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In proclitics – g of gαχ in αχ ·dαχərNə Lα, ‘every other day’, also αχ dαrə Lα (§ 137), αχ ïl′ə ꬶyn′ə, ‘every man’, αχ əN Lα:, ‘every day’, = gach aon lá. Similarly the final t of αχt, ‘but’, cp. αχ ïrəd, ‘at all’ (§ 59). The n of the definite article ən disappears before every consonant, except when the vowel of the article is elided after another vowel, e.g. er′ ə tα:blə, ‘on the table’ but fwi: N tα:blə, ‘under the table’. The ꬶ of *ꬶα(:), ‘if’ < dia has disappeared and we find ə, α. Similarly sporadically in such a case as N′i:r′ vα:r ɔ: (> dɔ:, ꬶɔ:) = níor bh’fhearr dhó. The disappearance of final ç and w̥ before another consonant has already been mentioned (§§ 202, 345).
5. Loss of Vowel.
§ 448. ə is lost before a form beginning with a vowel and in small words it may be lost after a vowel. Where two ə’s meet the first is generally elided, cp. Finck i 125. do, de, dia, a may be all reduced to ə and disappear. Examples – hïs əgəs m′ïʃə, ‘you and I’; ju:Lti: ʃi fɔ:suw, ‘she refused to marry him’; ju:Lti: ʃə mə wɔ: çαNαχ, ‘he refused to bury my cow’; ĩ:ç i:r, ‘a cold night’, = oidhche fhuar; əs m′ɛ hein′ ər′ ꬶin′ ɔkuw, ‘myself being one of them’; tα m′ɛ gɔl, ‘I am going’; k′l′i·ɔrʃt′ə, ‘harrow’ (k′l′iə); ərsɛʃən, ‘quoth he’; N′i:s fwid′ə Nα hig′ l′ïms iN′ʃə, ‘further than I can tell’; tα: g′αL ko̤r̥ əgəm, ‘I have laid a wager’; ə Nαrəkyʃ, ‘towards him’, = i n‑a aracais; əNsNə d′ɛəg ə vi:L′t′ə wuiN′, ‘in the teens of miles from where we are’; fα Nαm ʃɔ lα:, ‘about this time of day’ (the de leaves as only trace the aspiration of L to l).
Occasionally other vowels, even long ones, disappear after another long vowel, e.g. Lα: l′ pα:drik′, ‘St Patrick’s day’; ĩ: l′o:n′, ‘St John’s eve’ (oidhche fhéile Eóin); tα:s əgəm, ‘I know’.
§ 449. In proclitics every vowel may be reduced to ə and disappear (§ 136), e.g. dαkə l′eʃ, ‘as for him’, Di. i dtaca; wαkə tuw, ‘did you see’, an bhfaca tuw; χɔr′ ə və, ‘almost’, = fa, do chomhair. The verbal particle do never appears before the preterite except when the verb commences with a vowel. agus appears as αgəs, ɔgəs, əgəs, əs, s.
Here we may also mention tɔkrəs ɔrəm, ‘I am hungry’; tïglə ɔrəm, ‘I am afraid’.
§ 450. In a three syllable word the middle vowel if ə disappears in a number of cases, e.g. αdruw, Di. eadarshúdh; α̃ugrαχ, Di. amhgarach, kõ:grαχ, ‘near’, Di. comhgarach; ɔkrəs, M.Ir. accorus, occorus.
