.
III. The Spirants.—These, outside the above spirant-made mutes, are f and s. The sound [resembling E.] sh is represented by s flanked with "small" vowels. The aspirate forms of these are—fh ( = the Greek open breathing or nothing practically), G. sh ( = h).
Celtic Alphabet.
The Celtic alphabet, as deduced from the Neo-Celtic dialects, checked by Gaulish, possessed the following sounds:—
| I. Vowels:— | |||
| Short — i, u, e, o, a | |||
| Long — ī ( = ī, ē), ū, ē (=ei), ō (= au), ā (=ō, ā) | |||
| Diphthongs—ei, oi, ai, eu, ou, au | |||
| II. Liquids—r, l, m, n | |||
| III. Spirants—(h), s, j, v | |||
| IV. Explosives:— | Tenues. | Mediæ. | |
| Labials | — | b | |
| Dentals | t | d | |
| Gutturals | k, kv, (p) | g, gv (b) | |
It has to be noted that Indo-European p initial and intervocalic is lost in Celtic.19 Before another consonant, it manifests its former presence by certain results which still remain. Thus I. E. septṇ is G. seachd, supno-s becomes suan.
Indo-European Alphabet.
By a comparison of the six Indo-European or Aryan language groups, the sounds possessed by the parent tongue may be inferred. The following is the form of the I. E. alphabet which is used in the present work:—
| I. Vowels: | Short— | i, u, e, o, a, ɘ |
| Long— | ī, ū, ē, ō, ā | |
| Diphthongs— | ei, oi, ai, eu, ou, au | |
| ēi, ōi, āi, ēu, ōu, āu | ||
| II. Semi-vowels: | i̯, u̯, represented in this work always by j, v. See the spirants.
| |
| III. Consonant-vowels: | ṛ, ḷ, ṃ, ṇ, ṝ, ḹ, ṃ̄, ṇ̄ | |
| IV. Liquids and Nasals: | r, l, m, n | |
| V. Spirants: | j, v, s, z | |
19 See Supplement to Outlines of Gaelic Etymology.
