§ 75. æ corresponds to O.Ir. a in accented syllables standing before any palatal consonant except a labial, e.g. ægʹəNtαχ, ‘jolly, merry’, cp. O.Ir. aicned (proverb nʹi꞉ dʹɔχ wα̃iç dinʹə ægʹəNtαχ); æLʹʃə, ‘cancer’, M.Ir. allse; æɲəl, ‘angel’, O.Ir. angel; æɲkʹαl, ‘irritability’, M.Ir. ancél; ærʹə, ‘care’, O.Ir. aire, ærʹiαχ, ‘caretaker, shepherd’, Di. airigheach; ærʹi꞉ in bwærʹi꞉ erʹ ə, ‘he was worthy of it’, Macbain airidh < O.Ir. aire (the Donegal use of the word seems rather to suggest M.Ir. airigid); ær̥ʹi꞉, ‘regret, penance’, O.Ir. aithirge, ær̥ʹαχəs, ‘repentance, compunction’, M.Ir. aithrechus; æʃək, ‘to restore’, M.Ir. aissec; ætʹənαχ, ‘furze’, M.Ir. aittenn; gælʹə, ‘stomach, appetite’, M.Ir. gaile; hærʹ, ‘over, across’, O.Ir. tar; kæNʹtʹ, ‘talk’, Meyer caint; mwædʹə, ‘stick’, M.Ir. maite; mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’, O.Ir. matin (acc.); mwælʹkʹ, ‘soreness from riding bare-back’ (?); præʃtʹαl, ‘two handfuls of potatoes for roasting’, Di. pruistéal, praisteal; pwædʹirʹ, ‘prayer’, M.Ir. pater; sæLʹ, ‘fat, grease’, M.Ir. saill; skædʹ, ‘23rd grain given to the miller’ (now usually called mu꞉tər), Di. scaid (with different meaning); skærʹəv, ‘sandy shore of a river’, Di. scairbh; sLædʹ, ‘robbery’, M.Ir. slat; stærʹ, ‘history’, Di. stair; tærʹəvirʹ, imper. ‘hand over, deliver’, M.Ir. tairbrim; tæʃ, ‘damp’, tæʃLʹαχ, ‘wet weather’, M.Ir. tais. α frequently becomes æ in sandhi, cp. §§ 453 ff., as in gʹαl, ‘white’ but kɔ gʹæLʹ Lʹeʃ, ‘as white as it’; LʹαNαn, ‘paramour’ but LʹαNæNʹ ʃi꞉, ‘a fairy lover’.
In some forms æ often becomes ɛ or even e. Thus one hears bwælʹə beside bwɛlʹə and bwelʹə. For further examples see §§ 83, 89. When rʹ and ʃ become r, s respectively a preceding æ changes to α, e.g. erʹ æʃ or eʃ, ‘back, returned’, but αsrïgər, ‘a back answer, sharp reply’< æʃ + fʹrʹïgər; mwærʹəm (mwerʹəm), infin. mαrstʹən. In the preterite however we frequently find wɛr sə.
§ 76. O.Ir. accented o often gives æ under the same circumstances as O.Ir. a in the last paragraph, e.g. dælʹi꞉, ‘difficult’, M.Ir. dolig; gæʃtʹə, ‘trap, snare’, O.Ir. goiste; kæʃkʹəmʹ, ‘step’, Meyer cosscéimm; klægʹəN, ‘skull’, M.Ir. cloccenn; krækʹəN, ‘skin’, O.Ir. crocenn; ə hærʹəvə, ‘on account of’, O.Ir. *de thorbe; mwærʹigʹ, ‘woe’, O.Ir. moircc.
§ 77. In syllables with secondary stress æ stands for an O.Ir. long vowel (á, ó) before the palatal consonants mentioned in § 74. Thus æ represents an older á in the infinitive termination ‑ælʹ or with excrescent tʹ ‑æLʹtʹ, e.g. fα꞉gælʹ, ‘leaving’, O.Ir. fácbáil; kʹrʹedʹvæLʹtʹ, ‘to believe’, Di. creidmheáilt, this
