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either x + αiç or x + αh but the former has been generalised and αi has been introduced into the present system, e.g. skαhuw, ‘to wean’, M.Ir. scothaim, pres. skαihəm, pret. skαiç. Similarly krαihəm, ‘I shake’, M.Ir. crothaim; brαihəm, ‘I betray’, Meyer brathaigim. Before rʹ, tʹ αi becomes æ (§ 75).
§ 140. αi represents O.Ir. o before a palatal consonant in kαigʹiLʹtʹ, ‘raking the fire’, M.Ir. coiclim. Also in the parts of mohuw, ‘to feel, hear’, fut. mαihaχə mʹə, pret. wα̃ihi꞉ mʹə.
§ 141. In syllables with secondary stress αi represents an older á before O.Ir. palatal g as in i꞉wα̃iç, ‘image’, Wi. imaig, Atk. imágin; o̤mərwαi`, ‘contention’, M.Ir. immarbáig (dat.). du꞉rαi`, ‘foundation’, is evidently O’R.’s dúrtheach, Wi. durthech, daurthech but the formation is by no means plain. Di. has duthrach.
In dα͠ıən, ‘firm’, O.Ir. daingen, we have a triphthong but the whole only counts as one syllable, compar. Nʹi꞉s dαinʹə. In mαiʃtʹirʹ, ‘master’, αi is due to contraction of αji to αi.
2. αu.
§ 142. αu arises from O.Ir. accented a, e, (o) followed by b (Mod.Ir. bh) + another non-palatal consonant. Before r, l, n αu ends in the bilabial spirant w, which we often denote in writing. Examples—αuwri꞉, ‘Jew’, M.Ir. ebraide, αuwriʃ, ‘Hebrew (language)’, also tαŋ αuwrə; αuwiLʹ, ‘orchard’, Meyer aball; αuwLɔrʹ, ‘cluster of nuts’ (?); αuwLə, ‘wafer’, O.Ir. obla; αuwLɔrʹ, ‘a foolish prater’, M.Ir. oblóir; mʹi꞉ αuwrə, ‘February’, Di. feabhra; fαuwri꞉, ‘eye-lashes’, M.Ir. abra, fabra; fʹiαuwrəs (fʹiəuwrəs), ‘fever’, Keating fiabhras; grαuwər, ‘loose dry turf-mould’, Di. grabhar; kαuwlαχ, ‘fleet’, M.Ir. coblach; kαusə, ‘pathway through boggy land’ < Engl. ‘causeway’; ʃLαuwruw, ‘chain’, M.Ir. slabrad. An obscure word is fαuwrə, ‘eclipse’, henʹi mʹə fαuwr erʹ ə jαli꞉ rɛirʹ, ‘I saw an eclipse of the moon last night’. This is evidently the same as Dinneen’s urdhubhadh and Finck’s orə (ii p. 207) the existence of which Pedersen unnecessarily doubts (ib. p. 288). In Donegal the word is masc., nom. plur. fαuwri꞉, fαuwriαχə). It may well be that it has been influenced by the word for ‘eye-lashes’.
§ 143. The normal pronunciation of O.Ir. eba, aba may be regarded as o꞉, see § 40, but in a few cases we find the older stage αuwə preserved, e.g. in αuwək, ‘dwarf, M.Ir. abacc; dαuwi꞉, ‘vat’, gen. sing. dαuχə, nom. plur. dαuwαχi꞉, M.Ir. dabach; dʹαuwi꞉,
