Finck i 43; Henderson, ZCP. iv 251 ff. This loss of j in Donegal may be compared with the substitution of palatal for palatalised articulation in the other consonants, cp. § 173. That the j forms part and parcel of the labial is shewn by its disappearance with fʹ when the latter is aspirated, e.g. bʹα꞉χ ə o꞉s ə = beathadhach da fheabhas é, ‘however excellent a beast it may be’. Before u꞉ we find fʹj by stress-shifting in fʹjuw, ‘worthy’, O.Ir. fiú; fʹju꞉Ntəs in riNʹ ʃɛ fʹju꞉Ntəs mo꞉r lʹïm, ‘he treated me very decently’, Di. fiúntas. Similarly bʹiuw 3rd sing. imper. of tα꞉ in rapid speech becomes bʹjuw as in bʹjuw gαL gə mʹɛ ʃə əNsə welʹə rĩv ə Nĩ꞉çə ‘I bet you he will be home before night’.
§ 193. When standing initially the diphthong iə tends to become jiə, e.g. jiərəgnuw, ‘annoyance’, Di. iarghnó; jiərəgu꞉l, ‘wilderness’, Di. iargcúil, jiərəgu꞉Ltə, ‘timid, uncouth’, jiərəgu꞉Ltαχt, ‘remote, wild place’; gədʹe꞉ vi꞉ ʃɛ jiəri꞉ (jïri꞉), ‘what was he wanting’, = dia iarraidh.
3. w.
§ 194. This symbol denotes a bilabial w which however does not become confused with v as on Aran (Finck i 66). The difference between Donegal w and English w is clearly heard in final ‑uw. In English who (huw) the lips glide into the w position but no friction is audible whilst it is very evident in a word like kuw, ‘hound’. Those speakers who substitute labiodental for bilabial v in pronouncing w draw back the lower lip towards the edge of the upper teeth without necessarily touching them and friction is thus set up.
§ 195. w occurs initially as the aspirated form of non-palatal b, m, e.g. mə wα꞉d, ‘my boat’; ĩ꞉çə wo̤g, ‘a wet night’; fα꞉lʹ wα꞉ʃ ‘dying’; wæʃtʹə mʹə, ‘I baptised’; wrαiç mʹə, ‘I betrayed’; wlæʃ mʹə, ‘I tasted’; α wα̃hærʹ, ‘O mother’; wαLə mʹə, ‘I cursed’; wɔihi꞉ mʹə, ‘I felt, perceived’; wĩ꞉v mʹə, ‘I begrudged’; ə wædʹïnʹ, ‘since morning’; əs mo꞉dʹə di꞉d ʃïnʹ ərs iNʹ dʹrʹɔ꞉lαn Nerʹ ə wu꞉Nʹ ʃə sə Nαrəgʹə = is móide díod sin, arsa’n dreólan, nuair do mhún sé san fhairge.
w therefore never stands initially in pausa forms except in cases like w⅄꞉m, ‘from me’, infra § 199. wægʹə in asseverations, wægʹə mæʃə heinʹ ətα꞉, ‘well indeed it is to be sure’, is a distortion of the name of the Virgin. In the case of wĩ꞉, ‘mane’, a word not in common use, the original initial has been forgotten, cp. bhárdail, mhárdul in Molloy’s 30th dialect-list.
