§ 114. In the same way i takes place of ə as svarabhakti vowel between palatal combinations such as rʹgʹ, rʹv, lʹgʹ &c. (cp. Finck i p. 35). Examples—bwilʹigʹɔg, ‘bubble’, O.Ir. bolg, bolc, gen. sing. builc; hærʹigʹ, ‘offered’, M.Ir. taircim; kʹelʹigʹ, ‘deceit’, M.Ir. celg; mʹirʹigʹ, ‘rust’, O.Ir. meirg; mwærʹigʹ, ‘woe’, O.Ir. mairg; ʃirʹivə, compar. of ʃαruw, ‘bitter’, O.Ir. serb. Lα꞉rʹikʹ, ‘thigh’, beside Macbain làirig, O.Ir. loarcc shews that the kʹ is analogical and comes in from the plural, as no svarabhakti vowel is introduced between r, rʹ and k, kʹ (§ 138). Similarly the final ə of i꞉nʹə, ‘Friday’, becomes i in i꞉ni ·çɛəstə, ‘Good Friday’; tui çαhə, ‘rainbow’, = tuagh cheatha.
§ 115. After rʹ before ɔ꞉ the off-glide sometimes developes into i, as in bʹrʹiɔ꞉tʹə, ‘sickly, delicate’, infin. bʹrʹiɔuw, Di. breodhaim, Meyer breoaim, ‘I burn’.
8. i꞉.
§ 116. When standing between palatal consonants i꞉ has a very close sound but in other positions it is slightly more open. It is liable to be modified by non-palatal consonants for which see under y (§ 125) and is frequent both in syllables with chief and secondary stress.
§ 117. i꞉ represents O.Ir. í between palatal consonants, e.g. in dʹi꞉gʹ, dat. sing. of dʹi꞉g (with open vowel, also dʹiəg), ‘gutter’; ʃi꞉nʹuw (ʃi꞉Nʹuw), ‘stretch’, O.Ir. sínim; dʹi꞉ʃ ‘a couple’, cp. dís dat. of días Wi.; kʹi꞉rʹə, gen. sing. of kʹi꞉r, ‘comb’, O.Ir. cír; fʹrʹi꞉, ‘flesh-worm’, O’R. frith, Di. frigh. Similarly in i꞉, ‘fat’, Raphoe Pastoral 1904 igh, Macbain igh, M.Ir. íth and in the diminutive termination ‑i꞉nʹ, kælʹi꞉nʹ, ‘girl’. When the final of a monosyllable which contains iə becomes palatal, iə becomes i꞉, thus driən, ‘blackthorn’, O.Ir. draigen, gen. sing. dri꞉nʹ.
§ 118. O.Ir. í in words of more than one syllable before non-palatal consonants gives i꞉ (in monosyllables we usually find iə), e.g. dʹĩ꞉wi꞉nʹ, ‘unmarried’, O.Ir. dímain; kʹi꞉krαχ, ‘ravenous’, Meyer cíccarach; kʹi꞉mwælʹ, ‘to worry, contend’, O’R. ciomaim, Macbain, Di. ciom; kαrəʃ ·kʹrʹi꞉stə, ‘sponsor’, Meyer cairdes Críst s. cairddes; mʹi꞉sə, gen. sing. of mʹi꞉, ‘month’.
§ 119. Sometimes O.Ir. ía (i.e. iə) loses its second element and becomes i꞉. This is particularly the case before h < th and is therefore parallel to the shortening of long vowels before the same sound. Examples—bʹrʹi꞉hər, ‘word, speech’, O.Ir. bríathar;
