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both slender or both broad. This also happens with consonants that easily blend. In the word “buailtear” the “i” before the “l” shows that the “l” is slender, therefore the tongue makes contact for the consonant just above the hard gums; but this is exactly the position of a slender “t” (for they are both alveolar), therefore the t is also slender, and the e is written after it to show that it is so; although in this case it is not really necessary. If we tried to pronounce “buailtar,” (i.e., broad t), it would be necessary to slide the tongue down from the position for “l” (slender) to that for “t” (broad) without producing any sound; the result would be the formation of two distinct words—viz., buail tar. In such a word as buailfar, the l is again slender, whilst the a after the f shows that the f is broad; but since the l is formed with the tongue, and f with the lips, this word can easily be pronounced, because the lips move into position for a broad f even before the tongue is removed from the “hard rim.” As a matter of fact the f is pronounced broad in Munster, although the l is slender. The word boiċt is a good example of what we are explaining. The ċ is broad, and the i is written before it to indicate that the t is slender; it is a defect in Irish orthography that it has no other way of indicating a slender t after a broad ċ.
49. We mentioned above that h is an exception, and the reason for this is very plain. The hard sound of h is always formed by the vocal chords themselves, and therefore can be quite independent of the vowels which
