Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

20 OF ruoNUNcrATioN [Part I.
3. Afpirated. Broad: like n in tio, on; as * nuadh' fe-
minine of * nuadh' neiv^ ' naifg* bcundj ' fhnamh' fwamy
* fean' oldfrj, * chon* of dogs , * dan' :x poem,
4. Smal/ : like n in keen, near ; as ' nigh' wajljcd,
* fliniomh tivjjìed^ ' coin' dogs, * dain' poems.
In * an' when followed by a Palatal, the « is pronounced
like ng in Englifli ; as ' an gille' the lad, ' an comhnuidh'
alivays*
N, after a mute, is in a few inftances pronounced like
r(s) ; as in * mnathan* nuomen, ' cnatan' a «/^, ' an t-fnath'
cf the yarn ; pronounced ' mrathin, cratan,* &c.
R
r. Plain. Nearly like r in roar; as ' ruadh' reddijh,
* righ' a /^//Tg, ' ruith run, * torr' a heap, * ceartas* y»^?V^.
2. Afpirated. Broad : nearly like r in rear ; as * car' a
/f/r;;, ' ruith' ran, ' mor' jo^r^o/.
3. Small ; has no found like it in Englifli ; ' a righ'
i^i//^, * {exThhe faiiety, ' moir' gen. of ' mor' great.
The plain, afpirated, broad, and /mall founds of thefe
Linguals are not diftinguiflicd in writing ; but they may,
for the mofl: part, be known from the relative polition of
the letters.
Rule. L, N, R, have their PLAINfound when, in the fame
fyllable, they are immediately preceded by a plain Liquid, or im-
mediately followed by a plain Lingual ; alfo in the beginning of
certain cafes and tenfes ; in all other fituations, they have their
ASPIRATED found. They have their SMALL found when^ in
the fame fyllable, they are preceded or followed by a f mall vo%vel,
with or without an intervening Liquid ; in other fituations, they
have their BROAD found.
H.
(r^ In ' sean' old, the n has its plain sound when the follow-
ing word begins with a Lingual. Accordingly it is often writ-
ten in that situation ' seann,' as ' seann duine' an old man, * an
t-seann tiomnaidh' of the Old Testament.
(s) So in Latin, canmen from cano was pronounced, and then
written carmen; genmen from the obsolete yevw passed vaXjogertncn.