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8. nʹ.
§ 260. The symbol nʹ denotes a very slightly palatalised alveolar n. As stated above the younger generation fail to distinguish nʹ and Nʹ and in the majority of cases substitute Nʹ.
§ 261. nʹ occurs initially in nʹi꞉m, ‘I do’, O.Ir. dogniu. Craig gives the pronunciation as nnidhim (Grammar² p. 15), i.e. Nʹi꞉m, but here again he is following the younger generation which does not distinguish this word from Nʹi꞉m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim.
§ 262. nʹ appears further as the aspirated form of initial Nʹ but only with the older people, e.g. Lα꞉rʹikʹ nʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘a sore thigh’; Nʹαskɔd(ʹ) nʹïvnʹαχ, ‘a painful boil’; gʹαr nʹï̃vnʹαχ, ‘rather painful’; tʹrʹi꞉ nʹαd, ‘three nests’; Nʹi꞉rʹ iNʹiʃ mʹə ə ʃkʹɛəl də nʹαχ ə mwerʹəN, ‘I did not tell the story to a soul alive’; tα꞉ ʃɛ ko̤r nʹαχtə, ‘it is snowing’.[1] ər Nʹαuw̥, ‘in heaven’, has Nʹ according to J. H.’s pronunciation.
The aspiration of ʃNʹ is nʹ, e.g. nʹiuw mʹə, ‘I span’, imperf. pass. nʹiuw̥i꞉.
§ 263. nʹ represents O.Ir. medial or final n before an original palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, in all positions except those mentioned in §§ 254, 255, e.g. bʹlʹiïnʹ, ‘year’, O.Ir. bliadain; dinʹə, ‘person’, O.Ir. duine; enʹəmʹ, ‘name’, O.Ir. ainm (æNʹəmʹ); əwα̃꞉nʹ, ‘only’, M.Ir. amáin; fuiʃkʹnʹuw, ‘shudder’; genʹə̃v, ‘sand’, M.Ir. ganim (dat.); heinʹ, ‘self’, O.Ir. féin; inʹiʃ, ‘island’, M.Ir. inis; kαsænʹ, ‘paths’, < casáin; kα꞉nʹ, ‘fine’, M.Ir. cáin; Lʹeinʹi, ‘shirt’, M.Ir. léne; mwænʹærʹ, ‘manor, division of land’, Di. mainear; Nʹα̃ujõ꞉nʹ (gə), ‘although’, Meyer am-deón (§ 38); ri꞉nʹ, ‘tough’, M.Ir. rigin; smαχtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘mallet’, Di. smaichtín; ʃαχtinʹ, ‘week’, M.Ir. sechtmain (acc.); ʃαskinʹ, ‘quagmire’; ʃikʹnʹə, ‘hernia’, Di. seicin, seicne; ʃi꞉nʹuw, ‘to stretch’, M.Ir. síned; ʃLʹα̃uwinʹ, ‘slippery’, M.Ir. slemain; to꞉nʹ, ‘bottom’, M.Ir. tóin (dat.); tʹinʹi, ‘fire’, O.Ir. tene; uigʹnʹαχ, ‘solitary’, M.Ir. uagnech.
§ 264. A voiceless nʹ with strongly breathed off-glide is frequent and arises from various sources, (a) in futures, e.g. bwin̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall reap’; grα꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall loathe’ (Di. gráinighim); kα꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall speak ill of’; klïn̥ʹə mʹə. ‘I shall hear’; ky꞉n̥ʹə mʹə, ‘I shall weep’; mu꞉n̥ʹə mə < mu꞉n, ‘mingere’. (b) < thn, nth, e.g. en̥ʹi꞉m, ‘I recognise’, Meyer aithgninim; fwæn̥ʹə, ‘wart’, Di. faithne; kα꞉n̥ʹi꞉nʹ, ‘husk’, Di. cáithnín;
- ↑ The last example belongs in the following paragraph as it shows the lenition (in Quiggin’s terminology, “aspiration”) of ʃNʹαχtə.
