Lewis, Tìr nam ’eann, nang ’leann ’s nang ’aisgeach. N of the article, etc., is changed in sound to ng before g, and also before c in Scottish Gaelic generally. Thus an guth, the voice, is pronounced ‘ang guth,’ and an cù, the dog, ‘ang cù.’ ‘Whether you go or not?’ is in Lewis Gaelic ‘Eadar gu’n ’éid no nach téid thu?’ Téid, go, is itself eclipsed after an, gu’n, cha’n, nach, etc., in Scottish Gaelic generally i.e. it is pronounced ‘déid’ not ‘téid.’ In Skye the following cases of eclipsis have been observed:—
b after the article, e.g. am baile, the town, ‘am ’aile,’ nam baile of the towns ‘nam ’aile.’ So am bard, the poet, nam bard, of the poets, etc.
d after the article, as an duine, the man, ‘an ’uine’; after the preposition ‘an’ in the phrase an deaghaidh, after, and after the numeral aon, one.
g after the article, as an geamhradh, the winter, ‘an ’eamhradh.’
The change does not take place regularly and is not carried out consistently. An exceptional instance is the name Ben Jianabhaig not far from Portree, written Beinn Dìonabhaig in Mary MacPherson’s Songs (p. 23), and heard locally as Beinn ianabhaig. The neighbouring township is called in Gaelic Camus Jianabhaig, written Camstinvag by Martin, but D may have been changed to J after final s of Camus.
In Badenoch such a pronunciation may sometimes be heard as Am bosgail e? for Am fosgail e? Will it open?
The change of initial b to m sometimes in words and in place-names is explained by eclipsis. For example bealaidh, broom, a word thought to have come to us from the Pictish language, is mealaich with MacAlpine, and mealaidh in Skye; binid, rennet, is minid in North Argyll, and Moness, a place-name near Aberfeldy, was of old Buness.
Metathesis
‘Metathesis,’ Mr. Quiggin says, ‘is a frequent phenomenon in Gaelic dialects, as will be patent to any one turning over
