Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part I.] AND ORXnOGRAPHY. Ì5
£ying the found of the adjoining Consonants. This refers
to a twofold niode of pronouncing the Palatal and Lingual
Confonants, whether p/ain or a/pirated. The difference be-
tween thefe two modes of pronunciation is, in fome Confo-
nants, abundantly flriking ; in others it is minute, but fuffi-
ciently difcernible to an ear accuftomed to the Gaelic. The
one of thefe modes of articulation belongs to Palatals and
Linguals, chiefly when connected with a broad voivel ; the
other belongs to them when conne6led with a yJwrt// wzw/.
Hence, the former may be called the broad found, the latter
the /mall found of a Palatal or a Lingual.
Thefe founds are not diftinguifhed in writing, but may
be known, for the moft part, by the relative fituation of the
letters.
C.
1. Plain. Broad: like c in come, curb; as * cul' the
bachy ' cridhe* the heart.
2. Small : like c in care^ cure ; as * i2Ìc fupporty * circe*
ef a hen . (n)
3. Afpirated.
(^n) Over a considerable part of the Highlands, that propen-
sity to aspiration, which has been already remarked, has affixed
to r, in the end of a word, or of an accented syllable, the sound
of chc ; as ' mac' a son, ' tore' a boar, ' acain' moaning ; pro-
nounced often ' machc, torchc, achcain.'
There is reason to believe that this compound sound of chc
was not known of old, but is a modern corruption. For
This pronunciation is not universal over the Highlands. In
some parts, the c retains its proper sound in all situations.
If the articulation in question had, from the first, been com-
pounded, it is highly probable that it would have been repre-
sented, in writing, by a combination of letters, such as chc; espe-
cially as we find that the same sound is represented at other
times, not by a single consonant, but by a combination, as in the
case of chd. Why should it be thought that ' hoc' a buck, and
' bochd' fioor^ were originally pronounced alike, when they are
distinguished both in writing and signification ?
The word pU> a sack, has been transplanted from the Hebrew
into many languages, among the rest the Gaelic, where it has
been