a confusion of the O.Ir. dative and accusative forms. The accus. ending ‑thu of O.Ir. lethu, trethu, airrthiu was added to the dative ‑b, thus producing ‑fə which is now attached to all simple prepositions ending in a vowel, e.g. l′ɔ:fə, ‘with them’, di:fə, ‘from them’, dɔ:fə, ‘to them’, w⅄:fə, ‘from them’, f′r′i:fə, ‘through them’, fwi:fə, ‘under them’. Further in verbs with root ending in bh, mh we get f in the future tenses < bh, mh + f (= h), as in ʃk′r′i:fə m′ə, ‘I shall write’. The only instances in which the f of the future has been preserved are rαfə m′ə, t′i:f′ə m′ə, v. § 180. But f′ is more frequent than h in the ending of the conditional passive.
§ 312. In two instances of loan-words from English f has been inserted for no evident reason, viz. in g′αftə, ‘gate’; rαftαn, ‘rat’, < Engl. ‘ratten’. k⅄:frαn, ‘a dry clod’, seems to correspond in meaning to Di. caorán but I am unable to explain the form.
§ 313. χw sometimes produces f a change which O’Donovan only admits for N. Connaught (cp. RC. xiv 115) but which is very common in parts of Ulster, v. Dinneen s. cuafadh, faofóg, triufanna. I have frequently heard gα ·fwel′ə ꬶin′ə (also gαχ fwel′ə ꬶin′ə), = gach uile dhuine. In fwïp′ < Engl. ‘whip’ we have substitution of fw (fw̥) with bilabial w (w̥) for Engl. w̥.
§ 314. The O.Ir. preposition fo appears to have split up into fwi:, ‘under’ (< 3rd sing. fói), and fα(:), ‘around, about’. It is easy to see from the passages quoted in Windisch how the meaning of ‘around, about’ could arise but I am inclined to think that fα also represents O.Ir. imm. Cp. M.Ir. ba for ma = imma Diss. p. 27 and Scotch G. mu, Manx my- in mygeayrt, my-chione. In Donegal this preposition usually aspirates but we find it eclipsing in fα ·di:widə, ‘concerning’, < fa dtaobh de; fα du:r′im′ in bwiL′ə fα d., ‘a guess’, but fα hu r′im′ k′ɛəd, ‘about a huudred’.
§ 315. When aspirated by a preceding word f disappears together with the w off-glide which accompanies it. Examples – dyəi ʃi:, ‘she sewed’; er′ ə Nαruw, ‘on the roost’; əNsə Nõ:wər, ‘in the autumn’; m′ïp′, ‘my whip’; də Nïl′, ‘to the blood’; α l′ehəd(′) ʃɔ ə ꬶïl′, ‘such blood’. In compounds fh has no effect on a preceding mh or bh, e.g. krα̃:viαχ, ‘a sea-bird’, Di. cnáimh-fhiach; krα̃:vɔ:d, ‘a narrow strip of grass-covered turf between two cultivated patches’, < cnáimh-fhód. Consequently f is frequently wrongly prefixed to words with vocalic initial but in this
