90
‘man’; diNʹəN, ‘bad weather’; kyNʹi꞉nʹ, ‘rabbit’; mwiNʹαl, ‘neck’; ræNʹαχ (= ræn̥ʹαχ), ‘fern’; ʃαχtiNʹ, ‘week’; ʃiNʹə, compar. of ʃαn, O.Ir. siniu. As far as can be gathered from Rhys’s description this confusion has taken place in Manx (l.c. p. 135). For Connaught see Finck i p. 62. On the whole J. H. and some of the oldest people preserve the difference between Nʹ and nʹ almost intact.
§ 250. Nʹ represents an O.Ir. initial n before e, i, e.g. Nʹαd, ‘nest’, M.Ir. net; Nʹαχ, ‘any one’, O.Ir. nech; Nʹαmɔrt, ‘neglect’ (§ 27); NʹαNtαg, ‘nettle’, late M.Ir. nenntóg, earlier nenaid; Nʹαrt, ‘strength’, O.Ir. nert; Nʹαrtrαχ, ‘rough grass’; Nαs, ‘near’, O.Ir. nessa; Nʹαskɔdʹ, ‘boil’, M.Ir. nescóit; Nʹα̃u-hiLʹəmwiαχ, ‘independent’, O.Ir. neb‑, neph‑; Nʹɛəl, ‘cloud’, O.Ir. nél; Nʹïv (Nʹïfʹ), ‘poison’, O.Ir. nem; Nʹi꞉, ‘not’, O.Ir. ní; Ni, ‘thing’, O.Ir. ní; Nʹi꞉m, ‘I wash’, M.Ir. nigim; Nʹo꞉nʹi꞉nʹ, ‘daisy’, < nóinín by assimilation, also Nʹo꞉nʹ, ‘evening’, cp. əs ɛəskyαχə Nʹo꞉nʹ Nα mwædʹïnʹ. O.Ir. ingen has been transformed on the model of the pretonic form ní, M.Ir. iní and Nʹ has been introduced by analogy.
§ 251. Medially and finally Nʹ arises from O.Ir. nn, nd before a palatal vowel whether preserved or lost, e.g. bwæNʹə, ‘milk’, O.Ir. banne; bwiNʹαχ, ‘diarrhœa’, Meyer bunnech; bwiNʹαn, ‘a young, fresh stalk’, Meyer bunnén, also bwiNʹαn bwi꞉, some kind of bird; bʹiNʹ, ‘melodious’, O.Ir. bind; bʹiNʹ, ‘gable, peak’, from oblique cases of O.Ir. benn; əNʹe꞉, ‘yesterday’, O.Ir. indhé; əNʹUw̥, ‘to-day’, O.Ir. indiu; fα꞉Nʹə, ‘ring’, O.Ir. ánne; fwiNʹɔg, ‘window’, M.Ir. fuindeóc; fʹi꞉rʹiNʹə,, ‘truth’, O.Ir. fírinne; iNʹαχ, ‘woof’, M.Ir. innech; iNʹəLtə, ‘neat’, < M.Ir. indell; iNʹærʹ, ‘anvil’, O.Ir. indéin; in̥ʹi꞉Nʹ, ‘brain’, M.Ir. inchinn; kyNʹə, əs kyNʹə, ‘opposite’, M.Ir. conne; kyNʹəl, ‘candle’, M.Ir. caindel; mwæNʹirʹ, ‘sheep-fold’, M.Ir. maindir; o꞉Nʹ, ‘river’, from the oblique cases of M.Ir. aba; rïNʹ, ‘dealing’, M.Ir. roinn (dat.); sLïNʹuw, ‘surname’, M.Ir. slonniud < O.Ir. slondud. The forms ə ꬶæNʹænʹ, ə mwæNʹænʹ, ‘in spite of him, me’, belong here as they represent Meyer’s an-deón, dom-andeoin-sa, cp. Henebry p. 31. æNʹαs, ‘very pretty’, may be heard for æNʹdʹαs from some speakers.
§ 252. Nʹ may arise by assimilation of tʹnʹ, dʹnʹ, but the only instance I have is mwæNʹə, gen. sing. of mwædʹïnʹ, ‘morning’. mwædʹinʹə is however more frequently heard. αrəNʹ, plur. αrəNʹαχə), ‘stitches, pains’, αrəNʹαχə bα꞉ʃ, ‘pains of death’,