E. C. Quiggin

“ As far as I am able to observe the hollowing out of the front of the tongue essential for the production of s, ʃ is entirely absent. Perhaps the Desmond sound described in the Chr. Bros. Aids to the Pron. of Irish (p. 23) is different. There it is stated that “the slender sound of r is produced by spreading the tongue and forming a small hollow in the front portion of it. The point of the tongue is brought close to the gum just above the upper teeth.” When I first heard the Donegal r′, I was reminded of a j-sound formed against the arch-rim instead of against the hard palate. ”

“ The normal mode of production seems to be as follows – the lips meet in the middle and the breath escapes either on both sides of this point of contact, the corners being closed, or at the corners of the mouth. For a long time I doubted the correctness of Henebry’s statement that labio-dental sounds are non-existent in Irish (p. 49) . But after repeated observations I have not been able to discover labio-dental f or v in people over forty years of age either in Irish or English but persons under that age are rapidly substituting the labio-dental for the bilabial sound. ”

“ Long vowels appear chiefly in syllables with strong stress. In weak syllables the vowel is generally ə but α is not rare and long vowels due to contraction are often found. Close stress after short vowels. Assimilation is frequent particularly in sandhi. Most consonants tend to be long or half-long but l, r, n, l′, r′, n′, ç, w̥ are always short and at the end of stressed monosyllables are clipped or over-short. There is a great difference between strong and weak stress. The traditional stress always falls on the first syllable. Unity stress plays a great part. ”

“ A noun as subject is stressed more strongly than the verb, e.g. :henik′ ·mα:r′ə, ‘Mary came’; :ro̤g ə ·wɔ:, ‘the cow calved’; :tα: ·LUχær′ ɔrəm, ‘I rejoice’; ·tɔkrəs ɔrəm, ‘I am hungry’; :N′ï:l′ ·ɔkrəs ɔrəm, ‘I am not hungry’. But ·tα:s əgəm, ‘I know’, ·N′ïl′ əs əgəm, ‘I do not know’, N′i: ·ro:s əgəm, ‘I did not know’, ə ·m′əwəs əgəm, ‘if I had known’, cp. further (ə) ·g′əN′ïstə, ‘unawares’.
§ 486. Subject pronouns have much weaker stress than the verb apart from the forms of the copula əs &c., e.g. ”

“ Muirfidh tú faitheach eile aniu. Buail buille beag de do chlaidhimh ⁊ leig mise anuas. Ní mé a chuir suas thú ⁊ ní me a leigfeas anuas thú, arsa Éamonn. Shiubhail leis síos ’un an ghleanna. Thainic an faitheach mór ann a aracais a bhí i bhfad níos mó na’n chéad cheann. A Éamuinn Ui Ciórrthais, a dhailtín bhig, bheadaigh! Mharbhuigh tú mo dhearbhbhrathair ané, acht bhéarfaidh tú díol ann aniu. An íde chéadna fuair do dhearbhbhrathair ané, gheóbh tusa é aniu. Thoisigh an troid ⁊ ní robh acht trumparacht ann go dtí sin. Throid siad go robh sé ’g éirigh dorcha. ”

“ The tip of the tongue seems to hang down behind the lower front teeth and may rest against them. The lips are neutral as in English but the middle part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, thus considerably lengthening the narrowing necessary for the production of ʃ. The acoustic effect of the Donegal sound is very different from that of English, French or German ʃ. ”

“ On the other hand the difference between the generations is almost incredible. Meenawannia has so far been practically unaffected by the efforts of the Gaelic League, though I believe more Irish is now spoken there than was the case 10 or 15 years ago. The phonetic decay of the speech of the younger people will be constantly exemplified in this sketch, but more appalling is the introduction of English words. Numbers of the people have been in America or Scotland for longer or shorter periods, and when they return the Irish they speak is often little better than a jargon. ”

“ He possesses a far better knowledge of Donegal Irish than any other person I have met, and, as far as I can judge, he has been little, if at all, influenced by book Irish. He has an immense store of tales and Fenian poems in the vernacular, and it is only a few of the oldest men and women like himself that are able to speak Irish in its purity. ”

“ The forms of the verb ‘to choose’ have ö̤:, though we should expect an o-sound. Writers of Ulster Irish print raogha, rae (Craig, Lloyd, G. J. vi 146, Di. ré) which represent the pronunciation of the younger people. It would seem that a took the place of o in these forms, i.e. that M.Ir. togaim became tagaim whence tö̤:m, ‘I choose’, pret. hö̤: mʹə, infin. tö̤uw. Similarly rö̤:, ‘choice’, O.Ir. rogu, from which is formed rö̤:nαhαs, ‘choice’; tö̤:nə, ‘select, recherché’. ”

“ Occasionally other vowels, even long ones, disappear after another long vowel, e.g. Lα: l′ pα:drik′, ‘St Patrick’s day’; ĩ: l′o:n′, ‘St John’s eve’ (oidhche fhéile Eóin) ; tα:s əgəm, ‘I know’.
§ 449. In proclitics every vowel may be reduced to ə and disappear (§ 136) , e.g. dαkə l′eʃ, ‘as for him’, Di. i dtaca; wαkə tuw, ‘did you see’, an bhfaca tuw; χɔr′ ə və, ‘almost’, = fa, do chomhair. The verbal particle do never appears before the preterite except when the verb commences with a vowel. agus appears as αgəs, ɔgəs, əgəs, əs, s. ”

“ Bhí lúthgháir mhór air Éamonn ⁊ air nighean an ríogh. Rachaidh muid anois ’un an bhaile, arsa Éamonn. Bhí luingis go leór anns an chuan. Líon siad long lán óir ⁊ airigid. Ní robh fhios ocú go dé an bealach a rachadh siad. Chonnaic siad an bád beag miotail ag teacht asteach o’n fhairge mhór. Chuaidh an bheirt asteach san bhád. Chuir an bádóir crúca i bhfasta anns an luing ⁊ chuaidh sé ’un fairge. Ba luaithe é go mór ná’n ghaoth Mhárta go dtainic sé asteach faoi theach an tricheadh seanduine. Bhí lúthgháire mhór air an tseanduine rompú. Chaith siad an oidhche sin aig an tseanduine le pléisiúr. ”

“ A similar sound is frequent in English in words like ‘ritual’ when not pronounced with tʃ. I have not noticed any tendency in Donegal for t′ to pass into tʃ as in parts of Connaught, Manx and Scotch Gaelic. The contact for t′ is however broken very gradually and a glide resembling ʃ is heard. For t′ as a lenis see § 438.
§ 388. t′ corresponds to O.Ir. initial t before e, i or preceding r followed by those vowels, e.g. tαχ ‘house’, O.Ir. tech; t′αN, ‘tight’, O.Ir. tend; t′αŋy:, ‘tongue’, O.Ir. tenge; t′e`, ‘hot’, M.Ir. teith beside tee, té; t′iəχɔg, ‘chest for meal’, M.Ir. tíach ”

“ 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 ”

“ The consonants, particularly the stops, seem to be much tenser than the vowels. All consonants occur both voiced and unvoiced except s, ʃ and ɲ. b, d, g are voiced; p, t, k, s are aspirated; unaspirated p, t, k and p′, t′, k′ occur with lax articulation after s, ʃ, χ. Nasal resonance is particularly strong. The glottal catch is altogether wanting. Palatal and non-palatal consonants arc contrasted, the quality of the consonants being apparently of greater relative importance than vowel-quality. ”

“ In a number of words the voiceless sound has given way to the voiced without any apparent reason. Examples – blα:nəd, ‘the female of the weasel’, Meyer bláthnait; dʹαlαN dα:rə, ‘an ember from the fire made on St John’s eve which is thrown at a cow to make her bear’, = dealán dártha, here the genitive seems to have followed the nominative; du:rαi, ‘foundation’, Di. dúthrach, in Donegal the word is feminine; ïmʹαχt, ‘to depart’, O.Ir. immthecht; kʹerʹə, ‘four’, M.Ir. cethri but always kʹαr̥ər, O.Ir. ”

“ Thainic an Crochaire. Mothuighim boladh an Éireannaigh bhradaigh, bhréagaigh annseo, arsé. Mothachaidh tú sin, arsí, fhad a’s tá mise ann. Air maidin go luath lá air n‐a bhárach d’imthigh an Crochaire ⁊ dubhairt nach mbéidheadh air ais go ceann dá lá. Dubhairt Éamonn le nighean an ríogh: mur bhfaghaidh muid plan éiginteach oibriughadh, ní bhfuigh muid buaidh air an Chrochaire go deó. Go dé ghéanfaidh muid? arsa nighean an ríogh. Leig thusa ort, arsa Éamonn go bhfuil cion mór agad air ⁊ go bhfuil buaidhreadh ort an pósadh do chur air gcúl. Deán iolghárdas mór nuair a thiocfaidh sé abhaile. ”

“ Da ndeánadh spólla amháin maith dó, ní bhfuigheadh sé é. Acht tá tarbh air an oileán seo a chuinnighidh trían de’n oileán dó fhéin le ar linn. Má mharbhann sibh an tarbh, bidheadh sé agaibh ⁊ mur marbhaidh, bidhidh folamh. Cá bhfuil an tarbh? arsé. Teiseanadh dó an taobh de’n oileán i robh an tarbh an lá seo. Thug sé leis Conán. Nuair chuaidh siad i ngearr do’n tarbh, rinne sé búirthe mór ⁊ thairng orrthú. Chuir Giolla na gCochall Craicionn a chlóca air an taobh bu neise do’n tarbh de’n árd. Chuaidh é fhéin air an taobh eile. ”

“ In dissyllables of the type cons. + áthach we commonly find loss of h and contraction, e.g. blα:χ, ‘buttermilk’, M.Ir. bláthach; grα̃:χ, ‘usual’, M.Ir. gnáthach; sα:χ, ‘sated person’ (proverb Nʹi: higʹəN ə sα:χ ə ʃaŋ ‘the sated person does not understand the starved’) , Wi. sathech, saithech, sathach; sLα:χ, also sLαhαχ, ‘slush on the sea-shore’, Di. sláthach (gen. sing. sLα:i or sLαhi:) . This same contraction occurs sometimes when the first vowel is short, e.g. bʹα:χ, ‘beast’, Meyer bethadach (plur. bʹαhi:, bʹɛhi:) ; fα:χ, ‘giant’, more commonly fαihαχ, Meyer athech, aithech, cp. ”

“ Ó ní’l aon dhuine dar fhan nach robh marbh lá air n‐a bhárach. Ní imtheachaidh mise, arsa Céadach, go bhfeicidh mé go dé nídheas beó iad. Chuaidh clann an ríogh ’un an bhaile ⁊ d’fhan Céadach. Níor bhfada dó go bhfacaidh sé faitheach ag teacht aníos ó bhruach na fairge poitín ⁊ cleitín leis. Chuir sé an cleitín anns an phoitín. Annsin chuir sé i mbéal fir é ⁊ léim naoi naonbhair ocú na seasadh. Na deán níos mó de sin, arsa Céadach. Thug sé ruathar air na naoi naonbhair. Bhain na cinn díobhtha. Ó tharlaidh gur troid atá de dhíth ort, arsa ’n faitheach, gheóbh tú do sháith de. ”

“ The diphthong is always clipped and there is generally a suspicion of a a glide at the finish. For a long time I was at a loss to analyse the sounds, more especially as there is always an alternative pronunciation with ïg (§ 106) and ə⅄ is confined to the oldest people. The sound occurs in ʃLʹə⅄, ‘spear’, M.Ir. sleg; fʹə⅄, ‘fathom’, Di. feadh, O.Ir. ed; fʹə⅄, fʹïg, ‘rush’, Di. fiag; ʃə⅄ according to J. H. is a Rosses pronunciation of ʃα, O.Ir. is ed. Further in ə⅄ri:m, ïꬶəri:m, ‘I adore’, Spir. Rose p. 6 aoghraigh muid, O.Ir. adraim; fʹə⅄riαχt, fʹïꬶəriαχt, ‘countenance, face’, cp. Di. ”

“ English is the language of the people’s devotions, and the schoolmasters seldom know sufficient Irish to teach it intelligently. In one respect they are free from blame, viz. that there is a dearth of suitable text-books. ”

“ For O.Ir. initial i before a non-palatal consonant see § 58.
§ 98. When in a stressed syllable the consonant following the vowel is palatal but the initial consonant is not, the palatalisation in the majority of cases has affected the vowel which usually appears as ï, for exceptions see § 24. We find ï notably in the inflected forms of monosyllables containing a, o, u, e.g.
a – glαs, ‘green’, compar. glïʃə; kαm, ‘bent’, compar. kïmʹə; klαN, ‘children’, dat. klïNʹ. o – bo:r, ‘deaf’, compar. bïvrʹə; ko̤m, ‘waist’, gen. sing. kïmʹ; tro̤m, ‘heavy’, compar. trïmʹə; sɔk, ‘snout’, gen. sing. ”

“ Dubhairt an cócaire liom gur trí fathaigh a thainic annseo do iarraidh nighean an ríogh le pósadh air an fhear bu mhó ocú. No go scriosadh sé a rioghachta mur bhfaghadh sé í. Sin no fear a throidfeadh é. Chuir nighean an ríogh ar gcúl é go ceann bliadhna go bhfaghadh sí gaiscidheach a throidfeadh é. Nach bhfuil oidhche air bith nach leigeadh siad trí scairt le h‐athas go robh siad oidhche eile níos neise do’n phósadh. Anois tá mé réidh. Ní’l imtheacht air an bhás agam. Tá mé i ngéibhionn. Rinne sé scairt air Chú Beag na Garbhchoilleadh. ”

“ In monosyllables ending in v there is a tendency with some speakers to unvoice the final and make it into f′ (J. H. always has v) , e.g. in Lïf′, ‘weed’, = Lïv, O.Ir. luib; ə N′ïf′, ‘the egg’ (§ 326) ; N′ïf′, ‘poison’, M.Ir. neim; L′ef′r′i:nαχ, also L′evr′i:nαχ, ‘half-witted’, subst. L′evr′i:n′, cp. Di. leimhe.
3. v.
§ 323. The Donegal v is a voiced bilabial sound corresponding in formation to f′. The corners of the mouth seem to be left open and the portions of the lips on either side of the point of contact in the middle (§ 309) approach very nearly to one another and vibrate. ”

“ In a three syllable word the middle vowel if ə disappears in a number of cases, e.g. αdruw, Di. eadarshúdh; α̃ugrαχ, Di. amhgarach, kõ:grαχ, ‘near’, Di. comhgarach; ɔkrəs, M.Ir. accorus, occorus.
6. Vowel-shortening.
§ 451. Apart from the reduction of vowels in proclitics every long vowel in a syllable immediately preceding the stress tends to become short. Finck states that the short vowel under these circumstances retains its quality. This is not the case in Donegal. Examples – trα·nõ:nə, ‘afternoon’, Di. tráthnóna; αr̥uw ·N′e:, ‘the day before yesterday’, < α:r̥uw, Di. athrughadh ”