no rule. They occur in L′ĩ:wαn, ‘porpoise’, Di. líomhán gréine; əsti:ç (also əstiç), ‘indoors, inside’, similarly əmwi:ç (əmwiç), ‘outside’, Di. istigh, amuigh; sö̤:, ‘tang’ (§ 70); tõ:s, ‘to measure, guess’, Di. tomhas. Further in the preterite of certain verb-forms ending in th, dh, gh, e.g. d′i: m′ə, ‘I ate’, hi: m′ə, ‘I sat’, n′i: m′ə, ‘I washed’; also in the future si:hə m′ə, ‘I shall sit’. For these forms cp. § 112.
Final short vowels in stressed syllables are very short indeed. They may be compared with final l, l′, n, n′, r and r′. To call attention to this the grave accent is sometimes employed in this book.
§ 474. Finck quotes a large number of forms for Aran with overlong vowels and such vowels are frequent in Donegal. In stressed monosyllables overlong i: may appear instead of iə before a non-palatal consonant (§ 164), e.g. d′i:g, ‘dyke’, Di. díog but dat. sing. d′i:g′ with ordinary length; f′i:r, ‘true’, O.Ir. fír but gen. sing. f′i:r′ with ordinary length; f′r′i:m, ‘through me’ (§ 320); k′i:r, ‘comb’, Di. cíor but dat. sing. k′i:r′ with ordinary length; p′i:b, ‘throat’, beside p′iəb, Di. píob; ʃi:s, ‘down’; ʃk′r′i:b, ‘furrow’, Di. scríob. This may also sometimes be heard in dissyllables, e.g. sp′l′i:nαχ, ‘a tough, wizened beast’, Di. splíonach; ʃL′i:kuw, ‘to stroke’, Di. slíogaim. Overlong u: = i. O.Ir. ú in glu:n, ‘knee’, O.Ir. glún; ru:n, ‘secret’, O.Ir. rún; d′u:l, ‘to suck’ (§ 52). ii. O.Ir. ua, e.g. u:n, ‘lamb’, O.Ir. úan; ku:n, ‘harbour’, M.Ir. cúan. ⅄: is overlong in ⅄:l, ‘lime’, Di. aol. Any vowel tends to be overlong as the final of a stressed monosyllable, e.g. b′jɔ:, ‘alive’.
§ 475. More frequently however overlong vowels are due to contraction, e.g. blα:χ, ‘buttermilk’, Di. blathach; bri:n, ‘quarrel’, Di. bruighean; bwi:, compar. of bwiαχ, ‘thankful’, Di. buidheach (also gen. sing. masc. and fem.); bo:r, ‘deaf’, Di. bodhar but gen. sing. bo:r′ and denominative bo:ri:m with normal length; b′α:χ, ‘beast, horse’, Di. beathaidheach, but ʃαnvα:χ with ordinary length; fα:χ, ‘giant’, Di. fathach; f′i:m, ‘I weave’, Di. fighim; ku:N, ‘narrow’, Di. cumhang; Lu:hə, gen. sing. of Lui, ‘ashes’, Di. luaith, luatha; L′i:m, ‘I lick’, Di. lighim; rα:χ, ‘drift of snow’ (§ 19); sLα:χ, ‘slush’, Di. sláthach; sy:m, ‘I sit’, infin. sy:, Di. suidhe; su:w, ‘to suck’, < sughadh but not in suw, ‘juice.’, Di. súgh; ʃu:l, ‘to walk’, Di. siubhal; ti:dɔr′, ‘thatcher’, Di. tuigheadóir; trα:, gen. sing. of trα:i, ‘strand’, Di. tráigh, trágha.
