a in some districts and of ao short in others in such words as balbh ‘balabh,’ sealg ‘sealag,’ Fearchar ‘Fearachar’; so borb, lorg, iarrtus, coslas, masladh, cosnadh, acras, easradh, calma, dearmad, Tormoid.
In such as gilb ‘gilib,’ aimsir ‘aimisir,’ caismeachd, aigne, misneach, caidreabh, aitreabh, aimlisg, ainmhidh, it is ao short in some dialects and i in others.
Guilbneach, a curlew, is ‘guilbearnach’ in Perthshire, ‘guilibearnach’ and ‘guilibneoch’ in different parts of West Ross-shire, and ‘guileabarnach’ and ‘cuileabannach’ in different parts of Sutherlandshire. Glaschu, Glasgow, one of the few instances in which there is no liquid, is in Northern Gaelic generally ‘Glasachu.’
The tendency to vowel correspondence or to particular vowel sequences shown above in such instances as ‘balabh,’ ‘gilib,’ is found further developed in the west of Ross-shire. In that district the distinctive Gaelic sounds of a, o, u, and i are all given in intercalation in different cases.
- a occurs when the preceding syllable has a, ea, or io as Alba ‘Alaba,’ armadh (oiling wool) ‘aramadh,’ carbhanach ‘carabhanach,’ lamraig ‘lamaraig’; dealrach ‘dealaraich,’ eanghlas ‘eanaghlais,’ earball ‘earaball,’ iomlan ‘iomalan,’ iomlaid ‘iomalaid,’ iorghuil ‘ioraghuil.’
- It is found also after ai, as in ama’lisg for aimlisg, dama’sir for daimsir (mud).
- Balbh is bala-abh and balahabh, garbh gara-abh and garahabh, dealbh deala-abh, and so falbh, marbh, etc.
- o is heard after o or oi as tolog for tolg, conofhodh for confhadh, conophocan for conphocan (a sea-shell), coin’ohall for coingheall (loan), borobhan for borbhan, dorocha for dorcha, and so gorm, morbhach, morghan, etc.
- u follows u, and sometimes iu and ui, as Muruchadh for Murchadh, siunnuchan for sionnchan (sionnachan), muluchag for mulchag (mulachag), cuil’ubheir for cuilbheir, guir’umean for guirmean.
- i is found after i, ui, ei, and ai, as Gibilean for Giblean,
