67
(a) h, j, w.
1. h.
§ 174. In Donegal the aspirate corresponds in sound to an English h and except in stressed syllables is not pronounced very forcibly. When standing between vowels at the end of a stressed syllable it is often very faint, cp. Jespersen, Lehrbuch der Phonetik pp. 94, 95 and footnote. In monosyllables a clipped h occurs very frequently after short vowels, for the formation cp. Jespersen l. c. p. 100. After palatal vowels ç frequently appears instead of h.
§ 175. Most frequently h represents a written th. When th is immediately preceded or followed by a voiced consonant, it makes that consonant voiceless. In the case of voiceless consonants h < th under these circumstances can produce no change as k, t, p, s are already aspirated. It will be convenient to deal with cases of loss of voice caused by h < th whilst we are treating of h. Examples of h < th—αhuirʹ, ‘a second time’, Di. ath-uair; bʹαhə, ‘life’, O.Ir. bethu; bα꞉huw, ‘to drown’, M.Ir. báthad beside older bádud (see Rhys p. 86 note); bɔhɔg, ‘hut’, Di. bothóg, boh, ‘hut’, M.Ir. both; bɔihαχ, ‘byre’, Meyer bó-thech; brαh, ‘to look upon’, O.Ir. mrath; dri꞉hə, ‘druids, wizards’, Di. draoithe, from this is formed drihαχtə, ‘sorcery’, which further seems to have influenced rihαχtə, ‘kingdom’, Di. ríoghacht; dαh, ‘colour’, M.Ir. dath; fʹrʹihirʹ, ‘sore’, Di. frithir; fʹrʹi꞉hə, ‘through her’, cp. M.Ir. tréthi; kαhũw, ‘to throw, spend’, M.Ir. caithem; kαhə, ‘battle’, O.Ir. cath; kʹαhərNαχ, ‘small, impudent person’, Di. ceatharnach, cp. tridʹ bo̤di꞉ lʹɛ kʹαhərNαχ, ‘the fight of a mouse and a lion’; kɔhuw, ‘to feed’, Meyer cothaigim; mαhαn, ‘muscle’, cp. O’R. mathán, ‘sucker of a tree’ (?); mʹihidʹ, ‘due time’, M.Ir. mithich, mithig, there is also a substantive in use which does not occur in books, viz. mʹihəs as in henʹi ʃə ə vihəs dɔ꞉ ꬶɔl, ‘the time came for him to go’ = de mhitheas; mαihi꞉m, ‘I perceive’, M.Ir. mothaigim; Nʹihαχαn, ‘washing’, Di. nigheachán (for the tendency to introduce a hiatus-filling h cp. rihαχtə supra); rehi꞉nʹαχt, ‘ramming’, Di. has reitheachas; sα꞉huw, ‘to thrust’, M.Ir. sáthud; srαhər, ‘straddle’, O.Ir. srathar; tuəhəl, ‘balancing rind in quern’, < *tuathal.
§ 176. Initially h occurs as the aspirated form of t, tʹ, s, ʃ, e.g. lʹɛ də hɔlʹ, ‘with your leave’, le do thoil; mə hu꞉lʹ, ‘my eye’,
