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Outlines of Gaelic etymology.
| VI. Explosives20:— | Tenues. | Mediæ. | Aspirates. | |
| Labial | p | b | ph, bh | |
| Dental | t | d | th, dh | |
| Palatal | k | g | kh, gh | |
| Velar | q | ꬶ | qh, ꬶh | |
§ 2. Vowel Modification.
In Gaelic the vowel or vowel combination of a syllable may undergo “mutation” (German umlaut) in the course of inflection or word-building. This mutation is caused by the influence exerted backward by the vowel of the next syllable now or previously existent. There are three classes of mutation in Gaelic caused either by a following (1) e or i, (2) a or o, or (3) u.
Mutation by “e” or “i.”
| a becomes | (1) ai: | cat, gen. cait, damh, g. daimh. |
| (2) oi | (with double liquids usually) : dall, pl. doill, clann, g. cloinne. | |
| (3) ui | (with liquids): ball, pl. buill, allt, g. uillt. Also where Irish shows o: balg, O. Ir. bolc, pl. builg; so clag, falt, gal, fuil, car. | |
| (4): i: | mac, g. mic. Dialectally ai becomes ei, especially with liquids, and in ordinary G. eile represents O. Ir. aile; so seileach, too. | |
| o becomes | (1) oi: | sgoltadh, sgoilte. |
| (2) ui: | bonn, g. buinn, post, g. puist. | |
| u becomes | ui: | dubh, comp. duibhe. |
| e becomes | ei: | beir for *bere, catch thou. |
| à, ò, ù become | ài, òi, ùi: | làimhe, òige, dùin. |
| eo, iu, ua become triphthongs; [the digraph ao + i forms a diphthong.] | ||
| ea becomes | (1) ei: | each, g. eich. |
| (2) i: | ceann, g. cinn; the usual mutation. | |
| eu, with liquids, becomes eòi: beul, g. beòil. It sometimes becomes ao: eudann, aodann. | ||
| ia is restored to | éi: | fiadh, g. féidh; irregularly—fiar, crooked, comp. fiaire, biadh, g. bìdh, [Dial. béidh, beidh, bi-idh.] |
| io becomes | i: | fionn, g. finn. |
Mutation by "o" or "a."
o becomes a, a mutation of principal syllables rare in Irish: cas, Ir. cos, original *coxa; cadal for codal.
u becomes o: sruth, g. srotha; nuadh, nodha.
e becomes ea: cearc from *cerca.
20 See Supplement to Outlines of Gaelic Etymology.
