degrees—the aspiration has also become fixed, but is there due to the preceding preposition, which was originally 'do,' but is now worn down to 'a.'
The tendency to loss or confusion of distinctive sounds that has touched other consonants has extended to the liquids, more especially in the Northern dialect. A difficulty in differentiating the aspirated from the unaspirated sound of broad l, as in a la, his day, and a la, her day, bealach, and eallach is general both in South and in North.
Unaspirated broad l has a peculiar pronunciation in the island of Eigg. Clach, stone, sounds there like 'cwach'; mullach a' chladaich, top of the beach, like 'muwach a' chwadaich,' and so on. There seems to be a trace of, or an approach to, this enunciation also in the speech to the south and east of that island.
Slender l loses one or other of its two sounds, at least with the younger people, to a great extent in Northern Gaelic. In Sunart, in North Argyll, it is the unaspirated sound that goes, and the aspirated sound may be heard invariably, e.g. in leanabh, never lleanabh, in leamh, leomhann, leann, léine, leubh (read thou), leubhaidh (will read), sleamhuinn, sliabh, buille, maille, seillean, etc. L, that is to say, in such words, is apt always to have the same sound as in baile, town; mile, a thousand. In West Ross and in Sutherland, on the other hand, the unaspirated sound not only maintains its ground, but takes the place of the aspirated sound in initial position. Leanabh is apt to be always lleanabh, and An do lion e? 'An do llion e?' So, An do fhliuch e thu? in West Ross, is 'An do lliuch e thu?'
In Lewis aspirated slender l appears to be broadened in medial position. At all events, baile in the dialect of the island, is often heard in place-names as 'bala,' and Balallau (Baile—Ailein) as 'Bal-Alain.'
n
The different sounds of n should be heard, for example, plain broad in connadh, donn; aspirated broad in canach,
