with əN = ann with the result that the latter has largely driven out the older form. Before a consonant initial a double form əNə is commonly used, e.g. əNə mɔrαn ɔkuw, ‘in many of them’, əNə mʹïgαn Lɛhə, ‘in a few days’, əNə ʃïpə, ‘in a shop’. For a similar developement in Farney see G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2.
§ 135. A number of words ending in a consonant in O.Ir. have been extended by the addition of ə, cp. Finck i p. 37. Such are α꞉wə, ‘Adam’; drihαχtə, ‘sorcery’, M.Ir. druidecht; dʹeirʹkʹə, ‘alms’, O.Ir. deircc; dʹrʹu꞉χtə, ‘dew’, M.Ir. drúcht; (ə) giNʹəstə dŨw̥, ‘unknown to me’, = gan fhios; ïgə ꬶUw̥, jαrəg, ‘black, red hives’, Di. feag, Wi. fec (?); kαhə, ‘battle’, O.Ir. cath (the usual term for ‘battle’ now-a-days is bʹrʹiʃuw); krα̃꞉bʹə, ‘hemp’, Meyer cnáip; krïn̥ʹαχtə, ‘wheat’, M.Ir. cruthnecht; mα꞉sə, ‘thigh’, M.Ir. máss; mo꞉dʹə, ‘vow’, M.Ir. móit; mʹɛəwə, M.Ir. Medb; rihαχtə, ‘kingdom’, Di. ríoghacht; sα꞉wə, Mod.Ir. Sadhbha, M.Ir. Sadb; uαχtə, ‘pledge’, Di. udhacht.
§ 136. In pretonic syllables all vowels whether short or long and diphthongs may be reduced to ə. os in əs kʹïN, ‘above’, Wi. os chind, os a cind. do, de become də, ə, e.g. tα꞉ mʹə ə mə χu꞉nælʹ, ‘I am perishing with cold’. Similarly dia in tα꞉ ʃïnʹ ə jəwælʹ ə və dʹα꞉Ntə, ‘that requires to be done’, = dia dhioghbháil. But dia just as often appears as α, Nʹi꞉rʹ çrʹidʹ Nα di꞉nʹi꞉ ʃɛ꞉rLəs αχ tα꞉ ʃɛ α çiNʹtʹuw əNʹUw̥, ‘people did not believe Charles but he is proving it to-day’, = dia chinntiughadh. There is a very peculiar phrase in which this ə < dia seems to occur, viz. Nʹi꞉lʹ ə mʹiʃtʹə lʹïm, ‘I don’t mind, I should very much like’. With this is to be compared Craig’s dheamhan a miste liom (Iasg.), from which it would seem that Nʹi꞉lʹ has been substituted for dʹəwəl, ‘devil’. dia, ‘if’, also appears as ə, α, ə mʹeiNʹʃə, ‘if I were’. ar is reduced to ə in the phrase ə wα̃hə lʹɛ, ‘for the sake of’, Di. mar (ar) mhaithe le. O.Ir. íar has been lost except in a couple of phrases as in ər du꞉s, ‘at first’. But this is an accident as O.Ir. íar, ar and for have been confused and ar alone has survived in the form erʹ (cp. Scotch G. air) which still causes eclipse in ər du꞉s, erʹ gu꞉l, ‘back’, but not in erʹ fα꞉lʹ which is used as the past participle of jɛvəm. aon, ‘one, a single, any’ when not stressed becomes ən, ə, e.g. Nʹi꞉lʹ ə ꬶah ə wiLʹ ɔrəm = ní’l aon dhath de mhoill orm, ‘there is nothing to hinder me’, cp. Craig, Derry People 30 iv ’04 p. 3 col. 4, cha rabh a dhath a mhaith dí sin a dheanadh ach urad; Nʹi꞉lʹ ə·Nynʹə əN, ‘there is not any one there’ but Nʹi꞉ row ·ɛə·Nynʹ əstiç, ‘there was not a soul inside’.
