Page:Sean-Chaint na nDéise - Sheehan.pdf/16

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the sound is ah-oo, e.g., ca͜m, ce͜ann, da͜ll, ma͜ll; otherwise the sound is eh-oo, e.g., ta͜ḃairt (the a is not followed by a liquid), po͜ll, to͜nn, do͜ṁan. The only exception is io, which when marked with the curve has the sound of ah-oo, e.g., os ci͜onn, Fi͜onn, ci͜onntaċ. (This exception need not cause any difficulty as the words affected are practically no more than the three just mentioned.)

(5) Ó or o in close connection with the sound of n or m becomes ú or u, as , or; gnú, business; finniúg [fuinneóg], window; cúnuṁ [congnaṁ], help. Wherever this sound occurs, ú or u has been substituted for ó or o in the text.

(6) A in an accented syllable often becomes ea, i.e., the sound of “a” in “what” often becomes the sound of “a” in “ that.” This change, wherever it occurs, is indicated in the text. The following rules may be of help:—A is pronounced as ea in accented syllable (a) when it begins a word, as acfuinn, ak″ ing, wealth; acaraċ, ak″ ar-och, useful (ana-lag, an″ na-log, “very weak,” this is the pronunciation of the prefix ana- in all words); (b) when it is the second letter in a word, the first being the letter t, as tarraingt, thar″ ingt, tarḃ, thar″ uv. We must add a few words like dar “by” in imprecations, Craṫaċ, Krah″ hoch, one named McGrath, Sasana or Sasanaċ, Sass″ anach. Dr. Henebry mentions amus and anam as exceptions to rule (a), but in Ring they are pronounced am″ us and an″ um by many. (It seems to me that the sound is often one which is mid-way between the two referred to.)

(7) A strong nasal sound will be heard in many words. It must not be supposed that this is a mere