This page has been validated.
65

(p. 17). A vowel immediate­ly preceding or following an m or n sound is generally nasalised (denoted by writing ˜ over the vowel), e.g. kũ꞉nũw, ‘assist­ance’, M.Ir. congnam; mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; mʹjõ꞉r, ‘mind’, O.Ir. mebuir. A few words with vocalic initial are nasalised from being used with the article (Pedersen p. 65), thus ĩ꞉çə, ‘night’; α̃꞉iç i꞉lʹ, ‘lime-kiln’. According to J. H. α̃꞉, ‘ford’, M.Ir. áth, is distin­guished from α꞉, ‘luck’, M.Ir. ág, by nasal­isation. Similarly Nʹĩ꞉ hẽ꞉ = ní h‑é. It should however be observed that, although in this book we write the mark of nasal­isation over the vowel, the nasal­isation is inherent in the n, m. Thus if we take the word dõ꞉nαχ, ‘Sunday’, O.Ir. domnach, and divide it into syllables, we get do꞉-ñαχ, not dõ꞉-nαχ, i.e. there is not a trace of nasal­isation until the n starts, but when the syllables are pro­nounced together the velum is lowered during the pronun­ciation of the preceding vowel, thus anticipat­ing the nasal. A v or w arising from aspirated m is commonly nasalised in a stressed syllable but more rarely in other positions. The ˜ of Mod.Ir. mh is however more frequent­ly preserved when the w, v are post-vocalic. When mh is initial the nasal­isation is only regular when h or ç follows the vowel. Examples—α̃uwrəs, ‘doubt’, O.Ir. amiress; α̃uw̥, ‘insipid’, M.Ir. om; α vĩkʹ, ‘O son’; α wα̃hærʹ, ‘his mother’; gən wα̃iç, ‘without profit, useless’; dα̃꞉v, ‘fondness’, Di. dáimh; əNə rõ꞉və, ‘to Rome’, M.Ir. Róim (acc.); mαhũw, ‘to forgive’, O.Ir. mathem; kα̃hũw, ‘to spend, throw’, M.Ir. caithem (in this verb the nasal­isation which is only correct in the infin­itive has been extended to the other forms, e.g. imper. kα̃iç); dʹa꞉nũw, ‘to do’, on account of the n but ʃαsuw, ‘to stand’, M.Ir. sessom; α꞉rʹuw, ‘number’, O.Ir. áram. The prefix kõ꞉‑, kũ꞉‑, O.Ir. com‑, cum‑, is generally nasalised but the connec­tion has been forgotten in kɔr̥əm, ‘even, level’, M.Ir. comthromm; kɔsu꞉lʹ, ‘similar’, O.Ir. cosmail. The suffixes ‑u꞉r < ‑mar, ‑u꞉lʹ < ‑mail, ‑email are only nasalised if there is another nasal in the word. In a number of forms where the cause of the nasal­isation has entirely dis­appeared ˜ is still retained, e.g. α̃꞉liʃ, ‘milk and water’, Meyer anglas (englas); dα̃iən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen; dũ꞉i꞉, ‘rabbit-warren’, M.Ir. duma; klũw, ‘down’, M.Ir. clúm; kũ꞉i꞉, ‘sorrow, grief, Meyer cuma; kʹũ꞉s, ‘edge’, M.Ir. cimas; wĩ꞉, ‘mane’, M.Ir. muing (dat., the pausa form has been entirely forgotten); kũ꞉gəʃ, plur. kũ꞉gəʃi꞉, ‘remedy, medicine’, Di. coguis­idhe, Macleod has cungaidh leighis under ‘medicine’, ‘remedy’, Macbain cungaidh, cungais­idh, Ir. cunghas, cung­naighim, cungnamh; Nʹi꞉s