8. á (ó) í are the long a vowel sounds: máthir, mother, Latin mater; ru rádi, locutus est, Gothic rodjan; imrádi, cogitat, Gothic ga-redan; gnáth, solitus, Greek yvwrós; már and mór, great; rí, genitive rig, king, Latin rex; lin, number; linaim, I fill, Latin plenus, Greek #λn-; dínu, lamb, Greek On-σaro; fir, true, Latin verus, Old High German war; mil, beast, Greek μῆλον.

9. é in the a series originated through compensatory length- { ening (§ 74): cét, hundred, Cymric cant, Latin centum; sét, path, Cymric, hynt, Gothic sinths; éc, death, Cornish ancou, Latin nex; écad, hook, Latin uncus, curved.

10. i and u answer to the Indo-Germanic i and u (see § 21): fid, tree, Old High German witu, wood; biad, victus, Greek Bíoros; sruth, stream, Sanskrit root sru. In originally monosyllabic words u becomes o: no, verbal particle especially in the present, Greek vv, Gothic nu; so-, Sanskrit su-; do-, Sanskrit dus-, Greek dus.

11. é and the thence derived ía (compare the borrowed word fial Latin velum), and ái, ói, commonly áe, óe, are the diphthongs of the i-series (Indo-Germanic ai, Sanskrit e): adfeded, narrabat, ad-fiadat, narrant, Sanskrit veda; dériad, bigae, Old Gaulish reda, Old High German reita currus. áe and óe interchange in one and the same word: óen and áen, one, Latin unus; loeg, calf, Gothic laikan; clóen, iniquus, Gothic hlains, Latin clivus, hillock, declinare. It is only in terminal sound that the è of diphthong origin is still further attenuated to ī: dí, two, feminine = Sanskrit dve (compare the Lithuanian të-dvi, nominative dual feminine, these both). In scian, knife, trian, third, triar, three persons, ia is not of diphthong origin, but ' the a belongs to the suffix. On biad and many others see $82.

12.

ó and the thence derived úa (compare the borrowed word glúass, explanatio = glossa) answer to the Indo-Germanic

au (Sanskrit o); lóche, genitive lóchet, lightning, Gothic liuhath; túath, people, Gothic thiuda; ócht, úacht, cold, Lithuanian áuszti, to become cold; óthad, úathad, singularitas, Gothic authida, solitariness. On ó, úa due to compensatory lengthening see § 74, ó = á, § 8.

13. au is rare and interchanges with ó; au and ó, ear, Gothic auso, Latin auris; nau, genitive nóe, ship, Greek vaûs, Latin navis; gau, gó, gú, mendacium, falsum. In aue, oa, ua, grandchild, au has perhaps originated from av, Latin avus (?).

14. ú answers to a ū of other languages in rún, secret, Old High German rûna; dún, stronghold, Old Norse tún; dúil, elementum, Sanskrit dhuli, dust(?); mún, urine, Sanskrit mutra; íar cúl, behind (post tergum), Latin culus. In other cases it has probably been derived at a later period through vocalization

KAUTOS of v and contraction: núe, new, Sanskrit navya, Gothic niujis; Clarus cú, renown, Sanskrit çravas; súil, eye, Cymric haul and

Gothic sauil, sun.

15. í answers rarely to a long i of other languages: lí, color, splendor, Latin livor; crithid, emax, Sanskrit root krī (Irish crenim), I buy, Sanskrit krīnāmi. In most words the etymology of which is certain í may be traced to an original ā (§ 8). In single cases í has been created by compensatory lengthening (§ 74), or by contraction from ja, je (§ 57).

16. The clearness of vowels is disturbed by the influence which the vowels of neighbouring syllables exercise upon one another. The modern Irish rule, "caol le caol, leathan le leathan" (slender with slender, broad with broad), exists even in Old Irish, though less consistently carried out in writing.

Generally the vowel of the following syllable decides the modification or "infectio" (Zeuss) of the vowel of the preceding syllable. But there are exceptions, e.g. máthair, mother, bráthair, brother; Old Irish máthir, bráthir. e and i, of whatever origin, are slender vowels.

17. Infection by slender vowels is the commonest form. In Old Irish, however, it is only without any exception noted in writing, when the infixed i or e as vowel of the last syllable after the radical vowel has disappeared (§ 88).

18. The slender vowel either stands (always in the form of an i) with the vowel of the preceding syllable or wholly supplants that vowel. Thus arises a series of improper diphthongs and triphthongs.

From a is ai (oi, ei): mac, son, voc. a maic (for pre-historic maqu-e).

From a is i beothu, life, gen. bethad, dat. sg. bethid (for prehistoric bivatat-i).

From a is ui: cechan, cecini, third sg. cechuin (for pre-hist. cecan-e).

From á is ái: faith, vates (for pre-hist. vāt-is).

From e is ei: no beir, fert (for pre-hist. ber-it).

From e is i: dliged, law, gen. dligid (for pre-hist. dliget-i). From é (§ 9) is (éi) eói, eúi: sét, path, gen. seúit (for pre-hist. sent-i).

From é is éi: feith, sinew, vein (for pre-hist. vēt-is).

From ia is éi, iai: fiach, debitum, nom. pl. féich (for prehist. vēc-i).

From o is ui: muir, sea (for pre-hist. mor-i).

From o is ói: slóg, crowd, nom. pl. slóig (for pre-hist. slōg-i).

From úa is úai: túath, folk, dat. sg. túaith (for pre-hist. tōt-i).

From ú is úi: rún, secret, acc. sg. rúin (for pre-hist. run-in). From óe is ói nóeb, holy, nom. pl. nóib (for pre-hist. noib-i).

From áe is ái: cáech, blind, nom. pl. cáich (for pre-hist. caic-i).

19. The particle ro owing to the reduplicative syllable often becomes roi: Old Irish ad-roi-gegrannatar, persecuti sunt. This oi often remained after the reduplicative syllable had ceased to be used. It was then no longer correctly understood, and on this account came to be treated as the genuine diphthong ói: ro leblaing, he leaped, roiblaing, roeblaing, raeblaing. In the same way, perhaps, the later caom-nacatar, potuerunt, is related through coem- coim-nactar to com-nenactar.

20. If the infixed vowel is still present, the orthography varies in Old Irish: aged or aiged, face; gude or guide, prayer; imrádi or imráidi, cogitat; grêne or gréine, gen. of grían, sun; ingine, gen. of ingen, daughter.

21. By a (o) the i and u of the preceding syllable are transformed to e and o: fer, Latin vir (for pre-hist. vir-as); fetar, scio (root vid); cloth, famous, for pre-hist. clut-as, Grk. KλUTós; bond, sole of foot, for pre-hist. bund-as, Lat. fundus; sotho, gen. sg. of suth, fetus (root su). By a the é (derived from ai) of the preceding syllable is changed to ía: pían = Lat. poena, but gen. pêne (borrowed word); íasc, piscis, from pre-hist. pēsc-as, gen. éisc; críathar, cribrum, for pre-hist. crētr-a (fem.); ad-feded, narrabat, ad-fiadat, narrant (root vid). It is rare for i to have become ia, owing to an introduced a: míastar, judicabit, midiur, judico.

22. u (o) of whatever origin often joins in Old Irish as u or o the vowel of the preceding syllable or assimilates that vowel to itself. Thus arise the false diphthongs au, iu, eo, éu: fur dat. sg. of fer vir, for prehist. vir-u; do-biur and do-bur I give, for prehist. -ber-u; cenéul, ceníul dat. of cenél kind, for prehist. cenetl-u; imb-rádud cogitatio, for prehist. rādiat-us; ulc dat. of ole malum, for prehist. olc-u; eochu acc. pl. of ech equus; laigiu and (after suppression of the i, § 26) lugu

minor. Sometimes also other vowels as a ei o é are influenced: laeochu acc. pl. of laech hero.

23. Infection by u is often absent in Old Irish: bith world, for prehist. bit-us, Old Gaulish Bitu-riges rith run, for prehist. rit-us; fid tree, for prehist. vid-us, Old High German witu; il much, for prehist. pil-u, Gothic filu; especially in vid the infinitive in að of the II conjug. e.g. carad to love, for an original carajat-us. With fiss knowledge, for prehist. vidt-us, wis stands the compound cubus conscientia, that is con-fius.

24. It is only in the later language that io, io, ea, and éa (éu) (for the Old Irish i, í, e and the é of § 9) are added to the improper diphthongs of Old Irish, in cases where a broad vowel actually follows or once followed those vowels. Modern Irish each, steed; fear, man; céad or céud, hundred; bioth, world; fior, true; feargach, angry; for Old Irish, eck, fer, cét, bith, fir, fergach.

A

OTHER CHANGES OF THE VOWELS.

25. Long vowels in the (unaccentuated) suffix-syllables of words of more than one syllable become shortened: bethad gen. sg. of beothu life, for prehistoric bivatat-as, answers to the Greek BIÓTηTOS; túatha, nom. pl. of túath people, answers to the Gothic thiudos. In forms such as berit, ferunt, for prehist. berant-i; then perhaps disappeared without compensatory lengthening. In composition even long radical syllables become shortened; céimm gradus, to-chaimm, -chim the march : in the same way air-mitiu honor, proves the existence of a simple *métiu, Latin mentio. As the long accent is often left out in manuscripts, or is indistinguishable in them, it is not safe without further evidence to reckon on the shortness of a vowel from the absence of the long accent.

26. The short or shortened vowels of median syllables of words of three or more syllables may be suppressed: cunutgim