compar. of b′αχt, ‘sensible, shrewd’, M.Ir. becht; b′jɔ:χt′ə, compar. of b′jɔ:, ‘alive’; b′r′ɛαxt′ə, compar. of b′r′ɛə, ‘fine’; eif′αχt′, gen. sing. of eif′αχt, ‘prodigy’; k′ɛαχt′ə, gen. sing. of k′ɛαχt, ‘plough’; smαχt′i:n′, ‘mallet’, also ‘a rude fellow’.
§ 335. That χ has a tendency to pass into f in certain parts of the north and north-west has been mentioned in § 313. We may possibly have the converse in the form Uχərt′, ‘wallowing’, spelt uchairt Cl. S. 10 x ’03 p. 3 col. 5 for Di. ionfairt.
5. ꬶ.
§ 336. ꬶ represents a voiced velar spirant formed by the back of the tongue against the soft palate. For the off-glide see § 328. As in the case of χ there is an absence of the rasping which accompanies this sound when it is strongly articulated. Hence it is natural that except in the initial position ꬶ should tend to disappear. Henebry and Finck do not quote a single instance of ꬶ except initially but Donegal offers several examples of the sound in medial position. The position of the tongue for a feebly articulated ꬶ is very nearly that of my ö̤: and this vowel-sound always has a suspicion of a spirant nature as might be expected, seeing that it arises from adh‑, agh‑. Cp. Lloyd’s statement as to the frequent retention of dh, gh in Orrery in seadh, feadh and other words G. J. 1896 p. 147. Scotch Gaelic often keeps final ꬶ in the verb ending ‑adh but in Donegal the latter may have given ə⅄ or əö̤, which with rounding became əu, u:, uw.
§ 337. Initially ꬶ only occurs as the aspirated form of d, g, e.g. ꬶrit′ ʃə, ‘he shut’; k′i(:)b′ ꬶUw̥, ‘sedge’; l′eʃ ə ꬶɔlər, ‘with the disease’; mə ꬶlu:n, ‘my knee’; in composition αdərꬶiə, ‘intercession’. ꬶα:, ‘two’, and ꬶɔl, ‘going’, are usually aspirated but dα: appears for ꬶα: after the article and əgəs, əs, ‘and’. When preceded by əg gɔl loses its ꬶ. In the pronominal forms of the preposition do the forms with aspirated d (ꬶ) are confined to the 2nd sing. ꬶyd′, ‘to you.’
§ 338. Medially ꬶ occurs in the following words: f′iəꬶir′ə, ‘huntsman’, < M.Ir. fíad; f′ïꬶəriαχt (also f′ə⅄riαχt), ‘countenance, face’, cp. Di. fíoghruighim; ïꬶəri:m, ‘I adore,’ Di. adhraim, Meyer adoraim (also ə⅄ri:m); t′ïꬶəlαχ, ‘family’, O.Ir. teglach; ⅄:ꬶir′ə, ‘herdsman’, O.Ir. augaire; d′i:ꬶɔ(:)i, ‘the wrong way’, dí + dóigh.
