ (§ 298). The younger people however are substituting a labio-dental for the bilabial v.
