frequent. əmwiç, əstiç are possibly extended from əmwi`, əsti`, i.e. they are proclitic forms.
§ 346. ç also frequently represents a medial th flanked by palatal vowels, e.g. içə, ‘eating’, O.Ir. ithe, pret. pass. hihuw, kαiçir′, ‘chair’, M.Ir. catháir (§ 139); k′l′eiçə, gen. sing. of k′l′iə, ‘harrow’, M.Ir. cliath; Luiçə, compar. of Luə, ‘early’; L′eiçə, gen. sing. fem. of L′iə, ‘grey’; l′eiçə (l′eihə), ‘with her’, similarly fu:çə, ‘under her’; m′eiçe,[1] compar. of m′e:, ‘fat’, M.Ir. meth; rα:içə, ‘quarter of a year’, M.Ir. ráithe; sNα:içə, ‘thread’, O.Ir. snáthe; suiçə, ‘soot’, M.Ir. suithe, O.Ir. suidi. Verbs containing h < th in the infinitive frequently have ç in the present and preterite, e.g. suəhuw, ‘mix together’, pres. suiçəm, pret. huiç m′ə but past part. suit′ə; skαiçə m′ə, ‘I shall wean’, beside skαihə m′ə < skαhuw), M.Ir. scothaim.
Similarly ç is frequent in the future of several simple verb-stems ending in a long vowel or diphthong. These ç futures usually correspond to a present containing j for which see § 190. Examples – bα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall drown’; dɔ:içə m′ə, ‘I shall burn’; krα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall torment’; sp′r′eiçə m′ə, ‘I shall spread’; tα:çə m′ə, ‘I shall weld’; t′r′o:çə m′ə, ‘I shall plough’ but pres. pass. t′r′o:hər. Also bru:çə m′ə, ‘I shall press down’, pret. wrui ʃə, M.Ir. brúim; su:çi ʃə, ‘it will soak up’, < suw, M.Ir. súgim.
7. s.
§ 347. Henderson’s description of Scotch Gaelic s applies equally to the Donegal sound. “The tongue-blade, along the central line of which the breath is directed, approaches the gums behind the upper teeth and the breath becomes sibilant owing to the friction it undergoes in passing between the upper and lower front teeth. The tip of the tongue may rest against the lower front teeth. It is usually more forcible than Engl. s, the tongue-articulation being closer” (ZCP. iv 515). A large number of speakers tend to widen the nick in the tongue through which the breath passes, thus producing a lisped s. The curious effect produced on initial s by a following r has been described in § 273. The voiced sound corresponding to s does not occur in Irish but is regular in the local English and produces a very peculiar effect. As is the case with the voiceless stops s is commonly aspirated, cp. Sweet, Primer of Phonetics² p. 60. Hence the h of the future terminations coalesces with a final s and is not heard as a separate element, e.g. pɔ:sə m′ə, ‘I shall
- ↑ Sic; m′eiçə.
