117
In all other cases ꬶ has either disappeared without leaving a trace or has served to lengthen or modify the preceding vowel. Between consonants ꬶ disappears in dʹα꞉rNəd, ‘flea’, M.Ir. dergnat.
§ 339. A hiatus-filling ꬶ is inserted between ə < do, de, when they precede an infinitive or substantive which begins or once began with a non-palatal vowel, cp. § 191. Examples – Lα꞉n gre꞉pʹ də ꬶy꞉lʹαχ, ‘a forkful of dung’; α lʹehəd(ʹ) ʃɔ də ꬶα꞉tʹ, ‘such a place as this’; Nʹi꞉ henʹi ʃə ə ꬶα̃uwərk ɔrəm, ‘he did not come to see me’; ə ꬶæNʹænʹ, ‘in spite of’; ʃαl ə ꬶαm, ‘a space of time’; ꬶlαk ʃə Nʹi꞉s Luw ꬶαm, ‘it took less time’; səihαχ ə ꬶuəχtər, ‘a vessel of cream’; Lα꞉n α ꬶïrNʹ də ꬶɔ꞉r, ‘a fistful of gold’; gʹïtə ꬶo̤Nsə, ‘a bit of a fence’, = giota de fhonnsa; hu꞉si꞉ mʹɛədən ə ꬶαt, ‘my face started to swell’.
6. ç
§ 340. This symbol represents a voiceless spirant formed by the middle of the tongue against the hard palate near to the edge of the soft palate, cp. Jespersen p. 49. There is much less friction than in the case of German ç in ‘ich’, on which account it interchanges with h. It is sometimes very difficult to decide whether one hears ç or h after a close i or e.
§ 341. Initially ç usually represents an aspirated kʹ, e.g. gɔl çɔ꞉lʹ, ‘singing’; ə çαrk, ‘the hen’; çαNy mʹə, ‘I bought’; çrʹαχ mʹə, ‘I ruined’; sə çlʹiuw, ‘in the basket’. çiəNə, ‘same’, and çïd, ‘first’, never appear in the unaspirated form.
§ 342. In a few cases ç appears as the aspirated form of initial ʃ cp. Molloy p. 7, Henebry p. 76, Finck i 83. Examples – erʹ çu꞉l, ‘away’, also ər su꞉l, çu꞉lʹ mʹə, ‘I walked’, Di. siubhal; çα꞉nʹ, gen. sing. of ʃα꞉n, ‘John’; çɔ꞉l mʹə, ‘I sailed’; α çɔ꞉rsə, vocative of ʃɔ꞉rsə, ‘George’. But note mə ho꞉k, ‘my hawk’; mə hαmrə, ‘my chamber’. This would seem to bear out the explanation given by Pedersen pp. 17–18.
According to Rhys pp. 74, 104 f. initial tʹ when aspirated gives ç in Manx. This does not occur in Donegal except in two mauled forms of tʹiərNə, ‘Lord’, as used in asseverations. These are çiərNə mαnəmwidʹ, ‘good gracious’, see § 63; and α çiəkæʃ in wïlʹ ærʹəgʹïd əgəd? çiəkæʃ heinʹ ətα꞉, ‘have you any money? I should just think I have’, Craig Iasg. spells chiacais. It is sometimes written tiarcais.
