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into the corresponding tenses of dʹα꞉nuw. Monaghan dialect has gone a step further and makes the infinitive teanamh, G. J. 1896 p. 147 col. 2. If the h were due to any other cause we should expect to find it making its appearance in the paradigms of the verb for ‘to say’, but J. H. always has dʹerʹəm—Nʹi꞉ erʹəm, pret. du꞉rtʹ mʹə—Nʹi꞉ u꞉rtʹ mʹə (Nʹi꞉r u꞉rtʹ), interr. ərʹ u꞉rtʹ mʹə, fut. dʹɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə—Nʹi꞉ ɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə, interr. Nə Nαχ Nʹɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə. From the younger people one may however hear Nʹi꞉ hɛ꞉r̥ə mʹə.
The h in ho̤bwirʹ, ‘almost’, ho̤bwirʹ gə dʹitʹiNʹ, ‘I almost fell’, is very peculiar. ho̤bwirʹ represents a preterite dh’fhuabair, Wi. fóbairim, but it is possible that fóbairim became *tóbairim in Donegal just as fuaim, fill appear as tuaim, till (§ 383).
§ 182. As we have seen above, Donegal Irish retains intervocalic h to a much greater extent than Connaught or Munster, but even in the north h < th disappears under well-defined conditions. Although h < th is retained in monosyllables after a short vowel, it invariably disappears after a long vowel or diphthong, e.g. α꞉, ‘ford’, M.Ir. áth (plur. α꞉Nỹ꞉); blα꞉, ‘flower’, M.Ir. bláth (plur. blα꞉hə); bw⅄꞉, ‘foolish’, O.Ir. báith; dluw, ‘warp of a web’, Di. dlúth; fα꞉, ‘reason’, M.Ir. fáth, fád; g⅄꞉, ‘wind’, O.Ir. gáith (gen. sing. g⅄꞉hə, g⅄꞉çə); i꞉, ‘fat’, M.Ir. íth; kʹlʹiə, ‘harrow’, O.Ir. clíath (plur. kʹlʹehαχə); Luw, ‘vigour’, M.Ir. lúth; mw⅄̃꞉, ‘pliable’, O.Ir. móith; ɛr skα꞉, ‘for the sake of, ɛr skα꞉ ə wïlʹ ə ji꞉ç erʹ, ‘for all that it wants’, Di. scáth, O.Ir. scáath; sNα꞉, ‘bundle of thread’, M.Ir. snáth; trα꞉, ‘meal’, M.Ir. tráth (plur. trα꞉Nỹ꞉), cp. trα·nõ꞉nə, ‘afternoon, evening’.
§ 183. 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 ʃαŋ ‘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. Molloy’s 33rd dialect-list where fách and faithiach are given; αNtrα꞉χ, ‘untimely’, Di. antráthach. Similarly su꞉L Nə hα꞉, ‘the eye of the kiln’, súil na hátha. The form kʹαrN in kʹαrN ·χyLʹuw, ‘outlaw’, may here be mentioned. kʹαrN stands for kʹα꞉rN with shortening before the chief stress < Meyer cethern if the word has not come in from another
