38, 14); so too ídi Ml 124 c 8, dat sg of vb.n ithe 'eating' (where the mark of length is also

c. After consonants voiceless spirants remain voiceless.

A few exceptions may be ascribed to analogy. Thus pecdæ 'sins' Wb. II. 33b_{8, pecdachu acc. pl.}

'sinful' Ml. 26d_{14, instead of normal pecthe, pecthach, have the d (δ) which had developed in the}

auslaut of nom. acc. dat. sg. peccad 'sin' ( § 130 ). But forms like cumachtgaib Ml. 26b_{20, dat. pl.}

of cumachtach 'powerful', compar. cumachtgu 101d_{7 beside cumachtchu Sg. 39}b_{3a, admit of no}

such explanation. It is doubtful whether g here represents voiced γ or merely a weaker articulation of ch.

After s fluctuation between ch and g is found in Ml. (e.g. grésgai 89d_{11, acc. of the abstract from}

gréssach 'continuous', dat. pl. gréschaib 32b_{12); and in some verbal stems it is universal, with the}

result that there is often difficulty in deciding whether ch or g is original; e.g. todiusgud Wb. 12c₃₉

beside todiuschud 8a_{4 'rousing', vb.n.; toschid 10}d_{18 beside tasgid 29}a_{13 'sustenance';}

do·coisgedar 'follows' Sg. 16b_{2 beside the simplex ·sechethar. The fluctuation spreads to other}

forms also, such as in · coissegar 'is signified' Ml. 48a_{11 beside in · choisechar (rel.) Sg. 198}a_3,

cp. 3 pl. act. in · choisget 45b_{1. In Mid.Ir. sch sg everywhere becomes sc.}

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124. In other positions the original form of lenited stops has undergone various modifications. 1. There is clear evidence that voiced spirants were unvoiced after voiceless consonants ; e.g. macthi 'childish' (pl.) Wb. 12c_{9, corpthi 'corporeal' (pl.) Ml. 15}a_{2, although elsewhere the adjectival suffix}

is -δe ( § 348 ); fortchide Ml. 29d_{14, partc. of for · tugim 'I cover'.}

As a rule, however, the voiced spirant has been restored by levelling; e.g. in chorpdid 'corporeally' Wb. 27a_{12, neph-chorpde 'incorporeal' Sg. 59}b_{16; mucde 'suinus' 37}b_{9. from mucc 'pig'; in fortgidiu}

'covertly' Ml. 30a_3.

For δ afters s see § 139.

In Ml. and later sources β in syllable anlaut sometimes becomes f even after voiced consonants: oín- chétfaid Ml. 53b_{20 (with t = d), elsewhere always cétbaid cétbuid 'sense' (cét-buith), but Mid.Ir.}

cétfaid ; findfadach 'blessed' 56b_{44 beside gen. findbadaig 114}b_{7; the nom. acc. dat. of the}

substantive (find+bi(u)th) is written findbuth 128d_{18, findbiuth Ériu II.144 § 159, findfiud ibid. 108 §}

25, [f + ̇]indfuth Trip.180, 1. The change is found even in word-anlaut. e.g. amal fid 'as it were' Ml. 34b_{11, 37}b_{22, for bid (βiδ); and after a vowel, e.g. ciafa 36}a_{32 for cía ba 'though thou art'; cp. ba bá}

and fa fá 'or' § 464.

125. 2. Spirants before other consonants undergo the following modifications:

(a) After a vowel the spirants ch, γ, δ disappear before r l n, also γ before m, and th before l n, where the groups have not been caused by syncope. If the preceding vowel was short it is lengthened. It also undergoes a peculiar change of quality in achr which becomes ér, as evidenced by dér 'tear', O.Bret. dacr, Gk. δακρυ, Goth. tagr. For achl and achn the evidence is not so definite; mél (a )e 'shame' may be cognate with Lat. macula ( < *_{maclā)), and mlén 'groin', misspelt melen for mleen Thes. II. 47, 3, 361,}

( < *_{mlakn- ?), with Gk. μαλακος 'soft', βλϭ + ́ξ gen. βλα + ̄κος 'slack'. But agr, agl, agn give ár ál, án.}

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Examples:

chρ: du · air-chér 'I have purchased' Thes. I.498, 14 (Arm.), < *_{-chechr, pret. of crenaid 'buys'.}

chλ: mu(i)nél 'neck', W. mynwgl mwnwgl (with g < k); · cúal(a)e 'he heard' <

*_cochlowe*_{cuchlowe. So too original ksl > chsl, chl: scál 'phantom', Goth. skōhsl 'phantom'}

(*_{skōkslom or} *_skākslom).

γρ: úar 'cold' < *_ōgr*_{ougr-, W. oer, Gaul. Ogroni. . . (name of month); ár 'slaughter' <} *_{agr, O.Bret.}

air, cp. Gaul. Uer-agri (Gk. ϭγρα ?).

γν: ad · gén 'I recognized', < *_{gegn, pret. of · gnin ; Broccán (proper name), gen. BROCAGNI}

(inscription).

γμ: ám [t]hám 'a moving to and fro' LL 264b_{38, to agid 'drives' and do · aig.}

δρ: áram 'number', from ad and rím 'number' (cp. § 119 ). δλ: fo · álagar 'is laid low' < *_ad-logar.

δν: húan 'lending' Ml. 28d_{12, ón óin Laws, vb.n. of · odar 'is lent'; áinsem 'accusation' <} *_ad-

nessam.

thλ: cenél 'kindred, gender' < *_{cenethl, OW. cenetl; dál 'assembly' <} *_{dathl, OW. datl.}

thν: én 'bird' < *_{ethn, O.Bret. etn.}

The initial of the second element of a compound is often treated as the initial of a word ( § 123a ); e.g. fognam 'service' vb.n. of fo · gní 'serves', beside dénum 'doing' (de-gním); fo-chricc 'reward'.

Occasionally, too, in reduplicated verbal forms a spirant following the reduplication syllable remains; e.g. ro · cechladar 'will hear', to · clu(i)nethar ; ro · cechladatar 'they have dug', to cla(i)did.

In the sound groups thρ, βρ, and βλ the spirants are retained even in the interior of words; e.g. críathar 'sieve', críathraid 'perforates' < *_{crēthr-, cp. OW. cruitr, Mid.Bret. croezr; gabor gabur 'goat', O.Bret.}

gabr, W. gafr, cp. the place-names Gabro-senti ( Britain), Gabro-magus (Noricum); mebol mebul 'shame', W. mefl.

Accordingly nél 'cloud', nom. pl. níuil, cannot come from *_neβλ *_{nebhlos. It may perhaps go back to} *_{miglos (cp. Gk. ϭμιχλη 'mist') through}

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intermediate *_{niglos, with change of anlaut under the influence of the verb nigid 'washes'. It is hardly =}

Mid.W. nywl, later niwl (also nifwl), 'mist', unless this word has been influenced by Lat. nebula.

126. (b) Where, as a result of syncope, spirants have come to stand before other consonants, there is a clearly marked tendency towards levelling in the sense that voiceless spirants become voiced before voiced consonants, and voiced spirants are unvoiced before voiceless consonants. But the original sounds are often restored from other forms, and thus both spellings are found in the same word; e.g. adramail 'fatherlike' Wb. 6d_{6 beside athramil 13}d_{11, where the th of athir 'father' has been}

restored; also pl. adthramli 9a_{14, 23}c_{27, where it seems more likely that the scribe is hesitating between}

the two forms than that he is seeking to represent the transition from voiced to voiceless during the articulation of the spirant. So, too, in Ml.adaig 'night' (with -g < -ch § 130 ) sometimes makes acc. and gen. sg. aithchi aithche, sometimes aidchi aidche with the d of the nominative; conversely in Thes. II.242, 13 (Arm.) we find aithgi with the g of the nominative. In Wb. the negative prefix ( § 874 ) is always neb- before vowels and voiced consonants, but often neph- before voiceless consonants: nebairitiu 'non-acceptance', nebmarbtu 'immortality', but nephthóbe 'non-circumcision', although nebthóbe also occurs, e.g. 1d_{18. As early as Wb. II. 33}b_{5, however, we find nephinotacht}

'nonentrance', and in Ml. and Sg. neph- is the sole form in all positions, e.g. nephdénum 'non-doing' Ml. 23c_{20 as opposed to nebdénum Wb. 5}c_{23. Cp. further dephthigim 'I contend' Ml. 21}a_{2 beside 3 sg. ipf.}

no · debthaiged 19c_{13, from debuith 'discord'; ad · áichfer 'I shall fear' 68}c_{17, ad · r-áichsetar 80}d₄

beside ad · r-áigsetar 124b_{6 'they have feared', fut. and pf. of ad · ágathar ; ainmmnichthe Sg. 4}b₄

beside ainmnigthe 197b_{10, gen. of ainm (m )nigud 'naming', and many similar instances. In words}

containing the prepositions aith- , t-aith- there is already complete confusion in Wb.; cp. aithgne 'knowledge' 1b_{13 beside dat. aidgniu 1}c_{15, taithchricc 4}b_{16 beside taidchricc 2}b_{9 'redemption'.}

In many cases it is impossible to decide whether the fluctuation was confined to writing or whether it represented differences in pronunciation. But it is certain at least that, owing to the influence of such examples on the

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scribes, the representation of spirants in general became less precise. Thus in Wb. 17a_{5 we actually find}

irnichthe 'prayer' for irnigde (cp. guide 'praying'). Cp. also adchaib Wb. 22a_{14, dat. pl. of athach}

'blast of wind', where δ cannot be due to the following voiceless ch. Conversely comdíthnatha 14b_11,