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Di. has fuachais, ‘hole, den’; exceptionally in kl⅄꞉nꬶɔrt, ‘a place-name near Gweebarra’ if < Cluanghort; sp⅄꞉kαχə, plur. of spuikʹ, spyeikʹ, ‘blister’, Di. Macbain spuaic; w⅄꞉m, ‘from me’, O.Ir. uaim (with m instead of mʹ by analogy with orm &c.), wuə, w⅄ə, wiə, ‘from him’, O.Ir. uad.
§ 67. In a few words beginning with fua- the uə is frequently retained when the f is not aspirated. Examples—fuəgruw, ‘to declare, announce’, M.Ir. fócaraim, fúacraim, pret. dyəgər sə, d⅄əgirʹ mʹə, imperf. pass. d⅄əgri꞉sti꞉; fuəruw, ‘to cool’, pret. d⅄꞉ri꞉ ʃə, ərʹ ⅄꞉ri꞉ ʃə?. The word for ‘cold’ itself is (fuər) fwyər, fwi꞉r, compar. fwi꞉rʹə, fu꞉rʹə, abstract fwiəχt; M.Ir. fúath, ‘hatred’, I have generally heard as fwyə. For a somewhat similar treatment of O.Ir. úa in Manx see Rhys pp. 14, 20. However when O.Ir. úa is preceded by other than labial sounds, it remains, e.g. χuəli꞉, ‘heard’, O.Ir. cúala; Luə, ‘early’, M.Ir. lúath.
⅄꞉ occurs exceptionally by contraction in bw⅄꞉gαn, ‘yolk’, Di. buidheacán. smw⅄꞉lαχ, ‘cinders’ is surprising, as it corresponds to Di. smál, smól, Macbain smál. ⅄꞉Ntαχ, ‘wonderful’, M.Ir. ingnáthach is due to contraction. For the form see § 303 and for the ⅄꞉ cp. Molloy’s 15th dialect-list.
§ 68. ⅄꞉ sometimes interchanges with ö̤꞉ particularly before n, e.g. rö̤꞉lαχə, r⅄꞉lαχə, cp. § 72. ⅄꞉Ltrənəs, ‘adultery’, cp. Meyer adaltair, adaltrach should have ö̤꞉ but I have only heard the form with ⅄꞉. Similarly ⅄꞉nαn, ‘Adamnan’.
11. ö̤꞉.
§ 69. In Donegal there is a further unrounded back sound which seems to have no parallel in Scotland or Connaught. We described ⅄꞉ as an unrounded close u꞉. If we unround the u꞉ described in § 44 which occurs in words like u꞉r, Luəχ, we obtain a peculiar sound which we here denote by ö̤꞉. ö̤꞉ would therefore be high-back-lowered. In a number of words ⅄꞉ and ö̤꞉ seem to be interchangeable but that they are two absolutely distinct sounds is shewn by the fact that for ⅄꞉ the younger people substitute y꞉, i꞉, whilst for ö̤ one hears ɛə, eə, e꞉. Craig again following the younger generation says: “adha, agha are pronounced like ay in day”, i.e. e꞉, Grammar² p. 14. This ö̤꞉ always seems to me to be a kind of vocalised ꬶ, which is accounted for by its origin and there is nearly always a suspicion of friction in the production of the vowel. It also appears to exist in the Monaghan dialect
