5
A. The vowel system.
§ 1. We distinguish the following:—
- Short vowels:—α, æ, ɛ, e, ï, i, ɔ, o, U, o̤, y, ⅄, ə.
- Long vowels:—α꞉, ɛ꞉, e꞉, i꞉, ɔ꞉, o꞉, u꞉, y꞉, ⅄꞉, ö̤꞉
- Diphthongs:—αi, αu, α꞉i, α꞉u, ɛi, ɛu, ɛə, ei, e꞉i, iə, iu, ɔi, ɔ꞉i, uə, ui, yə, əu, ə⅄.
(a) The back vowels α, α꞉, ɔ, ɔ꞉, o, o꞉, U, o̤[A 1], u꞉, ⅄, ⅄꞉, ö̤꞉.
1. α.
§ 2. The only a-sound which occurs in Donegal is the a of French ‘ma’ (Sweet mid-back-wide-outer). In this book α is written for purposes of convenience.
§ 3. This sound frequently represents O.Ir. a in accented syllables before non-palatal consonants, e.g. αrəm, ‘army’, O.Ir. arm; αt, ‘swelling’, O.Ir. att; fαnαχt ‘to stay, remain’, O.Ir. anaim; kαpəL, ‘mare’, M.Ir. capall; mαk, ‘son’, O.Ir. macc; mαLαχt, ‘curse’, O.Ir. maldacht; tαχtuw, ‘to choke’, O.Ir. tachtad; tαrt, ‘thirst’, O.Ir. tart; tαruw, ‘bull’, M.Ir. tarb.
§ 4. O.Ir. e before non-palatal consonants in accented syllables usually gives α, e.g. αχ, ‘steed’, O.Ir. ech; αlə, ‘swan’, M.Ir. ela; αŋ, ‘splice, strip’, αŋαχ, ‘fisherman’s net’, M.Ir. eng; dʹrʹαm, ‘crowd’, M.Ir. dremm; dʹαrəg, ‘red’, O.Ir. derg; fʹαr, ‘man’, O.Ir. fer; gʹαl, ‘white’, M.Ir. gel; kʹαχtər, ‘either’, O.Ir. cechtar; Lʹαnuw, ‘child’, M.Ir. lenab; Nʹαd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net; pʹαkuw, ‘sin’, O.Ir. peccad; ʃαsuw, ‘to stand’, M.Ir. sessom; tʹαχ, ‘house’, O.Ir. tech. The fact that O.Ir. accented e and a result in the same sound leads to great confusion when they
- ↑ Strictly speaking this is a mixed vowel but it will be convenient to treat it with the back vowels.
