Monday, April 29, 2013

k ʲ < > t ʲ (?)


Tá baile fearainn i bParóiste Dhomhnach Mór darb ainm Mónaidh Droma Bhrisc[1],

‘Maddydrumbrist’ an Béarla atá air.

Tá idir c ʲ agus t ʲ le fail mar fhuaimniú reatha agus léiríonn na foirmeacha stairiúla cuid mhór éagsúlacht idir an dá chosain tríd na blianta.

The local pronunciation with a final [k] deserves particular attention given the fact the official spelling ends in t as local people sometimes preserve the older pronunciation of a name. However, only two of the early forms end in k ... and it might be suggested that the original [t] has gone to [k] in the current pronunciation. The alternation between [t ́] and [k ́] is attested in the Irish of east Ulster ...[2]

An fianaise é seo go raibh ailtéarnú idir an dá chosain sa chanúint áitiúil?

Bhí an feiniméan céanna, ag tús focal, le fáil i nGaeilge Ard Mhacha Theas[3] agus i nGlinntí Aontroma[4].

Tá an t-athrú seo le fáil i nGaeilge Mhanainn ar ndóigh, mar shampla - ushtey (i. uiste < uisce).


[1] PNI, vol 1.pp 104-105
[2] PNI vol. 1, pp 104-105
[3] Sommerfelt, l. 124.
[4] Holmer, l. 21-22.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

‘ao’ - [ʎ]


Tá fianaise láidre ann ó logainmneacha gur caomhnaíodh an guta cúil ard (high back vowel), cuid den am ar a laghad, ar ‘ao’ i nGaeilge Chontae an Dúin.

[Mar a bhí le fáil go coitianta in Oirthear Uladh agus i nGaeilge na hAlbain. Gné caomhnaithe ón teanga níos sine is ea seo.]

Léiríonn roinnt de na foirmeacha stairiúil do Fhormaol[1][2] an tréith seo.

The early anglicised spelling of our Formal ... provide clear evidence of that dialectal feature of Ulster Irish whereby orthographic ao is realised phonetically as a high-back-unrounded vowel u sound [ʎ].

Léiríonn Maolshliabh, galldaithe ‘Moolieve’[3] an tréith seo go fíormhaith sa Bhéarla.

It is interesting that the high-back-unrounded u sound [ʎː] in maol is reflected in the local pronunciation of the anglicised form ... at least among older speakers. (Ó Mainnín, 146)

Ar ndóigh, léiríonn an leagan gallda den sloinne Ó Maonaigh, ‘Mooney’, an tréith seo go maith.


[1] Ó Mainnín, 140
[2] L. 140.
[3] L. 146

‘-adh’ – [ə] (?)


Tá fianaise áirithe ann gur laghdaíodh –adh ag deireadh focal i gContae an Dúin go [ə].

Tá cúpla sampla ag Neilson d’fhocal a chríochnaíonn le –adh litrithe le –a ag an deireadh, mar shampla, ‘codla’ (codladh) agus 'fliucha' (fliuchadh).

Tá an tréith seo le fáil i nGaeilge Mhanainn agus i nGaeilge Aontroma chomh maith.