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M.Ir. admat; ʃiəl α꞉w əgəs ɛəwə, ‘the descend­ants of Adam and Eve’, cp. Di. gen. sing. Ádhmha, in Atk. Pass. and Hom. the a has no length-mark; α꞉wər, ‘material, cause’, M.Ir. adbar; sα꞉wə, ‘woman’s name’, Mod.Ir. Sadhbha, M.Ir. Sadb. Similarly Nʹi꞉ α꞉Nʹʃə, ‘he does not get’, cp. Wi. fagbaim.

§ 18. O.Ir. accented e (not a, see § 70) followed by d, g + a or o gave αꬶα, αꬶə which contract­ed to α꞉, e.g. mʹα꞉χən, ‘weight’, Di. meadh­achan, cp. Wi. med; mʹα꞉N Le꞉, ‘mid-day’, Wi. medón; ʃLʹα꞉n, ‘turf-spade’, Di. sleaghán, M.Ir. sleg. Oc­casional­ly in mono­syllables ending in O.Ir. in ed, thus fʹα꞉, ‘fathom’, gα꞉ α꞉, ‘2 fathoms’, Di. feadh, O.Ir. ed (for the pronun­ciations fʹïg and fʹə⅄` cp. §§ 170, 429).

§ 19. O.Ir. accented a, e, followed by th + a result in α꞉ but here we sometimes find double forms, e.g. rα꞉χ ʃNʹαχtə, ‘a drift of snow’, Dinneen has ráithe, plur. ráthacha (Derry), according to J. H. the nom. sing. is masc. but the gen. rα꞉çə is fem., as is frequent­ly the case with words not often used, nom. plur. rα꞉χəNỹ꞉ (forms contain­ing á before th may be quoted here as according to § 7 the long vowel would be shortened); sLα꞉χ, ‘slush on the sea-shore’, also sLαhαχ Di. sláthach; bʹα꞉χ, ‘beast, horse’, Meyer bethadach, plur. bʹαhi꞉; blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, M.Ir. bláthach.

§ 20. The α꞉ in dʹα꞉nuw, ‘to do’, O.Ir. dénum, is surprising and is probably to be attribut­ed to the influence of the preterite form Nʹi꞉ hα꞉rN, where the vowel develop­ment is regular. tα꞉rNʹαχ, ‘thunder’, M.Ir. toirnech by the side of tɔ꞉rNʹæʃ, ‘a great noise’, Di. tóirnéis, is peculiar but may be due to a different grade in the root.

§ 21. α꞉ arises regularly by lengthening before certain com­binations of l, r, n with another consonant^{[A 1]}. This occurs before

Lt, e.g. α꞉Lt, ‘cliff’, M.Ir. alt; bʹα꞉Ltinʹə, ‘May’, M.Ir. beltene; gα꞉Ltə, ‘Protes­tant’, Di. gallda < M.Ir. gall.

nṟ, e.g. α꞉nṟi, ‘broth’, M.Ir. enbruthe; α꞉nṟɔ꞉, ‘misery’, M.Ir. andró; bα꞉nṟi꞉n, ‘queen’, O.Ir. ban‑; krα꞉ṉrə, ‘knot in wood, corn on the foot’, Di. crannra; skα꞉nṟi꞉, ‘scared, fright­ened’, cp. Di. scann­ruighim.

rd, e.g. kʹα꞉rtə, ‘forge’, Wi. cerdcha but there is no lengthen­ing before rt, cp. kʹαrt, ‘right’, M.Ir. cert; kαrtuw, ‘to cleanse’, Meyer cartaim; kαrtαn, ‘sheep-louse’, Meyer cart.

1. The short vowel is however often heard in a number of the cases.