Meyer brobh, brod; boh, ‘sod-house, still-house’, O.Ir. both but bɔhɔg; bomwitʹə, ‘minute’, but more commonly with o̤, Di. móimid; mõhuw, ‘to feel’, Di. mothughadh; row̥, enclitic form for ‘was’, = raba < robói. In kõhərə, ‘sign’, Wi. comartha we have transposition of the h < th and consequent shortening.
6. o꞉.
§ 37. This is a very close long o-sound like the German vowel in ‘Sohn’ or the Anglo-Irish o in ‘home’. When nasalised it is slightly more open as is the case in French (Vietor, Elemente der Phonetik5 p. 158). In the use of o꞉ Monaghan seems to agree with Donegal (cp. G. J. 1896 p. 146).
§ 38. o꞉ arises from O.Ir. ó chiefly in the vicinity of nasals and labials. It is interesting to note that under these circumstances the dialect described by Henebry has u꞉, whilst Donegal ɔ꞉ corresponds to o꞉ in the Decies (Henebry p. 31). Examples: bro꞉n, ‘sorrow’, O.Ir. brón; krõ꞉, ‘nut’, M.Ir. cnó, O.Ir. cnú; Lo꞉n, ‘store, provision’, O.Ir. loun, lóon; mo꞉, ‘more’, O.Ir. moo, mó; mo꞉dʹə, ‘vow’, M.Ir. móit; mo꞉nʹ, ‘peat’, M.Ir. móin; mo꞉rtəs, ‘boasting’, *mórdatas, cp. M.Ir. mórdatu; mo꞉ʃiαm, ‘irritation’, Di. móisiam < Engl. ‘commotion’ (?); Nõ꞉s, ‘habit’, M.Ir. nós; o꞉Nʹʃαχ, ‘hussy’, Di. óinseach; rõ꞉n, ‘seal’, M.Ir. rón; sro꞉n, ‘nose’, O.Ir. srón; to꞉nʹ, ‘bottom’, M.Ir. tón. so꞉məs, ‘ease’, is peculiar, as Dinneen and O’Reilly have sámhas, Wi. sám. It should be stated that, although the distinction between ɔ꞉ and o꞉ seems to be pretty generally observed, there are surprising deviations, e.g. one may hear gə Lʹo꞉r, ‘sufficient’, for gə Lʹɔ꞉r. Why to꞉g, imper. ‘lift’, Wi. tócbaim has o꞉ I am quite unable to say. M.Ir. eo, eói also give o꞉ before a nasal, e.g. Lʹo꞉nuw, ‘to sprain’, Keating leónaim; dα lo꞉Nti꞉lʹ heinʹ, ‘of his own accord’, Di. gives leóinte as Munster and d’á leontuighil féin as the Donegal form. The forms seem to go back to M.Ir. deóin, which is preserved in Nʹα̃ujõ꞉nʹ, ‘in spite of’ (r̥eigʹ ʃə mʹə Nʹ. ə dʹα꞉rN mʹə ə wα̃ihəs dɔ꞉, ‘he left me in spite of all the good I did for him’), here M.Ir. i n‑amdeón has been transformed into neamh-dheóin. Cp. further Nʹo꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, ‘daisy’, for No꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, Di. nóinín.
§ 39. In a few cases o꞉ is the result of lengthening before n + another consonant, e.g. so꞉Ntαχ, ‘innocent, simple’, Di. sonntach; so꞉nṟuw, ‘notice’, Di. sonnrughadh, so꞉nṟiαχ, ‘remarkable’, both from O.Ir. sainreth, sainred.
