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corresponding long vowel.[1] If we remove the quantity mark— the síneaḋ (′)[2]— from any long vowel we immediately denote the short sound of that vowel, if there are no disturbing influences present.
(d) Ó (long). This vowel is called the second or mid leaṫan vowel. The jaws are not so far asunder in the production of this vowel as they are for á, the lips are rounded, but not protruded; the back of the tongue is arched more towards the soft palate, and consequently the point of the tongue is drawn a little farther back than for á, but is kept close to the bottom of the mouth (Fig. II.).
(e) O (short). When stressed this vowel has the short sound of the previous vowel—the tongue and lips assuming the same positions for both; so that this short sound does not correspond with the sound of “u” in the word “but.”
In Ulster ó is generally pronounced like the “o” in “lord” or “adorn”; but when followed by n, it is pronounced like ó in Connaught and Munster as described in (c). Short “o” is like the “o” in “for,” but when the “o” is followed by ṁ or ġ it has the sound of ó in the other dialects (Craig).
In Dēsi (Waterford) ó beside n is usually pronounced ú—e.g., nó, Nóra, stróinse, móna, spónóg, pónaire, &c, also in the words mór, mó (Henebry).
In Desmond (Cork and Kerry) nó and mór are usually pronounced nú and muar.
- ↑ For the “Disturbing Influences of the Consonants” refer to Chapter X.
- ↑ This mark ought not to be called an “accent mark.” The word accent should be used only to express tonic accent, or stress of the voice. Whenever we shall use the word accent (or accented), we shall always mean the stress of the voice.
