Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Christopher Lewin
Tràchdas airson ceum Dotair Feallsanachd
Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann
Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Edinburgh
2019
ii
Declaration
Tha mi a’ dearbhadh gur mise a-mhàin ùghdar an tràchdais seo, agus nach deach an
obair a tha na bhroinn fhoillseachadh roimhe no a chur a-steach airson ceum eile.
I confirm that this thesis has been composed solely by myself, and that the work
contained within it has neither previously been published nor submitted for another
degree.
Christopher Lewin
iii
iv
Geàrr-chunntas
’S e a tha fa-near don tràchdas seo soilleireachadh a thoirt seachad air grunn
chuspairean ann an cinneachadh eachdraidheil fòn-eòlas Gàidhlig Mhanainn nach
robhas a’ tuigsinn gu math roimhe seo. Le bhith a’ leantainn atharrachaidhean fòneòlach bho àm na Seann Ghàidhlig is na Meadhan-Ghàidhlig air adhart, agus taobh astaigh ùine na fianais sgrìobhte agus clàraichte a th’ againn airson Gàidhlig Mhanainn
fhèin, tha e a’ suidheachadh nan cinneachaidhean seo ann an co-theacsa farsaing a
thaobh rannsachadh dhualchainntean is cànanachas eachdraidheil na Gàidhlig.
’S e tobar cudromach de dh’fhiosrachadh airson cinneachadh nan cànanan
Gàidhealach a thuigsinn a tha ann am fianais Gàidhlig Mhanainn. Tha cion
sgrùdaidhean siostamach is sheataichean-dàta earbsach airson na cànain air seo a
chumail am falach ge-tà, agus air fàgail gun do rinneadh dearmad oirre am broinn raon
rannsachaidh na Gàidhlig.
Tha cuideam air leth air a thoirt anns an tràchdas air atharrachaidhean ann am feartan
prosaideach agus os-mhìreach, air siostam nam fuaimreagan, agus cuideachd air na
consain shonarach, a tha dlùth-cheangailte ris na fuaimreagan. Tha na modhanrannsachaidh a’ tarraing air còig prìomh thùsan:
Ath-mheasadh air tuairisgeulean is seataichean-dàta a tha air an toirt seachad
le sgoileirean mu thràth, gu h-àraid na chaidh a thrusadh le Rhŷs anns na
1880an is 90an, agus clàraidhean den ghinealaich mu dheireadh de luchdlabhairt a tha air an toirt am follais le Broderick anns an Handbook of Late
Spoken Manx.
Eadar-mhìneachadh na fianais a tha an lùib an dà phrìomh dhòigh-litreachaidh
a tha air an cleachdadh gu Gàidhlig Mhanainn a sgrìobhadh, agus
tionndaidhean neo-ghnàthach dhiubh.
Sgrùdadh stèidhte cho fad ’s a ghabhas air stòr-fhaclan na cànain air fad, a’ cur
gu feum faclairean Cregeen agus Kelly bhon naoidheamh linn deug.
Measadh uimhireil air na tùsan dàta seo gu lèir far a bheil sin iomchaidh.
v
Sgrùdadh innealach fogharach air clàraidhean den luchd-labhairt mu
dheireadh.
Tha Caibideil 1 a’ toirt seachad cunntas goirid air eachdraidh Ghàidhlig Mhanainn is
a co-theacsa cànanach an taca ri dualchainntean Gàidhlig eile, a’ measadh obair
sgoileirean an ama a dh’fhalbh, a’ toirt sùil air na bun-thùsan, agus a’ mìneachadh nan
duilgheadasan is nan cothroman a tha an lùib nan dòighean-litreachaidh dhan sgoileir.
Tha Caibideil 2 a’ sgrùdadh chinneachaidhean anns na fuaimreagan goirid is fada, agus
a’ bhuaidh a th’ air a bhith aig siostam nan consan air na cinneachaidhean sin.
Tha Caibideil 3 a’ coimhead gu mionaideach air cinneachadh nam fuaimreagan ao(i)
/әː/ agus ua(i) /uә̯/ ann an Gàidhlig Mhanainn. Tha an fhianais sgrìobhte, na
tuairisgeulan agus an dàta clàraichte gu math toinnte, agus tha cuid de sgoileirean a’
cumail a-mach gu robh an dà fhuaimreig seo air tuiteam còmhla ri chèile agus ri
fuaimreagan eile. Leigear fhaicinn gu robhas fhathast a’ cumail suas eadardhealachadh eadar na fuaimreagan seo airson a’ chuid as motha anns a’ Ghàidhlig
Mhanannaich Anmoich.
Tha Caibideil 4 a’ coimhead air cinneachaidhean ann an siostam nan consan sonarach,
gu h-àraid na fuaimean R, L is N. Thathar cuideachd a’ sgrùdadh nan atharrachaidhean
ann am fuaimreagan ro na sonaraich theanna eachdraidheil, agus a’ toirt sùil às ùr air
pròiseas an ro-dhùnaidh.
Tha Caibideil 5 a’ gabhail beachd air feartan os-mhìreach agus prosaideach, a’ gabhail
a-steach gluasad a’ bheum agus giorrachadh fhuaimreagan fada gun bheum, agus na
factairean cumhachaidh a thug buaidh orra seo.
Tha Caibideil 6 a’ toirt seachad cho-dhùnaidhean far am measar na tha an tràchdas a’
cur ri sgoileireachd an latha an-diugh, agus dè tha fhathast ri dhèanamh a thaobh
rannsachaidh san àm ri teachd.
vi
Abstract
This thesis elucidates some of the hitherto poorly understood aspects of the diachronic
development of Manx phonology. By tracing phonological changes from earlier
varieties of Gaelic, and within the attested period of written and recorded Manx, it
frames these developments within the wider contexts of Gaelic dialectology and
historical linguistics. Manx provides an important source for understanding the
linguistic development of the Gaelic languages. A lack of systematic treatments and
reliable datasets for the language, however, has obscured this fact and led to its neglect
within Gaelic studies.
The thesis focuses, in particular, on the development of the language’s prosody,
suprasegmental features, vowel system and sonorants, the latter having a particular
bearing on vowels. Five principal methodologies are deployed to investigate these
topics:
Re-evaluation of existing descriptions and datasets provided by previous
scholarship, especially those collected by Rhŷs in the 1880s and 1890s, and
material from the last generation of speakers presented by Broderick in his
Handbook of Late Spoken Manx.
Interpretation of the evidence of the two main Manx orthographies and nonstandard variations thereof.
Analyses based, as far as possible, on the whole attested lexis of the language,
making use of Cregeen’s and Kelly’s dictionaries.
Quantitative approaches to all of these sources of data where appropriate.
Instrumental phonetic analysis of recordings of the terminal speakers of Manx.
Chapter one places Manx in its historical and dialectological context, reviews previous
scholarship, discusses the primary sources, and introduces the interpretative
difficulties of the orthographies.
Chapter two examines developments in the short and long vowels, and the impact of
the consonant system on vowel changes.
Chapter three examines the development of the vowels ao(i) /әː/ and ua(i) /uә̯/ in
Manx. The written evidence, description and recorded data are complex, and some
scholars have claimed that these vowels fell together with one another and with other
vowels. It will be shown that these vowels in fact remained contrastive for the most
part in Late Manx.
Chapter four investigates developments in the sonorant consonants, especially the R,
L and N phones. Changes in vowels preceding historically tense sonorants are also
examined, as well as the origins and spread of the phenomenon of preocclusion.
Chapter five examines suprasegmental and prosodic features including stress shift,
unstressed long vowel shortening, and the conditioning factors for these.
Chapter six provides concluding remarks assessing the thesis’ contribution to current
scholarship, and the prospects for future research.
viii
Lay summary
This thesis is concerned with the pronunciation of Manx Gaelic, the historical Celtic
language of the Isle of Man which was the community language of the bulk of the
island’s population until the mid nineteenth century, with a few elderly speakers
remaining into the second half of the twentieth century. It examines changes in the
pronunciation during the period for which we have extensive written, and latterly
sound-recorded, evidence (the seventeenth century onwards), and also the changes
which separate Manx from the other Gaelic languages past and present. It does not
tackle the revived language spoken today mostly by adult learners, which is quite a
distinct topic, and deserving of separate attention in its own right.
Serious academic study of the spoken language did not begin until the 1880s, and the
first audio recordings date from the first decade of the twentieth century, with the bulk
being made in the mid twentieth century from some of the very last speakers. This
material is extremely valuable, but inevitably limited, and by necessity we must rely
extensively on earlier written material and on deductions from variation and changes
in the orthography (spelling system).
Fortunately, Manx has a fairly extensive corpus of written material, albeit mostly
religious translations, including a complete Bible translation (finished in 1772). This
material is written in two largely independent orthographies, both of which are in turn
largely independent of the conservative literary standards of Ireland and Scotland. This
makes Manx unique among Gaelic dialects in having an independent and vigorous
orthographic tradition during this period, and provides extensive evidence of changes
in pronunciation which would be obscured if the Irish-Scottish system had been in use.
The fact that the Manx orthographies are English-based (although with significant
innovations and adaptations to represent non-English sounds) has led to neglect and
even derision on the part of scholars, but this thesis shows that the orthographies are
considerably more systematic, and therefore useful as evidence for linguistic changes,
than has previously been assumed.
In contrast to most previous linguistic scholarship on Manx, which is largely
impressionistic in its use of data, quantitative approaches form a major focus of this
thesis, and often reveal details, and even major trends, which challenge other scholars’
claims. These methodologies include taking an exhaustive approach to the vocabulary
of the language, drawing on four major dictionaries or glossaries, and analysis of large
amounts of variant spellings from the earliest Manx manuscript and other sources.
There is also computerized analysis of some of the audio recordings of the last native
speakers using the phonetics software package Praat, which is a first for Manx studies.
Re-evaluation of the data and analyses of previous scholarship is also a major part of
the project, including especially the important early fieldwork and descriptions by Sir
John Rhŷs, the first Professor of Celtic at Oxford University.
In terms of the topics covered, it was not possible to deal with every area of Manx
historical phonology in depth. The decision was taken to focus on vowels, sonorant
consonants (L, N, M and R sounds), and stress patterns. The first chapter is an
introduction to the history of the language, previous scholarship, and the sources and
methods used in the rest of the thesis. Chapter 2 covers most of the vowel sounds,
while chapter 3 goes into further depth about a particularly complex area of vowel
developments. Chapter 4 concerns the sonorant consonants, and related developments
including vowel lengthening and preocclusion — the insertion of a stop consonant [b],
[d], [ɡ] before some of the sonorants. Chapter 5 deals with certain suprasegmental or
prosodic phenomena. This means properties of the phonology above the level of
individual vowels and consonants, especially stress patterns, which show particularly
intriguing and complex changes in Manx. Chapter 6 provides a brief conclusion,
bringing different threads from the thesis together.
x
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Taing / Acknowledgements
Tha mi fada an comain mo phàrantan, mo chèile Edit, agus mo mhic, Torcall — a
nochd faisg air deireadh na saothrach — agus mo charaidean is mo cho-oileanaich,
airson an cuid foighidinn agus brosnachaidh ann an dòighean thar cunntais is tomhais.
Tha mi air leth taingeil dom luchd-stiùiridh a threòraich air an turas mi, an Dr Uilleam
Lamb agus an Dr Pavel Iosad, agus don luchd-obrach air fad ann an Roinn na Ceiltis
agus Eòlas na h-Alba aig Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann.
Tha mi cuideachd fo fhiachaibh don fheadhainn air fad a bhrosnaich is a theagaisg mi
agus mi ag ionnsachadh nan cànanan Gàidhealach.
Mu dheireadh, tha mi fada an comain luchd-labhairt agus sgrìobhaidh Gàidhlig
Mhanainn fad nan linntean, a tha an cuid fhaclan a’ nochdadh air feadh na h-obrach
seo. S’mooar ta my wooise as my eeaghyn daue ooilley.
’S ann leam-sa a-mhàin a tha gach mearachd is mì-thuigse a th’ air fhàgail.
Er jerrey ooilley, ta mee chymney yn obbyr shoh da’n sleih Gailckagh ooilley ta as
vees ayns Mannin.
Christopher Lewin
Samhainn 2019, Dùn Èideann (tionndadh na deuchainn)
An t-Iuchar 2020, Dùn Èideann (an tionndadh deireannach).
1
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
That a language so venerable for its antiquity and so estimable on many
accounts should be so generally neglected, is much to be lamented. The
consequence of this neglect has been, that numerous corruptions have crept into
the dialect in general use, and so many anglicisms been adopted, that the Manks
is now seldom spoken or written in its original purity. Despised and neglected,
however, as the language appears to be at present, it is susceptible of high
improvement, and justly entitled to the attention of the scholar. The sublime
strains of Ossian mark the capabilities of the language, and commend it to the
regard of the philologist as a subject of curious enquiry, and deserving accurate
investigation.
(Archibald Cregeen, A Dictionary of the Manks Language, 1835: iii)
[I]t is always a source of delight to me to be able to trace the phonetics of a
language from the earliest dawn of its documentary existence down to the most
curtailed pronunciations of its vocables in the mouths of one’s contemporaries.
In the Manx of the present day we have one of the lineal descendants of the
Goidelic attested by the earliest Ogmic monuments of Great Britain and Ireland.
Besides, the study of Manx phonology is by no means a bad corrective of the
effect of seeing Irish written in an orthography which is more historical than
phonetic. Manx, it is true has no vast stores of literature; but from the point of
view of the phonologist even poverty of that kind has its consolation. For it
leaves the natural tendencies of the language less trammelled, and keeps a freer
sphere of evolution for its sounds. The result in Manx, as it would be found also
in the other Goidelic dialects, is, that the changes of sound to which it testifies,
work out with a precision falling not hopelessly short of mathematical accuracy.
To suppose that modern Goidelic, because not blessed with a vigorous
literature, must be a lawless jargon — lawless like the savages that speak it, as
it is sometimes put — is not only not true, but is almost the exact contrary of
the truth, so far at least as concerns the phonology. The mere spelling is a
different matter, though even that has its interest, a wider interest, in fact, than
has hitherto been usually supposed in the case of Manx.
(John Rhŷs, The Outlines of the Phonology of Manx Gaelic, 1894: x)
No apology is needed for the considerable amount of space devoted to Scottish
and Manx. So closely are the three Gaelic languages allied that it would be futile
to investigate the history of any one of them without taking full account of the
other two. It is, perhaps, too much to expect that Manx, that Cinderella of Gaelic
tongues, should ever attract many students […]
(T. F. O’Rahilly, Irish Dialects Past and Present, 1932: viii–ix)
2
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Eisht dooyrt ad rish, Abbyr nish SHIBBOLETH; as dooyrt eh SIBBOLETH: son cha
daink e hengey lesh dy ockley eh dy kiart. Eisht ghow ad, as varr ad eh ec
aaghyn Yordan; as huitt ec y traa shen jeh ny Ephraimiteyn, daa housane as
da-eed.
Then said they unto him, Say now SHIBBOLETH: and he said SIBBOLETH: for he
could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the
passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two
thousand.
(Briwnyn 12:6)
Son eisht ver-yms da’n pobble glare ghlen, dy vod ad ooilley geamagh er ennym
y Chiarn, dy hirveish eh lesh un aigney.
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon
the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.
(Zephaniah 3:9)
Shen-y-fa te enmyssit Babel, er-yn-oyr dy nee ayns shen hug y Chiarn
shaghrynys er glare ooilley yn seihll: as veih shen ren y Chiarn ad y skeayley
harrish slane eaghtyr y thallooin.
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound
the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad
upon the face of all the earth.
(Genesis 11:9)
As dob eh reesht. As tammylt ny lurg shen, dooyrt paart jeh’n cheshaght reesht
rish Peddyr, Son shickyrys t’ou uss fer jeu: son she Galilean oo, as ta
dty ghlare dy hoilshaghey eh.
And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter,
Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth
thereto.
(Mark 14:70)
Ta mee coyrt booise da my Yee, dy vel mee loayrt ny s’lhee glare na shiu ooilley
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all
(1 Corinthianee 14:18)
3
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Contents
Declaration ................................................................................................................. iii
Geàrr-chunntas .......................................................................................................... v
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... vii
Lay summary ............................................................................................................. ix
Taing / Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... 1
List of tables .............................................................................................................. 17
List of charts ............................................................................................................. 20
List of figures ............................................................................................................ 21
Prefatory notes ......................................................................................................... 23
0.1
Transcription practices ................................................................................ 23
0.1.1 Phonetic and phonological transcriptions ................................................. 23
0.1.2 Transcriptions cited from other authors .................................................... 24
0.1.3 Examples cited in original orthography .................................................... 24
0.2
Citation of Gaelic forms .............................................................................. 25
0.3
Names of Gaelic varieties ............................................................................ 26
0.4
Linguistic terminology ................................................................................ 27
0.5
Citation of reference works ......................................................................... 27
0.6
General abbreviations and symbols ............................................................. 28
0.7
Abbreviations of names of speakers and fieldworkers ................................ 30
0.8
Map of the Isle of Man ................................................................................ 31
Chapter 1
Introduction ........................................................................................ 33
1.1
Purpose and scope of the thesis ................................................................... 33
1.2
Descriptive and theoretical concerns ........................................................... 35
1.3
Historical background of Manx ................................................................... 36
1.3.1
1.4
Periodization of Manx .......................................................................... 38
1.3.1.1
Early, Classical and Late Manx .................................................... 38
1.3.1.2
The language of the terminal speakers ......................................... 39
1.3.1.3
Revived Manx ............................................................................... 40
The place of Manx within the Gaelic dialect continuum ............................ 40
5
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.5
Review of previous scholarship ................................................................... 43
1.5.1
Material collected for Edward Lhuyd .................................................. 44
1.5.2
Rhŷs (1894) .......................................................................................... 45
1.5.3
Strachan (1897) .................................................................................... 49
1.5.4
Marstrander (1932) ............................................................................... 49
1.5.5
Kneen (1931, 1938) .............................................................................. 50
1.5.6
Carmody (1947, 1954) ......................................................................... 52
1.5.7
Jackson (1955)...................................................................................... 52
1.5.8
Wagner (1969)...................................................................................... 54
1.5.9
Broderick (1984–86) ............................................................................ 55
1.5.10
Toponymic and onomastic evidence .................................................... 56
1.5.11
Summary .............................................................................................. 57
1.5.12
Recent linguistic literature ................................................................... 58
1.6
Primary sources ........................................................................................... 58
1.6.1
The written corpus and the orthographies ............................................ 58
1.6.2
Scholarly views on the Manx orthographies ........................................ 59
1.6.3
Phillips’ Prayer Book translation and orthography .............................. 60
1.6.4
The Classical Manx orthography and variants ..................................... 68
1.6.4.1
Characteristics of the Classical Manx orthography ...................... 68
1.6.4.2
Homophones differentiated by spelling ........................................ 69
1.6.4.3
One sound, several spellings ......................................................... 69
1.6.4.4
One spelling, several sounds ......................................................... 70
1.6.4.5
English v. ‘continental’ vowel values ........................................... 71
1.6.4.6
Representation of palatalization .................................................... 72
1.6.4.7
Redundant symbols ....................................................................... 76
1.6.5
6
Late spellings (especially Cregeen)...................................................... 77
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.6
Interpreting the Manx orthographies: summary of difficulties ............ 79
1.6.7
Non-standard orthographies ................................................................. 80
1.6.8
Dictionaries .......................................................................................... 80
1.6.8.1
Kelly (1866) .................................................................................. 81
1.6.8.2
Cregeen (1835) ............................................................................. 82
1.6.8.3
Revival era English–Manx dictionaries ........................................ 83
1.6.8.4
Pitfalls in the use of Manx dictionaries ........................................ 84
1.6.9
1.7
Native speech: recordings and transcriptions....................................... 85
1.6.9.1
The Manx of the ‘last native speakers’ ......................................... 85
1.6.9.2
Features of Terminal Manx phonology ........................................ 89
Outline of synchronic phonology of Classical Manx .................................. 90
1.7.1
Stressed vowels .................................................................................... 91
1.7.2
Unstressed vowels in pretonic position ................................................ 92
1.7.3
Unstressed vowels in post-tonic preconsonantal position.................... 92
1.7.4
Unstressed vowels in post-tonic final position .................................... 93
1.7.5
Diphthongs and triphthongs ................................................................. 93
1.7.6
Consonants ........................................................................................... 95
1.7.7
Stress .................................................................................................... 96
1.7.8
Vowel nasalization ............................................................................... 97
1.7.9
Presentation of data .............................................................................. 98
Chapter 2
2.1
The Manx vowel system ..................................................................... 99
Short vowels ................................................................................................ 99
2.1.1
a /a/ > /a/, /e/, /o/ .................................................................................. 99
2.1.1.1
a /a/ > /e/ ....................................................................................... 99
2.1.1.2
a /a/ > /o(ː)/, /u(ː)/ ....................................................................... 101
2.1.2
ai /a/ > /a/, /e/ ..................................................................................... 105
2.1.2.1
ai /a/ > /a/ .................................................................................... 105
7
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.1.2.2
ai /a/ > /e/ .................................................................................... 107
2.1.2.3
ai /a/ > /o/ .................................................................................... 110
2.1.3
ea /e/ > /e/, /a/, /o/............................................................................... 110
2.1.3.1
Analysis....................................................................................... 117
2.1.3.2
ea /e/ > /o/ ................................................................................... 121
2.1.3.3
ea /e/ > /i/ .................................................................................... 122
2.1.3.4
Lexical diffusion ......................................................................... 123
2.1.3.5
Semantic splits between /e/ and /a/ variants ............................... 123
2.1.4
ei /e/ > /e/, (/i/) .................................................................................... 124
2.1.5
o /o/ > /o/, /a/, (/u/) ............................................................................. 125
2.1.5.1
Conditioning environments for /o/ > /a/...................................... 131
2.1.5.2
Diachronic development of /o/ > /a/ and Gaelic dialectological
context
132
2.1.5.3
foddey ‘far, long’, G. fada, OIr. fota ........................................... 133
2.1.5.4
/o/ > /u/ ........................................................................................ 134
2.1.6
oi /o/ > /o/, /a/ ..................................................................................... 135
2.1.6.1
2.1.7
i, io /i/ ................................................................................................. 137
2.1.7.1
2.1.8
io /i/ > /u/..................................................................................... 138
u, ui /u/................................................................................................ 139
2.1.8.1
ui /u/ > /wa/ ................................................................................. 142
2.1.9
Morphophonological alternations /a/, /o/ > /i/, /u/ ............................. 142
2.1.10
OIr. air-, aur- ..................................................................................... 145
2.2
8
kemmyrk ‘refuge’, G. coimirce etc. ............................................. 137
Long vowels .............................................................................................. 147
2.2.1
Stressed final vowels in monosyllables .............................................. 147
2.2.2
Fronting of /aː, oː/ > /ɛː/ ..................................................................... 148
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.2.3
/ɛː/ and /eː/ .......................................................................................... 153
2.2.4
a(i)th /ah/ > /aː/ .................................................................................. 154
2.2.5
/oː/ and */ɔː/ ....................................................................................... 156
2.2.6
Monophthongization of /iә̯, ɨә̯, uә̯/ > /iː, ɨː, uː/ ................................... 157
2.2.7
Breaking of éa /eː/ > /iә̯/ .................................................................... 158
Chapter 3
Manx reflexes of Gaelic ao(i) and ua(i) .......................................... 163
3.1
Introduction ............................................................................................... 163
3.2
Historical development of G. ao(i) and ua(i) ............................................ 163
3.2.1
ao(i) /әː/ .............................................................................................. 163
3.2.2
ua(i) /uә̯/ ............................................................................................. 165
3.3
Summary of Manx developments.............................................................. 165
3.4
Lexical items with ao(i), ua(i), agh etc. .................................................... 166
3.4.1
ao > /әː/ .............................................................................................. 167
3.4.2
aoi > /әː/ (>/eː/) .................................................................................. 169
3.4.3
ua > /ɨә̯/, /ɨː/ ........................................................................................ 170
3.4.4
uai > /әː/ (>/eː/), /ɨә̯/ (>/ɨː/) ................................................................. 172
3.4.5
ua(i) > /uә̯/, /uː/, /oː/ ........................................................................... 173
3.4.6
ua(i): items with variable reflexes ..................................................... 175
3.4.7
agh, adh > /әː/ .................................................................................... 176
3.5
3.4.7.1
eab ‘attempt’ ............................................................................... 177
3.4.7.2
eairk ‘horn’, G. adharc ............................................................... 178
3.4.7.3
oyr ‘reason, cause’, G. adhbhar.................................................. 178
3.4.7.4
abane ‘ankle’, EIr. odbrann, ScG. adhbrann ............................. 178
3.4.7.5
ymmyd ‘use’, G. adhmad ............................................................ 179
3.4.7.6
G. Raghnall (N. Rǫgnvaldr) in Roonysvie and Crennell ............ 179
Previous accounts of Manx ao(i), ua(i) ..................................................... 180
3.5.1
Rhŷs ................................................................................................... 180
9
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5.1.1
ao > ȳ [әː] .................................................................................... 180
3.5.1.2
Allophonic realizations of ao ...................................................... 181
3.5.1.3
ua > ůy [ɯә̯], üy [ɨә̯], iy [iә̯] ....................................................... 182
3.5.1.4
aoi and uai > œ̄ [ә̞ː] ..................................................................... 185
3.5.2
Marstrander (1932) ............................................................................. 186
3.5.2.1
ē ̣ [eː] < G. aoi, uai ....................................................................... 187
3.5.2.2
ē [ɛː] < G. ao ............................................................................... 187
3.5.2.3
ī [iː] < G. ua ................................................................................ 188
3.5.2.4
î [ɪː].............................................................................................. 188
3.5.2.5
îә [ɪә̯] < G. ua(i), ao .................................................................... 189
3.5.2.6
ei [ɛi̯ ] < G. ao .............................................................................. 189
3.5.2.7
ū [uː] < G. ua............................................................................... 190
3.5.2.8
‘ø’ ................................................................................................ 190
3.5.2.9
Analysis....................................................................................... 193
3.5.3
Jackson (1955).................................................................................... 194
3.5.4
Wagner (1969).................................................................................... 198
3.5.5
Broderick (1986) (HLSM III) .............................................................. 201
3.5.5.1
3.5.6
3.6
A quantitative analysis of data from HLSM (II) .......................... 205
Front rounded realizations? ................................................................ 208
Written evidence ........................................................................................ 209
3.6.1
Representation of ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips ............................................ 210
3.6.1.1
Overview ..................................................................................... 210
3.6.1.2
ua(i) in Phillips: preceding consonant conditioning and lexical
diffusion 215
3.6.2
10
Representation of ao(i) and ua(i) in CM orthography ....................... 218
3.7
Instrumental data ....................................................................................... 225
3.8
Fronting and unrounding of ua(i) in Manx and Ulster Irish ...................... 230
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.8.1
/ɨә̯/ ~ /uә̯/ in feayr ‘cold’ (G. fuar): register, dialect, idiolect............. 232
3.8.2
hooar, dooar ‘got, found’ (G. f(h)uair, d’fhuair) .............................. 233
3.9
Other developments ................................................................................... 234
3.9.1
New diphthongs: ao(i), ua(i) + vocalized fricatives .......................... 234
3.9.1.1
ao(i) + /i̯ / ..................................................................................... 235
3.9.1.2
ua(i) + /i̯ / ..................................................................................... 237
3.9.1.3
Interpreting the developments of ao(i), ua(i) + /i̯ / ...................... 238
3.9.1.4
/ai̯ / ~ /әi̯ / contrast ........................................................................ 241
3.9.1.5
lheiy ‘calf’, G. laogh ................................................................... 243
3.9.1.6
leoie etc., G. ua(i) + /i̯ / ................................................................ 244
3.9.1.7
/әi̯ /, /әːi̯ /, (/ɯːi̯ /) > /ei̯ / ................................................................. 246
3.9.1.8
/әi̯ /, /әːi̯ /, (/ɯːi̯ /) > /iː/ .................................................................. 246
3.9.1.9
ao(i) + /u̯ / .................................................................................... 247
3.9.2
/eː/ > /әː/ in Scottish Gaelic and Manx ............................................... 248
3.9.3
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth ........................................................................ 251
3.9.4
riyr ‘last night’, G. aréir, araoir ........................................................ 252
3.9.5
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. clua(i)s etc. ............................................................. 252
3.9.6
keayrt ‘time, occasion’, G. cuairt....................................................... 253
3.9.7
seaghyn ‘sorrow, affliction, trouble’ .................................................. 254
3.9.8
deayrtey ‘pour’, G. dort, doirt, dórt, duart ........................................ 255
3.9.9
smooinaghtyn ‘think’, G. smuain, smaoin ......................................... 255
3.9.10
Manx derivatives of G. draoi, druadh ............................................... 256
3.9.11
Unstressed and shortened ao(i), ua(i) ................................................ 257
3.9.11.1
Pre-tonic ao, ua > /w/ ................................................................. 259
3.9.11.2
unnane, annan ‘one’, G. aonán .................................................. 260
Chapter 4
Sonorant consonants and associated developments ...................... 261
11
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.1
Introduction ............................................................................................... 261
4.2
Rhotics ....................................................................................................... 262
4.2.1
4.2.1.1
/rʲ/ in Classical Manx .................................................................. 263
4.2.1.2
/rʲ/ in clusters ............................................................................... 264
4.2.1.3
/r ~ rʲ/ in pre-terminal Late Manx................................................ 265
4.2.1.4
/r ~ rʲ/ in terminal Late Manx ...................................................... 268
4.2.1.5
Initial /rʲ/ ...................................................................................... 269
4.2.2
Early loss of /r/, /rʲ/ ............................................................................. 271
4.2.2.1
/rs, rʃ/ > /s/ (?/ʂ/).......................................................................... 272
4.2.2.2
Other cases of early rhotic deletion ............................................ 272
4.2.3
Weakening and loss of /r/ Late Manx ................................................ 273
4.2.4
Fortis /R/ ............................................................................................. 276
4.2.5
Other realizations of rhotics ............................................................... 276
4.3
Laterals ...................................................................................................... 277
4.3.1
Introduction ........................................................................................ 277
4.3.2
Lateral contrasts in Late Manx ........................................................... 277
4.3.2.1
Merger of /L/ and /l/ .................................................................... 281
4.3.2.2
Alveolar /ḻ/ .................................................................................. 281
4.3.2.3
Initial lenition of laterals ............................................................. 284
4.3.3
4.4
12
/r ~ rʲ/ .................................................................................................. 262
Lateral contrasts in Early Manx ......................................................... 284
Coronal nasals............................................................................................ 285
4.4.1
Introduction ........................................................................................ 285
4.4.2
Contrasts in coronal nasals in Late Manx .......................................... 285
4.4.3
Evidence for /nʲ/ > /ṉ/ ......................................................................... 287
4.4.4
/N/ and /n/ > [n̪ ], [n̠ ] ........................................................................... 290
4.4.5
/ṉ/ representing fossilized initial lenition ........................................... 291
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.4.6
4.4.6.1
/Nʲ/ in final unstressed syllables.................................................. 295
4.4.6.2
Other developments of /Nʲ/ ......................................................... 297
4.4.7
Unstressed final /an/, /әn/, /әnʲ/ .......................................................... 297
4.4.7.1
verbal nouns in -yn, -in ............................................................... 299
4.4.7.2
-in ................................................................................................ 301
4.4.7.3
-an ............................................................................................... 302
4.4.7.4
Stressed reflexes of G. -éan, -án ................................................. 306
4.4.8
4.5
Reflexes of G. /Nʲ/ .............................................................................. 292
Summary of developments in coronal and velar nasals ..................... 308
Preocclusion .............................................................................................. 308
4.5.1
Introduction ........................................................................................ 308
4.5.1.1
Cross-linguistic typology ............................................................ 311
4.5.2
Descriptions ....................................................................................... 312
4.5.3
Written evidence ................................................................................ 318
4.5.4
The origins of Manx preocclusion: previous hypotheses................... 322
4.5.4.1
Rhŷs (1894) ................................................................................ 323
4.5.4.2
Chaudhri (2007) .......................................................................... 323
4.5.4.3
Ó Maolalaigh (2014b)................................................................. 329
4.5.4.4
Broderick (2018e) ....................................................................... 332
4.5.5
4.6
The origin and spread of preocclusion ............................................... 332
4.5.5.1
Typological and phonetic considerations ................................... 332
4.5.5.2
Generalization and reanalysis of preocclusion ........................... 334
4.5.5.3
Preocclusion as a synchronic prosodic process .......................... 335
Vowel lengthening and diphthongization before coda fortis sonorants .... 336
4.6.1
In monosyllables ................................................................................ 336
4.6.1.1
-ionn /iN/ > /in/, /uːn/ .................................................................. 337
13
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
14
4.6.1.2
-im /im/ > /iːm/ ............................................................................ 337
4.6.1.3
-inn /iNʲ/ > /iŋʲ/ (/in/) ................................................................... 337
4.6.1.4
-ill /iLʲ/ > /iːlʲ/, /ilʲ/ ....................................................................... 338
4.6.1.5
-eam /em/ > /am/ ......................................................................... 338
4.6.1.6
-eim /em⁽ʲ⁾/ > /em/, /im/, /eːm/ (?)................................................ 338
4.6.1.7
-eann /eN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/uːn/, /on/) .......................................... 339
4.6.1.8
-einn /eNʲ/ > ?/eːnʲ/ ...................................................................... 341
4.6.1.9
-eall /eL/ > /oːl/, (/ol/) ................................................................. 341
4.6.1.10
-earr /eR/ > /ɛːr/ .......................................................................... 342
4.6.1.11
-eang /eŋɡ/ > /eŋ/, /aŋ/ ................................................................ 342
4.6.1.12
-am /am/ > /am/ ........................................................................... 342
4.6.1.13
-ann /aN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/uːn/) .................................................... 343
4.6.1.14
-ainn /aNʲ/ > /eːnʲ/, /ai̯ nʲ/ .............................................................. 343
4.6.1.15
-all /aL/ > /oːl/, (?/au̯ l/) ............................................................... 344
4.6.1.16
-aill /aLʲ/ > /alʲ/, /elʲ/ .................................................................... 345
4.6.1.17
-arr /aR/ > /ɛːr/ ............................................................................ 345
4.6.1.18
-a(i)ng /aŋɡ/ > /aŋ/ ...................................................................... 346
4.6.1.19
-om /om/ > /oːm/, ?/au̯ m/ ............................................................ 346
4.6.1.20
-oim /om⁽ʲ⁾/ > /em/ ....................................................................... 347
4.6.1.21
-onn /oN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/on/)..................................................... 347
4.6.1.22
-oinn /oNʲ/ > /eːnʲ/ ....................................................................... 348
4.6.1.23
-oll /oL/ > /oːl/, /au̯ l/.................................................................... 348
4.6.1.24
-oill /oLʲ/ > /olʲ/ ........................................................................... 348
4.6.1.25
-orr /oR/ > /oːr/ ........................................................................... 349
4.6.1.26
-ong /oŋɡ/ > /oŋ/.......................................................................... 349
4.6.1.27
-um /um/ > /um/ .......................................................................... 349
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.28
-uim /umʲ/ > /iːm/ ........................................................................ 350
4.6.1.29
-unn /uN/ > /uːn/ ......................................................................... 350
4.6.1.30
-uinn /uNʲ/ > /unʲ/, /inʲ/, /iŋʲ/ ........................................................ 350
4.6.1.31
-uill /uLʲ/ > /uːlʲ/ .......................................................................... 351
4.6.1.32
-uing /uŋʲɡʲ/ > /wiŋʲ/ .................................................................... 351
4.6.1.33
Summary ..................................................................................... 351
4.6.1.34
Dialectal variation ....................................................................... 352
4.6.2
Voiced homorganic rhotic clusters..................................................... 353
4.6.3
Other medial clusters.......................................................................... 357
4.6.4
Paradigmatic uniformity..................................................................... 359
Chapter 5
5.1
Suprasegmental phonology ............................................................. 361
Stress ......................................................................................................... 361
5.1.1
Previous accounts of stress shift and long vowel shortening ............. 363
5.1.1.1
O’Rahilly (1932) ......................................................................... 363
5.1.1.2
Jackson (1955) ............................................................................ 364
5.1.1.3
Ó Baoill (1980) ........................................................................... 364
5.1.1.4
Broderick (1986) ......................................................................... 365
5.1.1.5
Ó Sé (1991) ................................................................................. 367
5.1.1.6
Green (1997) ............................................................................... 371
5.1.2
An explanation for stress shift targeting heavy-heavy items ............. 372
5.1.3
Initial syllable shortening in items with forward stress ..................... 373
5.1.4
Long vowels arising from vocalization of fricatives.......................... 375
5.1.4.1
5.1.5
Exceptions................................................................................... 380
First syllable conditioning: further details ......................................... 381
5.1.5.1
Heavy sonorant clusters .............................................................. 381
5.1.5.2
Exceptions................................................................................... 382
15
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
5.1.5.3
Stress-shift in items with fricative vocalization in initial syllable:
384
5.1.5.4
Verbal nouns in -ail, -eil, -al (G. -áil)......................................... 384
5.1.5.5
Items with original heavy third syllables .................................... 385
5.1.6
Quality of post-tonic shortened vowels .............................................. 387
5.1.7
Irregular stress in reeriaght ‘kingdom’ .............................................. 387
5.2
Apocope ..................................................................................................... 387
5.3
Syncope ..................................................................................................... 391
5.4
Epenthesis .................................................................................................. 392
5.5
Vowel shortening and lengthening ............................................................ 397
5.5.1
Vowel shortening ............................................................................... 399
5.5.2
Vowel lengthening ............................................................................. 406
5.6
Vowel nasalization .................................................................................... 408
Chapter 6
Conclusion ......................................................................................... 411
6.1
Topics covered ........................................................................................... 411
6.2
Progress made ............................................................................................ 412
6.3
By-products ............................................................................................... 417
6.4
Prospects for future research ..................................................................... 418
Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 421
Primary sources .................................................................................................... 421
Secondary sources ................................................................................................ 422
16
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
List of tables
Table 1
Page
64
Table 18
Table 19
Table 20
Table 21
Table 22
Table 23
Table 24
Table 25
Table 26
Table 27
Table 28
Table 29
Table 30
Table 31
Table 32
Examples of variant spellings in Phillips’ MS (after
Thomson 1953)
a /a/ > /e/
a /a/ > /o(ː)/ (/u(ː)/)
a /a/ > /a/, /o/
ai /a/ > /a/
ai /a/ > /e/
ai /a/ > /o/
ea /e/ > /e/
ea /e/ > /a/
ea /e/ > /o/
Incidence /e/ > /e/ and /e/ > /a/, /o/ in the lexicon by
following consonant
Incidence of ea /e/ > /e/ and /e/ > /a/, /o/ in the lexicon by
preceding consonant
Combined conditioning effect of preceding and following
consonant on G. ea /e/ in Manx
ea /e/ > /i/
o /o/ > /o/
o /o/ > /a/
Incidence of o /o/ > /o/, /a/ in the lexicon by preceding
consonant (cluster)
o /o/ > /u/
oi /o/ > /o/
oi /o/ > /a/
oi /o/ > /e/
io /i/ > /u/
ui /u/ > /u/, /(w)i/
ui /u/ > /wa/
Morphophonological alternations /a/ > /i/, /u/
Morphophonological alternations /o/ > /u/, /i/
OIr. air-, auró /oː/ > /oː/ etc.
ói /oː/ > /oː/
ó /oː/ > /ɛː/
ói /oː/ > /ɛː/
a(i)th /ah/ > /aː/
134
135
136
136
138
140
142
142
144
146
149
150
151
152
155
Table 33
éa /eː/ > /eː/
159
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6
Table 7
Table 8
Table 9
Table 10
Table 11
Table 12
Table 13
Table 14
Table 15
Table 16
Table 17
100
101
103
105
107
110
111
112
116
117
119
121
122
125
129
131
17
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 34
Table 35
Table 36
Table 37
Table 38
Table 39
Table 40
Table 41
Table 42
Table 43
Table 44
Table 45
Table 46
Table 47
Table 48
Table 49
Table 50
Table 51
Table 52
Table 53
Table 54
Table 55
Table 56
Table 57
Table 58
Table 59
Table 60
Table 61
Table 62
Table 63
Table 64
Table 65
Table 66
Table 67
Table 68
Table 69
18
éa /eː/ > /iә̯/
ao /әː/ > /әː/
aoi /әː/ > /әː/ (>/eː/)
ua /uә̯/ > /ɨә̯/ (>/ɨː/)
uai /uә̯/ > /әː/ (>/eː/), /ɨә̯/ (>/ɨː/)
ua(i) /uә̯/ > /uә̯/ (>/uː/), /oː/
ua(i) /uә̯/ > /ɨә̯/ (>/ɨː/), /әː/ or /uә̯/ (>/uː/), /oː/
agh, adh /aɣ/ > /әɣ/ > /әː/ and other developments
Realizations of G. ao in HLSM II
Realizations of G. aoi in HLSM II
Realizations of G. ua in HLSM II
Realizations of G. uai in HLSM II
Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips, by initial letter of
orthographic sequence
Breakdown of orthographic categories <e> and <y>,
taking into account following vowel characters
Spelling of G. ao(i) and ua(i) in Phillips
Orthographic representations of /iː/, /iә̯/, /eː/, /uː/ in
Phillips (A–C, Thomson [1953] glossary)
Spelling of G. ua(i) in Phillips by place of articulation of
preceding consonant
ao(i) + /i̯ /
Gaoidhealg, Gaoidhilg
ua(i) + /i̯ / (excluding items with synchronic /uәi̯ /)
Interpretation of Rhŷs’s descriptions of /ai̯ /, /әi̯ /, /әːi̯ / etc.
ao(i) + /u̯ /
seaghyn
Pre-tonic ao(i), ua(i)
Pre-tonic ao, ua > /w/
Incidence of palatalized and non-palatalized realizations
of Gaelic laterals and coronal nasals in data from HLSM II
inn /ˈiNʲ/ > /iŋʲ/, /inʲ/
Other instances of /Nʲ/ > /ŋʲ/
Summary of developments of post-tonic unstressed /Vn⁽ʲ⁾/
Unstressed reflexes of G. -ín
Some examples of Manx -an < G. -án
Unhistorical -an
Unhistorical -yn < G. -án
-an < G. /Vːnʲ(ә)/
Manx -ean /eːn/ < G. -éan (Mod.Ir. -eán)
Representation of preocclusion in MNHL MD 900 MS
08307 (ed. Broderick 2015)
160
167
169
170
172
174
175
176
206
206
206
207
211
212
212
215
216
235
237
237
241
247
254
258
260
287
294
294
297
301
303
303
305
305
307
319
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 70
Table 71
Table 72
Table 73
Table 74
Table 75
Table 76
Table 77
Table 78
Table 79
Table 80
Table 81
Table 82
Table 83
Table 84
Table 85
Table 86
Table 87
Table 88
Table 89
Table 90
Table 91
Table 92
Table 93
Table 94
Table 95
Table 96
Table 97
Table 98
Table 99
Table 100
Table 101
Table 102
Table 103
Table 104
Table 105
Table 106
Table 107
Table 108
-ionn
-im
-ill
-eam
-eim
-éim
-eann
-einn
-eall
-earr
-eang
-am
-ann
-ainn
-all
-aill
-arr
-a(i)ng
-om
-oim
-onn
-oinn
-oll
-oill
-orr
-ong
-um
-uim
-unn
-uinn
-uill
-uing
Predominant CM/LM reflexes of stressed short vowels
before final fortis sonorants
Dialectal splits in stressed short vowel + final fortis
sonorant sequences
Representation of dialect variants in Bible orthography
Vowel developments before rd, rn, rl
Vowel developments before other medial clusters
Long vowel shortening
Vowel lengthening shown in orthography
337
337
338
338
338
339
339
341
341
342
342
342
343
343
344
345
345
346
346
347
347
348
348
348
349
349
349
350
350
350
351
351
351
352
352
353
357
400
407
19
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
List of charts
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
Chart 5
Chart 6
Chart 7
Chart 8
Chart 9
20
Realizations of G. ua(i), ao(i) in HLSM II
Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips, by initial letter of
orthographic sequence
Spelling of G. ao(i) and ua(i) in Phillips
Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips, with <e(V)y(V)>
and <ye(V)> combined
Spelling of G. ua(i) in Phillips by place of articulation of
preceding consonant
F1 tracks for front and central long vowels (corresponding
to vowel height), all speakers, Irish Folklore Commission
recordings
F2 tracks for front and central long vowels (corresponding
to backness), all speakers, Irish Folklore Commission
recordings
Means for each category with 95% confidence intervals,
all speakers, Irish Folklore Commission recordings,
showing F1 (height) and F2 (backness)
Incidence of palatalized and non-palatalized realizations
of Gaelic laterals and coronal nasals in data from HLSM II
Page
207
211
213
214
216
226
226
227
287
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
List of figures
§0.8
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Map of the Isle of Man
Examples from Phillips’ MS (cf. Table 1)
Stressed vowels in Classical Manx
Unstressed pretonic vowels in Classical Manx
Unstressed post-tonic vowels in closed syllables
Unstressed word-final post-tonic vowels
ә-diphthongs
i-diphthongs
u-diphthongs
Consonants in Classical Manx
Main developments of G. ua(i), ao(i), agh in Manx
Pairwise comparisons using t-tests with pooled standard
deviation for Irish Folklore Commission data, F1 (height)
Pairwise comparisons using t-tests with pooled standard
deviation for Irish Folklore Commission data, F2 (height)
Summary of developments of coronal and velar nasals
Spectrograms showing preocclusion
Page
31
64
91
92
92
93
93
94
94
95
166
229
229
308
309–
311
21
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
22
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Prefatory notes
0.1 Transcription practices
0.1.1 Phonetic and phonological transcriptions
In my own transcriptions I follow the usual convention of giving material intended as
a phonological or phonemic representation in slanted brackets / / and narrower
phonetic transcriptions in square brackets [ ].
Conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet are generally used, for example in
using the yod diacritic ʲ for palatalization rather than the prime symbol ′ which has
been commonly used in Celtic Studies. Certain fully palatal or post-alveolar “slender”
consonants are transcribed with the conventional unitary symbols ʃ ç j, even in the
phonological transcriptions, in preference to sʲ xʲ ɣʲ. However, in historical discussions
the symbols L Lʲ N Nʲ R Rʲ are retained from conventional Celticist practice for the
fortis or tense sonorants (Chapter 4), both for clarity, and because their exact
realization is not always clear.
Diphthongs and triphthongs are shown as follows: ai̯ , iu̯ , iә̯ uә̯, ɛːi̯ , iәu̯ etc.
In transcriptions of Scottish Gaelic, the unaspirated stops are transcribed /b, d, ɡ/ and
the aspirated stops /p, t, k/, rather than /p, t, k/ and /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/ respectively, in keeping
with practice for Irish and Manx, where the distinction is conventionally regarded as
one of voicing, although in all Gaelic varieties the primary distinction is likely to be
one of aspiration rather than voicing.
Stress is generally only marked when it does not fall on the first syllable.
Other conventional symbols utilized include:
C = (broad / non-palatalized) consonant
Cʲ = slender / palatalized consonant
V = vowel
Vː = long vowel
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
# = word boundary
. = syllable boundary
> = becomes (diachronic sound changes)
* = hypothetical form
0.1.2 Transcriptions cited from other authors
Phonetic and semi-phonetic transcriptions cited from other authors, primarily Rhŷs,
Marstrander, Jackson, Wagner and Broderick, are given in bold type (silently added
within quotations) and without brackets, e.g. ghœ̄ ñey, ɡøːnʹə.
The original transcriptions are reproduced as closely as typographically possible.
Where this is considered helpful, these may be converted into my own transcription
immediately after, e.g. [ɣәːnʲә], including within quoted passages. My interpretations
of other scholars’ transcriptions are for guidance only, and should not be considered
definitive.
0.1.3 Examples cited in original orthography
Examples from Manx and other languages in the original orthography are given in
italics, except for orthographic units which are given in angled brackets, e.g. <ýa>,
<eay>. Manx lexical items are cited as far as possible in the standardized form as they
appear in the Manx Bible and/or Cregeen’s and Kelly’s dictionaries (§1.6.8), but
spelling variants are given where these provide additional information, or where there
is no clear standard form.
Where diacritics in the Phillips manuscript (§1.6.3) occur between or over two adjacent
vowels (according to the interpretation of Moore and Rhŷs [1895], Thomson [1953]),
they are transcribed here on both vowels, so <íí> rather than <iˊi>.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
0.2 Citation of Gaelic forms
Gaelic phones and forms, where the focus is on their diachronic development and not
on their phonetic or phonological value at any given time, are given in Gaelic (Early
Modern or Classical Irish) orthography in italics, e.g. ao, ua, aoi, é. Where parallel
forms flanked by broad or slender consonants are referred to, this is often shown by
adding the diacritic vowel symbols in brackets, e.g. ao(i) (= ao /әːC/ or aoi
/әːCʲ/), -(e)aghadh (= -aghadh /Cәɣәɣ/ [>Ir. /Cuː/, ScG. /Cәxәɣ/, Manx /Caxә/]
or -eaghadh /Cʲәɣәɣ/ [>Ir. /Cʲuː/, ScG. /Cʲәxәɣ/, Manx /Cʲaxә/).
Cognates cited for comparative purposes are given in their Early Modern Irish or
Classical Gaelic form (usually following the spellings in Dinneen’s Dictionary),1
except where otherwise stated. These forms are what is primarily meant by ‘Gaelic’ or
‘G.’. Here I follow the practice of Jackson (1955: 7), although I do not subscribe to his
reductive notion that these forms represent a ‘Common Gaelic’ (‘that stage of the
Goedelic branch of the Celtic languages immediately preceding its break-up into Irish,
Scottish and Manx Gaelic, while they were still one undifferentiated speech’), which
has been rightly problematized by a number of scholars, including Gillies (1994), Ó
Buachalla (2002), Ó Maolalaigh (1996; 2008a) and Ó Muircheartaigh (2015) (cf.
§1.4).
Nevertheless, in most cases, the Manx forms can be understood as deriving from
something close to the forms represented by the Early Modern Irish orthography.
Where relevant, Scottish Gaelic forms, contemporary Irish forms, or Early (Old or
Middle) Irish are also given, the latter usually following the headwords in eDIL.
Occasionally Manx developments, attested or hypothetical, are transliterated into
Gaelic orthography for illustrative purposes; these are marked *. Also ‘Gaelic’ forms
are sometimes given for illustration which are not actually attested outside Manx, e.g.
1
Except that for clarity I mark vowel length on eó and iúi, and use the spelling -(e)aghadh of the verbal
noun ending in preference to -(i)ughadh (Manx -aghey, ScG. -(e)achadh, Caighdeán Ir. -(i)ú).
25
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
*iascóir,2 Manx eeasteyr for usual Ir. iascaire, ScG. iasgair (which could represent
either form) (cf. Ó Sé 1991).
0.3 Names of Gaelic varieties
Although the terms ‘Old Gaelic’ and ‘Middle Gaelic’ have been used by some scholars
(e.g. Clancy 2010: 351; Ó Maolalaigh 2013: 42), and are more accurate in the sense
that they refer to varieties used throughout Ireland, Scotland and presumably Man
rather than Irish alone, the more conventional and widely-used terms ‘Old Irish’ and
‘Middle Irish’ (collectively ‘Early Irish’) have been retained here (cf. Ó
Muircheartaigh 2015: 8–9).
In this thesis the term ‘Goidelic’ is not used except in quotations from other authors,
and ‘Gaelic’ refers either to the Gaelic languages as a whole, or specifically to the
standardized written varieties of Early Modern Gaelic/Irish which were used in Ireland
and Scotland from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century (§0.2), and which formed
the basis of the orthographic conventions used in Ireland until the adoption of the
Caighdeán Oifigiúil in the mid-twentieth century (Ahlqvist 1994).
Although orthographic forms belonging to, or close to, the Caighdeán Oifigiúil, are
occasionally given as illustrating Irish developments, generally such forms are avoided
as they obscure historical developments and represent specifically Irish
developments.4 Hence, of the standard modern Irish–English reference dictionaries,
Dinneen is more often cited than Ó Dónaill.
2
The National Terminology Database for Irish <tearma.ie> gives iascóir for ‘fishkeeper’, but this is
presumably a neologism. But cf. the variant iascadóir for iascaire given by Dinneen.
4
And sometimes exclude even some Irish dialects; see Ahlqvist (1994: 52).
26
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
0.4 Linguistic terminology
Conventional linguistic terminology is generally used without special explanation,
although less commonly used or specialized terms are defined and contextualized as
appropriate.
Certain terms from traditional Celticist analyses of Gaelic phonology are retained in
order to refer to abstract categories of sounds persisting throughout periods and
varieties, when their synchronic phonetic and phonological analysis may vary, and in
order to avoid taking positions on theoretical questions when this is not immediately
relevant to the discussion.
Most notably, the terms ‘slender’ and ‘broad’ in reference to consonant quality are
retained, in preference to ‘palatalized’ and ‘non-palatalized’, both because the former
terms are less cumbersome and are well-known within Gaelic studies (and popular
discourse), and because it has been argued that in some dialects, namely those of
Munster, velarization is more important in distinguishing between velarized (broad)
and non-velarized or palatalized (slender) consonants (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 36); and
‘palatalization’ is not necessarily a very accurate term for the articulation of the Irish
slender labials (Oftedal 1963: 73–4; McKenna 2001). In addition, the slender category
contains both palatalized and fully palatal consonants.
On similar grounds, the traditional terms ‘fortis’ and ‘lenis’ are retained for the
distinction between sonorants maintained in some Gaelic dialects and earlier varieties
(also called ‘tense’ and ‘lax’ [e.g. Archangeli et al. 2011]). This should not be confused
with the more widespread cross-linguistic use of ‘fortis / lenis’ in contemporary
phonetics and phonology to refer to e.g. aspiration contrasts in stops.
0.5 Citation of reference works
Citation of academic works follows the conventional author–date system, except for
certain frequently-cited key sources, which are given by author only or by abbreviation
of the title, as shown below. Hence ‘Jackson’ always refers to Jackson (1955), unless
27
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
otherwise indicated. Full references for these abbreviated citations are given in the
bibliography.
Works cited by author only:
Cregeen, Cr.
Dinneen
Dwelly
Jackson
Kelly, K.
MacBain
Marstrander
Ó Dónaill
O’Rahilly
Rhŷs
A Dictionary of the Manks Language (1835), Wheeler ed. (2018)
Irish–English Dictionary (1927)
Gaelic–English Dictionary (1911)
Contributions to the Study of Manx Phonology (1955)
Fockleyr Manninagh as Baarlagh [Manx dictionary] (1866)
An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (1911)
‘Det Norske Landnåm på Man’ (1932)
Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (1977)
Irish Dialects Past and Present (1932)
Outlines of Manx Phonology (1894)
Works cited by initials of title:
EDD
eDIL
GOI
HLSM
LASID
LEIA
OED
PNIM
SGDS
English Dialect Dictionary, Wright (1898–1905)
Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Grammar of Old Irish, Thurneysen (1946)
Handbook of Late Spoken Manx, Broderick (1984–86)
Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects, Wagner (1958–69)
Lexique étymologique de l’irlandais ancien, Vendryes et al. (1959–96)
Oxford English Dictionary
Placenames of the Isle of Man, Broderick (1994–2005)
Survey of the Gaelic Dialects of Scotland, Ó Dochartaigh (1994–97)
All translations of works in languages other than English are my own.
0.6 General abbreviations and symbols
# – word boundary
* – unattested or hypothetical form
_ – segment(s) in question
? – doubtful or uncertain conclusion, reconstruction etc.
/abc/ – phonological / phonemic transcription
[abc] – phonetic transcription
abc – phonetic transcription in non-IPA system, quoted from external sources
abstr. – abstract noun
28
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
adj. – adjective
AV – Authorized Version (King James Bible)
C – consonant; broad consonant
Cʲ – slender / palatalized consonant
CM – Classical Manx (18th century)
comp. – comparative (and superlative)
cond. – conditional
Cr. – Cregeen’s dictionary (Cregeen 1835)
dat. – dative
dial. – dialect, dialectal
ed. – edition, edited by
EIr. – Early Irish (Early Gaelic) (=Old and Middle Irish)
EM – Early Manx (17th century, Phillips’ prayer book)
Eng. – English
f. – feminine
f. – folio (leaf in manuscript)
fn. – footnote
Fr. – French
fut. – future
G. – Gaelic (Goidelic), Early Modern Irish / Gaelic (see §0.4), ‘Common Gaelic’
gen. – genitive
Goi. – Goidelic (in quotations from Rhŷs), = G., Gaelic
H – heavy syllable
ˈH – stressed heavy syllable
impv. – imperative
invar. – invariable
IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet
Ir. – Irish
J: – data in HLSM from Jackson (1955) (with speaker initials)
K. – Kelly’s dictionary (Kelly 1866)
L – light syllable
ˈL – stressed light syllable
L1 – first language
L2 – second language
l., ll. – line(s)
len. – lenition, lenited
Lh. – Manx vocabulary collected for Edward Lhuyd (Ifans and Thomson 1980)
LM – Late Manx (19th – 20th century)
LSM – Late Spoken Manx (Broderick’s term for the speech of the 20th-century
informants)
m. – masculine
MIr. – Middle Irish (Middle Gaelic)
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Mod. – Modern
MS, MSS – manuscript(s)
N – north, northern Manx
n. – neuter
n. – noun
OIr. – Old Irish (Old Gaelic)
p., pp. – page(s)
part. – participle
Ph. – John Phillips’ prayer book manuscript and orthography
pl. – plural (1pl. = first person plural, etc.)
pret. – preterite
r – recto (front side of leaf in manuscript)
S – south, southern Manx
s.v. – see under entry (sub verbo)
ScG. – Scottish Gaelic
sg. – singular (1sg. = first person singular, etc.)
usu. – usual(ly)
V – phonetic or phonological vowel; orthographic vowel symbol
v – verso (reverse of leaf in manuscript)
vn. – verbal noun
voc. – vocative
vol. – volume
W:N, W:S – data in HLSM from Wagner (1958–69), northern or southern informant(s
0.7 Abbreviations of names of speakers and fieldworkers
Examples from the last native speakers (§1.6.9) are marked with the initials of the
speaker as given by Broderick (HLSM I: xxvii–xxviii), e.g. NM for Ned Maddrell, JTK
for John Tom Kaighin (see also map §0.8). All such data are from Broderick’s
dictionary (HLSM II) unless otherwise stated. These abbreviations are also used in
presenting data from Jackson and Wagner (whether directly cited or via Broderick)
rather than their own abbreviations of the informants’ names. ‘J’ means that the
example is taken from Jackson (e.g. J:EK = example from Eleanor Karran noted by
Jackson), and ‘W’ means Wagner (his data are marked only S ‘south’ or N ‘north’).
Wagner also includes data from Marstrander which is labelled M.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
0.8 Map of the Isle of Man
Shown are parish5 boundaries, major settlements, and certain other places mentioned
in the thesis. The informants whose speech is transcribed in Broderick’s Handbook of
Late Spoken Manx (HLSM) are located on the map by place of upbringing, so far as
this can be determined (following Broderick 2018a).6 Their initials are given as listed
5
The parishes date back at least to the late Middle Ages, and are still (together with more recently
established town and village authorities) the basis of local government at the present day.
<https://www.gov.im/media/1351687/map-local-authorities.pdf> [accessed 21.09.2019]
6
* born in Lezayre but brought up in Lonan (Broderick 2018a: 164); ** born(?) and brought up initially
in Liverpool (Broderick 2018a: 146); *** born Jurby (Broderick 2018a: 142); **** resident at
Ballaskeig Beg, Maughold, when visited by Marstrander; no further information (Broderick 2018a:
181).
31
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
in HLSM (I: xxvii–xxviii) (§0.7). The traditional (pre-1796) north-south administrative
division (running along the central ridge of mountains) is shown (Broderick 1999: ix)
which has a bearing on dialect, although the status of Maughold in particular is
ambiguous,7 and Broderick (HLSM I: xxvi) treats Thomas Christian (TC) as a northern
speaker.
7
<http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/parishes/parishes.htm> [accessed 21.09.2019].
32
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Purpose and scope of the thesis
The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate some of the hitherto poorly understood aspects
of the diachronic development of Manx phonology, both from earlier varieties of
Gaelic and within the attested period of written and recorded Manx, and to situate these
developments in the wider context of Gaelic dialectology and historical linguistics.
The lack of systematic analyses of the linguistic features of Manx has been recognized
as a serious hindrance to Gaelic studies. For example, Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 5, 11), in
his doctoral thesis on the historical phonology of Gaelic short vowels, states the
difficulties of working with the existing research on Manx and the ‘raw’ phonetic data
which it presents:
Manx dialects have not been referred to in the core chapters […] for practical
reasons, the main ones being (i) the absence of a monograph on a single dialect
or dialect area of Manx and (ii) the difficulty of comparing the mass of raw
phonetic Manx data to the phonological data of Irish and Sc[ottish] G[aelic]
dialects […] [a]lthough the evidence of Manx is crucial for a full understanding
of the development of Gaelic.
(Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 5)
All accounts of Manx exhibit a phenomenal degree of phonetic diversity which
is difficult at the present state of research to analyse structurally. The inclusion
of such ‘raw’ data in a minute phonological study like the present would be
futile.
(ibid.: 11)
The sometimes overlooked importance of Manx within Gaelic linguistics has been
pointed out by Thomson (1960: 116; 1969: 178) (see also §1.6.2):
Despite the late date at which Manx first appears in a written form it has […]
the special advantage of never appearing in the usual Gaelic orthography. Had
it done so it would no doubt be as coyly uninformative about the beginnings of
svarabhakti as the other more conventional dialects are.
(Thomson 1960: 116)
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Apart from the intrinsic interest of the development of an isolated branch of
East Gaelic, the non-traditional orthography allows us to observe soundchanges which are masked by conventional Gaelic spelling […], and with
regard to grammar and meaning early Manx can shed light on that early period
of Scottish Gaelic when writers of the languages still felt bound to the standards
of literary Irish.
(Thomson 1969: 178)
In the spirit of the titles of Rhŷs’s Outlines of the Phonology of Manx Gaelic (1894)
and Jackson’s Contributions to the Study of Manx Phonology (1955), it is recognized
that the present thesis is only a partial and incomplete treatment of the topic. It has not
been possible to deal with every aspect of Manx historical phonology here, but it is
hoped that the thesis goes some way to filling the gap noted by Ó Maolalaigh.
There is a particular focus on the development of the vowel system (Chapters 2, 3, also
§4.6), along with developments of the sonorant consonants (Chapter 4), which have a
particular bearing on the vowels, and prosodic phenomena (particularly stress)
(Chapter 5).
With regard to sources and methodologies I have throughout the thesis particularly
focused on two previously neglected sources: (a) the extensive early descriptions of
native Manx speech by Rhŷs (1894) (§1.5.2), and (b) the rich but difficult to interpret
evidence of the Manx orthographies (§§1.6.1–1.6.7).
I have also applied quantitative methods to existing bodies of data, which is largely
new in the study of Manx,8 together with instrumental phonetic analysis of some of
the recordings of the terminal speakers. Given the time-consuming nature of these
methodologies, it has not been possible to apply them to every area where they might
prove useful, but it is hoped that these analyses indicate what can be achieved and
provide a basis for future research (§§6.2, 6.4).
8
Although see Ó Sé (1991) (§5.1.1.5), also Thomson (1969) and Broderick (2011), where some
quantitative data are provided. See also Max Wheeler’s recent papers which apply corpus
methodologies to various aspects of Manx morphology and syntax.
<https://sussex.academia.edu/MaxWheeler> [accessed 29.08.2019].
34
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.2 Descriptive and theoretical concerns
It is hoped that the topic of this thesis will be of interest to a wide range of scholars,
including those who specialize in descriptive and theoretical phonology, as well the
broad fields Gaelic or Celtic Studies. I have therefore sought to keep the discussion as
accessible as possible, and to avoid detailed discussion of issues of phonological
theory except where essential to the argument being made. This thesis takes as its
starting point the above observation that insufficient fundamental descriptive data on
Manx phonology has hitherto been available, and that the first task of the researcher,
in such circumstances and with limited space, is to present as much data as possible in
an intelligible fashion, with analysis limited to initial and cautious interpretation of the
data using a minimum of basic theoretical concepts defined as broadly and noncommittally possible.
For example, when I refer to ‘phonemes’, the reader should understand in broad terms
what is conventionally understood by such a concept in phonology, but I do not
endorse any of the particular rival analyses of what exactly a ‘phoneme’ is, or take a
position on whether the existence of such units can in a final analysis actually be
justified. Similarly, in my discussion of the history of stress patterns in Gaelic
(§5.1.1.6), I cite Green’s (1997) analysis of this topic, referring in general terms to
typological generalizations such as the observation that unstressed heavy syllables are
dispreferred, but without detailing Green’s particular Optimality Theory analysis of
the phenomena in question, which can and have been analysed in a number of other
frameworks.
My approach thus has regard to the tension between descriptive and theoretical
approaches mentioned by Hayes (1995: 5):
I often found that it was precisely by moving beyond theory-centred writings to
the original sources on which they were based that the data could be found to
support a sharply different analysis. It is only natural that theorists, pressed for
space, will focus on the data most relevant to their own analyses.
(Hayes 1995: 5)
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
There is, of course, also a risk that spurious or contradictory suppositions about the
data will be made if insufficient attention is given to theoretical concerns. It is therefore
my hope that the data presented here will be built on by future scholarship, which will
subject them to more detailed and rigorous theoretical analysis where appropriate.
1.3 Historical background of Manx
Scholars have conjectured that Gaelic entered the Isle of Man around the same time as
the expansion into Scotland (by around AD 500) (Jackson 1953: 173; Williams 1994b:
739; Broderick 2009: 305), although later dates have also been suggested such as the
eighth or ninth century (Watson 1926: 172–4). For an assessment of the options, see
Thomson (2015). Ogham inscriptions dating from the fifth to the seventh century are
the first attestations of Gaelic writing in the island (Broderick 1999: 13). A Brythonic
language was apparently spoken before or alongside Gaelic, as evidenced by the
bilingual and biscriptal Latin / Brythonic and Gaelic Knock-y-Dhoonee stone (c. 600)
(Jackson 1953: 173; Thomson 2015: 241–3), and possibly the placename Hentre if this
represents Welsh hen dref ‘old settlement’ (PNIM I: xxiii). Thomson (1992: 100; 2015:
252) also suggests that Manx, along with Scottish Gaelic, shows signs of a Brythonic
substrate, e.g. in the verbal system.
Whether Gaelic survived the Norse period or was reintroduced has been a matter of
debate, especially on the basis of place-name evidence (Marstrander 1932; Gelling
1971, 1991; Megaw 1976; Fellows-Jensen 1983, 2015; Thomson 1983, 2015). I have
argued (Lewin 2017a: 164–6, 171–3) that survival is more likely — and, at any rate,
that the specific sociolinguistic circumstances did not exist which would result in a
significant Norse substrate in Manx grammar, contrary to the hypothesis of Williams
(1994b: 737–41).
There is some evidence of the participation of Man in a wider culture of Gaelic learning
at an early period (Macquarrie 2015), but this seems to have been disrupted first by
Norse invasion (c. 900) and especially later when the island came under rule by
English magnates in the fourteenth century. An early bardic praise poem to the King
of Man, Rǫgnvaldr (Raghnall, Reginald) Guðrøðarson (Ó Cuív 1953; Clancy 1998:
36
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
236–41; Macquarrie 2015: 297–300; Etchingham et al. 2019: 123–96) appears to attest
to a mixed Norse-Gaelic culture in the island, but it is not clear to what extent the Irish
literary tradition was established in the island. Given Raghnall’s involvement in the
politics of the wider Irish Sea world (McDonald 2007), the poem could well have been
composed and performed at the court of an ally, relative or subordinate in Ireland or
Scotland.
If the Gaelic literate tradition was present in the medieval period, no trace of it has
survived, and it does not seem to have been known in the period when it became
necessary to write Manx for religious purposes after the Reformation.9 The first
continuous Manx prose text, Bishop Phillips’ manuscript translation of the Anglican
prayer book, is dated to around 1610 (Thomson 1953), and has an orthography
diverging in several respects from the later eighteenth-century system (§1.6.3). Both
systems are based to a large degree on contemporary English orthographic
conventions. The first printed text is a bilingual catechism from 1707, and the
orthography used in this volume was gradually developed through the eighteenth
century, culminating in the completion of a Bible translation in 1773. Later texts
include hymn books (Lewin and Wheeler 2019), religious tracts, and newspaper
articles (Lewin 2014a).
Literacy in Manx apparently became fairly widespread, as attested by the large
quantity of manuscripts of carvals or religious ballads surviving from the mideighteenth century onwards, often composed and copied by ordinary people (Moore
1891). The carval and sermon manuscripts remain largely unstudied and are often in
less standardized versions of the Manx orthography (see Lewin 2015b), providing
valuable evidence of pronunciation. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also saw
the collection of a significant number of Manx traditional songs (Moore 1896;
Strachan 1897; Gilchrist et al.: 1924–26; Thomson 1960–62; Broderick 1981a; 1981c;
1982b; 1984a; 1984b; 1984c; 1990; 2015b; 2018e; 2018f; Ó Muircheartaigh 2016).
9
See Lewin (2015b: 83) for discussion of Rhŷs’s (33–4, 170) and Williams’ (1994b: 704–6) claims that
Phillips’ orthography is based on a pre-existing Manx writing tradition, which I judge to be unlikely.
37
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The unmarked use of written Manx for vernacular purposes petered out in the middle
of the nineteenth century as monoglots became scarce and language shift to English
gathered pace (Thomson and Pilgrim 1988: 16–17; Broderick 1999: 27–30, 254;
Lewin 2014a: i), and the composition and publishing of Manx texts from then on has
been essentially an antiquarian or revivalist activity.
1.3.1 Periodization of Manx
1.3.1.1 Early, Classical and Late Manx
For Manx the conventional periodization outlined e.g by Broderick (1999: 77) and
Thomson (2015: 247) is used, i.e. Early Manx (seventeenth century, essentially the
language of Bishop Phillips’ translation of the Anglican prayer book, c. 1610),
Classical Manx (eighteenth century, the language of the Manx Bible completed in
1773) and Late Manx (nineteenth century). See also Lewin (2016a: 183).
These are of course only vague labels of convenience and do not imply clear
boundaries between the periods. Notably, the ‘Traditionary Ballad’, although
preserved only in eighteenth-century manuscripts, shows some linguistic features
more archaic than those of Phillips, in accordance with its presumed date of
composition prior to 1520 (Thomson 1960–62), and the second-earliest known Manx
prose text, a sermon from 1696 (Lewin 2015b), can be regarded as transitional between
Early and Classical Manx. The Fenian Ballad Finn as Ossian (Broderick 1990; 2018f;
Ó Muircheartaigh 2016), and the lament Baase Illiam Dhone on the death of William
Christian in 1663 (Broderick 1981a), as well as other folk-songs, likewise show older
linguistic features, although again transmitted in eighteenth and nineteenth-century
manuscripts.
As for Pargys Caillit, the Manx adaptation of Milton’s Paradise Lost, printed c. 1796
and previously believed to have been composed in his youth in the early 1770s by
Thomas Christian (1754–1828), Vicar of Malew (1780–99) (Thomson 1995), strong
38
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
internal and circumstantial evidence has recently been adduced10 to suggest that it was
in fact composed in middle age (1730s or 40s) by his grandfather, also Thomas
Christian, Vicar of Rushen (1713 to 1727) and of Marown (1734 to 1752). The poem
shows a number of linguistic archaisms reminiscent of Phillips, Woods’ sermon, and
Bishop Thomas Wilson’s bilingual catechism Coyrle Sodjeh, the earliest printed text
(1707).
Early eighteenth-century texts, including Pargys Caillit, Coyrle Sodjeh and the first
edition of Matthew’s gospel (1748, although apparently translated c. 1722), are thus
more linguistically archaic than texts from the second half of the century. To an extent
which is difficult to assess, the choice of linguistically conservative or innovating
forms is also likely to reflect dialect, idiolect, or register variation. The latter factor
must always be borne in mind especially when considering texts from the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when literacy had become more established, and
the archaizing influence of the Bible is sometimes to be suspected (cf. Broderick
1982a: 178–9).
1.3.1.2 The language of the terminal speakers
In addition to the above periodization, I consider it important to distinguish, although
not necessarily categorically, between the language of those born up until the early
decades of the nineteenth century, who (in more isolated areas and marginalized
socioeconomic strata at least) (Lewin 2019a: 79–82) were evidently Manx-dominant
speakers with a full native command of the language, and those born late enough to be
recorded in the mid twentieth century, all of whom are to be regarded, though to
varying extents, as English-dominant ‘semi-speakers’ (cf. Dorian 1977) showing clear
signs of ‘incomplete acquisition’ (Montrul 2008) (§1.6.9.1).
10
Max Wheeler, personal communication.
39
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Broderick (1999) does not always distinguish clearly between these two categories of
speakers, classing both as ‘Late Manx’ and claiming to find some of the attrition or
language shift features of the last speakers in the language of earlier writers, which
Lewin (2017a: 189–91) disputes. The language of these last speakers (here ‘terminal
speakers’) is here distinguished as ‘Terminal Manx’ (=Broderick’s ‘Late Spoken
Manx’). ‘Late Manx’ here, unless otherwise qualified, refers to the speech of those
born from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, which may show
an intensification of language contact, but not necessarily the features of language
obsolescence and incomplete acquisition found in the terminal speakers.
1.3.1.3 Revived Manx
‘Revived Manx’ is a variety spoken by a few hundred people today as a second
language (or, in a few cases, as a first language acquired from second-language
speakers). The development of this variety can be traced back to the late nineteenth
century and especially the mid-twentieth century when a small number of enthusiasts
sought out the last remaining traditional speakers (Broderick 1999: 172–87; Stowell
2005; George and Broderick 2009; Lewin 2015a; 2016c).
This thesis is concerned only with developments in ‘Traditional Manx’, i.e. the Early,
Classical and Late Manx periods referred to above, representing speech varieties
passed down by uninterrupted intergenerational transmission from earlier periods of
Gaelic (cf. Jackson: vi).
For discussion of the linguistic differences between Traditional and Revived Manx see
Lewin (2015a; 2016c).
1.4 The place of Manx within the Gaelic dialect continuum
Manx shares features both with Irish and Scottish dialects, although it has generally
been held that Manx is closer overall to Scottish Gaelic (O’Rahilly 128–40). Jackson
(1951: 91–2) groups Manx and Scottish Gaelic together as ‘Eastern Gaelic’, branching
off from an earlier ‘Common Gaelic’. While critiquing Jackson’s concept of ‘Common
40
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Gaelic’, Ó Buachalla (2002) continues to regard Manx and Scottish Gaelic as varieties
of ‘Eastern Gaelic’, although he considers that the difference between northern dialects
(Ulster Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic) and southern dialects (Connacht and Munster
Irish) is more significant. Recently, this ‘tree model’ approach has been problematized
by Ó Muircheartaigh (2015: 45):
The classification of Manx and Scottish Gaelic together is not unproblematic,
especially in light of evidence for an early fundamental structural feature (the
development of eclipsis) shared by Irish and Manx to the exclusion of Scottish
Gaelic […] In short, the tree model seems particularly ill-suited to a description
of the position of Manx.
(Ó Muircheartaigh 2015: 45)
Manx has also been linked to Munster Irish, especially on the basis of shared
phonological developments such as non-initial stress, as well as some shared lexis
(Williams 1994b: 740–1). The ‘distinctiveness’ of Manx lexis has also been
highlighted by Ó Muircheartaigh (2015: 75–76), on the basis of data from Elsie (1986)
showing Manx basic lexis to be closer to Old Irish than to any other modern dialect.
According to Ó Muircheartaigh,
The situation of Manx, although covering a small geographic area, is
particularly interesting for a variety of reasons. In historical linguistic terms, it
is perhaps the Gaelic variety least suited to the strait-jacket of the Darwinian
tree-model in which it has traditionally been analysed (O’Rahilly 1932; Jackson
1955; Broderick 2009). Given the mix of extremely archaic and innovative
features one finds in Manx, along with its historical and geographic position as
a centre, for a period at least, of traffic between Ireland, Britain and the
Scandinavian north, it provides an interesting test case for an array of
sociolinguistic theories discussed in this thesis. Most especially, it appears that
Manx could be usefully analysed in terms of medieval new-dialect formation.
(Ó Muircheartaigh 2015: 311)
If it is accepted, however, that the ‘tree model’ is only really valid when one population
is almost entirely isolated from another, it is no surprise that important isoglosses are
found in various locations throughout the Gaelic-speaking area, and that no
definitively unproblematic categorizations of Gaelic dialects can be attained. As Ó
Muircheartaigh (2015: xx) has observed, commenting on Ó Buachalla (2002), ‘it
41
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
would not be difficult to find twenty-three linguistic features linking any two parts of
the Gaelic-speaking world’.
Given that the Isle of Man is geographically both central in the Gaelic area (on the
north-south axis and in terms of sea routes) and peripheral (in that it is located on the
eastern edge, and has been socially and politically isolated from other Gaelic areas
since the Late Middle Ages), it is also not surprising that Manx shows a number of
highly distinctive and divergent features, as well as sharing features with diverse points
of the dialect continuum. It is not clear that ‘new-dialect formation’ (implying a
founder population of geographically diverse origins) is necessary to explain the
features observed, although it is not implausible that this occurred. The Isle of Man
would certainly have been within fairly easy reach of settlers from along the east coast
of Ireland, Galloway, and the Hebrides and western Highlands. Further historical
research, including historical genetics, as well as work on Manx personal and placenames, and those of neighbouring areas, may potentially elucidate this issue.
Moreover, it is not clear that some shared features are necessarily the “same” feature
at all. For example, diphthongization of historically short /e, a, o/ + /N/ is found in both
Munster Irish and northern Scottish Gaelic, as well as the northern dialect of Manx
(HLSM I: 161), in e.g. G. ceann ‘head’, Manx kione, S /kʲoːn/, N /kʲau̯ n/. Some form
of lengthening, rounding or diphthongization in this position is widespread in Gaelic
dialects (LASID I: 120; SGDS II: 165–6) as developments of what the Irish bardic
grammarians called síneadh meadhónach ‘middle quantity’ (Greene 1952: 212; Mac
Cárthaigh 2014: 168–71) before original fortis /N/.11 Phillips’ spellings (such as kian)
suggest retention of a pronunciation [kʲaNː] in c. 1610, so the development of the forms
represented by the eighteenth-century spelling kione must be fairly late, and it is not
clear that it should be linked to the Munster or northern Scottish forms. It is not
surprising that shared inherited structures give rise to a limited range of distinct
outcomes in different dialects, which may nonetheless be parallel, independent
developments.
11
Even in those dialects of Ulster and southern Scotland where the forms can be phonologically
represented as /kʲɛN/ or /kʲaN/, there may be some phonetic lengthening of the vowel as well as the
consonant, i.e. [kʲɛˑn̪ ˠˑ], [kʲaˑn̪ ˠˑ] (cf. Jones 2010: 61). See §4.5.4.2.
42
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Similarly, stress shift in Manx has been compared to the southern Irish development
(Williams 1994b: 740), but is distinct in significant ways, such as its being conditioned
by the length of the vowel in the preceding syllable (§5.1), the fact that unstressed
syllables containing /ax/ attract stress in Munster dialects but not in Manx, and the fact
that pretonic long vowels (at least in items which are synchronically monomorphemic)
are shortened in Manx but not in Munster Irish (§5.1.3). It is interesting that
developments in stress in Manx involve a combination of “Munster” stress shift and
“Scottish / Ulster” vowel shortening, but whether this reflects dialect affinity or
contact, or independent developments, is not immediately obvious (§5.1). Again, all
Gaelic dialects inherited the violation of the weight-to-stress principle (whereby long
vowels are disfavoured in unstressed syllables), and the options for eliminating this
tension are limited (cf. Green 1997: 69–97).
Another example is the ‘breaking’ of /eː/ to /ia̯ /, which outside Manx is found mostly
in northern Scotland and in Munster. From orthographic evidence this would seem to
have developed in Manx quite late, during the seventeenth century (§2.2.7). As in the
other cases, it is unclear that this represents any particular relationship with other
Gaelic dialects, not to mention that it is a recurring development from Old Irish
onwards (McCone 1994: 89).
Although further detailed consideration of the question of how to classify Manx within
the Gaelic languages is beyond the scope of this thesis (but see §6.2), it is hoped that
the data and analysis presented here will at least provide a clearer picture of some of
the features present in Manx for scholars interested in comparative questions.
1.5 Review of previous scholarship
Given that the evidence of Manx is both copious and valuable for Gaelic historical
linguistics and dialectology, it is regrettable that the language has received so little
scholarly attention, notwithstanding the best efforts of a small number of researchers.
No comprehensive historical grammar, phonology or dictionary of Manx exists; the
only works available are dated publications by amateur scholars such as Kneen’s
grammar (1931) and dictionary (1938), or prescriptive revivalist works such as
43
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Fargher’s (1979) dictionary and Kewley Draskau’s (2008) grammar, as well as works
from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by native scholars (Kelly’s
grammar and dictionary, Cregeen’s dictionary). Otherwise, the only general academic
descriptions are short chapters by Thomson (1984; 1992; 2000), Williams (1994b) and
Broderick (2005; 2010).
Much work of value is to be found in fairly obscure or local publications, even from
the perspective of Celtic Studies. Notably, some of the most extensive linguistic notes
on Manx are in editions or commentaries on texts by Thomson (1981, 1995, 1997,
1998) published in the Isle of Man by the language organization Yn Cheshaght
Ghailckagh. Linguistic commentary is also to be found in Broderick’s articles, mostly
editions of various texts (1981a; 1981b; 1981c; 1982a; 1982b; 1983; 1984a; 1984b;
1984c; 1990; 2011; 2017; 2018a; 2018b; 2018c; 2018d; 2018e), Thomson’s articles
and editions in various journals and volumes (e.g. 1950; 1954–59; 1960; 1960–62;
1963; 1969; 1976; 1988; 1990; 1991; 1999), and my own work (Lewin 2011; 2014;
2015; 2016a; 2016b; 2016c; 2017a), as well as papers from a few other authors who
have taken an occasional or inchoate interest in Manx, such as Ó Sé (1991), Breatnach
(1993) and Ó Muircheartaigh (2016).
Work on wider Gaelic linguistics has tended to ignore Manx, or to mention it only in
passing, although as Ó Maolalaigh observes in the quotation given above, this does
not necessarily reflect neglect or apathy, but rather the lack of readily available and
interpretable descriptions to set beside Irish and Scottish data. A perception that Manx,
the ‘Cinderella of Gaelic tongues’ (O’Rahilly 1932: ix; Thomson 1969: 177) has little
of value to offer the scholar, and is merely an anglicized dialect which ‘hardly deserved
to live’, to quote O’Rahilly’s (1932: 121) notorious evaluation, may also have played
a role; see Lewin (2017a) for discussion.
1.5.1 Material collected for Edward Lhuyd
The pioneering polymath and scholar of the Celtic languages Edward Lhuyd (1660–
1709) includes in a multilingual glossary in his Archæologia Britannia (Lhuyd 1707:
44
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
290–8) a selection of Manx lexical items in an idiosyncratic orthography (Thomson
1968), but these were apparently collected by William Jones, one of Lhuyd’s assistants
(Ifans and Thomson 1980: 129), who did not understand the language; as a result the
attempted phonetic representation is very approximate. Moreover, the choice of
informant appears not to have been ideal (Thomson 1999: 390).
Upon the discovery of Jones’ manuscript (National Library of Wales MS 13234A, pp.
73–128), the word list was edited by Ifans and Thomson (1980), and the linguistic
information which can be gleaned from the data is analysed by Thomson (1999).
Where this material is cited in the present thesis, the abbreviation ‘Lh.’ is used; this
refers to Ifans and Thomson’s edition.
1.5.2 Rhŷs (1894)
Despite its neglect by later generations of Celticists, Manx did not escape the notice
and interest of the first Professor of Celtic at Oxford, the Welshman Sir John Rhŷs.
His analysis of Manx historical phonology is published in his treatise Outlines of the
Phonology of Manx Gaelic (1894), and is based on extensive fieldwork across all
parishes of the island carried out during six visits between 1886 and 1893. The initial
purpose of the visits was to study the Ogham stones of the island, but Rhŷs soon
developed an interest in the vernacular language and folklore of the Manx people. In
addition to his Outlines, significant amounts of data survive in notebooks now
preserved in the National Library of Wales (Broderick 2016a; 2016b; 2018c; 2019;
Lewin 2019a).
Rhŷs’s work has a number of important advantages over that of later scholars,
including the number, geographical range and birth-dates of his informants. Rhŷs
records 107 potential informants in his notebooks, of whom 88 were interviewed
(Broderick 2018c: 45). These were largely native speakers of an earlier generation than
the terminal semi-speakers encountered by Marstrander, Jackson and Wagner and
transcribed by Broderick (HLSM). Many were born in the 1810s to 1840s, in contrast
with the terminal speakers who were born from the 1840s to 1870s (Broderick 1999:
54–66).
45
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Rhŷs’s informants would be more likely to be Manx-dominant or balanced bilinguals.
They are reported as having features such as consistent h-prefixation after certain
clitics (Rhŷs: 72), in contrast to the terminal speakers’ limited use of this feature
(HLSM I: 23), extensive vowel nasalization (Rhŷs: 31–48; Lewin 2019a: 82–9), and
grammatical gender concord (Lewin 2019a: 79–82). In most cases, those interviewed
by Rhŷs would have been raised in a largely Manx-speaking community, socialized
among Manx-speaking peers, and would have continued to use the language regularly
for a substantial portion of their lives (albeit perhaps less regularly by the time of
Rhŷs’s visit owing to the changing sociolinguistic situation).
In contrast, the terminal speakers were raised a few decades later in communities
already undergoing rapid language shift, with the language widely stigmatized as a
marker of backwardness (Broderick 1999: 35–7). While they may have used Manx
(actively or passively) in their youth with the older generation, peer group socialization
was largely in English (Lewin 2014b, 2017a: 191–3; Miller 2007, and see §1.6.9 for
further discussion), and their speech shows clear signs of uneven and incomplete
acquisition (§1.6.9.1). Rhŷs’s data are thus particularly valuable in providing details
obscured or unavailable in the speech of the later terminal speakers.
In addition to his principal informants, Rhŷs relates that he engaged in briefer
exchanges with many more Manx speakers as he travelled around the island. This
seems to have given him a “feel” for what were the most common forms, perhaps
leaving him less susceptible to the idiosyncrasies of individual informants in giving a
general overview of the language. Rhŷs is, however, also careful to note any
unexpected features and the circumstances in which his data were collected, which are
frequently of use in analysing the material. When he is uncertain of the articulation of
a particular sound, he notes his uncertainty, and explains his thought process for
coming to his conclusions. Rhŷs was well-aware of his lack of training as a phonetician
and readily admits it:
In attempting to deal with the Manx vowels, I have had to classify them as best
I could according to their effect on my ear; for I rarely could ascertain with any
precision how they are formed. I should have been glad to have described them
in the exact terminology with which Dr. [Henry] Sweet’s works on English
philology have made us familiar; but convinced as I am that my ear has not been
46
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
trained—under no circumstances probably could it have been trained—to
appreciate the nice distinctions which English phonologists think it requisite to
draw between closely related vowels, I have abstained from the attempt to
follow their example. Even if I escaped blundering hopelessly in such an effort,
it would only tend to make the reader fancy that I am blest with a power of
discrimination which I cannot claim in the matter of phonetics.
(Rhŷs: 1)
Jackson (4) criticizes the accuracy and intelligibility of Rhŷs’s work:
Sir John Rhys was the pioneer, with his “Outlines of the Phonology of Manx
Gaelic” [...] This gives a good deal of information, but it is not always very
intelligible, and in some cases one suspects his accuracy.
(Jackson: 4)
Rhys and Kneen both give the equivalents of üː [yː], üːə, or üə, but it may be
doubted whether they really knew what this means […] and what they heard
was probably uː, uːə, uə, or ʎː [ɯː], ʎːə, ʎə.
(Jackson: 48)
Jackson (48) seems to confuse Rhŷs’s description of Manx reflexes of G. ua (probably
[ɨә̯, ɨː] or similar), with those of ao and uai / aoi ([әː] or [eː]), which Rhŷs carefully
distinguishes (§3.5.1).12 That Rhŷs may admittedly have confused rounded and
unrounded vowels here may be a more widespread problem of early phonetic
descriptions of Gaelic (§3.5.6), and his descriptions are at least useful in determining
which vowel sounds were alike and which were distinct, even if other evidence is
needed to confirm their exact quality.
Nevertheless, the weaknesses of Rhŷs’s work must be borne in mind in making use of
his descriptions. Many of these can be overcome by judicious and patient analysis of
the text in context, but nevertheless may have contributed to later scholars’ difficulty
in making use of it. These weaknesses include the following:
12
For another problem with Jackson’s dismissal of Rhŷs, cf. Broderick’s (1999: 74) comment ‘[i]n view
of the abundance of native Manx speech material now available, Jackson’s [4] view that claims for
North/South dialectal differences do not stand up to examination cannot be endorsed.’
47
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(a) As noted above, phonetics was not Rhŷs’s primary area of expertise and it was not
one in which he had any formal training. In addition, the science in general was in its
infancy, as was its application to the Gaelic languages. As noted by Sommerfelt (1959:
51), Rhŷs’s work was only the second publication on the phonetics and phonology of
a Celtic language ‘which was up to the standards of contemporary science’, and the
first major phonetic description of any Gaelic dialect.
(b) His transcriptions are inconsistent in various ways. Frequently, and without
indication, items are left partially in their orthographic form with only certain phones,
often only the one under discussion, being transcribed. Rhŷs seems to have tried as far
as possibly to avoid the use of symbols not yet introduced in the text of the book, rather
than using a consistent notation all the way through his treatise and providing a key or
index (as Jackson does).
(c) Despite his disavowal of overly narrow transcription (Rhŷs: 1, quoted above), he
sometimes seems to attempt to draw just such overly narrow distinctions, only to
disregard or forget about them later on.
(d) Vowel length is indicated by a macron over long vowels, and sporadically by a
breve over short ones. However, frequently, no indication of length is given at all,
especially if the vowel character already has a diacritic (e.g. ů, ü). The length intended
can, however, often be deduced from the context (e.g. whether the item is cited in a
section discussing a long or a short vowel).
(e) Sounds are often described by comparison with other languages, principally
English, Welsh, French and German, as well as Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is,
however, often unclear exactly what sound is meant by these comparisons, or what
precise varieties are intended.
(f) Sometimes different indications of a phone’s value seem to contradict one another,
and it is difficult to work out what Rhŷs probably heard, at least from his descriptions
alone. His ȳ (§3.5.1) is a case in point.
48
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(g) Rhŷs’s work is written in rather flowery and anecdotal continuous prose, with many
digressions, and there is no index, which makes it less accessible than would be
desirable, and may have contributed to Jackson and other scholars’ neglect of it.
1.5.3 Strachan (1897)
In 1883 Strachan phonetically transcribed the Manx folksong Ec ny Fiddleryn13 from
Thomas Kermode (1825–1901), a fisherman of Bradda near Port Erin. (Bradda was
one of the strongholds of Manx noted by Rhŷs.) By the time of publication in the first
issue of Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie (1897), he states that he has modified the
notation to agree with Rhŷs’s system:
I wrote down the song phonetically as well as I could, but, as I have
unfortunately had no special training in phonetics, my attempt is at the best only
an approximation. However I read the song as I had written it down to two other
Manxmen and it was intelligible to them. As to symbols, ə, æ, ů, y, and ȳ have
been used as in Prof. Rhŷs’s Outlines of Manx Phonology, though I am not
quite sure that ȳ is exactly the long sound of y.
(Strachan 1897: 54)
1.5.4 Marstrander (1932)
In his long article on the Norse place-names in the Isle of Man, Marstrander includes
a brief overview of Manx phonology, based on data from six informants (three from
the north, including Peel, and three from the south), born between 1846 and 1854.
The different phones listed are categorized according to the Gaelic (or Norse) sounds
of which they can be a reflex. The transcription is broader and somewhat simpler to
interpret than that of Wagner and Broderick, and perhaps more accurate than that of
Jackson in certain respects (e.g. Marstrander shows long diphthongs, which are not
noted by Jackson). In addition to his published materials, Marstrander left a
considerable amount of recorded and transcribed material (Manx National Heritage
Library MSS 5354–57B) (Broderick 2018d). The original spoken material is
13
See Broderick (1984c) for an edition of manuscript versions of this song with discussion and notes.
49
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
incorporated by Broderick (HLSM) and some also appears in Wagner (LASID). Little
use has so far been made of the large amount of transcriptions of Thomas Christian
reading aloud, mostly from the Bible, apart from a short article discussing Christian’s
vowel phonology (Thomson 1976).
1.5.5 Kneen (1931, 1938)
J. J. Kneen was an amateur Manx scholar and revivalist active from the end of the
nineteenth century to the 1930s. Although unable to pursue a formal academic career,
he was recognized for his contributions to Manx and place-name studies with an
honorary degree from the University of Liverpool and an award from the government
of Norway. His two principal works on the Manx language, his grammar (completed
in 1910, but not published until 1931), and his dictionary (published 1938), both
contain phonetic information. The grammar contains a brief guide to Manx
pronunciation in a phonetic transcription close to IPA (with some idiosyncrasies e.g.
æ = [ɛ], ü = [y]), while the dictionary contains a transcription based on English
orthography.
Jackson (4) claims that ‘Kneen made use of phonetic symbols of the usually accepted
types, but it is doubtful whether he fully understood them’. Despite the above
comment, Jackson regards the dictionary as the more reliable of Kneen’s works for
pronunciation, ‘if properly interpreted’, and Jackson includes a number of references
to Kneen throughout his work.
More fundamental questions may be raised over the degree to which Kneen’s works
can be regarded as independent sources and the amount of exposure he himself had to
vernacular Manx. It seems he had some degree of contact with native speech (Kneen
1927), but his ideas on the language were certainly coloured by his knowledge of
written Manx and his archaizing tendencies, and his knowledge of Irish, as seen in the
grammar (cf. Jackson 1955: 5), which is in many respects, according to Thomson
(1969: 189), ‘merely a transcript of the Christian Brothers’ Irish grammar’. None of
50
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Kneen’s transcriptions are presented as directly representing the speech of a particular
informant or informants.
In the dictionary it seems that more frequently-occurring items are more likely to
reflect genuine spoken usage, whereas less common words sometimes reveal Kneen’s
uncertainty about pronunciation. For example, boght ‘poor’ (G. bocht) is transcribed
as bawkh [bɔːx], with characteristic Late Manx lengthening of the vowel (see §5.5.2)
and loss of the stop in the final cluster /xt/ (HLSM II: 38), while most other words
ending in <ght> are transcribed with retention of the final /t/.14 A further example is
Kneen’s erroneous transcription of maynrey ‘happy’ (G. méanar, EIr. mo-génar) as
mahnra [maːnrә] rather than expected /meːnrә/, attested mendrɑ̜ (HLSM II: 293). Here
he is apparently led astray by the ambiguous orthographic sequence <ay> (§§1.6.3,
1.6.4.4), and pronunciations with [aː] are subsequently found in the later revived
language (Lewin 2016c: 45).
Some of the information given by Kneen is clearly based on other sources, especially
Rhŷs. Kneen’s (1931: 29–30) section on ‘Dialect’ in the grammar is a near word-forword, unacknowledged reproduction of parts of Rhŷs’s (160–1) corresponding section.
Kneen also uses some of the same terminology as Rhŷs, such as ‘mouillé’ for
‘palatalized’ or ‘slender’ (Kneen 1931: 38), and quotes Rhŷs on the subject of
secondary lenition (Kneen 1931: 39).
As Thomson (1969: 189) warns, ‘Kneen’s description of the language should not be
relied upon except where it is independent of its source or other evidence confirms it’.
In view of the foregoing, Kneen’s data are not used in this thesis.
14
E.g. toshiaght ‘beginning’, transcribed as tozhakht, where the final orthographic t is probably a
hypercorrection on the model of other nouns in -aght, cf. G. toiseach, tosach (Phillips mostly has
spellings without t, e.g. tossiagh, once tossiaght). None of the terminal speakers have final [xt] (HLSM
II: 454). Kneen also gives the gender incorrectly as feminine, on the pattern of most nouns in -aght,
whereas it is masculine in Cregeen, and in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, earlier neuter.
51
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.5.6 Carmody (1947, 1954)
Carmody’s first work on Manx, Manx Gaelic Sentence Structure in the 1819 Bible and
the 1625 Prayer Book (1947), contains some highly dubious phonetic material
obtained from a woman in California who had attended some Manx classes (cf.
Jackson: 6). His subsequent article (1954) contains phrases and sentences in a broad
phonetic transcription noted from five of Jackson’s informants as well as one learner
or semi-speaker. The material is occasionally garbled and mistranslated, presumably
owing to Carmody’s limited knowledge of Manx. There is no discussion of the
diachronic development of Manx sounds; nor is any phonological outline or phonemic
inventory given besides a few introductory remarks. The work is thus of limited
usefulness, and is not used in this thesis. See Broderick (2018b) for further discussion
of Carmody’s material.
1.5.7 Jackson (1955)
Jackson’s data are derived from seven informants (four in the south, three in the north,
born 1852–1877) (Jackson: 2–3) whom he interviewed on a ‘hurried trip’ (SGDS I: 36)
over Christmas 1950–51. Unfortunately, Ned Maddrell, ‘the youngest and much the
most fluent and alert of the surviving speakers’, was in hospital during most of
Jackson’s stay and he was able to visit him only on the very last day (Jackson: v–vi).
The trip was a pilot for the Linguistic Survey of Scotland (SGDS I: 36, 53), and as a
consequence most of the data collection involved a questionnaire eliciting single
words. Wagner, in a review of the book, criticizes this approach:
Professor Jackson confines himself to phonology. But, in a case like this, one
ought to present as much linguistic evidence, i.e. sentences and phrases, as
possible. This was definitely the last chance to hear native Manx spoken. He
says (p. v): ‘I took with me a questionnaire already prepared to cover the
phonology of Manx from a historical point of view.’ In the light of
contemporary method this approach must be considered antiquated or
‘neogrammarian’, but it proves quite successful in the case of Manx.
(Wagner 1956: 107)
52
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Jackson defends his approach partly on practical grounds:
Only two speakers had any real fund of continuous narrative material, in the
form of little anecdotes or verses; and the inaccessibility of their homes, the
number of distracting casual visitors present, and the fact that of the two one is
blind and the other very old, made in their case an insuperable barrier to the
accurate recording of phonetic texts other than single words and brief phrases.
(Jackson: v)
The work begins with a short description of the vowel and consonant sounds
encountered in the data and an explanation of the phonetic symbols used. The body of
the work is diachronic, arranged according to the phonology of ‘Common Gaelic’
(essentially Classical Early Modern Irish) (§0.4) and comparing the Gaelic sounds with
their Manx reflexes as attested in Jackson’s data.
There is, however, very little discussion of earlier stages of Manx between the
presumed common Gaelic ancestor and the speech of the terminal speakers, apart from
sporadic references to Rhŷs, Kneen and Marstrander. Sometimes the Manx reflexes
are compared with those in other contemporary Gaelic dialects. There is little
consideration of the evidence provided by the orthographies, even when these lead
quite clearly to conclusions opposite to those reached by Jackson.
For example the orthography distinguishes <iu> e.g. iu ‘drink’ (ibh), <eeu, ieu> e.g.
screeu ‘write’ (scríobh) and <ieau, eeau> e.g. cleeau ‘chest’ (cliabh), from G. /i/, /iː/
and /iә̯/ respectively + /u̯ /. In Late Manx these are mostly found as monophthongal
[uː]. Jackson (72–3) claims to have heard only short diphthongs, and projects the
twentieth-century century realization of all three of these as /uː/ back to an earlier
period and suggests an early shortening of long /iː/ in íobh, íomh, causing the short
*/iv/ and long */iːv/, */iә̯v/ to fall together before vocalization of the fricative. The
orthography on the other hand, as with other vowel + fricative sequences, clearly
suggests otherwise, and there is no motivation for the shortening posited. For other
combinations, e.g. ábh, ámh > /ɛːu̯ /, /ɛː̃ ũ̯/, Rhŷs and Marstrander give clear synchonic
evidence of long diphthongs, although it is possible such length contrasts were in the
process of breaking down (cf. §3.9.1.7).
53
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.5.8 Wagner (1969)
Wagner visited the island six months before Jackson and interviewed all but one of
Jackson’s informants. The data are given in an appendix in vol. 4 of the Linguistic
Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects (LASID) and consist of five short texts plus a
considerable body of individual words, phrases and sentences arranged in a glossary
under English head-words. The individual informants are not noted, but each word or
sentence is labelled N ‘north’ or S ‘south’. Also some data from Marstrander are
included, labelled ‘M’.
Wagner’s transcription is extremely narrow, to the extent that one doubts the reality
(or significance) of some of the minute distinctions made in, say, central vowels or
degrees of palatalization and velarization. As also noted by Broderick (2017: 51), there
are occasional signs that Wagner was influenced by cognate Irish forms. For example,
in niᵇm fɑːkən hu meːrəx nee’m fakin oo mairagh ‘I will see you tomorrow’ (LASID
IV:
184), hu seems to represent Irish thú /huː/ rather than Manx oo /u/, in which the
preponderance of evidence points to /h/ having been entirely lost at an early date.15
Similarly, there are several examples of initial unstressed schwa representing Irish
particles and prefixes generally considered to be lost in Manx, e.g. tɑ ən gridn ə ˈgiri
ta’n ghrian girree ‘the sun is rising’ (Ir. …ag éirghe) (LASID IV: 186), tɑ ən kidn tʹʃət
əˈʃtʹaː ta’n keayn cheet stiagh ‘the sea is coming in’ (Ir. isteach) (LASID
IV:
187).
Perhaps these apparent schwas are phantoms arising in the mind of the transcriber from
the transition between different consonants, or from speech discontinuities, in
conjunction with Irish-based expectations.
In this thesis forms from Wagner are generally presented as given by Broderick who
incorporates them into his dictionary (HLSM II), although Wagner’s transcriptions of
the ao(i) and ua(i) vowels are discussed separately (§3.5.4).
15
Although see HLSM I: 23.
54
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.5.9 Broderick (1984–86)
Broderick’s Handbook of Late Spoken Manx contains the largest body of transcribed
spontaneous speech from the terminal speakers, most of it transcribed by Broderick
himself from the various sound recordings (HLSM I: xv–xxvi), but also incorporating
material from Marstrander, Jackson and Wagner, converted by Broderick into his own
transcription system, which is largely that of Wagner in LASID (HLSM I: 1).
Broderick’s data are presented in the texts in vol. 1, mostly narrative monologues and
snippets of verse, as well as throughout the grammar in vol. 1 and the dictionary in
vol. 2. These contain material from the texts in vol. 1, as well as from dialogues which
are not transcribed separately.16 Volume 3 is an analysis of Manx phonology,
comprising a synchronic section, and a diachronic section modelled on Jackson (1955),
but drawing on Broderick’s much larger corpus of data. Broderick usually follows
Jackson’s interpretation, as in the case of the development of íobh, íomh, iabh, iamh
(§1.5.7). Broderick’s dictionary (HLSM II) is the main source of data from the terminal
speakers in the present thesis.
Broderick’s conception of ‘phonemes’ and ‘allophones’ is not always clear, and much
use is made of the concepts of ‘free variation’ and ‘wild allophony’, when particular
divergent forms may be occasional rather than usual realizations, speech errors, or
restricted to particular lexical items or reflect diachronic changes rather than
synchronic variation (cf. Lewin 2017a: 187–8). According to Broderick (HLSM
III:
xxxv), it may not even be possible to arrive at a clear picture of a phonological system
from the Terminal Manx data:
In circumstances such as these, where variation is more often the rule than the
exception, a classical phonemic analysis as seen in Ternes (1973) is not really
applicable to L[ate] S[poken] M[anx], and it has either to be adapted or
considerably modified, or abandoned altogether and something else put in its
place, to make some sense of the messy picture of LSM. The spread of phonetic
realizations arising from different fieldworkers and the breakdown of
communicative competence means that a satisfactory assignment of particular
16
Some of the recorded dialogues between terminal speakers or between terminal speakers and
revivalists are transcribed orthographically, albeit with some inaccuracies, in Manx National Heritage’s
Skeealyn Vannin (2003), which consists of the material recorded by the Irish Folklore Commission in
1948.
55
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
sounds to appropriate phonological units is difficult and has given rise to a
number of instances of overlapping realizations […] which may be more
apparent than real.
(HLSM III: xxxv)
Sometimes Broderick’s claims of loss of Classical Manx phonological contrasts may
be overstated, as in the case of /eː/ and /ɛː/, where quantitative instrumental analysis
of data from the terminal speakers allows us to demonstrate that merger had likely not
occurred (§§2.2.3, 3.7).
We may compare Ó Cléirigh’s assessment of the situation of Manx phonology with
reference to Jackson’s work:
It may perhaps be impossible ever to offer a complete structural interpretation
of Manx owing to the peculiar position it occupies as a spoken language.
Indeed, it may justly be argued that the scant linguistic material available
precluded anything but the phonetic approach, which Professor Jackson has
employed.
(Ó Cléirigh 1961: 142)
Although we should certainly be aware of the limitations of the data and the
informants, we should nonetheless perhaps be rather sceptical of treatments which go
too far in seeing Manx as sui generis and not susceptible to the kind of systematic
analyses brought to bear on other languages. The development of theoretical models
to describe processes of language shift and death in the decades since the pioneering
works of Dorian (1981, 1989), Dressler (1981), Sasse (1992a; 1992b) and others
means that these difficulties may not be so insurmountable as Ó Cléirigh and Broderick
may have supposed.
1.5.10 Toponymic and onomastic evidence
Place and personal names constitute a valuable source for the study of Manx
phonology, including the period prior to the continuous texts of the seventeenth
century onwards (PNIM I: xvii–xviii). The rent rolls or setting books of the Lordship
of Man (1506–1911) are a particularly rich source of place-name data (ibid.: xviii), in
56
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
addition to deeds of sale, estate plans, Ordnance Survey name books, maps, etc. (ibid:
xix–xxii). For place-names we have an exhaustive survey in seven volumes (PNIM:
Broderick 1994–2005), including a brief analysis of linguistic implications (PNIM I:
xxii–xxxvii), and chronological discussions of place-names from the pre-Scandinavian
period onwards (PNIM VII: 337–83). There are also earlier works by Kneen (1925–28)
and Marstrander (1932).
Personal names are less well-served by up-to-date treatments. Moore (1903), Kneen
(1937) and Quilliam (1989) all contain etymological speculation which ranges from
the sound to the implausible in terms of historical phonological analysis. These topics
are clearly in need of reassessment.
These sources are outside the primary focus of the present thesis, but are referred to at
certain points where appropriate.
1.5.11 Summary
In summary, the general descriptions of Manx phonology over the past century have
focused on data gleaned from the terminal speakers (or semi-speakers). The diachronic
element has mostly consisted of comparison with earlier stages of the Gaelic languages
(mainly Old and Early Modern Irish). Since Rhŷs’s work on tracing developments
from the Manx of Phillips’ prayer-book to the speech of his own informants, there has
been little consideration of the internal historical phonology of Manx, nor its place in
wider Gaelic dialectology and historical linguistics. In particular, the large amount of
evidence available in the form of the corpus of Manx writing from the seventeenth
century onwards has been under-utilized.
Thomson (1953: preface), at the time of writing of his dissertation on the morphology
and syntax of Phillips’ prayer-book, seems to have considered Rhŷs’s work sufficient
until such time as more data should be available, and he never produced an in-depth
analysis of Manx historical phonology, beyond two short articles (1960; 1976), his
brief descriptions of the language in edited volumes (1984; 1992; 2000), and sporadic
notes in other works.
57
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.5.12 Recent linguistic literature
Apart from descriptive works within the broad ambit of Celtic Studies, very few works
have considered Manx phonology in the international linguistic literature. Pickeral
(1988–90) gives a brief analysis of Terminal Manx phonology from a generative
perspective. Ó Sé’s (1991) paper on stress shift and vowel shortening in Manx is an
important example of how quantitative methods can be illuminating, and uses concepts
such as dialect contact and lexical diffusion (§5.1.1.5). Green (2006) examines Manx
initial consonant lenition and medial lenition from the perspective of Optimality
Theory, alongside consideration of mutations in other Celtic languages. The same
author’s doctoral thesis (1997) examines ‘The Prosodic Structure of Irish, Scots
Gaelic, and Manx’, and provides an analysis of the motivation from stress shift and
vowel shortening in Manx and other Gaelic dialects (§§5.1.1.6, 5.5.1). Chaudhri’s
doctoral thesis (2007: 39–43) on the development of the Cornish consonantal system
discusses Manx preocclusion in comparison with that of Cornish (§4.5.4.2).
1.6 Primary sources
1.6.1 The written corpus and the orthographies
Two main orthographies have been used for Manx (Thomson 1960: 116–8): that of
Bishop Phillips’ manuscript translation of the Book of Common Prayer (c. 1610)
(Moore and Rhŷs 1895; Thomson 1953; Wheeler 2019), and the system used in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The latter begins with in Bishop Wilson’s
catechism Coyrle Sodjeh (1707),17 and standardized to a significant extent in the
printed prayer book translation of 1765 and the Bible completed in 1773, as well as in
Kelly’s and Cregeen’s dictionaries.
Although both are based predominantly on English models with little or no influence
from the Gaelic orthography used in Ireland and Scotland, these two systems appear
17
Although elements of the Classical Manx system are found already in Woods’ sermon manuscript
from 1696 (Lewin 2015b).
58
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
to be independent of one another to a large extent (although see below §1.6.3). One
transitional text has recently come to light (Lewin 2015b) which appears to
deliberately incorporate elements of Phillips’ system into an early version of the later
orthography. In addition, through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, nonstandard orthographies diverging to differing extents from the standard of the Bible
are used in manuscripts of carvals, sermons, folk-songs and the writings of Edward
Faragher (1831–1908) (Broderick 1981b, 1982a).
1.6.2 Scholarly views on the Manx orthographies
Celtic scholars have tended to take a censorious view of the Manx orthographies,
seeing them only as cutting Manx off from its sister languages and hindering
scholarship, as well as being ambiguous and inconsistent. The following views are
typical:
Phillips and his successors, indeed, removed the reproach that it [Manx] was an
unwritten language; but in so doing they encumbered it with an orthography
which was hardly more fitted to represent its sounds than the orthography of
Early Modern Irish would have been.
(O’Rahilly: 120–1)
Manx orthography is an English monstrosity which obscures both
pronunciation and etymology.
(Jackson: 108)
Despite fundamental deficiencies and diverse inconsistencies, the result may
have served the purposes for which it was devised. From a philological
viewpoint, however, it had the regrettable effect of imposing on Manx a wholly
inappropriate spelling which obscured its historical relationship with its
congeners and discouraged scholarly interest in its investigation.
(Breatnach 1993: 2)
Such views have also been predominant among activists and amateur scholars in the
Manx revival movement (Ó hIfearnáin 2007; Lewin 2017a: 177–8; 2017b): for
example, the lexicographer Douglas Fargher (1979: vi) describes the orthography as
‘a historical abomination’.
59
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Thomson (1984: 307) (see also §1.1) gives a more balanced assessment, weighing up
both the representational deficiencies of the Manx orthographies compared with the
Irish-Scottish system, as well as some advantages (cf. Russell 1995: 229; Broderick
2010: 306–7):
The English conventions mean that the radical and lenited or nasalized
consonants lack the visible connection shown in Gaelic spelling, but the
spelling has the advantage for the linguistic historian of showing the
vocalization of fricatives and such new developments as svarabhakti vowels,
and lengthening or diphthonging in monosyllables before unlenited liquids and
nasals when these are not shown in the traditional orthography. The system is
rather weak on the indication of palatalization, though better in this respect than
the similar nonstandard orthography of Scottish Gaelic, based on Middle Scots
usage. The conventions of English and Manx orthography, have, however,
grown apart, and it by no means follows that Manx pronunciation is
immediately apparent to the English reader. The spelling, moreover, has
developed an iconic element, in that words of similar or identical pronunciation
are as far as possible deliberately spelt differently.
(Thomson 1984: 307)
For illustration of these strengths and weaknesses of the orthography, see §1.6.4. For
sociohistorical and ideological aspects of the question of Manx orthography and
related issues, see also discussion in Sebba (1998) and Ó hIfearnáin (2007) as well as
Lewin (2017a; 2017b).
1.6.3 Phillips’ Prayer Book translation and orthography
The earliest continuous prose text to survive in Manx is a translation of the Anglican
Book of Common Prayer by John Phillips, a Welshman who served as Bishop of Sodor
and Man from 1605 until his death in 1633 (Thomson 1969: 178). The translation has
been dated to between 1604 and 1610 (Moore and Rhŷs 1895: xi; Thomson 1953: 3),
and survives in a mostly complete manuscript from 1625–1630 (Thomson 1953: 4),
now preserved in the Manx National Heritage Library bound in two volumes as MSS
3 and 4. The text never reached print for liturgical use, but was edited by Moore and
Rhŷs (1895), and collated in a glossary by Thomson (1953; 1954–59), who also
provides some corrections and additions to the Moore-Rhŷs edition. Wheeler (2019;
60
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2020) has recently prepared new diplomatic and critical editions of Phillips’ psalter.
The text is the main representative of ‘Early Manx’ (§1.3.1.1), although John Woods’
sermon of 1696 also belongs to the seventeenth century and shows linguistic and
orthographic affinities with Phillips’ text (see below and Lewin 2015b), and some of
the ballads and folksongs also date to this century or earlier, though preserved in
eighteenth and nineteenth-century manuscripts (Thomson 1960–62; Broderick 1981a).
Thomson (1953: 3, 6) provides evidence that Phillips’ liturgy is a translation of the
1604 version of the Prayer Book. The manuscript of the liturgy contains a large number
of emendations dating to after 1662, including updates to the names of royal persons
mentioned in prayers. I have shown (Lewin 2015b: 50–1) that many of these
emendations are in the hand of John Woods (c. 1665–1739), who was from 1695 to
1700 chaplain of Castletown and master of the town’s grammar school, where he was
himself earlier educated. It is likely that it is during this time that he came into contact
with the Phillips manuscript and that he had enough esteem for the orthography in it
that he attempted to make use of it, albeit inconsistently, in his own sermon writing.
Woods’ interest in Phillips’ orthography seems to have been the exception among the
seventeenth-century clergy. Contemporary comment from 1610/11 suggests that it was
poorly received by the clergy, since ‘it is spelled with vowells wherewith none of them
are acquainted’ (Moore and Rhŷs 1895 I: xii). In 1663, Bishop Barrow commented
that ‘there is nothing either written or printed in their language, which is peculiar to
themselves; neither can they who speak it best write one to another in it, having no
character or letter of it among them’ (Butler 1799: 305), while William Sacheverell in
his 1702 Account of the Isle of Man claims that Phillips’ text ‘is scarce intelligible to
the clergy themselves’ (Cumming 1859: 15).
It has consequently been claimed that Phillips’ text had little impact on later writing in
the language, and was largely independent of the later orthography (and any early form
of that orthography in use in Phillips’ time, at least for writing personal and place
names) (Thomson 1960: 116–8). Certainly there is no clear evidence that Phillips’ text
was ever widely read or appreciated. Woods’ interpolations prove only his own
personal interest in the text — perhaps he hoped to update it and prepare it for
61
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
publication — and not that the manuscript prayer book was in active or widespread
use after 1662. The fact that the surviving manuscript is a slightly later copy, rather
than an original draft, shows that copies were made, but as this is still in Phillips’
lifetime, it may prove only his own enthusiasm for the project.
According to Thomson (1953: 6), ‘[t]here seems no reason to doubt Phillips’ explicit
statement that by 1610 he had in person translated the P[rayer] B[ook] into Manx; we
know that he was competent to preach in the language, and was noted for doing so’,
and certain orthographic and morphosyntactic features may point to a degree of Welsh
influence (Thomson 1953: 7, 10; 1960: 118). On the other hand, Thomson points to
some minor differences in the language of the psalter which may suggest the hand of
a native Manx speaker in this part of the work.
Some anomalies in the manuscript may be copying errors, which according to
Thomson (1953: 12) may point to an English or possibly Welsh scribe who did not
understand the text, such as <j> for initial <g> (on the basis that <g> before front
vowels would be pronounced /dʒ/ in English), and occasional confusion of <u> and
<y> — a possible instance of influence from Welsh, where u (earlier /y/) and y (/ɨ/)
have fallen together as /ɨ/ or /i/ (Morris-Jones 1913: 13; Jones 1982). On the other
hand, some variation can be attributed either to contemporary phonological variation
and change, or to confusion of similar symbols (Thomson 1953: 12; 1969: 181–2), e.g.
the occurrence of both initial <kn> and <kr>, and this should be borne in mind when
making arguments based on Phillips’ orthography. Thomson describes Phillips’
orthography as follows:
The principal problem connected with Bishop Phillips’ Prayer Book is that of
its orthography. It is plainly very unlike standard literary Manx […] While its
consonantism is very similar to later Manx, the vowels are very different indeed,
and appear to rest substantially on the “Continental” values, giving this older
Manx in part a greater similarity to its related languages than the modern
orthography does to the eye, at least. The two systems seem to be quite distinct
[…] instances of distinctively modern spellings in the P[rayer] B[ook] are
extremely rare. Neither does the old orthography survive as a competitor to the
new. In short, one might suppose that we have two different attempts to write
down Manx, which largely coincide in consonantism, having taken the same
model [i.e. English], but diverge in vocalism, having chosen different standards.
(Thomson 1953: 8)
62
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
It is this use of the ‘continental’ vowel qualities (i.e. roughly the values of the vowels
in Latin, Spanish, Italian, Welsh, or Middle English before the Great Vowel Shift)
which was probably most off-putting to the rest of the clergy, who may have been
familiar only with English and Latin pronounced in the unreformed English fashion.
Phillips, on the other hand, had his native Welsh and, in addition, probably a broader
education:
He had three or four different systems known to him, English, Welsh, Latin,
probably Greek, perhaps some modern languages, and his obvious course was
to frame a system for himself out of the material he had. This, it seems, is what
he did.
(Thomson 1953: 9)
In addition to the vowels, there are some minor differences from the later system in
consonant representation. For example, Phillips generally uses <k> in all positions,
apart from <ck> word-finally, whereas the later orthography generally has the English
distribution of <c>, <k> and <ck>; <g> represents both /ɡ/, /ɡʲ/, later <g>, and lenited
/ɣ/, later <gh>, while <gh> is used for initial /x/, /ç/, for later <ch>.
However, the most notable feature of Phillips’ orthography is its wide range of
variation. An individual word may be spelled in a dozen different ways (including
variation in diacritic placement), although most of the variation is minor and a clear
pattern is often observable.
As an example, the following fairly frequent items are taken from Thomson’s glossary
(1953, 1954–59) of the text (Table 1), with discussion of the orthographic variants
below. Note that the number of occurrences is given in brackets, and that Thomson
presents lenited forms in their radical form (so several instances of klyesh etc. appear
as ghlyesh in the manuscript). Some manuscript examples are given below.
63
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 1. Examples of variant spellings in Phillips’ MS (after Thomson 1953)
bannaghey ‘bless’, G. beannaghadh
bannaghey
banaghy (2)
banaghe (2)
(impv.) banigi
bannigi
banni
(fut. 1sg.) banníím
(pret.) vani
(part.) baníít (2)
baniit
banníít (8)
cliwe ‘sword’, G. claidheamh (OIr.
claideb)
klêiu (2)
kleiu (3)
kleìu
klêîu
kléiu
klieu (5)
klyeiu
(pl.) kleiuyn
kleinyn (3)
klyêinyn
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. clua(i)s
klyesh
kluass
kluash
klúash (3)
klúas (2)
klúæsh (2)
(pl.) klyasyn (4)
klýasyn (2)
klýassyn
klúashyn
Figure 1. Examples from Phillips’ MS (cf. Table 1)18
y ghlyesh ‘his ear’, Matthew 26:51, f. 84v
y ghluass ‘his ear’, Mark 14:47, f. 96r
rish y ghléiu ‘with the sword’, Acts 12:2, f. 223r. y ghlêiu ‘his sword’, Matthew 26:51, f. 84v
y ghluash, y ghlúash ‘his
ear’, Luke 22:50-51, f.
106r.
(a) Note the ‘continental’ value of vowels, e.g. ban(n)igi for later bannee-jee (Ir.
beannaígí) /banidʒi/.
(b) Final /ә/ may be <ey>, <e> or <y>, usually only <ey> in the later orthography.
(c) Note the variety of diacritics and their placement over the sequence <eiu>.
(d) Note the occurrence of both <eiu> and <ieu> – such variation in the order of
elements is frequent.
(e) Note initial <kl> for later <cl>, and lenited <gh> for /x/, later <ch> (in manuscript,
not shown in Thomson’s glossary entries).
(f) /s/ and /ʃ/ are not consistently distinguished by Phillips in non-initial position
(where <sh> = /s/ but <s>, <ss> = /s/ or /ʃ/) (Wheeler 2019: 4–5), perhaps reflecting
the non-phonemic nature of the [s], [ʃ] contrast in Early Modern Welsh, as suggested
18
Reproduced with permission of Manx National Heritage Library (MNHR MS 3).
64
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
by Thomson (1953: 10). In later Manx G. cluas ‘ear’ is found with a generalized dative
form cluais, CM cleaysh, replacing the nominative (§3.9.5), but the ambiguity of
Phillips’ orthography means that it is not clear which is intended in the Prayer Book.
(g) As in the later orthography, and in Welsh, initial consonant mutation is shown by
symbol substitution rather than a diacritic mark or letter as in the Irish-Scottish
orthography, e.g. vani ‘blessed’, later vannee (G. bheannaigh or ḃeannaiġ).
(h) In medial and final position there is much variation between single and double
consonant symbols, e.g. banni- and bani-. In the later orthography double consonants
are usual to mark preceding short vowels (bannee), as in English (e.g. ‘banner’). The
use of single and double consonant symbols appears to have no relation to the historical
fortis-lenis contrast, although this may well have been retained in the Early Manx
period in this position (see Chapter 4), e.g. Ph. benneylt, beneylt etc., later bennalt,
bentyn ‘touch, belong’ (ScG. beanailt), as opposed to Ph. banni, bani etc. (G.
beannaigh).
(i) The occurrence of both <ya> and <ua> (and minor variants thereof) to represent the
G. diphthong ua(i) may reflect the fronting of /uә̯/ to /ɨә̯/ which was apparently in
progress in this period (§3.6.1.2).19 This is a case where Phillips’ orthography can shed
additional light on the earlier stage of a phonological development. It is also an
example of where Phillips is more accurate than the later orthography. The
representations <ua> and <ya>, and their variants, clearly show the diphthongal nature
of Manx /uә̯/, /ɨә̯/ in contrast to monophthongal /әː/, G. ao(i), represented in Phillips
as <y>, <yy> and similar. This is in contrast with the later orthography, where G. ua
and ao are represented by the same sequences of symbols, although there is reason to
19
As noted by Thomson (1953: 12) there is some apparent confusion of <u> and <y> which may
represent copying errors; however, this is unlikely to be the case with representations of G. ua, given
that both symbols are widespread in this use, both are expected, and the patterning of their frequency
seems to agree with a plausible account of conditioning factors for the fronting (§3.6.1). Moreover, this
variation between <u> and <y> is hardly found in representations of G. ao, where sequences involving
<y> (and <i>, <e>) predominate. It is thus clear that the variation between <ua> and <ya> is for the
most part reflective of the original text.
65
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
believe they remained distinct, e.g. CM meayl ‘bald’ (G. maol) and eayn ‘lamb’ (G.
uan) (§3.6.2).
(j) A variety of diacritic marks are used, most frequently the acute and circumflex
accents, and in orthographic sequences consisting of multiple vowel symbols, these
may be placed over any of the symbols, or may sit above two symbols (or at least, this
is how the manuscript has been interpreted by Moore and Rhŷs, and Thomson). In this
thesis, these are represented for typographical reasons by placing an identical diacritic
over each vowel, e.g. <êê> should be read as <ee> with one circumflex diacritic over
both vowel symbols. Diacritics appear to be intended to mark length and/or stress, and
perhaps the most prominent element of a diphthong; however, their use is not
consistent and they have not been found to be crucial to any arguments in this thesis.
Thomson reproduces them (by hand) in the typescript version of his glossary found in
his 1953 thesis, but considers them unimportant enough to omit from the published
version of the glossary (1954–59). They are reproduced here, following Thomson
(1953), for completeness.
In one important respect Phillips’ text did have a lasting influence on later Manx
writing. It appears that the psalter in his Prayer Book was adapted for the eighteenth
century Prayer Book and Bible translations:
The Psalms were taken from the English Prayer Book version, which had not
been superseded in 1662 by the A.V. text, and were incorporated unchanged
into the O[ld] T[estament] when it appeared, so that the Manx Bible here has
the same text and verse numbering as the Prayer Book. […] The translator of
the Psalms must have had access to Bishop Phillips’ version; despite the
modernisation of the spelling and the continual tinkering with the vocabulary
the similarity of the two versions is too great to be coincidental and Phillips’
translation may be said substantially to have lived on in the Manx Prayer Book
as long as the latter continued in use.
(Thomson 1979: [ii])
Given that Phillips’ text survived, was known and was put to use in the later translation
project, despite never meeting with general approbation among its intended audience,
it might reasonably be expected that it would have some influence on the later Classical
Manx orthography, even if the latter was substantially an independent creation. In fact,
66
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
this appears to be the case. To begin with, the use of <y> for schwa is distinctively
non-English, probably of Welsh origin (Thomson 1953: 11), and occurs in both
systems.
The use of <ey> to represent /ә/ in final and sometimes medial position in the CM
orthography is also not a usual feature of English orthography, where it would be
expected to represent final /i/ (e.g. ‘valley’), but is found in Phillips. Although not the
most common representation for final /ә/ in the Prayer Book, <ey> was perhaps
generalized in the later orthography to avoid confusion with the more frequent English
final <y> = /i/, which is sometimes retained with this value in certain loanwords, such
as torrity ‘authority’, and personal names.
Another case of likely retention of an element of Phillips’ system is the spelling aynin forms of the preposition ‘in’ (G. ann). In the Classical Manx orthography <ay>
usually represents long vowels /eː/ or /ɛː/, but ayn was pronounced /oːn/ in the south
and /uːn/ in the north (HLSM II: 16). In Phillips <y> often occurs as the final element
of sequences of vowel symbols, and could apparently serve as a mark of length, a
feature of Northern Middle English and Older Scots orthography (Vikar 1922; Kniezsa
1997). The spelling ayn makes more sense in the Phillips orthography if we assume
than ann was still pronounced /aN/ at this period (cf. Ph. kian ‘head’, CM kione, G.
ceann), with some degree of conditioned lengthening of the vowel (§4.6.1). The
spelling ayn- may have been retained in the later orthography to provide a common
representation for the variety of positional and dialectal realizations of the morpheme
[oːn, uːn, on, un, әn, o, u, ә]. The use of <ay> in ayrn ‘part’ (G. earrann) and tayrn
‘pull’ (G. tarraing), and in forms of ec ‘at’ (G. ag), aym (1sg., G. agam), ayd (2sg. G.
agad) (LM /em/, /ed/, perhaps earlier */aːm/, */aːd/?) may also be instances of retention
of this orthographical feature from Phillips. The use of <y> and <i> as length markers
more generally in both Manx orthographies can be traced to northern English spelling
conventions, although the use of <i> in particular to mark following palatality is a
Manx innovation; the resemblance to Irish-Scottish spelling conventions may be
coincidental.
A final example is the CM spelling dty for the 2sg. possessive G. do, d’, t’. This appears
in Phillips as tdhy (6 instances), thdy, tdy (2), ta, t’ (before vowels, 5 instances) as well
67
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
as dy (5) and thy (4). As discussed in Lewin (2015b: 72) in relation to Woods’
consistent use of tdy in his sermon, the idiosyncratic spelling of the initial consonant
of this possessive is probably prompted by the existence of two allomorphs still found
in other Gaelic dialects, namely /dә/ before a following consonant and /t/ prefixed to a
following vowel. Despite the reversal of the order of the consonant symbols, this
orthographic device seems too peculiar for there not to be a link between the similar
usage in the two systems. The spelling dty was likely brought into the CM system with
the above motivation, and also to distinguish this item from the many other functors
dy /dә/.20
These survivals of usage from Phillips’ orthography can all be understood as serving
particular representational needs, where no English convention could easily be
adapted. As with Woods’ much wider adoption of elements of the earlier orthography
(Lewin 2015b: 51, 53), there is no sense, however, of any interest in adopting broader
principles of Phillips’ system, such as the ‘continental’ vowel values, or the
representation of G. ua(i) and ao(i). Evidently those who developed the Classical
Manx system were on the whole content to use English-based conventions familiar to
them, even when these are more cumbersome or ambiguous than Phillips’ usage.
1.6.4 The Classical Manx orthography and variants
1.6.4.1 Characteristics of the Classical Manx orthography
Some of the characteristics of the Classical Manx orthography will now be illustrated,
in order to help the reader appreciate the challenges encountered in interpreting the
orthographic evidence in the rest of the thesis.
20
Whose number had in fact increased since the Early Manx period owing to phonological
developments (Jackson: 92; HLSM III: 91–2; Lewin 2016a: 174).
68
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.4.2 Homophones differentiated by spelling
Homophones are often deliberately differentiated by spelling (Thomson 1984: 307;
Thomson and Pilgrim 1988: 4):
there can be no guarantee that words of different meanings but sounding the
same will be written similarly; in fact, there seems to have been a policy to
ensure that they were not!
(Thomson and Pilgrim 1988: 4)
This is understandable when it is considered that Manx literacy was for the purposes
of fluent (usually native) speakers, people who already knew how the language was
pronounced; distinguishing clearly between similar or homophonous lexical items
would thus be more important than accurate phonological representation. Examples of
such homophones, following Thomson and Pilgrim, are as follows:
olley ‘wool’ (gen.) (G. olla)
ollay ‘swan’ (G. eala)
both /olә/
leigh ‘law’ (ScG. lagh)
leih ‘forgive’ (G. loghadh)
both /lәi̯ /
Even etymologically identical items may have different spellings to signify different
senses:
lieh ‘half’ (G. leath, leith)
er-lheh ‘apart, special(ly)’ (G. ar leith)
/(erʲ) ˈlʲeː/
feanish ‘witness, evidence’ (G. fiadhnaise)
fenish, fênish ‘presence’
/feːnәʃ/
marish ‘with’(ScG. maille ri)
mârish ‘with him’
/mɛːrʲәʃ/
1.6.4.3 One sound, several spellings
There is thus a considerable amount of variation in the way a particular phone or
sequence may be represented, especially in the vowels and diphthongs. The following
69
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
are a selection of examples of orthographic representations for certain phones, some
of which also further illustrate homophony with distinct spelling:
/eː/
<ea>
<ay>
<ey>
<eh>
<ai>
<aiy>
<eai>
<e>
<e_e>
/kreː/
/kreː/
/ʃeː/
/ʃeː/
/neːm/
/feːr/
/feːlʲә/
/feːnәʃ/
/feːm/
crea ‘creed’ (G. créadha, cré)
cray ‘clay’ (G. cré)
shey ‘six’ (G. sé)
sheh ‘hide’ (G. seiche)
naim ‘uncle’ (Eng. dialect ‘eme’)
faiyr ‘grass’ (G. féar)
feailley ‘festival’ (G. féile)
fenish ‘presence’ (G. fiadhnaise)
feme ‘need’ (G. feidhm)
/oː/
<oa>
<oy>
<oi>
<oe>
<o>, <ô>
<o_e>
/noː/
/oːr/
/toːnʲ/
/oː/
/oːnә/
/kʲoːn/
noa ‘new’ (G. nuadh, nódh)
oyr ‘reason’ (G. adhbhar)
thoin ‘bottom’ (G. tóin)
oe ‘grandson’ (G. ó)
oney, ôney ‘innocent’ (G. ónna)
kione ‘head’ (G. ceann)
/ɛːi̯ /
<aie>
<aaie>
<aih>
<aigh>
/trɛːi̯ /
/fɛːi̯ /
/ɡrɛːi̯ /
/ɛːi̯ /
traie ‘shore’ (G. tráigh)
faaie ‘home field’ (G. faithche)
graih ‘love’ (G. grádh)
aigh ‘luck’ (G. ádh)
1.6.4.4 One spelling, several sounds
The same, or similar, orthographic sequences may also represent distinct sounds.
<oi(e)>
/o/
/oː/
/әi/, /iː/
/oːi/
/orʲ/
/noːdʲ/
/rәi/, /riː/
/boːi̯ rʲә/
oirr ‘edge’ (G. oir)
noid ‘enemy’ (G. námhaid)
roie ‘run’ (G. rith)
boirey, boïrey (G. buaidhreadh)
<ay>
/e/
/eː/
/ɛː/
/aː/
/oː/, /uː/
/em/
/kʲeː/
/slɛːnʲtʲ/
/aːrn/
/oːn/, /uːn/
aym ‘at me’ (G. agam) (§1.6.3)
kay ‘mist’ (G. ceó, dative ciaigh)
slaynt ‘health’ (G. sláinte)
ayrn ‘part’ (G. earrann)
ayn ‘in him, in’ (G. ann) (§1.6.3)
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
<eay>
/әː/
/ɨә̯/, /ɨː/
/iә̯/, /iː/
/eː/
/blәːst/
bleayst ‘husk, egg-shell’ (G. blaosc)
/kɨә̯n/, LM /kɨːn/
keayn ‘sea’ (G. cuan)
/friә̯l/, LM /friːl/
freayll ‘keep’ (G. friotháladh)
/lʲeːrʲ/
leayr ‘clear’ (G. léir)
<ea>
/eː/
/ɛː/
/ɨә̯/, /ɨː/
/o/, /e/
/e/
/reː/
/ɡɛːrʲә/
/lɨә̯x/, /lɨːx/
/folax/
/edax/
rea ‘ram’ (G. reithe)
gearey ‘smile, laugh’ (G. gáire)
leagh ‘reward’ (G. luach)
feallagh ‘ones’ (G. ?eallach)
eaddagh ‘clothes’ (G. éadach)
Note that diacritics (diaeresis and circumflex) are used in some texts, notably the Bible,
to make some distinctions, albeit not entirely consistently, for example roie ‘run’ /rәi/,
/riː/ v. roïe ‘before’ /rõːĩ/. However, they are absent in other texts, and do not play a
large role in the orthography.
1.6.4.5 English v. ‘continental’ vowel values
Long vowel representations usually have their English value, i.e. <ee> = /iː/, <oo> =
/uː/, <i_e>, <ie>, <i> = /ai̯ /, but may also have a ‘continental’ value, as in feme /feːm/
‘need’ (G. feidhm) above (presumably deriving from a more conservative
pronunciation of English). This gives rise, for example, to the potentially confusing
pairs such as the following:
mian /miә̯n/ ‘desire’ (G. miann, Ph. mian, mían, miæn)
Mian /mai.an/ ‘Matthew’ (G. Maitheán, Ph. Mein)
kere /kʲeːrʲ/ ‘wax’ (G. céir, Ph. kéeir, kǽyr, kǽir)
kere /kʲiːr/ ‘comb’ (G. cíor, Ph. kiyr)21
The ambiguity is perhaps deliberately exploited in the spelling hene ‘self’ (G. féin),
which the evidence of rhyme shows can be realized either /heːn/ or /hiːn/ (cf. the
Scottish variants fhéin and fhìn) (Thomson 1995: 116; Lewin 2015b: 74), with the /iː/
pronunciation apparently becoming predominant in Late Manx (HLSM II: 220).
21
These items may have been semantically associated through kere-volley ‘honeycomb’ (G. cíor
mheala).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.4.6 Representation of palatalization
Slender consonants for which a similar phone is found in English generally have a
specific representation in the Manx orthography corresponding closely to the English
convention, i.e. <sh> /ʃ/, <ch>22 /tʃ/ (G. /tʲ/), <j> /dʒ/ (G. /dʲ/), <y> /j/ (G. /ɣʲ/) (also
<ghi>). Otherwise palatalization is most commonly indicated by the placing of <i>
before or after the consonant symbol.
#Cʲ
/nʲart/
/lʲabi/
/kʲuːnʲ/
/mә çoːn/
/ɡʲat/
‘strength’ (G. neart)
‘bed’ (G. leaba, dat. leabaidh)
‘calm’ (G. ciúin)
‘my head’ (G. mo cheann)
‘gate’ (G. geata)
VCʲV s’taittyn, -in
troiddey
bainney
theinniu
ooilley
quallian,
quaillan
cuirrey
erriu
muickey
s’buiggey
/s tatʲәnʲ/
/trodʲә/
/banʲә/
/tenʲu/
/ulʲә/, /ulʲu/
/kwalʲan/
‘pleases’ (G. taitin) (s’taittyn lhiam ‘I like’)
‘chide’ (G. troid)
‘milk’ (G. bainne)
‘thaw’ (ScG. taineamh)
‘all’ (G. uile)
‘whelp’ (G. coileán)
/kurʲә/
/erʲu/
/mukʲә/
/s buɡʲә/
‘invite’ (G. cuireadh)
‘on you’ (G. oirbh)
‘pig’ (gen.) (G. muice)
‘softer, softest’ (G. is buige)
Cʲ#
/patʲ/
/kredʲ/
/taˈluːnʲ/
/suːlʲ/
/uːrʲ/
/uːɡʲ/
‘plague’ (ScG. pait)
‘believe’ (G. creid)
‘earth, land’ (gen.) (G. talmhain)
‘eye’ (G. súil)
‘earth’ (G. úir)
‘cave’ (ScG. ùig)
22
niart
lhiabbee
kiune23
my chione
giat
paitt
creid
thallooin
sooill
ooir
ooig
Which is ambiguous with the use of <ch> to represent /x/ in initial position, except that the latter can
usually be recognized as a mutation of initial /k/, /kʲ/. This ambiguity is resolved by the use of <çh> for
/tʃ/ in the 1866 edition of Kelly’s dictionary and in some subsequent revivalist publications.
23
Note here the lack of clear marking of the final slender /nʲ/, attested as k′uːn′ (EK) (HLSM II: 255).
72
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
<i> may also redundantly24 occur after orthographic units which already show
palatality:
but
but
but
shiaght
shassoo
chiamble
chaghter
/ʃaxt/
/ʃasu/
/tʃambәl/
/tʃaxtәrʲ/
‘seven’ (G. seacht)
‘stand’ (G. seasamh)
‘temple’ (G. teampall)
‘messenger’ (G. teachtaire)
jiooldey
yiooldey
jalloo
yalloo
/dʒuːldә/
/juːldә/
/dʒalu/
/jalu/
‘refuse’ (G. diúltadh)
‘refuse’
‘picture’ (G. dealbh)
‘picture’
In clusters, adjacency to an orthographically marked slender consonant can be taken
to indicate that the other consonant is also palatalized:25
ushtey
ashlish
aigney
/uʃtʲә/
/aʃlʲәʃ/
/aɡʲnʲә/
‘water’ (G. uisce)
‘dream’ (G. aisling)
‘mind, will’ (G. aigne)
<u> can sometimes indicate a slender consonant followed by /u(ː)/, apparently based
on its use in English items such as ‘lute’, ‘acute’, ‘mute’ etc.
lhune
kuse
/lʲuːn/
/kʲuːs/
‘beer’ (G. lionn)
‘a few’ (G. ciumhas)
The following are minimal pairs contrasting by palatalization, distinguished
orthographically by <i>:
att
aitt
/at/
/atʲ/
‘swell’ (G. at)
‘funny’ (G. ait)
24
However the presence of <i> here may be motivated by the fact that the lenited form of these items,
spelt with initial <hi>, may have initial /hj/ or /ç/. The <i> may perhaps represent a glide after the radical
initial consonant of the kind encountered in Scottish dialects (e.g. Ternes 2006: 28–38), although such
glides are not reported in Late Manx. Rhŷs (73–5) notes lexical and dialectal variation between /ç/ and
/h/ as lenition of initial /ʃ/ and /tʃ/, as well as hypercorrection from /has/ hass ‘stood’ (G. sheas) (never
*/ças/, according to Rhŷs) to unlenited ‘sassoo’ /sasu/ (G. seasamh).
25
Note that some clusters can show variation, e.g. [slʲ] and [ʃlʲ] as in slieau ‘mountain’ (G. sliabh) (Rhŷs:
157–8, HLSM III: 118).
73
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
meeley
meeilley
/miːlә/
/miːlʲә/
‘soft’ (G. míonla, míolla)
‘mile’ (G. míle)
dooney
dooin
/duːnә/
/duːnʲ/
‘close’ (vn.) (G. dúnadh)
‘close’ (stem) (G. dúin)
shooyl
shooill
/ʃuːl/
/ʃuːlʲ/
‘walk’ (vn.) (G. siubhal)
‘walk’ (stem) (G. siubhail)
cabbyl
cabbil
/kabәl/
/kabәlʲ/
‘horse’ (G. capall)
‘horses’ (G. capaill)
Certain representations are ambiguous, since elements of an orthographic sequence
can indicate either palatalization, or vowel length / quality, or both, as in:
fainey
faitagh
bainney
daaney
baney
/fɛːnʲә/
/fatʲax/
/banʲә/
/dɛːnә/
/bɛːnә/
‘ring’ (G. fáinne)
‘shy’ (G. faiteach)
‘milk’ (G. bainne)
‘bold’ (G. dána)
‘white’ (pl.) (G. bána)
In fainey the long vowel length is shown by the single <n> following <ai>, and the <i>
can be taken as indicating slender /nʲ/ also. In bainney <i> shows palatalization and the
double <nn> indicates a preceding short vowel. Fainey contrasts with baney, where
the absence of <i> indicates a broad /n/, and the single <n> indicates a preceding long
vowel. The spelling daaney is clearer, with two signals of a long vowel, the digraph
<aa> and the single <n>. Faitagh, however, is not immediately clear; a knowledge of
G. faiteach, or reference to transcriptions of native speech (HLSM
II:
156),26 is
necessary in order to be confident of the vowel length. Cregeen’s alternative spelling
fashagh, showing medial voicing and fricativization of /tʲ/ > [dʲ] > [ʒ],27 would also
help here, although it would be misleading taken on its own (since <sh> usually
26
Even this evidence is not unambiguous, since we have to reckon with the tendency in Late Manx to
lengthen certain short vowels (§5.5.2). There is a short vowel in fɑt′ʃɑ ̣x from three speakers (TC, JW
and HK), as well as in the abstract noun faitys ‘shyness’ fɑt′ʃəs (TC), but a long vowel from one speaker
(TT): fɛːt′ɑx (HLSM II: 156).
27
With <sh> being the nearest available orthographic representation for [ʒ].
74
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
indicates underlying /ʃ/). In many cases there is no clear indication as to whether a
consonant is broad or slender, as the following cases illustrate:
enney
genney
glenney
/enʲә/, /enә/
/ɡenʲә/
/ɡlenә/
s’glenney
meinney
gien
gennal
/s ɡlenʲә/
/menʲә/
/ɡʲen/
/ɡʲenal/
‘recognition’ (G. aithne)
‘scarcity’ (G. gainne)
‘clean’ (vn.), ‘clean’ (adj. pl.) (G. glanadh,
glana)
‘cleaner, cleanest’ (G. is glaine)
‘meal’ (gen.) (G. mine)
‘cheer’ (G. gean)
‘cheerful’ (G. geanamhail)
There is no indication that enney,28 s’glenney and genney have /nʲ/, while glenney and
gennal have /n/, whereas in meinney palatalization is marked by <i>. Slender /ɡʲ/ is
clearly shown by <i> in gien, but not in its derivative gennal (g′e̜ nɑ ̣lː NM, HLSM II:
192), which has no <i> and thus is not clearly distinguished from the broad /ɡ/ in
genney (from goan, goaun ‘scarce’, G. gann). The slender consonant can be marked
more clearly in the lenited form, since <yi> as well as <ghi> can represent lenition of
/ɡʲ/, thus in the Bible we have yien as well as ghien, and yennal as well as ghennal (cf.
Thomson 1995: 133).
In unstressed syllables <i> may indicate /CʲәCʲ/, /CʲәC/ or /CәCʲ/, and even /CәC/
(§4.4.7.2).
CʲәCʲ fakin
cuishlin
/fakʲәnʲ/
/kuʃlʲәnʲ/
‘see’ (G. faicsin, ScG. faicinn)
‘vein’ (G. cuisle, dat. cuislinn)
CәCʲ
shiaghtin
Mannin
/ʃaxtәnʲ/
/manәnʲ/
‘week’ (G. seachtmhain)
‘Isle of Man’ (G. Manainn)
CʲәC
cadjin
claig(g)in
mwyllin
/kadʲәn/
/klaɡʲәn/
/mulʲәn/
‘common’ (G. coitcheann)
‘scalp’ (G. cloigeann)
‘mill’ (G. muileann)
28
Depalatalization may have occurred in this word (§4.4.3).
75
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
CәC
sheeabin
Manninagh
eddin
ynrican,
ynrycan
/ʃiә̯bәn/
/manәnax/
/edәn/
/inrәkan/
‘soap’ (ScG. siabann)
‘Manx’ (G. Manannach)
‘face’ (G. éadan)
‘only’ (G. aonracán)
1.6.4.7 Redundant symbols
The Classical Manx orthography is replete with letters which are redundant or largely
so. As Lewin and Wheeler (2017) observe, this tendency seems to increase with the
standardization of the orthography during the eighteenth century:
Where they differ, Coyrle Sodjey [the first printed book in Manx, 1707] is
usually simpler, with fewer superfluous letters [than later texts]: thus initial lhis rarely found, so we have leid (lheid), liasagh (lhiasagh), liat (lhiat), lie (lhie),
liettal (lhiettal), liggey (lhiggey); -eea- implies two syllables, so we have
Creesteeaght, gimmeeaght, etc., but jeaghyn (jeeaghyn), gearree ~ gearee
(geearree); other ‘simpler’ spellings are: baas (baase), callit (caillit), cheel
(cheeill), coal (coayl), deartey (deayrtey), deney (deiney), feasley (feaysley),
foar (foayr), foas (foays), freall (freayll), geashtagh (geaishtagh), gol (goll),
janoo (jannoo), loart (loayrt), meigh (meiygh), raadjin (raaidyn), reyn
(rheynn), seihl (seihll), talloo ~ tallow (thalloo), treshteil (treishteil); tregeil ~
treggeil is much more frequent than the modern treigeil, though this is also
found.
(Lewin and Wheeler 2017: preface)
In this list we can see that some of the later additions add clarity, so keeill ‘church’ (G.
cill) indicates the final slender /lʲ/ (as opposed to ambiguous keel, and so with callit
and caillit, G. caillte). The later spelling <eea> in geearree (G. ag iarraidh) and
jeeaghyn (G. déachain)29 shows /iә̯/ (§2.2.6) more clearly than <ea>, which more
usually represents /eː/ (as well as /ɛː/, /әː/, /ɨә̯/). Similarly, <eay> in feaysley (‘release’,
G. fuascladh) and deayrtey (‘pour’, G. dórtadh, duartan) more clearly indicates /ɨә̯/
than <ea> does (§3.6.2). However, it is unclear how rheynn30 (‘share, divide’, G.
roinn) is better than reyn (neither indicate the final slender /Nʲ/, /nʲ/ or /ŋʲ/, §4.4.6), or
why it is useful to add a silent <e> to baase /bɛːs/ ‘death’ (G. bás). The English final
29
Although jeaghyn could also indicate retention of monophthongal /eː/ here, as also indicated by
spellings in Phillips, and in Woods’ sermon of 1696 (Lewin 2015b: 75) (§2.2.7).
30
For <rh> see §4.2.1.5.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
<e> is used as a marker of vowel length in Manx, e.g. bane /bɛːn/ ‘white’ (G. bán), but
it is also very widespread where length of the preceding vowel is shown by other
means, as in baase. Note that there is no danger of this being taken to mean final /ә/,
which is always <ey> or very occasionally <ay>, <ah>; see especially coyrle and
Baarle in the list below, which have loss of final schwa (§5.2).
Other examples of superfluous final <e>:
baare
sheese
coyrle
Baarle
jymmoose
/bɛːr/
/ʃiːs/, /siːs/
/kõːrlʲ/
/beːrl/
/dʒiˈmuːs/
‘top’ (G. barr)
‘down’ (G. síos)
‘advice’ (G. comhairle)
‘English language’ (G. Béarla)
‘wrath’ (G. díomdha + as)
1.6.5 Late spellings (especially Cregeen)
While the biblical orthography became a standard which was followed, to a greater or
lesser extent, by most subsequent writers, later spellings of items not found in the
eighteenth-century texts (often for secular or modern concepts, and everyday life) may
diverge from the conventions of the Biblical orthography, sometimes showing later
phonological developments (Thomson 1999: 402). This is notable in Cregeen’s
dictionary (1835), for example, where there are forms showing the medial lenition of
/s/ to [ð] and /dʲ/ to [ʒ], which is never indicated in the Biblical orthography:31
gadyree, -ey
shuddyr
Breeshey
fashagh
/ɡasәrә/
/ʃisәr/
/briːdʲә/
/fatʲax/
‘heat’ (of bitches) (ScG. gasradh)
‘scissors’ (G. siosúr, ScG. siosar)
‘Bridget’ (ScG. Brìghde)
‘shy’ (G. faiteach)
In the Biblical orthography the diphthong /iә̯/ (G. ia, é) is consistently represented as
<eea>, <ia>, and kept distinct from the monophthong /iː/ <ee>, <eey>, <eei>.
Similarly /uә̯/ (G. ua), where it retains its back quality, is consistently written <ooa>,
31
Apart perhaps from luddan-mea (Job 41:32) ‘phosphorescence on the surface of the sea’, if this is the
same as lossan ‘luminous particles seen in the sea by night, and on fish that are not dry, in the dark; the
aurora borealis or northern lights’ (Cregeen) (G. losán). Cregeen and Kelly both have separate entries
for lossan and luddan(-mea).
77
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
<ua>, contrasting with monophthongal /uː/ <oo>, <ooy>, <ooi>, <ooh>, <u_e>. In
Cregeen, however, there are spellings which apparently represent the changes /iә̯/ >
[iː] and /uә̯/ > [uː] (§2.2.6):
keeir
lheegh
hooir
/kʲiә̯r/
/lʲiә̯x/
/huә̯r/
‘dark’ (G. ciar) (K. keear)
‘ladle’ (G. liach)
‘forebode, threatened’ (G. tuar)
The examples keeir and hooir also illustrates another feature of Cregeen’s usage which
may indicate a sound change; the superfluous <i> before a historically broad /r/ might
also be taken as evidence of loss of the contrast /r ~ rʲ/ (§4.2.1). However, Cregeen
seems not to have fully understood the use of <i> in the Biblical orthography, and thus
inserts it in many items adjacent to broad consonants:
bwoid
boiddagh
brooightooil
jooigh
mooin
/bod/, /bud/
/bodax/
/bru(ː)xˈtuːlʲ/
/dʒuːx/
/muːn/
‘penis’ (G. bod)
‘stingy person, churl’ (G. bodach)32
‘belch’ (G. brúchtghail)
‘greedy’ (G. díbheach)
‘urinate’ (G. mún)
Sometimes Cregeen introduces such spellings instead of, or alongside, the Biblical
form:
‘broigh, or broghe’ /broːx/ ‘dirty’ (G. broghach) (Bible broghe)
‘hioll, or hoyll’, thiolley /tolә/, /hol/ ‘bore, pierce’ (G. tolladh) (Bible hoylley)33
There are however, some such forms in the Bible itself such as druight ‘dew’ (G.
drúcht), seyir ‘carpenter’.34 Metathesis of digraphs involving <i> is quite common,
32
This spelling is perhaps intended to distinguish this sense from the homophonous (and probably
etymologically identical) boadagh ‘cod’ (cf. Dwelly s.v. bodach).
33
Thomson (1995: 120–1) notes in his edition of PC that ‘hiolley […] is Cregeen’s spelling, but […]
the source of the palatalisation is obscure’. It is much more likely that there is no palatalization (which
in any case would be expected to be represented as <ch>), and that this is simply an instance of
Cregeen’s tendency to introduce redundant <i>, perhaps in this case following PC 1796 which has
hioalley. In the Bible the spelling is hoylley (it so happens that only lenited forms are found). It is
possible that the spelling is influenced by the lenited forms of shiaulley ‘sail’, shiolteyr ‘sailor’, and
perhaps also by the variation in some items between /h/ and /ç/ as the lenition of radical /ʃ/ and /tʃ/
(Rhŷs: 74–5).
34
Both singular and plural in the Bible, where one might expect singular seyr and plural seyir. The
motivation may be to distinguish this sense from seyr ‘free’, and dooinney-seyr ‘gentleman’ (G. saor).
78
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
especially in manuscripts and sometimes in print, for example <ia> and <ai>, <io> and
<oi> (Broderick 1982a: 180; 1984: 166). This usually seems to involve modification
of sequences unknown or rare in English to those found more commonly in English.
1.6.6 Interpreting the Manx orthographies: summary of difficulties
As observed above, native Manx speakers would of course have known how to
pronounce the language, so the inconsistencies and ambiguities of the orthography
would not have caused major problems (although see §1.6.9.1 for spelling
pronunciations among the terminal speakers). For the scholar of Manx with a
knowledge of other Gaelic varieties, they do not usually cause much trouble either,
since the etymology of many items is readily apparent, as in the items presented as
illustration above. In any case, the standard Manx orthography is in many respects
considerably more systematic than its critics have acknowledged, as discussion
throughout this thesis will show. Despite incorporating redundant features of English
orthography such as silent final <e>, those who devised the Manx orthography
succeeded in making considerable innovations to represent phones not found in
English, including the complex system of short and long diphthongs (§§1.5.7, 3.9.1),
vowels such as /ɛː/, /әː/ and /ɨә̯/, /ɨː/, and (not always so successfully) palatalized
consonants.
Problems arise, however, when dealing with ambiguous spellings of items (a) where
the etymology is less clear, or entirely obscure, (b) where evidence in the form of
recordings, phonetic transcriptions or descriptions and variant spellings is unavailable
or inconclusive, (c) where variant forms in the other Gaelic languages mean that it is
not possible to determine with certainty which variant the Manx form represents, or
(d) where it is suspected that the Manx form may be an irregular development. In such
cases, it may not be possible to reach a firm conclusion.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.7 Non-standard orthographies
In addition to the two main orthographies discussed above, various degrees of
departure from the biblical standard are found in eighteenth and nineteenth century
texts, both printed and especially manuscripts. Some of these diverge very
substantially from the standard. The manuscript corpus is extensive, consisting of
carvals (religious ballads), folksong manuscripts (e.g. Broderick 2015, see §4.5.3),
Bible translation drafts, sermons, and Edward Faragher’s writings. Faragher at least
appears to have been an avid reader of the Manx Bible, but nevertheless seemingly
had little interest in conforming to its orthography in his own usage (Broderick 1982a:
178–9).
Much of this corpus has yet to be subjected to in-depth scholarly analysis, although as
noted by Thomson (1960: 116–7) this would no doubt be rewarding:
For linguistic purposes these carvals, especially in their manuscript form, are
probably more important than anything else, for the books were written and
copied by native speakers with no very accurate recollection of the standard
spelling […], and many points of phonological interest are illustrated in their
free spellings and in the rhymes.
(Thomson 1960: 116–7)
In this thesis details of non-standard manuscript spellings will be discussed where
relevant details have come to my attention, but a full consideration of the information
contained in these texts awaits a future treatment.
1.6.8 Dictionaries
Manx scholarship is fortunate in having two principal Manx–English dictionaries
compiled by native speakers during the period when Manx remained widely spoken,
those of John Kelly (1750–1809), compiled towards the end of the eighteenth century,
and Archibald Cregeen (1774–1841), a generation later in the 1830s. Although both
works have deficiencies and omissions, they nevertheless provide us with a more
complete knowledge of the language’s lexis than would be the case from the corpus of
80
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
texts alone (cf. Thomson 1990: 444), and are therefore crucial sources in establishing
the distribution of phonological developments across the lexicon.
1.6.8.1 Kelly (1866)
John Kelly, who as a young man assisted in copying, editing and proof-reading the
Manx Bible (Thomson 1969: 185–6), began his grammar and two dictionaries in 1766
‘for the instruction of […] the Rev. Dr. Hildesley, Lord Bishop of Sodor and Mann;
and […] to assist and direct my fellow labourers and myself in that arduous and
important work, the translation of the Manks Bible’ (Kelly 1804: iv). Early drafts of
these works survive in Manx National Heritage Library MS 1477, with a later draft of
the Manx–English dictionary in MS 1045–7A. The grammar was printed in 1804, but
the Manx–English dictionary did not appear until it was published posthumously in
1869, edited by William Gill. Kelly also authored a ‘triglott’ dictionary of English to
Manx, Scottish Gaelic and Irish (Thomson 1969: 205–6). Printing of this began in
1809 but came to nothing in a fire in the printing shop. The manuscripts survive (Manx
National Heritage Library MSS 2045, 51), and the English and Manx columns of this
were utilised by the Manx Society to form the English–Manx half of the 1866
publication (Wheeler 2020).
Thomson (1990: 447) estimates that ‘in round figures Cregeen presents the reader with
a little more than 6000 words; Kelly has most though not quite all of these and adds
rather more than another 4000, making a total of about 10,500 in all’. The reasons for
the greater number of entries in Kelly, according to Thomson, are that he gives a large
number of derivatives, mostly ones which are logically possible but which may not
have been in use. Furthermore, many items are taken from previous Gaelic
dictionaries, often showing an incomplete understanding of Gaelic orthography; and
‘[t]here are a few cases of etymological guesswork giving rise to supposedly
independent words’ (Thomson 1990: 450).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Of the latter two categories, many are easy to spot. For example Kelly has items rane
‘stanza’ and raneyder ‘poet’, allegedly from G. rann35 but also linked by him with
arrane ‘song’ (G. amhrán); G. ruaig is claimed to have given rueg, but the word is not
attested elsewhere, the spelling <ue> is unusual, and G. ua more commonly gives a
fronted vowel in Manx (which, as Thomson suggests, might be spelled *reayg or
*reaig);36 taishbyn ‘reveal’ is shown to be a borrowing by the retention of <b> from
Shaw’s taisbeun and the lack of -ey for G. -adh; G. ughdar ‘author’ is given by Kelly
as ughtar, which in Manx orthography would be interpreted as */uxtәr/, whereas this
word, if it existed in Manx, would be expected to give *oodyr /uːdәr/.
Other probable borrowings have more plausible orthographic forms, such as doghys
‘hope’ and dooill ‘desire’, corresponding to G. dóchas and dúil respectively (Thomson
1990: 452), and their status can only be surmised by their absence from the corpus,
and/or by similarities with definitions and cognates in Shaw. In some cases it may not
be possible to be entirely sure whether an item in question was in use in Manx or not.
For this reason Kelly’s dictionaries have been approached with caution, and Cregeen
has been taken as the basic source for lexical information. Data from Kelly is given
where it backs up or complements Cregeen, or otherwise seems likely to be genuine.
Despite the problems illustrated above, further research into Kelly’s work remains a
desideratum, as it certainly contains much valuable material not found elsewhere.
1.6.8.2 Cregeen (1835)
The title page of Cregeen’s dictionary states that it was printed in 1835, although it
may not in fact have appeared until 1837 (Wheeler 2018: x). The dictionary was
reprinted by Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh three times in the twentieth century, and has
more recently been edited by Wheeler (2018) in a digital format with the headwords
reordered to group cognate, derivative and inflected forms, together with an
G. rann would give */roːn/ or */rau̯ n/ in Manx (§4.6.1), not */rɛːn/; cf. attested ronney /ronә/ ‘portion’
(G. rannadh) and ronneeaght /roni.axt/ ‘foolish song, raving’ (G. rannaigheacht).
36
As Thomson also notes, however, part of the definition differs somewhat from Shaw, so we cannot
exclude entirely the possibility that this is a genuine Manx word, even if the spelling and sense given
by Kelly have been influenced by the external source.
35
82
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
introduction and notes. Wheeler’s edition forms the basis for the use made of the
dictionary in this thesis.
Cregeen is overall much more reliable than Kelly as a source of linguistic data, his
main weakness being his own spellings of items not found in the religious literature
(§1.6.5), and the evident frequent inaccuracy of the stress placement which is marked
on almost every polysyllabic headword (§5.1.1), as well as the sometimes obscure
definitions (Wheeler 2018: iii–iv). Thomson (1990: 447) summarizes the virtues of
Cregeen’s dictionary as follows:
Cregeen has a reputation for being a reliable witness in linguistic matters. He
collected his material from written sources and from the spoken language, and
within the limits of his time and resources he can be described as a scientific
lexicographer. If he offers a few popular etymologies he does not usually let
them dictate his spelling, which is fully traditional even when, as he
occasionally observes, he disagrees with it and thinks it could be improved. […]
So on the whole Cregeen gives an impression of sobriety and reliability.
(Thomson 1990: 447)
1.6.8.3 Revival era English–Manx dictionaries
Finally, in the twentieth century two English–Manx dictionaries were published by
prominent figures in the revival movement, Kneen (1938) and Fargher (1979). The
weaknesses of Kneen’s pronunciation guidance have been discussed above (§1.5.5).
Fargher’s is a self-consciously prescriptive work incorporating large numbers of
unacknowledged neologisms, many of them borrowings from Irish and Scottish
Gaelic, frequently adapted in a way which lacks philological rigour and consistency
(see Lewin 2017b). It is also a fairly unselective compendium of the material in
Cregeen and Kelly (including uncritical inclusion of the latter’s spurious borrowings
and inventions of the type illustrated above §1.6.8.1). Fargher’s dictionary is thus of
little use for scholarship of the traditional language, although it does incorporate some
lexical items noted by the author from the last native speakers, rendered into Manx
orthography.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.8.4 Pitfalls in the use of Manx dictionaries
Reliance on the dictionaries, in the absence of a detailed study of the primary sources,
has sometimes led scholars astray.
For example, Ó Baoill (1978: 281) reports a Manx form dooill ‘desire’ corresponding
to G. dúil on the strength of Kelly, but this item is likely a borrowing as noted above.
Similarly, Grannd (2000: 16) claims, referencing Kneen (1970: 66), that G. spéir ‘sky’
(ScG. speur) ‘seems to be the word used in Manx’ (speyr). However, this appears to
be unknown outside dictionaries,37 the normal word being aer (also ‘air’) (Bible;
HLSM II: 4), agreeing in fact with the most common term in Scotland according to
Grannd (adhar).
Ó Maolalaigh (2013: 65) quotes Fargher (1979: 287) that dy-chooilley is an ‘archaic
spelling’ for dagh ooilley ‘every’ (G. gach uile, ’chuile etc.) when in fact the former
is the standard Classical Manx spelling, and the latter an example of revivalist
antiquarian spelling. Ó Maolalaigh discusses two examples from Fargher dagh ooilley
cor hiaghtin and [er] dagh vod, the former of which appears to be Fargher’s own
invention38 and the latter is an obscure form from Kelly.39 Such data (certainly the
former) cannot be taken to have a bearing on linguistic features of the traditional
language.
These examples show that all of the dictionaries are to varying extents unreliable as
reference works. Kelly and Cregeen, however, are highly important as primary
sources.
37
The word speyr is in Cregeen, glossed ‘the sky’, so is likely to be genuine, but nevertheless does not
seem to have been the most usual word for ‘sky’. It is absent in Kelly, who gives only aer and niau
(‘heaven’, G. néamh) for ‘sky’ in his English–Manx dictionary.
38
Prefixed G. corr- ‘(the) odd, occasional’ does not seem to occur productively in Manx, although as
an element meaning ‘rounded, pointed; remote’ it is found in place-names (PNIM VII: 427–8) and there
is a derived adjective corragh ‘tottering, weak; touchy, capricious’ (G. corrach). Kelly gives derreylaa as ‘every other day’, cf. indara la ‘every other day’ (eDIL s.v. 1 dara), but this is not given by
Fargher, who does however have gagh derrey Doonaght ‘every other Sunday’. *Gach uile c(h)orr- is
not found in other Gaelic varieties for ‘every other…’.
39
In Kelly’s manuscript (MS 1045–57), but not the printed work (s.v. er-dagh-vod), the note ‘Ir. Ar
gach mhead’ is given.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.6.9 Native speech: recordings and transcriptions
Details of the recordings and transcriptions made in the twentieth century of native
speech by fieldworkers, both professional and amateur, are provided by Broderick
(HLSM I: xv–xxiii, III: xi–xxxiii; 1999: 54–75; 2017; 2018b; 2018d). All of these data
were collected from elderly informants, most of whom lived largely in isolation from
other Manx speakers and had not used the language for many years, and who had
grown up in communities already experiencing rapid language shift to English. For
biographical information on the speakers see Broderick (2017; 2018a).
In this thesis two main sources of native speech data are used: the transcriptions given
in Broderick’s Handbook of Late Spoken Manx (1984–86), especially the dictionary
(vol. 2), and the audio recordings made by the Irish Folklore Commission, published
on CD in 2003 (Manx National Heritage). The latter were investigated instrumentally
using Praat (Boersma and Weenink 2015), the first use of such a methodology with
Manx audio data (§§2.2.3, 3.7, 4.5).
Further recordings exist, notably those made by the Linguistic Survey of Scotland, and
by the local language organization Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh and other amateur
language enthusiasts, with copies held in the Manx National Museum and the School
of Scottish Studies. Some of these are transcribed by Broderick in HLSM, but it is
desirable that the original audio material should be investigated instrumentally in
future research. The transcriptions made by Marstrander of texts read aloud by
terminal speakers also deserve further attention (see Thomson 1976; Broderick
2018d). There are also some very early recordings from the first decade of the
twentieth century (Broderick 1999: 54; Trebitsch and Remmer 2003; Manx National
Heritage 2017), which are occasionally referred to in the present work, although the
material is limited, mostly read or recited, and the sound quality poor.
1.6.9.1 The Manx of the ‘last native speakers’
Although conventionally referred to without qualification as ‘the last native speakers’
of Manx (e.g. Broderick 2017), the individuals recorded in the twentieth century all
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
show signs of varying degrees and types of incomplete proficiency in the language, at
least at the point in time when they were recorded, including phonetic variability, gaps
in lexis and idiom, and lack of control of complex morphosyntactic phenomena such
as initial consonant mutation and grammatical gender. Broderick (1999: 77–158)
catalogues these features extensively, but does not come to an altogether clear
conclusion as to how the speakers should be classified (ibid.: 5–6). He ascribes the
observed features primarily to rustiness and lack of practice in the language, using
Menn’s (1989) term ‘rusty’ speaker, as well as to discomfort caused by ‘the presence
of the microphone and recording machine’ rather than ‘any short-comings on their
part’ (Broderick 1999: 6). In Broderick (2017: 54) this position is restated more
forcefully and the same factors are given as explaining apparent linguistic weaknesses:
I am of the opinion that all fifteen of our speakers are to be regarded as ‘full’
(i.e. ‘formerly fluent’) speakers of Manx. That is to say, they had gone through
the gamut of the language during their formative years (their pronunciation is
consistent with what is to be expected), but that there is clearly some loss to be
seen is due, in my view, not to imperfect learning when young, but to lack of
use in later life.
(Broderick 2017: 54, original emphasis)
However, I have argued (Lewin 2014b; 2017a: 191–3; 2019a: 81–2) that rustiness or
language attrition during the lifetime of the speaker are insufficient to explain some of
the features observed. The terminology is not entirely settled in this field (‘semispeaker’, ‘terminal speaker’, ‘younger fluent speaker’, ‘weaker speaker’, ‘reduced
speaker’ or ‘post-traditional speaker’ etc.),40 but it is clear that incomplete acquisition
of certain linguistic features by upcoming generations is a pervasive feature of
language shift and minoritization situations (Dressler 1985: 12; Sasse 1992b: 62–63;
Montrul 2008)41 — as also in other situations with suboptimal levels of linguistic
exposure and peer-group socialization, such as the case of second-generation bilingual
immigrants and heritage speakers (Carroll 1989; Polinsky 2006; Unsworth et al. 2014;
40
For discussion in the Manx context see Broderick (1999: 4–11; 2017) and Lewin (2017: 143), and for
the development of the terminology in wider scholarship see e.g. Dorian (1977, 1981, 2010), Dressler
(1981), Schmidt (1985), Campbell and Muntzel (1989), Sasse (1992a; 1992b), Grinevald and Bert
(2011), Lenoach (2012: 21–25), Ó Curnáin (2012).
41
See for example Ó Curnáin (2007; 2012) for detailed data from a contemporary Irish-speaking
community currently experiencing language shift.
86
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Montrul 2008; 2015). A strong argument can be made that incomplete acquisition is
required to explain the absence or lack of control of features such as initial mutations
and grammatical gender concord with inanimate nouns among the last speakers of
Manx. The latter in particular is well maintained in written Manx of the seventeenth
to nineteenth centuries, including in the stories and reminiscences of Edward Faragher
(1831–1908), and is also found in some but not all of Rhŷs’s informants,42 but is absent
in the speech recorded from terminal speakers such as Ned Maddrell.43
Although the difficulties of comparing speech and writing should always be borne in
mind, I have argued (Lewin 2017a: 191–3) that it is implausible either that gender
could have been maintained by the earlier generations in writing only — presumably
by conscious learning — or that the complete loss of these features should have
occurred owing to rustiness in otherwise ‘full’44 native speakers.
It is much more plausible, and agrees better with our cross-linguistic understanding of
the processes of language shift, that grammatical gender, initial consonant mutations
etc. were normal parts of the linguistic competence of earlier generations of ‘full’
native speakers, albeit complex, opaque, late-acquired features particularly dependent
on rich input and socialization in the language for complete acquisition (cf. Nic
Fhlannchadha and Hickey 2017), and that an insufficiency of such input and peergroup socialization is responsible for the gaps in the competences of terminal speakers
such as Maddrell, despite high levels of conversational fluency and confidence, and
complete or near-complete acquisition of other components of the language. Indeed, it
42
Rhŷs notes maintenance of historical gender concord with inanimate feminine nouns in speakers from
poorer socioeconomic backgrounds and more remote communities which remained strongly Manxspeaking longer than others, but there may be failure to observe gender concord in individuals from less
isolated communities or higher social strata, that is, members of social networks within which language
shift had occurred earlier and more extensively by the time of Rhŷs’s fieldwork (Lewin 2019a: 79–82).
43
It also appears that Maddrell, usually regarded as ‘the last native speaker’ of Manx, was a sequential
bilingual who acquired English first and only later acquired Manx from an elderly relative, starting
between the ages of two and a half and five (HLSM I: 463, 467–8; Broderick 1999: 75; 2017: 44–5;
Lewin 2014b: 17–8). See e.g. Meisel (2009) and Unsworth et al. (2014) for major differences between
simultaneous and sequential bilinguals, even when the age of onset of acquisition of the L2 is relatively
young.
44
In Menn’s (1989) sense.
87
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
would be much more remarkable if speakers from this stage in the language shift
process did not display symptoms of incomplete acquisition.
It is curious that Broderick (2017) does not examine the incomplete acquisition
scenario further, nor reference the voluminous empirical literature on bilingualism and
language acquisition under conditions of minoritization and language shift, and that he
is so keen to foreclose the possibility that incomplete acquisition is part of the
explanation for the linguistic features of ‘Late Spoken Manx’. Indeed, comments such
as the following, which assume that a speaker will automatically have a competence
in a language equivalent to that of the source of input, show a lack of consideration of
cognitive and social aspects of acquisition in a situation of language shift, and indeed
for intergenerational language change in general:
Although English was, according to himself, Maddrell’s home language for the
first five years of his life, he was then (c. 1882) allocated to live with a greataunt who apparently had little or no English […] because he was brought up
with a great-aunt born in the first decade (1809) of the 19th century, his Manx,
unlike that of his peers, would be of that vintage.
(Broderick 2017: 45)
This is not to say that the ‘vintage’ of the great-aunt’s Manx would make no difference
to Maddrell’s acquisition. She was clearly Manx-dominant or monolingual, and herself
acquired Manx when there was little English in the community (cf. Miller 2007), and
so Maddrell may well have acquired features from her more successfully than he
would have done if his own parents had spoken Manx in his presence, as they would
likely have been weaker ‘post-traditional’45 speakers to some degree. As Broderick
(2017: 45) observes, Maddrell ‘is the only one of the last fifteen speakers who makes
use of the inflected synthetic tenses of the verb […] and distinguishes between the
imperfect and conditional forms of the verb ‘be’.’46 It is to be expected in cases of
reduced acquisition that some features may be acquired much more fully than others,
45
Cf. Ó Curnáin (2007: 59–60) for the decline in proficiency of Iorras Aithneach Irish speakers since
1960, with moderate effects initially in the first generation of ‘post-traditional speakers’ giving way to
more severe impacts of ‘reduced’ acquisition in younger speakers.
46
For the latter feature, see Broderick 2011.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
and it is often unpredictable which features will be better acquired and by which
speakers (cf. Dorian 2010: 107, 269).
Broderick’s (2017) discussion of the biographical details and census data of the
terminal speakers (while otherwise highly useful), also reveals the limits of his
sociolinguistic analysis, notably when he rather mechanically dates the switch from
Manx to English in a particular relationship or household from the introduction of a
non-Manx-speaking member, or a presumed decision by parents not to speak Manx to
a new child. While such junctures are indeed likely to represent termini post quem by
which point use of Manx in a given situation had ceased, or at least significantly
reduced, we cannot assume that Manx was used with any regularity between any given
two bilingual Manx speakers at an earlier stage.
Rather, the available information on the Manx situation, with rapid language shift
accompanied by widespread stigmatization (Broderick 1999), and parallel examples
from other language communities, would suggest that many younger bilinguals used
English as their normal language of peer-group social interaction, even if Manx had
been their home language during childhood and adolescence, and continued to be used
(actively or passively) with older members of the community. For example, Maddrell’s
parents apparently habitually spoke English together despite being able to speak Manx
(HLSM I: 463; Broderick 2017: 43–45). Indeed, the already-established status of
English as the normal language of interaction between a young couple may well be a
significant part of the reason they failed to transmit the language to the next generation.
1.6.9.2 Features of Terminal Manx phonology
In the phonology, features such as apparent confusion of palatalized and nonpalatalized consonants (Broderick 1999: 85–90), loss of coda /r/ (HLSM III: 113) and
intrusive /r/ (HLSM II: 267; §4.2.3), lack of vowel nasalization (Jackson: 63–4; HLSM
III:
147; §5.6) and perhaps increased variability in vowel realization and tendencies
towards merger (Broderick 1999: 81–83; but see §2.2.3, 3.5.5.1, 3.7) are likely to
reflect incomplete acquisition under conditions of language shift. In contrast, Rhŷs
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(31–48) provides evidence that vowel nasalization, for example, was widely
maintained among his informants.
There are also some spelling pronunciations, e.g. feoh ‘hate’ (G. fuath), expected /fɨә̯/,
where <eo> is one of the orthographic representations of the fronted reflex of the G.
diphthong ua (§3.6.2); this is attested as expected fiːə from TT, but with an evident
spelling pronunciation fẹːo (TC, HK) and fjoː (JW) (HLSM II: 165), and aigh ‘luck’
(G. ádh), expected /ɛːi̯ /, realized as ɛːx (TC) with misinterpretation of orthographic
<gh> as a representation of /x/.
These attest to the persistence of a degree of literacy (in a religious context) during the
period of language shift, as well as lexical contraction as less frequent or higherregister items were partially forgotten.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the speech of the terminal speakers preserves a great deal
of the patterns of the Manx of earlier generations, including features such as
preocclusion which are scarcely attested in written sources (§4.5). If approached
judiciously, with quantitative methods, and with an eye to the comparative data
provided by earlier written material, the recordings of the terminal speakers remain a
rich and important source of linguistic data.
1.7 Outline of synchronic phonology of Classical Manx
Throughout the thesis, and especially in the tables of lexical data, phonological
reconstructions are provided which aim to represent the likely pronunciation of the
language in the middle of the eighteenth century (i.e. the spoken language which forms
the basis of the standardized Bible orthography). The purpose of these reconstructions
is primarily to assist readers in orientating themselves with regard to the complex and
possibly unfamiliar orthographies and other sources of data presented, including the
‘mass of raw phonetic […] data’ (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 5) of the fieldwork sources.
They should not be taken as primary data for further analysis without careful
consideration of the original sources and scholarly assumptions on which they are
based.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Individual transcriptions represent varying degrees of confidence on the part of the
author (the most doubtful forms are flagged with a question mark). They also may rest
on assumptions and research outwith the topic areas covered explicitly in this thesis
(especially with regard to the consonants).
It should be noted that the broad phonemic transcriptions are in some instances quite
far removed from possible Late Manx phonetic realizations, especially with regard to
medial consonants (cf. Thomson 1984: 314–5), e.g. cassyn ‘feet’ (ScG. casan) is
represented phonemically as /kasәn/ but could be realized [kasәn], [kazәn] or [kaðәn]
(HLSM II: 60–1), also with optional lengthening of the stressed vowel [kaːzәn] etc.
(§5.5.2).47
1.7.1 Stressed vowels
Figure 2. Stressed vowels in Classical Manx
High
Mid-high
Mid-low
Low
Front
Central
Back
i iː
e eː
ɛː
(?ɨ) (ɨː)
(?ә) әː
u uː
o oː
a aː
Notes
(a) /ɨː/ apparently occurs in Late Manx, arising from the monophthongization of the
diphthong /ɨә̯/ (§2.2.6).
(b) /aː/ has a restricted distribution (§2.2.4).
(c) All vowels can apparently be phonemically nasalized (§§1.7.8, 5.6).
(d) It is unclear whether short /ә, ɨ/ exist as shortened reflexes of G. ao(i), ua(i)
(§3.9.11).
47
Only the earliest stages of this development are shown in the CM orthography and represented
accordingly in the phonological transcription. Thus it is assumed that cassyn remained underlyingly
/kasәn/, but that CM cabbyl ‘horse’ (G. capall) had become underlyingly /kabәl/ (> [ka(ː)bәl], [ka(ː)βәl],
[ka(ː)vәl]), for older EM /kapәL/ (>[kapәL], [kabәL]), Ph. kapyl (2), kabyl (2).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.7.2 Unstressed vowels in pretonic position
Figure 3. Unstressed pretonic vowels in Classical Manx
Front
High
Mid
Mid-low
Low
Central Back
i (iː)
u (uː)
e (eː) (ә әː) o (oː)
(ɛː)
a
Notes
(a) The original quality of pretonic vowels seems generally to be preserved judging by
the orthography, although it is not always represented consistently (§5.1.3).
(b) Original pretonic schwa in words such as G. amuigh ‘out’ (G. /әˈmuɣʲ/ > Manx
/mui̯ /) is generally lost (but see əˈniːs neese, G. aníos [HLSM II: 321]), except in
proclitics, as in my hie ‘my house’ /mәˈhai̯ / (ScG. mo thaigh).
(c) In proclitics only /ә/ and /a/ occur, the latter in some cases representing historical
*/aː/. Long vowels may be preserved in Early Manx based on Phillips spellings ma,
mý, má alongside my for G. má ‘if’, and dâ, dá, da, occasionally dy for contraction of
G. do and ag with the third person possessives, G. dá, agá etc. (Lewin 2016a: 174; Ó
Maolalaigh 2019). Gaelic má is written my in the Classical Manx orthography, but
seems to have been pronounced /ma/ (HLSM II: 311–2; Cregeen s.v. mannagh), or
confused with myr ‘as’, as shown the pronunciations given in HLSM and Edward
Faragher’s spelling mor (Broderick 1982a: 180). Examples: with /ә/ dy, y ‘of’, ‘to’,
verbal noun particle (G. prepositions do, de > a); my ‘my’ (G. mo); dty ‘your’ (G. do);
e ‘his, her, its’ (G. a); nyn ‘our, your, their’ (G. ár, bhur, a); dy ‘that’ (subordinator)
(G. go), dy, gy ‘to’ (G. go). With /a/ cha ‘not’ (Ulster and ScG. cha(n) < G. nocha(n)
< OIr. nícon); nagh ‘not’ (G. nach); my ‘if’ (see above) (G. má); mannagh ‘if not, or
not’ (G. má + nach).
1.7.3 Unstressed vowels in post-tonic preconsonantal position
Figure 4. Unstressed post-tonic vowels in closed syllables
Front
Mid
Low
(e)
Central
ә
a
Minimal pairs:
/slatәn/ slattyn ‘rods’, ScG. slatan
/slatan/ slattan ‘small rod’, G. slatán
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/elʲәn/ ellyn ‘manners, behaviour’, G. aileamhain (§5.1.4.1)
/elʲan/ ellan ‘island’, G. oileán, ScG. eilean, earlier ailén
Note:
(a) Post-tonic /a/ represents original long vowels, such as /aː/ in e.g. arran ‘bread’
/aran/ < /araːn/ (G. arán), and original short a before /x/ in the endings -agh /ax/ and aght /axt/.
(b) There may be unstressed /e/ in -er (G. < -óir) (§5.1.6).
1.7.4 Unstressed vowels in post-tonic final position
Figure 5. Unstressed word-final post-tonic vowels
High
Mid
Front
i
Central Back
u
ә
Minimal triplets:
/mari/ marree ‘will kill’, G. marbhaidh
/maru/ marroo ‘dead; to kill’, G. marbh, marbhadh
/marә/ marrey ‘sea’ (genitive), G. mara
/erʲi/ erree ‘fate’, G. airidh (Thomson 1981: 148)
/erʲu/ erroo ‘ploughman’, G. aireamh
/erʲә/ errey ‘burden’, G. eire, OIr. aire
1.7.5 Diphthongs and triphthongs
In principle all of these can be nasalized, e.g. laue /lɛː̃ ũ̯/ ‘hand’ (G. lámh), feer vie /ˌfiːr
ˈvãĩ̯ / ‘very good’ (G. fíor mhaith) (§§1.7.8, 5.6).
Figure 6. ә-diphthongs
High
Front
Central Back
iә̯
ɨә̯
uә̯
Notes:
(a) The split of ua into /ɨә̯/ and /uә̯/ is discussed in §§3.3, 3.4.3–6, 3.8.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(b) In Late Manx these usually become long monophthongs /iː ɨː uː/ except in final
position and before /x/ (§2.2.6).
Figure 7. i-diphthongs
Front
(iәi̯ )
High
Mid-high
Mid-low
Central
ei̯ eːi̯
ɛːi̯
(ɨәi̯ )
әi̯ әːi̯
Back
ui̯ uːi̯ uәi̯
oːi̯
ai̯
Low
Notes:
(b) These primarily arise from vocalization of fricatives to /i̯ /, e.g. G. maith ‘good’
/maθʲ/ > /mahʲ/ > /mai̯ / Manx mie; ScG. lagh ‘law’ /Lәɣ/ > /lәi̯ / Manx leigh; G. cloiche
‘stone’ (gen.) /kloçә/ > /klojә/ > /kloːi̯ / Manx cloaie;48 G. tráigh ‘shore’ /traːɣʲ/ > /trɛːi̯ /
Manx traie.
(b) Earlier */iәi̯ / usually gives /eːi̯ / (as in jeigh /dʒeːi̯ / ‘close’, G. iadh) or /eː/ (e.g. blein
/blʲeːnʲ/ ‘year’, G. bliadhain) but is possibly retained in feeaih ‘deer’ (G. fiadh).
(c) /ɨәi̯ / (> [ɯːi̯ ]?) may have been distinctive for some speakers in items such as creoi
‘hard’, G. cruaidh; leoie ‘ashes’ (G. luaith), but otherwise merges with /әːi̯ / (§3.9.1).
(d) Earlier */oi̯ / has apparently merged with /ai̯ /, as in criy /krai̯ / ‘gallows’ (G. croich),
lhiy ‘colt’ /lai̯ / (ScG. loth > *loith).
Figure 8. u-diphthongs
Front
High
Mid-high
Mid-low
Low
iu̯ iːu̯ iәu̯
eu̯ eːu̯
ɛːu̯
Central
?әːu̯
Back
?oːu̯
au̯
(a) These primarily arise from vocalization of fricatives to /u̯ /, e.g. G. gabh ‘take’ /ɡav/
> /ɡau̯ / Manx gow; G. scríobh ‘write’ /skrʲiːv/ > CM /skriːu̯ / > LM /skruː/ Manx screeu;
G. snámh ‘swim’ /sNaːṽ/ > /snɛː̃ ũ̯/ Manx snaue; G. rabhadh ‘warning’ /Ravәɣ/ >
/rawә/ > /raːw(ә)/ > /rɛːu̯ / Manx raaue.49
(b) One would expect a contrast between /ɛːu̯ / and /eːu̯ /, but there is little evidence of
this in the CM orthography, e.g. laue, raaue, snaue etc. = /ɛːu̯ /, /ɛː̃ ũ̯/, but also fraue
‘root’ (G. fréamh), A(a)ue ‘Eve’ (G. Éabha).
Compensatory lengthening, cf. Donegal Irish: ‘In several instances α:i arises by the contraction of
two syllables caused by the quiescence of intervocalic th, bh, gh, dh, e.g. brα:i, ‘hostage, prisoner’,
M.Ir. brage (this word is also used to mean unfilled ears of corn)’ (Quiggin 1906: 58).
49
Compensatory lengthening, cf. Donegal Irish rabhadh roːwə, roːuw ‘warning’ (Quiggin 1906: 18).
48
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(c) /әːu̯ / would be expected from ao(i)bh/mh, but the evidence is unclear as to whether
this was kept distinct from /au̯ /, e.g. crouw ‘shrub’ (G. craobh), but note monosyllable
in noo /nuː/ ‘saint; holy’ (G. naomh). Similarly ?/oːu̯ / might be expected in loau ‘rot,
rotten’ (G. lobhadh, lobhtha) (via compensatory lengthening, as in raaue above), and
the spelling may indicated a contrast with low ‘allow’.
(d) Earlier */ou̯ / has merged with /au̯ /, as in bouyr /bau̯ r/ ‘deaf’ (G. bodhar), towse
/tãũ̯s/ ‘measure’ (G. tomhas).
(e) /uv/ may give monophthongal /uː/ as in the southern pronunciation of doo /duː/
‘black’ (G. dubh), diphthongal in northern Manx /dau̯ / (§4.6.1.34).
1.7.6 Consonants
Figure 9. Consonants in Classical Manx
Labial
Stop /
affricate
Nasal
Fricative
Lateral
Rhotic
Semivowel
p b
m
f v
w
Dental
/ alveolar
t̪ d̪ ṯ d̠ tʲ dʲ
(n̪ ) n̠ nʲ
s
(l̪ ) l̠ lʲ
r rʲ
Retroflex
(ʂ)
Postalveolar
tʃ dʒ
ʃ
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
k ɡ kʲ ɡʲ
ŋ
xɣ
ç
ŋʲ
h
j
Notes
(a) Manx agrees with Scottish Gaelic in lacking synchronic palatal labials (Oftedal
1963; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 27, 44, 65–72; Ternes 2006: 27–43), which is particularly
evident in items such as bannaght /banaxt/ ‘blessing’ (G. beannacht, Ir. /bʲan̪ әxt/),
where Manx lacks the glide found in Scottish Gaelic varieties with /e/ > /a/ in
beannachd /ˈbjan̪ әxk/. Glides (assumed here to be segmental /j/) are found in a few
items with original G. eó, eabh, iú (e.g. bio ‘alive’ /bjoː/ G. beó; mioyr ‘mental
faculties’ /mjoːrʲ/ G. meabhair; feeu ‘worth’ /fjuː/ G. fiú). But cf. foays ‘benefit’ /fau̯ әs,
foːs/ (HLSM II: 171), Phillips fiâuys /fjau̯ әs/. There is sometimes /j/ > [lʲ] in bio in Late
Manx > bl′oː (HLSM II: 31). That there was a palatalization contrast in the past, at least
in medial and final position, is suggested by examples such as kemmyrk /ˈkemәʲrkʲ/
‘refuge’ (G. coimirce), where the change /o/ > /e/ in the first syllable is difficult to
account for without assuming earlier */mʲ/ (§2.1.6.1). Similarly, a residue of a contrast
/v ~ vʲ, ṽ ~ ṽʲ/ is retained in Early Manx pairs such as Phillips dou, deyf /dãu̯ , dẽv/ ‘ox,
oxen’, Classical Manx dow, dew /dãu̯ , dẽu̯ / (G. damh, daimh).
(b) Gaelic /tj/ and /dj/ seem to have been realized as affricates [tʃ dʒ] initially and
medially and as palatalized stops [tj] and [dj] finally. In final position these seem to be
contrastive with /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, the latter occurring in loanwords, e.g. native aitt ‘funny’
(G. ait) and probably borrowed (?Eng. ‘botch’) spotch ‘joke’ (cf. de Bhaldraithe 1945:
36). Following the native intuition that apparently underlies the orthographic
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
distinction, initial [tʃ, dʒ] from Gaelic /tʲ/ and /dʲ/ are synchronically grouped with final
[tʃ, dʒ] (< English /tʃ, dʒ/) as phonemes /tʃ, dʒ/, contrastive with /tʲ/ and /dʲ/ from Gaelic
/tʲ/ and /dʲ/ in final position.
(c) The distinction between /d̪ / and /d̠ / is given on the strength of Cregeen (vi, §7–8),
and the existence of similar contrasts between dentals in native words and alveolars in
borrowings in other Gaelic dialects.
(d) In most of the reconstructions given throughout the thesis only a two-way contrast
in the coronal nasals and laterals is assumed, but this is probably an oversimplification:
there is evidence of a three-way lateral contrast in some Late Manx speakers, and
possibly the same for the coronal nasals. However, the distribution of these is not
entirely clear. See Chapter 4 for discussion.
(e) The retroflex sibilant /ʂ/ is posited on the strength of Jackson’s (1955: 125–6) claim
to have heard it as a reflex of historic /rs, rʃ/ clusters where the /r/ is deleted and not
written in the orthography (except in ersooyl ‘away’, G. air siubhal). If this [ʂ] did
exist, it was apparently not analysed as /rs/ because it is consistently written <s(s)>,
rather than <rs>, in items such as claasagh ‘harp’ (G. cláirseach), essyn ‘doorjamb’
(G. ursann), as ‘says, said’ (ScG. arsa), fesst ‘spindle (G. fearsaid), Phillips kuys, kus
‘course’ (later doublet coorse) (§4.2.2).
(f) [v] and [w] may be allophones. There is apparently free (?) variation between [v]
and [w] in forms of the preposition veih / voish (weih / woish) /vei wei vuʃ wuʃ/ (G. ó
> 3sg.m. uaidh, voish < cf. rish, lesh etc.). However, there are a few lexical items with
apparently fixed [v] or [w] (see under ‘v’ and ‘w’ in Cregeen). There is evidence of
apparent substitution of [v] for [w] in nineteenth-century Manx English in a satirical
article (Mona’s Herald, 20.06.1834), e.g. vell, vife, velfare, vondering.
(g) Preoccluded or prestopped nasals and laterals are regarded as free variants of their
non-preoccluded versions (§4.5).
(h) The process of secondary lenition whereby e.g. peccagh ‘sinner’ /pekax/ can be
realized [peɡax, peɣax, pejax, pei̯ ax] is analysed here as allophonic (see above).
1.7.7 Stress
Stress usually occurs on the first syllable (§5.1). In the transcriptions it is ordinarily
only marked if it occurs on a non-initial syllable. A synchronic long vowel in a noninitial syllable is always stressed.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.7.8 Vowel nasalization
Where it is considered that phonemic vowel nasality was likely present in Classical
and Late Manx, or when there is positive evidence that it was so (e.g. from Rhŷs’s
descriptions), stressed50 vowels are marked with a tilde in reconstructed phonological
forms throughout this thesis. Both elements of a diphthong are marked as nasal.
However, given the incompleteness of our knowledge of nasalization in Manx (Lewin
2019a: 82–9), no indication of the presence of absence of nasalization is to be taken as
a claim that this was the case, unless explicitly stated. In most cases, vowel nasality
will have no bearing on the question at hand. The marking of nasalization is primarily
for the purpose of alerting the reader that vowel nasalization was a more substantial
part of the Manx phonological system than has previously been assumed (Jackson 63–
4; HLSM III: 147; Ó Maolalaigh 2003a: 129), at least in the language of pre-terminal
speakers.
Nasalization is assumed to be present on stressed vowels adjacent to synchronic nasal
vowels (cf. Rhŷs: 31), but is not indicated in the transcriptions. This is probably strictly
inaccurate, since detailed studies of other Gaelic dialects show the existence of
exceptions in which phonemic vowel nasalization is absent despite an adjacent
neighbour consonant (cf. Ó Curnáin 2007: 324–33), e.g. Applecross Gaelic muir /mur/
‘sea’, but muc /mũxk/ ‘pig’ (Ternes 2006: 104). This entails that vowel nasalization in
such environments cannot simply be a phonetic consequence of the neighbouring nasal
consonant. There is no clear data on this point for Manx.51
50
Phonemic nasalization is rarely attested on unstressed vowels according to Ó Curnáin (2007: 292–3);
see also Ternes (2006: 111). According to Rhŷs (33), ‘wherever Manx has an unaccented u for a
Goidelic ămh, I can find no trace of nasality attaching to the Manx vowel of the present day’.
51
‘M in accented syllables beginning with it (or with v as its continuator) induces nasality. […] What
exceptions there may be to it I could not say in a comprehensive or decided fashion’ (Rhŷs: 31). This
tantalizing comment suggests that Rhŷs may have suspected that there were indeed such exceptions.
Rhŷs (31–4) is much more definite about the existence of nasalization in items such as laue /lɛː̃ ũ̯/ ‘hand’
(G. lámh), troo /trũː/ ‘envy’ (G. tnúth), lenited vooar /vũә̯̃r/ ‘big’ (G. mhór).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
1.7.9 Presentation of data
In tables of lexical data throughout the thesis items are presented as follows:
(a) The lemma in standard eighteenth-century orthography (Bible and/or Kelly’s,
Cregeen’s dictionaries), together with variant spellings (with sources) where these add
additional information.
(b) A comprehensive list of spellings from the Phillips manuscript, as given in
Thomson’s (1953) glossary.
(c) Reconstructed Classical Manx (eighteenth-century) phonological transcription
(§1.7).
(d) The closest Gaelic cognate(s) (§0.3), i.e. Early Modern Irish forms, with other Irish,
Scottish Gaelic, and Early Irish forms where relevant.
(e) English translation or explanation.
(f) A comprehensive list of occurrences in Broderick’s dictionary of terminal speech
(HLSM II), with speaker initials (§0.7).
For reasons of space, (f) HLSM data are omitted where the other evidence is
sufficiently clear, and where the transcription data are not felt to add any additional or
unexpected information.
Only the relevant orthographic or transcription segment(s) are given in (b) and (f),
except where it is felt desirable to give the whole word.
In-text citations of data follow similar presentational practices.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 2
The Manx vowel system
According to Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 2–3), long vowels have been more stable in Gaelic
dialects than their short counterparts, which have a greater ‘susceptibility to change’
‘[b]ecause of their relatively short duration […] and their tendency to assimilate in
quality to the consonantal environment’. This may be the case; but, as we shall see,
there have also been significant changes in the Manx long vowels (§2.2), often with
similar links to consonant environment to those seen in the short vowels (§2.1).
Nevertheless, the bulk of the present chapter deals with the short vowels. The most
complex developments concerning the long vowels and diphthongs involve reflexes
of G. ao(i) and ua(i), to which a separate chapter (3) is devoted. New vowels and
diphthongs arising from the vocalization of historical fricatives are also omitted for
reasons of space, but are mentioned at §§1.7.5, 3.9.1.
2.1 Short vowels
2.1.1 a /a/ > /a/, /e/, /o/
G. a is mostly retained as /a/, e.g. annym /anәm/ ‘soul’ (G. anam), gastey /ɡastә/
‘nimble’ (G. gasta), marroo /maru/ ‘dead’ (G. marbh), saggyrt /saɡәrt/ ‘priest’ (G.
sagart). In some items there is raising to /e/ or backing and rounding to /o/.
2.1.1.1 a /a/ > /e/
Several items have variant spellings indicating a realization with /e/ alongside /a/;
categorical raising is rarer.
99
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 2. a /a/ > /e/
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/bradax/,
/bredax/
etymology
English
bradach
thievish
braddagh
(Bible, Cr.),
bred(d)agh
(Cr.)
derrey
a (12)
/derә/
dara
the one
derrey
e (13), é
/derә/
nó go dtara
until
ennal
a (6), á
/enal/
aná(i)l
breath
glen
a (4)
/ɡlen/
glan
clean
/ket/, /kat/
cat
cat
/kek/, /kak/
cac
excrement
/kesmad/
coiscéim
footstep
/skel/, /skelal/
scal
beam, ray; disappear
/skadan/,
/skedan/
/teʂәn/
scadán
herring
tarsainn
across
kayt (Cr.), cat,
caht (K.) 52
keck (Cr., K.),
cac, cackey
(K.)
kesmad
scell, skell;
skellal
skeddan,
scaddan (Cr.)
tessen
a
a (3)
The motivation for the raising in these items is not clear, although it may be observed
that all except one have a following coronal consonant. In the case of glen and ennal
the following nasal consonant may be responsible; raising in items such as these is also
found in some south-western Scottish dialects (Holmer 1938: 40; 1957: 48; 1962a: 5–
6, 74; Jones 2010: 85–90; Scouller 2017: 50–1). In several items only <a> is found in
Phillips, which suggests that the change is not very old.
There are also a number of loans from English with /e/ for English /æ/, such as blest
‘blast’, clesp ‘clasp’, edd ‘hat’, gless ‘glass’. Apparently this vowel was perceived by
HLSM (II: 242): kɑtʹ TC, kʹe̜ t EKh, ke̜ tʹ JW, kʹet, kʹɛt NM, kʹɛt, ke̜ t HK. The forms of the singular
and plural seem to be confused in the Manx of the terminal speakers, with apparently free variation of
palatalized and non-palatalized consonants both initially and finally. Forms in /e/ seem to predominate
in the singular, but TC has /a/, in accordance with Kelly’s spelling and Lhuyd’s form Chat (Ifans and
Thomson 1980: 135). Cregeen’s spelling kayt could be interpreted as reflecting variant forms /kat/ and
/ket/, since <ay> may represent /e/ in aym ‘at me’ (G. agam), ayd ‘at you’ (G. agat, agad) but /a(ː)/ in
ayrn ‘part’ (G. earrann) etc. (§1.6.4.4). The reflexes of G. cat are irregular in a number of Ir. and ScG.
dialects.
52
100
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Manx speakers as being closer to Manx /e/ than /a/ in the English varieties with which
they were in contact (as also in Welsh; cf. Parry-Williams 1923: 24–7).
2.1.1.2 a /a/ > /o(ː)/, /u(ː)/
In the following items the change /a/ > /o(ː)/ (or occasionally /u(ː)/) seems to be
complete in Classical Manx, as shown by standard spellings with <o>, <oa> etc. in the
Bible. Unrounded /a/ is often indicated by Phillips in these items,53 so the change must
have been in progress in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Table 3. a /a/ > /o(ː)/ (/u(ː)/)
Phillips
aunlyn,
oanlyn, oalyn
(Cr.)
ayns, ayn,
aynym, aynyd,
aynjee, aynin,
ayndoo
boal, boalley,
voalley
boandey
CM
pronunciation
/oːnlәn/, /õːlәn/,
/au̯ nlәn/
etymology
English
annlann
gravy, soup, relish
/oːn/, /uːn/,
/o(n)s/, /onәm/
etc.
ann
in, in him / it, in
me, in you, in her,
in us, in you (pl.),
in them
/boːl/, /boːlә/,
/voːlә/
/boːndә/
balla
wall
band (of iron etc.)
boandyrey,
boandyrys
boayl
oy (‘bondservant’)
baintri
/boːndәrә/
Ir. banda, ScG.
bannd
banaltra
a, o
/boːl/
ball
place
bollag
o, a (2)
bollan
cloan
coayl
croan;
cronney;
kranghyr (Ph.)
au (3), áu (4),
aú
a (6), á, à (2),
ia
(croan) a (2),
ó; (kranghyr)
ai, a (7), ay, á
nurse
/bolaɡ/
ballóg, ScG. ballag
skull
/bolan/
ballán
rockfish
/kloːn/, /klau̯ n/
clann
children
/koːl/
call
lose
/kroːn/, /krau̯ n/;
/kronә/;
/kronxәr/
crann; crannadh;
crannchor
mast, tree; lot, fate,
portion
53
However, <all> in e.g. dall, CM doal ‘blind’ (G. dall) or fallsy, CM foalsey ‘false’ (G. fallsa) could
possibly represent /o(ː)l/ (cf. English all, ball). In Ph. fallaghy etc. ‘hide’, CM follaghey, the /o/ is
etymological, and it is unclear whether Phillips’ <all> represents /ol/, or a form equivalent to ScG.
falach. On the basis of English orthography, however, <all> = /ol/ is perhaps less likely in polysyllables.
101
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
doal, pl.
doaley; dalley,
dallagh,
dolley,
doalley,
dollan
a (3),
(dall(agh)ey) a
(2), á
/doːl/, /doːlә/,
/dalә/, /dalax/,
/dolә/, /doːlә/
dall, dalla; dalladh
blind
o
/dolan/
dallán
winnowing-fan
doltey,
doltanys
doo-oallee
a (3)
/doltә/,
/doltanәs/
/duː ˈoli/
dalta
damh allaidh
ward, adopted
child; adoption
spider
drunt
au
/drunt/
drannt, dranndal
gums
foaddey
a (6)
/fodә/
kindle, light
foalsey
a (8)
/foːlsә/
(f)adódh,
(f)adughadh, ScG.
fadadh
fallsa
a
/foldәr ʲ /; /jaːrn
foldәrax/
ScG. fàladair
mower; scythe
/folәdʲ/, /folәkʲ/
ScG. fallaid
S /ɡoːn/,
N /ɡau̯ n/
/ɡolˈtuәi̯ /
gann
‘dry meal put on a
cake to bake or clap
it out’ (Cr.)
scarce
gal + tuaith
rainbow
gorley
/ɡoːrlә/
galar
disease
loaghtyn
(Bible, Cr.),
loghtan (K.)
lossey
/loxtәn/
ScG. lachdann, Ir.
lachna, lacharnach
tawny brown grey
o (6)
/losә/
lasadh
blaze, flame
o (3), ó
/losәrʲ/
lasair
flame
/moːl/
mall
slow, poorly, bad
/moːndax/
manntach
blunt, stammering
/modә/
madadh
dog
/molkә/
ScG. malcadh
macerate, rot
/molaxt/
mallacht;
mallaghadh
curse
/moli/
eyebrow
folder, foldyr;
yiarn
foldyragh
follyd, follick
goan, goaun
goll-twoaie
lossyr (Ph.,
PC)
moal
a
moandagh
moddey
o (3), ŏa, a (8)
molkey
mollaght,
mollaghey
o (6), a (1),
(mollaghtoil)
o (2)
mollee
()
false
/noːl/, /hoːl/
mala, malaidh,
malaigh
anall, thall
oaldey
/oːldә/
allta
wild
oalsum (Cr.),
ousym (K.)
oanluckey
oghsan
a (12), á
/oxsan/
Norse halsband >
*allsam
annlacadh,
adhlacadh
ach(mh)asán etc.
tie on cattle
a (6)
/oːlsәm/,
/oːsәm/, /au̯ sәm/
/oːnlәkә/
ollish
a (2)
/olәʃ/
allas
sweat
noal, hoal
102
á, a
over (adv.)
bury
rebuke
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ollym (Cr.)
/olәm/
alum
olt, oltey
ay (2), a (5)
/olt/, /oltә/
alt
member, organ
oltaghey
a (2)
/oltaxә/
altaghadh
salute, greet
ommidan,
ommijagh,
ommijys
ronneeaght
a (11)
/omәdan/
fool
/roni.axt/
amadán,
amaideach,
amaideas
rannaigheacht
/ronә/
rannadh
ronney
foolish song
ronsaghey
a3
/ronsaxә/
rannsaghadh
portion, share,
division
search
sollagh,
sollaghey,
sollaghys
sollan
a (9)
/solax/, /solaxә/
salach, salaghadh
dirty
/solan/
salann
salt
sondagh
/sondax/
sanntach
greedy
Sostyn (Cr.),
Sausin, Sacsin
(K.), Socsyn
(FRC, Trad.
Ballad etc.)
sporran
/sostәn/,
/soksәn/, /sosәn/
Sacsa etc.
England
/sporan/
sparán, ScG. sporan
purse
stholley
/stolә/
stalla
stall, station (Cr.)
stoandey
/stoːndә/
ScG. stannd
standish
stronnagh,
stronnal
toghtey,
toaghtey (K.)
/stronax/,
/stronal/
/toxtә/
srann
snort
tachtadh
choke
a (2)
In the following items spellings are variable in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
texts and dictionaries, suggesting a continuing change in progress. In all of these items
the vowel precedes original lenis /l/ or /n/ (possibly /N/ in Onnee, cf. ScG. Anna /aNә/).
Table 4. a /a/ > /a/, /o/
Albin, Nalbin,
Nolbin (Cr.),
Alpin, alban,
olban, alpan,
olpan (K.);54
Albinagh
(Cr.),
Alpinagh (K.)
CM
pronunciation
/(n)albәnʲ/
/(n)olbәnʲ/,
/albәnax/,
/olbәnax/
etymology
English
HLSM
Alba, Albain;
Albanach
Scotland;
Scottish, Scot
a, ɔ̜ NM, ə, ɔ̜ JK,
nø TC nɔ, no̤ ⁱ
HB, nɑ JW, na
NM, TK, nɑ̜ TK,
(adj.) ɑ JW, u̜ JK
54
Kelly’s spellings with <p> derive from etymological fancy, but the variation between /a/ and /o/ forms
is probably genuine.
103
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
boannoo,
bainniu (Cr),
bannoo (K.)
Colloo (Cr.),
Calloo (K.)
maynagh,
monnagh,
monnaghan
(all K.)
Olister, Alister
(Cr.), Allastar
(K.); Callister
(surname)
Onnee (Cr.)
sannish,
sonnish (Cr.,
K.)
tallagh (Cr.,
Bible), tollagh
(K.)
/banu/, /bonu/,
/banʲu/
banbh, bainbh
/kalu/, /kolu/
half-grown pig
Calf of Man
/manax/,
/monax/,
/monaxan/
manach
/(k)olәstәrʲ/
(Mac) Alastair
/oni/
ɑ̜, a TK, ɑː, ɔ̜, ɑ̜
NM
monk;
(monnaghan) ‘fat
greasy fellow’
(K.)
ɔ̜ NM, TK
Ann
/sanәʃ/, /sonәʃ/
sanas, sanais
whisper
/talax/, /tolax/
ScG. talach
murmur, grumble,
complain
Further items may belong here, such as thalloo ‘land’, G. talamh, found with back
realizations of the vowel from most of terminal speakers (ɑ, ɑ ̣ TC, a HB, ɑ, a JK, ɑ̜, ɔ
NM, a J:EK, J:CW, ɑ W:NS, HLSM II: 446). In such cases we may have an as yet
incomplete near-merger /a/ > /o/.
Backing and rounding of /a/ occurs mainly before the velarized sonorants /L, l, N/, the
velar fricative /x/ and after labials /b, m, f, p/. In a couple of cases there is possibly
influence from semantically and phonetically similar items, i.e. Socsyn, Sostyn, Sausin
‘England’ (G. Sacsa), cf. Nalbin, Nolbin, Albin, Olbin ‘Scotland’ (G. Alba), Loghlyn
‘Norway’, (G. Lochlainn); lossey ‘blaze, flame’ (G. lasadh), lossyr ‘flame’ (G. lasair),
cf. lostey ‘burn’ (G. loscadh). The change is almost categorical before historical
intervocalic /L/ and /N/ (see also §§4.6.1.13, 4.6.1.14) but only incipient before /l/ and
/n/ which may reflect the fact that the fortis and lenis sonorants were kept separately
until at least the Early Manx period. Before coda /L, N/ the development to /oː/ (or
/uː/) may be via diphthong /au̯ / rather than via /a/ > /o/.
104
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.1.2 ai /a/ > /a/, /e/
EIr. ai (often > G. orthographic oi [Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 156–63; Ó Baoill 2012]) gives
Manx /a/ and a raised reflex /e/ in roughly equal proportions. There are also some nonstandard spellings which suggest the existence of a further raised reflex /i/ in some
lects, such as mirriu ‘dead’ (pl.) for usual merriu.55
2.1.2.1 ai /a/ > /a/
Table 5. ai /a/ > /a/
Phillips
CM
etymology
English
aggindagh
a (8)
/aɡʲәndax/
aigeantach
eager, willing
aigney
a (25)
/aɡʲnʲә/
aigne
mind, will
aile
angil (3), ángil,
angill (2), angyl,
aínill
ay (4), áy, a (2)
/ãĩl/
aingeal
fire
/anʲdʒәs/
aitheantas, aithint
acquaintance
/ãĩl/
aingeal
angel
/atʲ/
ait
funny
aithne
commandment
ScG. aird
area
ainjys
ainle
a (11), ái (2), ai,
á
aitt
anney (§4.4.3)
a (7)
/anә/
ard
(pl. ardjyn) a, á
/aːrd/
argid
a (9)
/arʲɡʲәd ʲ /
airgead
silver, money
arkys
a
/arʲkʲәs/
airc
misfortune
/aːrnʲ/
airne
sloe
/arʲә/
aire
watch
/arʲәʃ/
aithris
jeering
arn
arrey
a (15), ăy̆ , ay, á
(2), ay̆
arrish
()
arrys
a (7)
/arʲәs/
aithreas
repentance
ashlish
a (2)
/aʃlʲәʃ/
aisling
dream, vision
atchim
a (7)
/atʃәm/
fear
bainney
a
/banʲә/
eitim, OIr. e(i)tim,
aitim56
bainne
/banʲu/
bainbh
young pig
bainniu
milk
55
Noted in MS of 1 Thessalonians.
Thomson (1953: 153) and Broderick (HLSM II: 14) derive this tentatively from an unattested
compound of time ‘tepidity, warmth, softness, weakness, cowardice, fear’ (Dinneen), ScG. tioma, Manx
chymmey ‘pity’. However, as suggested by Williams (1994: 734), it seems more likely that it is a
semantic development of OIr. etim, etaim, aitim ‘spring, leap (?); thrust… chance, opportunity; breach
(?)… in Laws applied to a species of pledge’ (eDIL) which in later periods may have senses ‘danger,
hazard; a hazardous effort; chance, opportunity; a sudden spring’ (Dinneen s.v. eitim), ‘danger, hazard’
(Dwelly s.v. eiteam).
56
105
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
balley
a (8)
bashlagh
bashtey
blashtyn
caillagh (K.),
keyllagh,
keyhlagh
(Cr.)58
cashtal
a (13)
57
a
a (2)
clash
/balʲә/
baile
town
/baʃlʲax/
baisleach
douse, splash
/baʃtʲә/
baisteadh
baptize
/blaʃtʲәn/
blaiseadh
taste
/kalʲax/, ?/kelʲax/
cailleach
hag, old woman,
nun, dryad (Cr.)
/kaʃtʲal/
ScG. caisteal
castle
/klaʃ/
clas, clais
furrow
dash
a
/daʃ/
dais
heap
er ash
a (5)
/erʲ ˈaʃ/
ar ais
fakin, (fut.)
vaik, naik,
(cond.)
vaikagh,
naikagh
farkiagh
a (26), á, aî, ăi,
ai (4)
/fakʲәnʲ/, /vakʲ/,
/nakʲ/
faicsin, ScG.
faicinn
coming to light,
blossoming etc. (cf.
Lewin 2016c: 96–7)
see
a (8), á (2)
/farʲkʲax/
faircsin
wait
gailley
/ɡalʲә/
gaile
stomach
glashtin
/ɡlaʃtʲәnʲ/
ScG. glaisteag
goblin
*/madʒәn/
maidean
morning
/madʒә/
maide
stick
a (2)
/naʃtʲ/
naiscthe
betrothed
paitt
a (5)
/patʲ/
pait
plague
palchey
a (7), ai
/palʲtʃә/
pailte
plenty
prash
prass (4)
/praʃ/
ScG. prais
brass
saynt
ai (12), ái (3), âi
(2), (sayntoil) ai
(3)
a (4)
/sanʲtʲ/
sain(n)t
lust, covetousness
/tarʲәʃ(ax)/
tairise
tender
(tashey
‘compassion’) a
(5), (tashlys
‘moistness’) a
a (6), á
/taʃ/
tais; taise; taisleach
damp
/taʃtʲә/
taisceadh
treasure
madjyn (Ph.)
a
maidjey
nasht
tarrish,
tarrishagh
(Ph.)
tash (Cr.),
taaish (K.)
tashtey
57
Only one occurrence of blastchyn (=CM blashtyn), other forms appear to show blas- rather than
blais-, i.e. blassyght, blasghy, blasaghtyn, although /s/ amd /ʃ/ are not always distinguished in the
Phillips orthography.
58
Cregeen appears to assume a derivation from keyll ‘forest’ (G. caill, coill).
106
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.1.2.2 ai /a/ > /e/
Table 6. ai /a/ > /e/
Phillips
brellish
ec; echey; eck
(ec) a (27),
(echey) a (5),
(eck) e (3), ĕ
(2), æ, a
eggey
eirin(n)agh
ié
e (2)
elley
e (6)
etymology
English
brailis, braichlis
wort
/ekʲ/; /eɡʲә/; /ekʲ/
aig; aige; aici
at; at him; at her
/eɡʲә/
oige, EIr. aicde,
aice
aireamh
web
/elʲaɡ/
faileog
hiccup
/elʲan/, ?/alʲan/
oileán, EIr. ailén, ,
ScG. eilean
eile, EIr. aile
island
oileamhain, EIr.
ailemain
aimsir
behaviour
/erʲәnʲax/
ellag
ellan
CM
pronunciation
/brelʲәʃ/
/elʲә/
59
farmer
other
ellyn
ellyn, elúyn
/elʲәn/
emshyr,
emshir
enney, enn;
ennaghtyn
a (5)
/emʃәrʲ/
(enn) e (7),
(ennaghtyn) e
(3), ea, a (3), æ,
iêa
e (5), æ (3), æ,
é, ey, (enmys) e
(9), æ
e (9), (3sg.m.) e
(3)
/en⁽ʲ⁾(ә)/;
/en⁽ʲ⁾axtәn/
aithne
recognition;
perceive, feel
/enәm/
ainm
name
/erʲ/
air
on
/erʲi/
airidhe60
fate
ennym
er
erree
errey
weather
/erʲә/
eire, EIr. aire
burden
erroo
(pl.) érynyn
/erʲu/
aireamh
ploughman
gedjey
e, ei (2)
/ɡedʒә/
oide, EIr. aite
foster father
geid
ey (4), e (2), ey̆
/ɡedʲ/
goid, EIr. gait
steal
geinnagh
ǽ, e
/ɡenʲax/
gainmheach
sand
genney,
gennid
(er-)gerrey;
gerrid
e (4), eà, ea, æ
/ɡenʲә/, /ɡenʲәdʲ/
gainne
scarcity
(er-gerrey) e
(9), (gerrid) a
(2), e (7), æ
æ, e (11), é, ey,
æy
/ɡerʲә/, /ɡerʲәdʲ/
gaire
near; short, soon
/ɡerʲәm/
gairm
crowing
gerrym
59
60
For the latter form with final stress /eˈlʲuːn/, see §5.1.4.
See O’Rahilly (1927: 13–4).
107
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
keiyt, kiyt (Cr.
pl.), chett (K.
gen.)61
kelk
kellagh
e (6)
kennip
kerraghey
/ketʲ/, /kitʲ/
cait
cats, cat (gen.)
/kelʲkʲ/
cailc
chalk
/kelʲax/
coileach,
EIr. caileach
cainb
cock
punish
/kerʲu/
coireaghadh,
EIr. caircairbh
carp (pl.)
/kenʲәp/
e (13), ey, o
(?e), æ (4), é (2)
kerriu
/kerʲaxә/
hemp
keyll
ǽi, é, e (2)
/kelʲ/
coill, EIr. caill
forest, wood
merriu
êî, e (3), ei (3),
ĕ, ĕi, æ
/merʲu/
mairbh
dead (noun pl.)
/reʃ/
rais
seed (gen.)
/renʲax/
raithneach
fern
saick, seick
/sekʲ/
saic
sacks
skerin
/skerʲinʲ/
scair
splice, scarf (Cr.)
s’melley,
meillid
smerg
/s melʲә/, /melʲәdʲ/
is maille
/s merʲɡʲ/
is mairg
slower, worse;
meanness
woe
/s tenʲә/
ScG. as taine
thinner
/terʲu/
tairbh
bulls
/tenʲu/
ScG. taineamh
thaw
/trenʲә/
tairnge; tairngeadh,
ScG. tàirng,
tarra(n)g
nail, to nail
resh
rhennagh
(kellagh
rhennee) e (3)
a (6), á
s’theinney
terriu, teirroo
(both Bible)
theinniu
e (2)
treiney, also
Cr. treinney,
treinnit
ei
Manx agrees with Scottish Gaelic and Ulster Irish in keeping original ai /aCʲ/ (often
spelled oi in Ir. and ScG.) and original EIr. oi /oCʲ/ distinct (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 153–
63, 202–9), with the former being generally found as /e/ in Manx in those items where
raised forms occur in the other dialects.
Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 202–4) shows that raising of /a/ to /ɛ/ in Scottish Gaelic occurs
mostly ‘before palatalised apical consonants’ and ‘most commonly in the vicinity of
nasals’ or ‘when the vowel is nasalised’. Raising to /e/ ‘occurs mostly in absolute
initial position and is particularly common before the palatalised apical //lʹ//. The
development //a// > /e/ is also attested following the velars /g k/ in the prepalatal
keːtʹ, kɑ ̣ːitʹ TC, kʹɛt, kʹe̜ t, EKh, kït, kɪt HK (HLSM II: 242). These forms and the spelling variants
may imply two variants /ketʲ/ and /kitʲ/. Speakers’ uncertainty about these forms may be reflected in the
development of a regular plural *kaytyn ke̜ tən JW, kʹetːən NM; see also the singular (fn. 52).
61
108
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
position, particularly in Arran and Kintyre dialects’ (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 204), while
‘the raising of //a// to /ɤ/ (/o/?) occurs mostly in words of the shape C __ Cʹ where C =
/k g/ and C = /dʹ lʹ rʹ/’ (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 212).
In Irish the development /a/ > /e/ C_Cʲ occurs in the following environments (Ó
Maolalaigh 1997: 152):
(1) # __ Cʹ
Cʹ = [+coronal] for most examples, e.g. air, aige, (aileán), aile,
aileamhain, aideachas
(2) C __ Cʹ
C = [–velarised] (i.e. /t d s r/ […]), Cʹ = [+ coronal] mostly
e.g. sair, saidhbhir, traigh (Connacht dialects especially)
(3) C __ Cʹ
mostly C = [+velar] , Cʹ = [+coronal] but also following
certain velarised consonants, e.g. caileach, cair, gairm, gaid, gaile, gairid;
traigh, laigh
It has not previously been noted that Cʹ in almost all words which illustrate the
development //a// > /e/ share the features [+coronal] [+voice] and include /lʹ rʹ
dʹ/ but apparently not /Lʹ Nʹ/. It is also significant that the development is
common throughout Irish dialects in words containing absolute initial //a//.
(Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 152)
The environments in which the change /a/ > /e/ occur appear to be similar in Manx to
those where raising is found in Scottish Gaelic and Irish: absolute initial position,
preceding slender coronals, especially sonorants /Lʲ, lʲ, Nʲ, nʲ, rʲ/, following /ɡ, k/, and
in nasal environments. Spellings with <a> in Phillips in echey (G. aige), emshyr
(aimsir), s’merg, (is mairg) and gerrid (gairid) suggest that this development was still
in progress in the seventeenth century.62 The consistent spelling of G. a(i)g ‘at’ as ag
in Phillips may represent unraised /aɡʲ/, or possibly maintenance of the historical
simple preposition ag (OIr. oc), which has otherwise been replaced by aig (from the
3sg.m.) throughout Gaelic dialects (Williams 1994a: 462), and in Classical Manx
(where ec shows the same devoicing of final /ɡʲ/ found in aspick ‘bishop’, G. easpaig
etc.).
62
Although Thomson (1953: 7) suggests that Phillips’ representation of emshyr with initial <a> reflects
Welsh amser.
109
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
NM’s form alʹan (HLSM II: 145)63 for ellan ‘island’, Lh. alyn, and also some [a]
spellings and pronunciations in place-names (PNIM),64 may represent survival of
original /a/ in EIr. ailén, otherwise universally raised (Ir. oileán, ScG. eilean), and
otherwise with e̜ , ɛ, ə, e in Manx terminal speech.
2.1.2.3 ai /a/ > /o/
Three cases of rounding of ai /a/ to /o/ have been identified (cf. the much more
widespread development /a/ > /o/ before broad consonants, §2.1.1.2), all of which may
be ascribed to the preceding labial consonant (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 205–6, 223). In
the case of OIr. Maire ‘Mary’, rounding is universal in Gaelic dialects, and boireann
‘female’ in well-established in Scottish Gaelic.
Table 7. ai /a/ > /o/
Phillips
bodjal
o (9)
CM
pronunciation
/bodʒal/
bwoirryn
/borʲәn/
Moirrey
/morʲә/
etymology
English
ScG. baideal,
Eng. battlement
baineann,
ScG. boireann
ScG. Moire, Ir.
Muire, EIr. Maire
cloud
female
Mary
2.1.3 ea /e/ > /e/, /a/, /o/
G. /e/ before broad consonants may retain65 its original mid height or be lowered to
/a/, sometimes with subsequent backing and rounding to /o/. In a few cases raising to
/i/ is found. Some items show variation between reflexes, especially between /a/ and
/e/, sometimes reflected in variant spellings. In the following tables, and the
calculations based on them, items are categorized according to the most common
variant or the variant reflected by the standard spelling.
63
Also aⁱlʹan (JTK), unless this is influenced by the English word.
PNIM I: 175, III: 160, 162, 239, 269–70, 381, 384 (north); VI: 59, 329–30 (south).
65
I follow Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 289) in assuming, as the most parsimonious account, retention of
original /e/, rather than lowering to /a/ with subsequent raising.
64
110
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 8. ea /e/ > /e/
Phillips
beg; beggan
e (14)
CM
pronunciation
/beɡ/, /beɡan/
ben
e (8)
/ben/
bean
woman
benn, bentyn
bennalt
bher
e (12), ey
/bentәn/,
/benәlt/
/ber/
bean
touch. belong; flap
bior, bear
spit
breb; breban
a
breab, breabán
kick; (breban) dried
snot
speckled; trout,
mackerel
breck, brack
(Cr.), breac
(K.)67
creg
e (5), è
dress
etymology
English
beag
small
/breb/;
/breban/66
/brek/, /brak/
breac
/kreɡ/
creag
rock
/dres/
dreas
bramble, briar
edd
æ
/ed/
nead
nest
eddyr, edyr
e (5)
/edәr/
eadar
between, whether
edyr
e (4)
/edәr/
eadar
at all
/fed(an)/
fead, feadán
pant, whistle
/fer/
fear
man, one
/feʂt/
fearsaid
spindle
/freɡәrt/
freagairt
answer
fed, feddan
fer
e (59), é, ie (2),
y (3)
fess, fesst
freggyrt
a (19), e
68
gennish
e (2), ea
/ɡʲenәʃ/
gien, gennal
a (14), ia
/ɡʲen/
gean
cheer
gleck
e
/ɡlʲek/
gleac
wrestle, struggle
greddey
/ɡredә/
gread
grill, roast, toast
guess
/ɡʲes/
geas
spell, charm
/kʲeru/
ceathramha
quarter
/kʲebә/
ScG. ceaba
spade
kerroo
æy, æ
kiebbey
geanas
barren, infertile
kied
a
/kʲed/
cead
permission
lieckan
ie
/lʲekan/
cheek
lhieggey;
lhieggal
meddyr,
mheddyr
mennee
ie, ia
/lʲeɡә/; /lʲeɡal/
EIr. leccan,
leccond
leag
/medәr/
meadar
pail, wooden vessel
/meni/
meana(i)dh
awl
mess
ea (8), éa
/mes/
meas
fruit
smessey
a (5)
/smesә/
is measa
worse, worst
mestey,
mastey
a (2), á
/mestә/,
/mastә/
meascadh
mix, churn
fall; fell, overthrow
e̜ HK, a NM (breban).
Bible mostly breck, one instance of brack.
68
See fn. 85.
66
67
111
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
mettey,
meddey (K.)
sniessey
/metә/
meata
a (2)
/snʲesә/
is neasa
tender, delicate, soft,
cowardly
nearer, nearest
pecca
e (25), é
/pekә/
peacadh
sin
preban (K.)
/preban/
preabán
patch of land, cloth
prest
/prest/
preas
cupboard
screb
/skreb/
screab
scab
scred
/skred/
scread
gasp
/ʃelɡ/
sealg
hunt
/ʃelɡ/, /ʃolɡ/
sealg
milt; stomach, guts
e (7)
/ʃelu/
sealbh
herd
e (4), a (13), é,
ey, ia (5), iǽ, æ
S /ʃen/, N /ʃan/
(HLSM II:
398)
/snʲeŋ/
sean
old
sneadh
nit
sniengan (fn.
82)
streng
/snʲeŋan/
seangán
ant
/streŋ/
sreang
string
strepey,
strebin (Cr.)
/strepә/
ScG. streap, Ir.
dreap
struggle, wrestle
CM
pronunciation
/aɡәl/
etymology
English
eagal
fear
/aɡlәʃ/
eaglais
church
agh
/ax/
each
horse
arragh
/arax/
earrach
spring
/aspәrt/
easpart(a)
askaid
/askәdʲ/
neascóid
vespers, evening
prayer
boil
asney
/asnә/
/aspәkʲ/
easna, also E.Ir.
asna
easpag
bishop
/asaɡ/
easóg
weasel
/asi/
easbhaidh
harm
astan
/astan/
eascann
eel
astyrt
/astәrt/
eascairt
uproot
/aːrn/
earrann
part
shelg, sheilg69
shelg (K.),
chiolg (Cr.)
shelloo
shen
e (2), ǽ
snieng (fn. 82)
Table 9. ea /e/ > /a/
Phillips
aggle
a (22)
agglish
a (9), á (2), æa,
ea, e (4)
asbyrt
aspick
a (2)
a, yn ia (2)
assag
assee
ayrn
69
a
ay (3), áy (2), a
(4), á, æa
The spelling sheilg (Bible and Cregeen) may indicate G. seilg.
112
rib
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
baght
/baxt/
beacht
bangan
/baŋan/
beangán
/banaxt/;
/banaxә/,
/bani/
/brakә/
beannacht,
beannaghadh,
beannaighthe
breacadh
blessing, bless,
blessed
/braxtan/
breachtán
bread with butter etc.
/tʃax/
teach
hiding place
teachtaire;
teachtaireacht
teaglaim
messenger; message
gather
bannaght;
bannaghey,
bannee
brackey (Cr.)
a (26)
braghtan
chagh
ia (2), a, iá
observation,
discernment
branch
sharpen
chaghter;
chagheraght
chaglym
a (12), ia (7)
/tʃaxtәrʲ/;
/tʃaxtәrʲaxt/
/tʃaɡlәm/
chiamble
ia (6), a
/tʃambәl/
teampall
temple
/tʃarә/
tearadh, turadh
dry spell
a (5)
/tʃas/; /tʃasaxә/
teas
heat; fever
a (6), á (2), ia
/klʲaxtә/
cleachtadh
custom
chiarrey
chiass;
chiassaghey
cliaghtey
cliass (Cr.)
/klʲas/
cleas
‘the same fate’ (Cr.)
/krax/
creach
spoils, prey
drappal
/drapal/
dreap
climb
fam; famlagh,
famyragh
feam; feamnach
stem of seaweed;
seaweed
fannag
/fam/;
/famlax/,
/famәrax/
/fanaɡ/
feannóg
crow
fanney
/fanә/
feannadh
flay
farbaghey
/farbaxә/
fearb
inflame
farbyl
/farbәl/
earball
tail
/farɡ/, /ferɡ/
fearg
anger
/farnә/
fearn
black alder
/ˌfarәsˈtai/
fearas tighe
housekeeping
a (5), (len.) ia,
îâ
a
/fastәr/
feascar
evening, afternoon
/ɡʲal/
geal
bright
(giare) ia (3),
(yiare) iar,
(giarraghey) ia,
(giarey) (v.) iá
(2), ia (2), a, á,
ay, iâ, (pret
yiare) gáre, jarr,
iár (n.) ia, a (6),
(participle) a
(3), á
/ɡʲɛːr/, /ɡʲarә/;
/ɡʲɛːrә/, /ɡʲarә/
gearr; gearradh
short; cut
/ɡʲaran/
gearrán
worthless horse
/ɡʲastәlax/
geastal
charitable; charity
cragh
farg (Bible, K.,
Cr.), ferg (Cr.)
farney
éa, e, a (3), á, æ
ay (2), a,
(fargoil) e, a
farrys-thie
fastyr
gial
giare, (pl.)
giarrey;
giar(r)ey
giarran
giastyllagh
a (7), (len.) ia
113
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
giat
ia (4), a
/ɡʲat/
geata
gate
hannah
a (4)
/hanә/
cheana
already
hiar, har, shiar,
niar
jagh
ia (6), a, ià, iæ̆
ear
east
ea, a (5)
/h(j)ar/, /ʃar/,
/nʲar/
/dʒax/
deach-
went
jaghee
ia
/dʒaxi/
deachmha
tithe
?/dʒaxәn/
deacon
/dʒalu/
EIr. dechon (later
deoch-)
dealbh
/dʒarɡ/
dearg
be able
/dʒaru/
dearbh
very, indeed, even
jasdil, jasdyl
/dʒastәlʲ/
deasgabháil
Ascension
jastan
/dʒastan/
deascán
jastee
/dʒasti/
deasca(idh)
‘a course or row of
ling or heather laid on
the ground from the
hand of the puller’
(Cr.)
yeast
jaghin (Cr.),
joghan (K)
jalloo
a (11)71, iă
jarg
jarroo
a (16), ia (4), ía,
iâ, but jeru
‘affirm, certify,
prove’72
picture
jialg, jolg
a
/dʒalɡ/, /dʒolɡ/
dealg
thorn, knitting needle
jiarg
a (5), á, ia
/dʒarɡ/
dearg
red
jiass, yiass, ass
a (3)
deas
south
kialg
a (4), á,
(kialgoil) a
/dʒas/, /jas/,
/as/
/kʲalɡ/
cealg
deceit
/kʲaltәr/
cealtair, -ar
ceangladh
kiap
/kʲaŋlә/,
/kʲõːlә/
/kʲap/
unmilled woollen
cloth
tie, connect
ceap
block
kiare
/kʲɛːr/
cearr
left
/kʲark/
cearc
hen
/kʲarkәl/
ScG. cearcall
circle
kialter
kiangley
kiark
ia (3), a (8), á
ia
kiarkyl
kiarroo
ia, a (3)
/kʲaru/
ceathramhadh
fourth
kiart
ay (2), iâ, ia (6)
/kʲart/
ceart
right, correct
lhiabbee
ia (3), a, iă
/lʲabi/
leaba(idh)
bed
lhiaght
/lʲaxt/
leacht
tomb, couch
lhiannan
/lʲanan/
leannán
lover
71
Instances of jallunyn, jallúnyn probably = jalloonyn /dʒaˈluːnәn/ ‘idols’ (G. dealbhán).
Further ta jeru ayms ‘I am certified’, ry-ieru ‘instantly’, rŷ ieru ‘earnestly’, ry ieru ‘seriously’, ră ieru
‘earnest’. If jeru does not simply represent dearbh(adh) with /e/ rather than /a/, with the phonological
distinction perhaps serving to distinguish the functions (cf. mastey ‘among’ and mestey ‘mix’), we may
have a by-form *deirbh(eadh) or abstract noun deirbhe. Ry-ieru etc. could perhaps be linked with G.
dáiríre etc. (cf. eDIL s.v. darírib).
72
114
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
lhiannoo
ia (10), iá (3)
/lʲanu/
leanbh
child
lhiantyn
ia (6), iá, ie (2),
iæ
/lʲantәn/
lean
cleave, adhere, stick
/lʲargax/
leargach
slope
lhiargagh
s’lhiass;
lhiassaghey
lhiastyn
ia (2), îâ
/lʲas/, /lʲasaxә/
leas(aghadh)
need; atone, improve
ia (3), a (2)
/lʲastәn/
dleastanas
owe, debt
lhiattee
ia (2), iea
/lʲati/
leataobh
side
/manan/
meannán
mannan
marran
kid, young goat
73
/maran/
ScG. mearan
mistake, mistaken
mastey
a (26)
/mastә/
i measc
among
niart
iá (2), ía (3), ia
(5), (gniartoil
etc.) (47)74
penaȳs,
peynans75
/nʲart/
neart
might, strength
/panәs/,
/penәs/
/raxt/
peanas
penance
reacht
stubbornness
/rastax/
ScG. reasgach
blustery; hoarse
pannys (Cr.),
pennys (K.)
raght
rastagh
shaghey
a (15), ia
/ʃaxә/
seachad
past
shaghney
a (6)
/ʃaxnә/
seachnadh
avoid, spare
(er-)shaghryn
a (7), iâ
/ʃax(ә)rәn/
seachrán
astray
shallid
a
/ʃalәd/
sealad
moment
/ʃaŋ/
seang
lank, lean
shang
shanstyr
ia (4)
/ʃanstәr/
cf. sinnsear
elder, elders
share
/ʃɛːr/
is fearr
better, best
sharragh
áy (4), ay (3),
niarr, âŷ
a
/ʃarax/
searrach
foal
sharroo
ia (3)
/ʃaru/
searbh
bitter
shassoo
a (21)
/ʃasu/
seasamh
stand
/ʃaslax/
seasclach
bentgrass
(shaliygh) a
/ʃal/
seal,
sealaigheacht
turn; (shaliygh)
reason (Ph.)
ay, ia (5), a (3)
/ʃaxt/
seacht
seven
shaslagh
shayll (Bible,
Cr, K.), shall
(K.)
shiaght
shiaghtin
ia, a (4)
/ʃaxtәnʲ/
seachtmhain
week
shiast
a
/ʃast/
seasc
dry, barren
/smarә/
smearadh
grease
/snʲaxtә/
sneachta
snow
smarrey
sniaghtey
a
73
Cf. Thomson 1998: 132; Ó Maolalaigh 2014a.
Forms of ooilley-niartal ‘almighty’ not given in full by Thomson (1953).
75
This may represent a late borrowing of English penance, or remodelling under its influence, rather
than retention of G. peanas.
74
115
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
stiagh
ia (10), ía, ya
/stʲax/
isteach
in
trass, tress
(Cr.)
vaght (K., PC)
é, e (9)
/tras/, /tres/
treas
third
/vaxt/
i bhfeacht
ever
yiarragh
ia
/jarax/
dear-
would say
Table 10. ea /e/ > /o/
Phillips
etymology
English
Boaldyn
CM
pronunciation
/boːldәn/
Beal(l)taine
May Day
chiollagh
/tʃolax/
teallach
hearth
/tʃon/, /tʃonә/
teann(adh)
tight; press
/foːl/
feall
deceit
chionn;
chionney
foall (K., PC)
ia (6), ià, ĭă, a
(4), ay
gioal; giall,
gialdyn
/ɡʲoːl/, /ɡʲoːldәn/
geall
pledge; promise
glione
ia (7), a (12),
á; (yiall) iall
(2), iáll, jall
(pl.) glantínyn
/ɡlʲoːn/
gleann
valley
joan
a (2), à
/dʒoːn/
deann
dust
/dʒolәs/
dealas
greed
jollys
kione
ia (12)
/kʲoːn/
ceann
head
kionnaghey
ia (10), a (6)
/kʲonaxә/
ceannacht
buy
lhionney
/lʲonә/
leanna
beer (gen.)
molg, mylg
/molɡ/, /milɡ/
mealg
milt
/molaɡ/
buoy; satchel (K.)
mollag
molley
a
/molә/
meallóg, ScG.
mealag
meala
molley
a (5), à, o, áy,
á
/molә/
mealladh
deceive
mongey
/moŋә/
meangadh
smile; shear
lhuss-nymoal-moirrey
(B.), lus ny
moyl Moirrey
(Cr.), luss-nymoal-moirree
(K.)76
ollagh
/lus nә moːl
morʲә/
ScG. lus nam
meall móra
mallows
/olax/
eallach
cattle
ollaghan
/olәxan/
treadle of spade
ollay
/olә/
(e)alchaing, ScG.
ealachainn
eala
polley; pollan
/polә/
pealladh; peallán
mat, stick together;
saddle-cloth
76
a
a (5), nan
ialagh
honey (gen.)
swan
Apparently with reanalysis / folk etymology involving Moirrey ‘Mary’ (G. Moire).
116
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
shoggyl
/ʃoɡәl/77
spollag
/spolag/
seagal, ScG. var.
seogal, Ir. var.
siogal
spealóg
rye
chip
2.1.3.1 Analysis
Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 277–89) investigates the development ea > /a/ in terms of
following consonantal environment in Scottish dialects. Although his study looks at
the prevalence of the development across dialects, rather than within the lexicon of a
single variety, similar results obtain for Manx. Excluding /m/, for which there was only
one token, the development to /a, o/ (and subsequent developments)78 occurred in
100% of items where the vowel is followed by the sonorants /L/, /N/, /R/ and the
fricative /x/ — all (historically) velarized or velar consonants. The percentage of items
exhibiting this development was also above 80% preceding the alveolar sonorants /r/
and /l/ (Table 11). There was also a very high percentage (77.4%) for /e/ > /a/ preceding
the sibilant /s/, but, as argued below, this may reflect the fact that a large proportion of
these items are vowel-initial. For the other consonants the picture is more mixed and
there is no obvious pattern, and for /b/, /k/, /t/, /p/ and /m/ there are 5 or fewer items.
According to Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 283), the reflex /a/ is most prevalent in Scottish
dialects in the environments __ /N, l, x, L, R, rt/, ‘thus implying that the most
conducive environment for the lowering of original //e// to /a/ in ScG has been before
velarised consonants and the velar fricative /x/’ (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 283). In view
of the results in Table 11, this would appear to be also the case in Manx.
Table 11. Incidence of ea /e/ > /e/ and /e/ > /a/, /o/ in the lexicon by following
consonant
e
a, o
total
%e
% a, o
L
0
8
8
0.0%
100.0%
m
0
2
2
0.0%
100.0%
N
0
11
11
0.0%
100.0%
R
0
8
8
0.0%
100.0%
x
0
20
20
0.0%
100.0%
r
4
19
23
17.4%
82.6%
77
Also /u/ in some place-names with spellings shuggle, shugil etc. (e.g. PNIM II: 180, III: 38, 235).
Including further developments to /o/, /oː/, /au̯ / before /L, N/ (§§4.6.1.9, 4.6.1.13) and to /ɛː/ before
/R/ (§4.6.1.10).
78
117
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
l
3
14
17
17.6%
82.4%
s
7
24
31
22.6%
77.4%
p
1
2
3
33.3%
66.7%
t
1
2
3
33.3%
66.7%
ŋ
3
4
7
42.9%
57.1%
ɡ
4
4
8
50.0%
50.0%
n
7
5
12
58.3%
41.7%
k
3
1
4
75.0%
25.0%
b
4
1
5
80.0%
20.0%
d
8
0
8
100.0%
0.0%
In certain Ulster dialects ea may be realized as /e/ (Ó Baoill 1978: 303–5; Ó
Dochartaigh 1987: 75–82; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 244–5) before /ɡ, d, s, h/. Ó
Dochartaigh suggests this gives a clue as to the conditioning factors of the lowering
/e/ > /a/ which is the rule in other Irish dialects:
One may presume that the historical change of /e/ to /a/ has come about through
the increasing prominence of what must have been an a-like on-glide to the
following neutral consonant. We might reasonably expect this glide to be most
prominent in those circumstances where a sonorant consonant follows, that is
consonants such as /l n r/ where the secondary articulation is of considerable
auditory prominence and hence more capable of influencing the preceding
vocalic element. This means that in the case of /d/ and /s/, these segments, with
their fairly neutral secondary articulation, have preserved the low-mid front
articulation of the vowel where it has been modified in the more sonorant
environments.
(Ó Dochartaigh 1987: 77)
This is a reasonable hypothesis and would agree with the Manx data, where the
sonorants /L l N R r/ have been noted as especially favouring lowering of preceding
/e/ to /a/, /o/, and /d/ and /ɡ/ especially are among the following consonants favouring
/e/. Although not a sonorant, /x/ likely also had a prominent on-glide, or rather formant
transition, as seen also in diphthongization of /iː/ in keeagh /kʲiә̯x/ ‘breast’ (G. cíoch)
and preservation of original diphthongs ia, ua before /x/ (§2.2.6).
Ó Maolalaigh and Ó Dochartaigh do not examine preceding consonant (cf. Ó
Dochartaigh 1987: 80), but for Manx at least this seems also to be relevant (Table 12).
118
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 12. Incidence of ea /e/ > /e/ and > /a/, /o/ in the lexicon by preceding
consonant
e
a, o
total
%e
% a, o
dʒ
0
13
13
0.0%
100.0%
h
0
2
2
0.0%
100.0%
R
0
2
2
0.0%
100.0%
tʃ
0
9
9
0.0%
100.0%
v
0
1
1
0.0%
100.0%
f
2
11
13
15.4%
84.6%
vowel
3
16
19
15.8%
84.2%
Lʲ
2
10
12
16.7%
83.3%
ʃ
4
15
19
21.1%
78.9%
kʲ
3
11
14
21.4%
78.6%
ɡʲ
2
6
8
25.0%
75.0%
lʲ
1
3
4
25.0%
75.0%
p
1
3
4
25.0%
75.0%
m
6
10
16
37.5%
62.5%
b
5
4
9
55.6%
44.4%
Nʲ
3
2
5
60.0%
40.0%
r
12
5
17
70.6%
29.4%
There is less of an obvious pattern when it comes to conditioning by preceding
consonant. If categories with 5 or fewer items are excluded the following hierarchical
ordering is in evidence for incidence of ea > /a, o/ by preceding consonant:
100%
>80%
>70%
>60%
>40%
>20%
dʒ, tʃ
f, vowel, Lʲ
kʲ, ɡʲ, ʃ
m
b
r
Most of the consonants in the top three percentage bands are palatalized or palatal. The
consonants /m/, /b/ and /r/ (as well as /f/) are assumed to be non-palatalized in Manx80
It may be that the development /e/ to /a/ after /dʒ, tʃ, Lʲ, kʲ, ɡʲ, ʃ/ represents dissimilation
80
I.e. there is no palatalization contrast in labials (Jackson: 66) and /r/ was not palatalized in initial
clusters (§4.2.1.2).
119
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
between the palatal quality of the consonant and the height and backness of the
following vowel, which can be explained as hypercorrection (e.g. Ohala 1981; 1993).
The apparently anomalous position of initial vowels and /f/ can be explained by the
presence of /Nʲ/ in the proclitic definite article (e.g. ayns yn arragh ‘in the spring’,81
ayns yn astyr ‘in the evening’, cf. ScG. anns an earrach, anns an fheasgar). The
majority of items with preceding /Nʲ/ as part of the same morpheme (snieng, sniengan,
sniessey) have /e/ (although sniessey has /a/ variants in Phillips and in Late Manx
speech, HLSM II: 332), as against two (niart, sniaghtey) with /a/.82 This is too small a
sample to come to any conclusions about /Nʲ/. It is likely, however, that all things being
equal /Nʲ/ would favour lowering to /a/ as with other palatal(ized) consonants. It is
perhaps significant that of the three items which have initial /e/ rather than /a/, two of
them are the preposition eddyr ‘between’ (Ir. idir, ScG. eadar) and the adverb edyr ‘at
all’ (ScG. idir, OIr. etir),83 which of course cannot be preceded by the article. The third
item is the noun edd ‘nest’ (G. nead), which has misdivision of the initial /Nʲ/. The /e/
quality here may be due to the final /d/, which is the only following consonant which
categorically conditions /e/ (in eight items). In addition, as far as preceding /f/ is
concerned, 9 out of 11 of the items have a following consonant which is one of those
which strongly favour /a/ (/L N R r/).
Table 13 shows the combined effect of preceding consonant (slender or broad, with
vowel and /f/ included under slender in accordance with the conclusions of the
preceding paragraph) and following consonant (belonging to the set /L l N R r x/ or
not). As can be seen, the combination of slender preceding consonant and following
/L l N R r x/ strongly favours /a, o/, with almost 90% of items in this category showing
this development. The only category with a majority of /e/ reflexes (74.2%) consists
of those items in which both the preceding and following consonant consonant favour
81
The palatalized /nʲ/ is sometimes shown orthographically by prefixed ni- in e.g. yn niarragh (Exodus
34ː21).
82
The development of snieng (G. sniodh, sneadh) and sniengan (G. seangán) is irregular and the two
items seem to have influenced one another. The highly nasal environment (nasal consonants on either
side of the vowel) may furthermore have served to maintain (or restore) the mid height – compare raising
of ea /e/ to /i/ below. Niart and sniaghtey both have following consonants /r/ and /x/ which categorically
favour lowering to /a/.
83
Originally the preposition ‘between’ with 3sg. neuter pronoun (eDIL s.v. etir).
120
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
retention of /e/. For the two other combinations /a, o/ is favoured in 85.7% and 76.6%
of items respectively, although in the category /b, h, m, p, R, r, v/_/L l N R r x/ there
are only seven items. We may tentatively conclude that the conditioning factors for the
development /e/ > /a, o/ are stronger than those conditioning retention of /e/. Moreover,
several of the conditioning factors for /a, o/ appear to be categorical (/L, l, N, R, r, x/_,
_/tʃ, dʒ/, and #_ with the exception of eddyr, edyr, edd), whereas none of the
conditioning environments for /e/ have /e/ in 100% of cases, except _/d/ (eight items,
one of which, kied, G. cead, has <a> in Phillips).
Table 13. Combined conditioning effect of preceding and following consonant on
G. ea /e/ in Manx
following consonant
preceding consonant
dʒ, f, gʲ, j, kʲ, Lʲ, lʲ, Nʲ, tʃ, ʃ, vowel
b, h, m, p, R, r, v
b, d, g, k, m, n, ŋ, p, s, t
LlNRrx
a, o
56
88.9%
a, o
36
76.6%
e
7
11.1%
e
11
23.4%
total
63
a, o
6
85.7%
a, o
8
25.8%
e
1
14.3%
e
23
74.2%
total
7
47
31
That the development ea /e/ > /a/ is of considerable antiquity, at least in some
environments, is shown by the development -earr /eRː/ > /aRː/ > /aːr/ > /ɛːr/, where
the development to /a/ must precede the lengthening before /R/ which is found in all
modern Gaelic dialects (O’Rahilly: 50), as well as the Manx development /aː/ > /ɛː/
(§4.6.1). Orthographic evidence in the form of the appearance of the spelling <ea> in
Gaelic, as well as evidence from Anglo-Norman spellings of Irish names, suggest that
this development goes back to the thirteenth century or earlier (McManus 1994: 346–
7; McCone 1996: 141).
2.1.3.2 ea /e/ > /o/
All cases of rounding ea /e/ > /a/ > /o/ (or /oː/, /au̯ /) occur before /L, N, l/, apart from
shoggyl (G. seagal), for which the velar /ɡ/ may offer a tentative explanation. Before
/L/ rounding is categorical even when /L/ is medial, e.g. chiollagh ‘hearth’ (G.
teallach), Boaldyn ‘May’ (G. Beal(l)taine), whereas with /N/ it is categorical only in
121
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
monosyllables, e.g. chionn ‘tight, fast’ (G. teann), kione ‘head, end’ (G. kione), but
bannaght ‘blessing’ (G. beannacht). In Phillips all these items have spellings
indicating /a/, apart from one instance of molley ‘deceive’ (G. mealladh) with <o>.
The development of rounding (and lengthening or diphthongization §4.6.1) is
therefore a relatively recent development compared with the development /e/ > /a/,
which was already the predominant reflex of G. ea in Phillips. It is assumed that forms
in /o/ developed via /a/, and where there are by-forms, variation is between /a/ and
/o/,84 except in a handful of cases (see shelg, chiolg; mylg, molg; mingey, mongey
above and §2.1.3.3).
2.1.3.3 ea /e/ > /i/
A small number of items have /i/ from ea, mostly adjacent to a nasal consonant. This
nasal conditioning is also found in Irish and Scottish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 249,
290). The vocalism of shyrgaghey ‘wither’ (G. seargaghadh) may reflect the influence
of inflected forms of the noun and adjective searg (unattested in Manx).85
Table 14. ea /e/ > /i/
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/iŋax/
etymology
English
eangach
train of nets
i (2)
/miŋә/
meangadh
pinch; purloin
y (13), ý (2)
/mixәnʲ/
mercy
milt
wither
ingagh
mingey;
myngyraght (Cr.),
mingyraght (K.)
myghin
mylg, molg
/milɡ/, /molɡ/
ScG. meachainn,
Ir. miochaire
mealg
shyrgaghey,
shirkaghey (Cr.),
shyrg (adj.) (K.)
/ʃirɡaxә/
seargaghadh
Cf. Ó Maolalaigh’s (1997: 291–2) discussion of the similar developments /e/ > /a/ > /o, ɔ/ in certain
eastern Scottish dialects.
85
I.e. from a fossilized dative i siorg (hi seurc, i siurc, eDIL s.v. 1 serg) (or i seirg, i sirg if feminine as
in Dinneen) or from genitive sirg as in Cf. fear sirg ‘consumptive’ (Ó Dónaill s.v. searg), ben sirg, fer
siric etc. (eDIL). The eDIL entry includes an apparent example of reanalysis of sirg as an attributive
adjective or noun, dia rob dall na bodar . . . no sirg (Trinity College Dublin MS 1336, 658c). A similar
reanalysis of a genitive probably explains the Manx adjective gennish ‘barren, childless’ < bean
gheanais ‘woman of chastity’. The simple form shyrg is only attested in Kelly (as an adjective).
84
122
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.1.3.4 Lexical diffusion
As noted above, a number of items show variation between /e/ and /a, o/, especially in
Early Manx. In some cases Phillips’ spellings are at variance with later evidence, or
there is spelling variation in the dictionaries and Classical Manx texts, or variation is
securely attested in spoken data (including at least one clear dialect isogloss in shenn
‘old’). Most of the items showing variation in the later language (breb ‘kick’, G. breab;
breck ‘speckled; trout’, G. breac; mestey ‘mix’, G. meascadh; trass ‘third’, G. treas)
belong to the set of items with two conditioning factors for /e/, and except in the case
of trass, <e> is the standard or most frequent spelling. The fact that these items have
variants with /a/ is further evidence that the development to /a/ is the dominant reflex
of G. ea, and that there has been ongoing lexical diffusion in this direction, even in the
environments most resistant to the development.
The occurrence of forms in Phillips apparently showing /e/ after /Lʲ/, and in the case
of the initial vowel in agglish ‘church’ (G. eaglais), may show that the change was not
as well established in these environments at this period, while freggyrt ‘answer’ (G.
freagairt), gien ‘cheer’ (G. gean) and kied ‘permission’ (G. cead) with /a/ show more
progressive forms not found in the later standard language (cf. ooashley, §3.4.6).
2.1.3.5 Semantic splits between /e/ and /a/ variants
In a few cases the different reflexes of G. ea in the same or related etymological items
have developed differing meanings,86 e.g. mastey, maskey ‘among’ (G. i measc), but
mestey ‘mix’ (G. meascadh). Mastey is also found in Cregeen and the Bible (Proverbs
27:22) for the verb, apparently with the specialized meaning of ‘churn’ (perhaps
influenced by G. maistreadh, although this is unattested in Manx). Cregeen apparently
attests to a split between breck ‘speckled’ and brack ‘trout’ (G. breac). Kerroo
‘quarter’ has /e/ but kiarroo ‘fourth’ has /a/ (both G. ceathramhadh). It is likely that
both mingey ‘pinch’ and mongey ‘smirk’ are reflexes of G. meangadh. If Ph. jeru
86
For this phenomenon, cf. Dillon (1953).
123
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
represents dearbhadh ‘confirm’ (§2.1.3, fn. 72), this would be a split with jarroo ‘very,
indeed’, G. dearbh. Such semantic splits are consistent with lexical diffusion.
2.1.4 ei /e/ > /e/, (/i/)
This is mainly retained as /e/, including notably in certain items where raising to /i/ is
widespread in Irish and Scottish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 249–52, 292–3), such
as:
mec ‘sons’, OIr. maicc, G. meic, Ir.,ScG. mic
mennick ‘often’, G. meinic Ir. minic, ScG. minig
meshtey ‘drunkenness’, G. meisce, Ir. meisce, misce, ScG. misg (raising to /i/
apart from in Munster [Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 249])
gennee ‘germ’, gientyn ‘conceive’, G. gein, Ir, ScG. gin
For Manx meinn ‘meal’, Early Irish already shows variation between men and min
(apparently under the influence of mi(o)n ‘small’, eDIL s.v. men, min), with the latter
becoming the general Irish and Scottish Gaelic form.
Cregeen’s form merre in merre-cheilley ‘s. f. deadness of wit or sense’ may represent
an abstract form *meire rather than usual G. mire ‘madness’ (abstract noun from adj.
mear), although this could also be G. meirbhe ‘dullness, weakness, folly’ or mairbhe
‘deadness’.87
Manx has /i/ for usual G. ei /e/ in jir ‘will say’, Ph. jirr (Ir. deir); forms with -dir- are
sometimes found in Early Modern Irish, confirmed by rhyme (eDIL s.v. as-beir;
Bergin 1946: 175–6). Bink ‘bench’ may represent Eng. dialectal bink (EDD), rather
than being a raising of the ScG. form being. The spelling chingey-jee ‘ringworm’
(Cregeen; chenney-jee Kelly) (Ir. t(e)ine dhia(dh), ScG. teine-dé) may represent
raising as in Ir. tine (from teine ‘fire’), or is perhaps a result of the destressed position.
The vowel /e/ is maintained in other derivatives of teine, such as chen(n)ey taarnee
‘lightning flash’ (PC l. 456; Kelly s.v. chenney, tienney) (G. teine toirnighe), chentyn
87
It is unclear whether the final <e> is an exceptional representation of /ә/, or whether we have a form
/merʲ/ with apocope.
124
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
‘flash(es)’ (Ezekiel 1:14; Cregeen s.v. chent), cheinjean ‘bonfire’ (Cregeen) (G.
teinteán).
2.1.5 o /o/ > /o/, /a/, (/u/)
G. o most commonly gives Manx /o/, but there is also lowering to /a/ in many items,
as also found especially in Scottish and northern Irish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 1997:
329).
Table 15. o /o/ > /o/
Phillips
boayrd
boyn
coayr
coayr
coggyl
coghal (Cr.),
coghyl (K.)
colbagh
colbey
couyl (Bible),
coll, cohll
(Cr.), coull
(K.)
collagh
commee
connagh-nygiark
conney
cor (er chor
erbee)
corkey
corp
corrag
corragh
corran
corree
correy;
correyder
cosney
cost, costal
CM
pronunciation
/boːrd/
etymology
English
bord
table, board
/boːn/
/koːr/
/koːr/
/koɡәl/
/koxәl/
bonn
corr
corr
cogal
cochall
heel
odd
heron, bittern, crane
tares
caul
/kolbax/
/kolbә/
/koːl/, /kau̯ l/
colpach
colpa, calpa
coll
heifer
calf, body, trunk
hazel
/kolax/
/komi/
/ˌkonax nә ˈɡʲark/
collach
comaidh
conach
stallion, boar
common participation
henbane
/konә/
/erʲ ˌxor erʲˈbiː/
connadh
cor
gorse as fuel
at all
/korkә/
/korp/
/koraɡ/
corca, coirce
corp
ScG. corrag
o (9)
kurryder
/korax/
/koran/
/kori/
/korә/
corrach
corrán
corraighe
cortha
oats
body
crook of hand,
forefinger
tottering; capricious
sickle
anger, angry
sowing (gen.); sower
o (7), u
o
/kosnә/
/kost/
cosnadh
oy (3), óy,
oỳ, oa, o (2)
ŏy
o
win, earn
cost
125
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
crockan
croghey
cron
cronnaghey
cronk,
crongan
cront
crossan
crossey
crottag
croym;
croymmey
doyn (Bible),
dhoan, dhone
(both Cr.)
doarn
dobberan
doccar
dolley (Bible,
Cr.),
d(h)ulley
(Cr., K.)
donney
dorraghey
dorrys
doss
drogh
droghad
drolloo
drommey
droun, drone,
droyn (Cr.);
dronnagh
fockle
foddey;
foddeeaght
follaghey;
folliaght
follan
88
o (3), a, á
o (4)
/krokan/
/kroxә/
/kron/
/kronaxә/
/kroŋk/
crocán
crochadh
cron
cro(th)naghadh
cnoc
crock, pitcher
hang
scar, stain
discern, perceive
hill
/kront/
/krosan/
/krosә/
/krotaɡ/
/kroːm/, /kromә/
Eng.
crosán
crosadh
ScG. crotag
crom; cromadh
knot
coral
crucify
curlew
stooped; stoop
/doːn/
donn
brown
/doːrn/
/dobәran/
/dokәrʲ/
/dolә/
dorn
dobrón
docair, dochar88
dolaidh
fist
grief, mourning
stress of labour
lack
/donә/
/dorәxә/
/dorәs/
/dos/
/drox/
/droxәd/
poor, mean, foolish
dark
door
bunch, cluster
bad
bridge
/drolu/
/dromә/
/droːn/; /dronax/
dona
dorcha
doras
dos
droch
drocha(i)d,
droichead
drolamh
droma
dronn; dronnach
o (11), ô
o (8), a (2),
ay,
(foddeeaght
) a (2), o (4)
a (23)
/fokәl/
/fodә/
focal
fada, EIr. fota
word
far, long; longing
/folaxә/; /foli.axt/
folach, folaghadh
hide; secret
a
/folan/
folláin, E.Ir. follán,
fallán, ScG. fallain
wholesome
a, o
o (4)
o (14)
(croymmey)
o (3), ou, ú,
óy, u, oy
o (4), o
o (4)
o (9)
o (11)
o (4)
o (12)
pot hooks
back (gen.)
hump; humped
These two items (eDIL s.v. doccair, dochor) seem to be confused in Phillips, where both medial <k,
kk, ck> and <gh> are found without differentiation of sense (Thomson 1953: 195). As far as is known,
forms with medial /x/ are later unattested. Note that medial lenition of both /k/ and /x/ could give [ɣ].
126
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
follym
a (2)
/folәm/
folt
frogh
gob
goggan
goll, doll
(Ph.)
gonnagh
óo
gorrym
gortey;
gortaghey
hoght
kurn (Cr.),
curn (K.)
lhome
lhon
lhong
lhongey
lhott
logh
loght
(ny) lomarcan
lomman
lommyrt;
loamrey
lorg
lostey
moggyl
moghey
moghrey
o (8), ó, óy,
oy (2)
(gonnit) o
(3)
o (4), ó
o (2), oy, ó,
oi (2)
oy
o (8)
o (6), io, oy
o (2), oy (5)
y (10), o
(3)90
o
y (2), oy, a,
u (2), ú
o (5)
o (3)
o (2)
mohlt
mol
mollagh
monney
moylley
ó, o (3), ô,
é, è
o (26), ò, oa
empty
/folt/
/frox/
/ɡob/
/ɡoɡan/
/ɡol/
folamh, EIr.
folomm89
folt
Eng. frough
gob
gogán
dol
hair
dry rotten
beak, gob
noggin, piggin
go
/ɡonax/
gonach
sore
/ɡorәm/
/ɡortә, ɡortaxә/
gorm
gorta; gortaghadh
blue
famine; hurt
/hoxt/
ocht
eight
/koːrn/, ?/kuːrn/
corn
can
/loːm/
/lon/
/loŋ/
/loŋә/
/lot/
/lox/
/loxt/
/lomәrkan/
lom
lon
long
longadh
lot
loch
locht
(ina) lomracán
bare
blackbird
ship
meal
wound
lake
crime
alone
/loman/
/lomәrt/
lomán
lomairt; lomradh
scorching wind
shear; fleece
/lorɡ/
lorg
staff
/lostә/
/moɡәl/
/moxә/
burn
mesh
early
/monә/
loscadh
mogall
moch, EIr. i
mocha91
mochthráth,
mochéirghe92
molt
mol
moth(al)lach,
ScG. molach
monadh
/molә/
moladh
/mox(ә)rә/,
/moxәrʲi/
/molt/
/mol/
/molax/
morning
mutton
nave, hub of wheel
hairy, rough
much, any, nothing;
kind, sort, manner
praise
89
O’Rahilly 1942b: 191–2.
Phillips’ spellings with <y> perhaps represent a variant form with loim-, luim-, or simply o > /u/?
91
eDIL s.v. mocha, mucha.
92
These two forms are possibly blended in Manx (Lewin and Wheeler 2019: 92).
90
127
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
noght
Nollick (Cr.),
Nodlick
(SW), Ollick
(Cr.); Ullick,
Ullig (K.)
oard
oardaghey
oarlagh
obbal
obbee
obbyr
oghlish
ogh(y)rish
olk
ollan
orrym, ort,
orrin, orroo
osney
pobble
pott
poyll
rockey
roddan
rolley
scoarnagh
scobbey
scolbey
scollag
scoltey
scrobbaghyn
soccar, socker
sock
soddag
sollys
(er) son
sonney
soylley
sponk
spot
sproght
sthock
surn, sorn
93
o (2)
o (4)
/noxt/
/no(d)lәkʲ/
anocht
Nodlaig, Nollaig
tonight
Christmas
o
o (14), ó
/oːrd/
/oːrdaxә/
/oːrlax/
/obal/
/obi/
/obәrʲ/
/oxlәʃ/
ord
ordaghadh
ordlach
ob
ubaidh
obair
ScG. achlais, EIr.
ochsal
fochras
olc
olann
orm etc.
hammer
order
inch
refuse, deny
charm, enchantment
work
armpit
o (11)
o
o (10)
o (6)
o (7), ó
o (2), ó
o 16, ôŷ (2),
oy
o (3), ó
o (10), ó (2)
o
o (4)
a
o (3)
o (43), ō,
oy, oȳ
ou
o
o
See O’Rahilly 1927: 22–3.
128
/ox(ә)rәʃ/
/olk/
/olan/
/orәm/, /ort/,
/orәnʲ/, /oru/
/osnә/
/pobәl/
/pot/
/poːl/
/rokә/
/rodan/
/rolә/
/skoːrnax/
/skobә/
/skolbә/
/skolaɡ/
/skoltә/
/skrobaxәn/
bosom
bad, evil
wool
on me etc.
sigh
people
pot
pool
bulge, pucker, cockle
rat
roll, roller
throat
snack, repast
chip, break shell
boy, stripling
split, burst
crop of bird
/sokәrʲ/
/sok/
/sodaɡ/
/solәs/
/(erʲ) ˈson/
osna
pobal
Eng.
poll
rocadh
ScG. rodan
rolla
scornach
ScG. sgobadh
scolb
scológ
scoltadh
scrobán, Sc sgrob,
sgròban, Eng. crop
socair
soc
sodóg
solas
ar son
/sonә/
/solә/
/spoŋk/
/spot/
/sproxt/
/stok/
/soːrn/
sona
soladh
sponc
spot
sprocht93
stoc
sorn
happy
enjoyment
tinder
spot
vexation, sulks
stock
fire-place in kiln
ease, leisure
ploughshare
cake, bannock
bright
for
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
tholtan (Cr.,
Bible), tultan
(K.)
thorran
tobbyr (Bible,
Cr.), tubbyr,
tubbir (Cr.),
tobbar,
tubbar, tubbyr
(K.)
toghyr
tonn, toayn,
touyn
(Hymns)
torragh
tost
towl; thoylley
troggal
trome
trostey
(torr) torr̀ ,
(torradh)
torry,
ghorey
o (3)
/toltan/, /tultan/
*tolltán
ruin
/toran/
torr; torrán
heap
/tobәr/, /tubәr/
tobar
laver, baptismal font
/toxәr/
dowry
wave
óy, (pl.)
onnyn (3)
/ton/, /toːn/, /tau̯ n/
ScG. tocha(i)r, Ir.
tachar, tochar
tonn
o (2)
o (2), óy, oy
o, óy, óu
o (22), ó
oy (6), ôŷ
(2), oy̆ , ó,
ou, u, ú, o, o
o (9)
/torax/
/tost/
/toːl/; /tolә/
/troɡal/
/troːm/
torrach
tost
toll; tolladh
ScG. togail, trogail
trom
pregnant
silence
hole; pierce
lift, raise
heavy
/trostә/
troscadh
fast
Table 16. o /o/ > /a/
Phillips
etymology
English
bass
CM
pronunciation
/bas/
bos, bas
palm
brasnag
/brasnaɡ/
brosna
faggot, firebrand
/brasnaxә/
provoke
brasnaghey
o (6)
caggey
a (13)
/kaɡә/
ScG.
brosnachadh, G.
brostaghadh
copóg, capóg,
ScG. capag
cogadh
callin
a (17)
/kalәnʲ/
colainn
body
cappan
a (10)
/kapan/
copán
cup
Cargys
karús, karus
(2), karrýus
(3), karryûs
/karɡәs/
Carghas, EIr.
Corgus94
Lent
cabbag
/kabaɡ/
dock, bloodwort
war, fight
94
This item is pronounced with unlenited /ɡ/ in northern Irish dialects (Dinneen s.v. carghas; Quiggin
1906: 138–9; Ó Súilleabháin 1953: 104). The CM form is presumably equivalent to this Ulster form
Cargas, whereas Phillips’ form represents Carghas, with vocalized */әɣә/ > /uː/ and stress shift as in
Munster Irish (represented by Dinneen as carraigheas, i.e. with /ˈiː/ rather than /ˈuː/). See similar by-
129
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
casley, cochaslys95
cass
a (9), á
/kaslә/
cosmhail
like
a (3), o
/kas/
cos, ScG. cas
foot
cassid
a (7)
/kasәdʲ/
castey
a
/kastә/
quell, defeat
cayrn
a (2)
/kaːrn/
EIr. cosaít, G.
casaoid
cosc(adh), ScG.
casg
corn
clag
klaggyryght
/klaɡ/
clog, ScG. clag
bell, clock
clagh
a (12)
N /klax/, S
/klox/
/koːr kratax/
cloch, ScG.
clach
crotach
stone
/kraŋk/,
/kroŋk/96
/daraɡ/
cnag
knock
*dorghóg
fishing line
OIr. dor, doraid
+ adóir
fogas, ScG.
fagas
fochaid
doorkeeper, porter
coar-crattagh
cronk, crank
darrag
darreyder
(Cr.)
faggys
/darәderʲ/
a (5)
/faɡәs/
faghid
a (3)
/faxәdʲ/
farennym97
/farenәm/
farrar(ey)
/farәrʲә/
fasney
/fasnә/
fasscadagh
(Cr.)
?/faskәdax/98
fast, fastagh
/fastax/
for-, ScG. far- +
ainm
foraire, ScG.
faraire
foscnamh, ScG.
fasgnadh
foscadh, ScG.
fasgadh
cf. G. foscadán,
ScG. fasgadan,
< OIr. foscatae
fosc
sap
/sap/
sop
fastee
a (2)
/fasti/
horn, trumpet
snipe
near
disdain, mockery,
contempt
nickname
wake, vigil
winnow
shelter
umbrella
quiet, pensive, modest
wisp
forms with pargys ‘paradise’, G. parrdhas (§5.1.4). Another example of non-initial /ɣ/ > /ɡ/ in Manx is
cleigh ‘hedge’ (G. cladh), pronounced with a final stop by some speakers, e.g. kle̜ g HK, TC, kleG JK,
JTK, but kløi JW, kle̜ i EKh, HK, klaːi NM (HLSM II: 84).
95
But cf. cossyllagh ‘middling’ (G. cosamhlach), and other cases of G. comh- (except chammah ‘as
well’, G. chomh maith, and unstressed cha ‘so’, G. chomh, also cho, Cregeen.
96
‘written in the Manks Scriptures cronk; but as crank is the sound used, and as cronk rather confounds
it with cronk (hill), this is inserted’ (Cregeen). The only instance in HLSM (II: 100, s.v. crankal) has e
from TT, presumably representing the form with /a/, /ã/. The Manx forms may represent conflation of
G. cnag (itself likely borrowed from Eng. knack, knock or related Scandinavian forms, cf. LEIA s.v.
cnag) with a later doublet borrowing of Eng. knock.
97
And other instances of this prefix (Cregeen s.v. far-chail).
98
Cregeen indicates stress on the second syllable (i.e. ?/faˈskɛːdax/), possibly erroneously (§5.1), since
the cognate forms would lead us to expect initial stress. However, the word may have been altered under
the influence of scaa ‘shade, shadow’ (G. scáth), cf. scaa-liaghee ‘umbrella’ (Cregeen).
130
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
skabbag (Cr.)
/skabaɡ/
scobóg, giobóg
/tamaɡ/
tomóg
‘a lock or handful of
green flax’ (Cr.)
bush, thicket
tramman
/traman/
tromán
elder tree
wass
/was/
abhus, a-bhos
below, down
thammag
u
2.1.5.1 Conditioning environments for /o/ > /a/
According to Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 330–1), the change /o/ > /a/ in Irish is particularly
prevalent following initial /f/, following velar consonants, and in initial position. In
Scottish Gaelic the most frequent preceding consonantal environments are /f/, /k/ and
/kr, kL/, in that order (ibid.: 350). The situation is similar in Manx. Of the items which
show the development, 11 out of 32 (34.4%) have a preceding velar stop /k/, with a
further 4 items showing /k/-initial clusters. 8 out of 32 items (25.0%) have initial /f/,99
making this the second-most important environment. The same pattern is apparent if
we count all lexical items with either /o/ > /o/ or /o/ > /a/ by preceding consonant (or
cluster), as shown in Table 17. Only sets with at least five items are shown. Again
preceding /f/ and /k/ are shown to be the most conducive environments for the
development /o/ > /a/. All other sets have zero items, or only one or two, with /a/.
Table 17. Incidence of o /o/ > /o/, /a/ in the lexicon by preceding consonant
(cluster)
o
a
total
%o
%a
f
6
8
14
42.9%
57.1%
k
21
10
31
67.7%
32.3%
d
9
2
11
81.8%
18.2%
sk
5
1
6
83.3%
16.7%
(s)kr
11
2
13
84.6%
15.4%
s
8
1
9
88.9%
11.1%
t
8
1
9
88.9%
11.1%
dr
5
0
5
100.0%
0.0%
ɡ
6
0
6
100.0%
0.0%
l
12
0
12
100.0%
0.0%
m
8
0
8
100.0%
0.0%
#
12
0
12
100.0%
0.0%
99
Although three of these items, fastee, fast(agh), fasscadagh are etymologically related and may or
may not have been synchronically semantically associated.
131
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The conditioning environments likely represent (a) dissimilation between labial /f/ and
round /o/ and (b) dissimilation between velar /k/ and back /o/ (the latter assuming a
non-back realization of /a/ as attested in Late Manx and in Scottish Gaelic and Ulster
Irish) (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 331).
With regard to following consonantal environment, Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 331, 350)
finds that the most favourable environments are ‘r >> l, s >> L’ in Irish and ‘l >> r >>
s, g’ in Scottish Gaelic. The most favourable environment is _/s/ in Manx (12 out of
32 items, 27.5%), followed by _/r/ (5 out of 32, 15.6%).
2.1.5.2 Diachronic development of /o/ > /a/ and Gaelic dialectological context
The evidence of Phillips shows that for most items which are spelt with <a> in
Classical Manx, the /a/ realization was already stable in Early Manx. Orthographic
evidence from Middle and Early Modern Irish shows that the change /o/ > /a/ was
established or underway by the end of the twelfth century (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 376–
7), with orthographic variation being most frequent after /f/ and /k/:
The similarity of environments for this change in Irish and ScG is striking and
suggests that the change //o// > /a/ may be an old one, perhaps dating back to
the so-called period of Common Gaelic. […] The geographical distribution of
the change //o// > /a/ establishes an important isogloss which separates Munster
from other Irish dialects and also from those of ScG: […] the lowering of //o//
> /a/ is all but unknown in Munster dialects. This suggests clearly that the
development had a northern locus. This provides us with yet another early
phonological development separating northern from southern Gaelic dialects.
(Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 364–5)
The evidence presented above shows that Manx clearly fits in this northern dialect
group with regard to this development.
Brasnaghey ‘provoke’ (ScG. brosnachadh) consistently has <o> in Phillips, so the
development to /a/ is presumably recent, and also lacks the obvious conditioning
environments. Brasnag ‘firebrand’ (G. brosna) seems to show the same
132
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
development.100 The development to /a/ may be the result of analogy, perhaps with G.
bras ‘boastful, great, forceful’, although this item is not attested in Manx so far as is
known.
Cass ‘foot’ (G. cos) and thammag ‘bush’ (G. tomóg) have one instance each in
Phillips101 with <o> and <u> respectively. These may represent alternative
developments, although palaeographical uncertainties concerning the copying of the
vowels preclude firm conclusions from individual examples (cf. Thomson 1953: 11–
2). The appearance of <a> in follaghey, folliaght, follan and follym may simply be
cases of the use of <al(l)> to represent /ol/, noted elsewhere in Phillips. Cayrn ‘horn,
trumpet’, and curn ‘can’ may show a semantic split between realization of G. corn.
The realization of clagh ‘stone’ (G. cloch, ScG. clach) with /o/ in southern Manx and
/a/ in the north is recognized as a dialect shibboleth by Rhŷs (161) (cf. HLSM II: 80).
2.1.5.3 foddey ‘far, long’, G. fada, OIr. fota
G. foda, fada ‘far, long’, OIr. fota, is the only item where the development /o/ > /a/ has
occurred in all modern Irish and Scottish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 365). However,
Classical and Late Manx unexpectedly has /o/ in this item. Phillips’ spellings suggest
variation between /a/ and /o/, however. It is possible that the development to fada
occurred in Manx as in other Gaelic dialects, and that the occurrence of /o/ is in fact
an instance of the secondary raising of /a/ > /o/ found in certain items, including after
labials in foaddey ‘kindle’ (G. fadadh) and moddey ‘dog’ (G. madadh) (§2.1.1.2).
Orthographic variation in these items in Phillips shows that this was a later change still
100
There may be parallel development of these items with substitution, especially in Scottish Gaelic, of
/n/ for /t/ in brostaghadh, perhaps through metaphorical association of incitement and kindling of
firewood, and/or by association or confusion between brosna, a poetic metre (eDIL s.v. brosna,
brosnach), and brostaghadh ‘a (poetic) incitement’? The two may be etymologically related (MacBain
s.v. brosdaich), although LEIA (s.v. brosnae, brostaid) suggests it is more likely that the latter is a
borrowing.
101
In fact both instances of cass in Matthew 18:8, f232r in the Phillips MS, appear to have o, with the
second instance emended to a in a superscript interpolation. Owing to inconsistency in marking the /s
~ ʃ/ contrast (Wheeler 2019: 4–5), Ph. dáa chos could potentially represent the historical dual dá chois,
rather than dá chos / dá chas; however, the parallel dá láu shows no sign of slenderized láimh (evident
in dative er lǽf stei ‘within’, G. ar láimh istigh).
133
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
in progress in the seventeenth century, whereas the evidence discussed here shows that
/o/ to /a/ is in general a much earlier development. The comparative sodjey (G. is foide)
and the abstract noun fodjeeaght (G. *foididheacht) (with parallel foddeeaght, G.
fadaidheacht) may have also had an effect in preserving or restoring /o/ in foddey.
2.1.5.4 /o/ > /u/
Spellings of certain items show raising of /o/ to /u/, but this development is variable;
most such items have spellings with both <u> and <o>.
Table 18. o /o/ > /u/
Phillips
cumir (Cr.)
CM
pronunciation
/kumәrʲ/
etymology
comair,
cuimir
monadh
English
ScG.
close, concise,
tidy, compact
mountain
(Ph.) muyne
uy (2), u
*/munә/
(N)ollick (Cr.),
Ullick (K.)
thammag (Bible,
Cr., NBHR),
thummag (NBHR)
thummid (Cr.),
thummyd (K.)
tobbyr (Bible,
Cr.), tubbyr,
tubbir (Cr.),
tobbar, tubbar,
tubbyr (K.)103
tooran, thurran
(Cr.)104
o (4)
/(n)o(d)lәkʲ/,
/ulәkʲ/
/tamaɡ/;
/tomaɡ/,
/tumaɡ/102
/tumәd/
ScG. tomadach
/tobәr/, /tubәr/
tobar
laver, baptismal
font
/turan/
torrán, cf. ScG.
turr ‘tomb, large
heap’ (Dwelly)
tonnóg,
ScG.
tunnag
*tolltán
round corn stack
thunnag (Cr.),
tonnag (K.)
tholtan (Cr.,
Bible), tultan (K)
u
o (3)
/tunaɡ/, /tonaɡ/
/toltan/, /tultan/
Nodlaig
Christmas
tomóg
bush, thicket;
shoal of fish
(NBHR)
bulk, size
duck
ruin
Both reflexes attested in HLSM: /a/ tɑ̃ ̣məg, tɑ̃ ̣mɑg TC, tamagʹ (HB); /o/ to̜ mɑ ̣g (HK), (pl.) to̜ mɑgən.
There is apparently a dialect split here between N /a/ (TC, HB), and southern /o/, /u/ (HK, TT, NBHR).
103
Influenced by Eng. ‘tub’, Manx tubbag?
104
A variant of thorran ‘heap’ (G. torrán), influenced by toor ‘tower’ (G. túr), as implied by Cregeen?
102
134
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The favourable environments for the development to /u/ appear to be adjacency to
nasal consonants, labials, and after /t/. Note also <u> spellings in Phillips in cosney
‘win, gain’ (G. cosnadh), croymmey ‘stoop’ (G. cromadh), lorg ‘staff’ (G. lorg) and
trome ‘heavy’ (G. trom) (§2.1.5). Spellings with <u> for usual <o> also appear in
certain other texts, such as the manuscript of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, where we find
buggey for boggey ‘joy’ (G. bogadh), uddagh etc. for oddagh (G. féad), lummyrkyn
for lomarcan ‘alone’ (G. lomracán).
2.1.6 oi /o/ > /o/, /a/
OIr. oi is retained as /o/ in the majority of cases.
Table 19. oi /o/ > /o/
Phillips
etymology
English
coirrey
CM
pronunciation
/korʲә/
coire
coillar
/kolʲar/
coiléar
caldron, kettle,
furnace
collar
conning
o
/konʲәnʲ/
coinín
rabbit
coshey
o (2)
/koʃә/
coise
foot (gen.)
coyin
/konʲ/
coin
greyhounds
/kroʃ/
crois
cross
/dolʲi/
doiligh
difficult
/dorʲәnʲ/
doineann
storm
dronney
/dronʲә/
droinne
hump (gen.)
sodjey
/sodʒә/
is foide
further, furthest
fodjeeaght
/fodʒi.axt/
*foididheacht
/loʃtʲ/
loisc, loiscthe
‘the distance of the
furthest arrow shot in
archery, farness’ (Cr.)
burn, burnt
/ponʲar/
boy
/skolʲ/
ScG. ponach,
poineach
scoil
/ɡәn ˈtort/
toirt
heed
/tolʲu/, /tolʲtʃәnʲ/
toill, tuill
deserve
/totʲ/
toit
the whole
crosh
o (8)
doillee
dorrin
o (7), y
losht
o (5), oi (2),
oy
pohnnar (Cr.),
ponniar (K.)
schoill,
schoillar
(gyn-)tort
o (3)
toilliu, toilchin
o (4), oi (6)
105
toit (K.)
school
105
‘the whole, as yn slane toit jeu’ (Kelly), cf. ScG. ‘Toit. Whole entire’ (Shaw 1780), and figurative
use of ceo in Irish.
135
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
toshiaght
o (13), ó
/toʃax(t)/
toiseach
beginning
toshtal,
hoshtal
o (6), oi, oy
/toʃtʲal/
left
troiddey
ó, o (2)
/trodʲ/
ScG. toisgeal,
G. lámh
shoiscéala
(O’Rahilly
1927: 23)
troid
/troʃtʲ/
troisc
fast
trosht
scold, chide, quarrel
There are some cases of lowering and unrounding of oi to /a/, all following initial /k/,
/kl/, /kr/ (Table 20). The conditioning environments are thus comparable to those for
o discussed above.
Table 20. o /o/ > /a/
Phillips
cadjin
a (5), ia
CM
pronunciation
/kadʒәn/
cagliagh
a (3)
/kaɡʲlʲax/
coigríoch
border
caigney
a
/kaɡʲnʲә/
chew
casherick
a (9)
/kaʃәrʲәkʲ/
cognamh,
cognadh,
ScG. caigneadh
coisricthe
casht
ái
/kaʃtʲ/
coisc
quell, defeat
clashtyn
a (21), á (2)
/klaʃtʲәn/
MIr., Ir.
clois(t)in etc.,
ScG. claistinn
cloigeann
hear
scalp
croiceann
skin
etymology
English
toir < tabhair
give, put, send (fut.)
claiggin
crackan
/klaɡʲәnʲ/
kraghyn,
kráckyn
106
?/krakʲan/
etymology
English
coitcheann
general
holy
There are also a few instances of oi > /e/:
Table 21. oi /o/ > /e/
Phillips
der107
CM
pronunciation
/derʲ/
erriu
e (5), o (2)
/erʲu/
oirbh
on you
kemmyrk
kemmyrk (3),
kymmyrk,
kymmirk,
kemmirk,
kæmmirk (2)
/kemәrʲkʲ/
coimirce, OIr.
commairge
refuge
106
107
Perhaps = variant crocann, cracann (eDIL s.v. croiccenn) with broad medial /k/.
Probably influenced by the independent form ver (G. bheir).
136
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
kómrick,
komrick,
kæmrick,
kommirk,
kémmirk
perkyn (Cr.)
/perʲkʲinʲ/
poircín, ScG.
poircean
scoilte
porpoise
sloinne, (vn.)
sloinneadh, OIr.
sloindemain
stoirm
surname
skeilt, scelt
éi, ái, ai
sliennoo (see
§4.4.6.2)
slonniu,
slonniú
/slʲenu/
sterrym
ey, y (3)
/sterʲәm/
cloven
storm
2.1.6.1 kemmyrk ‘refuge’, G. coimirce etc.
This is found with com- in the earliest sources and later coim- (eDIL s.v. commairge),
with palatalization of m apparently spreading from the cluster /rʲkʲ/ (also /rʲɣʲ/, /rʲç/).
Phillips’ forms with both <o, ó> and <e, é, æ, y> may represent co-existence of both
variants. The form with /e/ which survives in Classical Manx is more likely to
represent oi than o, since there are no other cases of o > /e/. However, this raises the
question of the existence of slender */mʲ/ (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 65–72) (see §1.7.6
for a brief discussion of slender labials more generally). The spellings with y may
represent raising to /i/ or /u/, although there are other cases where Phillips apparently
uses <y> for short /e/, such as sterrym here. We may raise the possibility that Manx
had a short vowel /ә/, /ɤ/ analogous to that found in the larger vowel inventories of
Scottish dialects, but the overall evidence for this does not seem strong, except perhaps
for cases of shortening of original ao(i) (§3.9.11).
2.1.7 i, io /i/
The Gaelic vowel /i/, like /u/, is mostly stable in Manx. In the prepalatal environment
it almost invariably, and before broad consonants (G. io) predominantly, remains as
/i/. However, i and io are frequently differentiated in Manx spelling with <i> mostly
used for i /iCʲ/ and <y> often appearing for io /iC/. This may indicate (allophonic)
backing of /i/ before broad consonants, or simply be a device to mark the quality of
the following consonant.
137
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
<y> brynneraght ‘flattery’ (Ir. brionnal), chymmey ‘compassion, pity’ (ScG. tioma,
time), chymmylt ‘around; foreskin’ (timcheall), chymney ‘will, testament’ (tiomna),
chymsaghey ‘gather’ (tiomsaghadh), chyndaa turn (tiontódh), chyrrys ‘tour, journey’
(turas), cryss ‘belt’ (crios), fynnican ‘egg-white’ (*fionnacán, cf. Ir. gealacán, ScG.
fionnagan ‘crowberry’), fyn-ruy ‘brown-haired’ (fionnruadh), fynney ‘fur’ (fionnadh),
fynneraght ‘cool breeze’ (fionnuaracht), fys ‘knowledge’ (fios), fysseree, fyssyree
‘foreknowledge, prescience’ (fiosraighe), jyst (K.), juist (Cr.) ‘dish’ (ScG. diosg),
kimmagh (Bible), kymmagh (Cr.) ‘criminal’ (ciomach), kyndagh ‘guilty, because of’
(ciontach), kys ‘how’ (cionnas), kynn (K.) ‘love, affection’ (cion), myn ‘fine, small’
(mion), mynlagh ‘the fine of meal or flour’ (Cr.) (mionlach), mynnagh ‘guts’
(mionach), mynney ‘curse’ (mionnadh), mynthey ‘mint’ (mionta), myskid (Bible, Cr.),
myskit (Cr.), miskid (K.) ‘malice’ (mioscais), shynney lhiam ‘I love’ (is ionmhainn
liom), shynnagh ‘fox’ (sionnach), skyrraghtyn (Bible, Cr., K.), skirraghtyn (Cr.) ‘slip,
slide’ (sciorradh), slyst ‘coast, border’ (slios), spyrryd ‘spirit’ (spiorad), yllagh (Bible,
Cr.), ullagh (K.) ‘cry’ (iolach), ymmodee ‘many’ (iomad), ymree ‘behove’, ymmyrch
‘need’ (ScG. imir, iomair, cf. imirt, iomairt),108 ymmyrkey ‘bear, carry’ (iomchor,
iompar), ymmyrt ‘row’ (iomramh), yndyr ‘graze’ (Ir. inbhear, ScG. ionaltair,
ionaltradh), yngyn (Bible, K.), ingin (Cr.) ‘nail, hoof’ (ionga, iongain), yngyr (Cr., K.),
ingyr (Cr.) ‘pus’ (iongar), ynnyd ‘place’ (ionad), ynrick ‘righteous, upright’ (ionraic),
ynsaghey ‘learn, teach’ (ScG. ionnsachadh), yskid ‘shank, hough, ham’, (iosca(i)d,
EIr. esca(i)t), scryss (Bible, Cr.), scriss (Cr.) ‘bark, peel, shaving’ (scrios)
<i> drig ‘drip’ (driog), gimmagh ‘lobster’ (giomach), grindeyr (Bible, Cr.), grinder
(Cr., K.), grindeyr (Bible), grynder (Cr.) ‘mocker’ (?greann, Ir. gliondar, Eng. grin),
imbagh ‘season’ (EIr. imbocht, imbach), pibbyr (Cr.), pebbyr (K.) ‘pepper’ (piobar);
shimmey ‘many’ (is iomadh), skibbylt ‘nimble, light of foot’ (sciobalta), spinney (Cr.)
‘elasticity’ (spionnadh); yindys ‘wonder’ (iongantas)
2.1.7.1 io /i/ > /u/
In some items, spellings with <u> seem to indicate that backing seems to have led to
merger with /u/:
Table 22. io /i/ > /u/
Phillips
etymology
English
bluight
CM
pronunciation
/blʲuxt/
bliocht
milch
burley
/burlә/
biolar
cress
giucklagh
/ɡʲuklax/
giolcach
broom
108
See O’Rahilly 1931: 57.
138
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
kiuttagh
(Bible, Cr.),
kyttagh (Cr.),
kiutagh,
kytagh (K.)
jummal
/kʲutax/
ciotach
left-handed
/dʒumal/
diomailt
waste
rught (K.)
/ruxt/
riocht
sprite, spirit
shuilgey (Cr.)
/ʃulɡә/
ScG. siolcadh
nibble
shutternee
(Bible, Cr.),
shussarnee,109
shutternee
(K.)
sluight
/ʃutәrni/
seitreach,
siotrach
neigh, bray
u (3), iu
/slʲuxt/
sliocht
smyrr
/smur/
/ulәnʲ/, /ilәnʲ/
smior, OIr.
smiur
iothlainn
progeny,
descendants;
amount
marrow
/urlә/
iolar
smuir,
smuirr110
uhllin (Cr.),
yllin (K.)111
urley
i
y, ý
stackyard,
haggard
eagle
Spellings of jummal, smuir and urley in Phillips suggest these items retained /i/ in
Early Manx. Late variation in spelling and attested pronunciations of certain items
shows that the change was not settled. Conditioning factors appear to be adjacency to
labial /m/ (rounding assimilation), velar or (formerly) velarized consonants /k, kʲ, ɡʲ,
x, l or L, R, r/ (backness assimilation).
2.1.8 u, ui /u/
Before broad consonants G. u remains as /u/, e.g.
muc ‘pig’, G. muc
bun ‘bottom’, G. bun
109
For <ss> representing /t/ > [ð], a realization which can also represent underlying /s/, see §1.6.4, 1.6.5.
smur (TC), smör (JW) (HLSM II: 420). It is unlikely that these /u/ forms represent continuation of
OIr. iu, and the Phillips spellings suggests the regular development of G. io; possibly influenced by
smua(i)s, smúsach (although unattested in Manx), smooirlagh ‘broken bits, fragments’ (Cregeen) (G.
smúrlach).
111
Data from HLSM (II: 468) suggests /i/ and /u/ variants: ɔlinʹ (TC), o̤ lïn (JTK), u.lʹɪn (JN) (confusion
with uillin ‘elbow’?), e̜ linʹ, ɪlɪnʹ (JK).
110
139
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
lugh ‘mouse’, G. luch
The vowels /u/ and /o/ are generally kept distinct, although variant spellings suggest
there may have been a tendency towards (?near) merger in some lexical items or lects,
especially in the direction /o/ > /u/ (§2.1.5.4). There are a couple of attested variants
apparently showing /u/ > /o/, although the /o/ may in fact be original, as in loaghee
‘mice’ (G. luch, but historical oblique stem loch-112) (1 Samuel 6. 4, 5, 11, 18),
alongside lugh(ee) elsewhere in the Bible, and Edward Faragher’s spelling coammal
for usual cummal ‘dwell, hold’ (ScG. cumail, but G. congbháil) (Broderick 1981b:
141). Manx appears therefore to lack the more general tendency towards lowering of
/u/ to /o/ found in Irish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 379–83), and agrees with Scottish
Gaelic in this respect (ibid.: 400).
Before slender consonants G. ui usually remains as /u/, spelled <ui>, <u>, <ooi>,
agreeing again with Scottish Gaelic rather than Irish, e.g.
cooid /kudʲ/ ‘part, goods’, G. cuid
ooilley /ulʲu/ ‘all’, G. uile
fuirraghtyn /furʲaxtәn/ ‘wait, stay’, G. fuireacht
duillag /dulʲaɡ/ ‘leaf’, G. duilleóg
tushtey /tuʃtʲә/‘understanding’, G. tuigse
Certain items have spellings which may indicate ui > /(w)i/, although the interpretation
is not always clear:
Table 23. ui /u/ > /u/, /(w)i/
Phillips
bwinnican
cluinn,
clynn, clinn
112
ŭy, ŭy̆ , uỳ, ui
(10), uíí, úi,
iu, uy (2)
CM
pronunciation
/bwinʲәkan/
/klinʲ/, /klunʲ/
etymology
English
cf. G.
buidheac(h)án,
EIr. buidén,
ScG.
buidhean,
buidheagan,
Ir. buinne?
cluin(n)-
yolk
hear
Cf. goan /ɡoːn/ ‘words’ (G. goth-), singular goo /ɡuː/ ‘word’ (G. guth).
140
HLSM
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
döt EKh, de̜ tʹ
HK, do̤ t JK,
dïtʹᶴ NM
driːm NM,
driᵇm JK,
drim TC,
driːᵇm J:EK,
J:JTK
kʹipː, kʹip JK,
kʹip JW
dhyt
ui (9), ûi (2)
/ditʲ/, /dutʲ/
duit
to you
dreeym
drym, dry̆ im,
dryim, (pl.)
drymmyn,
drimmyn
/driːm/
druim
back
kip
i
/kip/
whip
mimmey114
i (3)
/mimә/
ScG. cuip, Ir.
fuip < Eng.
whip?113
muime
mane
wiŋ TC
/mulʲәn/
mong, muing,
ScG. muing
muileann
mill
/mulʲarʲ/
muilleóir
miller
mulʹinʹ TC,
mulʹən JK,
W:N, mïlʹjən
W:N, mwɪlʹən
J:EK,
mulʹənən
JTK, mo̤ lʹi,
mulʹi EKh,
mo̤ lʹən,
mulʹən NM
mülʹɛ, mulʹɛː
HB
/miʃ/, /muʃ/?
*muis, ScG.
mu
about, about
him, it
/kwiɡʲal/
distaff
mwing
mwyllin
/mwiŋʲ/
ui
mwyllar
mysh
ymmish (5),
immish (3),
ymmysh
quiggal
godmother
/kwiŋʲ/
sym
quing (3),
kuing
i
G. coigeal,
coigeál,
ScG. cuigeal
cuing
/sim/
suim
sum
toiggal
ui (16), ŭi
/tiɡʲal/
tuig-
understand
trimshey,
trimshagh
i (7), yi (2), y
/trimʃә/,
/trimʃax/
? *truimse <
trom
sorrow, sad
quing
yoke
ɪ JK, JTK,
HB, NM,
W:N, W:S, ᵘẹ,
ø TC
ï TT, ĩ JW
In some cases it is not entirely clear whether the reflex should be analysed as /u/ or
/wi/, and there may have been synchronic variation. Alongside bwinnican, mwing,
113
Possibly from Eng. ‘kip’ ‘[t]he hide of a young or small beast […], as used for leather’ (OED), rather
than ‘whip’?
114
But cf. mummig ‘mother’, G. muime + -óg, Ph. mummug.
141
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
mwyllin above, we have buinnagh ‘diarrhoea’ (G. buinneach) (?/bunʲax/, /bwinʲax/),
muickey ‘pig’ (gen.) (G. muice) (?/mukʲә/, /mwikʲә), muinney ‘mesentery, entrails’ (G.
muinne) (?/munʲә/, /mwinʲә/).
2.1.8.1 ui /u/ > /wa/
In certain items ui develops to /wa/, which is probably to be interpreted as dissimilation
from roundness (/m/) and backness (/k/). In mwannal it seems to be associated with
depalatalization of /nʲ/ (§4.4.3).
Table 24. ui /u/ > /wa/
Phillips
mwannal115
muínal,
muynal
CM
pronunciation
/mwanal/,
/munal/
etymology
English
HLSM
muinéal
neck
mɔnəl, mɔnɑ ̣l
TC, mɔnɑl
EKh, mwanəl
J:EK, wanal EL,
vɔne̜ l TC,
mwanəl, mɑnəl
W:S, wɑ̜̃nələn
TC
kwalʹən J:EK,
kᵘölʹjən W:S,
kwɑlʹənən TC
kwelʹjɑɡ,
kwelɔg,
kwalʹjən W:N
quallian,
quaillan (both
Bible)
quaillag (Cr.),
carchuillag
(Cr.), carwhaillag (K.),
char-chuilag
(Bible)
quellan
/kwalʲan/
cuileán
whelp, pup
/kwalʲaɡ/,
/karˈxulʲaɡ/
cuileóg, ScG.
car-chuileag
fly, gnat
2.1.9 Morphophonological alternations /a/, /o/ > /i/, /u/
Morphophonological alternations involving final palatalization (genitive, plural,
comparative forms, abstract nouns) may give /u/ or /i/ from roots with /a/ (Table 25)
or /o/ (Table 26) (cf. Ó Baoill 2012). Note that such alternations have spread to some
115
Bible MSS: mwonnal (Exodus 13:13), wonnal (1 Samuel 4:18), mionnallyn (Judges 5:30),
mhonnallyn (Judges 8:21, 26). The variation of spellings and realizations in HLSM may point to two
by-forms with /wa/ and /o/.
142
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
loanwords (e.g. block, cront, pot, spot). The front /i/ is more frequent in forms deriving
from stems with /a/ than /o/:
Table 25. Morphophonological alternations /a/ > /i/, /u/
bart
inflection /
derivation
comp.
syrjey,
abstr. yrjid
pl. buirht
boayl
pl. buill
caayr (K.),
cayr (Cr.)
car
clag
pl. khyr116
(Cr.)
pl. khyr
(Cr.)
pl. cluig
croan
pl. cruin
crann
mast
ẹː NM, HK
edd
pl. idd
ad
hat
e̜ dʹ HK
garroo
comp.
s’girroo
pl. glick
garbh
rough
glac
pl. glish,
gen. gle(i)sh
(Cr.)
pl. keiyt,
kiyt (Cr.),
kitt (K.),
gen. chett
(K.)
pl. ligg
glas
hollow of
hand
lock
cat
cat
lag
hollow
lag
weak, feeble
mart
beef
stalk
stalk
ard
glack
glass
kayt
lagg
lhag
mart
stalk
abstr.
lhuiggid
(SW)
pl. muirt
(K.), muihrt
(Cr.)
pl. sthilk
(Cr.)
Phillips
(sg.) e
(gen.) yi
etymology
English
HLSM
ard
high
(yrjid) öː TT, ö
JW, HK, ï JK,
jö TC
Eng.? G.
beart?
ball
burden
place
carr
wagon, car
car
knot, twist
clag
bell, clock
ui NM, o̜ i HK, o̤
JW, TC
see §2.1.2.2
116
Apparently khyr = cairr /kir/, or /kirʲ/ if slender rhotic restored by analogy (cf. Ó Curnáin 2007: 222)
(see also §4.2.4).
143
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 26. Morphophonological alternations /o/ > /u/, /i/
boayrd
inflection /
derivation
pl. blhick
(Cr.)
pl. blhuid
(Cr.)
pl. buird
bock
bog
block
blod
bolg
bwoid (Cr.),
boid (K.)
cronk
cront
Colloo
corp
doarn
gob
gorrym
lorg
mohlt, molt
olk
pot, pott
poyll
144
Phillips
etymology
English
Eng.; Ir. bloc,
ScG. ploc
block
blade
bord
table, board
pl. buick
boc
comp.
s’buiggey
pl. builg
bog
gelding, hegoat
soft
bolg
belly
bod
penis
cnoc
hill
Eng.
knot
Norse kalfr
Calf of Man
corp
body
gen., pl.
durn (Bible),
duirn (Cr.)
gen., pl. gib
dorn
fist
gob
abstr.
girmid,
gormid,
gorrymid
(Cr.)
luirg
gorm
mouth, beak,
point
blue
lorg
staff, stave
molt
wether
olc
evil
ui (2)
pota
pot
ui
poll
pool
pl. bwhid
(Cr.), buid
(K.)
pl. croink,
crink, cruink
(all Bible,
Cr.)
pl. cruint
gen.
Chylloo,
Keylliu (Cr.)
pl. kirp
ui
ui (4)
y, yi, i
lyrgyn,
lurgyn (2),
lúrgyn
pl. muihlt
(Cr.), muilt
(K.)
pl. uilk
pl. pooiyt
(Bible, Cr.),
gen. phuyt
(Cr.)
pl. puill
HLSM
ᵘi TC, wï JW
ï HK, i NM,
W:N, ü TC
ɪ JW
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
purt
pl. puirt
(Cr.), purtyn
(Bible)
port
harbour, port
sock
pl. sick (Cr.)
soc
ploughshare
spot
pl. spuitt
spot
stott
stoyll
pl. sthitt
(Cr.)
pl. stuill
towl
pl. tuill
Eng. spot, cf.
G. spota
Eng. stot, Old
Norse stútr
Eng. stool, cf.
G. stól
toll
hole
ûː W:N
trome
comp.
s’trimmey,
abstr.
trimmid
trom
heavy
(trimmid) ö TC,
ï JW,
(s’trimmey) ï TT
bullock, steer
ste̜ tʹ HK
stool, chair
2.1.10 OIr. air-, aurAs Ó Maolalaigh (2003c: 163) notes, ‘words formed from the preposition / preverb air
‘before, for’ are well known for the variation which they exhibit in the vocalic initial
from the Old Irish period onwards […] Variation in such words includes vacillation,
to varying degrees in individual cases, between ai-, au-, e-, i-, u-, o-’. See also Pedersen
(1909: 339–40), GOI (497–9), Greene (1976: 41), Breatnach (1994: 231–2), McManus
(1994: 346). In Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic the reflex of this is usually /u/, or /o/
as a secondary development of /u/ (Ó Maolalaigh 2003c: 164), although there may be
also /e/ or /a/, which in some cases may represent survival of earlier air- (ibid.: 165).
Ó Maolalaigh (2003c: 167) cites ‘slim evidence’ from Manx:
Based on the slim evidence which survives in Manx, a small set of words
containing original air- yield a and e, e.g. aarloo ‘ready’ (<Old Irish airlam),
arryltagh ‘willing’ (possibly a derivation of Old Irish erail), arrym ‘respect’
(<*airrim), essyn ‘door-post’ (< Old Irish airsa): see [HLSM II] s.v. aarloo,
essyn, arryltagh). An intermediate development to /u/ in such instances is not
generally supported elsewhere in Manx historical phonology.
(Ó Maolalaigh 2003c: 167)
In fact a few more items may be cited, which further confirms that a front realization,
apparently usually ea- (confirmed by spellings of arryltagh and ayrn showing slender
n in proclitics) was usual in Manx, with /u/ or /o/ found only in Phillips’ form
145
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
úyrrymagh etc. (perhaps representing a semantic split with arrym(agh)), and orraghey
(Phillips orghyr).
Table 27. OIr. air-, aurPhillips
CM
pronunciation
/eːrlu/,
/eːrlaxә/
etymology
English
OIr. airlam, aurlam;
G. urlamh, earlamh
ready; prepare,
cook
arbyl
/arbәl/
tail
arral (Cr.)
/aral/
OIr. erball, G.
eireaball, earball,
urball etc.118
OIr. eráil, Ir. foráil,
uráil, ScG. earail
? OIr. eráil etc.
aarloo;
aarlaghey
a (17), ern
iarlaghy, yn
iarlaghey117
arryltagh
a
/arәltax/
arrym
a (9), á,119 úy, u
(5), y (5)120
/arәm/
ayrn, y Niarn
(CS)
ay (3), áy (2), a
(4), á, æa
/aːrn/
earish
ie (5), ié (8), e,
iǽ, êi
/irʲәʃ/121
essyn
orraghey
/eʂәn/
orghyr
/orәxә/
OIr. *airraim, G.
uirrim, oirrim,
urraim, ScG. urram
OIr. airrann, G.
urrann, earrann,
ScG. earrann
iris < OIr. airisiu
‘history’, OIr. airis
‘foreknowledge,
tryst’122
OIr. airsa, G.
ursa(in)
OIr. airchor, G.
urchar
offer
willing
respect, reverence
part
time, weather
doorjamb
(arrow) shot
Another item which apparently contains *aur, *air is G. turas ‘journey’ (eDIL s.v.
turus, var. teros, terus, tirus) (Pedersen 1913: 600; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 656), which
gives two variant forms in Manx: chyrrys /tʃirәs/ (Bible, Cr., K., PC), thurrys /turәs/
(Cr.), nan jurryssyn, my hyrrys (Phillips), tʹʃɪrəs, tʹʃerəs NM (HLSM II: 80). Again we
see a Manx tendency to favour front vowels found in variants in the earlier languages,
117
Ph. <n ia> = /nʲa/ G. ea-?
‘Despite its containing original iar- / er-, it seems fairly clear from synchronic variation and earlier
literary sources that eireaball joined the class of words with initial air- at an early stage’ (Ó Maolalaigh
2003c: 167).
119
<a> forms: ‘reverence, worship, honour, obey, obedient, humble, reverend’.
120
<u> forms: ‘great, greater, greatest, chief’.
121
i. EK, ɪ NM, i: JK (HLSM II: 139).
122
See Greene 1962: 112.
118
146
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
but usually giving way to /u/ in modern Irish and Scottish dialects. There is also
chiarrey ‘dry spell’ (G. tearadh, turadh < OIr. turad, taurad) (§2.1.3).
2.2 Long vowels
The following sections discuss phones which were long vowels or diphthongs from
the Old Irish period onwards, excluding ao(i) and ua(i) which are discussed in Chapter
3.
2.2.1 Stressed final vowels in monosyllables
Breatnach (2003) argues that Old Irish did not permit final stressed short vowels, and
that items such as seo ‘this’, de ‘of him’ and te ‘hot’ which have, or may have, short
vowels in Modern Irish (and Scottish Gaelic) had long vowels in the earlier language
(see also GOI: 32; Green 1997: 71–3). In his discussion Breatnach cites Manx jeh ‘of
him’ and j’ee ‘of her’ with long vowels (HLSM I: 62). It appears in fact that all such
items have long vowels in Manx. Cheh ‘hot’ (G. te, ScG. teth), is spelled chée (2
instances), chæ in Phillips, and all instances of this item in HLSM (II: 74) have long
[eː]. Shoh ‘this’ (G. seo) has both long and short realizations (as well as forms which
seem to represent /ʃox/, cf. ScG. dialectal seothach etc.) (HLSM II: 405), but this was
probably determined by the varying degree of stress on this item. Final stressed vowels
arising from loss of final fricatives also seem to be compensatorily lengthened, as in
the ath class discussed below (§2.2.4).
It thus appears that Manx has preserved, or restored, the Old Irish constraint against
stressed final short vowels. We might compare the constraint in certain Scottish Gaelic
dialects which requires the insertion of an unhistorical [h] after word-final short
stressed vowels in pausa, e.g. /du/ dubh ‘black’ > [duh] (cf. Ternes 2006: 66–71).
These can be regarded as examples of the ‘bimoraic norm’ (cf. Iosad 2016b; §4.5.5.2).
147
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
2.2.2 Fronting of /aː, oː/ > /ɛː/
One of the most striking developments in Manx is that G. /oː/ from ó, ói (not eó) often
merges with G. /aː/, both being realized as fronted /ɛː/123 and spelled in CM <aa>, <a>,
<a_e>, <ay>, <ai>, <ae> etc.
There are also items where /oː/ is retained, however, and the conditioning factors for
this phonemic split are not immediately obvious. Similar developments are found
elsewhere in the Gaelic world, e.g. Gairloch is dàcha ‘it is likely’ (is dòcha) and pàg
‘kiss’ (pòg) (Wentworth 2005: 840), and the homophonic semantic splits noted by
Dillon (1953: 323) in Lewis: ba chòire ‘it would be more generous’, ba chàra dhuit
‘it would be more fitting for you, you should’, fàd ‘sod of turf’, fo’n fhòid ‘in the
grave’. Many such items had variants with á in Early or Classical Irish (Jackson: 41;
Dillon 1953: 324), and where these are recorded in eDIL they are noted in the tables
below:
In Middle Irish ō was apparently an open vowel tending towards ā, and the
Grammatical Tracts permit varying forms for a number of words in modern
bardic poetry
(Dillon 1953: 324)
In the lists below obviously relatively recent loanwords, likely to postdate the change,
are excluded. Some of less certain antiquity (e.g. floag, sole, fload) are included which
possibly should be excluded; on the other hand that there are some older loanwords
such as braag (G. bróg) and sharvaant (G. searbhónta etc.) which have undergone the
change.
Included below (Table 28) are items having /oː/ in most other Gaelic dialects, but
which have /uә̯/, /uː/, /ɨә̯/ in Manx (mooar, deayrtey, poosey), or which may have /oː/
in Manx where other dialects generally have /uә̯/ (see also §3.4.5). Items which
123
The symbolization /ɛː/ has been chosen as best reflecting the dominant pronunciation in Late Manx,
which may even verge on [eː]. However, some of the terminal speakers show a lower realization of /ɛː/,
more like [æː, aː], which may be dialectal (HLSM I: 160, III: 123–4), and it is unclear how high and
fronted this vowel was in earlier periods (see discussion below, §§2.2.3, 2.2.4).
148
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
generally have /uә̯/ or developments thereof in both Manx and other Gaelic varieties
are not listed here (see §§3.4.3–6).
Table 28. ó /oː/ > /oː/ etc.
Phillips
bugogue (Cr.),
boggoge (K.)
CM
pronunciation
/buˈɡoːɡ/
etymology
English
Eng. buck + -óg?
cf. ScG. bòcaidh,
mucag?
ScG. burdag, cf.
Ir. burdán
?
buck-thorn berry,
hip
burdoge (K.)
/burˈdoːɡ/
cologe (K.)
/koˈloːɡ/
croe, croae
/kroː/
cró, EIr. croa,
crao etc.
croag
/kroːɡ/
?crobhóg, ScG.
cròg, crobhag
(MacBain)
Ir. dórtadh,
doirteadh, ScG.
dòrtadh, vn. < dofortai, cf. Ir.
duartan
Eng. float
deayrtey
iâ, îy, ie, iy (2),
iê, ue, ýa (4),
ýy, ya, yá, ýy,
ye
er-fload
/dɨә̯rtә/
/erʲ floːd/
small fish, minnow
‘a party, a faction, a
league’ (K.)
sheep-pen; eye of
needle, notch of
arrow
claw
pour, spill
afloat
floag
/floːɡ/
Eng. flock?
flake
fo
/foː/
fo
under; under him, it
gamshoge
(K.)124
graynoge
(K.)125
mooar
/ɡamˈʃoːɡ/
gaimse, gaimseóg
buffoon, mimic
/graˈnʲoːɡ/
gráin(n)eóg
hedgehog
/muә̯r/
mór
big, great
/noː/
nuadh, nódh
new
/oː/
ó, ua
grandchild
noa
oe
ua (5), úa (10),
úy, úay;
(mooarid
‘greatness’) óy,
oa
óo (6), oo (2), ó
124
This item is found only in Kelly’s dictionary, which could make it suspect (§1.6.8.1). The item is not
found in the earlier manuscript of the dictionary (MNHL MS 1477), but is found in the later MNHL MS
1045–7, with a reference to ‘Ir.’ gamal ‘a fool’ (cf. Shaw, s.v. gamal ‘[a] fool, stupid person’) (this
reference is lacking in the published version). Kelly thus does not seem to have been aware of Ir. gaimse
‘simpleton’ or diminutive gaimseog, which perhaps makes it more likely that the Manx form gamshoge
is genuine.
125
Possibly from Shaw (1780).
149
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
peajeog (Cr.),
pitteog (K.)
peeoge
piteóg
miser, churl
a puny, petty, tiny
thing
/poːɡә/
Ir. pióg ‘pie’ (Ó
Dónaill), ScG.
pitheag ‘young
girl’ (Faclair
Beag)
póca
bag
/poːnrә/
póna(i)r, pónra
bean(s)
/puːsә/
pósadh
marry
raun
/roːn/
rón
seal
scoadey,
scoidan
sole
/skoːdә/
scód, Norse skaut
sloop, smack
/soːl/
threshold
stoamey,
stooamey
thoree
/stoːmә/,
/stuә̯mә/
/toːri/
ScG. sòla, Eng.
sole
stuamdha
poagey
/piˈtʲoːɡ/,
/piˈdʲoːɡ/
/pi.ˈoːɡ/
o (2)
poanrey
poosey
trocairys
ú (6), u (3), úy
(2), uy
o (5), ó, ô
tóraidhe, eDIL táir
(s.v. tóir)
comely
/troːkәrʲәs/
trócaire
highwayman (Cr.),
‘overbearing
person’,
‘headstrong child’
(Moore et al. 1924,
s.v. tory)
pity
CM
pronunciation
?/boːi̯ .ax/,
/buәi̯ .ax/126
etymology
English
ScG. bòidheach,
buaidheach;
bòidhchead
beautiful; beauty
/koːrʲ/
cóir, eDIL cáir
agreeable, kind
Table 29. ói /oː/ > /oː/
Phillips
bwaagh;
bwoyid
coar
croiaght
áa, áy, ay, úoia,
(bwoyid) óiy, ói
(3), oíí (2), óii,
oîî, oi, oi, óy
?/kroːi̯ .axt/,
?/krәi̯ .axt/,
?/krai̯ .axt/
127
< cró, cf. EIr.
croaigecht, ScG.
incest
HLSM (II: 51) bwɑ̜ːiɑ ̣x HK, bɑ ̣iax SK, bɔːiax, JK, bɔiax J:EK.
There are various semantic developments from the basic meaning ‘blood’ (Greene 1983), but the
sense of ‘incest’ appears to be attested only in Manx; cf. EIr. croöige ‘heir’ and the abstract noun
croaigecht (eDIL), and ScG. croidheach ‘dowry’ (Dwelly). Owing to the fluctuation of vowel length in
these forms in other Gaelic varieties (early hiatus, later ó and o) and the ambiguity of Manx <oi>, the
vowel length and quality in the Manx form is uncertain. If short we might expect /ai̯ / (§§1.7.5, 3.9.1,
3.9.1.4), though the <oi> spelling would suggest ortherwise. As far as is known, the word is a hapax
legomenon found only in Leviticus 18:17 (and thence in Cregeen, Kelly), where it is inserted in the
manuscript by the reviser for the translator’s original olkys (AV ‘wickedness’). The reviser writes
criaght, correcting himself with superscript o to the spelling in the printed text, which may lend support
to the */ai̯ / interpretation.
126
127
150
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
doaie;
doaieagh
foaid (Cr., K.),
faaid (K.)128
froaish
/doːi̯ /; /doːi̯ .ax/
/foːdʲ/, /fɛːdʲ/
/froːʃ/
croidheach
‘dowry’
dóigh; dóigheach;
eDIL dáig
fó(i)d
state, condition;
decent
sod of turf, clod
/ɡloːrʲ/
próis, Fr. / Eng.
prouesse, prowess
(eDIL, LEIA)
glóir
glory, glorify
/moːnʲ/
móin
peat, turf
/oːnʃәr/
óinseach
harlot
oaisht
/oːʃtʲ/
fóisc, E.Ir. óisc,
ScG. óthaisg
yearling sheep
snoaid, snooid
/snoːdʲ/, /snuːdʲ/?
gloyr,
gloyraghey
moain
óy (9), oy (4),
oe, óa, ó (6),
oainjyr
áy
stroin
(pl.) stroanyn
thoin
egotism, swagger
snood
/stroːnʲ/
sró(i)n
nose, nostril
/toːnʲ/
tó(i)n
bottom
CM
pronunciation
/ɛːɡ/; /sɛː/
etymology
English
óg, E.Ir. comp. oa
young;
younger, -est
diminutive suffix
Table 30. ó /oː/ > /ɛː/
orthography
Phillips
aeg; saa
áy (7), ay (2),
áa, a (2)
(faasaag) áy (1)
-age, -aig, -eig
e.g. caabaig
(Cr.), cabbage
(K.)
faasaag
imleig
liehbage (Cr.),
liabage (K.)
sornaig
airh, oar
(Trad.
Ballad)129
bayr
ay (2), áy (3),
áe, au (2)130
/ɛːɡ/ (?and /eːɡ/,
§4.4.7.4)
/kaˈbɛːɡ/
suffix -óg
ScG. càbag
a cheese, slab of
tallow etc.
/feˈsɛːɡ/
/imˈlʲɛːɡ/, ?/-eːɡ/
/lʲeˈbɛːɡ/
féasóg
imleóg
leadhbóg
beard
navel
flounder, fluke
/sorˈnɛːɡ/
/ɛːr/ (or /ɛːrʲ/?,
§4.2.1.3)
sornóg
ór
sewer, drain
gold
/bɛːr/
bóthar, eDIL
báthar
bróg
road
Ir. claochlódh,
ScG. caochladh,
change
braag
áy, ay (2)
/brɛːɡ/
caghlaa
á (7), a,
ghyghláym
/kaˈxlɛː/
shoe
128
According to Kelly, faaid is an ‘a[djective]’ (i.e. genitive) ‘belonging or pertaining to turf or sod;
consisting of sods’. All instances in HLSM (II: 170) have /oː/ apart from fɛːd (TT).
129
Thomson 1960–62 II: 64.
130
Thomson (1953: 7) suggests that Phillips’ spelling aur could reflect Welsh aur.
151
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
charbaa
chyrbâŷt
/tʃarˈbɛː/
chyndaa
á (7), a (5),
(fut.) chyndai,
hyndáys,
hyndáym, (pp.)
tyndáit, tyndait
â (5), á (2), a
(4),
/tʃinˈdɛː/
da
daah (§2.2.4)
E.Ir. coímchloud,
claechládh etc.
tearbódh, eDIL
terba, -úd, -ód
tiontódh, eDIL
tin(n)tád
wean,
excommunicate
turn
/dɛː/
dó
to him
/dɛː/
singe; daah-cree
heartburn
glare
áy (7), ay (5), aa
/ɡlɛːr/
dóghadh, ScG.
dòthadh, dàthadh,
E.Ir. dóüd, dód
glór, eDIL glár
paag, paagey
ay (3), a (4), á
/pɛːɡ/
póg
kiss
Parlane
ay
/parˈlɛːn/
Bartholomew
language
sharmane
áy, áa, a
/ʃarˈmɛːn/
sharvaant
ay (5), áy (4)
/ʃarˈvɛːnt/
Partholón, eDIL
Parthalán
ScG. ròlaist,
MacBain cf.
rigmarole, or ?rail
searmóin,
seanmóir
searbhónta
áy (2), a, á
/soˈnɛːs/
saobhnós
arrogance, ambition
CM
pronunciation
/ɛːɡʲәdʲ/
etymology
English
óige
youth
/kɛːrʲ/, /aˈɡɛːrʲ/
cóir, éagóir, EIr.
co(a)ïr, eDIL cáir
right; wrong
faaid, foaid
/fɛːdʲ/, /foːdʲ/
sod
?neaynin (K.)
?/nɛːnʲәnʲ/
fód, eDIL fát, fád,
fáid
nóinín, ScG.
neòinean
Tríonóid
raalish
?/rɛːlәʃ/
131
sonnaase
loose, empty talk
sermon
servant
Table 31. ói /oː/ > /ɛː/
orthography
Phillips
aegid
á (2), a (5)
cair; aggair
áy (12), ay (9),
ây, áe, a (2)
Trinaid
ái (3), ai (17)
/triˈnɛːdʲ/
daisy
Trinity
Conditioning factors are not immediately obvious in this fairly small set of lexical
items, although as noted by Jackson (41) /oː/ is maintained in a number of items where
there is an adjacent nasal vowel, where there may also be raising to /uː/ or /uә̯/ (e.g.
mooar ‘big’, G. mór; moo ‘more, most’, G. mó). It is likely that the development
131
Cf. connaase ‘disdain, contempt’ (Cr.)?
152
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
originated in a split between mid-high */oː/ (in nasal environments and elsewhere) and
mid-low */ɔː/, with the latter later merging with low /aː/, with both later fronted to /ɛː/.
The development to /ɛː/ is also more common in items which have á variants in eDIL.
Other factors which may be implicated in the maintenance of /oː/ rather than /ɛː/
include preservation of /oː/ in high-register items such as trocairys ‘mercy’, gloyr
‘glory’, oar ‘gold’ (but later airh) (cf. lack of diphthongization in high-register items
with /eː/, §2.2.7); analogy with the English or Latin/Romance cognate in the case of
gloyr ‘glory’; cases where /oː/ varies with /uә̯/, or may on the basis of other Gaelic
dialects have shown such variation in the past, such as stoamey, stooamey /stoːmә/,
/stuә̯mә/ ‘beautiful, comely’, noa ‘new’ (G. nuadh, nódh etc.), oe ‘grandchild’ (G. ó,
ua). There is evidence of lexical diffusion in earlier oar ‘gold’ alongisde later airh and
co-existence of variants in foaid, faaid ‘sod’, and the suffixes -age, -og(u)e , G. fó(i)d,
and semantic split between cair ‘right’ and coar ‘kind, decent’ (both G. cóir). Among
the items with the G. diminutive -óg it is unclear what, if anything, the small group of
nouns with /oː/ may have in common (bugogue, burdoge, gamshoge, graynoge,
peajoge, peeoge), apart from the presence of a labial consonant in the first syllable of
most of them?
2.2.3 /ɛː/ and /eː/
It is clear that /eː/ (<G. é etc.), and /ɛː/ were generally kept distinct in Early and
Classical Manx, since the latter is fairly consistently spelled <aa>, <a>, <a_e> etc. in
CM (<a, á, ay, áy> in Phillips), while /eː/ is usually <ea, e, e_e> (Ph. <e, æ> etc.),
although some orthographic units are ambiguous, such as <ay> (cf. mayl /mɛːl/ ‘rent’,
G. mál, but maynrey /meːnrә/ ‘happy’, G. méanar).
A merger or near-merger /ɛː/ > [eː] is reported before /rʲ/ (Rhŷs: 6; Marstrander: 64)
(§4.2.1.3) as in nearey ‘shame’ (G. náire), where a grapheme usually representing /eː/
rather than expected /ɛː/ appears; but expected <aa> is found in the adjective
naareydagh ‘shameful’ (also neareydagh). For another possible case of interaction
between /eː/ and /ɛː/, see §4.4.7.4.
153
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
According to Jackson (24–5), /eː/ and /ɛː/ are contrastive in his informants, and this is
the interpretation of Marstrander (62–4) also with the exception of the environment
_/rʲ/ noted above. Rhŷs’s (3–4, 6) descriptions also support the existence of this
contrast. However, Broderick (HLSM III: 50) claims there has been a (recent) merger
in Late Manx:
some ex[amples] show only allophonic variation indicative of close /eː/, while
others have allophonic variants indicative of open /eː/. That is to say, that the
pattern suggests a merging of two phonemes, i.e. of /eː/ and /ɛː/ into one, which
I write here as /eː/. There is now no phonemic opposition between /eː/ and /ɛː/.
(HLSM III: 50)
Aside from the continued lexical conditioning noted by Broderick himself, an
instrumental analysis of the speakers recorded by the Irish Folklore Commission
suggests that there is a clear height difference between reflexes of CM /eː/ and /ɛː/ (for
further details see §3.7).
Impressionistically, the three vowels /iː/, /eː/ and /ɛː/ seem to the present author’s ear
to be bunched quite tightly together in the front high area of the vowel space, which
may explain the perception of merger.
Broderick’s claim that /ɛː/ (and /әː/, /ɨː/) were no longer distinct in Terminal Manx has
been accepted uncritically by some subsequent scholars. For example, Green (1997:
45) sketches a system of five long vowels for ‘Manx at the time of its extinction’,
based on Jackson, Broderick (HLSM III; 1993) and Williams (1994b), rather than the
seven or eight contrastive vowels which should be posited. Williams (1994b: 709)
posits a tendency towards merger of /eː/ and /ɛː/, but nevertheless concludes they
remained distinct in Late Manx.
2.2.4 a(i)th /ah/ > /aː/
Although historical /aː/ becomes /ɛː/ in Manx, /aː/ is reintroduced by the vocalization
of final /h/ (OIr. /θ/, /θʲ/) in monosyllables in -a(i)th (cf. §2.2.1).
154
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 32. a(i)th /ah/ > /aː/
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/aː/, /naː/
etymology
English
HLSM
ath, an ath
/blaː/
ɑ ̣ː TC, naː
NM, nɛː HK
aː J:NM
/braː/
ScG. blàth, G.
bláith, E.Ir.
mláith
brath
re-, second,
next
warm
betray,
reveal
ɛː JW
/kaː/
cath
battle
/daː/
dath, dathadh
colour, dye
ɛː TC, JW
/ɡaː/
gath
sting
aː EKh, ɛː JW
/raː/
rath
success,
prosperity
scraa (Cr.),
scrah (K.)
/skraː/
scraith
scraw, layer
of sods on
roof
skraː JTK,
skrɛː JW, pl.
skrɛːɣən JW
skah (Bible,
Cr.), scah
(Cr.),
scaaghey (K.)
/skaː/
scathadh,
scoitheadh
earmark;
strong
wind132
skʹɛː W:N
aa, nah
ná (4), na
(2), náa (3)
blah
brah
brá (3),
bra, bráh
(3), da
vrâsyn, da
vrǽsyn
cah
daah
gah
raah
dâ,
(daahghey)
daghy,
daghit
gah, gagh,
(pl.)
gághyn
rágh, rá,
răh, rah,
ráh (2)
Blah ‘warm’ (G. mláith, bláith, ScG. blàth) is included here since it appears to have
assimilated to this set of lexical items (i.e. > *blath), perhaps to distinguish it from
blaa ‘flower’ (G. bláth), as suggested by Broderick (HLSM III: 124).
The example of blah and blaa, and the similar spellings in Phillips for the ath set and
for reflexes of á (and ó), as well as certain items in the CM orthography, and the
overlapping pronunciations in some of the terminal speakers, suggest that there may
have been no great phonetic contrast between /ɛː/ and the new /aː/, at least for some
speakers. The use of <a(a)> for this vowel in the orthographies presumably reflects the
132
‘a mark in the ear of sheep; a strong wind that sheds or shakes corn or fruit’ (Cregeen).
155
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
situation in Early Modern English around the year 1600, when conservative [æː] and
progressive [ɛː] realizations of Middle English /aː/ (<a>, <a_e> etc.) seem to have coexisted (Lass 2000: 83–4).
The vowel [ɛː] in daah ‘colour’ (G. dath) may represent interference from daah ‘singe’
(G. dóghadh) (§2.2.2).
2.2.5 /oː/ and */ɔː/
According to Broderick (1999: 83; HLSM
III:
54), a contrast between high-mid and
low-mid back rounded vowels may also have existed in Classical Manx:
As with original /eː/ and /ɛː/ more close realisations are restricted to some and
more open to other items, suggesting two former contrasting phonemes /oː/ and
/ɔː/ that could have given the following near minimal pair:
boayl */boːl/ ‘place, spot’ G. ball : Boaldyn */bɔːldәn/ ‘May’ G. Bealltuinn.
now realised as:
boayl /b[oː]l/, /b[ɔː]l/, /b[ɔː]l/
Boaldyn /b[ɔː]ldәn/, /b[ɑ ̣ː]ldәn/, though both orig. /a/ + /l/.
(Broderick 1999: 83)
However, it is not clear why G. (e)all should be expected to give differing realizations
in these items. If anything a contrast might be expected between reflexes of */aN/,
*/aL/ on the one hand and reflexes of historical /oː/ (and compensatorily lengthened
/o/) on the other, but there seems to be no strong orthographic or other evidence for
such a contrast.
A comment by Rhŷs (1–2) hints that /ɔː/ may have been (re)introduced via English
borrowings, but no details or examples are given:133
133
Perhaps e.g. walkal ‘walk’?
156
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
o […] occurs pretty often both long and open, resembling the pronunciation of
a or aw in the English words ‘all’ and ‘drawl;’ but this sound in Manx is
recruited largely from borrowed words.
(Rhŷs: 1–2)134
For the purposes of this thesis only one long vowel /oː/ will be assumed.
2.2.6 Monophthongization of /iə̯, ɨə̯, uə̯/ > /iː, ɨː, uː/
As noted by Jackson (50–1), Thomson (1976: 260–1) and Broderick (HLSM III: 139),
the G. diphthong ia [ia̯ , iә̯], is most commonly realized as monophthongal [iː] in Late
Manx (as is secondary /iә̯/ from G. éa /eː/, §2.2.7), thus merging with historical /iː/.
Similarly, where the back quality of G. ua [ua, uә̯] is retained, this is smoothed to
monophthongal /uː/ (Jackson: 53; Thomson 1963: 67; HLSM III: 139). However, in the
Phillips and Classical Manx orthographies these are generally clearly distinguished:
G.
ia(i)
í(o)
ua(i)
ú(i)
Phillips
<ia, ie>
<i, ii>
<ua>
<u, uy>
CM
<eea, ia>
<ee, eey, eei>
<ooa, ua>
<oo, ooy, ooi>
By the early nineteenth century, however, monophthongal realizations appear to be
indicated in certain spellings in Cregeen’s dictionary, such as keeir ‘dark’ (G. ciar);
lheegh ‘ladle’ (G. liach), and hooir ‘forebode, threatened’ (G. tuar) (§1.6.5). Early
indication of this development may be evident in the transcriptions for Edward Lhuyd
made at the turn of the eighteenth century, such as phegil for CM feeackle, Ph.
feakylyn, fiekylyn etc, ‘tooth’ (G. fiacal) (Thomson 1999: 395).
The development of the fronted reflex of G. ua /ɨә̯/ is less clear, since both it and
monophthongal G. ao /әː/ are represented indiscriminately by spellings such as <eay,
ea, eo> etc. in Classical Manx (§3.6.2). However, they are more clearly distinguished
134
In the section dedicated to ‘Open o, long’, Rhŷs (9–10) gives only shoh ‘this’ (G. seo), ro ‘too’ (G.
ró), and items with secondary lengthening of native short /o/, such as boght ‘poor’ (G. bocht) and boggey
‘joy’ (G. bogadh).
157
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
in Phillips (ua = <ya> etc., ao = <y, yy> etc.) (§3.6.1), and the evidence of Rhŷs and
his successors shows that they remained contrastive in Late Manx, with /ɨә̯/ tending to
be smoothed to [ɨː] in line with the development of /iә̯/ and /uә̯/ (§3.5.1.3).
Diphthongal realizations may be maintained, however, (a) before /x/, as in creagh
‘stack’ (G. cruach) (krɪːᵃx, Jackson: 53), jeeagh ‘look’ (G. déach) (dʒiːᵃx, Jackson:
32)135 and (b) when the diphthong synchronically occurs before a word boundary as a
result of loss of final /h/, as in lheeah ‘grey’ (G. liath); theay ‘common people’ (G.
tuath).
In jee ‘god’ (G. dia), the historical word-final diphthong has been smoothed to /iː/ even
in Phillips’ time (jih etc.),136 as also in the saint / parish name Malew /mәˈluː/ (G.
MoLua) (PNIM VI: 143); but cf. booa /buә̯/ ‘cow’ (G. bó).
In the case of following /x/, the CM orthography appears to indicate the development
of a glide in keeagh ‘breast’ (G. cíoch) although HLSM (II: 244) has only iː (TT, JW).
2.2.7 Breaking of éa /eː/ > /iə̯/
The ‘breaking’ of long /eː/ preceding historically broad consonants to a diphthong /iә̯/
is found in a number of items in Classical Manx (with subsequent monophthongization
to /iː/ in Late Manx).137 A similar development is well-known in Munster Irish (Ua
Súilleabháin 1994: 482–3) and northern or central dialects of Scottish Gaelic (Jackson
1968), as well as in certain items in Ulster Irish (O’Rahilly: 194). In Manx it is not
usually found in final position, whether original (so shey ‘six’ /ʃeː/, cf. northern ScG.
135
But cf. lheegh ‘ladle’ above, which appears to show monophthongization of G. liach.
Although the diphthongal realization is apparently preserved in the spelling Yieeah (PC l. 580) and
Dy bishee jeeah shiu ‘God prosper you’ (Kelly s.v. bishaghey).
137
According to Grannd (2000: 55) ‘[i]n Manx, according to Jackson 1955, this diphthongization does
not occur and even the vowel in the word ceud, which seems to be realized as a diphthong everywhere
in Gaelic Scotland, is realized in Manx as a long é’. This is clearly a misreading of Jackson (30–1), who
in fact notes the two realizations of G. éa in Manx, comparing [iː] to the ‘i(ː)a (or iə)’ of Irish and
Scottish dialects. As for kied ‘first’, notwithstanding Jackson’s kEːd (NM), kiːd (EK, JK), this seems
to be usually reduced to a short vowel (HLSM I: 50), as indicated by the CM spelling (§5.5.1).
136
158
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
sia /ʃia/) or via the loss of a final fricative (e.g. fea ‘quietness’ /feː/, cf. northern ScG.
fèath /fia/).138
Table 33. éa /eː/ > /eː/
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/beːrl/
etymology
English
Béarla
English language
beasagh (Bible,
Cr., K.),
beysagh (Cr.)
blakey
/beːsax/
béasach
compliant
/blʲeːkә/
stare
blean
/blʲeːn/
/breːɡ/
spléachadh, ScG.
spleuchdadh
ScG. bleun, blian,
Ir. bléin
bréag
/breːɡә/
bréagadh
coax
Baarle
breag, breg
éy, æy, ée, ǽ,
é (2), éa (2), æ
(2), e, a, áy, á
breagey
flank, groin
lie
cheh
ée (2), æ (2)
/tʃeː/
te, té
hot
cray
æ (2)
/kreː/
cré
clay
/kreː/
créadh
creed
/eːdaxә/,
/e(ː)ˈdoːlʲ/
/edax/ (§§3.9.2,
5.5.1)
/eːst/
éad
jealousy
éadach,
ScG. aodach
éasca
clothes
/edәn/ (§§3.9.2,
5.5.1)
/feːr/
éadan, ScG.
aodann
féar
face
/faˈlʲeːs/, /faˈlʲeːʃ/
EIr. folés, ScG.
faileas, faileus
gleam of light
/feː/; /feːax/, /feːx/
féath; féathach
/ɡʲeːr/
géar
rest, quietness;
quiet
sharp
/ɡreːs/
gréas
crea
eadaghey;
eadoil
eaddagh
æ, (eadoil) a
(2)
y (12)
eayst
íæ̂ , ía, ia, ea,
ǽa (2)
æ (2), e (4), y
(7), é, ey
éy (2), ǽy, ée
eddin
faiyr
falleays (Cr.,
K.), failleish
(Bible)
fea; feagh
geyre, gyere
grease; greasee
ée (4), ǽé139,
e, æ, ee
ǽy (2), éy,
(yeyre) iǽ (2)
moon
grass
‘industry in
making clothing’
(Cr.); shoemaker
138
One exception appears to be skeay, skeeah ‘vomit’ (G. sceith) (skiː TC, adj. skiːəx TC, skiːx JW
HLSM II: 409). A further case may be meeaylys ‘fatness’ (Cr., Bible), meeaynlys ‘scum, fatness, grease;
obtained by boiling flesh’ (K.), probably from G. méith, méath (itself found as Manx mea /meː/), as in
yn joan jeant mea lesh meeaylys ‘their dust made fat with fatness’ (Isaiah 34:7), i.e. *méith|eamhl|as >
*méal|as > *mialas with loss of perception of the first morpheme boundary.
139
Acute accent on each vowel character (Thomson 1953: 212).
159
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Jamys
a (3)
/dʒeːmәs/
Séamus
James
JeheineyCheays (Cr.),
Jy-heiney
Cheast (AG)
jeig
áy
/dʒiˈhәːnʲә çeːst/
Aoine an Chéasta
Good Friday
ée (3), ee (3),
éy, (yeig) iée,
ie (4)
iêê
/dʒe(ː)ɡ/
déag
teen
/dʒiˈnʲeːr/
dinnéar
dinner
/kʲeːs/
buttock, ham
/kʲed/, /çed/
ScG. ceus, eDIL
ces 4, césán
céad
/çedәn/
céadna
same
/lʲeːs/
léas < Eng. lease
/ˌlɛː̃ u mә ˈheːxt/
?lámh um a
h-éacht
méar
season (in ‘nightseason’)
hand-suit140
jinnair
kease
kied, chied
keddin, cheddin
Ph. liǽs
ie (6), iê, ei
(5), êî
e (3), æ (2), ie
(3), ie
iǽ, iæ̂ , ǽy,
ǽa, éa, æ
laue-my-height
mair
ée, éy (3)
meydlagh
raipey
sheayney,
sheaynt (Cr.);
sheeaney,
sheeant (K.)
smeyr (Bible,
K.), smair (Cr.)
trean
ay (3), áy (2),
a (4), á (3)
ǽy, ǽa, é, ǽ
(3), e
/meːr/
first
finger
/meːdlax/
(or /mәːdlax/?)
(§3.9.2)
/reːbә/
méadlach, ScG.
maodalach
slow-moving,
unwieldy
réabadh
tear, rend
/ʃeːnә/, /ʃiә̯nә/
séanadh, séanta
bless; blessed
/smeːr/
sméar
/treːn/
tréan
(black)berry,
grape
strong, valiant
CM
pronunciation
/biә̯l/
etymology
English
béal
mouth
/jiә̯n/
éan, éanlaith
young bird; birds
/dʒiә̯xәn/
déachain
look, show
Table 34. éa /eː/ > /iə̯/
Phillips
beeal
eean, eeanlee
jeeaghyn
140
ea (4), æa, éa
(8), éy (3)
ǽ (2), æ (2),
ǽy (5), áy, êŷ,
éy, ey
a (4), ea (20),
éa (2), á,
(yeeagh-) ia
(3), iá (4), yia
(1), ía, a
A legal term; see Thomson (1988: 141–2).
160
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
keead
ey (4), éy (3),
ie (4), iæ, íe,
iéy, ei
keeaght
/kʲiә̯d/
céad
hundred
/kʲiә̯xt/
céacht(a)
plough
skeeal
ia
/skʲiә̯l/
scéal
story
lheead
îê, iæ, íæ
/lʲiә̯d/
width
lheeannee
/lʲiә̯ni/
leithead, ScG.
leud
léana
neeal, neealloo
/nʲiә̯l/, /nʲiә̯lu/
néal(aibh)
screeagh (Bible,
Cr., K.), scragh
(Cr.)
/skriә̯x/
scréach
meadow
countenance;
swoon, faint
screech, scream
Phillips’ spelling generally indicates /eː/ in those items where the later orthography
consistently has <eea> for /iә̯/ (later /iː/). In a few cases such as skial ‘story’ (G. scéal,
CM skeeal) it is possible that an early instance of /iә̯/ is indicated; however <a> may
also represent /eː/ and the <i> may indicate the palatalized nature of /kʲ/. Similarly, the
spelling íæ̂ sk, íask, iask ‘moon’ (G. éasca, CM eayst) could possibly represent a form
*/iә̯sk/ (which would be more progressive than the later attested unbroken /eːst/), but
it is likely that /eː/ is intended (especially in view of <æ̂ >), with <i> marking the
palatalization of the preceding n of the article.
The breaking of /eː/ in Manx in those items in which it occurs thus appears to be a
development of the seventeenth century, or at least, the conservative forms represented
by Phillips’ spellings had become obsolete by the eighteenth century. The forms
recorded in the data collected for Edward Lhuyd at the beginning of the eighteenth
century correspond to the Classical Manx distribution, except that lèena seems to
suggest /eː/ for later lheeannee ‘meadow’ (G. léana) (Thomson 1999: 394).141 That the
unbroken form survived well into the eighteenth century is probably shown by the
spelling lheantyn (editorially emended to lheayntyn) in the MS of Judges 20:33, which
probably means /lʲeːntәn/, which is replaced by lheeantyn in the printed text.142 Apart
from lheeanee, the only apparent examples of variation between /iә̯/ and /eː/ in the
same item in Classical and Late Manx are sheayney (Cr., Bible), sheeaney (K.) ‘bless’
141
Non-breaking: breag, cheh, cray, eayst, faiyr, geyre, lheeannee, mair. Breaking: beeal, eean, jeeagh,
keeaght, neeal (Thomson 1999: 394).
142
This item is very common in place-names (PNIM), but usually spelled leany, leaney etc. which could
be interpreted either way.
161
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(G. séanadh), and possibly screeagh ‘screech’ if Cregeen’s variant scragh means
/skreːx/. In the Late Manx data there are realizations such as fiːɑ ̣ʳ (WQ, HLSM II: 157)
for faiyr ‘grass’ /feːr/ (also fẹːəʳ JW, fẹːə NM, feːə JTK, fe̜ ːɑ̆ DC), and similarly for
geyre ‘sharp’ (G. géar), but the pre-rhotic glide here is likely to be an artefact of
English influence on the phonology of the terminal speakers (cf. Jackson: 118; HLSM
III:
113) (§4.2.3).
Conditioning factors for the breaking are not obvious, although most of the
diphthongized items have following /l, n, x/, velar or (formerly) velarized consonants
implicated in other vowel changes such as backing of ea /e/ > /a, o/ (§2.1.3). Register
and/or lexical frequency may also play a role. The diphthongized items are mostly
everyday terms of probable high frequency, whereas the two items with unbroken /eː/
followed by /n/, for example, are the probably less frequent trean ‘valiant, strong’ and
blean ‘groin’, cf. non-breaking in ‘a loose group of ‘high register’ words’ in Scottish
Gaelic (Bauer 2011: 362; cf. Robertson 1902: 89; Ó Maolalaigh 2001: 31) such as beus
‘manners’, ceusadh ‘crucify’, treun ‘strong’ (see also Dillon 1953: 322–3).
Shortening of the vowel is found in certain of the unbroken items (§5.5.1), eaddagh
(G. aodach), eddin (G. éadan), kied (G. céad ‘first’), keddin (G. céadna), jeig (G.
déag), and may have predated the breaking. Eaddagh and eddin may additionally have
the change éa > ao (as in Scottish Gaelic), and suggested by Phillips’s spellings with
<y> (§3.9.2).
There are also one or two presumably relatively recent (post-Great Vowel Shift)
loanwords from English with eea, such as keeak ‘cake’ (Bible, Cregeen, Kelly)143
which may represent either the Manx development, or the similar diphthongization
found in northern English dialects (EDD s.v. ‘cake’).
143
Spellings apparently showing monophthongal /eː/ are found in the Bible translation manuscripts, e.g.
cheakyn (Leviticus 2: 4), cakyn (Leviticus 7: 12, 1 Kings 14: 3), kheak (Numbers 6: 19, emendation),
keakyn (Judges 6: 19, emendation).
162
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 3
Manx reflexes of Gaelic ao(i) and ua(i)
3.1 Introduction
The development of the Gaelic diphthong ua(i) (/ua̯ / or /uә̯/) and the long
monophthong ao(i) */әː/ (<OIr. diphthongs /ai̯ /, /oi̯ /, /ui̯ /) is a complex and difficult
area in Manx historical phonology.144 It is clear that Gaelic ua(i) in most lexical items
has a fronted realization in Manx, that it is retained as back /uә̯/ (> LM /uː/) in others
(spelled mostly <ooa> in the Classical Manx system), and is variable in still others
(Jackson: 52–3; HLSM III: 139–40).
The Classical Manx orthography tends to represent both ao(i) and the fronted reflex of
ua(i) by a number of di- and trigraphs, especially <eay>, <ea>, <ey>, <eo>. Some of
these orthographic sequences can also represent front vowels /eː/ (G. é), /ɛː/ (G. á).
This appears to suggest that (fronted) ua and ao were pronounced similarly both to
each other and to the front vowels. Phillips’ orthography tends to distinguish them
more clearly, with <yy, y> for monophthongal ao and <ya>145 for diphthongal ua, but
the use of <y> in both may suggest a degree of similarity between them (§3.6.1).
3.2 Historical development of G. ao(i) and ua(i)
3.2.1 ao(i) /əː/
G. ao(i) goes back to the Old Irish diphthongs áe, aí /ai̯ /, óe, oí /oi̯ / and uí /ui̯ /.146 The
diphthongs /ai̯ / and /oi̯ /147 were in the process of merging already in the Old Irish
144
For a brief discussion of this topic, drawing on the research presented more fully here, see Lewin
(2019a: 89–94).
145
And variants of the same with a range of optional diacritics.
146
The standardization of the placement of the diacritics here is an artefact of modern scholarship,
intended to distinguish the diphthongs clearly from monophthongal ái /aːCʲ/ and ói /oːCʲ/ (Greene 1976:
26). Usage in the manuscripts is varied. The phonetic symbolization of these diphthongs is conjectural;
the exact pronunciation is unknown.
147
/oi̯ / itself being a merger of earlier /oi̯ / and /ui̯ / (Cowgill 1967: 134–137; Greene 1976: 39–40).
163
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
period, as shown by orthographic confusion (GOI: 42; Ó Máille 1910: 36; McCone
1996: 139), and seem to have become a long monophthong by the Middle Irish period
(Pedersen 1909: 8; O’Rahilly: 31; Greene 1976: 40; Ó Murchú 1989b; McCone 1994:
92; Breatnach 1994: 233; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 192), generally assumed to be some
kind of central long vowel, here represented */әː/. This merged long monophthong
comes to be spelt ao(i) in Classical Irish from the 15th century onwards (McManus
1994: 349), and in Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic. There are also important
interactions between reflexes of ao(i) */әː/ and agh, adh */aɣ/,148 especially in northern
Irish, Scottish (and apparently Manx) dialects (Shaw 1971; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 340;
2006; Lewin 2018).
In modern varieties there are three main developments of ao(i) and agh (inc. adh etc.)
(Lewin 2018: 159):
(a) In southern Irish (Connacht and Munster) varieties ao(i) has merged with /eː/ and/or
/iː/,149 while agh is usually a diphthong /әi̯ /.
(b) In southern Scottish dialects, and apparently Manx, ao(i) remains a mid central
vowel /әː/, may be fairly fronted and, according to some descriptions, may have weak
rounding. Mergers with /eː/ and/or /iː/ are reported from certain speakers in Arran and
Kintyre (O’Rahilly: 33; 709 1957: 8–10; 1962: 6–10; SGDS), and there is a tendency
towards similar mergers in Late Manx, at least in aoi > /eː/ (§§3.4.2, 3.4.4, 3.5.1). Agh
is also realized as /әː/ and thus merges with ao(i) (Dilworth 1996: 44; Ó Maolalaigh
1997: 227–228).
(c) In Ulster and northern Scottish varieties ao(i) is realized as a high back unrounded
vowel /ɯː/, which is contrastive with mid back unrounded /ɤː/ representing agh. In
Ulster, both of these have tended to front and merge with /iː/ and /eː/ respectively,
148
Also eagh, eadh, ogh, odh.
In Munster generally ao > /eː/, aoi > /iː/ (Ó Murchú 1989b: 144), while in Connacht both ao and aoi
> /iː/.
149
164
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
apparently fairly recently,150 but in northern Scotland they remain robustly distinct in
most varieties.151
3.2.2 ua(i) /uə̯/
G. ua(i) derives from breaking of /oː/ in the Early Old Irish period (GOI: 39–41;
McCone 1994: 89). There is a certain amount of interchange between ó and ua at all
periods, including in Manx (§3.4.5). This diphthong is spelt ua(i) in modern Irish and
Scottish and generally remains a diphthong [ua̯ ] or [uә̯]. It is, however, sometimes
smoothed to [uː], [oː] in certain environments and lexical items in some Irish dialects
(O’Rahilly 1932: 193; Quiggin 1906: 21; de Bhaldraithe 1945: 87; de Búrca 1958:
116; Mhac an Fhailigh 1968: 136; Ó Curnáin 2007: 91–2). In Scottish dialects there
may be a phonemic split into /ua̯ / and /uә̯/ (Oftedal 1956: 97; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 141).
In Ulster ua(i) may be unrounded and fronted in certain environments (Quiggin 1906:
28–9; O’Rahilly 1932: 37; Wagner 1959: 77; Ó Dochartaigh 1987: 110–4). The
similarity between this development and the fronted and unrounded reflex of ua(i) in
Manx has been noted by scholars (Quiggin 1906: 29; Jackson: 52; HLSM
III:
60; Ó
Dochartaigh 1987: 112), but the conditioning factors seem to be quite different (§3.8).
3.3 Summary of Manx developments
The main developments of these phones in Manx may be summarized as follows
(Figure 10), according to the analysis in the present chapter:
150
For discussion of Ulster data see Ó Dochartaigh (1987: 114–21, 289–90). See also Ó Maolalaigh
(1997: 670, 672), Maps 6, 8a, 8b.
151
For further discussion of the historical developments across Gaelic dialects, see Lewin (2018).
165
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Figure 10. Main developments of G. ua(i), ao(i), agh in Manx
Gaelic
ua
ua̯
uai
aoi
әː
ao
әː
agh aɣ > әɣ > әː
Early / Classical
Manx (C17–18)
uә̯
ɨә̯
әː
әː
әː
Late Manx
(C19–20)
әː
uә̯, uː
ɨә̯, ɨː
әː
әː
әː
(eː)
Thus it is claimed that a distinct phoneme /әː/ survived throughout the attested periods
of Manx, representing ao(i), agh and some reflexes of uai, with the proviso that a
degree of allophonic variation gave rise to merger of /әː/, representing aoi and uai, to
/eː/ in some speakers, as described by Rhŷs (25) (§3.5.1.4).
The situation with original G. /ua̯ / is more complex. Some items retain back /uә̯/ (with
a tendency towards monophthongization to /uː/ in Late Manx), in certain cases with
by-forms with /oː/ (§3.4.5), while others show fronting to /ɨә̯/ (> /ɨː/) (§3.4.3) or /әː/ (>
/eː/) (§3.4.4). Further items show both back and front by-forms, although one may be
more commonly found than the other (§3.4.6).
The regular development of uai with following slender consonant is /әː/, but there are
exceptions where /ɨә̯/ is or may be found through paradigmatic analogy (cleaysh, G.
clua(i)s; geayltyn, G. guailne) (§3.9.5) or other phonological developments
(depalatalization of */rʲtʲ/ in keayrt, G. cuairt) (§3.9.6). Despite orthographical overlap,
there seems to be little evidence of merger or confusion between /әː/ and /ɨә̯/, /ɨː/ (other
than the above-mentioned aoi and uai items showing /әː/), although the development
of a form /ɡɨә̯/ for geay ‘wind’ (G. gaoth) in certain dialects or idiolects (also expected
/ɡәː/) is a notable exception (§3.9.3).
3.4 Lexical items with ao(i), ua(i), agh etc.
The following tables (35–41) show most of the items with historical G. ao(i), ua(i),
agh (etc.), with the exception of the new diphthongs arising from vocalized fricatives
166
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
and certain other problematic lexical items which are dealt with in §3.9.
3.4.1 ao > /əː/
Table 35. ao /əː/ > /əː/
Phillips
etymology
English
HLSM
bleayst
CM
pronunciation
/blәːst/
blaosc
iːə TC, iː TT
ceaghley
/kәːxlә/
cleayn (Bible,
Cr.), cleoyn
(Cr.);
cleayn(agh)ey
/klәːn/, /klәːnә/
claochlódh,
ScG.
caochladh
claonadh
husk, eggshell
change
ĩː JW, iːə, iə̯
TC
deyll (K.),
tarroo-deyill
(Cr.)
deyr
/dәːl/
daol
enticement,
propensity,
seduction;
entice,
seduce, tempt
beetle
ýa (3), ýy
(4), ýæ
uæ, ý (2)
/dәːr/
daor
dear
/dәːrә/
daoradh
condemn
eː, e̜ ː NM, ɛː
JTK
e̜ i JW
ý (2), y, éy
*/dәːʂәn/
dearth
/әːl/
ScG.
daorsainn
aol
/әːnax/
aonach
desert, waste
/әːnәnʲ/
cf. ScG.
aonan
precipice
/fәːn/
fao(i)n
freoagh
/frәːx/
fraoch
wide,
expansive,
void, waste
heather
gaer
/ɡәːr/
ScG. gaorr
/ɡәː/, /ɡɨә̯/
gaoth;
gaothach
deyrey
Ph. dysyn, cf.
deyrsnys (Cr.)
eayl
eaynagh,
eaynee
eanin (Cr.),
eaynin (Cr.,
K.)
feayn
geay; geayagh
(§3.9.3)
ýy
yei, ýæi,
ya (2), ýa
(3), ýæ (3),
ye, ua, úa
lime
short dung,
ordure
wind; windy
ø, øː TC, yː, iː,
uː, λː NM, eːⁱ
SK
iː HK, iːə JW,
øː TC
ᵘiː, ᵘi, iː (TC),
iːə, iː JK, λːə,
eː, eːə NM, λː
HK, iː TCr, o̤ i,
o-i W:S, ɪːᵊ
J:JTK, HB
167
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
inney-veyl
éy, ýy (2),
yy (2), ée
/inʲә ˈvәː̃ l/
handmaid,
servant girl
rowan
ö TC, iː TT
iː JW, HK,
NM, yː JW, uː
HK
i, y., ũ NM,
yː, λː HK, i
JW
iː HK
keirn
/kәːrn/
inghean
mhaol
caorthann
keyl
/kәːl/
caol
slender
keyllys
/kәːlәs/
caolas
sound
keynnagh
/kәːnax/
caonach
moss
keyrrey, gen.
keyrragh
y (4), e (2)
/kәːrә/, /kәːrax/
caora,
caorach
sheep
kirree
(§§3.911,
5.5.1)
kyagh (K.)152
kirri, kiri
/kiri/, ?/kirʲi/
sheep (pl.)
/kәːx/
caoirigh,
caoraigh,
ScG. caoraich
caoch
leaum (Cr.),
lheaym (K.)
/lәːm/
laom
meayl
/mәːl/
maol
one-eyed,
blind
sudden heavy
shower of
rain
bald
meayllee
/mәːli/
maolaidhe
hornless cow
meoir
/mәːr/
maor
yː HK, NM, ɪ
HK, iː NM,
HK, e JK, ɛ
i, iː NM, ï HK,
ɪ TC
ø TC
e̜ ː TC, eː
J:NM
seihll;
seihlt(agh)
ýy (11), yy
(5)
/sәːl/, /sәːltax/
saoghal;
saoghalta
moar, bailiff,
government
officer
world;
worldly
seyr
y, ýy (3),
éy (3), ey
/sәːr/
saor
free
/sәːr/
saor
carpenter
/sәːrә/
saoradh
acquit, free
e̜ i TC, ẹː HK,
JW, ẹː, eː, ëː,
yː NM
e̜ i JW
/slәːdә/,
/slәːdax/
slaodadh
drag
ø TC, ö JW
seyir
seyrey
sleaydey;
sleaydagh
152
ýy (3), ya
eːⁱ, e̜ ː, JTK, öː,
Eːⁱ, Eː, e̜ ː JK,
o̜ ː, øː TC, Eː
NM, e̜ ː EK, ɛː
JːNM, eː JW,
öː WːS
ïː JW
The spelling of this item is unexpected in the Classical Manx orthography (perhaps representing
diphthongization before /x/?), and it occurs only in Kelly, but is present in the first draft of the dictionary
(MNHL MS 1477) so may be genuine. The derivative kyaghan ‘mole’ (G. caochán), found only in
Kelly’s later manuscript (MNHL MS 1045–47) and the printed dictionary, is more suspect, as stress
shift would be expected in a heavy-heavy item.
168
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
t(h)eaymey
(Bible, K.),
teaumey (Cr.)
teaym
/tәːm/
taomadh
bail out
water, teem
/tәːm/
taom
teayst
/tәːst/
taos
whim, fancy,
fit
dough
teaystney
/tәːsnә/
taosnadh
ScG.
aon
un (§3.9.11)
y (13), ý, ú
(2), u (2)
/un/
ɛː, e̜ ː HK, ẹː
TT
knead
one
oː JTK, ɛː, Eː
JK, uː TK, o̜ ː
EKh, u̜ ː J:JTK
HLSM
3.4.2 aoi > /əː/ (>/eː/)
Table 36. aoi > /əː/ (>/eː/)
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/ɛːi (ɣ)әːlʲ/
etymology
English
áith aoil
limekiln
é (3), e (4)
/dәːnʲә/
daoine
men
/әːʃ/
aois
age
eoylley
yǽ, ýæ,
ǽy, ey (2),
êŷy, úe, ué
ýy
/әːlʲә/
aoileach
dung
feoilt(agh)
ei (2), êy
/fәːlʲtʲ/
faoilte(ach)
generous
feysht
ey, yǽ (2),
úea, uá,
eay, úey
(2), ýey,
æy, ǽy,
úe, uéy,
yé, éye, éâ,
ua, yey
/fәːʃtʲ/
faoiside
examine,
question
geaysh(t)
/ɡәːʃ(t)/
gaoisid
animal hair
iː TC, ẹː JW
Jecrean (Cr.),
Jy-curain (K.)
/dʒeˈkrәːnʲ/
Dia Céadaoin
Wednesday
ẹː WQ, HK,
JW, ẹːⁱ NM
aaie eayil, aaie
gheayil
deiney
eash
eː NM, JK,
J:EK, e̜ ː JK, öː
JK
iː TK, HB, ẹː
NM, JK
ẹː JW, HK, eː
TK
fix (?) NM,
fẹˈoːlʹtʹ,
fẹˈoːlʹt (sic)
TC
169
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Jeheiney (Cr.),
Jy-heney (K.)
é (2)
/dʒeˈhәːnʲә/
Dia hAoine
Friday
Jerdein (Cr.),
J’ardain (K.)
keayney
ey
/dʒarˈdәːnʲ/
Diardaoin
Thursday
e, é, æ (2),
ee, ŷe
éy
/kәːnʲә/
caoineadh
weep, cry
/kәːnʲ/
caoin
kind,
delicate
/mәːʃ/
maois
/rairʲ/
araoir, aréir, EIr.
irráir
mease,
measure of
herring
last night
/skәːlʲә/
scaoileadh
spread,
scatter
/ˌtaru ˈdәːlʲ/
*tarbh daoil
bull-worm
keiyn (Bible,
Cr.), keayn
(Cr.), keain
(K.)153
meaish (Cr.)
meays (K.)
riyr (see
§3.9.4)
skeayl(l)ey;
skeayltagh
e (6), é, ýa,
y (2), ý, ýy,
éy (2), îê,
æ̆ y, ai, ey
tarroo-deyill
øː TC, ẹː HB,
JW, WQ, eː
NM
øː TC, ei WQ,
eːⁱ NM, ẹː HK
ẹː HK, e. SK,
eː JK, ẽː̣
e̜ JK, eː TL,
mẹːs JW
rɑːr, rɑ ̣iə̯r
NM, rɑ ̣ːʳ,
rɑ ̣ːiə̯r JW,
rajə WːN
ẹː TC, JW,
HK iː JTK, eː
TK, e̜ ːⁱ NM
3.4.3 ua > /ɨə̯/, /ɨː/
Table 37. ua /uə̯/ > /ɨə̯/ (>/ɨː/)
Phillips
beayn; cobeayn
úa (4), ŷâ,
ýa (2), ya
beaynee
úa
beoyn
cheayll, geayll
creagh
153
ýy (7), yy
(2), ý
CM
pronunciation
/bɨә̯n/
etymology
English
HLSM
buan
i SK
/bɨә̯ni/
buanaidhe
eternal,
lasting; coeternal
reaper
/bɨә̯n/
buan ?
/xɨә̯l/, /ɡɨә̯l/
chuala
/krɨә̯x/
cruach
tendency,
drift, instinct
(Cr.),
‘necessity,
fate’ (K.)
heard
rick, stack,
heap
iː TC
y NM, ɪ, ᵘï
TC, iː HK
iː TC, JW,
HK, iə̯ JK, i
Thomson (1953: 248 s.v. KEYN) wrongly indicates that this word is found only in Phillips; in fact
it is a securely-attested, if not especially common, item in Classical Manx.
170
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
DC, NM, yː
HK, iːə JTK
creoghys,
creoighys;
creoghan (K.)
ye, yey, ýo,
úa, iy
/krɨә̯xәs/
deayrtey
iâ, îy, ýa
(4), ýy (2),
ue, ie, ya
(2), yá (2),
ýy, iy (3),
ye, iê
iy (3)
/dɨә̯rtә/
ey (2), éy
(2), ǽy (2),
æy, eâŷ,
eay, yea,
yeă, ŷêa,
yéa, ýea,
ýe, êya
ýa (5), ya
(8), iâ, ia
(2), ŷâ, ea,
ue, yá
ûŷ, ua (3),
ýa, uá, úa
(5), úua
eaghtyr
eayn
feaysley,
feayshil
feoh
cruas,
cruadhas,
cruachás;
cruadhachán
dortadh,
doirteadh,
*duartadh
hardness,
hardship;
gadfly, harsh
creditor
pour, spill
/ɨә̯xtәr/
uachtar
surface
/(ɣ)ɨә̯n/
uan
lamb
/fɨә̯slә/
fuascladh
untie,
release,
relieve
fẹːʃlə TT,
fẹːl′ə HK
/fɨә̯/
fuath
hate
iːə TT, ẹːo
TC, HK, joː
JW, ẹoː, eˈoː
TC154
i EKh, W:N,
W:S, yː NM,
EK, HK, uː
HK, λː NM, iː
TT, JK, HB, ẹː
JTK, öː J:EK,
ɪː J:TL. ɪ J:JK
iə̯ TC, iː Ekh,
ẹː SK, i JK, öː
J:EK, ï W:S
i JK, TC,
W:N, TK,
W:S, e̜ HB, ɪː
J:JTK, J:JK,
J:HB, yː, JW
λ, λː HK, ü, y
NM, ɪ., i. W:S,
ö, ɛ J:EK
geayl
ýy
/ɡɨә̯l/
gual
coal
geaylin
ýa
/ɡɨә̯lәnʲ/
gualainn
shoulder
keayn
ie, êy, ýa
/kɨә̯n/
cuan
sea
154
iː TC, üːᵊ, λː
NM, i JTK
ẹː TC, iː TT,
JW
eː EKh, iː
JTK, HK, ɛ
JːEK, λː NM
All except TT’s are clear spelling pronunciations.
171
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
leagh
úa (7), uá
/lɨә̯x/
luach
leah
ýa, iæ, iǽ,
úa (3), ua
(3), ýæ
/lɨә̯/
luath
leaystey
/lɨә̯stә/
luascadh
leaghyr,
laghyr,
leoighyr (Cr.),
leeaghar (K.)
leoh (Cr.)
/lɨә̯xәr/
luachar
/lɨә̯/
ash (gen.)
/lɨә̯n/
luaith, gen.
luatha
Luan
/skɨә̯b/
scuab
brush, broom
/slɨә̯st/
sluasaid
shovel, fan
/tɨә̯/
tuath
common
people
etymology
English
HLSM
clua(i)s
ear
i TC, JK, öː
J:JTK, W:S eː
HK, ẹː JW,
NM eːï Ekh, ɪ
HB, ɪ, ɪː HB,
J:JTK, eːi SK,
ɛː J:TL
ẹː EKh, NM,
HK i NM, ẹ.,
eː, iː HK
iə̯ TC, i NM,
W:S, iː NM
Lhein, Lheiun
(Cr.)
skeab
y (2)
sleayst
theay, theo
(Cr.)
ua
value,
reward
early, soon
iːə TC, JW, iː
TT
iːə JTK, yə
NM, iː HK
swing, rock,
reel, stagger
rushes
iː TC, JW,
leːʃt′ᶴə W:S
Monday
iː TC, JW, JK,
HK, WQ, i
TC, HB, i. JK
3.4.4 uai > /əː/ (>/eː/), /ɨə̯/ (>/ɨː/)
Table 38. uai /uə̯/ > /əː/ (>/eː/), /ɨə̯/, (>/ɨː/)
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
N /klɨә̯ʃ/, S
/klәːʃ/
cleaysh
ye, ua (2),
úa (6), úæ,
ya (4), ýa
(6)
eayin
iĕ (2), yĕ,
yæ̆
/(ɣ/j)ɨә̯nʲ/,
/(ɣ/j)әːnʲ/
uain
lambs
geayltyn
ýy
/ɡɨә̯lʲtʃәn/
shoulders
g(h)eayney
ûŷ, iæ
/(ɣ)әːnʲә/
*guailtean, G.
guailne, ScG.
guailnean
uaine
green
øː TC, ï W:S
gleashagh(t)
y, ýa (3),
ya, yy
ie (2), e,
æy
/ɡlәːʃax(t)/
gluaiseacht
move
ẹː JW, TT, eː
NM, iː TC
*/әːntʃәs/
uain
opportunity,
leisure
Ph. ienchys
etc.
172
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
í, iy, úey
/dʒeˈlәːnʲ/
Dia Luain
Monday
iy (5), iý,
íy (2), ŷi,
yi, iê, eiy,
yy (2), ýy,
iŷ
/kɨә̯rt/
cuairt
time,
occasion
/lәːlʲ/
luadhail156
motion,
power of
movement
/mәˈɡɨә̯rt/
ma gcuairt
around,
about
neayr’s
/n⁽ʲ⁾ɨә̯rәs/
? an uair agus
since
treickney,
treicknane
(Cr.), tratney,
traitney,
tratneayn (K.)
/trәːkʲnʲә/,
/trәːtʲnʲә/;
/trɨkʲˈnʲeːn/,
/trɨtʲˈnʲeːn/
tuairgneadh,
tuairgnín
beat; beetle,
mallet
Jelhein (Cr.);
Jy-luain (K.)
Jelune, Jelhuin
(Cr.)155
keayrt
lheihll (Bible,
Cr., K.), lheill
(Bible), lheil
(Cr.)
mygeayrt
iy (8), îŷ
(2), îy (2),
yi (2), iŷ, i
(2), y, éy
i JK, JTK ø
TC, iə̯ JTK, e̜ ː,
eː HK, ei JW,
WQ, eⁱ, ẹː NM
i HB, JK, iː
JW, y NM, öː
HK, ï HB
iː TC, JW, TT
iə̯ HB, iː, iᵊ, i,
λː JK, i.ə, ĭə
W.N, öː, ɪː
NM, J:EK,
J:TL, ü, y, ĕ, i,
ï, e NM
iː JW, ɪ NM,
JK
3.4.5 ua(i) > /uə̯/, /uː/, /oː/
There are a number of items which categorically retain back /uә̯/ (>/uː/). Included are
certain items such as mooar, booa, sto(o)amey which may also have /oː/ within Manx
or in other Gaelic varieties; this generally appears to block development of fronting,
although see deayrtey (§3.9.8). There are also a number of items with both fronted and
unfronted variants (§3.4.5). Included here are those items with G. uaidh which retain
back /uә̯i̯ /; for other diphthongs arising from ua(i) + vocalized fricatives, see §3.9.1.
155
156
Spelling based on supposed etymology.
Apparently treated as > luail, or via */lәːi̯ .әlʲ/, cf. seihll (§3.4.1).
173
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 39. ua(i) /uə̯/ > /uə̯/ (>/uː/), /oː/
Phillips
booa
druaiaght
(Bible),
druaight
(Cr.),
druiagh(t)
(Bible, K.),
cf. drualtys,
driualtys (Cr.)
(§3.9.10)
dwoaie;
dwoaiagh,
dwoaioil
uó
dûôi, duoi;
(dwoaioil)
duoiyl,
duoióyl,
duoióel
groamagh
(Cr., K.,
Bible),
grooamagh
(K.)
gruaie
CM
pronunciation
/buә̯/
etymology
English
HLSM
bó, cf. dat. pl.
buaibh;
buachaille etc.
cow
buːə NM, HB,
buɑ TC, (pl.)
buːɑ ̣xən,
bøuxən,
bøuhən TC,
bọːrən JTK
/druә̯i̯ axt/, ?
/drәːi̯ axt/
draoidheacht,
druadh-
enchantment
/duә̯i̯ /
duadh (Ir. m.),
duaidh, ScG.
duaidh (f.)
hate, dislike
ui JW, TT
/ɡroːmax/,
/ɡruә̯max/
gruaimeach
gloomy,
sorrowful,
sullen
oː JW
/ɡruә̯i̯ /
gruaidh
cheek;
grimace
big, great
ui TC
mooar
ua (5), úa
(10), úy,
úay
/muә̯r/
mór, Munster
Ir. muar
smooinaghtyn
(§3.9.9)
ú (11), u
(5), úi (2),
ui, uy
/smu:nʲaxtәn/
smuain,
smaoin
think,
thought
/stoːmә/,
/stuә̯mә/
/tuә̯rәstal/
stuamdha
comely
tuarascbháil
appearance,
form,
resemblance
stoamey,
stooamey
tuarystal (Cr,
K., Bible),
tooarystal
(SW)
174
uː TC, TK,
TL, W:S, NM
uːə TC, JK,
NM, oːə NM,
u̜ ː J:TL, J:EK,
J:JTK, J:HB,
u̜ ːə J:EK,
J:JTK, J:HB
u JK, HB,
NM, uː TC, ï
W:N, W:S,
smaːᵊxin Myl
õː, ũː TC, oː
JW
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
twoaie
uoi (2), ûôi,
ûêi
/tuә̯i̯ /
tuaidh
north
twoaie;
twoaiagh
uôi (2), ûôi
(2), uói, oi,
ôi
/tuә̯i̯ /, /tuә̯i̯ ax/
tuaith
(Dinneen)
beware;
wary
ui, u-i JK,
NM, u̜ i J:EK,
J:JTK, uːi
W:N, ûːi W:S
3.4.6 ua(i): items with variable reflexes
Table 40. ua(i) /uə̯/ > /ɨə̯/ (>/ɨː/), /əː/ or /uə̯/ (>/uː/), /oː/
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
? /klu:isaɡ/,
/klәˈʃtʲeːɡ/
etymology
English
ScG. cluasag
pillow,
bolster,
cushion
úa, iýa
/fɨә̯r/, fuә̯r/
fuar
cold
feayght,
feayraght
ya
fuacht
cold,
coldness
heose, seose,
neose
ua (6), úa
(14), uá (4),
u, ya (2)
/fɨә̯xt/, /fuә̯xt/,
/fɨә̯raxt/,
/fuә̯raxt/
/hɨә̯s/, /huә̯s/,
/hoːs/
thuas, suas,
anuas
up
hooar, dooar,
fooar (PC,
Ph.)
éy (12), ǽy
(2), ey (3),
æy (4), óy
(2), eý, êŷ,
ýy, uóe, ûêy
/huә̯rʲ/, /hәːrʲ/
fuair
got, found
ooasle;
ooashley
ýa (10), yá,
ya (5), ýæ
/uә̯sәl/, /wusәl/;
/uә̯ʃlʲә/, /wuʃlʲә/
uasal; uaisle
noble,
worthy;
worship,
honour
clooiesag
(Cr.),157
cleayshteig
(K.)
feayr
HLSM
uᵊ NM, iːə
TC, TL, DC,
HB, iː TT, iːĕ̜
HB
iːə, i TC, uᵊ
NM, uː HK
öː JW, EL,
DC, J:NM, u
HB, TC, ëːs,
ëi, ëː, eiː NM,
yː EK, HB, oː
EL, uː TC,
JTK, ɔː J:EK
uːə JTK, HK,
ᵘuːə, ᵘuː, uː
NM, uː, uːə
W:N, e̜ ː HK
u̜ ᵉʃl̠ i J:EK, miː
ˈwuːʃl′ə TC
157
Cregeen’s form is apparently influenced by clooie ‘small feathers, fur’ (G. clúmh, ScG. clùimh,
clòimh), as further suggested by his definition of clooiesag ‘a bolster of feathers’.
175
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Fronted reflexes of ooasle appear to be restricted to Phillips, (see §3.6.1.2) although
ny seasley (PC 1796 l. 3424) may represent the comparative (Thomson 1995: 138).
3.4.7 agh, adh > /əː/
The interaction of adh/gh (excluding those items which give /Vi̯ /-diphthongs) with the
ao(i) set in Manx is not immediately clear, primarily because few examples of the
adh/gh set are found in which the development of historic /a/ can be determined.
Several items found in other Gaelic varieties, such as adhradh, ladhar are not attested
in Manx, and in other items the realization of adh/gh is obscured by later
developments, as with oyr ‘reason’ (G. adhbhar) (§3.4.7.3).
However, if <eo> in leodaghey ‘decrease, diminish’ (G. laghdaghadh) means /әː/ as
in feoilt ‘generous’ (G. faoilte), eoylley ‘dung’ (G. aoileadh), freoagh ‘heather’ (G.
fraoch), meoir (Cr.) ‘official’ (G. maor), and <eay> in reayrt means /әː/ as in keayney
‘crying’ (G. caoineadh) etc. (§3.6.2), then it seems likely that adh/gh became /әː/ and
merged with ao(i) as in southern Scotland (Ó Maolalaigh 2006; Lewin 2018). TC’s
l′ẹˈoːdɑ ̣xə is clearly a spelling pronunciation (§1.6.9.2). Other items are discussed
below.
Table 41. agh, adh /aɣ/ > /əɣ/ > /əː/ and other developments
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
etymology
English
HLSM
leodaghey
y (3)
/lәːdaxә/
laghdaghadh
eairk
éyrk, erick
(3), ǽrick,
(pl.) érikyn,
ærikyn,
æyrkyn,
ǽrkyn, ærkyn
/әːrk/
adharc
decrease,
diminish
horn
l′ẹˈoːdɑ ̣xə TC
(sic)158
ẹːʳk JW, eːɑ̜k,
eːak, iak NM,
öːṛk HK, elʹk
W:N, pl. ẹːʳkən
JW, e̜ rkən TC,
ɛːʳkən, e̜ ːṛkən
JK, ẹːakən
NM, elʹkən
W:N
/әːrkan/
/rәːrt/
adharcán
radharc
lapwing
view
earkan
reayrt
158
Spelling pronunciation.
176
rɛːt NM
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
eab
/әːb/
/oːr/
ScG. aghaib
(O’Rahilly
1926: 36)
adhbhar
reason
ọːəṛ NM, o̜ ːr
TC
/imәd/
adhmad
use
Roonysvie
/ˌru(ː)nәsˈvai/
*Raghnasbhagh
Ronaldsway
ɪməð JW,
ẹməd, eməð,
eməs, ɪmɪd
ˈruːnəsˈvɑ ̣ːi
JW
Crennell
/krenәl/
Mac Raghnaill
(surname)
oyr
ymmyd
óer (3), oer,
óeyr (2), oeyr
(2), oéyr (2),
óyr (5)
y, ý
attempt, effort
Although adharc and radharc seem to show /aɣә/ > /әː/, the more common
development of agh, adh, ogh, iodh in intervocalic or final position is /aɣә/ > /[ә]ɣә/ >
/әjә/ > /әi̯ /, as in the following items:
cleigh, cleiy /klәi̯ / ‘hedge; dig’ (G. cladh), eiy /әi̯ / ‘foot lock’ (G. iodh), eiystyr
/әi̯ stәr/ ‘halter’ (G. adhastar), eiyrt /әi̯ rt/ ‘chase, follow’ (G. adhairt), feiyr /fәi̯ r/
‘noise’ (G. foghar), fuygh /fәi̯ / ‘wood’ (G. fiodh), leigh /lәi̯ / ‘law’ (ScG. lagh),
leih /lәi̯ / ‘forgive’ (G. loghadh), reih /rәi̯ / ‘choose’ (G. rogha), teiy /tәi̯ /
‘choose’ (G. togha), oaie, oi /әi̯ / ‘face, front’ (G. aghaidh).
3.4.7.1 eab ‘attempt’
So far as is known, this item and its derivatives are attested only from Cregeen, who
defines eab as ‘an attempt, effort, or push; to say or do some thing’, and eabee as ‘a
person, &c. partly taught, formed or planned to some particular work or use’. He also
gives a verb eabbey ‘attempt, &c. […] form or plan’, eabit ‘planned, formed, cut out,
marked, &c’.
O’Rahilly (1926: 35–6) links this to ScG. aghaib ‘attempt, essay, trial’ and compound
form comhaib ‘contention’, which he derives from < *ad-od-be (O’Rahilly 1926: 36),
and compares with the more frequent ScG. form oidhirp ‘effort’, M.Ir, aidirbe < *adair-ess-be, and Ir. fobha, fogha ‘attack, attempt’ < OIr. fubae, fo-ben. If O’Rahilly’s
etymology is correct, eab presumably represents /әːb/.
177
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.4.7.2 eairk ‘horn’, G. adharc
There are no <y> or <yy> spellings for this item in Phillips, and forms such as ǽrick,
erick may represent a metathesized form *adhrac. A form adhraic is reported in South
Uist and Barra (Campbell 1972: 218) and Tiree (Ó Maolalaigh 2008b: 520); compare
also the Sutherland form represented as earag by Dwelly. A form /eːrk/ could develop
via /ejәrk/, /eiә̯rk/ if adh followed the usual development in stressed coda position
rather than the preconsonantal development as found in leodaghey.
3.4.7.3 oyr ‘reason, cause’, G. adhbhar
G. adhbhar is found as oyr in Manx (oer, oeyr and similar in Phillips), apparently
representing /oːr/ (cf. HLSM II: 344). It is impossible to tell (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 2006ː
58–9) whether this represents merely loss of /ɣ/, followed by vocalization of /v/ (i.e. >
abhar, cf. Manx doagh /doːx/ ‘vat’, G. dabhach), or the same with compensatory
lengthening (i.e. > ábhar, cf. Manx foayr /foːr/, G. fábhar, Eng. favour), or with
modification of the quality of /a/ as found in Scotland, since faobhar seems to develop
in the same way as items with a and á, to Manx foyr /foːr/, though also apparently with
/uː/ from one speaker (Jackson 1955: 49, HLSM II: 176).
3.4.7.4 abane ‘ankle’, EIr. odbrann, ScG. adhbrann
EIr. odbrann ‘ankle’ has a peculiar development in Manx to abane (Cregeen, Kelly),
abbane (Bible) /aˈbɛːn/. Ó Maolalaigh (forthcoming b) posits a derivation of the
modern forms from an earlier *adhbarn ( < EIr. odb ‘knot, lump’, Ir. fadhb ‘knotty
problem’ + *sperno/ā ‘heel’). The (presumably early) loss of /r/ in an unstressed
cluster in the Manx form would have a parallel in maggle ‘testicle’ (G. magairle)
(§4.2.2.2), with the resulting /әn/ being remodelled under the influence of the
diminutive ending -án (cf. §4.4.7.3), as in certain Scottish Gaelic dialects (ibid.: 262).
It is also possible that the -án ending is an early substitution for earlier -arn if the latter
had been reanalysed as a singulative or diminutive termination, as suggested by the
178
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Scottish variant adhbairne (Ó Maolalaigh forthcoming b: 261; cf. O’Rahilly 1931: 66–
9) and Ir. fadhbairne ‘lumpy object’.
The stress shift obscures the development of the first syllable, but since non-initial
stress is strongly correlated with the historical presence of a long vowel or diphthong
in the first syllable (§5.1), it is likely that this was earlier */ˈәːbaːn/ *adhbán.
3.4.7.5 ymmyd ‘use’, G. adhmad
Manx ymmyd ‘use’ apparently represents Irish adhmad and is attested with initial [ɪ]
and [e] (HLSM II: 480). For the short vowel in a polysyllable, see §5.5.1; presumably
the earlier form was */әːmәd/.
3.4.7.6 G. Raghnall (N. Rǫgnvaldr) in Roonysvie and Crennell
The name Raghnall, N. Rǫgnvaldr, is not attested independently in Manx as far as is
known, but is present in the Norse place-name Roonysvie, Runnusvei, Runesvie
‘Ronaldsway’, ˈruːnəsˈvɑ ̣ːi (JW, HLSM
II:
509) (Norse Rǫgnvalds vað > G.
*Raghnasbhadh) (PNIM VI: 161–4) and the surname Crennell (< Mac Raghnaill). The
first vowel may apparently be long or short, presumably because the stress is on the
final syllable. According to Broderick (PNIM
VI:
164) ‘[t]here is no obvious reason
for /uː/. The entry for 1770 [Runnusvei] suggests a short vowel, which would agree
with its unstressed position’. However, we might also compare Manx un < aon, and
Manx red, G. rud < réad, raod, both of which may represent special developments of
/әː/, /eː/ under light stress. The short vowel in Crennell may be explained by the
widespread phenomenon of stressed long vowel shortening in polysyllables (§5.5.1).
179
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5 Previous accounts of Manx ao(i), ua(i)
3.5.1 Rhŷs
Rhŷs (11–28) devotes considerable space to the Manx reflexes of G. ao(i) and ua(i),
and evidently appreciated the complexity of the topic (Lewin 2019a: 94). His
fieldwork notebooks include lengthy tables of realizations of items containing ao(i)
and ua(i) from different informants arranged in parallel columns (Broderick 2018c:
52–6):
The Manx reflexes of G[aelic] AO(I), UA(I) […] seemingly became a fetish
with Rhŷs. Practically every speaker he interviews is asked questions on this
aspect of Manx phonology.
(Broderick 2018c: 47)
Although Rhŷs’s descriptions are not without their ambiguities, they are an extremely
important source for this topic, providing evidence of the pronunciation of more
conservative, Manx-dominant speakers born in the early nineteenth century.
3.5.1.1 ao > ȳ [əː]
According to Rhŷs (17), the regular realization of G. ao before a broad consonant in
Manx is a phone ȳ, with examples given including keyrrey ‘sheep’ (G. caora), meayll
‘bald’ (G. maol), seihll ‘world’ (G. saoghal). This sound is stated to be ‘nearly
identical with the eu in such French words as ‘jeune’ and ‘peur’’, which suggests [œː].
However, it is also defined as ‘the long vowel corresponding to the short one last
discussed’. This short y is described as follows:
By short y in Manx I mean the sound of North Cardiganshire pronunciation of
the words yn ‘in,’ and yr ‘the:’ to my hearing it is identical with that of u in the
English words ‘but’ and ‘gun.’
(Rhŷs: 14)
180
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The Welsh comparison suggests [ә],159 but the English presumably refers to RP [ʌ].160
The vowel in French jeune ‘young’ and peur ‘fear’ would be expected to be open-mid
[œ] rather than close-mid [ø] in jeûne ‘fast’ (cf. Fougeron and Smith 1999).161
However, [œ] appears to be the value intended by Rhŷs for his œ, which he describes
as ‘a rounded ĕ like the ö of the German words ‘brödchen’ and ‘hölle’’ (Rhŷs: 21).
Since Rhŷs clearly intends a distinction between ȳ and œ̄ , the latter being more
clearly defined, perhaps ȳ should be understood as a somewhat higher vowel. It is
worth noting the following comment by Strachan (1897: 54), casting doubt on the
identity of quality of ȳ and y, which would suggest that ȳ does not have quite the
same quality as short [ә]:
As to symbols, ə, æ, ů, y, and ȳ have been used as in Prof. Rhŷs’s Outlines of
Manx Phonology, though I am not quite sure that ȳ is exactly the long sound of
y.
(Strachan 1897: 54)
Notwithstanding this uncertainty, it will be assumed that ȳ = [әː] for the purposes
of the following discussion. More important than the exact value of the vowel Rhŷs
heard, or thought he heard, is his testimony that ao had a largely consistent realization
as this ȳ, and showed no signs of falling in with /iː/ or /eː/, unlike aoi and uai (see
below §3.5.1.4).
3.5.1.2 Allophonic realizations of ao
Rhŷs (17, 21) notes realizations of eayl ‘lime’ (G. aol), with œ̄ , œ [ә̞(ː)] or ü [ɨː] (?),
which he surmises represents the genitive aoil as in clagh eayl ‘limestone’, G. cloch
According to Ball and Williams (2001: 35–6), Welsh /ә/ is somewhat fronted [ә̟] in both northern
and southern varieties.
160
It is possible, however, that Rhŷs’s status as an L2 speaker of English, his L1 being North Ceredigion
Welsh, may have affected his perception of English, notwithstanding his prominent position in British
elite society. In Rhŷs’s lifetime RP /ʌ/ appears to have been predominantly a back vowel, although later
twentieth-century accounts describe fronting in the direction of [ә] or [æ] (Bauer 1985: 67).
161
jeune [ʒœn], jeûne [ʒøn], peur [pœʀ] <https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/frenchenglish/> [accessed 26.08.2019].
159
181
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
aoil. Similarly, a realization of meayll ‘bald’, G. maol as vœl is noted ‘as if
representing a dative feminine maoil in Irish’ (though he does not comment on the
quality of the lateral). The short versions of these vowels are noted also in Gaelg
‘Manx Gaelic’ (G. Gaoidhealg), which Rhŷs (21) states he has ‘heard fluctuate
between Gœlc and Gülc’ (§3.9.1.1). Of short ü he writes that ‘[i]t is met with in
Manx mostly before l in such of the following instances as are monosyllables, but
elsewhere it is more commonly long, as will be pointed out under the respective
instances’ (§4).162 These realizations are presumably to be understood as allophones
of /әː/.
3.5.1.3 ua > ůy [ɯə̯], üy [ɨə̯], iy [iə̯]
According to Rhŷs (19), ‘ü represents the Goidelic diphthong úa, and the
pronunciation fluctuates between ua, ů, ü, and i’. Although ů, ü, and i are presented
here as monophthongs, transcriptions in the subsequent discussion suggest that they
were often diphthongal, as in the historical ua, with a schwa off-glide. When
monophthongal, it was usually long, but short in certain instances:
It [short ü] is met with in Manx mostly before l in such of the following
instances as are monosyllables, but elsewhere it is more commonly long.
(Rhŷs: 19)
Rhŷs describes the phonetic value of ü and ů as follows:
By short ü is meant that occurring in the German word ‘dünn’ and ‘üppig.’…
by ů I mean a sound considerably more rounded than ü, and reminding one
more clearly of the u which is here the starting point.
(Rhŷs: 19)
Cf. Terminal Manx klɑːx yːl clagh eayl (JW) (also iːl, u:l), λːl (NM), eːilʹ (SK), ø(ː)l (TC) (HLSM
II: 140), and kyːl keyl, G. caol (JW), xuːl (HK), also kiːl (JW, HK, HK) (HLSM II: 249).
162
182
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
On the face of it, the only difference between ü and ů would seem to be the degree of
rounding, i.e. ü = [y] and ů = [ʉ]. However, ‘reminding one more clearly of the u which
is here the starting point’ may in fact refer to degree of backness. This is further
supported by James Murray’s interpretation of Rhŷs’s pronunciation of these sounds
which Rhŷs quotes as follows:
He [Murray] describes the u of fuyr as originally ‘a high-back round
vowel,’ which became successively ‘high-back mixed, like the Swedish u’;
then ‘a high-front round vowel, like the German ü,’ and finally, owing to ‘the
loss of the rounding,’ an open ī.
(Rhŷs: 20)163
There are reasons to be doubtful about the descriptions of rounding here (§3.5.6), and
we shall interpret the descriptions as referring to degrees of back to central unrounded
vowels, so ů = [ɯ], ü = [ɨ]. This symbolization should not be understood as precluding
a degree of rounding, however. Rhŷs gives the following examples of such realizations
of G. ua:
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fūyr [fuә̯r], fůyr [fɯә̯r], füyr [fɨә̯r], fiyr [fiә̯r]
beayn ‘lasting, eternal’, G. buan (no transcription given)
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kǖyn [kɨә̯n] kīy̆ n [kiә̯n]
eayn ‘lamb’, G. uan: ghůy̆ n [ɣɯә̯n], ghüy̆ n [ɣɨә̯n], ghiy̆ n [ɣiә̯n]
leagh ‘reward’, G. luach: lüagh [lɨa̯ x], lüygh [lɨә̯x]
leah ‘early, soon’, G. luath: lůy̆ [lɯә̯], lüə [lɨә̯]
theay ‘common people’, G. tuath: tüə [tɨә̯], tiə̯ [tiә̯]
According to Rhŷs, (20), historical ua was monophthongal, often short, and always ů
and ü before [l]:
In the case of ua followed by l, the only pronunciations which I have heard are
ů and ü (never i), and the vowel is now mostly cut short
(Rhŷs: 20)
163
Rhŷs adds the cryptic comment ‘[h]ad he heard the u sound from a Manxman I am not sure that
he would not have pronounced it to be simply an open u’.
183
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The following examples are given:
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: gůl [ɡɯl], gül [ɡɨl]
cheayll, geayll ‘heard’, gůl [ɡɯl], gül [ɡɨl]
geaylin ‘shoulder’, pl. geayltyn, G. guala(i)nn (see §3.9.5)
Rhŷs (20) states that the realization of leagh ‘reward’ (G. luach) was monophthongal
in the south lůgh [lɯːx], and he heard a realization of theay ‘common people’, G.
tuath, as tü [tɨː] from ‘a native of Dalby’ (on the west coast south of Peel).164
The instances in Phillips of geayl ‘coal’ and cheayll / geayll ‘heard’ all have spellings
which suggest a monophthongal pronunciation: one instance with <ýy> for the former
and for the latter, seven instances of <ýy>, two of <yy> and one of <ý>. No spellings
suggesting a diphthongal realization, such as <ya> or <ua>, are found for these items
(see also §3.6.1.2 for discussion of Phillips’ orthographic representations). For geaylin
only one instance occurs in Phillips, with <ya>, suggesting the regular diphthongal
reflex of ua. The one instance of the plural has <ýy>, which may suggest the regular
development of uai to /әː/.
All the realizations of geayl ‘coal’ in terminal speech have monophthongal
realizations, sometimes short. Southern gyːl (NM, EK and HK), guːl (HK) and
possibly gλːl [ɡɯːl] (NM), göːl165 (J:EK) probably represent the sound that Rhŷs heard,
but the most frequent realizations are with iː (EKh, TT, south; JK, HB north), ɪː (J:TL
south), or short i (W:N/S) or ɪ (J:JK, north) (HLSM II: 188). There is also ẹː (JTK,
north).
For cheayll / geayll ‘heard’ we find kyl only from NM, xiːl from HK (both south) and
kɪl, kuɪ̈ l (TC, north), and also ha ˈgɪl cha geayll (TC, W:S). For geaylin we find
164
Although possibly to be considered part of the north, according to the traditional administrative
division (§0.8).
165
Jackson explains his ö as ‘a slightly retracted central ö, very poorly rounded, further back and more
open than ø in French peu, and somewhat closer than œ in French pleure; though occasionally it is open
enough to write œ.’ Broderick (HLSM III: 44) explains his use of ö as follows: ‘In certain circumstances
/ә/ can be realized as [ö] or [öː] (i.e. articulated with a degree of retraction and lip-rounding)’.
184
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
diphthongal iə̯ (TC), but also iː (EKh), ẹː (SK), i (JK, HK), ɪ̈ (W:S). In the plural we
have iə̯ (TC), i (NM, W:N) and iː (NM).166
Strachan (1897) also gives monophthongal ů̄ for G. ua:
χů̄l cheayll ‘heard’, G. chuala
ků̄ᵈn keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan
3.5.1.4 aoi and uai > œ̄ [ə̞ː]
According to Rhŷs (22–6), œ̄ is the regular reflex of both aoi and uai. The value of œ̄
is defined by reference to the short vowel, described as followed:
By this I mean a rounded ĕ like the ö of the German words ‘brödchen’ and
‘hölle’: it occurs in Manx in a few words in which it is a shortening of long œ.
(Rhŷs: 21)
The vowel ĕ is defined as ‘Open e, short…so far as I can judge, that of e in the English
words ‘get’ and ‘men’’ (Rhŷs: 5), i.e. [ɛ]. These descriptions would suggest that œ̄
represents front rounded mid-low [œː], but again the degree of rounding is unclear
(§3.5.6), and œ̄ is therefore interpreted as a lowered version of ȳ [әː]. This is noted as
varying with ē [eː] in at least some items. The following items with G. aoi giving œ̄
are given:
seihill ‘world’ (gen.?), G. saogha(i)l): sœ̄ l [sә̞ːl]
seyir ‘carpenter’ (gen.?), G. saoir: sœ̄ r [sә̞ːr]; also in Mac y Tœr [makәˈtә̞ːr]
surname ‘Teare’, G. Mac an tSaoir
eash ‘age’, G. aois: œ̄ sh [ә̞ːʃ], ēsh [eːʃ]
deiney ‘men’, G. daoine: dœ̄ ñi̯ ey [dә̞ːnʲә], dēñey [deːnʲә], (voc.) ghœ̄ ñey
[ɣә̞ːnʲә], ghēñey [ɣeːnʲә]
feysht ‘examine, question’, G. faoiside (no transcription)
skeayley ‘scatter, spread’, G. scaoileadh (no transcription)
Jeheiney ‘Friday’, G. Dia hAoine: hœ̄ ney [ˈhә̞ːnʲә], hēney [ˈheːnʲә]
166
It should be noted that some of the attested forms show apparent confusion between the singular and
plural, with non-palatalized [l] appearing in TC’s plural giəltən and palatalized [lʲ] in some of the
singular forms such as SK’s gʹẹːlʹən. Confusion between broad and slender consonants is apparently
common in terminal speech (Broderick 1999: 90).
185
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Jerdein ‘Thursday’, G. Diardaoin: Jyrdœ̄ ñ [dʒәrˈdә̞ːnʲ], Jydœ̄ ñ [dʒәˈdә̞ːnʲ]
Rhŷs (23) states that œ̄ can also ‘represent […] uai or the umlaut of the Goidelic
diphthong ua’. The following items are given:
Jelhein ‘Monday’, G. Dia Luain: Jylœ̄ ñ [dʒәˈlә̞ːnʲ] ‘rhymes with Jardain
pronounced Jy(r)dœ̄ ́ ñ’
keayrt ‘time, occasion’, G. cuairt (no separate transcription)
mygeayrt ‘around’, G. má gcuairt: myʒœ̄ ́ rt, myʒi̯ œ̄ ́ rt [mәˈɡʲә̞ːrt]
eayin ‘lambs’, G. uain: ghœ̄ ñ [jә̞ːnʲ]167
geayney ‘green’, G. uaine: ghœ̄ ñey [ɣә̞ːnʲә], ghēñey [ɣeːnʲә]
The above suggests a merger between uai and aoi,168 which Rhŷs (25) himself
postulates:
From the foregoing instances it will be seen that the sound common to all the
more regular representatives of uai and aoi is œ̄ which, however, does not
always remain thus, in the case of open syllables like gheayney ‘green,’ deiney
‘men,’ and Jyheiney ‘Friday,’ one hears either œ̄ or ē: of these I should regard
œ̄ as the older sound and ē as a modification of it. So we seem to have the two
series uai, œ̄ , ē and aoi, œ̄ , ē: in other words, the two series converge at œ.
(Rhŷs: 25)
Rhŷs’s observations appear to show a merger in progress, with [œː] falling in with [eː]
(from G. éi).
3.5.2 Marstrander (1932)
Marstrander lists different phones according to the Gaelic phonemes of which they are
a reflex. The data relevant to ua and ao are summarized below.
167
168
‘with a palatal gh passing off into i̯ or the y of the English words ‘yield’ and ‘yes’’ (Rhŷs: 23).
For some or most items; certain uai items may instead go with ua (§§3.9.5, 3.9.6).
186
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5.2.1 ē ̣ [eː] < G. aoi, uai
This is primarily a reflex of G. é etc., but may represent G. aoi, uai (Marstrander: 64).
aoi
deiney ‘men’, G. daoine: dēˈñə
̣ [deːnʲә]
meaish ‘measure of herring’, Norse meiss, cf. ScG. maois: mēṣ̌ [meːʃ]
skeayley ‘spread’, G. scaoileadh: skēˈɫə
̣ [skeːlʲә]
Jeheiney ‘Friday’, G. Dia hAoine: dʹžẹ hēˈñə
̣ [dʲʒeˈheːnʲә]
keayney ‘weep’, G. caoineadh: kēˈñə
̣ [ˈkeːnʲә]
meiygh ‘soft, tender’, G. maoth: mē ̣ [meː]169
uai
naightyn ‘news’, G. nuaidheacht, nuadhacht, nódhacht, cf. ScG. naidheachd:
nēˈaχtən
[ˈneːaxtәn]
̣
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. cluais: klēṣ̌ [kleːʃ] kɫēṣ̌ [klʲeːʃ]
gleashagh(t) ‘move’, G. gluaiseacht: glēˈžaχ
[ɡleːʒax]
̣
Marstrander (64) explicitly notes that before broad consonants ao becomes either ē [ɛː]
(HK) or î [ɪː] (WQ).
The forms with [eː] would represent the innovating reflex of aoi / uai noted by Rhŷs
(§3.5.1.4), [eː] resulting from unrounding of [әː]. [kleːʃ] for cluais would represent
Rhŷs’s (24) southern form.
3.5.2.2 ē [ɛː] < G. ao
Long open ē [ɛː], predominantly representing G. á or ó, is also noted as a reflex of G.
ao in two items (Marstrander: 63):
teayst ‘dough’, G. taos: tēs [tɛːs]
seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal: sēl [sɛːl]
This realization is noted as a Cregneash feature.
The Manx spelling suggests a Manx reflex maoith, perhaps attested in TC møiɑ ̣x meiyghagh (HLSM
II: 297) < *maoitheach (cf. §3.9.1.1).
169
187
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5.2.3 ī [iː] < G. ua
Long close ī, as well as representing G. í, ia and ‘broken’ é (§2.2.7), is noted as a reflex
of ua (Marstrander: 65):
skeab ‘brush’, G. scuab: skīb [skiːb]
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fīr [fiːr]
feayraght ‘coldness’, G. fuaracht: fīˈraχt [fiːraxt]
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kīdn [kiːᵈn]
eaghtyr ‘surface’, G. uachtar: īˈχtə(r) [iːxtә(r)]170
3.5.2.4 î [ɪː]
Under ‘i-lydene’ (‘i-sounds’), Marstrander (65–6) describes ‘[d]en senkede î’ as a
frequent reflex of ao. This is described as ‘noe senket i omtrent som i irsk daoine i
Kerry’ (‘a somewhat lowered i approximately as in Irish daoine in Kerry’).171
Presumably by this ‘lowered’ (‘retracted’?) vowel something like [ɪː] is meant. The
following items are noted:
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: gî [ɡɪː], also gîə [ɡɪә], giə̯ [ɡiә̯]
eayl ‘lime’, G. aol: îl [ɪːl]
keyl ‘slender’, G. caol: kîl [kɪːl]
keyllys ‘sound’, G. caolas: kîˈləs [kɪːlәs]
Marstrander also notes î from G. aoi, ua and secondary /iː/ (<uidhe):
skeayley ‘spread’, G. scaoileadh: skʹîˈɫə [skɪːlʲә], also skēˈɫə
̣ [ˈskeːlʲә]
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kîdn [kɪːdn], also kīdn [kiːᵈn]
guee ‘pray’ G. guidhe: gwî [ɡwɪː], also gwī [ɡwiː]
170
Marstrander (65) also lists cleayney ‘seduce, entice, persuade’ (klīˈñə [kliːnʲә]) here, apparently
deriving this from cluain ‘deceit, flattery’ (which does not generally have a derived verbal form),
although it is more likely from claoin, claonadh ‘incline, slant; pervert, lead astray’. It is possible,
however, that the Manx form represents conflation of both words, as might be suggested by the
palatalized [nʲ] noted by Marstrander, unless this is simply by analogy with the finite stem claoin, and
by the alternative realization klîˈənə [ˈklɪәnә] (Marstrander: 74).
171
I.e ‘guta fada tosaigh [iː], beagán faoi bhun Guta Cairdineálta 1, liopaí leata […] beagán lárnaithe in
aice le consan leathan’ (‘a long front vowel [iː], a little below Cardinal Vowel 1, lips spread […] a little
centralized adjacent to a broad consonant’) (Ó Sé 2000: 22).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Marstrander (66) notes that in all the words with î, open ī [iː] may also be heard. In
addition, he suggests that ē ̣ [eː] and ē [ɛː] vary with î before both broad and slender
consonants. It should be noted that Marstrander does not use î in his transcriptions of
Christian reading from the Bible in 1928 (Thomson 1976). This may be because this
sound was not noted from Christian, or because Marstrander had not yet noticed the
distinction at this point. Cf. Marstrander’s introduction of the symbol ï part-way
through his transcription of Christian (Thomson 1976: 256).
3.5.2.5 îə [ɪə̯] < G. ua(i), ao
Marstrander (74–5) notes îə [ɪә] as a realization of ua(i) and ao:
ua
leah ‘early, soon’, G. luath: ʎîə [l̪ ɪә̯]
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: gîəl [ɡɪә̯l]
eaghtyr ‘surface’, G. uachtar: îˈəχtər [ˈɪә̯xtәr]
leagh ‘reward’, G. luach: ɫîəχ [lʲɪә̯x]
creagh ‘turfstack’, G. cruach: krîəχ [krɪә̯x]
uai
mygeayrt ‘around’, G. mágcuairt mə gîˈərt [mәˈɡɪә̯rt]
ao
bleayst ‘husk, egg-shell’, G. blaosc: blîəst [blɪә̯st]
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: gîə [ɡɪә̯]
?ao/ua
cleayney ‘seduce’, G. claonadh, cluain: klîˈənə [ˈklɪә̯nә] (see fn. 170)
3.5.2.6 ei [ɛi̯ ] < G. ao
Marstrander notes a diphthongal realization ei [ɛi̯ ] of ao before r in two items:
deyr ‘dear’, G. daor: deir [dɛi̯ r]
seyr ‘free; carpenter’, G. saor: seir [sɛi̯ r]
This may be explained as an onglide before the [ɹ], noted elsewhere in Late Manx
(though more usually as [ә], §4.2.3). However, a similar realization is recorded in seose
‘up’, G. suas, sëis, seiːs (NM, HLSM II: 389).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5.2.7 ū [uː] < G. ua
Long tense back ū [uː] is noted as a reflex of ua in certain items (Marstrander: 69)
where back realizations are well-attested:
hooar ‘got, found’, G. f(h)uair: hūr [huːr] w̥ ūr [ʍuːr]
seose ‘up’, G. suas: sūs [suːs]
3.5.2.8 ‘ø’
Marstrander (69) describes a vowel sound resembling Norwegian ø and occurring in
various environments and being a reflex of various Gaelic vowels, including ao and
ua. Both short and long versions of this vowel are noted.
Foran dentaler, likvider og sibilanter får vokalene ofte i betonet stilling en
modifiseret uttale, som for et norsk øre bryter på ø. Denne uttalen skyldes en
senkning av vokalen. Fortungevokaler senkes til en midttungevokal av lignende
karakter som eng. ea i earth, ja ikke sjelden til en baktungevokal som kan ligge
like dypt som eng. u i but.
[Before dentals, liquids and sibilants in stressed position the vowels often
receive a modified pronunciation, which to a Norwegian ear resembles ø. This
pronunciation is due to a lowering of the vowel. Front vowels are retracted to a
central vowel of similar character to English ea in earth, indeed not seldom to
a back vowel which can be as low as English u in but.]
(Marstrander: 69)
The exact quality of this vowel is not identified, perhaps deliberately owing to
uncertainty on the part of the author, and the examples are not transcribed phonetically,
but rather simply listed in their orthographic form. The comparison with Norwegian
[ø] would suggest a rounded vowel, but English [ɜː] in earth and [ʌ] in gun are
unrounded (at least in Received Pronunciation). It is worth noting that English /ʌ/ is
generally adopted as /ø/ in loans into Norwegian, as in lønsj ‘lunch’, pønk ‘punk’. See
Lewin (2018: 172–4; also §3.5.6 below) for discussion of confusion between front
rounded and unrounded vowels in fieldwork on the Gaelic languages, including that
of the Norwegian Nils Holmer.
190
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
In line with the view adopted throughout this chapter that Manx reflexes of ao(i) and
ua(i) were most likely unrounded, or at most only weakly rounded (cf. §§3.5.1.1; 3.5.5;
3.5.6), a neutral central vowel transcription will be adopted here and Marstrander’s
‘ø’-vowels will be transcribed as [ә] and [әː] here. According to Marstrander, they are
found in the following items:
[ə]
ea
edyr ‘at all’, G. eadar, idir
jiarg ‘red’, G. dearg (also long vowel)
jialg ‘thorn’, G. dealg, also dʹžolg [dʲʒɔlɡ], dʹžōlg [dʲʒɔːlɡ], pl. dʹžïlg [dʲʒɪlɡ]
io
fys ‘knowledge’, G. fios, also fïs [fɪs]
kys ‘how’, G. cionnas, also kïs [kɪs]
chirrym ‘dry’, ScG. tioram, Ir. tirim
chymsagh ‘gather’, G. tiomsaghadh
myn ‘fine’, G. mion
burley ‘cress’, G. biolar
shutternee ‘neigh’, Ir. siotrach, seitreach, ScG. sitir, sitrich
smuirr ‘marrow’, G. smior
éa, ao eddrym ‘light’, G. éadrom, ScG. aotrom
éa, u
red ‘thing’, G. réad, rud
á, ái
snaid ‘thread’, G. snáthaid
garaghtee ‘laugh’, G. gáireachtach
á
mayl ‘rent’, G. mál
slane ‘whole’, G. slán
lane ‘full’, G. lán
bane ‘white’, G. bán
ui, (i)u dhyt ‘to you’, G. duit, dut
rhyt ‘with you’, G. riut
cur ‘put, send, give’, G. cu(i)r
u
surranse ‘suffer’, English sufferance
oi
stermagh ‘stormy’, G. stoirmeach
191
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
o
brott ‘broth’, G. brot
ao
sleayd ‘tow, drag’, G. slaod
eayl ‘lime’, G. aol
keyl ‘slender’, G. caol
meayl ‘bald’, G. maol
keirn ‘rowan’, G. caorthann
aoi
Jardain ‘Thursday’, G. Déardaoin
éa, ao feddyn / geddyn ‘get, find’, ScG. faotainn
uai
(Je)lune (sic) ‘Monday’
/i/ < /iː/ < ighea
aigh
cheet ‘come’, G. tigheacht
mainshter ‘master’, G. maighstir
[əː]
ea
fer ‘man, one’, G. fear
aarloo ‘ready’ G. earlamh, OIr. aurlam etc. (§2.1.10)
jiarg ‘red’ (also short vowel)
ei
keird ‘craft’, G. ceird
ao
teayst ‘dough’, G. taos
seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal
freoagh ‘heather’, G. fraoch172
aoi
(Jy)heiney ‘Friday’, G. Dia hAoine
keayney ‘cry’, G. caoineadh
skeayley ‘spread’, G. scaoileadh
eoylley ‘dung’, G. aoileach
eash ‘age’, G. aois
deiney ‘men’, G. daoine
feysht ‘question’, G. faoiside
172
This item is mentioned separately at the end of the paragraph: ‘Stundom også foran andre
konsonanter. Jeg har hørt freoagh „lyng‟ uttalt med samme senkede vokal’(‘Sometimes also before
other consonants. I have heard freoagh ‘heather’ pronounced with the same retracted vowel’). It is
unclear whether Marstrander means a short or long vowel in this word. Rhŷs (18) notes that he usually
heard a short vowel in freoagh.
192
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ua
seose ‘up’, G. suas
/aː/, /ɛː/ <(e)a
baare ‘top’, G. barr
baarney ‘gap’, G. bearna
ard ‘high’, G. ard
giare ‘short’, G. gearr, also gʹēr [ɡʲɛːr]
éa
Baarle ‘English’, G. Béarla
abha
goayr ‘goat’, G. gabhar
loayrt ‘speak’, G. labhairt
adha
eairk ‘horn’, G. adharc
3.5.2.9 Analysis
It is unclear whether the rather wide range of following consonantal environments
listed by Marstrander (69) (dentals, liquids, sibilants, as well as [x] in freoagh) is
relevant in conditioning the appearance of the ‘ø’ vowel phone. Many of those items
which are not reflexes of ao(i), especially when the vowel is long, are followed by [r],
which is probably relevant (§4.2.3).
The large number of items with G. io reflects the tendency across Gaelic dialects for
backing of /i/ before broad consonants, reflected in Manx orthography by the use of
<y> (§2.1.7). Finally, the class of items slane, lane, bane and perhaps mayl probably
represent centralization in Northern Manx of á [ɛː] with shortening and prominent
preocclusion noted by Rhŷs (160) and Broderick (HLSM I: 161) (§4.5.2).
Most of the remaining items represent G. ao(i). The eight items with aoi and also
Jelune (uai) would represent Rhŷs’s œ, œ̄ [ә̞(ː)]. Otherwise, Marstrander records aoi
and fronted uai as giving ē ̣ [eː], with one example of î [ɪː] (skeayley) and îə [ɪә]
(mygeayrt). This general picture of aoi / uai > [әː] > [eː] is in line with Rhŷs’s findings.
For ao, we have five items giving a short ‘ø’ vowel and two the long version. Three of
the short realizations are before [l], where Rhŷs (21) also notes a short vowel. Other
realizations of ao are î [ɪː] (four items), ē [ɛː] (two items), ei [ɛi̯ ] (two items, both with
193
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
following r) and îə [ɪә̯], iə [iә̯] (three items, two of which may show interference from
ua). Although Marstrander’s data apparently show more variation in realizations of ao
than Rhŷs’s, including more overlap with aoi, it should be noted that higher
realizations represent only ao, but not aoi, and î is only found for ao, apart from one
instance of aoi. It is likely that Marstrander’s î corresponds to Rhŷs’s ȳ, although the
variation of realizations in Marstrander, and the variety of descriptions of î / ȳ in both
authors suggest variation in the articulation, as well as uncertainty on the part of the
fieldworkers.
For ua, Marstrander notes mostly high front or centralized unrounded vowels, which
may or may not be diphthongized: ī [iː] (five items), îə [ɪә] (five or six items), î [ɪː]
(one item). These would correspond to Rhŷs’s ī [iː], ü [ɨː].
Marstrander’s data appear to agree broadly with Rhŷs’s descriptions:
ao > [әː], [ɪː]
ua > [ɪә], [ɪː], [iә̯], [iː]
aoi / uai > [әː] > [eː]
It is striking that Marstrander’s data, when collated and examined, agrees so well with
Rhŷs’s, given that Marstrander gives no consideration in his description to grouping
Manx sounds according by phonemes or diachronic developments, and does not
discuss Rhŷs’s data.
3.5.3 Jackson (1955)
Jackson finds the development of ao(i) in Manx to be ‘varied and confused’:
In Manx the history of ao and aoi is varied and confused; previous writers have
noted chiefly sounds which mean öː and eː or ɛː, rarely ɪː or uː […] The curious
thing is that several different stages in the history of a sound should appear
contemporaneously in the language of one small island, as they seem to do.
(Jackson: 47–8)
He records ‘the same bewildering variety’ with ua(i), and suggests that ao(i) and ua(i)
may have fallen together.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
In Manx, there is the same bewildering variety [with ua(i)] as with ao and aoi;
indeed the two might be said to have fallen together if it were not that there is
also ɔː from ua, and that ö-sounds seem commoner from ua, uai than from ao,
aoi. However, this latter may be illusory and due to the scantiness of the
examples.
(Jackson 1955: 52)
The mention of ɔː is not relevant to the question of whether ua(i) and ao(i) have, as a
regular development, fallen together, since it is found only in neose, seose ‘up’, which
has been noted as having an irregular development (§3.4.6). The matter of the ‘ösound’ is discussed below. Jackson’s caveat regarding ‘the scantiness of the examples’
should be borne in mind.
Jackson’s data are as follows:
[eː], [ɛː]
ao
aoi
seyr ‘carpenter’, G. saor: seːɹ (NM)
keyl ‘narrow’, G. caol: keːl (EK)
meayllee ‘hornless cow’, G. maolaidhe: meːli (NM)
seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal: sɛːl (NM, TL)
yn theihll ‘of the world’, G. an t-saogha(i)l: ən tɛːl (NM)
deiney ‘men’, G. daoine: deːnʹɩ (EK)
Jeheiney ‘Friday’, G. Dia hAoine: dʒɛˈheːnʹɩ (EK)
keayney ‘weeping’, G. caoineadh: keːnʹɩ (EK)
ua
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kɛdn (EK)
eayn ‘lamb’, G. uan: jɛdn (EK)
uai
cleayshyn ‘ears’, G. clua(i)s: klɛːən (TL)
[ɪː], [ɪə̯]
ao
keyllys ‘strait’, G. caolas: kɪːləs (EK)
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: gɪːə (JTK, HB)
aoi
nuy ‘nine’, G. naoi: nɪː (NM)
ua
eayn ‘lamb’, G. uan: ɪːdn (JTK)
creagh ‘stack’, G. cruach: krɪːax (JK)
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fɪːəɹ (JTK, TL)
195
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: gɪːl (TL), gɪl (JK)
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kɪːdn (JTK, HB, JK)
uai
mygeayrt ‘around’, G. má gcuairt: mə gɪːt (JK, TL)
cleayshyn ‘ears’, G. clua(i)s: klɪːdn (JTK)
With shortening:
Gaelg, Gailck, G. Gaoidhealg: gɪlk (JK), gɪlg (NM)
[uː], [uə̯]
ao
un ‘one’, G. aon: uːn (JTK)
foyr ‘edge of blade’, G. faobhar: fuːəɹ (EK)173
ua
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fuːəɹ (TL), fuːr (EK)
booa ‘cow’, G. bó: buə (EK)
uai
ooashley ‘worship’, G. uaisle: uəʃli (EK)
oor ‘hour’, G. uair (but probably Middle English ‘hour’ > *úr): uːr (EK)
ö [ə]
ao
red ‘thing’, G. réad, raod, rud: röd (EK), rɪd (TL), c’red ‘what’: krɛd (JTK)
aoi
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: göi (EK)174
ua
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: göːl (EK)
geaylin ‘shoulder’, G. gualann: göːlɪʃ [sic] (EK)
seose ‘up’, G. suas: söːs (NM)
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: ködn (EK)
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. cluais: klöːʃ
[ɔː]
ua
173
seose, neose ‘up’, G. suas, anuas: sɔːs, nʹɔːs (EK)
EK’s fuːəɹ for foyr ‘edge of a blad’ (G. faobhar), would represent a development of aobh to [uː]
parallel to that of naomh giving Manx noo ‘saint, holy’, nuː (JW) (HLSM II: 326). The other realizations
given in HLSM (II: 176) are similar to fo̜ ːr (EKh), suggesting a development with aobha falling in with
(e)abha as in lioar ‘book’ (G. leabhar) lʹo̜ ːr (NM).
174
‘this must really be the genitive geayee = Ir. ScG. gaoithe, pronounced gɛi by [H]B in gollan geayee
“swallow”’ (Jackson: 50).
196
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
[ei]
aoi
nuy ‘nine’, G. naoi: nei (EK)
Jackson’s öː and ɪː would suggest that ao and ua survived as distinct phones in Manx
(whether or not they were distinct from one another), and had not simply fallen in with
/iː/, /iә̯/, /eː/ or /ɛː/. Indeed, Jackson (36–7, 50–1) does not give any realizations of ao(i)
or ua(i) with iː at all, and his ɪː does not appear as a variant of í or ia. Jackson’s ɪː is
defined as a long version of short ɪ ‘as in English hit’ (11), and seems to be intended
to be equivalent to Marstrander’s î (Jackson: 48). Like Marstrander, Jackson notes this
sound both from ua(i) and ao(i). Two examples of a diphthongal realization of ua with
[ɪ] as the primary element are given, although as Jackson notes, in the case of feayr,
the schwa element could be explained by the final [r].
Jackson describes ö(ː) as follows:
There is generally only one [ö-sound], a slightly retracted central ö, very poorly
rounded, further back and more open than ø in French peu, and somewhat closer
than œ in French pleure; though occasionally it is open enough to write œ. It is
usually long, öː; when short (and sometimes when long) it represents a special
development of the other vowels before (less often after) r. Marstrander heard
it also on occasion before dentals, l, and sibilants…, but I did not meet this.
(Jackson: 12)
Jackson’s examples of [eː] and [ɛː] representing ao may represent a fronted variant of
an /әː/ phoneme. This may represent an ongoing merger of ao with /eː/ or /ɛː/, perhaps
to be understood as a partial loss of the fairly lexically restricted phoneme /әː/ in
obsolescent Manx. That is, the terminal speakers may have been unsure which lexical
items should have /әː/ and which should have /eː/, a confusion which may have been
confounded by a tendency to centralize vowels before /r/ and possibly in other
environments, as well as the relative smallness of the set of items with /әː/.
197
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.5.4 Wagner (1969)
Wagner’s data for ao(i) and ua(i), extracted from the Manx glossary in LASID (IV:
173–88), are as follows. Tokens are marked S (south), N (north) or M (from
Marstrander’s unpublished notes) (§1.5.4).
[i(ː)], [iə̯]
ao
deyr ‘dear’, G. daor: diːr (S)
y Cheyllys ‘the Sound’, G. caolas: ec y Cheyllys eɣə ˈxiːləs (M), kʹiːlʹəs (S),
kʹiləs (S), kʹi.lʹəs (S)
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: giːə (N x5), giː (N)
aoi
deiney ‘men’, G. daoine: diːnə (N)
ua
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: giḻː (N), gʹil (S), gilː (N), gilʹː (N), gilʹ (N), gil (S)
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fiːə (N), fiːər (N x2), fiː (N), fʹiːə (N), fʹiːr (N), fiər (N)
feayraght ‘cold’ (noun), G. fuaracht: firɑ ̣x
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kʹidn (S x2, N x3), kʹi.dn (S), kʹidn (S), kidn (S)
geaylin ‘shoulder’, G. gualann: gilən
leah ‘soon’, G. luath: liː (S), lŭiːə (M)
creagh ‘stack’, G. cruach: kʹrix (S), kʹriəxən (N), kʹriəx (N), kriəx (N)
uai
mygeayrt ‘around’, G. magcuairt: məˈgita (N), məˈgi.ət (N), məˈgĭət (N x2,
S), məˈgi.ət (N), mygeayrt-y-mysh məˈgitə moʃ (N), məˈgiːrt (M), məˈgit (N,
S), məˈgiːt (N)
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. clua(i)s: tliːʃ (N), kliʃ (N), kliːʒən (N)
eayin ‘lambs’, G. uain: i.dn (N x2), idn (N x2)
neayr’s ‘since’, G. an uair is: nĭərəs (S)
geayltyn ‘shoulders’, G. *guailtean: giʟʹᴛʹʃən (S x2), ‘shoulder’ giʟʹᴛʹʃ (S)
keayrt ‘time (occasion, instance)’, ny cheayrtyn ‘sometimes’, G. cuairt: kʹiətən
(N), kʹiːtən (S), kʹiəðən, kʹiːt (S)
ɪ, ï [ɪ(ː)]
ao
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: gɪː (S x2)
eddin ‘face’, G. éadan, ScG. aodann: ïdn (S), nïðən (S)
ua
skeab ‘brush’, G. scuab: skɪ.ʙ (S)
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: gɪlʲ (N)
198
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
cheayll, geayll ‘heard’, G. chuala: gɪ.l (S), kɪl (M)
keayn ‘sea’, G. cuan: kɪ.dn (S)
uai
geayney ‘green’, G. uaine: kʹïnjə
rimlagh ‘fishing-line, rope’, G. ruaimneach: rïmləx (S)
y, ü
ua
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual: gy.l (S)
uai
rimlagh ‘fishing-line’, G. ruaimneach: rümlɑx (S, M)
[eː], [ɛː]
ao
eaddagh ‘clothes’, G. éadach, ScG. aodach: eðax (S), eðɑx (N), ɛðɑx (N)
eddin ‘face’, G. éadan, ScG. aodann: eðɑn (S), neðən (S)
seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal: sɛːl (N), seːl (M)
keyrrey ‘sheep’, G. caora: kɛrə (N x3), kɛru (N), kɛrɑx (N)
tead ‘rope’, ScG. taod: tɛᴅ (N)
aoi
eash ‘age’, G. aois: ɛːʃ (N)
keayney ‘cry’, G. caoineadh: kʹeːnjə (N, S), kʹeːŋʲə (N), kʹèːnə (N)
Jerdein ‘Thursday’, G. Déardaoin: de dedn (N), dʒɑ ̣ ˈdeːdn (M)
Jeheiney ‘Friday’, G. Dé hAoine: de hɛnə (N), dʒe ˈheːnjə (M)
ua
eayn ‘lamb’, G. uan: ɛːn (N)
uai
eayin ‘lambs’, G. uain: ɣẹdnʲ (M)
Jelhein ‘Monday’, G. Dé Luain: de lidn (N), dʒe lʲeːdn (M)
öː [ɘː]
ao
eaddagh ‘clothes’, G. éadach, ScG. aodach: as eaddagh zöðəx (N), öðɑx (N),
nöðɑx (S)
eayl ‘lime’, G. aol: ’əl (N x2)
eddin ‘face’, G. éadan, ScG. aodann: öðɪnʲ
seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal: töːl (S)
uai
cleaysh ‘ear’, G. clua(i)s: klöʃ (S), klöːʒən (S x2)
199
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
[uː], [uə̯], [ɯː], [oː]
ao
geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth: go̤ i (S x2), go-i (S) (probably gaoith(e))
ua
feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar: fûːṛ (S), feer feayr ‘very cold’ ˈfiːfuː (S), fuː (S), fûːr (S),
fuːr (S), fuːr (M)
heose ‘up’, G. thuas: hλːs (N)
uai
hooar ‘got, found’, G. fhuair: hooar ee huːi (N), huə̯r (S), huːə (N), huː (N),
huːr (M)
For ao we have two items with ə [ә] or öː [ɘː] eayl ‘lime’ (G. aol): ’əl (N, two
attestations) and seihll ‘world’ (G. saoghal): töːl (S). For the short vowel in eayl, cf.
Rhŷs (21). There are two southern attestations of geay ‘wind’ (G. gaoth) as gɪː, and
five northern attestations of giːə, plus one of giː. For the diphthongal realization (as if
gaoth > *guath), noted by Rhŷs (17) as being more of a northern feature, see §3.9.3.
The remaining items include five instances of [iː], and seven of [ɛ(ː)]. These may
represent loss of the /әː/ phoneme as perhaps evidenced in Jackson’s data, or freer
allophonic variation in an obsolescent variety than would have been found in full
native speakers of an earlier generation. Interestingly, four of the instances of [iː] are
in the item keyllys ‘sound’ (G. caolas). Broderick notes realizations of this item with
apparently rounded vowels y. [yˑ], ũ175 from NM and yː from HK, as well as back
unrounded λː [ɯː] from HK. NM also has front high unrounded i, as in Wagner’s
transcription. These high realizations could represent a high allophone of /әː/ before
/l/, as noted by Rhŷs (17) in eayl ‘lime’ (G. aol), for which he records ü [y(ː)] as a
variant (§3.5.1.2). For aoi Wagner gives five items, all with [e(ː)] or [ɛ(ː)], i.e. the less
conservative variant noted by Rhŷs, apart from one instance as [i].
For ua we have 15 items and 45 tokens. Of these there are 29 instances of [i(ː)] or [iә̯]
and 5 instances of [ɪ(ˑ)]. These 34 instances out of 45 (75.6%) would represent the
expected realizations of ua following Rhŷs (§3.5.1.3). The one instance of y. in geayl
‘coal’ (G. gual) may represent the more conservative reflexes noted by Rhŷs. The
175
The vowel nasalization here (HLSM II: 504) is unexpected, especially in view of the general lack of
nasalization in the Manx of the terminal speakers (§5.6); but for other examples of unhistorical vowel
nasality adjacent to voiceless consonants, see Lewin (2019a: 82–9).
200
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
difficult to interpret lŭiːə for leah ‘soon’ (G. luath), has been counted under [iː], but
may also represent a more conservative realization as in Rhŷs’s lůy̆ or lüə. The
remaining instances are the expected back realizations of feayr ‘cold’ (G. fuar) (also
in hooar ‘got, found’, G. fuair), an instance of heose with back unrounded λː [ɯː], and
an instance of [ɛː] in eayn ‘lamb’, G. uan. The [ɛː] in eayn may represent confusion
between the singular and plural.
For uai, several of the items given are non-prototypical in one way or another owing
to phonological developments or paradigmatic analogy (keayrt, mygeayrt, cleaysh,
geayltyn, §§3.9.5, 3.9.6). The high vowel [i] in Jelhein ‘Monday’ (G. Dia Luain)176
and eayin ‘lambs’ (G. uain), is more difficult to explain, unless the preocclusion plays
a role; compare LASID (IV: 188) blidn or bli.dn, blein ‘year’ (G. bliadhain > Manx
*bléin) for expected and also attested bʹlʹẹːnʹ (NM) (HLSM II: 34). In the case of eayn
there may also be confusion between singular and plural. The vowel in kʹïnjə
g(h)eayney ‘green’, G. uaine, is unexpected, but given the unexpected initial [k], the
word may have been only half-remembered by the speaker; compare Rhŷs’s (24)
comments on its near obsolescence. There are two instances of expected [eː] in eayin
and Jelhein, although both of these are from Marstrander’s material.
3.5.5 Broderick (1986) (HLSM III)
Broderick (HLSM III: 138) claims that [e(ː)] is the most common realization of ao and
aoi:
In L[ate] S[poken] M[anx] this [AO] is mostly found as /e(ː)/, sometimes as
/i(ː)/ or /u(ː)/, occasionally as /o(ː)/; also [ö(ː)], [y(ː)], [ɯ(ː)]. AO may also
represent ÉA before /t/, /d/.
(HLSM III: 138)
Here [in AOI] there is mostly /e(ː)/, sometimes as /i(ː)/ or /uː/.
(HLSM III: 138)
176
Although the nominative form G. Luan with broad /n/ apparently existed, Cregeen’s Lhein, Lheiun
(§3.4.3).
201
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
For ua and uai he gives a number of realizations, but does not state which are more
common:
[UA and UAI] are found as follows: a) as /u(ː)/ or /oː/, b) as /i(ː)/ or /e(ː)/, c) as
[ö(ː)], [y(ː)], [ɯ(ː)]. There may also be the diphthongs /ua/, /uә/, /iә/, /ei/.
(HLSM III: 139)
Broderick gives a small number of examples for each of the noted realizations, but
does not attempt to quantify the frequency of their occurrence. He notes (HLSM
III:
58) that [y(ː)] and ‘occasionally’ [ɯ(ː)] are sometimes attested for ao(i) and ua(i) in
‘about a dozen items’ out of the ‘about ninety or so lexical items containing in their
stressed element […] (Ir./ScG.) AO(I), UA(I)’, ‘in southern Manx especially’. These
are discussed in a section entitled ‘THE ALLOPHONES [y(ː)], [ɯ(ː)]’:
In LSM [y(ː)] functions essentially as an allophone of /iː/ and [ɯ(ː)] as an
allophone of /u:/ in limited circumstances only. In order to explain these
circumstances clearly it will be necessary to refer to the Irish and Scottish
counterparts of the Manx items involved.
[fn.] Both [y(ː)] and [ɯ(ː)] may be found in apparent free allophonic variation
in the same limited circumstances with realizations of /i/, /e(ː)/, /u/, /u(ː)/
(HLSM III: 57)
It is not clear what exactly is meant here by ‘functions essentially as an allophone’. If
these phones are restricted to a particular set of lexical items, which can only be
defined with reference to etymology, then the most natural conclusion would seem to
be that they represent a distinct phoneme or distinct phonemes (which may nonetheless
be in the process of falling in with /iː/ or /eː/), rather than that they are allophones of
/iː/ etc. Otherwise, we would expect to find these phones representing historical G. í,
é, ú, which is not the case. Broderick (HLSM III: 60) goes on to claim that:
(a) ‘in Manx […] AO(I) and UA(I) have practically completely fallen together’;
(b) that [yː] and [ɯː] were perhaps more prevalent in these lexical items in the past,
but equally that these phones may have existed (presumably over a long period) side
by side with the more frequent variants [eː] and [iː];
202
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(c) the phones [yː] and [ɯː] historically represent a phoneme equivalent to /ɯː/ in
Scottish Gaelic and Donegal Irish:
In Manx, as we have seen, AO(I) and UA(I) have practically completely fallen
together and are noticed mostly as /eː/ or /iː/ (also with secondary shortening).
We have also seen, however, that in some instances AO(I) and UA(I) appear as
[y(ː)], occasionally [ɯ(ː)], thus (in the case of [ɯ(ː)]) falling in with the
treatment of AO(I) in most of Scotland and parts of Donegal. These may have
been more prevalent in Manx than the present evidence admits, and in theory
could appear in all ninety or so words of this class. But as the Manx treatment
of AO(I) and UA(I) falls in largely with the common treatment of AO(I) in
Ireland, viz. /eː/ or /iː/, it does not necessarily follow that [yː] or [ɯ(ː)] were
more prevalent than they are now, but that they have existed side by side with
the numerically greater attested /eː/ and /iː/, particularly in southern Manx. The
testimony as we have it today makes it clear that [y(ː)] and [ɯ(ː)] are evidenced
only in the context of (some) AO(I), UA(I) items where both are found side by
side with each other, or either one or the other is found and (in theory) could be
substituted for the other. Outside this context neither is attested. The allophones
[y(ː)] and [ɯ(ː)] would then be the representatives in LSM at any rate of the
phoneme /ɯː/ found commonly in Scottish Gaelic (and to an extent in Donegal
Irish) for AO(I).
(HLSM III: 60)
Broderick does not mention mid front or central (rounded or unrounded) vowels in this
passage, although these are noted as reflexes of ao and ua by Rhŷs, Marstrander, and
Jackson. Broderick does have a section on ‘/ә/ as [ö] or [öː]’ (HLSM III: 44–8):
In certain circumstances /ә/ can be realized as [ö] or [öː] (i.e. articulated with a
degree of retraction and lip-rounding). It is the result of retraction or advancing
of the other vowel phonemes particularly /e/ or /eː/, especially in the
environment of /r/ (even though /r/ on occasion may not be realized), but to a
lesser extent in the environment of /l/, /s/ and /sʹ/, /t/ and /d/, /m/ and /n/, also
/x/, /g/, /b/.
(HLSM III: 44–5)
[ö] would sound similar to [ә], but would tend towards [ø].
(HLSM I: 3)
Several examples of items with ao(i) and ua(i) are given (cleaysh ‘ear’, G. cluais;
geayl ‘coal’, G. gual; seihll ‘world’, G. saoghal; seose ‘up’, G. suas), presented as
203
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
examples of phonemes /eː/, /iː/ retracted, but without consideration of the possibility
that the central vowel may be original here (HLSM III: 46).
As we have seen, Broderick claims, like Jackson, that ua(i) and ao(i) appear to have
largely fallen together in Manx, and that they have at least partially fallen together with
/iː/ or /eː/, although he recognizes that the existence of realizations such as [yː] and
[ɯː] suggests that there may be or have been a distinct phoneme. He suggests this may
have been something like the Scottish and Donegal phoneme /ɯː/, implying that he
believes ua(i) had fallen in with ao(i). He suggests a parallel for this in the fact that ‘in
the north [of Ireland] UA(I) can appear as /ua/ and after labials there may be
unrounding, so that UA(I) may fall together with AO(I)’ (HLSM III: 60). This apparent
parallel is discussed below in §3.8.
It is difficult to interpret the passage ‘it does not necessarily follow that [yː] or [ɯ(ː)]
were more prevalent than they are now, but that they have existed side by side with
the numerically greater attested /eː/ and /iː/, particularly in southern Manx’ (HLSM III:
60). In this passage, Broderick appears to suggest the possibility that there was a stable
period in the past when this old phoneme */ɯː/ was partially merged with /iː/ or /eː/,
or merged in some dialects or idiolects and not in others. This scenario is justified with
reference to the development of ao(i) in most Irish dialects. However, it is not clear
why a similar outcome in Manx and Irish should necessarily be taken as evidence for
a parallel pattern of development over a similar time-scale. Broderick comes to his
conclusions based on ‘the present evidence’ (i.e. the material from the terminal
speakers). It would have been useful, however, to consider other evidence, particular
the orthographic evidence (both from Phillips and the later system), and especially
Rhŷs, as we have done in the present study.
In contrast to the scenario outlined by Broderick, Rhŷs (§3.5.1) paints a picture of
nineteenth-century Manx in which (a) there is no general merging of ua and ao, but
only of uai and aoi (in certain items), (b) the distinctive realizations of ao and ua (i.e.
/әː/ and /ɨә̯/) are equally prevalent in the north and the south, (c) while ua seems to be
the way to merging with /iә̯/ or /iː/, there is no suggestion that ao was realized as [iː]
or [eː], but only as ȳ and variants thereof. In order to see whether Broderick’s
204
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
conclusions are reasonable on the basis of his own data, a quantitative analysis of
tokens from HLSM was carried out, as detailed in the following section.
3.5.5.1 A quantitative analysis of data from HLSM (II)
Tables 42–45 and Chart 1 show the number of instances of different realizations of ao,
aoi, ua, uai in the data in Broderick’s dictionary (HLSM II).177 All items with a known
etymology from G. ao(i) or ua(i), are included, except those forming a diphthong with
vocalized G. gh, dh etc. (§3.9.1). Those items with known idiosyncratic or variable
developments are included (e.g. feayr ‘cold’, G. fuar; hooar ‘got, found’, G. fuair,
§3.4.6).178 The wide range of phonetic realizations in Broderick’s data have been
grouped into the following broader categories for the purpose of analysis. Vowel
length is ignored:
Grouping of vowel phones representing ao(i), ua(i) in HLSM179
[o]: o, ɔ
[ɯ]: λ [ɯ], λə [ɯә̯]
[u]: u, ui, uə
[e]: e, ei, eə, ɛ
177
All transcribed individual instances given after the headwords in HLSM (II) were included. Different
realizations from the same speaker were counted separately, and where the same transcription is noted
as being from n speakers, this is counted n times. Data from the example sentences were not included,
as they generally duplicate instances given in the individual item transcriptions, but sub-headings
(compound words, inflected forms etc.) were included. Extracting the data from the dictionary (rather
than the larger task of combing the texts in vol. 1, which, however, in any case do not include the
dialogue material found in the dictionary) runs the risk of giving undue prominence to the less frequent
realizations, as these are likely to be listed exhaustively with only a selection of the commonest
realizations of the most frequent items. However, given the overall relatively small size of the corpus,
it is likely that the data are close to being exhaustive for most items.
178
Deayrtey, ‘pour, spill’ (G. doirteadh, dortadh, dórtadh, duartan) is included under ua (see §3.9.8).
Forms are excluded when it cannot be determined with certainty which class they should be assigned to
(for example whether feːʃlə for feaysley ‘untie, release’, should be regarded as representing G. fuascladh
or a by-form *fuaiscleadh based on the stem feayshil). Also excluded are blatant spelling pronunciations
(§1.6.9.2), such as those of feoh ‘hate’ (G. fuath), as fẹːo (TC, HK) and fjoː (JW), while expected fiːə
(TT) is included.178
179
This categorization may admittedly not be perfect. [ә] in particular represents a large range of
symbols for various mid-central and mid-front vowels, but most commonly the ö described in the extract
above (cf. also Jackson and Wagner’s use of the symbol). ɪ and ï could plausibly be included as variants
of [ә], but they could also be grouped with [i]. For this reason, [ɪ] is taken as a distinct category.
205
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
[i]: i, iə
[ɪ]: ɪ, ï [ɨ]
[ә]: əi, ᴇ [œ], ø, ë [ɘ]
[y]: y, yə, ui
Table 42. Realizations of G. ao in HLSM II
y
ə
11
16
11.7% 17.0%
sum items: 22
ɪ
5
5.3%
i
25
26.6%
e
29
30.9%
u
3
3.2%
ɯ
4
4.3%
o
1
1.1%
bleayst (blaosc), cleayney (claonadh), deyr (daor), deyrey (daoradh), eayl (aol), freoagh
(fraoch), geay (gaoth), geayagh (gaothach), inney-veyl (inghean mhaol), keyl (caol), Keyllys
(caolas), keynnagh (caonach), keyrrey (caora), meayll (maol), seihll (saoghal), seihltagh
(saoghalta), seyr (adj.), seyr (n.) (saor), seyrey (saoradh), sleayd (slaod), teayst (taos),
theyreeyn (?daoraidh)
sum tokens: 94
Table 43. Realizations of G. aoi in HLSM II
y
ə
0
7
0.0%
10.9%
sum items: 15
ɪ
1
1.6%
i
7
10.9%
e
47
73.4%
u
2
3.1%
ɯ
0
0.0%
o
0
0.0%
deiney (daoine), deyrid (daoire), eash (aois), eoylley (aoileadh), freayney (?raonadh), geaysh
(gaoisid), geayshagh (gaoisideach), Jerdein (Déardaoin), Jyheiney (Dé hAoine), keayney
(caoineadh), meaish (maois), nuy (naoi), ny s’deyrey (níos daoire), skeayley (scaoileadh),
Teare (Mac an tSaoir)
sum tokens: 64
Table 44. Realizations of G. ua in HLSM II
y
ə
14
10
10.7% 7.6%
sum items: 23
ɪ
10
7.6%
i
69
52.7%
e
8
6.1%
u
11
8.4%
ɯ
6
4.6%
o
3
2.3%
beayn (buan), beaynee (buanaidhe), cheayll / geayll (chuala), creagh (cruach), deayrtey
(dórtadh, cf. duartan), eaghtyr (uachtar), eaghtyragh (uachtarach), eayn (uan), feayr (fuar),
feayraght (fuaracht), feoh (fuath), geayl (gual), geaylin (gualainn), heose (thuas), keayn
(cuan), leagh (luach), leah (luath), leaystey (luascadh), leaysteyder (luascadóir), neose
(anuas), seose (suas), skeab (scuab), skeabey (scuabadh)
sum tokens: 131
206
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 45. Realizations of G. uai in HLSM II
y
ə
11
10
9.6%
8.8%
sum items: 12
ɪ
14
12.3%
i
41
36.0%
e
26
22.8%
ɯ
2
1.8%
u
10
8.8%
o
0
0.0%
cleaysh (clua(i)s), eayin (uain), feayshil (fuascail > *fuais(c)il), geayltyn (cf. ScG. guailnean),
g(h)eayney (uaine), gleashaght (gluaiseacht), hooar / dooar (fuair), Jylhein (Dé Luain), keayrt
(cuairt), mygeayrt (má gcuairt), ooashley (uaisle), rimlagh (ruaimneach)
sum tokens: 114
Chart 1. Realizations of G. ua(i), ao(i) in data from HLSM ɪɪ
uai
y
ә
ua
y
ә
aoi
ә
ao
y
0.0%
ɪ
ɪ
ɪ
e
i
20.0%
ɪ
u
40.0%
y
ә
50.0%
ɪ
u ɯ o
e
i
30.0%
i
e
60.0%
u
ɯ
ɯ o
u
e
i
ә
10.0%
u
e
i
ɯ
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
o
These data challenge Broderick’s claim that ao(i) and ua(i) have simply fallen
together. For two of the categories, there is clearly one realization which is
considerably more frequent than the others. For ua, this is [i] (51.9%) (rising to 60.8%
if the idiosyncratic feayr and seose / heose / neose, with their [u] realizations, are
excluded). For aoi, the most frequent realization is [e] (73.4%). Ao is the most varied,
with a fairly even split between [e] (30.9%) and [i] (26.6%). Ao has the highest
percentage of [ә] realizations (17.0%), and [ә], [ɪ], [ɯ] and [y] taken together — which
might plausibly be taken to represent variants of a phoneme /әː/ — account for 38.3%
of instances of ao.
207
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The preponderance of [i] realizations of ua is consistent with Rhŷs’s observation of
[iː, iә̯] as a reflex of ua, as the culmination of a process of fronting and unrounding,
alongside more conservative, less fronted realizations. The predominance of [e]
realizations of aoi is consistent with Rhŷs’s observation of [eː] alongside conservative
œ̄ . The mixed results for ao may suggest the preservation of a distinct phoneme /әː/,
alongside an apparent tendency (perhaps a recent and unstable one related to language
obsolescence) to merge this with /eː/ or /iː/.
The results for uai are also mixed. Rhŷs would lead us to expect a preponderance of
[e], as with aoi, since according to him uai and aoi have merged (at least in some
environments or items). However, in the data from HLSM, [i] realizations are the most
frequent for uai (36.0%, 41 occurrences) with [e] in second place (22.8%, 26
occurrences). This seems to be due to the large number of occurrences of keayrt,
mygeayrt (G. cuairt), cleaysh (G. cluais) and geayltyn (*guailtean) (68 occurrences,
59.6% of total for uai), which may pattern with ua rather than uai (§§3.7, 3.9.5–6).
When all such idiosyncratic items are excluded from the uai category (also hooar /
dooar, ooashley, rimlagh), [e] then accounts for 47.1% of instances (16) — in line
with the expectations of merger between uai and aoi — and [i] for 32.4% (11).
However, there are then only 6 items with a sum of 34 occurrences.
3.5.6 Front rounded realizations?
A number of the descriptions discussed above either implicitly or explicitly record
front rounded realizations of ao(i) and ua(i) in Manx. Rhŷs and Marstrander both make
comparisons between a single Manx phone and both rounded and unrounded phones
in other languages (§§3.5.11, 3.5.2.8), which makes their comments difficult to
interpret. Jackson (48) casts doubt on Rhŷs’s (and Kneen’s) descriptions of front
rounded vowels for ao(i), but himself records a phone ö with a degree of rounding
(Jackson: 12). Broderick (HLSM
III:
57) gives both [y(ː)] and [ɯ(ː)] as possible
realizations of ao(i), ua(i), and these are apparently interchangeable, cf. both gyːl and
gλːl [ɡɯːl] from NM for geayl ‘coal’ (G. gual).
208
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
In listening to recordings of the last speakers for the present thesis (especially the
material recorded by the Irish Folklore Commission), I did not hear any realizations
which could be firmly identified as [yː] or [øː] etc., although there were plenty of
centralized, unrounded realizations which could be characterized as [әː], [ɨː], [ɪː],
perhaps [ɯː]. Some of these could perhaps impressionistically resemble vowels with
some rounding, however.
It is possible that some of the reports arise from confusion between back unrounded
vowels and front rounded vowels. In an experiment, Ladefoged (1967: 133–141) gave
eighteen trained phoneticians the task of listening to recordings of a number of Scottish
Gaelic words including various stressed monophthongs and plotting them on a cardinal
vowel diagram. While the responses were quite accurate for cross-linguistically
frequently-occurring vowels such as /i(ː)/, /e(ː)/ and /u(ː)/, the phoneticians’ judgments
of /ɯ(ː)/ and /ɤ(ː)/ varied greatly in degree of rounding and backness. The question of
front rounded vowels in south-western Scottish Gaelic dialects raises similar
difficulties; see O’Rahilly (29) and Lewin (2018: 172–4) for discussion.
Since there is no clear, unambiguous evidence for front rounded vowels in Manx, the
descriptions analysed above have been interpreted as referring to front-central but
unrounded vowels. It remains possible, however, that there was a degree of rounding
(perhaps no more than ‘very poorly rounded’, in Jackson’s [12] words) which would
have served to enhance the contrast between front-central /әː/ and /ɨә̯/ on the one hand,
and fully front vowels /iː/, /iә̯/, /eː/, /ɛː/, on the other.
3.6 Written evidence
The two main orthographies used to write Manx are especially challenging to interpret
with regard to reflexes of G. ao(i) and ua(i), but nonetheless provide valuable evidence
for change in these vowels from c. 1600 onwards.
209
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.6.1 Representation of ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips
3.6.1.1 Overview
In the Phillips manuscript there are dozens of orthographic sequences representing G.
ao, aoi, ua and uai. These range from one to three characters, with substantial overlap
between representations of the four categories. Despite this complexity, clear patterns
are discernible which can be related to the phonological developments attested from
the other evidence discussed in this chapter. In the following discussion, as elsewhere
in the thesis, Phillips’ diacritics are disregarded (§1.6.3), and <æ>, and occasional
instances of <ai>, are treated as equivalent to <e>. Taking the evidence of the initial
character of the orthographic sequence, namely <i>, <e> (inc. <æ>), <y> and <u>
(including a few instances of <o>) (Table 46, Chart 2), the following observations can
be made:
(a) Spellings of the <y> type, while frequent (>30%) in all four categories, are
especially prevalent in the case of ao (74.6%). This presumably represents the nonmerging allophone of /әː/ described by Rhŷs (§3.5.1).
(b) Spellings of the <u> type are most prevalent in the ua category, and can be
associated with back realizations of the historical /ua/ diphthong.
(c) Aoi and uai have somewhat similar profiles, with <e> and <y> being the dominant
representations, although <e> is more prevalent in the case of aoi. This suggests that
at this early date splits were already emerging between ao and aoi, and ua and uai,
respectively, with aoi and uai moving towards the merger with one another seen in the
later language. The <e> and <y> spellings can be interpreted as the allophone of /әː/
described by Rhŷs which tends towards merger with /eː/ (§3.5.1.4).
(d) The <i> type is not frequent in any category (<6% for ao, aoi and uai), but is
somewhat more frequent (14.9%) in the case of ua, where it can be interpreted as
representing fronted reflexes of historical /ua/.
210
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 46. Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips, by initial letter of orthographic
sequence
no. of
total
<i>
<e>
<y>
<u/o>
lemmas
16
114
6
13
85
10
ao
21
101
2
52
30
17
aoi
27
174
26
4
58
52
ua
25
158
8
57
68
25
uai
total
%
16
21
27
25
ao
aoi
ua
uai
<i>
114
101
174
158
5.3%
2.0%
14.9%
5.1%
<e>
<y>
<u/o>
11.4%
74.6%
8.8%
51.5%
29.7%
16.8%
2.3%
33.3%
29.9%
36.1%
43.0%
15.8%
Chart 2. Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips, by initial letter
of orthographic sequence
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
ao
aoi
<i>
ua
<e>
<y>
uai
<u,o>
A glance at the tokens (§3.4) suggests that at least some of the above orthographic
categories should be broken down further. Subsequent characters in orthographic
sequences seem to be particular important in indicating diphthongal realizations, e.g.
<ya> is especially prevalent in the ua set, <y> and <yy> in ao, <ye> and <ey> in aoi
211
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
and uai. To investigate this further, the following finer-grained breakdown of the <e>
and <y> categories has been brought to bear (Table 47):
Table 47. Breakdown of orthographic categories <e> and <y>, taking into
account following vowel characters
<e(VV)>
<e> (including <æ>, <ai>) alone or followed by one or more other
vowel characters (including <ee>)
<e(V)y(V)>
<e> followed by one or more vowel characters, at least one of which
is <y>
<y(y)>
<y> or <yy>
<ya(V)>
<ya> only, or followed by an additional vowel character
<ye(V)>
<ye> only, or followed by an additional vowel character
other <y>
<y> in combination with vowel characters other than the above, e.g.
<yi>
<e↔y>
<e(V)y(V)> and <ye(V)> combined
This breakdown is utilized in Table 48, Chart 3.
Table 48. Spelling of G. ao(i) and ua(i) in Phillips
ao
no. of
lemmas
16
total
<i>
<e(VV)>
<e(V)y(V)>
<y(y)>
<ya(V)>
<ye(V)>
other
<y>
<u/o>
114
6
5
8
68
9
7
1
10
aoi
21
101
2
36
16
10
3
11
6
17
ua
27
174
29
3
11
21
34
12
3
61
uai
25
158
8
25
32
3
14
30
21
25
<e(VV)>
<e(V)y(V)>
%
ao
no. of
lemmas
16
total
<i>
<y(y)>
<ya(V)>
<ye(V)>
other
<y>
<u/o>
114
5.3%
4.4%
7.0%
59.6%
7.9%
6.1%
0.9%
8.8%
aoi
21
101
2.0%
35.6%
15.8%
9.9%
3.0%
10.9%
5.9%
16.8%
ua
27
174
16.7%
1.7%
6.3%
12.1%
19.5%
6.9%
1.7%
35.1%
uai
25
158
5.1%
15.8%
20.3%
1.9%
8.9%
19.0%
13.3%
15.8%
212
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chart 3. Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
ao
<i>
<e(VV)>
aoi
<e(V)y(V)>
<y(y)>
ua
<ya(V)>
<ye(V)>
uai
other <y>
<u/o>
The breakdown of the data in Table 48, Chart 3 reveals the following details:
(a) Orthographic sequences involving only the character <y> (single or doubled) are
overwhelmingly concentrated in the ao category (59.6%, as opposed to <13% for the
other categories), providing more robust evidence of monophthongal and non-merging
/әː/.
(b) The sequence <ya> is especially prominent in the ua category (19.5%), and less
frequent (<9%) in the other categories. It is suggestive of fronted, central reflexes of
historical /ua/ (i.e. [ɯә], [ɨә̯] or similar), but without monophthongization.
(c) Spellings involving <e> followed by <y>, or by a sequence of vowel symbols
including <y>, are more frequent in aoi (15.8%) and uai (20.3%) than in the other
categories (<5%). This may be associated with /әː/ > [әː], [eː], as discussed above.
(d) If, as seems reasonable, it is assumed that <e(V)y(V)> and <ye> represent similar
reflexes, and their totals are combined (Chart 4), then the association between <e↔y>
and aoi (26.7%), uai (39.2%) is clearer, as opposed to ao and ua (both 13.2%).
213
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chart 4. Spelling of G. ao(i), ua(i) in Phillips,
with <e(V)y(V)> and <ye(V)> combined
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
ao
<i>
aoi
<e(VV)>
<e↔y>
ua
<y(y)>
<ya(V)>
uai
other <y>
<u/o>
Note that monophthongization [ɨә̯] > [ɨː] seems to be more prevalent in certain
environments or items (§3.5.1.3).
Representations of ao(i) and ua(i) show a distinct pattern from those of /iː/, /ia̯ /, /eː/
and /uː/,180 the front and back vowels with which they might be expected to show
(near-)merger. The data in Table 49 is from entries under A to C in Thomson’s (1953)
glossary. All show very consistent (84.6% – 100%) use of the expected symbols <i>,
<e, æ> or <u> in various combinations. Orthographic sequences based on <y, yy> are
almost exclusively characteristic of ao(i) and ua(i), which also have more
heterogeneous ranges of possible representations in general, as shown above.
The orthographic evidence presented in this section strongly points to the conclusion
that ao(i) /әː/ and ua(i) /uә̯/, /ɨә̯/, /әː/ were contrastive both with each other (with the
exception of probable merger between some reflexes of aoi and uai), and with /iː/, /iә̯/,
/eː/ and /uː/.181
180
Mostly representing G. í, ia, é, ú, but also new long vowels arising from fricative vocalization, as in
bea /beː/ ‘life’ (G. beatha).
181
And also with /ɛː/ (G. á(i), ó(i)), which may however have been lower [aː] in Early Manx and is
generally represented with variants of <a> (§2.2.4).
214
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 49. Orthographic representations of /iː/, /iə̯/, /eː/, /uː/ in Phillips (A–C,
Thomson [1953] glossary)
i (54), í (23), ii (3), íí (15), iy
/iː/
ia (2), ía (2), íæ (2), ie (2), iy, iŷ
/iә̯/
ie, îæ̂ (3), ia, éy (4), ey, êi, ée (18), ee (4), éa (4), ea (14), ê, é (5), e (5), áy, æy, æíí,
/eː/
/uː/
æi (2), ǽé, ǽe, æa, ǽ (8), æ (5), á, a
eu, iu (5), iú (11), iú, íu (2), îû, iúy, ôô (1), ou (3), u (28), ú (19), ŭ, ui (19), úi (5), ûi
(2), ŭi, uy (18), uŷ, uy̆ , úy (7), yu
total
/iː/
/iә̯/
/eː/
/uː/
96
<i(V)> 96 (100.0%)
10
<iV> 10 (100.0%)
104
<e(V)> 88 (84.6%), <iV> 14 (13.5%), <a(V)> 2 (1.9%),
132
<u(V)> 123 (95.5%), <oV> 4 (3.0%), <eu, yu> 2 (1.5%)
3.6.1.2 ua(i) in Phillips: preceding consonant conditioning and lexical diffusion
Further examination of the orthographic evidence from Phillips with regard to G. ua(i)
sheds light on the phonological split between back /uә̯/ and the fronted reflexes /ɨә̯/,
/әː/.
In the following analysis (Table 50, Chart 5), the sequences of symbols are split into
three categories, based on the first symbol (as in Table 46 above), e.g. <ya> is classed
under <y>. It is assumed that <i> spellings represent the most fronted and unrounded
realizations, while <u> spellings represent the most back and rounded realizations. It
is difficult to discern how <y> and <e> (including <æ>) spellings might represent
differing sounds so they have been categorized together as <y/e> and assumed to
represent prototypically intermediately unrounded and fronted realizations, i.e.
roughly the later attested [ɨ]. It is possible that <e> spellings in some cases represent
/әː/ rather than /ɨː/, however. The small number of <o> spellings are categorized
together with <u>.182
There is clear evidence of conditioning by preceding consonant.
182
<o> spellings are consistent in the case of bwoalley, bwoaill ‘hit’ (G. bualadh, buail), and this is
excluded since it could perhaps represent *bóladh, *bóil, as the later spelling could be interpreted as
suggesting (HLSM data on the other hand suggests /uː/, /u/) (§3.4.5).
215
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 50. Spelling of G. ua(i) in Phillips by place of articulation of preceding
consonant
no. of
total
<i>
<y/e>
<u/o>
lemmas
vowel initial
8
84
8
75
1
labial
12
67
4
41
22
coronal
25
179
14
95
70
dorsal
8
0
53
26
27
%
vowel initial
labial
coronal
dorsal
total
8
12
25
8
<i>
84
67
179
53
<y/e>
9.5%
6.0%
7.8%
49.1%
<u/o>
89.3%
61.2%
53.1%
50.9%
1.2%
32.8%
39.1%
0.0%
Chart 5. Spelling of G. ua(i) in Phillips by place of
articulation of preceding consonant
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
vowel initial
labial
<i>
coronal
<y/e>
dorsal
<u/o>
For both the labial and coronal categories, <u/o> spellings represent around a third or
more of instances. For the dorsal category, there are no instances of <u/o> at all. Also,
there are no lexical items with preserved back /uә̯/ in Classical or Late Manx with
preceding dorsal consonants.
Superficially similar fronting and unrounding of ua in Ulster Irish after labials has
been explained by Ó Dochartaigh (1987: 110) as dissimilation between the labial
consonant and the round quality of the vowel in items such as fuar ‘cold’ (§3.8). In
Manx, however, feayr ‘cold’ is among the items which may have retention of backness,
216
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
and it might be hypothesized that the fronting represents rather dissimilation between
a dorsal consonant and the back quality of the following vowel, with subsequent
(incomplete) extension to other environments. This would explain why no instances
of <u> spellings occur after dorsal consonants in Phillips, and why no lexical items are
found in the which there is categorical blocking of fronting after dorsal consonants. In
addition, the earlier and more complete fronting of ua(i) after dorsal consonants is
suggested by the much greater prevalence of <i> spellings in this environment (49.1%)
than in the others (all <10%). It should be noted, however, that the dorsal category
includes relatively few tokens (53) and lemmas (8); there are over three times more
tokens in the coronal category.
Moving to the level of individual lexical items, it appears that a process of lexical
diffusion was underway, which was less advanced in the period of the language
represented by the Phillips text, judging by spellings such as lua for later leah (G.
luath), luagh for later leagh (G. luach), tua for later theay (G. tuath), búan for later
beayn (G. buan). None of these have /uә̯/, /uː/ in the later language, although Rhŷs’s
descriptions suggest a more back realization in some varieties, which however was
apparently contrastive with the <oo>, <ooa> /uː/, /uә̯/ vowels (§3.5.1.3). However,
leah (G. luath), for example, is also spelled liǽ and lýa; and other items such as feayr
(Phillips fiýar-, fúar, G. fuar) seem to show the later attested range of variation.
Some innovating realizations are found in Phillips where the more conservative back
realization is found in the later language (e.g. yasyl /ɨә̯sәl/ for later ooasle /uә̯sәl/,
/wusәl/), attesting to the existence of variant forms of which it was not always the
newer form which survived (§3.4.6). Similarly, Phillips’ spellings of G. fuair ‘got,
found’, ScG. fhuair, d’fhuair, mostly suggest /hәːrʲ/, /dәːrʲ/, and while this realization
is attested in Late Manx, the back realization was apparently more widespread (§3.8.2).
For the apparent height contrast between ua = [uә̯, ɨә̯, iә̯] and uai = [әː, eː], conditioned
by the broad or slender quality of the following consonant, see above (§3.6.1.1).
217
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.6.2 Representation of ao(i) and ua(i) in CM orthography
In the standardized orthography of the main eighteenth-century texts, most items have
one fixed spelling, making the kind of analysis given for the Phillips’ orthography
(which looks for trends in a large mass of micro-variation both between and within
lemmas) less feasible. There also appears to be considerably more overlap between
orthographic sequences representing ao, aoi, ua, uai, and other vowels, as the
following lists show.183 To avoid more sporadic or idiosyncratic spellings, only those
forms attested in the Bible, and/or from both Cregeen and Kelly, are given.
<eay> ao:
bleayst (blaosc), cleayney (claonadh) eaynagh (aonach), eayl (aol), feayn
(fao(i)n), geay (gaoth), meayl (maol), sleaydey (slaodadh), teaym (taom),
t(h)eaymey (taomadh), t(h)eayst (taos)
aoi:
keayney (caoineadh), geaysh(t) (gaoisid), skeayl(l)ey (scaoileadh)
ua:
beayn (buan), beaynee (buanaidhe), cheayll, geayll (c(h)uala), deayrtey
(dórtadh, *duartadh), eayn (uan), feayr (fuar), feayght (fuacht), feaysley
(fuascladh), geayl (gual), geaylin (gualann), keayn (cuan), leaystey
(luascadh), theay (tuath)
uai:
cleaysh (clua(i)s), feayshil (fuascail, *fuaisil), geayltyn (guailne, *guailtean)
g(h)eayney (uaine), keayrt (cuairt), mygeayrt (má gcuairt), neayr’s (?an uair
is)
agh: reayrt (radharc)
é:
eayst ‘moon’ (éasca), falleays ‘gleam’ (EIr. folés, ScG. faileas), geayr ‘sour’
(géar), s’leayr ‘clear’ (is léir)
ia:
shleayst, also slheeayst, slheeas(s)id ‘thigh’ (sliasaid)
other: freayll ‘keep’ (friotháladh), jeayst ‘beam’ (Eng. ‘joist’), meayn ‘ore’ (?
mian, méin), skeay, also skeeah (sceith)
<eayi> aoi:
uai:
eayil (aoil)
eayin (uain)
<ea(h)> ao:
aoi:
ua:
ceaghley (claochlódh, ScG. caochladh),
eash (aois), freaney ‘rage, roar’ (raoineadh)
creagh (cruach), eaghtyr (uachtar), leagh (luach), leah (luath), seaghyn
‘sorrow, trouble’ (? *suathachán), skeab (scuab), sleayst (sluasaid)
gleashagh(t) (gluaiseacht)
earkan ‘lapwing’ (adharcán)
beasagh ‘compliant’ (béasach), blean ‘flank, groin’ (bléan), breag ‘lie’
(bréag), clea ‘roof’ (cliath, cléith), crea ‘creed’ (créadh), eadaghey ‘jealousy’
(éad), eaddagh ‘clothes’ (éadach), eajee ‘abominable’ (éidigh), eam ‘call’
(éigheamh), fea ‘rest, quiet’ (féath), greasee ‘shoemaker’ (gréasaidhe), kease
uai:
agh:
é:
183
For meanings of ao(i), ua(i) and agh items, see tables in §3.4, 3.10.1.
218
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/eː/:
ái:
ío:
i:
ea:
‘buttock, ham’ (céas), jea ‘yesterday’ (indé), jiulean ‘tenant farmer’
(deidhbhléan), mea ‘fat’ (méith, méath), pleat ‘talk (cf. pléadáil), rea ‘flat’
(réidh), rheam ‘province’ (réim), sheayney ‘bless’ (séanadh), trean ‘valiant’
(tréan)
bea ‘life’ (beatha), clean ‘cradle’ (cliabhán), chea ‘flee’ (teitheadh), drea(i)n
‘wren’ (dreathan), feanish ‘witness, evidence’ (fiadhnaise), imnea ‘anxiety’
(imnidhe), jeadjagh (deithideach), jean ‘do, make’ (déan), lhean ‘wide’
(leathan), mean ‘middle’ (meadhón), millchea ‘mildew’ (ScG. mill-cheò),
offishear ‘officer’, peeikear ‘spy’, rea ‘ram’ (reithe), soilshean ‘shine’
(soillseán)
earroo ‘number’, (áireamh), gearey ‘smile, laugh’ (gáire), nearey ‘shame’
(náire).
creagh ‘furrow’ (críoch)
earish ‘time, weather’ (iris)
feallagh ‘ones, people’ (? eallach)
<eai> uai/i̯ /: s’leaie (is luaithe)
agh: eairk (adharc)
éi:
eaishtagh ‘listen’ (éisteacht), feailley ‘feast, festival’ (féile), reaish ‘span’
(réise)
other: keagh ‘madness’ (cuthach, ScG. caothach, caoch)
<ey>
deyll (daol), deyr (daor), deyrey (daoradh), feysht (faoiside), inney-veyl
(inghean mhaol), keyl (caol), keyllys (caolas), keynnagh (caonach), keyrrey
(caora), seyr (saor), seyrey (saoradh)
aoi/i̯ /: fey-yerrey (faoi dheireadh)
é:
dangeyr ‘danger’ (dainséar), geyre ‘sharp’ (géar), rey ‘rid’ (réidh), shey (sé)
ái:
-eyr (-(e)óir) e.g. shiolteyr ‘sailor’ (seóltóir)
eith: brey ‘birth’ (breith)
eadh: fey ‘throughout’ (feadh)
/eː/
livrey ‘deliver’
oi:
keyll ‘wood’ (coill), rheynn ‘share, divide’ (roinn)
other: veyge ‘voyage’
ao:
<eyi> ao:
aoi:
seyir (saor)
tarroo-deyill (*tarbh daoil)
<eiy(gh)>
aoi:
keiyn (caoin)
ao(i)/i̯ /: lheiy (laogh), meiygh (mao(i)th), streiyraght (sraothar)
ua(i)/i̯ /: seiy (suaitheadh)
/eːi̯ /: jeigh (iadhadh)
/әi̯ /, /ei̯ /:
eiy ‘footlock’ (iodh), eiystyr ‘halter’ (adhastar), eiyrt ‘follow, chase’ (adhart),
feiyr ‘noise’ (foghar), leigh (ScG. lagh), cleiy ‘dig’ (cladh), shleiy ‘spear’
(sleagh), teiy ‘choose’ (togha)
219
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
other: beiyn ‘animals’ (ScG. beathaichean)
<eo(a),(y),(h)>
ao:
freoagh (fraoch)
aoi:
eoylley (aoileach), feoilt(agh) (faoilte)
ua:
beoyn (?buan), creoghys (cruadhas), feoh (fuath), heose, neose, seose (thuas,
anuas, suas)
agh: leodaghey (laghdaghadh)
other: ben-treoghe ‘widow’ (baintreabhach), scarleod ‘scarlet’ (scarlóid), skeog
‘lock of hair’ (ciabhóg)
<eo(a)i(e)>
aoi/i̯ /: freoaie (fraoich)
uai/i̯ /: leoaie (luaidhe), leoie (luaith), creoi (cruaidh)
other: keoi ‘mad’ (cuthach, ScG. caothach, caoch), skeoigh ‘tidy’ (sciamhach)
<ae>
ao:
gaerr, gaer (ScG. gaorr)
ó /ɛː/: aeg ‘young’ (óg)
ae /ɛː/: aer ‘air, sky’ (aer, EIr. aër, ScG. adhar, aighear)
<ei>
ao:
aoi:
uai:
é:
/eː/:
éi/i̯ /:
ei:
220
keirn (caorthann)
deiney (daoine)
lheill, lheihll (luadhail)
beill ‘mouths’ (béil), beisht ‘beast’ (béist), beishteig ‘beast’ (béisteog), breid
‘veil’ (bréid), boteil ‘bottle’ (cf. Ir. buidéal), brein ‘stinking’ (bréan), -eil
(verbal noun ending, -(e)áil), eilley ‘armour’ (ScG. féileadh), eisht ‘then’
(éis), er-jeid ‘on edge’ (déad), erreish ‘after’ (tar éis), garveigagh ‘roar’
(béic), jeig ‘teen’ (déag), jeir ‘tear(s)’ (déar), jeirk ‘alms’ (déirc), keiley
‘sense’ (gen.) (céille), keim ‘step, stile’ (céim), lheim ‘jump’ (léim), lheiney
‘shirt’ (léine), meill ‘lip’ (méill), meir ‘finger(s)’ (méar), my-yeish ‘in ear’ (ma
dhéis), reir ‘satisfy’ (réir, riar), sheidey ‘blow’ (séideadh), sleityn
‘mountains’ (sléibhte), treigeil ‘abandon’ (tréig), veign ‘I would be’ (bhéinn,
bhínn), y cheilley ‘each other’ (a chéile)
ben-rein ‘queen’ (ríoghan), blein ‘year’ (bliadhain), bundeil ‘bundle’,
carmeish ‘canvas’, freill ‘keep’ (friotháil), geill ‘attention’ (géill), greiney
‘sun’ (gen.) (gréine), lheid ‘such’ (leithéid), meiley ‘bowl’ (?), oaseir
‘overseer’, preis ‘press’, reill ‘rule’ (riaghladh), sheiltyn ‘think’ (saoil, síl),
shirveish ‘serve, service’ (seirbhís), treisht ‘trust, hope’
jei ‘after’ (i ndéidh)
beinn ‘peak’ (beinn), bheill ‘grind’ (meil, ScG. beil), creid ‘believe’ (creid),
greimmey ‘grasp’ (greimeadh), greinnaghey ‘encourage’ (ScG.
greannachadh, *greinn-), keiltyn ‘hide’ (ceilt), keird ‘craft’ (ceird), meinn
‘meal’ (min, mein), sheilg ‘hunt’ (seilg)
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ai, oi: clein ‘kin’ (clainn), eirin(n)agh ‘farmer’ (aireamh), geid ‘steal’ (goid), geill
‘spring’ (gail, goil), geinnagh ‘sand’ (gainmheach), skeilt ‘cloven’ (scoilte),
s’meilley ‘feebler’ (is maille), teirroo, terriu ‘bulls’ (tairbh)
ai, oi + /i̯ /:
deinagh ‘wearisome’ (? doighean, daighear), eirey ‘heir’ (oighre),
other: eilkin ‘errand’ (?), -eig, also -age, -aag, -aig (diminutive suffix, -(e)óg), keint
‘kind’, queig ‘five’ (cúig, cóig), steillyn, steillin (ScG. stàillinn)
<ei(g)h>
ao:
seihll (saoghal)
aoi/i̯ /: dreih (draoi), mreih (mnaoi)
uai:
lheihll, lheill (luadhail)
ua(i)/i̯ /: sleih (sluagh), treih (truagh), teigh (tuagh), veih (uaidh)
éi/i̯ /: lheihys ‘healing’ (léigheas), spreih (spréidheadh) ny-yeih ‘however’ (ina
dhéidh)
ei/i̯ /: jeih ‘ten’ (deich), meih ‘weight’ (meidh), sneih ‘vexation’ (snighe)
/әi̯ /:
leih ‘forgive’ (loghadh), reih ‘choose’ (rogha)
<oaie>
ua(i)/i̯ /: oaie (uaigh)
óigh: doaie ‘decency’ (dóigh)
éi/i̯ /: oaiagh ‘perjurous’ (éitheach)
oiche: cloaie ‘stone’ (gen.) (cloiche)
/әi̯ /:
oaie ‘face’ (aghaidh)
<i>
ao(i):
i(o):
kirree (caoraigh, caoirigh)
ching ‘sick’ (tinn), shimmey ‘many’ (is iomadh), and many others.
<u>
ao:
u(i):
io:
un (aon)
muc ‘pig’ (muc), tushtey ‘understanding’ (tuigse), and many others.
urley ‘eagle’ (iolar), and others.
<iy>
aoi:
riyr (araoir, aréir)
aoi/i̯ /: siyr (saothar, saoithear)
/ai̯ /:
criy ‘gallows’ (croich), lhiy ‘colt’ (lo(i)th), piyr ‘pair’ (ScG. paidhear), siyn
‘vessels’ (ScG. soithichean)
io:
er-giyn ‘following’ (iar gcionn)
<uy>
aoi:
ua/i̯ /:
iodh:
iú:
iu:
nuy (naoi)
ruy (ruadh)
fuygh ‘wood’ (fiodh)
shuyr ‘sister’ (siúr)
juys ‘fir’ (giuthas)
agh:
ymmyd (adhmad)
<y>
221
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
io:
<egh> ao/i̯ /:
fynney ‘fur’ (fionnadh), myn ‘fine’ (mion), ynnyd ‘place’ (ionad), and many
others
streghernee (sraothar)
Although there are no orthographic forms which are exclusive to reflexes of G. ao(i),
ua(i) and agh (with the near exception of <eo>), and little to distinguish ao(i) and ua(i),
the following observations about the distribution of forms can be made:
(a) The representational overlap is mainly between ao(i) /әː/, ua(i) /ɨә̯/, /әː/ on the one
hand and é /eː/ on the other, and to a lesser degree á /ɛː/, í /iː/, ia /iә̯/. This would appear
to support the conclusion that there was a significant degree of phonetic similarity
between these vowel sounds, and that ao(i) and ua(i) were fairly fronted, and mid to
high, as the other evidence presented in this chapter also shows.
(b) Although some of the main orthographic representations of ao(i) and ua(i), namely
<eay>, <ea>, <ey>, can also represent the front mid to high vowels noted in (a), it is
noteworthy that there are a number of representations which never represent ao(i),
ua(i), such as <ee, eey> (/iː/), <eea, ia> (/iә̯/), <ay, ai, e_e> (/eː/), <aa, ay> (/ɛː/). This,
and (c, d) below, would suggest that there were indeed phonological contrasts between
reflexes of ao(i), ua(i) and these other vowels.
(c) Only one representation, <eo> (including <eoy>, <eoh>, <eoa>, <eoi>), is more or
less unique to ao(i) and ua(i) (although it does not help in distinguishing between the
two), apart from its obviously quite distinct use for /oː/ in a few other items. To some
extent the use of <eo> in the Bible orthography seems to be a recessive survival from
more widespread use in less standardized versions of the CM orthography. It is used
for example in CS (1707): sleoi ‘sooner’ (s’leaie, G. is luaithe), feosle ‘relieve’
(feayshil, G. fuascail); in the 1796184 edition of PC: cheoyn ‘sea’ (keayn, G. cuan),
feon ‘expansive’ (feayn, G. fao(i)n), beoyn ‘eternal’ (beayn, G. buan), chleosh ‘ear’
(cleaysh, G. cluais), feoyr ‘cold’ (feayr, G. fuar), among others; and in variant
184
Possibly deriving without substantial revision from a manuscript from the first half of the eighteenth
century (Max Wheeler, personal communication) (§1.3.1.1).
222
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
spellings in Cregeen, e.g. theo ‘common people’ (theay, G. tuath), cleoyn ‘propensity’
(cleayn, G. claon, or cluain?).
(d) <eay>, although also representing /eː/ in a handful of items, and /iә̯/ in a couple
more, is also very strongly associated with ao(i) and ua(i).
It might be wondered why, firstly, no clear way to distinguish ao(i) from ua(i)
(especially ao /әː/ from ua /ɨә̯/) was adopted, and secondly, why less ambiguous
representations such as <eo> (or the likes of Phillips’ <yy> and <ya>) seem to have
been dispreferred and replaced by more ambiguous forms such as <ea>. To an extent,
it is likely that this reflects the organic way in which the orthography evolved through
the interplay of the idiosyncratic preferences of different individuals and texts. In such
a process, certain distinctions and patterns might with time come to be made more
clearly and consistently, but equally, there was no guarantee that the most “logical”
orthographic forms would prevail.
It should be remembered that accurate representation of pronunciation was not
necessarily the chief concern of Manx writers (Thomson 1984: 307; Thomson and
Pilgrim 1988: 4) (§§1.6.4.2, 1.66). They were native speakers of Manx and knew how
the language was pronounced; their concern was with the transmission of the texts they
needed to write, and with distinguishing individual lexical items (especially the many
homophones and near-homophones) for the sake of semantic clarity, rather than with
accurate representation of phonological contrasts which, in any case, would have had
a light functional load.
Another consideration is that the very complexity and fluidity of the situation with
regard to the relationship between ua(i) and ao(i) may have militated against marking
the contrasts too finely, since this would result in spellings suited only for certain
dialects or idiolects. There may have been an impetus, whether conscious or
unconscious, to develop an orthography which could encompass multiple varieties of
Manx, especially in view of the collaborative process by which the Bible was
223
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
translated by clergy originating from and residing in different parts of the island. Recall
the variation attested in the following items:185
[ɨә̯] ~ [uә̯]
[әː] ~ [eː] ~ [uә̯]
[ɨә̯] ~ [әː]
[ɨә̯] ~ [әː] ~ [eː]
[ɨː[ ~ [uː] ~ [oː]
feayr ‘cold’ (fuar)
hooar (non-standard also heyr etc.) ‘got, found’ (fuair)
geay ‘wind’ (gaoth)
cleaysh ‘ear’ (cluais)
heose etc. ‘up’ (thuas)
The consistent retention of <eo> in heose, seose, neose may reflect the existence of a
form with /oː/ (§3.4.5). Otherwise, the apparent restriction in the use of <eo> in the
standard may reflect an aversion to orthographic forms which diverge too far from
English norms; compare the substitution of <ai> for <ia> etc. (§1.6.5), and the
problems caused by <eo> in the Manx of the terminal speakers, some of whom produce
spelling pronunciations such as fẹːo, fjoː (HLSM II: 165) for feoh /fɨә̯/ ‘hate’ (G. fuath).
This would also help to explain why there seems to have been no widespread attempt
to adopt Phillips’ <y(y)>, <ya> etc., despite the use of <yy> in John Woods’ 1696
sermon manuscript (Lewin 2015b: 74).
It is notable that there is also no clear attempt to distinguish diphthongal /ɨә̯/ from /әː/
(and the monophthongal realization [ɨː] < ua(i) which is in evidence in Late Manx),
even though the other diphthongs of this type are consistently distinguished in the CM
orthography from their corresponding monophthongs (<eea, ia> /iә̯/, <ee, eey, eei> /iː/;
<ooa, ua> /uә̯/, <oo, ooy, ooi, u> /uː/) (§2.2.6). This may again reflect the abovementioned reluctance to distinguish too clearly between reflexes of ua(i) and ao(i), as
well as the ongoing weakening of the second element of these diphthongs (*/Va̯ / >
/Vә̯/ > /Vː/) throughout the attested period of Manx.
185
There was, however, evidently no way of bridging the gap between /ɨә/ and /uә/, with one variant or
the other having to be chosen.
224
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.7 Instrumental data
In order to investigate the realization of the Gaelic vowels ao(i) and ua(i) in the Manx
of the terminal speakers, with respect to the reported mergers or near-mergers with
each other and with the front vowels /iː/, /eː/ and /ɛː/ (< G. í, ia; é; á) (§3.5), an
investigation of data from audio recordings of the terminal Manx speakers made by
the Irish Folklore Commission in 1948 (Manx National Heritage 2003) was carried out
using the software package Praat (Boersma and Weenink 2015). All instances of ao(i)
and ua(i) in the native speech samples in these recordings were included with the
exception of one track, and some individual instances, where the sound quality was
too low or the interpretation uncertain. For the other, more frequently-occurring
vowels a sample was taken for each speaker of comparable size to the datasets for ao(i)
and ua(i). For the purposes of this analysis ua and uai were combined. There were
relatively few tokens of uai and most of them are of the items keayrt (G. cuairt) and
mygeayrt (G. má gcuairt), which appear to pattern with ua owing to the
depalatalization of final */rʲtʲ/ (§3.9.6). The total number of tokens were á (193), ao
(23), aoi (35), é (58), í (141), ua(i) (41).
225
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chart 6. F1 tracks for front and central long vowels (corresponding to vowel
height), all speakers, Irish Folklore Commission recordings
í
ua(i)
é
aoi
ao
á
Chart 7. F2 tracks for front and central long vowels (corresponding to
backness), all speakers, Irish Folklore Commission recordings
í
aoi
á
é
ua(i)
226
ao
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chart 8. Means for each category with 95% confidence intervals, all speakers,
Irish Folklore Commission recordings, showing F1 (height) and F2 (backness)
227
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The frequency of the first and second formants (F1 and F2), which correspond roughly
to vowel height and backness respectively, were measured over ten intervals of equal
duration within each vowel, and also normalized by speaker via a z-scoring procedure
(that is to say, each measurement was recalculated to show the distance from the mean,
measured in standard deviations), in order to improve comparability. Charts 6 and 7
show regression curves of the normalized formant measurements against time, fit using
thin plate regression splines using the R package mgcv (Wood 2006), together with
95% confidence intervals. Chart 8 shows the means of the two formant measurements
for each category.
Although no specific statistical significance can be attached to Charts 6 to 8 in
themselves, we can discern at least some qualitative patterns, including the following:
In terms of height, ua(i) clearly patterns in the vicinity of the high vowel í,
while ao and aoi are of mid height in the vicinity of é, in accordance with
expectations from other sources of evidence discussed in this chapter.
In terms of backness, ua(i) again patterns with í, but with some overlap with
aoi and é, while ao and aoi are further back.
While there is little apparent difference in height between ao (expected /әː/)
and aoi (/әː/ [ә̟ː] or /eː/), in backness they seem quite distinct, with ao being
further back (in the vicinity of the lower á), which supports the expectation of
an allophonic and/or phonemic split between the two categories.
á /ɛː/ is clearly distinct from é /eː/ (§2.2.3), against the claims of merger made
by Broderick (HLSM III: 50).
To investigate further whether statistical significance can be discerned in these
apparent contrasts, pairwise comparisons were run on the differences between the
midpoints (=point 5 for our purposes). T-tests were used, correcting for multiple
comparisons using False Discovery Rate (FDR) (Figures 11, 12).
228
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Figure 11. Pairwise comparisons using t-tests with pooled standard deviation for
Irish Folklore Commission data, F1 (height)
á
ao
aoi
é
í
ao
0.0754
—
—
—
—
aoi
2.0e-07
0.0464
—
—
—
é
9.6e-10
0.0047
0.3020
—
—
í
< 2e-16
6.4e-16
5.9e-13
8.4-09
—
ua(i)
< 2e-16
1.3e-10
2.0e-07
6.2e-05
0.2290
P-value adjustment method: FDR
Figure 12. Pairwise comparisons using t-tests with pooled standard deviation for
Irish Folklore Commission data, F2 (backness)
á
ao
aoi
é
í
ao
0.96750 —
—
—
—
aoi
4.8e-06
0.00141 —
—
—
é
8.4e-05
0.00507 0.75133 —
—
í
< 2e-16
9.1e-11
0.00049 0.00017 —
ua(i)
9.1e-11
2.0e-05
0.23047 0.12730 0.03169
P-value adjustment method: FDR
With respect to F1 (height), we find that ao and aoi are marginally different (p-value
just under .05), and there is no significant difference between é and aoi or between
ua(i) and í. The difference between á and ao is marginal at best, but all the other pairs
are strongly different from one another, although the difference between ao and é is
more marginal than the rest. With respect to F2 (backness), there is a quite marginal
difference between í and ua(i), and no difference between á and ao, between é and aoi,
between aoi and ua(i), and é and ua(i). The vowels í, é and á are all different from one
another. Ao is different from é and aoi, but the differences are not as great as for F1.
The above results show that for the terminal speakers, á is certainly contrastive with
é (against Broderick’s claim, HLSM
III:
50), and there is no general merger of ao(i)
and ua(i), contradicting Broderick’s claim that ‘AO(I) and UA(I) have practically
completely fallen together’ (HLSM III: 60). As expected from other data presented in
this chapter, ua(i) shows no height difference from í, but seems to be a little different
from it in backness; ao is somewhat different from é in both height and backness; and
there is evidence of merger of aoi with é. Finally, there appears to be little difference
between á and ao, especially in F2, although no other evidence or descriptions suggest
229
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
merger between these vowels. It should be stressed however that the relatively low
number of tokens means that these results must remain tentative.
3.8 Fronting and unrounding of ua(i) in Manx and Ulster
Irish
In Ulster Irish /ua/ may be fronted to [ia̯ ] or similar in certain environments (Ó
Dochartaigh 1987: 110–4):
A similar explanation [to that offered for fronting of /u/ before /w/, namely
dissimilation] might be offered for a phonetic shift affecting a [u] vowel when
it is part of the /ua/ diphthong after a labial consonant, In a number of dialects,
particularly in South Donegal, though including also some examples from
further north, the /u/ of the diphthong appears occasionally as [ɪ] or [i], usually
accompanied by a labialised semivowel off-glide from the preceding consonant
— e.g. [fʷɪәr] for fuar.
(Ó Dochartaigh 1987: 110)
Ó Dochartaigh endorses Ó Searcaigh’s (1925: 19) and Sommerfelt’s (1922: 31)
explanation for this, namely that the fronting represents ‘a dissimilation between the
initial labial and the rounded quality of the /u/, with unrounding followed by fronting
to [ɪ(ː)]’ (Ó Dochartaigh 1987: 110). Further evidence for this is an intermediate form
[ɯ(ː)] replacing the [u(ː)] element of the diphthong noted by Ó Searcaigh and also by
Sommerfelt (1922: 145–6), who also records the complete replacement of the
diphthong by long /ɯː/ in certain items. O’Rahilly’s (37) explanation for these
developments is somewhat different:
More important is the change, common in Ulster, of ua preceded by a labial to
Iː, ʎː etc. Thus buan is pronounced in Donegal as if it were baon, viz. b(w)ʎːn
or bwIːn, comparative bwIːnʹә. In the same county fuar is pronounced fwIːr or
fwIːar… In these and similar words the Donegal development was, I take it,
from uːΩ (= uːә, with the second element retracted) to uΩː, by shifting of length,
and thence to wʎː and wIː, the originally long u of ua being finally reduced to a
w offglide from the preceding labial.
(O’Rahilly: 37)
230
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Ó Dochartaigh notes the sequence of developments suggested by O’Rahilly, but
proposes a different sequence:
[uːә] > [ɯːә] > [ʷɪːә] (> [ʷEː])186
(Ó Dochartaigh 1987: 111)
Ó Dochartaigh’s explanation seems preferable to O’Rahilly’s, since the latter does not
give an account of why the change should take place after labial consonants but not
elsewhere.
The apparent similarity of these developments and Manx fronting of /ua̯ / has been
noted in passing by Ó Dochartaigh (1987: 112) and Broderick (HLSM
III:
60).
However, on closer inspection they seem to be quite distinct developments. Fronting
of ua(i) in Manx may take place after any consonant, or in initial position, not just after
labials, and indeed a number of the items where back /uә̯/ is or may be retained in
Manx have a preceding labial consonant. The principal exceptions in Manx are given
in §§3.4.5, 3.4.6.
Of these, mooar and booa do not belong to the /ua̯ / class in most Gaelic dialects, and
thus might be expected to behave differently in Manx. Alternatively, fronting may be
blocked in them by the labial quality of the initial consonant, as in feayr and fooar. In
the case of mooar the back quality of /uː/ in the comparative smoo (G. is mó) may
reinforce the retention of the back quality of the vowel in mooar. It appears that the
fronting of /ua̯ / in Manx either represents centralization of the [u] element to a quality
closer to the second element [a] or [ә], or dissimilation between the back quality of [u]
and the dorsal quality of consonants such as [k], as suggested by Phillips’ orthography
(§3.6.1.2). If this is the case, this would be more or less the mirror image of the Ulster
development. The Phillips data, as well as the lexical distribution of /uә̯/ and /ɨә̯/, /әː/
in the later language, indicate that fronting spread by lexical diffusion.
In the case of heose etc., the motivation for the retention of back forms might be to
avoid clashing with antonyms, since the regular development of both thuas ‘up’ and
The development to [ʷEː] represents a realization found in East Ulster buartha (Ó Dochartaigh 1987:
111).
186
231
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
thíos ‘down’ could give *[hiːs] in Manx.187 The forms with [oː] may represent original
non-diphthongized ós (GOI: 40), or perhaps more likely later sporadic
monophthongization of /uә̯/ (cf. Ó Curnáin 2007: 92–3). The retention of the back
vowel in ooasle in Classical and Late Manx (but with a fronted form attested in
Phillips, §§3.4.6, 3.6.1.2) may be connected with the development of an initial glide
[w] (the Late Manx attested forms seem to have /wu/ rather than /uә̯/ or /uː/) (cf. ibid.:
93), or the fact that ooasle is a high-register word.
3.8.1 /ɨə̯/ ~ /uə̯/ in feayr ‘cold’ (G. fuar): register, dialect, idiolect
Rhŷs (20–1) gives the following comments on the distribution and usage of the
different reflexes of ua in feayr ‘cold’ (G. fuar):
the uy [uә̯] of the fūyr [fuә̯r] which I have mentioned, was heard by me in
Andreas in the North, also in the South, but, mostly as a slip: the person using
it would quickly correct himself into füyr [fɨә̯r] or fiyr [fiә̯r] as the
pronunciation considered proper to give to a stranger, but I have heard it too
often for it to have been an accident, even if we had not the northern
pronunciation mentioned and the parallel instance of hooar.
(Rhŷs 20–1)
The observation of speakers correcting themselves suggests that a perception had
developed that the fronted realization of the diphthong was more correct or standard,
perhaps as a result of the spelling <eay>, even though the back variant is in fact the
more conservative form. The only instance of feayr in Phillips is spelled fúar, which
suggests the back variant, but the derivatives fiýarghey (later feayraghey, ScG.
fuarachadh) and fyaght (feayght, G. fuacht) suggest more fronted realizations. In
terminal speech we have southern fuːər and fuərɑ̆x (NM), fuːrax (HK) but also ˈfiːər
(TL). From the north, only front unrounded realizations are found: fiːər (TC), fiːə (DC,
HB), fiːĕ̜ (HB). From this limited data we might surmise that /fuә̯r/ was the usual
187
The potential problem is exacerbated by a tendency to substitute /s/ for /ʃ/ in sheese ‘down’ (motion).
Some speakers nevertheless seem to tolerate near homophones, cf. Ned Maddrell’s [siːs] ‘down’ and
[sɪːs] ‘up’.
232
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Cregneash form (as represented by NM and HK), but that /fiә̯r/ was found further east
and north and east (including in Arbory as represented by TL). However, Rhŷs’s
comments suggest that the geographical distribution was more complex (see also data
from Rhŷs’s notes, Broderick 2019 s.v. feayr).
3.8.2 hooar, dooar ‘got, found’ (G. f(h)uair, d’fhuair)
Rhŷs (25) gives hūœr [huә̯r⁽ʲ⁾]188 as the only realization he encountered of hooar ‘got,
found’, ScG. fhuair. Most of the spellings in Phillips (§3.4.6), however, as Rhŷs points
out, suggest a fronted reflex: heyr, deyr (27 occurrences, ignoring diacritic variation),
hæyr (14), dýyr (1). Of the remaining occurrences, duóer (1), dûêyr (1) and fóyr (1)
may represent [uә̯], though this is not clear.
Rhŷs (25–6) assumes the fronted reflex attested in Phillips to be obsolete, and gives a
suggestion as to why the more conservative form might survive and outlive the regular
development, albeit one which is difficult to interpret:
If this form had been still in use it would be probably sounded hœr: it is,
however, a form phonetically later than the hooar still in use. Thus it follows
that the two pronunciations hūœr and hœ̄ r have been in use together, and in this
instance the reason can be detected, why the older form is the one surviving.
Judging from the use made by Phillips of heyr […] ‘gat,’ in the sense of ‘begat,’
I infer that association of ideas to have told against it and enabled the older form
to survive, which it does as hooar.
(Rhŷs 25–6)
In fact the fronted development is attested in terminal speech as hęːr (HK) (HLSM II:
221), alongside forms with uː, uːə, also from HK, as well as JTK, NM and W:N. The
dependent form is attested as dhere or deayr in late eighteenth-century folksong
manuscripts (Thomson 1961: 22; Broderick 1981a: 118). Nevertheless, it seems that
the forms with /uә̯/ were the most prevalent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
‘For unaccented œ I have nothing to show here except the case of the diphthong ū́ œ about to be
mentioned as probably involved in the pronunciation of the verb hooar ‘gat, found’’ (Rhŷs: 22). The
distinctive quality of the offglide may be related to the expected palatalized /rʲ/ (§4.2.1.3).
188
233
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
It is possible that /hәːrʲ/, /dәːrʲ/ (>[heːrʲ], [deːrʲ]), was disfavoured because of the near
homophony with the semantically similar haare ‘caught; reached (place)’ (ScG. tàir)
/hɛːrʲ/, future dependent /dɛːrʲ/ daare (especially considering raising of /ɛː/ before /rʲ/,
§2.2.3).
3.9 Other developments
3.9.1 New diphthongs: ao(i), ua(i) + vocalized fricatives
The development of ao(i) and ua(i) before vocalized fricatives, especially in fronting
diphthongs, deserves special discussion. It will be necessary to refer to the interaction
of these with combinations involving other historical vowels. The scope of the present
chapter, and considerations of space, preclude the provision of full data tables for
these, but the relevant lexical items are given in the following lists. In the ensuing
discussion, reference is to data to be found under the relevant headwords in HLSM (II)
and Thomson (1953), unless otherwise stated.
leigh (lagh) /aɣ/, /oɣ/ > /әi̯ /
eiy (iodh), eiystyr (adhastar), eiyrt (adhairt), feiyr (foghar), cleigh, cleiy
(cladh), fuygh (fiodh), reih (rogha), teiy (togha), leih (loghadh), oaie, oi
(aghaidh)
soie (suidh) /uj/ç/ > /ui̯ / > /әi̯ / or /iː/
cloie (cluiche), broie (bruich), stroie (struidh)
roie (rith) /Ri/ > /rәi̯ / or /riː/
roih (righ)
oie (aidhche, oidhche) /ajçә/ > /әi̯ / or /iː/189
mie (maith) /a/oj/hj/ç/ > /ai̯ /
brie (braith), crie (craith), criy (croich), drine (draighean), grih (groigh), lhie
(laigh(e)), lhiy (loth, *loith), Mian (*Maitheán), moidyn (maighdean), side
189
For the special development of this item in Gaelic dialects, see Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 197).
234
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(saighead), sie (saich, saith), siyn (saitheach, soitheach), thie (taigh), trie
(traigh, troigh)
jeih (deich) /ej/ɣ/ç/ > /ei̯ /
lheihys (leigheas), meih (meidh), feie, feai, fey, feiy (feadh), shleiy (sleagh),
eirey (eighre, oighre)
jei (diaidh, déidh) (/iaj/ɣ/ >) /eːj/ɣ/ > /eːi̯ /
eie (éigh(eadh)), feie (fiadh), greie (gréith), spreie (spréidh(eadh)), jeigh
((do-)iadh(adh)), (?) lhaih (léigh(eadh))190
3.9.1.1 ao(i) + /i̯ /
This mostly seems to give /әːi̯ /.
Table 51. ao(i) + /i̯ /
Phillips
lheiy
y̆ i, y̆ ei,
y̆ æ̆ i, y̆ oi,
(pl.) yôi
fey-yerrey
(Bible, Cr.,
K.), fei(h)yerrey
(SW), fyyerrey (Cr.)
freoaie
meiygh,
meigh (K.,
Hymns)
gleiy (Cr.),
gleih (K.)
ŷú, ý, ú
CM
pronunciation
/lәːi̯ /
etymology
English
HLSM
laogh
calf
/fә(ː)(i̯ ) ˈjerʲә/
e̜ i TC, CC, WQ,
HK, ei TC, W:N,
e̜ ːi EKh, HK, ẹːi
HK, ɛ-i JTK, ɛːi
NM, Eːi W:N, aˌi
W:S, ɛi J:HB,
J:TL, J:JTK, J:EK,
(pl.) Le̜ i, Le̜ iə̯n,
Løiə̯n, løiə̯n TC
faoi dheireadh
at last
heather
/mәːi̯ /, ?/mәː/
fraoich
(genitive)
maoth
/ɡlәːi̯ /
glaodh
glue,
slime191
tender
ɛːi EK, iː NM, e̜ i
EKh
mẹː TC, HK,
(meiyghagh)
møiɑ ̣x TC
190
The spelling and some attested realizations of this item may suggest assimilation to the /ɛːi̯ / (< áigh
etc.) class, although the motivation for this is unclear.
191
‘a fibre of slime or of any glutinous matter’ (Cregeen)
235
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
mreih (Cr.,
K.), mree
(PC 1796)
nuy; nuyoo
siyr
streghernee
(Bible, K.)
streiyraght
(Bible, K.),
streighyr,
streiyr,
streighraght,
streighernee
(Cr.),
ý, íí
/mrәː̃ ĩ̯ /, ?/mrĩː/
mnaoi
woman
(gen.)
yú, yu, ýý,
(nuyoo) nú
(5), nu,
nýú, nyu
/nәːi̯ /, /niː/
naoi; naomhadh
nine; ninth
eî (2), éi,
ei, êî
/sai̯ r/
saothar, var.
saoithear,
saoithir
(eDIL saithir,
sáithir)
sraoth,
sraothartach
haste
/strәːi̯ әr/,
/strәːi̯ әrni/,
/strәːi̯ әraxt/
u̜ i JW, iː NM, ɪː
J:NM, ei J:EK, ᵘi
TC, ai JK, ɛ-iː
JTK, (nuyoo) nu̜ iu
JW, nøi-u TC,
niːuː NM
sɑiəʳ TC, saiɛ̆ JK,
sajə, sajər W:N,
sɑ ̣ːʳ HK, sɑːiəʳ TT
sneeze
Note the /ai̯ / diphthong in the Manx reflex of G. saothar (or rather saoithear) rather
than /әːi̯ / or /әi̯ /, confirmed by the spelling and the back realizations ɑi, aj etc. (HLSM);
long diphthongs appear to be disfavoured in closed syllables for prosodic reasons; cf.
also riyr (§§3.4.2, 3.9.4).192 The spellings of stregher-, streighyr on the other hand
suggest that this item remained disyllabic and preserved /әːi̯ / in an open syllable.
As in other Gaelic varieties, the language name Gaoidhealg, Gaoidhilg is irregular,
and gives a monosyllable with a short vowel in Late Manx (Table 52):
192
The [ә] in some of the HLSM realizations is probably to be interpreted as a glide associated with the
Late Manx realizations of coda /r/ (§4.2.3). The metre shows it is monosyllabic in PC ll. 489, 662 and
Hymns 43, 130.
236
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 52. Gaoidhealg, Gaoidhilg
Gaelck,
Gailck, Gaelc
(K.), Gaelic,
Gailic, Gaelg
(Cr.), Gailck
(SW, Hymns,
C19
newspapers);
(adj.)
Gaelgagh,
Gailckagh
etc.193
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
etymology
English
HLSM
(adj.)
gellgah,
golgkagh
/ɡilʲɡʲ/, /ɡelʲɡʲ/,
/ɡilʲkʲ/, /ɡelʲkʲ/
Gaoidhealg;
*Gaoidhilgeach
Manx
language;
pertaining to
Manx,
Manxspeaking
gʹilʹkʹ JTK,
HB, gilkʹ JK,
gɪlk W.N,
gɪLkʹ TC, gilk
WQ, ge̜ lg JW,
gɪlg, gilk NM,
gɪlg, gelḳ
W:S, gɪlk
J:JK, gɪlg
J:NM; (adj.)
ge̜ lgɑ ̣x JW,
gɪlkɑ ̣x TC194
3.9.1.2 ua(i) + /i̯ /
These also mostly appear to give /әːi̯ /, but see below. For items with G. uaidh which
retain back /uәi̯ / see §3.4.5.
Table 53. ua(i) + /i̯ / (excluding items with synchronic /uəi̯ /)
Phillips
leoie
yi, y̆ ei, ýei;
(G.
luaithreadh)
liyri
leoaie
creoi
yei (2), yoi,
ei (2), oi
CM
pronunciation
/lәːi̯ /
etymology
English
HLSM
luaith
ashes
øi TC, öi JW, NM,
e̜ i WQ, üi CC, ɛi
EC
/lәːi̯ /
luaidhe
lead (metal)
/krәːi̯ /
cruaidh
hard
e̜ i TC, WQ, ẹːi
HK, öi NM,
J:JTK, ọi EC
ɛːi JK, NM, ai JK,
iː JTK, öi J:EK,
J:JK, ɛi HB
193
The simple form Gaoidheal ‘Gael, Gaelic-speaker’ does not seem to be attested in vernacular usage
in Manx; Kelly’s ‘Gael, s. a Celt, a Manxman, an Irishman, a Highlander’ is probably an antiquarian
insertion. From an early date the term Manninagh ‘Manxman’ (G. Manannach) seems to have sufficed
for self-identification, and there appears to be little or no tradition of ethnic identification with the Irish
or Scottish Gaels prior to the Celtic revival. The adjectives Gaelgagh (*Gaoidhilgeach) and Baarlagh
(*Béarlach) are used for Manx- or English-speaking, or pertaining to the respective languages.
194
Note that in the north only forms with devoiced final /kʲ/ are found, while both /ɡʲ/ and /kʲ/ are found
in the south.
237
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
treih
sleih
veih
teigh
oaie195
seiy
s’leaie
ruy
yei, ǽig, eyi
(3), éi;
(truaighe)
ýi, æi (2),
ýei, yei, ýi,
éy, eyg,
ǽyi;
trǽanid,
tdræyid
yêi, yei (3),
ŷei, yi, yǽi,
y̆ ei, yei
ei (2)
y̆ i, (pl.)
téigyn
ŷôi, yoi (2),
yôi (4), yŏi,
ýoi, y̆ oi, ŷŷi,
yei (2), yéi,
yæi, (pl.)
yiaghyn,
ýiaghyn
yoi, ey̆ i,
yæi, úa, y̆ i
(3), yi (2),
y̆ e
yéi, yêi, yei
(4), ýei (2),
ŷæ̂ i
/trәːi̯ /
truagh
miserable
øi TC, e̜ i JC, JW
/slәːi̯ /
sluagh
people
/vәːi̯ /
uaidh
/tәːi̯ /
tuagh
from, from
him, it
axe
/әːi̯ /
uaigh, uagh
grave
e̜ i TC, ɛi JK,
J:EK, ai JK, NM,
ei W:S, öi J:TL
ei, e̜ i, ei TC, ai
NM
e̜ i HK, EKh, ai, ɑ ̣i
TC, a-i ø-i W:N
ẹːi HK, ɔːi NM, öi
J:NM, ɪː W:S, ᵘi
TC, ɛːi HB, ei
W:N, (pl.) ẹːxən,
ẹiɣən HK
/sәːi̯ /
suaith,
suaitheadh
stir, mix,
trouble
øi TC, saːi NM, ai
W:S
/s lәːi̯ /
is luaithe
iə NM, iː HK
/rәːi̯ /
ruadh
sooner,
earlier,
quicker
red, ruddy
ai, a-i NM, ei HK,
rɛi J:EK, J:NM,
J:HB, NM
3.9.1.3 Interpreting the developments of ao(i), ua(i) + /i̯ /
Rhŷs’s notes on contrasts and mergers in the diphthongs /ai̯ /, /әi̯ /, /әːi̯ /, especially the
relationship between the seven near-homophonic monosyllables of the shape /lV(ː)i̯ /,
are complex and difficult to interpret:
Open o, short…enters into a diphthong oi as in the word […] lhiy ‘a colt’ (Ir.
loth ‘a colt, a filly’); […] leigh ‘law’ (Goi. lágh [sic] […] lhie ‘a lying down’
195
Bible MSS: oaih (Numbers 19:16,18), eoi (1 Samuel 2:6), oaie (1 Kings 2:6,9, 13:22,30), oie (1
Kings 14:13), oaieaghyn (2 Chronicles 16:14), Oiee (Revelation 6:8) oaih (Revelation 20:13), oaïh
(Revelation 20:14).
238
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(Ir. luigh, ScG. laidh); and […] leih to ‘forgive’ (O. Ir. doluigim ‘I forgive’).
Ordinarily these words have much the same pronunciation, but when attention
is called to it, Manx speaking people think that they make slight distinctions.
As a matter of fact they never rely on those distinctions, for they resort to other
means of avoiding ambiguity: thus goll dy lhie is said both of a person going to
lie down in bed and of the sun setting, whereas going to law is goll gys y leigh
[…] literally ‘going to the law*.’
*
Since the above was put in type I have taken down from the mouth of a native
of Ballaugh, Mr. Thomas Callister, the following pronunciations of these
words: ly̆ ́ i for (i) a calf, (2) law, (3) forgive, and lōi for (l) a colt, and (2) lying
down. Here the ō represents a sound almost as open as that of a in the English
word all. (Rhŷs: 9)
(Rhŷs: 9)
It enters into a diphthong y̆ i as in […] roie ‘a running’ (Ir. rioth, but ScG. ruith);
[…] lheiy ‘a calf’ (Goi. laogh), which is sometimes pronounced ly̆ i, as for
example, by natives of Dalby who thereby distinguish it from leoaie ‘lead,’
pronounced by them lȳi. Here may also be mentioned a group of words with i
(probably for igh or idh) forming the second element of a diphthong which I
have heard variously pronounced y̆ i, ö̆ i, and even ĕi. The principal instances are
the following: sleih ‘people’ ([…] Mod. Ir. sluagh […]); […] treih ‘miserable’
([…] Mod. Ir. truagh, ScG. truagh); […] teighyn ‘hatchets,’ plural of teigh ([…]
Mod. Ir. tuagh, […]), […] creoi, creoie ‘hard’ ([…] Mod. Goi. cruaidh).
(Rhŷs: 11)
The other diphthong into which ū enters is ūi, which I have heard in words like
creoi ‘hard,’ leoie ‘ashes,’ leoaie ‘lead,’ as pronounced by natives of Ballaugh
and Jurby.
(Rhŷs: 11–12)
The vowel ȳ enters into a diphthong ȳi in […] lheiy ‘a calf’ (Goi. laogh, […]),
pronounced both lȳ ́ i (and ly̆ ́ i), but the ȳ is perceptibly longer in the pronunciation
of the word now written leoaie* ‘lead’ (Ir. luaidhe […]) […]; and the
pronunciation of […] leoie ‘ashes,’ (Ir. luaidh […]), is usually the same.
*
This is no distinction invented by a grammarian, as I learned it in questioning
an aged native of Dalby. He carelessly forgot to mark sufficiently the distinction
between lȳi for ‘calf’ and the longer lȳi for ‘lead,’ when he was instantly
corrected by his wife, who however could not read Manx. It is right to add that
y is here only an approximation, as I sometimes seem to hear the word for ‘lead’
pronounced lœ̄ i, while in the North the principal vowel unmistakably recalls the
sound of the u which the word originally involved. In the parish of Ballaugh the
239
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
word for calf is pronounced ly̆ i, and the plural lȳi, written lheiyee; but the latter
is more commonly superseded by a form in -yn.
(Rhŷs: 18)
the perfect […] hie ‘went,’ which, in common with its Scotch equivalent
chaidh, has dropped the u of the Goidelic form which appears in Irish as
chuaidh. The Manx form, no less than the others, continues slender, being
pronounced hắi and carefully distinguished from […] hoie ‘sat, did set’ (Ir. do
shuidh […]), whose pronunciation oscillates between hy̆ ́ i and hœ̆ i.
(Rhŷs: 25)
Dawson says tē bĭ́u er y chāδyn [teː biu̯ er ә xaːðәn] he is swift on his feet: but
he calls a foot căs [kas], and căsā́ dn [kaˈsaːᵈn]196 for a footpath. He says tŭ́ i [tui̯ ]
north. Kelly distinguishes tθĕi [tᶿei̯ ] hatchet completely from tθai [tᶿai] house.
Kelly says hai mī [hai miː] ‘I went’ but hei mi [hei mi] ‘I sat’, and as to his age
he said tθa my ḗish trī fĭd as shaghdžḗg [tᶿa mә eːi̯ ʃ triː fid as ʃaxˈdʒeːɡ].
Quirk’s wife pointed out the distinction between lȳi [lәːi̯ ] ‘lead’ and ly̆ i [lәi̯ ]
ashes. Dawson said lǖe [lɨːә] early in the sentence ha lǖe oδ y voghrə [ha lɨːә
õð ә voxrә] ‘as early in the morning as &’.
(John Dawson, John Kelly, Margaret Quirk, Rhŷs notebook 6: 135)
Rhŷs’s comments (taken largely at face value) are summarized in Table 54.
Kelly in his dictionary (1866 s.v. lheiy ‘calf’) also gives an account which suggests at
least a three-way pronunciation contrast:
LHEIY, a calf. This word, and leoie, or leoaie, and leigh, or leih require some
practice in speaking the language to be able to pronounce them differently and
distinctly.
(Kelly 1866: 119)
196
For the unexpected final stress here, see §4.5.5.
240
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 54. Interpretation of Rhŷs’s descriptions of /ai̯ /, /əi̯ /, /əːi̯ / etc.
expected
CM vowel
ai̯
Rhŷs’s descriptions
ai̯
əi̯
əːi
lhie (laigh)
lhiy (lo(i)th)
leih (logh)
leigh (lagh)
‘Ordinarily…much
the same
pronunciation’
əi̯
ai̯
lhie (laigh)
lhiy (lo(i)th)
ai̯
hie (ScG. chaidh)
əi̯
hoie (shuidh)
roie (rith)
əːi̯
lheiy (laogh)
əːːi̯
leoaie (luaidhe)
leoie (luaith)
leoaie (luaidhe)
sleih (sluagh)
treih (truagh)
teigh (tuagh)
creoi (cruaidh)
leoaie (luaidhe)
leoie (luaith)
creoi (cruaidh)
(Thomas
Collister)
əi
leih (logh)
leigh (lagh)
lheiy
lheiy (laogh)
‘natives of Dalby’
(Thomas
Collister;
Ballaugh)
əːi̯
lheiyee
(laoigh)
(Ballaugh)
uəi̯ > əːi
əi̯ , ei̯
sleih (sluagh)
treih (truagh)
teigh (tuagh)
creoi (cruaidh)
əːi̯
leoaie
(luaidhe)
œːi̯
uːi̯
‘in the North’, ‘natives of
Ballaugh and Jurby’
3.9.1.4 /ai̯ / ~ /əi̯ / contrast
Concerning those items which are posited here as having either the pronunciation /lai̯ /
or /lәi̯ /, Rhŷs notes that ‘[o]rdinarily these words have much the same pronunciation,
but when attention is called to it, Manx speaking people think that they make slight
distinctions’. However, he notes from Thomas Callister of Ballaugh the historically
expected distribution of lhie ‘lie’, G. laigh = /lai̯ / (apparently with a back realization)
and leigh ‘law’, G. lagh, leih ‘forgive’, G. logh = /lәi̯ /. It is possible that Rhŷs failed
to recognize this contrast when he was not looking for it, especially as central /әi̯ /
might be difficult to distinguish from back realizations of /ai̯ /. On the other hand, a
merger /әi̯ / > /ai̯ / may have been underway, and more advanced in certain speakers.
There are a good deal of examples of ai, ɑi etc. in the HLSM data for the leigh (ScG.
241
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
lagh) and soie (G. suidh(e)) sets, as well as in the lheiy (G. laogh) and leoie (G. luaith)
sets, but no instances of /ai̯ / words with øi, öi etc. The jeih (G. deich) set with expected
/ei̯ / also have several realizations with ai and similar in HLSM. There would thus seem
to have been a tendency towards mergers in the following direction in Late Manx:
/әːi/
/әi/
/әi/
/ei/
/ai/
/ei/
/ai/
The evidence of the CM orthography points to a robust contrast between /әi̯ / (G. agh)
and /ai̯ / (G. aith, aigh etc.), however. The /ai̯ / items are consistently spelled <ie>, <iy>,
<i_(e)>, while the /әi/ (G. agh) items are all spelled <ei(g)h>, <eiy>, <oaie>. The items
with the development /ui̯ / > /әi̯ / (>/iː/) all have <oie>, as do the items /Ri/ > /rәi̯ /. The
Phillips orthography has predominately <yei>, <yoi>, <yi>, <ei> etc. for the leigh set,
and also for soie, soiaghey and oie and roie (for these there are also spellings <i>, <ii>
suggesting /iː/ pronunciations). The <yei> type spellings are also used for lheiy and
the leoie set, with no obvious marking of the expected length contrast.
As for /ai̯ /, the Phillips orthography predominantly uses <ai>, <ei>, <æi> in drine
‘thorn’, Mian ‘Matthew’, crie ‘shake’, mie ‘good’, sie ‘bad’, piyr ‘pair’, moidjyn
‘virgin’. However three items, thie ‘house’, lhie ‘lie’ and lhiy ‘colt’, mostly have
<yei>, <yoi> and <yi>. Taigh is found as /tɤj/ in most Scottish Gaelic dialects.197 It is
possible that in Manx, as in Scottish Gaelic, the shift /a/ > /ә/ which occurred before
/ɣ/ (resulting in leigh ‘law’ /lәi̯ / etc.) also took place less consistently before /ɣʲ/. The
Phillips spellings would then represent forms */tәi̯ / and */lәi̯ / which later lost ground
to forms with /ai̯ /. Perhaps forms with /ai̯ / were favoured, in part, to disambiguate from
otherwise homophonous /tәi̯ / teiy ‘choose’ (G. tagh) and /lәi̯ / ‘law’ (ScG. lagh),
‘forgive’ (G. logh). The spelling of lhiy ‘colt’ (G. lo(i)th), expected /lai̯ /, as lŷôi, lyôi,
197
Apart from a region on the north-west coast from Applecross to Assynt where /taj/ is found (SGDS
V: 292–3). There are also areas where [te] and [toi] are found, which may be derived from /tɤj/ or /taj/.
Laigh is found almost universally as /Laj/ or /La/ in Scottish Gaelic (SGDS iv: 547–8) (with both front
and back and a few rounded realizations) apart from 82 and 84 which have lˋɤ̜̈ɪ̯ ç and lˋɤ̫̈ç respectively
which might be interpreted as /Lɤj/.
242
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ly̆ oi is difficult to explain, unless these spellings represent confusion with lheiy ‘calf’
(G. laogh) = ly̆ i, ly̆ ei, ly̆ æ̆ i, ly̆ oi, pl. lyôi, or else a survival of a contrast /oi̯ ~ ai̯ / which
appears to be neutralized in Classical Manx (§1.7.5).
Rhŷs (25) describes a clear distinction between /ai̯ / and /әi̯ / resulting from historical
/ui̯ / in the soie class.
3.9.1.5 lheiy ‘calf’, G. laogh
Rhŷs reports both long lȳ ́ i [lәːi̯ ] and short ly̆ ́ i [lәi̯ ] realizations of lheiy ‘calf’ (G. laogh).
Thomas Callister of Ballaugh is reported as using ly̆ ́ i [lәi̯ ] for ‘calf’, expected /lәːi/, as
well as ‘law’ (G. lagh), and ‘forgive’ (G. logh(adh)), expected /lәi̯ /. Rhŷs also
describes a length contrast in Ballaugh between the singular lheiy and plural lheiyee,
G. laoigh, and in Dalby he notes short ly̆ i [lәi̯ ] lheiy ‘calf’ contrasting with long lȳi
[lәːi̯ ] leoaie ‘lead’ (G. luaidhe). Rhŷs also seems to imply a three-way contrast between
[lәi̯ ] leigh ‘law’ and leih ‘forgive’, lȳi [lәːi̯ ] lheiy ‘calf’, and ‘the longer lȳi’ ?[lәːːi̯ ]
leoaie ‘lead’. This confusing picture possibly represents instability in the length
contrast in diphthongs (and perhaps in vowels more generally), and/or Rhŷs’s failure
to perceive the contrast consistently (for example he reports a short diphthong for
expected /ɛːi̯ / (5) and a long diphthong for expected /ũĩ̯ / (46)). On the other hand,
certain explanations for the observed facts may be suggested.
The development of a length contrast between singular and plural may represent an
attempt to keep these distinct once vocalization of both /ɣ/ and /ɣʲ/ to /j/ had rendered
them otherwise identical. The longer plural form could also represent bisyllabic /lәːi̯ .i/,
with the final /j/ reanalysed as the plural suffix /i/ (G. -igh). This may also be the
analysis represented by the plural spelling of the biblical orthographic lheiyee, if this
is not merely an orthographic device to mark the semantic difference between
homophones. Some of the original translators of the Bible at any rate did not use this
-ee termination, nor make a clear orthographic distinction between singular and plural,
since in the Bible manuscripts we have plural ley, lheiy (1 Kings 12:32) and lheiy (1
Samuel 14:32), with the standard spelling inserted by the editor. It is possible also that
the claimed extra-long pronunciation of lheiyee represents a spelling pronunciation
243
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
from the Biblical form, especially since, as Rhŷs notes, this was ‘more commonly
superseded by a form in -yn’ (18). A plural form with termination -aghyn is attested in
the manuscript of 1 Samuel 6:7.
Pressure to disambiguate /lәːi̯ / lheiy ‘calf’ from leoaie ‘lead’ (G. luaidhe) and leoie
‘ashes’ (G. luaith), once the latter two had also come to be pronounced /lәːi̯ /, might
also explain the shortening of lheiy ‘calf’ (G. laogh) that Rhŷs notes from some
speakers. The influence of the short diphthong in lhiy /lai̯ / ‘colt’ can also not be ruled
out. Furthermore, bearing in mind the apparent survival of triphthongal /uәi̯ / in gruaie
‘cheek’, G. gruaidh etc. in CM (§3.4.5), it is possible that leoaie and leoie contained
three vowel qualities until a later date (whether /uәi̯ / or /ɨәi̯ /), whereas lheiy would have
been diphthongal, and open to vowel-shortening, for a considerably longer period.
3.9.1.6 leoie etc., G. ua(i) + /i̯ /
Rhŷs reports a long diphthong ȳi /әːi̯ / in leoaie ‘lead’ (G. luaidhe) and leoie ‘ashes’
(G. luaith). However, he notes (Rhŷs: 11) short y̆ i, ö̆ i /әi/ or ĕi /ei̯ / in a series of other
items with G. ua(i)gh/dh which we would expect to have a similar development: sleih
‘people’ (G. sluagh), treih ‘miserable’ (G. truagh), teigh ‘axe’ (G. tuagh) and creoi
‘hard’ (G. cruaidh). It is possible that Rhŷs did not perceive the length of the diphthong
in these items since (apart from teigh) they do not form minimal pairs with items with
short /әi̯ /, and so he would not have been listening out for a contrast.
Rhŷs (11–2) also notes a diphthong ūi /uːi̯ / in creoi, leoie and leoaie ‘as pronounced
by natives of Ballaugh and Jurby’, reporting (18) that ‘in the North the principal vowel
unmistakably recalls the sound of the u which the word originally involved’. This
pronunciation is not recorded in Rhŷs’s fieldnotes, however, and one wonders whether
this description represents a post hoc analysis based on these items’ etymology.
On the other hand, it is interesting that Rhŷs notes only these three items here, with
their distinctive spelling involving <eo>, and does not mention the items with
historical uagh which have the spelling <ei(g)h>, which renders them
indistinguishable, as far as the orthography is concerned, from the the leigh class (G.
244
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
agh etc., expected /әi̯ /). The spelling of creoi, leoie and leoaie possibly represents a
conservative pronunciation of these particular items. Another potential factor here is
that for two of these items there could have been analogical pressure to retain the
conservative vowel reflex in the form of the derived nouns creoghys ‘hardness,
hardship’ (G. cruas, cruadhas, cruachás), creoghan ‘gadfly, harsh creditor’ (G.
cruadhachán) (Kelly) and the genitive leoh ‘of ashes’ (G. luatha) (Cregeen).
On the other hand, the spellings leoie and leoaie could simply be intended to
distinguish them from the near homophones leigh ‘law’ (G. lagh), and leih ‘forgive’
(G. logh).
CC’s198 pronunciation lüi of leoie ‘ashes’ perhaps represents Rhŷs’s ūi. According to
Broderick’s vowel chart (HLSM I: 1), ü is a high back unrounded vowel and is ‘similar
to λ and could very well be interchanged for it’ (ibid.: 2).199 (Broderick’s λ = [ɯ],
although he also uses the latter symbol, e.g. HLSM III: 60.) The transcription lüi should
thus be understood as [lɯi̯ ]. If Rhŷs’s comment that ‘the principal vowel unmistakably
recalls the sound of the u’ is taken to refer to height and backness, but not necessarily
rounding, this may agree with the existence of a realization of G. ua as [ɯː] or [ɯә̯]
(Rhŷs’s ů(y) and ü(y)).
As discussed above, there is no clear evidence in the Phillips orthography for
pronunciations of the leoie (G. luaith) set as /uәi̯ /, or of a clear differentiation between
these items and the leigh (ScG. lagh) and lheiy (G. laogh) sets. It would seem that the
pronunciation of G. ua(i)dh/gh/th as /әːi̯ / goes back to the early seventeenth century,
or else that the Phillips orthography fails to distinguish between /ɯәi̯ / or /ɯːi̯ /, /әːi̯ /,
and /әi̯ /, which, if distinct, must nonetheless have sounded similar (especially to an L2
198
Presumably Caesar Cashen of Peel (b. c. 1859), although he is not included in Broderick’s list of
speakers (HLSM I: xxvii–xxviii). Cashen was literate and held Manx classes in Peel in the early
twentieth century (Broderick 1999: 75), so there is perhaps a risk that his realizations represent spelling
pronunciations.
199
The use of this character probably follows Wagner (LASID I: xvii), for whom ü is ‘a slightly rounded
variety of ï… ü and ø are much less rounded than German ü, ö, although they give a similar acoustic
impression’. Wagner’s ï is a mid-high central unrounded vowel.
245
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
speaker, if the orthography is attributed to Phillips himself), as well as representing a
contrast with little functional load.
3.9.1.7 /əi̯ /, /əːi̯ /, (/ɯːi̯ /) > /ei̯ /
Many of the realizations of the leigh, soie, roie, lheiy and leoie sets in HLSM have
transcriptions representing [ei̯ ] or similar. This may represent a reduced phoneme
inventory (i.e. the loss or avoidance of sounds not found in English) among the
terminal speakers, but Rhŷs’s comment on members of the leoie sets that he ‘heard
variously pronounced y̆ i, ö̆ i, and even ĕi’ suggests that this merger was underway
among some of his informants. The CM spellings <eih, eiy, eigh> used to represent
/әi̯ / and /әːi̯ / may suggest that this tendency towards merger with /e(ː)i/ was already
underway in the eighteenth century. They are more consistently distinguished in the
Phillips orthography, with /ә(ː)i̯ / being represented by <yei, yoi, yi, ei> while /e(ː)i̯ / is
usually <ei, æi>. The merger /ә(ː)i/ > /e(ː)i/ may be seen as part of the wider merger
of aoi, uai /әː/ > /eː/ before slender consonants reported by Rhŷs (§3.5.1.4).
3.9.1.8 /əi̯ /, /əːi̯ /, (/ɯːi̯ /) > /iː/
There is also a tendency to monophthongize /ә(ː)i̯ / to /iː/, which seems to be lexically
and dialectally conditioned. In particular it is more frequent in the south (cf. HLSM I:
162). Monophthongization is not found in the leigh category with original broad /ɣ/.
The Phillips orthography apparently records both pronunciations. It is attested from
southern speakers in the soie (G. suidh(e)) set, alongside the diphthongal
pronunciation. Phillips’ spellings sigi, siggi for imperative plural soie-jee (Ir. suidhigí)
apparently represent the /iː/ pronunciation alongside the more frequent spellings with
<yi, ei, yei>. In this set /iː/ could arise directly from fronting of /u/ before a slender
consonant (§2.1.8), or via /әi̯ /. In the roie set /i/ is original, and realizations with /iː/
are attested from southern speakers alongside diphthongal realizations.
In the lheiy set there are only diphthongal realizations, apart from nuy ‘nine’ (G. naoi),
where /niː/ is attested from southern speakers alongside diphthongal realizations. The
246
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
spellings myníí (Ph.) and mree (PC 1796) for mreih (G. mnaoi), genitive of ben
‘woman’,200 perhaps also represents a pronunciation with /ĩː/. In the leoie set we have
mostly diphthongal realizations from both north and south, but kriː for creoi ‘hard’
(G. cruaidh) from the northern speaker JTK, ɪː (Wagner, southern informant) for oaie
‘grave’ (G. uaigh), and sliə, slʹiː, from the southern speakers NM and HK respectively,
for comparative s’leaie ‘sooner, -est’ (G. is luaithe), although this could represent the
uninflected form leah (G. luath). In this set /iː/ may represent the general fronting and
unrounding of G. ua(i).
3.9.1.9 ao(i) + /u̯ /
This gives both diphthongal and monophthongal forms.
Table 55. ao(i) + /u̯ /
Phillips
cheu
CM
pronunciation
/tʃe(ː)u̯ /
etymology
English
HLSM
taobh > *téabh
side
øu JW, TC, au JK,
NM, TL, u TC,
JTK, EC
/krәːu̯ /
craobh
øu JW, TT
ǽu, êa, eú,
eu
fôêr, fŷior
? /eːun⁽ʲ⁾әs/, >
/juːn⁽ʲ⁾әs/
/foːr/, ?/fuː.әr/
aoibhneas, ScG.
éibhneas
faobhar
bunch of
shrub
joy
ú (11), u
(8)
/nuː/
naomh
cheu (13),
chéêŷf,
chǽf,
chǽf,
chæf,
cháyf,
chǽyf,
chæyf,
chêyf201
crouw
eunys
foyr
noo
edge of
blade
holy; saint
juːnəs JW, TC,
jũnəsɑx TT
fo̜ ːr EKh, fu̜ ːəṛ
J:EK, ə ˈnɔːr WːS,
ən ˈo̜ ːə EL,
(foyragh) foːrɑ ̣x
HK
uː JW, HK
200
= G. dative form mnaoi rather than the historical genitive mná (Thomson 1995: 142).
Note unexpected maintenance of /v/ here, as if the form were *taoibh, or rather *téibh (slender bh,
mh are often retained in Phillips, written <f(f)>, where later they are vocalized to /u̯ /, as was the case
already in Phillips with their broad equivalents). Given that the noun is feminine according to Cregeen,
this could be a dative form, perhaps under the influence of lá(i)mh.
201
247
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
sou
/sәːu̯ /
saobh
vextion,
distress;
(prefix)
foolish etc.
3.9.2 /eː/ > /əː/ in Scottish Gaelic and Manx
A number of items in Scottish Gaelic show ao (northern /ɯː/, southern /әː/) for OIr. é
/eː/ before broad consonants (O’Rahilly: 32; Dillon 1953: 322–3; Ó Maolalaigh 2007:
226), especially in initial position as in aodach ‘clothes’ (Ir. éadach), aodann ‘face’
(Ir. éadan), aog ‘death’ (Ir. éag), aogasg ‘countenance’ (Ir. éagcosc), aotrom ‘light’
(Ir. éadrom); also taod ‘halter, rope’ (Ir. téad), faod ‘may, can’ (Ir. féad), maodal
‘stomach, paunch’ (Ir. méadal) and others.
This change is not consistent in Scottish Gaelic; some words which one might expect
to be affected do not have reflexes in ao at all, such as eud(ach) ‘jealousy, zeal’.
Others, including eug / aog, and the adjectives with the negative prefix eu-, ao- such
as eu-coltach, ao-coltach, are variable. Even the items which appear to have ao
universally in the spoken language may have written variants with eu, as in eudach
‘clothes’, which are presumably literary and influenced by the Classical Irish standard.
O’Rahilly (32) claims that this change is ‘unmistakeable proof that the Ωː or ʎː of
current ScG. could have developed from Eː, for it has a number of words in which an
historic ē followed by a non-palatal consonant has acquired the value of ao, after first
passing through E:’. O’Rahilly’s Eː seems to be intended to represent a retracted [eː]
or fronted [әː], while ʎː represents [ɯː].
O’Rahilly is probably right: it can easily be seen how an interchange between /eː/ and
/әː/ could take place when these were similar sounds, adjacent in the vowel space. It is
much less likely that /eː/ would synchronically interchange with /ɯː/. Since aodach
etc. is found throughout Scotland (and apparently the Isle of Man), it presumably
represents an early change that affected the whole of the Scottish Gaelic area before
the vocalization of adh/gh and the raising and backing of /әː/ to /ɯː/ in the northern
dialects.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Dillon (1953) suggests that the existence of doublets with ao and eu in Scottish Gaelic
is an example of ‘semantic distribution’ whereby different phonological reflexes of the
same item gain different meanings; Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 114, 200, 227, 514, 634)
refers to this as ‘homophonic lexical split’. Dillon (1953: 323) gives a number of
examples, including taod ‘halter’ : teud ‘harpstring’, faodail ‘waif’ : eudail ‘treasure,
darling’, and saod ‘good condition or humour’ : seud ‘way’. In all of these doublets,
the form preserving /eː/ can be seen as the higher-register or literary form, although
eudail has come into popular use as a term of endearment (m’ eudail, m’ iadail).202 Ó
Maolalaigh (2007) makes the following observations concerning the change é > ao:
it is unlikely to be purely coincidental that the change é > ao in Scottish Gaelic
is confined to words with initial éa- and f-, s-, t-. The development in the case
of féad > faod clearly represents a subclass of initial éa- given the lenition
product of f-. Lenition of both s- and t- yields h which is phonemically neutral
with regard to palatalisation. The retraction of original é in certain words with
initial f-, s- and t- in Scottish Gaelic may first have occurred in lenited variants
fh-, sh-, th-, and the loss of initial palatal quality may have been due to
hypercorrection in much the same way that non-palatal initial s- and t- in some
Irish dialects have been replaced by palatal s-, and t- in certain CiCʹ sequences,
e.g. saoil > síl, tuit > tit etc.
(Ó Maolalaigh 2007: 226)
There are also one or two cases of /әː/ > /eː/, notably aoibhinn (O.Ir. oíbind) which is
found as éibhinn in Scottish Gaelic (alongside the historic form), and apparently in
Manx, if eunys /juːnәs/ ‘joy’ (HLSM
II:
154) derives from éibhneas rather than
aoibhneas.203 Similarly, the case of Ir. saoil > síl is paralleled in Manx by the form
sheill, sheiltyn (apparently = *séil) (§5.5.1).
There is some evidence in Manx of /eː/ > /әː/ in some of the same items as in Scottish
Gaelic. Rhŷs (17) notes ȳ [әː] as the most frequent realization of the initial vowel in
eddin ‘face’, Ir. éadan, suggesting a form parallel to Scottish aodann. However he
notes ē [eː] ‘once or twice in the South’. Spellings with <y> in Phillips, such as yddyn,
202
Homophony also offers a possible motivation for the initial change /eː/ > /әː/, distinguishing the preexisting homophones eudach > aodach ‘clothes’ from eudach ‘jealousy’. Interestingly, the latter item
may itself have undergone a subsequent homophonic split between eud /eːd/ ‘jealousy’ and iadach
/iadәx/ ‘zeal’ (Dwelly s.v. eud; Dillon 1953: 323).
203
Breatnach (1994: 233) notes a Middle Irish spelling ébind.
249
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ydyn, occur eight times, and would seem to suggest the /әː/ pronunciation, while there are
nine occurrences with <e>, <æ>, <é>, <ey> which might imply /eː/. Eaddagh,
eaddeeyn ‘clothes’, Ir. éadach, ScG. aodach, is consistently spelt with <y> in Phillips
(12 occurrences). Lhuyd’s collector writes adyn for eddin (Ifans and Thomson 1980:
137). Tedd (G. téad, ScG. taod) is attested in Phillips as tæddyn, teddyn, and tydyn; the
spelling tedd is found in Isaiah 5:18, while Cregeen has both tedd and tead.204 Phillips
only has <e> in eddrym (G. éadrom, ScG. aotrom) (three occurrences, all with single
following <d>).
The Classical Manx spellings, and some of those in Phillips, appear to suggest short
vowels in these words. From terminal speech only short ø (TC) and ɪ (NM) are attested
for eddin (HLSM II: 141). The former especially suggests a pronunciation of the ao
rather than the é type. For eaddagh there is ï, eː (both JW), e (JTK, NM) and ę (TT),
while for eddrym there is ę (HK), e (JTK) and ɛ (W:N). Tead / tedd is attested with ę
(HK, JW), eː (JTK), ɛ (W:N). The initial /t/ rather than /tʃ/ confirms that the Manx
form represents taod rather than téad, however, possibly with vowel shortening. For
the other items it is quite possible that historical éadan, éadach, éadrom co-existed in
Manx with the Scottish-style development to initial ao. For shortening of stressed long
vowels in polysyllables, see §551; shortening in tead, tedd possibly originates in the
plural form teddyn.
The Manx form fod, foddee ‘can’ (G. féad, ScG. faod) apparently has an irregular
development to short /o/, confirmed by Phillips where forms of this verb are
consistently spelt with <o>, sometimes with following <dd>. However, in Late Manx,
NM has realizations with ɪ, ɛ, ə, apparently representing (shortened) féad or faod,
alongside a form with ɔ, which agrees with the Manx spelling. Other speakers only
have forms with /o/. Similarly, G. féileacán ‘butterfly’ gives Manx foillycan (Cr.),
folican (K.), fɔːljəkən (W:S, HLSM II: 173) presumably via a form *faoileacán.
Finally, Cregeen’s spelling of word meydlagh, meyhdlagh ‘heavy and slow in moving
on account of size; unwieldy’ (Ir. méadlach, ScG. maodalach) is ambiguous and could
represent either /eː/ or /әː/ (cf. §3.6.2 for <ey>).
204
G. téad with initial /tʲ/ would give something like *chead in Manx orthography.
250
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.9.3 geay ‘wind’, G. gaoth
For the noun geay ‘wind’ (G. gaoth), as well as a regular development gȳ [ɡәː], Rhŷs
(17) notes diphthongal pronunciations (probably not a ‘dissyllable’):
Here also belongs one of the pronunciations of the Manx word for wind,
namely that which I should represent as gȳ, to be heard in the South of the
Island, and to be equated with the Irish and Scotch gaoth ‘wind’; but it is
superseded in the North (and sometimes in the South too) by a form which I
should almost represent as a dissyllable gǖә or gœ̄ ә.
(Rhŷs: 17)
Phillips’ spellings (gya, gýa, gýæ, gye, gua, gúa, also gyei, gýæi) appear mostly to
represent the diphthongal variant. This diphthong is otherwise noted by Rhŷs as
reflexes of G. ua (§3.5.1.3), and it may be that the northern (and occasionally southern)
pronunciation of gaoth represents a form *guath on the pattern of leah ‘soon’ (G.
luath), theay ‘people’ (G. tuath), and feoh ‘hate’ (G. fuath), or is a back formation from
the genitive (or dative) form geayee /ɡәːi̯ / (G. gaoith(e)), since /әːi̯ / can represent both
uai/i̯ / and aoi/i̯ / (§3.9.1).
Strachan has gů, which may represent the monophthongal form, or monophthongized
form of the /ɡɨә̯/ (Strachan 1897), while Lhuyd’s collector gives gèe (Ifans and
Thomson 1980: 133) which probably represents the /ɡәː/ form. The Terminal Manx
forms are as follows: from the south we have gλːə, gʹeːə, gʹeː (NM), ən ɣλː (HK), giː
(TCr), go̤ i, go-i (Wagner), and from the north guiː (TC), gʹiːə (JK), gɪːə (J:JTK, HB).
These forms are somewhat difficult to interpret, given that monophthongal forms may
represent either historical ao, or monophthongization of ua, and Wagner’s southern
forms seem to represent oblique gaoith(e).
There are four occurrences of geay in PC in rhyming position, all rhyming with leah
(G. luath), which suggests the /ɡɨә̯/ realization.
251
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.9.4 riyr ‘last night’, G. aréir, araoir
This is irráir in Early Irish, which Ó Briain (1923: 318) derives from fár ‘sunrise,
dawn’ (eDIL s.v. fáir), giving approximately the meaning ‘the time before the dawn’.
For the irregular change ái /aː/ > éi /eː/, Ó Briain suggests the analogy of indé
‘yesterday’. The G. variant form with aoi (ScG. a-raoir) would then be an example of
the interchange between é and ao (§3.9.2). The spelling and attested realizations of
this item in Manx show a diphthong (e.g. rɑ ̣iər NM, rɑ ̣ːiər JW, HLSM II: 369). The
development, or maintenance, of this diphthong is unexpected; one might tentatively
suggest the influence of oie ‘night’ (G. oidhche; northern Manx /әi̯ /) which often
precedes this word.
3.9.5 cleaysh ‘ear’, G. clua(i)s etc.
G. cluas ‘ear’ is found with a generalized dative form cleaysh (cluais) as nominative
in Classical and Late Manx. Rhŷs (24) reports that this was realized as clůsh [klɯːʃ],
clüsh [klɨːʃ], plural clůshyn [ˈklɯːʃәn], clüshyn [ˈklɨːʃәn] in the north, while clœsh
[klәːʃәn], plural clœshyn [ˈklәːʃәn] was ‘usual in the South, and may be heard as far
North as Kirk Michael’.
Forms which appear to indicate forms with both [s] and [ʃ] (i.e. G. nominative cluas
and dative cluais) are found in Phillips (e.g. kluas, kluash, klyesh, pl. klúasyn,
klyasyn, klúashyn, klýæshyn), although to some extent <s> and <sh> are used
interchangeably for both [s] and [ʃ] in Phillips (Rhŷs: 155–6; Thomson 1953: 10;
Lewin 2015b: 78; Wheeler 2019: 4–5), so that the phones intended by the author or
the scribe are not entirely certain. An apparent survival of cluas is found in the
appendix to the earliest (1707) printed book in Manx (PSD: 19), in the passage Te
fosley nyn gleays ‘He is opening their Ear’, which may perhaps represent a fossilized
genitive plural after the verbal noun, or else simply the original nominative singular
form translating the English singular.
Rhŷs’s northern forms apparently show the usual reflex of ua as /ɨә̯/, /ɨː/ rather than
that of uai as /әː/, notwithstanding following slender [ʃ]. This could be a lexical
252
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
exception, or a result of the analogy of cluas before this form disappeared from the
language. Cf. Rhŷs’s (24–5) comment: ‘[t]his will serve to illustrate the difficulty
of distinguishing in Manx between changes purely phonetic and others which are
declensional with their roots in analogy’. The southern form would thus show the
usual development of uai to /әː/.
From Terminal Manx we have from the north kliʃ, kliʒən (TC), klöːʃ, klɪːdn (J:JTK),
klɪʒʹən, klɪːʒən (HB), and from the south kleːʃ (HK), klʹẹːʃ (JW), kleːïʃ (EKh), klẹːʃən
(NM), kleːiə̯ (SK), klɛːən (J:TL), klöːʒən (W:S) (HLSM II: 83). From the north, then,
we mostly have high front unrounded vowels, which could represent the most
progressive reflex of ua (/uә̯/ > /ɯә̯/ > /ɨә̯/ > /iә̯/) in Rhŷs’s description, thus supporting
the conclusion that the vowel in the northern reflex of cluais behaves as if followed by
a broad consonant. The southern reflexes mostly have front mid unrounded vowels,
following the regular development of uai, falling in with aoi and giving /әː/ or /eː/. The
form noted by Wagner from the south with öː may be equivalent to Rhŷs’s œ̄ , although
Jackson also gives ö for a northern speaker.
A similar case may be geayltyn ‘shoulders’ (G. guailne, but Manx *guailtean), which
on the evidence from HLSM appears to have /ɨә̯/ rather than /әː/, presumably on the
basis of paradigmatic analogy from the singular geaylin (G. gualainn) with broad l.
3.9.6 keayrt ‘time, occasion’, G. cuairt
Judging by the HLSM forms and the spellings with <iy> etc. in Phillips, this item, and
the derived preposition mygeayrt ‘around’ (G. ma gcuairt), have mostly /ɨә̯/ rather than
/әː/, presumably because final /rʲtʲ/ is regularly depalatalized in Manx (Jackson: 82;
HLSM III: 86).
253
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
3.9.7 seaghyn ‘sorrow, affliction, trouble’
Table 56. seaghyn
Phillips
seaghyn
ya (6), ýa
(6), eia (2)
CM
pronunciation
?/sɨә̯xәn/,
/sәːxәn/
etymology
English
HLSM
?sua(i)th-
grief, sorrow,
affliction
sẹːəxən, sᵘiːɑ ̣ən
TC, siːən W:N,
siːɣən HK,
(part.) sẹːxənətʹ,
sᵘiːxənitʹ TC,
siːɣənətʹ JW
Seaghyn ‘affliction, sorrow, grief, trouble, agitation’ (Cregeen), ‘distress, trouble’
(Kelly) appears to have ao(i) or ua(i), but its etymology is not entirely clear. Broderick
(HLSM II: 388) suggests the following derivation:
Prob[ably] a deriv[ative] of OIr. sóïd [sic], later suaithid, vn. OIr. sóud [sic],
later súathad ‘turn, stir, agitate’, the simplex giving Mx. seiy [‘stirring, mixing’]
qv.: w[ith] (a)chan. But v. also Ir. saochán, sub saobhán in Dinn[een].
(HLSM II: 388)
Thomson (1953: 302) suggests ‘cf Seiy, and Ir saoth’.
For figurative senses of soïd, sua(i)th205 etc. relating to mental states, cf. ‘upset;
s[uaithim]
mé
féin,
I
exercise
myself’
(Dinneen,
s.v.
suaithim),
‘Tá a aigne suaite, his mind is fuddled’ (Ó Dónaill, s.v. suaith); also eDIL (s.v. soud,
[e]) ‘turn, mood, experience, behaviour’.
The predominant high realizations in HLSM (also Rhŷs notebooks, Broderick 2019
s.v. seaghyn) would point to ua, as would Phillips’ spellings in <ya>, <ýa> (although
these could also possibly represent a trisyllabic realization /sәː.әxәn/). However
Thomas, Kermode’s sȳɣyn [sәːɣәn] (Strachan 1897), TC’s forms with ẹː (if not
examples of the spelling pronunciations to which this speaker was prone), and Phillips’
seiaghyn might point to /әː/, /әːi̯ /. Possibly these forms represent by-forms with suathand suaith- respectively (cf. Ir. stem suaith, vn. suathadh).
205
These verbs are not equated in eDIL or LEIA. Thomson (1953: 303, s.v. seiy) seems to connect them,
‘Ir sódh, suidhim, also suathadh’.
254
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Broderick is probably right to see the ending -achán in this item, as in gweeaghyn
‘curse’ (G. guidheachán), nieeaghyn ‘washing’ (G. nigheachán). Note that Phillips
has one instance of -an in the final syllable (otherwise -yn), which might represent
older /an/ (for interchange of /an/ and /әn/ in these words, see §4.4.7.3).
Derivations from saoth-, saobh- etc. seem less plausible, since the forms with high
vowels would then be difficult to account for.
3.9.8 deayrtey ‘pour’, G. dort, doirt, dórt, duart
Deayrtey, ‘pour, spill’, Ir. doirteadh, dortadh, dórtadh, ScG. dòrtadh, OIr. do-fortai,
do-foirti, -dortai, dórtad, is included under ua in this chapter (§3.4.3), because it is
clear from the Phillips and later spellings, and from the realizations in HLSM, that the
Manx should be regarded as a form *duartadh. Compare Ir. duartan ‘downpour, a
torrential shower; calamity’ (Dinneen), dúartan ‘downpour, shower’ (eDIL).
3.9.9 smooinaghtyn ‘think’, G. smuain, smaoin
O’Rahilly (38) notes that ‘[i]n smaoin < smuain the aoi is universal in current Irish,
and is also common in Sc[ottish]; here the aoi seems to have been taken over from the
verb saoil’. In Manx, this appears in the verb smooinee, verbal noun smooinaghtyn (in
Phillips mostly smún-, with or without the diacritic, and sometimes smúin, smuyn),
which apparently represents *smúin, or else the general tendency to monophthongize
/uә̯/, /iә̯/ in Manx (§2.2.6), although this would be very early in Phillips.
Smooinaghtyn is recorded with u or uː from JK, HB, TC, NM and TT, although
Wagner transcribes the vowel as ï (HLSM II: 419), which might plausibly represent
smaoin, or shortening (cf. §5.5.1) of the vowel to *smuin. The lack of fronting and
unrounding in the Manx realizations may be another example of the lack of fronting
after a labial consonant, as in feayr ‘cold’ (G. fuar) etc. (§§3.6.1.2, 3.8). It is also worth
noting that the form saoil does not exist in Manx, being represented by sheill (*séil,
255
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
cf. Ir. síl) (§§3.9.2, 5.5.1). However, there is possibly analogical influence from
cooinaghtyn ‘remember, memory’ (G. cuimhne), which has /uː/ in Manx (HLSM II:
92).
3.9.10 Manx derivatives of G. draoi, druadh
The spellings of derivatives of G. draoi ‘druid’ (OIr. druí, druï), gen. druadh in Manx
are complex. There are two occurrences in the Bible: fer-druiagh ‘charmer’
(Deuteronomy 18:11) and druaiaghtee ‘enchanters’ (Jeremiah 27:9). The latter would
appear to point quite clearly to a derivative *drua(i)dh(e)acht(ach) (for usual G.
draoidheacht), with preservation of back /uәi̯ /, as in dwoaie, gruaie, twoaie (§3.4.5).
Cregeen, whether deliberately or not, simplifies this spelling to druaight ‘a Druid’,
druaightagh ‘Druidic’, ‘a Druid’ (citing the Jeremiah passage), druaightys ‘Druidism,
enchantment’, and also gives an alternative abstract derivation drualtys, driualtys. If
genuine, all of these suggest /uә(i̯ )/.
Kelly in the earlier manuscript of his dictionary (MNHL MS 1477) gives druaiaghtagh
with a reference to Jeremiah interlined between druaie ‘a Charmer, wizard, Druid, G.
Draoi’ and druiagh ‘Pertaining to a Charmer, enchanting’ with the example cloagey
druiagh. In the later MS 1045–47 he has druiagh, druiaghtagh, druiaght, with the
Jeremiah passage cited with the spelling druiaghtee rather than Bible druaiaghtee; this
is also the case in the 1866 printed version.
For the simple form, G. draoi, Kelly has drui, pl. ny druee or darui (druï, ny druee,
daruï MS 1045–47) with a long paragraph on the history and etymology of the term
‘druid’, citing both G. forms draoi and druadh. This entry does not appear in MS 1477
and is probably a later insertion inspired by Kelly’s antiquarian etymologizing
tendencies (§1.6.8.1). Kelly also has druai ‘a dwarf, a pigmy; a sorcerer, an enchanter.
(Ir. droich)’ (MS 1477 ‘druai p. -yn. A dwarf’). The reference is apparently to ScG.
troich, droich ‘dwarf’, Ir. troch ‘wretch’, but this would give */drai̯ / in Manx (cf. criy
/krai̯ / ‘gallows’, G. croich, §1.7.5). This druai might be equated with Manx dreih,
dreigh ‘wretch’, which according to Thomson (1998: 122) represents G. draoi ‘druid’
256
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
with pejoration of meaning, but Kelly has a separate entry (s.v. dreigh) for this and
does not equate the two.
These forms do not occur in HLSM, but Rhŷs notes a form of the abstract noun from
one of his informants:
drȫghagh or dreghagh ‘enchantment’ (cŭr ayd fo ghrḗghagh ‘to put them
under enchantment’ – I cannot discover druiaght anywhere except in the spoken
language.)
(Tom Kermode, Rhŷs notebook 6, original deletion)
This form appears to be a little garbled, but points to a realization /әː/ or /eː/, whether
from draoi- or from a fronted variant of drua(i)dh-.206
All in all, the evidence is not entirely clear but suggests that by-forms with /druәi̯ -/
(<drua(i)dh) and /drәːi̯ / (<draoi or drua(i)dh) may have existed side by side. It is also
possible that the Manx spellings are influenced by English ‘druid’ and/or the Gaelic
forms.
3.9.11 Unstressed and shortened ao(i), ua(i)
Ao(i) and ua(i) are found shortened in initial syllables through stress shift (§5.1) or
sporadic stressed long vowel shortening in polysyllables (§5.5.1). They are also
shortened in post-tonic position, such as cassid ‘accusation’ (G. casaoid), and
fynneraght ‘coolness, breeze’ (G. fionnuaracht), but this is not discussed here, since
the possible results in this position are more limited (§5.1.6). Stressed or pre-tonic
unstressed shortened vowels generally retain (broadly) their original quality (§§5.1.3,
5.5.1), but this is problematic in the case of ao(i) /әː/ and ua(i) /ɨә̯/, as they do not
historically have short counterparts in the vowel inventory. (However, see §3.9.2 for
the possible development of short stressed /ˈә/ in certain items.)
206
Cregeen also has ‘fo ghruaight, s. under druidism or inchantment [sic]’. The fossilized lenition after
fo here and in Kermode’s realization would suggest this is a genuine, established phrase (cf. Broderick
1984a: 166).
257
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Rhŷs (18) notes short y̆ [ә] as the usual realization of ao in freoagh ‘heather’ (G.
fraoch), although he states that he has ‘occasionally’ heard it long, but only long forms
are given in HLSM (II: 174). He also notes the short sound in un ‘one’ (G. aon), which
is also indicated by the spelling, although some long forms are given in HLSM (II: 468–
9). For data on these, see §§3.4.1, 3.4.2; for fod ‘can’ (G. féad, ScG. faod), see §3.9.2.
The short vowel in Gailck, Gaelg, /ɡilʲkʲ/ etc., ‘Manx Gaelic’ also seems to be long
established; irregular developments of this word are found throughout Gaelic dialects
(§3.9.1.1). Similar vocalism is found in the shortened stressed vowel in kirree ‘sheep’
(G. cao(i)r(a)igh), where harmony with final /i/ might perhaps play a role.
A problematic word is foillan ‘gull’ (G. faoileán) (also with -óg). The heavy-heavy
structure of this word would lead us to expect stress shift (§5.1), as indeed seems to be
the case in Kelly’s form fooilleig, unless a form with a shortened vowel in the first
syllable developed at an early date, or the Manx form represents G. faoileann with the
analogical development /әN/ > /an/ found in a number of other items (§4.4.7.3). Some
of the forms in HLSM (II: 173) have long [oː], which may represent a case of the
‘occasional interchange of ao with other vowels’ noted by O’Rahilly (34–5), e.g. ScG.
ònar alongside aonar ‘alone’, cf also the semantic split failt ‘welcome’ (G. fáilte),
feoilt ‘generous’ (G. faoilte). Toshiagh-jioarey (Cr.), toshiaght-joarrey (K.)
‘coroner’,207 apparently G. taoiseach deóra (Thomson 1988: 141), with shortened
vowel /o/, may similarly represent the variant tóiseach (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 2008a: 213–
4), or else result from the weak stress in the initial element of the compound.
Table 57. Pre-tonic ao(i), ua(i)
Phillips
caghlaa
y (10)
CM
pronunciation
/kaˈxlɛː/
carrane
a
/kaˈrɛːn/
cuarán
sandal
/dai̯ ˈɛːn/
? daoi + án
(HLSM II: 121)
worm
dhiane (Cr,
K., Bible),
207
etymology
English
HLSM
c(l)aochlódh,
ScG. caochladh
change,
difference
ɔ NM, ɑ̜ NM,
HK, JK, EK, a
JW, HB, ə JK
ə SK, J.EK, a SK,
krɛː̃ nən TC,
kre̜ ːnən JTK
dɑ ̣iˈẹːᵈn HK, (pl.)
døˈiniə̯n (sic) TC
A Manx court official whose role is quite different from that of coroners in the United Kingdom (see
<https://www.courts.im/court-information/coroners/>).
258
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
daiane,
gaiane (K.)
farrane
feoghaig
(Cr.),
fughage (K.)
freoaghane
(Cr.),
freeoaghane
(K.)
leaystane
sonnaase
treicknane
(Cr.),
tratneayn
(K.)
unnane,
annane
(CS),
annanjeig
(Cr.), annan
(Mona’s
Herald
22.12.1840);
unnaneys
y (2)
u, o (2),
ou
a (26), y,
aý
/faˈrɛːn/
fuarán
spring,
fountain
periwinkle
(shellfish)
/fuˈxɛːɡ/
faochóg
/frә(ː)ˈxɛːn/
fraochán
bilberry
/lɨә̯ˈstɛːn/
/soˈnɛːs/
luascán
saobhnós
/trɨkʲˈnʲeːn/
tuairgnín
swing
arrogance,
riot
beetle,
mallet
/uˈnɛːn/,
/aˈnɛːn/,
/ˈanan/
aonán
one; unity
a JN
ə W:?N
o̜ TC
anan JK, JTK,
o̤ ˈneːn TK,
(unnane-jeig)
ɑ ̣nɑ ̣n dʹʒeg JK,
anan ˈdʹʒeg JK,
arəndʹʒe̜ g Fa,
arən ˈdʹʒe̜ g Co
The spellings of items such as freaoghane, leaystane clearly show an awareness of
their etymology, and possibly a corresponding pronunciation (at least in careful
speech), although it is less easy to account for Cregeen’s feoghaig with <eo>, which
apparently shows an awareness of the original vowel in the initial unstressed syllable,
despite the non-attestation of the corresponding simplex form (G. faocha, ScG. faoch).
Compare also with retained back realizations boirane ‘clamorous fellow’ (Cr.),
‘gidd[iness]’ (K. s.v. kione-y-lhei) (G. buaidhreán), bwoail(l)teen ‘mallet’ (G.
buailtín).
3.9.11.1 Pre-tonic ao, ua > /w/
Where the shortened vowel is followed synchronically by a long vowel without an
intervening consonant or glide, it may be reduced to non-syllabic /w/ (cf. also bwaane,
bwaag /bwɛːn/, /bwɛːɡ/ < bothán, bothóg):
259
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 58. Pre-tonic ao, ua > /w/
Phillips
mwane
whaaley208
fóaly, fualy
CM
pronunciation
/mwɛːn/
etymology
English
maothán
/xwɛːlә/
fuagháil
embryo,
foetus
sew
HLSM
hwe̜ ːle̜ HB,
kwɛːlə TT,
kwe̜ ːlɑ̜, kwe̜ ːlə,
k′eːlɑ̜, k′o̜ ːl NM,
kwe̜ ːl′ə HK, fʷɛːlə
WːN
3.9.11.2 unnane, annan ‘one’, G. aonán
Cox’s (2011: 277; 2013: 271) derivation of Manx unnane, annan, ScG. aonan from
OIr. a n-óen is implausible, as this would give /-әːn/ (*-eayn or the like) not /-ɛːn/ in
Manx, and, as shown elsewhere in this chapter, there is little evidence of these vowels
being confused.210 It seems much simpler to derive both the Scottish and Manx forms
from G. aonán, with northern Manx annan being easily explainable as a form arising
under weak postlexical or phrasal stress in e.g. unnane-jeig /ˌәnɛːn ˈdʒeɡ/ ‘eleven’ (G.
aonán déag) > annan-jeig /ˌanan ˈdʒeɡ/, as in other cases discussed in §5.1.1.5, and
later generalized. It is perhaps no accident that Cregeen has this spelling only in a form
of aonán déag, and that it is also only attested in HLSM (II: 9, 469) in this phrase. The
phrasal stress in dagh annan ‘each one’ (G. gach aonán) (Mona’s Herald 22.12.1840)
is uncertain but perhaps represents /ˌdax aˈnɛːn/ > /dax ˈanan/.
208
For the development of this item see Thomson (1981: 142–3), and compare foast ‘yet, still’ (G. fós,
ScG. fhathast), realized as hwɛːs, hwoːs etc. by some speakers (HLSM II: 170), and hooar for older
fooar ‘got, found’ (G. fuair, ScG. fhuair) (Thomson 1995: 121). The stages of the development are
apparently /ˈfua̯ ɣaːlәɣ/ > /fua̯ ˈɣɛːlә/ > /fuә̯ˈɛːlә/ > /ˈfwɛːlә/ > /ˈxwɛːlә/ (> [ˈkwɛːlә]), with dissimilation
between the labials /f/ and /w/.
210
The stress shift in a n-óen > ScG. aonan, Manx annan is also unlikely, and the n in a n-óen might be
expected to be fortis, giving *aonnan.
260
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 4
Sonorant consonants and associated
developments
4.1 Introduction
Earlier Gaelic varieties are generally considered to have had a system of four-way
sonorant contrasts in rhotics, coronal nasals and laterals:
In Old Irish there was probably a contrast between laminal dental and apical
alveolar coronals, each of which could be palatalized or velarized, giving four
possibilities […] these possibilities for the laterals would be l̪ ˠ, lˠ, l̪ ʲ, lʲ.
(Ladefoged et al. 1998: 14)
Reduction of these to either three or two contrasts is widespread in Gaelic dialects (Ó
Maolalaigh 1997: 57–65), and no dialects retain four rhotics (§4.2.4).
In the Late Manx of the terminal speakers, the following sonorant consonant phonemes
(nasal stops, laterals and rhotics) are securely attested (cf. HLSM III: 2, 106–17):
/m
n
nʲ
l
lʲ
r
ŋ
ŋʲ/
In addition, /rʲ/ seems to have been marginally retained by some speakers, and some
may have had a three-way lateral contrast /l̪ ~ l̠ ~ lʲ/.
There is evidence of a more complex system, with greater retention of fortis and lenis
contrasts in Early Manx, and perhaps later. In general, the Manx orthographies do not
show fortis-lenis contrasts clearly (i.e. there is no equivalent of the Irish-Scottish use
of single v. double consonants medially and finally), and do not always mark the
broad-slender contrast either. For example, medial <ll> may represent all four original
G. laterals /L Lʲ l lʲ/ in the following items:
ollan /olan/ ‘wool’, G. olann /olәN/
balley /balʲә/ ‘town’, G. baile /balʲә/
bollag /bolaɡ/ ‘skull’, G. ballóg /baLoːɡ/
keylley /kelʲә/ ‘forest’ gen., G. caille /kaLʲә/
261
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The double <ll> here serves to mark the preceding short vowel, as per English spelling
conventions.
Palatalization is, however, often marked by a preceding or following <i>:
caill /kalʲ/ ‘lose’, G. caill
tooilley /tulʲә/ ‘more’, G. tuilleadh
thooilley /tulʲә/ ‘flood’, G. tuile
doillee /dolʲi/ ‘difficult’, G. doiligh
Because of the opaqueness and inconsistency of the orthographies, our analysis of the
development of these consonants must rely heavily on phonetic descriptions of Late
Manx (although these are not always easy to interpret, and date from a period when
the system had already been significantly simplified), and on evidence of collateral
historical changes within or connected with the sonorant system (e.g. development of
vowels before historically fortis sonorants, and the development /Nʲ/ > /ŋʲ/ which is
reflected in the orthography).
4.2 Rhotics
In the Manx of the terminal speakers, and to some extent that of Rhŷs’s informants,
the rhotics are notable for significant loss in coda position, change in quality, and
alterations to preceding vowels, apparently reflecting parallel developments in
English. However, it is evident that loss or weakening of rhotics, and the changes in
vowel quality, are a late development, since they are not shown in the standard
orthography of eighteenth and nineteenth century Manx. Early loss of rhotics is only
found in certain limited environments.
4.2.1 /r ~ rʲ/
Twentieth-century descriptions of the Manx of the terminal speakers mostly report
merger of /rʲ/ and /r/ as non-palatalized tap or approximant [r] with only a few traces
of palatalized [rʲ]. However, Rhŷs and Strachan report more robust maintenance of this
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
contrast, and orthographic evidence suggests it is maintained at least in some positions
in Classical and pre-terminal Late Manx.
4.2.1.1 /rʲ/ in Classical Manx
There are representations in the eighteenth-century orthography which clearly indicate
medial and final /rʲ/, including the following pairs:
ooir /uːrʲ/ ‘earth’, G. úir
oor /uːr/ ‘hour’211
coair212 /koːrʲ/ ‘near’, G. i gcóir (but coar ‘kind, decent’, G. cóir)
coayr /koːr/ ‘odd’, G. corr
coirrey /korʲә/ ‘kettle, caldron, furnace’, G. coire
correy /korә/ ‘sowing’ (gen.), G. cor, cur
laair (Cr.) /lɛːrʲ/ ‘mare’, G. láir (but laayr K.)
laare /lɛːr/ ‘floor’, G. lár
See also:
erriu /erʲu/ ‘on you’, G. oirbh
(but erroo ‘ploughman’, also /erʲu/,213 G. aireamh)
merriu /merʲu/ ‘dead’ pl., G. mairbh
terriu, teirroo /terʲu/ ‘bulls’, G. tairbh
luirg /lurʲɡʲ/ ‘staffs’, G. luirg
fuirree /furʲi/ ‘remain, stay, wait’, G. fuirigh
oirr /orʲ/ ‘edge’, G. oir
mooir, muir /murʲ/ ‘sea’, G. muir
buirroogh /buˈrʲuːx/ ‘roar’, G. búirfeadhach
A diaeresis apparently represents palatalization in the following morphological
alteration:
211
Probably a later borrowing of the English / French word than G. uair < Latin hora, which however
appears to be present in neayr’s ‘since’ (§3.4.4).
212
But coayr in Ezekiel 44:25.
213
/rʲ/ confirmed by Rhŷs (notebook 6: 115).
263
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
jeir /dʒeːr/ ‘tear’, G. déar
jeïr /dʒeːrʲ/ ‘tears’ pl., G. déir
Cf. mair /meːrʲ/ ‘finger’ (G. méar), and meir /meːrʲ/ (pl.) (G. méir).
However, very often there is no clear indication of /rʲ/. As shown by erroo and coar
above, the desire to keep homophones orthographically distinct often seems to trump
phonological accuracy in Manx orthography (§1.6.4.2).
arrey /arʲә/ ‘watch’, G. aire
(cf. carrey /karә/ ‘friend’, G. cara; marrey /marә/ ‘sea’ gen., G. mara)
earroo /erʲu/ ‘number’, G. áireamh
obbyr /obәrʲ/ ‘work’, G. obair
s’lhiurey /lʲiurʲә/ ‘longer’, G. is libhre
cheer /tʃiːrʲ/ ‘country’, G. tír
(cf. feer /fiːr/ ‘true, very’, G. fíor)
Note also seyr ‘free’ and seyir (also seiyr) ‘carpenter(s)’ in the Bible (G. saor), where
the two spellings might have been expected to distinguish singular /sәːr/ and plural
/sәːrʲ/ (G. saor, saoir), but appear to be used to distinguish the adjective from the
noun.214 Whether such ambiguous spellings suggest incipient merger of /r/ and /rʲ/ is
unclear, since broad and slender contrasts in other consonants are frequently obscured
in the orthography as well.
4.2.1.2 /rʲ/ in clusters
While /rʲ/ is reasonably well evidenced in the orthography in medial and final position
as an individual consonant, it is less clear to what extent it was found in clusters such
as br, cr, gr etc. While spellings such as cliaghtey ‘custom, practice’ (G. cleachtadh)
clearly attest to initial /klʲ/, we do not find e.g. *criagh for cragh ‘plunder, prey,
disaster’ (G. creach) so it is unclear whether this represents /krax/ or /krʲax/. The initial
clusters /tr/ and /dr/, at least, tend to be non-palatalized throughout in most Scottish
dialects (e.g. SGDS III: 238–41 dream, V: 386–7 tric), and this may be represented by
<thr> in Manx three ‘three’ (G. trí), where the /t/ is certainly non-palatalized (HLSM
214
Originally a single lemma (eDIL, s.v. 2 saer).
264
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
II:
459). On the other hand, there is some evidence for initial /(s)krʲ/ in Rhŷs’s
notebooks, e.g. skřiu [skrʲiu̯ ] screeu ‘write’ (G. scríobh) (Margaret Cowley, Rhŷs
notebook 6: 66).215
We may compare Ó Maolalaigh’s (1997: 67–8) comments on the weak development
of palatalization in certain initial clusters in Scottish Gaelic, which he sees as an
archaism as contrasted with Irish. Given that Manx seems to go with Scottish Gaelic
in having either lost or not developed palatalized labials (§1.7.6), it might be guessed
that it would show similar reflexes to Scottish Gaelic in initial clusters.
In view of the lack of certainty in this matter, non-palatalized /r/ is assumed in all initial
/(C)Cr/ clusters in this thesis.
4.2.1.3 /r ~ rʲ/ in pre-terminal Late Manx
Rhŷs expresses considerable uncertainty about the articulation of Manx rhotics. He
describes the main realization of broad r (G. /R, r/) as follows:
I am bound to speak with the utmost diffidence of the Manx r’s, as I have but a
very imperfect idea how they are produced. In most words initial r in Manx
produces on my ear the effect of English r, but I greatly doubt that it is formed
in the same way. At any rate, it seems highly probable that the r which is
associated with broad vowels is approximately an [a]mbidental r. This I would
write ρ […] I should say that the part of the tongue made to vibrate lies on a
lower level than in the case of English r, and that the edge of the tongue is
brought somewhat closer to the edge of the upper teeth instead of recurved, as
is done when pronouncing the English liquid.
(Rhŷs: 147–8)
Rhŷs (148–9) also distinguishes an ‘[a]lveolar r […] a sound produced as nearly as
possible like the English r. He admits he has ‘no certain instances’ but ‘should guess
that we have it in’ ayr ‘father’ (G. athair), fer ‘man’ (G. fear). Slender /rʲ/ would be
215
If there was a contrast /kr ~ krʲ/ in initial position, then the form krᵊiː cree ‘heart’ noted by Jackson
(121) would seem to represent G. croidhe rather than ScG. cridhe.
265
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
expected in athair (though see below). It is not clear what the significance of this
claimed variant is.
Rhŷs (149–50) gives a description of a palatalized (‘mouillé’) rhotic. He gives clear
affirmation of its presence in medial and final position (although with few examples),
and also claims with less certainty to have noted it in initial position:
By this [R Mouillé] I mean an r pronounced analogously to ñ [nʲ] and ɫ [lʲ], that
is to say, a palatalized r. It may be represented as r,̃ and it stands mainly for
Aryan [Indo-European] r associated with a slender vowel or i̯ ; but first of all I
wish to state how far I hear it is a distinct kind of r from the ρ already discussed.
Initially I have sometimes thought I noticed a crispness or sharpness which
argued as r ̃ rather than a ρ, as for instance in words like […] ree ‘a king’ (Med.
Ir. rí […]); but I have never felt certain about it, and no help is to be got from
the semivowel yod which has been sunk in most places where one would expect
it, as in riu ‘to you’ (Med. Ir. frib, Mod. Ir. ribh) and roo ‘to them’ (Med. Ir.
friu, Mod. Ir. riu), which are both pronounced rū̃ [rʲuː], possibly rū [ruː].
Medially this crispness which I have mentioned has often struck me as quite
unmistakable and amounting now and then almost to the sharpness of a Welsh
or Italian r, as for example in words like marish ‘with, together with’ […]
Finally, the difference between r ̃ and ρ or r is rendered still more certain by a
sort of a parasitic whisper, which if reinforced would make a sound approaching
ch in the German word ‘ich’. This has attracted my attention especially in the
case of the word for ‘gold’, namely […] airh, which seems derived not from
the Latin aurum but from its genitive auri […], as it is pronounced ā ̣r;̃ [ɛːrʲˢ] or
ēr;̃ [eːrʲˢ], if I may use ; for this kind of whisper.
(Rhŷs: 149–50)
Regarding the reported final /rʲ/ in airh, a more plausible explanation is suggested by
the noun’s feminine gender in Manx, as in airh vuigh as palchey j’ee ‘yellow gold and
plenty of it’ (Cregeen) (G. *óir bhuidhe agus pailte dí), airh ghlen ‘pure gold’ (Bible)
(G. *óir ghlan), in which case óir could represent generalization of an oblique form.
Compare also the genitive or adjectival form airhey, which perhaps originates in a
reanalysis of the adjective órdha ‘golden’ as feminine genitive *óire. The noun is
masculine in other Gaelic varieties, but was neuter in Old Irish (eDIL s.v. ór).
In contrast to /r/, slender /rʲ/ is noted as Rhŷs as not being subject to deletion in final
266
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
or preconsonantal position:216
This r ̃ is not liable to be elided or assimilated, though we have an apparent
exception in the word […] lajer ‘strong,’ pronounced lā́ žy
̣ ̆ r [lɛːʒәr] or lā́ žy
̣ ̆
[lɛːʒә] ([…] Mod. Goi. láidir); this is, however, not so much perhaps a matter
of phonology as of declension, just as if the Irish word were to be changed from
láidir to láidear.
(Rhŷs: 50)
Rhŷs’s notebooks shed further light on the matter. He distinguishes between r and ř
as well as r̊ (‘= English r’, Rhŷs notebook 6: 77). It later becomes clear that ř means
palatalized [rʲ] (r͂ in Rhŷs: 1894), although in the earliest diary entries (from 1888) it
appears medially and finally in a number of positions where broad /r/ would be
expected. Later, it is used more consistently for expected [rʲ], as well as in some words
in initial position (§4.2.1.5), although some unexpected uses still appear, such as
scarrey ‘divide’ (G. scaradh) (Rhŷs notebook 6: 82). The change in Rhŷs’s usage
suggests a gradual attuning of the ear to the contrast, which presumably was relatively
unsalient. Explicit comments are as follows, including consideration of minimal pairs:
He pronounces aynrit [sic: aanrit] as y̆ ́ nřiti [әnrʲitʲ]217 with a very slight
pal[atalized] r and so does his wife
(John Joughin, Rhŷs notebook 6: 58)
He pronounces airh [‘gold’, G. ó(i)r] ēṛ [eːr] almost īr [iːr] but ēr [e̞ ːr] ‘father’
[ayr, G. athair] or ā ̣r [ɛːr], which?
(Thomas Collister, Rhŷs notebook 6: 169)
aer [‘air’, G. aer], ayr [‘father’ G. athair], airh [‘gold’, G. ó(i)r] all pronounced
the same he thought: I doubt it.
(William J. Caine, Rhŷs notebook 7: 198)
Although his transcription of ooir gys ooir ‘earth to earth’ (G. úir) as ū(ř) dy ū(ř) might suggest
otherwise (Richard Qualtrough, Rhŷs notebook 6: 14). At this point (12.09.1888) Rhŷs seems not to
have noticed palatalization in /rʲ/ (if present), and ř seems to represent a weakened (?) coda [r].
217
G. anart, anairt > ?ainrit.
216
267
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
aer [G. aer] & ayr [G. athair]218 both pr[onounced] ā ̣r [ɛːr] but airh
pr[onounced] differently, ā ̣r ̃ [ɛːrʲ]
(Thomas Collister, Rhŷs notebook 7: 199)
In the following the higher vowel realization of /ɛː/ ( > [eː]) preceding /rʲ/ is noted
(§2.2.3), but not the palatalized rhotic itself:
λẹr [l̪ er] ‘a mare’ with ẹ [e(ː)] as in airh ‘gold’ and nearey ‘shame’
(Thomas Collister, Rhŷs notebook 6: 174)
Strachan (1897: 55) also notes the contrast /r ~ rʲ/, although he expresses similar
uncertainty to Rhŷs:
Broad and slender r have been distinguished by r and r͂ , but I doubt if I have
always distinguished them aright. In χrī [xriː] heart, and rī [riː] arm, a broad r
stands before a slender vowel. A Manxman with whom I talked distinguished
r͂ ī [rʲiː] king from rī [riː] arm.
(Strachan 1897: 55)
Again this suggests a maintained contrast, but of relatively little phonetic salience.
4.2.1.4 /r ~ rʲ/ in terminal Late Manx
Marstrander (56) notes two rhotic phones, but for the most part his ‘løst artikulert bakre
r’ (‘loosely articulated back r’) ʅ can be understood as an allophone occurring
preconsonantally in codas. He does not note a palatalized [rʲ], although he refers to
raising of /ɛː/ (G. ái) ‘foran gammelt palatalt r’ (‘before old slender r’) (§2.2.3).
However, he does note a contrast between ʅ in e.g. corp ‘body’ and r in kirp ‘bodies’
(G. corp, cuirp), which would appear to represent a trace of the /r ~ rʲ/ contrast noted
by Rhŷs (§4.2.1.1), in that /r/ is more liable to weakening or elision than /rʲ/.
218
A reflex of athair with final broad /r/ may reflect the historical genitive athar (Manx ayrey /ɛːrә/, cf.
Ir. variant athara), or reflect syncopation in the plural as in ScG. athraichean (Manx ayraghyn).
268
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Jackson (117–8), like Marstrander, notes two predominant rhotic phones which
represent positional allophones rather than the historical Gaelic contrasts. He does not
note anything corresponding to the contrast noted by Marstrander in corp ~ kirp.
In general there are only two r-sounds, and their occurrence is independent of
whether they were originally “broad” or “slender”, lenited or non-lenited,
double or single, in dental groups or not. Indeed it is clear that the second variety
is simply a recent weakening of the first so that the elaborate Gaelic system of
r-sounds was really reduced in principle to one […]. The first is a one-flap
alveolar r, the second is a quite weak alveolar fricative ɹ. The first occurs
initially, intervocally, and after consonants; the second before consonants and
finally.
(Jackson: 117–8)
Jackson adduces evidence that the weakened variant is a recent development, noting a
comment by one of his informants to this effect:
However, it is very significant that [Eleanor] K[arran] and [Thomas] L[eece]
sometimes use final r where others have ɹ; and on mooar “big” L[eece]
commented to me that ɹ here is wrong and is a modern corruption.
(Jackson: 118)
There may be centralization of vowels preceding coda /r/ (Jackson: 119). Jackson
(118) also notes palatalized /rʲ/ in initial position in a limited set of items, as also noted
by Rhŷs and Broderick (§4.2.1.5). Broderick’s (HLSM
III:
17–8, 107, 113–7)
descriptions are similar to Jackson’s.
4.2.1.5 Initial /rʲ/
Jackson (118–19) and Broderick (HLSM III: 114) note /rʲ/ in a limited set of items:
There is also rarely a palatalized rʹ, which is a weak alveolar buzz similar to the
“slender” r of Modern Irish. This occurs, initially only, precisely where initial
rʹ occurs in Ir. and ScG., namely in lenited position, but only as a fixed
characteristic in a few words in which it is also stereotyped in ScG. Gaelic. It
represents therefore original lenited “slender” R-. For this initial rʹ some Manx
speakers use, however, r.
(Jackson: 118)
269
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The items noted by Jackson and Broderick are the prepositional forms riu (G. ribh)
and roo ‘to them’ (G. riu) and the temporal adverb rieau ‘ever’ (G. riamh), and also
the nouns rio ‘frost’ (G. reódh) and red ‘thing’ (G. réad, rud).
Rhŷs (149–50) records a somewhat wider distribution for initial /rʲ/, including in ree
‘king’, although his comments are tentative:
ree ‘a king’ (Med. Ir. rí […]); but I have never felt certain about it, and no help
is to be got from the semivowel yod which has been sunk in most places where
one would expect it, as in riu ‘to you’ (Med. Ir. frib, Mod. Ir. ribh) and roo ‘to
them’ (Med. Ir. friu, Mod. Ir. riu), which are both pronounced rū̃ [rʲuː], possibly
rū [ruː].
(Rhŷs: 149–50)
A realization perceived as [z] may also perhaps be interpreted as /rʲ/:
I once thought I heard rhyt ‘to thee’ (Ir. riot) pronounced zy̆ t, but the man
reading to be quickly corrected himself: this was also in the North.
(Rhŷs: 149)
In his notebooks, Rhŷs is ‘bothered’ by initial [rʲ] as he cannot explain it:
řen [rʲen] ‘did’, řå f rå ‘too’ [rɔː] very guttural but řo [rʲoː] frost – both [‘did’
and ‘frost’] seem to have ř [rʲ] but why? rolā́ g̣ [roˈlɛːɡ] ‘a star’, ruggitch [ruɡitᶴ]
‘born’. I am bothered by these words as they all seem to have ř [rʲ] whereas I
should have expected rå, ruggit, & rolæg to have r̊ [r, ɹ] (= English r).
(William Mylrea, Rhŷs notebook 6: 77)
Jy sær̊ n [dʒәˈsæɹn] [‘Saturday’], řī [rʲiː] ‘king’ ben rēᵈn [ben reːᵈn] ‘queen’,
mažə r̊ ḗu [maʒә ˈɹeːu̯ ] ‘oar’ řo “rhew” [Welsh, ‘frost’], but he seemed to sound
řṓish [rʲoː(i̯ )ʃ] [‘before’] and not r̊ ṓish [ɹoː(i̯ )ʃ], but he said ruggitsh [ruɡitʃ]
‘born’ right enough. I am inclined to think that initially ř [rʲ] is ousting r̊ [r, ɹ]
as an initial, just as ɫ [lʲ] tends to do l.219
(Daniel Kelly, Rhŷs notebook 6: 82)
Initial /rʲ/ is well-attested in lenited position in Irish dialects (Ó Murchú 1986). Ó
Murchú (1986: 22) explains this as overgeneralization of /rʲ/ as the lenited form of both
219
It is unclear what the comparison with the laterals refers to.
270
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
historically broad and slender initial rhotics after the falling together of unlenited /R/
and /Rʲ/. In the items noted by Rhŷs, ren ‘did, made’ (G. rinne) is a preterite verbal
form where lenition would be expected; the participle ruggit ‘born’ (a new formation
in Manx) can be explained as generalization of lenited r from the preterite rug ‘bore,
was born’ (G. rug, rugadh). Lenited roish (G. roimh) may represent analogy with
forms of rish ‘to, with, by’. The spread of [rʲ] to other items noted by Rhŷs, including
presumably in non-lenited positions, may perhaps represent a ‘last gasp’ phenomenon
(cf. Barras 2018) in the face of the trend towards merger of /r/ and /rʲ/, and the rapid
shifts in articulation of the rhotics in Late Manx.
As noted by Jackson (119), Cregeen’s (vii) comment and spelling rhed seems to
indicate /rʲ/ in red ‘thing’. This realization is recorded from two of Jackson’s
informants. Jackson claims that ‘[t]here seems no reason for the rʹ in this case’; but it
is easy enough to derive it from the lenited form in frequent collocations such as dy
chooilley red ‘everything’ (G. gach uile rud).
The spelling rio ‘frost, ice’ (G. reódh) may represent the initial /rʲ/ discussed here and
noted in this item by Rhŷs, Jackson and Broderick, or perhaps it represents
maintenance into Classical Manx of a diphthongal realization of G. eó, as in certain
Scottish dialects (e.g. Borgstrøm 1940: 148). It is much less likely to represent survival
of original */Rʲ/, given the evidence of early loss of this phoneme throughout Gaelic
dialects.
4.2.2 Early loss of /r/, /rʲ/
As noted above, <r, rr> generally appears in the Manx orthography where a rhotic
would be historically expected, and any loss seems to be associated with the
obsolescent stage of language shift. The exceptions are as follows:
271
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.2.2.1 /rs, rʃ/ > /s/ (?/ʂ/)
The rhotics are regularly deleted in medial and final -rs- in native and established
loanwords, although /r/ may be retained or reintroduced by analogy (e.g. coorse,
persoon, see below). According to Jackson (125–6), the s in such items is ‘cacuminal’
(retroflex) or alveolar, as also in Irish and Scottish dialects (with or without deletion
of r), as opposed to the usual broad /s/ which is described as dental. Since the
orthography (both Phillips and CM) shows this as <s(s)>, it appears that this was not
interpreted as a cluster /rs/, which would suggest the necessity of positing a distinct
phoneme /ʂ/ or /s̱ /. Broderick also notes this alveolar s (HLSM III: 119).
A near minimal triplet would be: messyn ‘fruits’, ScG. measan; eshyn ‘he’ G. eisean,
essyn ‘doorjamb’ ScG. ursainn /mesәn eʃәn eʂәn/. The following items have rs > s(s):
as ‘said’, G. arsa
claasagh ‘harp’, G. cláirseach
custey ‘cursed’
essyn ‘doorjamb’, G. ursann
fess, fesst ‘spindle’, G. fearsaid
foster ‘forester’
pesson ‘parson’
possan ‘parcel of sheep’, Eng. ‘portion’
wistad ‘worsted’ (fabric)
/r/ is retained, restored or introduced in the following:
coorse ‘course’, G. cúrsa, but Ph. kuys (Thomson 1995: 132)
erskyn ‘above’, G. os cionn (Thomson 1981: 50)
ersooyl ‘away’, G. ar siubhal (Thomson 1981: 22)
persoon ‘person’
4.2.2.2 Other cases of early rhotic deletion
G. urchar, EIr. aurchor (§2.1.10) gives Phillips orghyr /or(ә)xәr/, but CM orraghey
/orәxә/ ‘bow-shot’, with deletion of the second /r/. The appearance of adjacent /r/ and
/s/ across the word boundary in the collocation orraghey sidey ‘arrow shot’ (G. urchar
saighde), as in Genesis 21:16, may explain the development (§4.2.2.1). and/or the
272
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
influence of the shape of dorraghey ‘dark’ (G. dorcha) and verbal nouns in -aghey
(ScG. -achadh).
There is simplification of the cluster /RLʲ/ to non-palatalized /l/ in G. magairle, Manx
maggle ‘testicle’ (with syncopated plural /maɡlәn/, HLSM II: 286). The only item of
similar shape is coyrle ‘advice’ (G. comhairle), but here the cluster is preserved (ko̜ ːṛlʹ
etc., HLSM II: 98), perhaps because it synchronically constitutes the coda of a stressed
syllable /kõːrlʲ/. There may also be analogous simplification of /RN/ to /n/ in Manx
abane ‘ankle’ (EIr. odbrann, ScG. adhbrann) if this is derived from earlier *adhbarn
(Ó Maolalaigh forthcoming b) (§3.4.7.4).
4.2.3 Weakening and loss of /r/ Late Manx
The weakening and loss of coda /r/ is widely attested in the material from the terminal
speakers (Marstrander: 56; Jackson 118–24; HLSM
III:
113–5). Jackson (118)
attributes this to English influence:220
Further, ɹ is very often dropped altogether or much reduced, and in addition it
is apt to develop before it after a vowel, or substitute for itself, an ə. Both these
features have notable analogues in standard Southern English, and also,
significantly, in the English of the Isle of Man.
(Jackson: 118)
Following these descriptions, this weakening and associated developments can be
summarized as follows:
(a) Weakening of coda /r, rʲ/ to an alveolar approximant [ɹ].
(b) Insertion of [ә] before /r, rʲ/.
(c) Loss of /r, rʲ/.
(d) [ә] in place of coda /r, rʲ/.
(e) Centralization of vowels before coda /r, rʲ/, with or without retention of
rhotic.
220
Although see §3.3.2.1.
273
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
In addition, there are occasional cases of intrusive [r], as in non-rhotic varieties of
English, in the speech of the terminal speakers (cf. HLSM II: 169). The following
example is from Ned Maddrell:
ha ˈrau mi ˈruː eːvɪlʹ ˈlai ɑ̜ rəðə
cha row mee rieau abyl lhaih eh [r] edyr
‘I was never able to read it [Manx] at all’
(HLSM II: 267)
In Rhŷs’s informants these developments are not so advanced (for example, they
apparently do not affect /rʲ/, §4.2.1.3), but their incipient presence is noted:
y̆ [ә] is a favourite a vowel before the broad r in Manx as the same vowel sound
is before r in English words
(Rhŷs: 16)
This ρ [r] is assimilated very readily to other consonants, as in […] jiarg and
pronounced džy̆ g [dʒәɡ] ‘red’ (Goi. dearg), and this is especially the case before
consonants of the ambidental group, as in ard ‘high’, pronounced y̆ δ [әd̪ ]. […]
This is not the only point of similarity between the Manx ρ and English r; for
like the latter it is wont to be preceded by a furtive y [ә] […] In some cases this
ρ like English r disappears as in […] feer ‘true’ (Goi. fíor […]), which in such
phrases as […] feer veg ‘very small,’ is frequently pronounced fī́y̆ veg [fiːә veɡ]
or fī veg [fiː veɡ].
(Rhŷs: 148)
It has already been noted that these developments must be recent, as they are not shown
in the eighteenth-century orthography, where r always appeared where historically
expected apart from in certain limited circumstances (§4.2.2), and Jackson provides
evidence that the change was underway in the lifetime of his informants.
Given the very close congruence between these developments and those of the English
dialects of the Isle of Man, and the sociolinguistic situation of language shift, it is
highly likely that the changes observed reflect language contact. Rhotics have been
noted to be particularly liable to change via contact; compare, for example, the spread
of uvular rhotics through several adjacent western European languages (Trudgill
1974). For English influence on Gaelic rhotics, we may compare the replacement of
274
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/r/ and /rʲ/ by an English alveolar approximant [ɹ] in the Irish of younger ‘posttraditional’ speakers (Ó Curnáin 2012: 290, 292).
Coda rhotics were until recently widespread in north-west England, the area with
which Manx English has the closest correspondences (Barry 1984), and are still
retained in a shrinking area of Lancashire (Wells 1982: 367; Barras 2018: 364–5).
Traces of rhoticity were recorded in traditional rural Manx English in the midtwentieth century (Barry 1984: 174–5), which ‘points to a change from rhoticity to
non-rhoticity, around the end of the nineteenth century’ (Hamer 2007: 173).
We may note the pronunciation of ‘November’ with a clearly audible final
approximant [ɹ] by the native Manx speaker John Nelson (1839/40–1910)221 in a wax
cylinder recording from 1906.222 This [ɹ] appears to be his realization of /r/ (and /rʲ/?)
in codas, as in Hiarn ‘Lord’ (G. a Thighearna), ort ‘on you’ (G. ort), cur ‘put’ (G.
cu(i)r), danjeyr ‘danger’, whereas a flap [ɾ] is used elsewhere, including in final
position when immediately followed by an initial vowel (e.g. ayr ain ‘our father’, G.
athair againn).223
It appears that coda /r/ followed a parallel trajectory in Manx English and Manx Gaelic
in the nineteenth century, i.e. [r, ɾ] > [(ә)ɹ] > [ә] > Ø. It is possible that the occasional
instances of ‘strongly trilled’ realizations in final position noted by Broderick (HLSM
III:
18) represent hypercorrection in reaction to these developments.
Onset rhotics in conservative Manx English may resemble those noted for Manx /r/:
usually either an alveolar trill [r] or tap [ɾ] […] This variant is now becoming
restricted to the speech of older adults, particularly males
(Hamer 2007: 172)
221
See HLSM I: 320–3; Broderick 2018a: 141–2.
‘Manx language archive recording: Part of the Evening Prayer in Manx read by John Nelson.’ Manx
National Heritage. <https://youtu.be/6rwnK0ZeB9Y> [accessed 12.02.2019].
223
The sound quality is not good enough to be sure whether or not any subtle contrast between /r/ and
/rʲ/ is maintained in Nelson’s Manx.
222
275
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.2.4 Fortis /R/
/R/ and */Rʲ/ have fallen together224 in all Gaelic dialects (Jackson: 117; Greene 1977:
159; Ó Murchú 1986: 21; 1989b; Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 53–7),225 leaving a maximal
ternary system of rhotic consonant phonemes in conservative dialects, and reduction
to one or two phonemes in others. There is no synchronic evidence of a rhotic fortislenis contrast in Late Manx in medial or final position (Marstrander: 56; Jackson: 117–
8; HLSM
III:
107), although see above (§4.2.1.5) for traces of initial lenition in the
form of a palatalization contrast. However, the occasional trilled realizations described
by Broderick (HLSM
III:
18) may represent a non-phonemic trace of earlier /R/, as
noted in Iorras Aithneach Irish (Ó Curnáin 2007: 228–34).
There is no orthographic evidence for a /R ~ r/ contrast, although that is not to say that
such a contrast did not exist in earlier periods, as there is no obvious way it would be
encoded in the orthographies;226 compare the fortis-lenis contrast in laterals and
coronal nasals, which must have existed at least in Philips’s period if not later, but is
not indicated orthographically (see below). As in other dialects, there is lengthening
of certain short vowels before historical /R/, e.g. baare /bɛːr/ ‘top’ (G. barr) (§4.6.1).
There may also be diphthongization of /i(ː)/ in a handful of items after initial /R/
(Jackson: 121), namely roie ‘run’ (G. rith, ScG. ruith), roih ‘arm’ (G. righ), and also
Ph. ry̆ i, also ríí etc., CM ree ‘king’ (G. rí).
4.2.5 Other realizations of rhotics
Rhŷs (149) notes that the medial cluster /nr/ may be articulated as [nz] or [ndr]. The
former may be a northern development (see also HLSM III: 18). Broderick (HLSM III:
17–8) also notes sporadic realization of intervocalic [r] as [ð] in mairagh ‘tomorrow’,
(G. amáireach, amárach). Possibly gooddin (Cregeen) for Kelly’s gurrin ‘pimple’ (G.
224
Ó Maolalaigh (1997: 56–7) explores the possibility that */Rʲ/ never developed in the first place in
some dialects.
225
Although a slender rhotic may be restored in paradigms by analogy (Ó Curnáin 2007: 222).
226
Cf. CM arran ‘bread’ (G. arán), carragh ‘scabby’ (G. carrach). The <rr> here indicates the shortness
of the preceding vowel and it is not possible to be sure whether there was any contrast in the rhotics.
276
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
goirín) (§4.4.7.2) reflects this realization. This is perhaps a realization of /rʲ/
specifically.
4.3 Laterals
4.3.1 Introduction
For the most part, descriptions of the laterals in Late Manx suggest loss of the fortislenis contrast, with a reduction to a binary palatalization contrast (shown below).
However, some of the descriptions point to a more complex picture than this.
l
L
lʲ
Lʲ
L
lʲ
4.3.2 Lateral contrasts in Late Manx
Rhŷs (145–7) notes ‘ambidental’, ‘alveolar’ and ‘mouillé’ (palatalized) laterals in
Manx in the following items:
‘ambidental’: laue, ‘hand’, G. lámh
lheiy ‘calf’, G. laogh
moal ‘slow, feeble, bad’, G. mall
‘alveolar’:
injil ‘low’, G. íseal
vel ‘is’, G. an bhfuil
cummal ‘hold’, G. congbháil, ScG. cumail
elley ‘other’, G. eile
ainle ‘angel’, G. aingeal
inney-veyl ‘maidservant’, G. inghean mhaol
‘mouillé’:227 lheie ‘melt’, G. leaghadh
er-lheh ‘apart’, G. ar leith
cliaghtey ‘to be wont’, G. cleachtadh
fliaghey ‘rain’, G. fleachadh
227
Also as a prosthetic consonant in initial /bj/ > [blʲ], /fj/ > [flʲ].
277
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
glione ‘valley’, G. gleann
fuill ‘blood’, G. fuil
sooill ‘eye’, G. súil
lhiastyn ‘owe’, G. dleastanas
The correspondence of the distribution of Rhŷs’s dental and alveolar laterals with the
historical contrasts is not immediately obvious. He emphasizes the strongly dental
character of λ [l̪ ]:
I write it [the ‘ambidental’ lateral] λ […] one is apt, while undoing the contact
with the teeth, to produce a slight sound of ð, especially at the end of a word.
Thus the combination ūλ is pronounced almost as if written ūλð [uːl̪ ð], and
forms the Manx word for an apple […] ooyl (Goi. ubhal228 […])
(Rhŷs: 145)
In his notebooks, Rhŷs refers to the dental lateral as an ‘old-fashioned’ feature
particularly noticeable in certain speakers:
the Mull of Galloway he usually call[s] yn Vṍulᶞ.229 He had an old fashion[ed]
pronunciation probably for he pronounced the word for apple ūδlᶞ.
(John Boyd, Rhŷs notebook 6: 166)
Visited Police Constable Caley […]: he is a native of Jurby and […] remembers
understanding Manx better than English, though he now prefers saying or
relating things in English […] He says […] coulᵟ [koul̪ ] for coll hazel his broad
ls sound very hollow and different from lⁱ [lʲ] or English l generally. I noticed
this in his ūlᵟ [uːl̪ ] for ooyl ‘apple’ as contrasted with ūlⁱ [uːlʲ] from fuill ‘blood’
(William Caley, Rhŷs notebook 6: 58–9)
228
The dental lateral is original (eDIL s.v. uball, ubull) although later spellings with -ll and -l are found
and the usual modern Scottish spelling is ubhal (Ó Buachalla 1988: 42).
229
i.e. maol. The vowel of John Boyd’s yn Vṍulᶞ [әn ˈvõu̯ l̪ d̪ ] (Rhŷs notebook 6: 166) may reflect the
influence of the English form ‘Mull of Galloway’. Compare also ‘Mull Hill’ (older also ‘Mule Hill’,
and contemprary local pronunciation [mjuːl]) near Cregneash in Rushen, apparently also from maol
(PNIM VI: 463). It is possible that the labial resulted in a degree of rounding of the vowel, at least
perceptually.
278
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Strachan (1897: 55) mentions a similar set of three laterals to that described by Rhŷs:230
In connexion with original broad vowels l has the thick sound found also in
Irish and Scotch Gaelic, which Rhŷs describes and represents by λ. Where l
seemed to me to be mouillé it has been represented by ł. This sound is clearest
when it stands at the beginning of a word and is followed by a broad vowel. In
some cases it was hard to decide whether l was mouillé or was simply an
alveolar l.
(Strachan 1897: 55)
Notably, Strachan (1897: 55) contradicts Rhŷs’s (146) comment on elley ‘other’ (G.
eile):
elley ‘other,’ pronounced ĕ́ ḷ ẹ [ele], not ĕ́ ɫ̣ i̯ ә [elʲjә] or ĕ́ ɫ̣ ә [elʲә]
(Rhŷs: 146)
In ełe ‘other’ l seemed distinctly mouillé.
(Strachan 1897: 55)
Like Rhŷs and Strachan, Marstrander (55–6) reports three laterals, although some
speakers have only two:
Woodworth, Kelly og Crebbin (Four Roads) skjelner bare mellem et velart og
palatalt l ɫ, begge artikulert på alveolene og brukt henholdsvis foran bakre og
fremre vokaler. Derimot kjenner Christian, Taggart, Quane, Quale (Castletown)
og Crebbin (Bradda Village) foruten alveolart l også et interdentalt l foran bakre
vokaler. Dette l som kan betegnes λ er åpenbart den gamle fortis, men den har i
mansk vunnet et større utbredelse enn i irsk. Det heter ikke alene λē, λag, kʹīλ,
tәuλ, pәuλ, men også kλәun, bλē, fλәuʹnәs, koʹλbaχ, dʹžīdλ; det heter šīλ og šīl,
foλt og folt, men alltid eʹnal og -al i alle infinitiver; det er intet fremlydsskifte
λ : l. Mansken tilstreper åpenbart (som sydirsken) å innskrenke l-lydens antall
til to: et velart l foran bakre og et palatalt ɫ foran fremre vokaler. Av de to velare
l-lyd, avvek det interdentale λ betydelig skarpere fra det palatale (alveolare) ɫ
enn det (likeledes alveolare) l; det var bare rimelig at det blev valgt og grep ut
over sit oprinnelige område.
[Woodworth, Kelly and Crebbin (Four Roads) differentiate only between a
broad and slender [l] [lʲ], both articulated on the alveolar ridge and before back
and front vowels respectively. However, Christian, Taggart, Quane, Quale
(Castletown) and Crebbin (Bradda Village) have in addition to alveolar l also
230
Although in the transcribed text λ does not appear.
279
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
an interdental l before back vowels. This l which can be transcribed λ [l̪ ] is
evidently the old fortis, but it has in Manx gained a wider distribution than in
Irish. We have not only [l̪ ɛː], [l̪ aɡ], [kʲiːl̪ ], [tәul̪ ], [pәul̪ ], but also [kl̪ әun], [bl̪ ɛː],
[fl̪ әunәs], [kol̪ bax], [dʒiːdl̪ ]; we have [ʃiːl̪ ] and [ʃiːl], [fol̪ t] and [folt], but always
[enal] and -[al] in all infinitives;231 there is no initial mutation [l̪ ] : [l]. Manx is
clearly striving (like southern Irish) to restrict the number of l-sounds to two: a
broad [l] before back and a slender [lʲ] before front vowels. Of the two broad lsounds, the interdental [l̪ ] was significantly more sharply differentiated from
the slender (alveolar) [lʲ] than from the (likewise alveolar) [l]; it was only
natural that it was chosen and expanded beyond its original environment.]
(Marstrander: 55–6)
Jackson (107–11) and Broderick (HLSM
III:
107) record only a two-way phonemic
distinction, although both refer to traces of the earlier fortis-lenis contrast:
Some writers note the occurrence of strong forms, both broad and slender, i.e.
of ʟ, ɴ, ʟʹ and ɴʹ, but I never heard them and doubt that they now exist, whatever
ɴʹ may have been until recent times.
[fn.] Marstrander denies the survival of the strong forms as such, but sees a trace
of ʟ in the interdental variety he noted from some of his speakers for “broad” l
[…], it evidently had no phonemic significance and bore no relation to the old
system. I never heard this among my speakers, with whom “broad” l is alveolar.
(Jackson: 107)
In L[ate] S[poken] M[anx] /l/ and /n/ have lost their original velar quality,
though there are still some traces of it in /l/, viz. [ɫ]; this varies freely with [l]
and has no phonemic significance.
(HLSM III: 107)
However, Jackson (110–11) refers to the apparently greater frequency of plain
sonorants representing original lenis slender /lʲ, nʲ/ as evidence of a survival of the
fortis-lenis contrast until ‘recent times’:
Internally and finally lʹ, nʹ as well as l (*n ? and l, n), stand for original
“slender” strong ll, nn (or l, n in a dental group); and also for original weak
single “slender” l and n. However, it is notable that l (and l, n) are somewhat
rarer in the case of the originally strong sounds than in the case of the originally
231
laa ‘day’ (G. lá), lhag ‘hollow’ or ‘weak’ (G. lag), keeayll ‘sense’ (G. ciall), towl ‘hole’ (G. toll),
poyll ‘pool’ (G. poll), cloan ‘children’ (clann), blaa ‘flower’ (G. bláth), flaunys ‘heaven’ (G.
flaitheamhnas), colbagh ‘heifer’ (G. colpthach), jeeill ‘harm’ (G. díoghail), sheel ‘seed’ (G. síol), folt
‘hair’ (G. folt), ennal ‘breath’ (G. anál), -al verbal noun ending (G. -áil).
280
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
weak sounds, and it may be that a system of internal and final “slender” l and n
= lʹ and nʹ (older ʟʹ, ɴʹ) versus internal and final “slender” l and n = l and n
(older lʹ and nʹ) survived late and only broke down in recent times.
(Jackson: 110–11)
4.3.2.1 Merger of /L/ and /l/
The ‘old-fashioned’ ‘ambidental’ or ‘interdental’ lateral noted from some speakers by
Rhŷs and Marstrander clearly represents the merger of the dental and alveolar broad
laterals, with the result being dental, as in Scottish dialects where this merger has
occurred (Wentworth 2002; Musil 2017: 11; Ó Maolalaigh forthcoming a: 321) and
for the most part in Irish.232 This is acknowledged explicitly by Marstrander (56), and
is clear in the appearance of Rhŷs’s strongly dental λð, i.e. [l̪ ᶞ], in G. maol, where
alveolar /l/ would historically be expected. In some dialects or speakers this has further
merged with the alveolar /l̠ / discussed below.
That in Early Manx /L/ and /l/ remained contrastive in medial and final position is
shown by the different treatment of the stressed vowel /a/ before historical G. l and ll:
there is categorical development of /a/ > /o/ in e.g. mollaght ‘curse’ (G. mallacht),
whereas backing and rounding is only incipient in e.g. thalloo ‘land’ (G. talamh)
(§2.1.1.2). The merger /L, l/ > /L/ must therefore have taken place between the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.
4.3.2.2 Alveolar /ḻ/
Slender /Lʲ/ and /lʲ/ had apparently also merged as a single palatalized lateral in most
environments by the Late Manx period, according to the fieldwork sources discussed
above (cf. Ó Maolalaigh [forthcoming a: 333–7] for similar developments in Scottish
Gaelic). However, we must also account for a third lateral, a plain alveolar [l̠ ]. This is
232
In Irish merger to a dental lateral is reported by Ó Cuív (1944: 46, 48), de Bhaldraithe (1945: 40–1),
Breatnach (1947: 47), Mhac an Fhailigh (1968: 41), Ní Chasaide (1979), Ó Sé (2000: 17–8). However,
Ó Curnáin (2007: 200–1) notes alveolar [l] representing both historical /L/ and /l/ in the majority of
Iorras Aithneach speakers who have the merger.
281
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
most robustly attested in the suffixes -al, both verbal (G. -áil) and adjectival
(G. -amhail), and, according to Marstrander, apparently in nouns such as ennal ‘breath’
(G. anál) as well. In data from HLSM II, [lʲ] is usual in stressed reflexes of -áil
and -amhail, but never occurs in the unstressed reflexes, except where this is fused into
a monosyllabic form through fricative vocalization (goaill /ɡoːlʲ/ ‘take’, G. gabháil and
jeeill /dʒiːlʲ/ ‘harm’, G. díoghbháil), or secondary lenition (two instances of credjal
‘believe’; see also the development of the verbal noun suffix -(a)in, §4.4.7.1).
On the other hand, it appears that dental [l̪ ] does not occur in the -al ending either.
Alveolar [l̠ ] also occurs consistently in the dependent present tense of the substantive
verb vel, cha nel (Ir. fuil, ScG. eil, etc.) (HLSM I: 75–7, II: 66, 472). Rhŷs (146)
emphasizes that [ḻ] rather than [lʲ] is present in elley ‘other’ (G. eile), although in the
HLSM data, [lʲ] is found in three out of the four instances given, and this is corroborated
by Strachan (1897: 55). Other cases of alveolar [ḻ] in Rhŷs are from historical broad
/l/ and /L/ and presumably are from speakers who do not have the dental lateral. We
must therefore presume a phoneme /ḻ/ with a restricted distribution among speakers
with a ternary lateral system. We can therefore sketch an evolution of the lateral system
as such, with Late Manx speakers having either system (2) or system (3):
(1)
l
L
lʲ
Lʲ
(2)
(3)
l̪
ḻ
lʲ
ḻ
lʲ
This Manx development is remarkable, since merger of broad and slender laterals is
otherwise largely unknown in Gaelic dialects,233 although in the coronal nasals the
parallel development /nʲ/ > /n/ is widespread in Scottish Gaelic (Ó Maolalaigh 2001:
16). For a somewhat similar situation, we may compare the ‘limited l v. ʟ opposition’
possibly present in some speakers of Iorras Aithneach Irish resulting from retention of
‘an alveolar articulation of morphologically depalatalised lʹ […] e.g. verbs in -áil -ɑːlʹ
> future -álfaidh -ɑːlə’ (Ó Curnáin 2007: 201; cf. S. Ó Murchú 1989: 80). Phonemes
233
Ó Maolalaigh (forthcoming a: 329–30) gives a few examples of velarized laterals in Scottish Gaelic
dialects in place of expected /lʲ/ or /Lʲ/, but specific etymological or analogical grounds (e.g. historically
attested by-forms with /L/ or /l/, e.g. brollach / broilleach) can be suggested for most of them.
282
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
with such limited distributions are likely to be inherently unstable and liable to be
reduced.
In relation to the development of unstressed -al it should be noted that post-tonic
unstressed */alʲ/ and */anʲ/ seem not to occur at all in the phonology (§4.4.7.3).234 A
possible source for generalization of /ḻ/ (=the historical broad lenis lateral /l/) in
adjectives would be derivatives such as gennallys ‘gladness’ (G. *geanamhlas),
spreading to gennal ‘glad’ (G. geanamhail).235 On the other hand, Late Manx /ḻ/ in
three-lateral idiolects (in -al, vel and perhaps elley) can be seen as representing
historical slender lenis /lʲ/, preserved in certain stereotyped circumstances when other
instances of lenis /lʲ/ had merged with /Lʲ/. Loss of secondary articulations is perhaps
inherently more likely in final position than in initial or medial position, and in
unstressed syllables (cf. verbal noun -yn /әn/, G. -(a)in, §4.4.7.1) — although this is
not necessarily expected to be the case with sonorants, where the acoustic cue to the
secondary articulation is salient during the consonant itself, rather than simply during
formant transitions in adjacent vowels as with stops.
That [l] in -al is not simply an allophone of /l̪ / in unstressed position is shown by the
appearance of Rhŷs’s lᵟ in some instances of injil ‘low’ (G. íseal), and the names
Maghal ‘Maughold’ and Cranstal (Rhŷs notebook 6: 165), which would give a
contrast between unstressed /al̪ / and /aḻ/). Some apparent instances of /ḻ/ for expected
/lʲ/ may be the result of environment, as millish ‘sweet’ (G. milis) (Rhŷs notebook 6:
162; HLSM
II:
299) where palatalization on- and off-glides might not be easily
distinguishable from the adjacent high vowels in [mɪlʲɪʃ].
234
Although there is one possible instance of /anʲ/ (§4.4.7.3).
There is orthographic evidence for maintenance of this alternation in e.g. the doubly-suffixed
eadolagh ‘jealous’ (G. *éadamhlach) vs. adjectives in simple -oil (G. -amhail) (but cradoilagh
‘mocking’ < G. cnáid; gerjoilagh ‘joyous’ < G. gairdeach), and in verbal nouns in -ail, derivative -alys,
-alagh, e.g. kiarail ‘intend, care’ /kʲaˈrɛːlʲ/, kiaralagh ‘careful’ /kʲaˈrɛːlax/.
235
283
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.3.2.3 Initial lenition of laterals
There is little or no evidence as to whether and to what degree lenition of initial laterals
may have been maintained in Manx. The variant spellings lesh and liesh for G. le(is)
‘with; with him, it’ given by Cregeen (s.v. liesh) may suggest coexistence of originally
lenited and unlenited forms of this preposition. i.e. /lʲeʃ/ < */Lʲeʃ/ and /ḻeʃ/ < */lʲeʃ/.
However, in the Bible liesh is restricted to s’liesh, by-liesh, my-liesh in the sense ‘own’
(e.g. y vooinjer by-liesh eh ‘the owners thereof’, Luke 19. 33), and therefore maybe an
orthographic attempt to differentiate senses, or reflect the fact that the cluster -s l- in
is leis would be expected to have a fortis lateral after the sibilant, i.e. /sLʲ/.
4.3.3 Lateral contrasts in Early Manx
There is evidence for a maintenance of fortis / lenis contrasts /L ~ Lʲ ~ l ~ lʲ/ in the
Phillips orthography. For example the spelling <all> is used for both G. /aL/ and /al/,
without indication of the later development /aL/ > /o:l/ (although the diacritic in iáll
may represent a degree of vowel lengthening, i.e. [jaːL]). The fact that these lexical
sets later diverge in their development (/al/ > /al/; /aL/ > /oːL/ > /oːl/) entails that the
consonants were contrastive in Phillips’ time, prior to transphonologization into a
contrast of the preceding vowel.
boayl ‘place’, G. ball. Ph. ball, boll
gial ‘white’, G. geal. Ph. gall
giall ‘promise’, G. geall. Ph. iall (2), iáll, jall
gioal ‘pledge’, G. geall. Ph. giall
It is less easy to demonstrate the persistence of the /Lʲ ~ lʲ/ contrast in e.g. keeill
‘church’ (G. cill) and mill ‘honey’ (G. mil), given that only lengthening of certain
vowels occurs before /Lʲ/, rather than a change in vowel quality. The spellings of keeill
with <í> may indicate lengthening:
keeill ‘church’, G. cill. Ph. kíll (2), kííll, kill
mill ‘honey’, G. mil. Ph. mill (2), mil
284
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
However, given the evidence for merger of broad /L/ and /l/ in 19th century Manx
(§4.3.2.1) and the fact that this has been shown cross-dialectally to occur prior to
merger of the slender laterals (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 59), it follows that, if it is the case
that /L/ and /l/ were contrastive around 1600, it is likely that /Lʲ/ and /lʲ/ remained
distinct at this period, too, as /Nʲ/ and /nʲ/ certainly did (§4.4.6).
4.4 Coronal nasals
4.4.1 Introduction
The development of the coronal nasals is somewhat more complex than that of the
laterals, but there is also more orthographic evidence, especially for the development
of /Nʲ/ and its interaction with original /ŋʲ/ (< */ŋʲɡʲ/). As with the laterals, there is some
evidence which suggests an alveolar /ṉ/ with a limited distribution alongside dental /ṉ/
and palatalized /nʲ/, although the evidence is less clear than in the case of the laterals.
4.4.2 Contrasts in coronal nasals in Late Manx
Rhŷs (133–5) notes three phones corresponding to the Gaelic coronal nasals (leaving
aside [ŋ] and [ŋʲ]), namely dental (‘ambidental’) ν [n̪ ], alveolar n [n̠ ] and palatal or
palatalized (‘mouillé’) ñ [nʲ]. The ‘ambidental’ nasal is noted in noa ‘new’ (G. nuadh)
and kione ‘head’ (G. ceann), where fortis dental /N/ is historically expected, and also
in lane ‘full’ (G. lán), where the lenis alveolar /n/ would be expected. Rhŷs (133) also
notes [n̪ ] in Manx English ‘no’.
The ‘mouillé’ nasal appears for G. fortis and lenis /Nʲ ~ nʲ/, in e.g. niart ‘strength’ (G.
neart), veign ‘I would be’ (G. bheinn, bhínn), thallooin ‘earth’ (gen.) (G. talmhain),
blein ‘year’ (G. bliadhain), yn irriney ‘the truth’ (G. an fhírinne), er n’yannoo ‘have,
has done, made’ (G. iar ndéanamh), yn aspick ‘the bishop’ (G. an easpaig) yñ i̯ aspick
[әˈnʲaspik] (Rhŷs: 134–5).
285
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Rhŷs’s alveolar nasal, which ‘is the sound of English and Welsh236 n; but it occurs
oftener in those languages than in Manx’ (ibid.: 134), has the most difficult distribution
to explain. Rhŷs also notes alveolar [n̠ ] from original /N/ in nearey ‘shame’ (G. náire),
bannit ‘blessed’ (G. beannaighthe), sheelnaue ‘mankind’ (G. síol nÁdhaimh),
bwoirryn ‘female’ (G. boireann), and original /n/ in inneen ‘daughter’ (G. inghean)
(with reference to the final n), feeyn ‘wine’ (G. fíon), grian ‘sun’ (G. grian). He records
variation between [ṉ] and [nʲ] in the dependent copula form (cha) nee (copula, G. an
é, chan é etc.) nī, hă nī́ [(ha) ˈn̠ iː], but also hă ñi̯ ē, hă ñi̯ ē̃ [ha ˈnʲ⁽ẽ⁾ː] ‘heard […] at
Cregneish’, and also notes [ṉ] in nee ‘will do’ (G. (do) (gh)ní) (§4.4.4).
Strachan (1897: 55) notes only two coronal nasals, alveolar n [ṉ] and ‘mouillé’ ñ [nʲ].
He refers explicitly to ‘Rhŷs’s second (alveolar) n’:
Rhŷs’s second (alveolar) n seemed to me to be sounded in mennick [‘often’, G.
meinic], činnә [chengey ‘tongue’, G. teanga], jinnaχ [jinnagh ‘would do’, G.
déanadh, deineadh], jinnu [jannoo ‘do’, G. déanamh], Inid [Innyd, ‘Ash
Wednesday’, G. Inid], perhaps henk [haink ‘came’, G. tháinig], though there it
may have been a little mouillé, hannik [honnick ‘saw’, G. chonaic], finnish
[feanish ‘witness’, G. fiadhnaise]. But the two sounds were not always easy to
distinguish.
(Strachan 1897: 55)
Marstrander (57), Jackson (107) and Broderick (HLSM
III:
14–5, 106–7) note a two-
way distinction between [n] and [nʲ], with no trace of the fortis-lenis contrast apart
from diphthongization before historical */N/, and /ŋʲ/ from */Nʲ/. None of them
mention the dental [n̪ ] noted by Rhŷs.
236
Presumably southern Welsh, as northern Welsh /n/ is often strongly dental (Ball and Williams 2001:
63).
286
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.4.3 Evidence for /nʲ/ > /ṉ/
As discussed above, Jackson (110–1) suggests that plain [ḻ] and [ṉ] occur more
frequently for the original lenis /lʲ/ and /nʲ/ than for fortis /Lʲ/ and /Nʲ/, and that this
may be evidence for late survival of the fortis-lenis contrast. Data from Broderick’s
dictionary (HLSM II) was collated to test Jackson’s hypothesis (Table 59, Chart 9).
Table 59. Incidence of palatalized and non-palatalized realizations of Gaelic
laterals and coronal nasals in data from HLSM II237
l, n
lʲ, nʲ
no. tokens
lʲ
35.6% (165)
64.4% (299)
464
Lʲ
31.7% (53)
68.3% (114)
167
nʲ
45.9% (206)
54.1% (243)
449
Nʲ
31.6% (49)
68.4% (106)
155
Chart 9. Incidence of palatalized and non-palatalized realizations
of Gaelic laterals and coronal nasals in data from HLSM II
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
lʲ
Lʲ
nʲ
l, n
Nʲ
lʲ, nʲ
237
All transcribed individual items given after the headwords in HLSM (II) were included, from the
main dictionary, the place-names and the addenda. Different transcriptions from the same speaker were
counted separately, and where the same transcription is noted as being from n speakers, this is counted
n times. Data from the example sentences were generally not included, as they generally duplicate
instances given in the individual item transcriptions, but sub-headings (compound words, inflected
forms etc.) were included. Items ending in unstressed -al (G. -áil, -amhail), which generally have
unpalatalized [l] were excluded, as were items in -yn (G. -(a)in) except geddyn, feddyn. Only
intervocalic medial and postvocalic final sonorants were investigated. The main transcriptions in HLSM
are n, nʹ, l, lʹ. Other occasional transcriptions include e.g. Nʹ, nʹj, nj, nʲ, ᵈʹn counted under [nʲ], N
counted under [n], and a similar range of variants for the laterals. Realizations with ŋ(ʹ) were not counted
in rheynn ‘divide’ (G. roinn) and Nherin ‘Ireland’ (G. Éirinn), which also have forms with [n] or [nʲ],
and items with only ŋ(ʹ) were excluded entirely (e.g. ching ‘sick’, G. tinn).
287
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Overall, these data show the considerable extent of depalatalization in the Manx of the
terminal speakers, as noted by Broderick and Jackson – in all four cases over 30% of
tokens show non-palatalized forms.
The percentages show there is little difference between the figures for reflexes of
historical */lʲ/ and */Lʲ/. However, for */nʲ/ the percentage of tokens showing nonpalatalization is considerably higher than for */Nʲ/. Moreover, a number of */nʲ/ items
(with at least 5 tokens) which have exclusively non-palatalized realizations, namely
the following:238
anney ‘commandment’, G. aithne (6 tokens)
ennym ‘name’, G. ainm (8 tokens)
accan ‘complaint’, G. acaoine (9 tokens)
hene ‘self’, G. féin (6 tokens)
imman ‘drive’, G. iomáin (5 tokens)
mwannal ‘neck’, G. muineál (9 tokens)
shen ‘that’, G. sin (12 tokens)
There are no such items for */Nʲ/, */lʲ/, */Lʲ/, apart from skillin ‘shilling’ (G. scilling,
scillinn, 5 tokens). Another pair of related items which come close is enn(ey)
‘recognition’ (G. aithne), ennaghtyn ‘feel, perceive’ (ScG. aithneachdainn), which
taken together have 7 tokens with [n], and 1 with [nʲ]. Both anney and ennaghtyn are
spelled in Phillips exclusively with forms lacking an explicit indication of
palatalization (anny, an(n)aghyn; e(a)naghtyn).
Accan and imman will be discussed below (§4.4.7.3). G. sin has numerous variant
forms, including ones with final non-palatalized /n/ (eDIL).
It might be suggested that /nʲ/ was depalatalized in anney and enney (both G. aithne)
owing to its adjacency to non-palatalized /h/ (of which there is no trace in the attested
period of Manx, here or in any non-initial position), while the non-palatalization in
ennym may be connected to its adjacency to non-palatalized /m/ (prior to svarabhakti,
or in syncopated forms pl. enmyn ‘names’, verb enmys, enmaghey ‘to name’).
238
Spain ‘spoon’ might be included here (6 tokens with [n]), on the basis of ScG. spàin, Ir. variant form
spáin (Ó Dónaill) (< Norse spánn, or Scots spane), but it is possible we have a form *spán here.
288
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
On the other hand the adjacency to preceding front vowels in these items, and in shen,
hene (see also shin ‘we’, G. sinn, below) may be a contributory factor, as in Scottish
Gaelic (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 63–4). One or both of these factors (adjacency to a
historically plain consonant, and preceding front vowel) might explain other possible
cases of depalatalization, such as rhenniagh ‘fern’ (G. raithneach, 5 [n], 1 [nʲ]), eunys
‘joy’ (G. aoibhneas, éibhneas, 4 [n]) and lhiennoo ‘infants’ (G. lein(i)bh, 2 [n]). In the
last of these the spelling is fairly firm evidence for depalatalized [n], since otherwise
*lhienniu might be expected (cf. thenniu ‘thaw’, ScG. taineamh; terriu ‘bulls’, G.
tairbh).
In the case of anney ‘commandment’ (G. aithne), Cregeen’s rather opaque comment
‘sounded Ahney’ suggests something noteworthy about the pronunciation. The only
similar comment of Cregeen’s is for ennagh ‘some, certain’ (G. éigin(each)), for which
we find the comment ‘pronounced Ehnnagh’. No explanation is given for the value of
this <hn(n)>, and Wheeler (2018) suggests in the case of ennagh ‘i.e. with slender /nʲ/’.
However, it is more likely, in view of the other evidence presented here, that Cregeen
is referring to depalatalization, i.e. a change [nʲ] > [ṉ], which would be of restricted
distribution and thus of note. In HLSM II, ennagh has 3 tokens with [n] and 1 with [nʲ].
For the development of G. ui in mwannal ‘neck’ (G. muineál), see §2.1.8.
There may also be depalatalization after /iː/. The CM spelling sheeyney ‘stretch, reach’
(G. síneadh) (HLSM II: [n] 1), with <y> which typically indicates a following broad or
plain consonant (rather than e.g. *sheeiney), may indicate a depalatalized form. The
opposite development appears to have taken place in speeiney ‘peel, strip’ (G.
spíonadh) (HLSM II: 1 [n], 3 [nʲ]).239 The spelling variants meen, meein (both found in
the Bible) ‘fine, soft, tender; dear’ (G. mín) may point to palatalized and depalatalized
by-forms (1 [n], 4 [nʲ], HLSM II).
There is further evidence in HLSM (II) of confusion between historical /iːnʲ/ (ín etc.)
and /iːn/ (íon etc.):
239
From spíon ‘thorn’ (< Latin spina) (eDIL s.v. spín), cf. ScG. variant spìn (Dwelly).
289
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Historical /iːnʲ/:
bwilleen ‘loaf’ (G. builbhín) 5 [n], 6 [nʲ]
lhemeen ‘moth’ (G. leaghman > -ín) 1 [n]
meen, meein ‘fine, gentle’ (G. mín) 1 [n], 4 [nʲ]
reen, s’reen ‘tough’ (G. righin, is righne) 2 [n], 2 [nʲ]
saveen ‘slumber’ (G. sáimhín) 1 [n], 4 [nʲ]
sheeyney ‘stretch, reach’ (G. síneadh) 1 [n]
shilleen ‘slug’ (G. seilchide > -ín) 1 [n]
Trilleen ‘Pleiades’ (G. Tréidín) 1 [n]
Historical /iːn/:
inneen ‘daughter’, girl’ (G. inghean) 2 [n], 6 [nʲ]
berreen ‘cake’ (G. bairghean) 1 [n] (initial stress)
cooilleeney ‘fulfil’ (G. coimhlíonadh) 1 [n]
lhieeney ‘fill’ (G. líonadh) 4 [n]
lieen ‘net’ (G. líon) 4 [n], 1 [nʲ]
speeiney ‘peel, strip’ (G. spíonadh) 1 [n], 3 [nʲ]
whilleen ‘as many’ (G. a choimhlíon) 1 [n] (initial stress)
There are also instances of the plural termination -eenyn with [nʲ] (4, all TC), which
probably involves -anna- etymologically (§5.1.4), but [n] in raanteenys ‘surety’ (TC).
In addition, Rhŷs (Broderick 2019) has examples of cooilleeney and whilleen with [nʲ].
4.4.4 /N/ and /n/ > [n̪ ], [n̠ ]
As discussed above (§4.4.2), Rhŷs reports both a dental and alveolar nasal. The
distribution of these does not correspond with that of historical G. */N/ and */n/,
however; for example, Rhŷs reports dental [n̪ ] in lane ‘full’ (G. lán), but alveolar [n̠ ]
in bannit ‘blessed’ (G. beannaighthe). Rhŷs (134) attempts to explain the occurrence
of [n̠ ] in nearey ‘shame’ (G. náire) ‘pronounced nē ̣rә’ [ṉeːrә] and inneen ‘daughter’
(G. inghean) ‘pronounced ñi̯ īñ ’ [nʲĩːn̠ ] as being motivated by the synchronic quality of
an adjacent vowel.
In some of the instances mentioned, it is to be noticed that the [alveolar] n
occurs where the other Goidelic dialects postulate an ambidental nasal
290
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
associated with a broad vowel241 whereas in Manx that vowel has been
narrowed as in nearey, and inneen, so that here at least alveolar n appears as a
compromise between ν [n̪ ] and ñ [n].
(Rhŷs: 134)
However, it seems more likely that we have here a merger of /N/ and /n/, with the two
realizations used indiscriminately, perhaps varying allophonically, or according to
speaker and dialect. It is also possible that the two merged as dental [n̪ ], with
subsequent change to an alveolar realization. The influence of English alveolar [n̠ ]
may be relevant. The development would thus be similar to that of */L/ and */l/, except
that the dental lateral [l̪ ] seems to have survived longer, being reported by both Rhŷs
and Marstrander (§4.3.2).
4.4.5 /ṉ/ representing fossilized initial lenition
A trace of initial lenition of nasals is seen in the appearance of alveolar /n/ in nee ‘will
do’ (G. do ghní), as opposed to nhee ‘thing’ (ní), and niee ‘wash’ (G. nighe) (Rhŷs:
134):
nee ‘will or shall do’, sounded nĩ [ṉĩː] with an alveolar n […]
[fn.] From the last three instances [nee (copula), cha nee, nee ‘will do’], all
pronounced with n, must be distinguished niee to ‘wash’ (Ir. nighe […]), and
nhee [‘thing’] (Ir. nídh) […]. The latter two are pronounced identically, ñī̃ [nʲĩː].
Four of these words occur in the following sentences: Nee oos [sic] nagh jean
eh niee son nhee erbee. Cha nee. ‘Is it thou that wilt not wash it for anything in
the world? No.’
(Rhŷs: 134)
However, nee (G. do ghní) may also be found with [nʲ]:
nee ‘he will do’ (with Eng. n), but neem is ñĭm [nʲim] ‘I will do’
(William J. Caine, Rhŷs notebook 7: 198)
241
This is correct with regard to initial n in náire /Naːrʲә/, but not final n in inghean /inʲɣʲәn/; Rhŷs does
not seem to have fully understood the distribution of the Gaelic fortis-lenis contrasts.
291
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Rhŷs does not report any cases of dental [n̪ ] representing historical lenis /nʲ/. As
discussed above, /nʲ/ appears to be depalatalized in a limited set of items. It is possible
therefore that some speakers into the Late Manx period had a limited three-way
phonemic contrast, similar to that apparently found in the laterals. Possible contrastive
examples would be the following:
/nʲiː/ niee ‘wash’, G. nigh(e); nhee ‘thing’, G. ní
/n̠ iː/ nee ‘will do’, G. do ghní
/n̪ iː/ (also /n̪ әi̯ /) nuy ‘nine’, G. naoi
/banʲә/ bainney ‘milk’, G. bainne
/an̠ ә/ anney ‘commandment’, G. aithne
/ban̪ әtʲ/ bannit ‘blessed’, G. beannaighthe
As suggested above with regard to the laterals, the defective distributions of these
three-sonorant systems in Manx may have contributed to their reduction to binary
contrasts.
4.4.6 Reflexes of G. /Nʲ/
The most notable survival of the fortis and lenis contrasts in Classical and Late Manx
is the realization of historical /Nʲ/ as a palatalized velar nasal /ŋʲ/ (Rhŷs: 135–6;
Marstrander: 57; Jackson: 111; HLSM
III:
110). As noted by Rhŷs, this development
appears to be only incipient in seventeenth-century Manx, judging by Phillips’
orthography:
The combination of n mouillé and i is liable to be changed into a palatal ŋ as in
[Ph.] shuinyn, now shinyn ‘we, us’ (Goi. sinne) which is very commonly
pronounced shiŋyn [ʃiŋәn] (perhaps shiŋi̯ yn [ʃiŋʲәn]); and I conclude that the
same n mouillé, rather than the ordinary n, was the starting point of the change
illustrated by such words as kiínn, kiin, kin, now written king and pronounced
kĭŋ̣ [kɪŋ] ‘heads’ (Goi, cinn […]); chiinn, chinn, now written çhing ‘sick, ailing’
(Goi. tinn); and piín, now ping ‘a penny’ (Ir. píghin, ScG. peighinn […]); also
reyng, rǽyng, reng, rǽyn, now rheynn ‘did divide (Ir. doroinn, ScG. roinn).
Here, as in væing, the form favoured by the scribe of the Phillips Prayerbook
has not prevailed, and other instances parallel to væing, as contrasted with veign
[‘I should be’], occur commonly enough, as for instance at [Moore and Rhŷs
1895] p. 537, where we have near one another ætlieing, now etlin ‘I should
292
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
flee’, ’urring ‘I should remain’ (Ir. fhuirighinn): the other pronunciation is
evidenced in the same passages by raghein ‘I should go’ (Goi. rachainn), and
ienin, now yinnin ‘I should make’ (Goi. dhéanainn).
(Rhŷs: 135–6)
Rhŷs (136–7) also remarks on the reverse development, /ŋʲ/ > /nʲ/, with the notable
example of chengey ‘tongue’ (G. teanga):
In some instances ŋi̯ [ŋʲ] is changed into ñi̯ [nʲ], thus reversing, as it were, a
change to which attention has just been called under the nasal mouillé. Take the
following examples: [Ph.] luinie, now lhuingey, genitive of lhong (Ir. long,
genitive luinge […]) ‘a ship,’ in the phrase kall luinie, now coayl-lhuingey
‘shipwreck,’ where at the present day the pronunciation with ŋ is the only one
to be heard in the Island […]; and [Ph.] chiange, now çhengey ‘tongue,’ […]
which, however, occurs also written my hinnge. The O[ld] Ir[ish] was tenge,
genitive plural tengad (Med[ieval] Ir[ish] tenga, Mod[ern] Goi[delic] teanga),
but in spite of the ng the Manx pronunciation is mainly tsẽ ñi̯ ә [tʃenʲә], identical
wholly with that of chene, now written çhenney ‘fire’ (Goi. teine […]), which
has in consequence become obsolete as the ordinary word for fire in Modern
Manx. It is right, however, to say that the pronunciation of çhengey ‘tongue’
with ŋ is by no means extinct, as I have heard it regularly used at Cregneish in
the South; but Phillips’ spelling hinnge seems to suggest the other and more
prevalent pronunciation.
(Rhŷs: 136–7)
The development of fortis /Nʲ/ to /ŋʲ/, with no such change in original lenis /nʲ/, and the
lack of indication of the /ŋʲ/ realization in Phillips’ orthography, shows that there must
have been a contrast /Nʲ ~ nʲ/ in Early Manx, and perhaps later. See for example the
following near minimal pair:
/nʲ/ > /nʲ/ kynney ‘kindred, tribe’, G. cineadh,242 Ph. kieny (3), kiĕny (2), kiney
(2), kĭy̆ ny, kyne, kyney
/Nʲ/ > /ŋʲ/ chingey ‘sick’ (pl.), G. tinne, Ph. chinny
The development /Nʲ/ to /ŋʲ/ is almost categorical after in /i/ in fully stressed syllables
(Table 60).
242
The CM reflex with <nn> /nʲ/ rather than <ng> /ŋʲ/ shows that this represents the historical G. form
cineadh (eDIL s.v. ciniud), as opposed to ScG. cinneadh, which may be influenced by cinneadh
‘growing, growth’, and/or reflect the ScG. split /nʲ/ > /Nʲ/ or /n/ (Ó Maolalaigh 2001: 16); cf. Borgstrøm
(1941: 38).
293
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 60. inn /ˈiNʲ/ > /iŋʲ/, /inʲ/
item
Phillips
bing; bingys
bín; binniys,
binnys (2),
binnis, bínnys
bing
ching; chingys
chinn (3), chin̄
(2), chinny;
chinnys
CM
pronunciation
/biŋʲ/
etymology
English
binn; binneas
sweet-sounding,
melodious; melody
/biŋʲ/
ScG. binn
jury
/tʃiŋʲ/, /tʃiŋʲәs/
tinn; tinneas
sick; sickness
ingan
/iŋʲan/
inneóin
anvil
innagh
/inʲax/243
inneach
woof (of cloth)
/kʲiŋʲ/
cinn
head (gen., pl.)
lhing
/lʲiŋʲ/
linn
period, age, time
lhingey
/lʲiŋʲә/
linne
shuin (7), shin
/ʃin/244
sinn
cavity between rocks
in river
we, us
shuiniyn (4)
/ʃiŋʲәn/
sinne
we, us (emph.)
/ʃlʲiŋʲan/
slinneán
shoulder-blade
king
kinn (4), kiin
shin
245
shinyn
shlingan
Apart from shin ‘we’ (G. sinn) (see below §4.4.6.2 for discussion), the only exception
is innagh ‘woof’ (G. inneach). Here the development of a velar nasal is perhaps
blocked by the presence of the following velar fricative; we may compare the blocking
of the change /sk/ > /st/ by a following dental stop (Lewin 2015b: 72). Two other items
have variants with /iŋʲ/ from -uinn and -ainn:
Table 61. Other instances of /Nʲ/ > /ŋʲ/
item
Phillips
cruin, cring,
cruing (Cr.)
krŭin, krunn (2),
kruinn, kruin,
krŭyn, kruyn
(2), krynn, krun
reyn, rǽyn (2),
reynn, renn, ren̄ ,
rêŷng, reygn,
ræing, reng, ren,
reyng, ræyng,
ræyn, (impv.
pl.) renji,
reynnigi, (fut.
1sg.) renniym
rheynn, ring
(Cr.)
CM
pronunciation
/krunʲ/, /kriŋʲ/
etymology
English
cruinn
round, close,
compact
/reːnʲ/, /riŋʲ/246
rainn, roinn
division, divide
ïnɑ ̣x TC, HK (HLSM II: 225).
ʃin, ʃɪn, ʃen (HLSM II: 403).
245
Likewise ainyn /iŋʲәn/ ‘at us’ (G. againne), dooinyn /diŋʲәn/ ‘to us’ (G. dúinne) etc. (HLSM I: 61).
246
re̜ idʹnʹ TT, riŋ JW, raiᵈn, reːn TM, rødʹᵊnᵊʹ TC (HLSM II: 366–7).
243
244
294
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.4.6.1 /Nʲ/ in final unstressed syllables
Spellings with <ng>, apparently indicating [ŋʲ], are also found in final unstressed
syllables, both in Phillips and eighteenth-century sources, although the standard
Classical Manx orthography mostly favours -in, and the Late Manx fieldwork data
generally has [inʲ, in], with one instance of [ŋ]. In Phillips, as noted by Rhŷs (see
above), the conditional/imperfect 1sg. ending G. -(a)inn can be spelled with <ng>
(Thomson 1953: 50):
ætlieing ‘I would fly’, G. eitlighinn
urring ‘I would remain’, G. fhuirighinn
væing ‘I would be’, G. bheinn
but:
gy niinshiyn ‘I would tell’, G. insinn
vêîn (3), vêînsh, væynsh ‘I would be’, G. bheinn(se)
leshshin, lessyn ‘I should’, G. dleasienīsh, ienin (2) ‘I would do’, G. déanainn etc.
rağh̆ ein ‘I would go’, G. rachainn, raghainn
odin ‘I could’, G. fhéadainn
ioinsh ‘I would get’, G. gheibhinnse
The place-names Mannin ‘Isle of Man’ and Lunnin ‘London’ appear as Mannyng,
Lunnyng in certain eighteenth century texts, notably on title pages such as that of
Matthew’s Gospel of 1748 and Yn fer-raauee Creestee (1763) which is prentyt ayns
Lunnyng ‘printed in London’ and the Epistles and Revelation (1767), prentyt ayns
Mannyng ‘printed in the Isle of Man’. In HLSM there is one instance of Nherin
‘Ireland’ (G. Eirinn) with ŋʹ, alongside six instances of [nʲ]. The spelling conning
‘rabbit’, found in the Bible and manuscript, also suggests [ŋʲ] in a form representing
coinín > *coinin > *coininn, with fortis /Nʲ/ owing to MacNeill’s Law (see e.g. Ó
Buachalla 1988).247
The reverse change is attested in chengey ‘tongue’ (G. teanga). The regular
development of this seems to be attested in Phillips chiange etc. (i.e. /tʃaŋә/,with the
247
We may tentatively conclude that Manx follows Irish dialects in observing MacNeill’s Law, as
opposed to Scottish Gaelic (Ó Buachalla 1988: 42), given that no evidence has come to light of Nalbin
‘Scotland’, (G. Albain, but ScG. Albainn), with [ŋʲ], as opposed to Mannin (G. Manainn), Lunnin (ScG.
Lunnainn) and Nherin (G. Éirinn).
295
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
usual development of ea > /a/) (Rhŷs 136–7), whereas the forms with /enʲ/ in the later
language must represent a by-form *teinge (cf. EIr. forms teng, teing, ting, eDIL, LEIA
s.v. tengae). As noted by Rhŷs (136), the same change is apparently evident in Ph.
luinie, later lhuingey, genitive of lhong ‘ship’ (G. long). The later restoration of /ŋʲ/
here may be explained by analogy with the nominative form, or adoption of a
pronunciation with /iŋʲ/, rather than /uŋʲ ~ unʲ/ (cf. cruinn, cring above). 248
These developments point to towards merger of original /Nʲ/ and /ŋʲ/ (the latter
originally restricted to a small number of items, from earlier [ŋʲɡʲ]), with a [ŋʲ]
realization of the merged phone following /i/, and [Nʲ ~ nʲ] elsewhere. The later
predominance of /nʲ/ rather than /ŋʲ/ in final unstressed syllables may represent a
general change /ŋʲ/ > /nʲ/, /n̠ / in this position, also when the /ŋʲ/ is original, as in farling
‘farthing’ (G. feóirling), LM faːrlʹən HK, faːʳlən JW (HLSM II: 158), and aghin
‘petition’ (G. athchuinge), although in the latter case the orthography indicates /Nʲ/ or
/nʲ/ as early as Phillips (Thomson 1953: 147), likewise in Ph. farsyn ‘manifest’ (G.
farsaing) (ibid.: 211), an item not found in later texts.249 Compare unstressed -(a)ing
in Scottish Gaelic, which is realized as -(a)inn /әNʲ/ in most dialects (SGDS III: 346–
7), and similarly in many Irish dialects (LASID I: 183).250
248
The original velar nasals for reasons of space are not discussed separately here, but are assumed to
have generally followed the widespread Irish development /ŋɡ/ > /ŋ/, /ŋʲɡʲ/ > /ŋʲ/ (Quiggin 1906: 106–
8; Ó Cuív 1944: 120; Breatnach 1947: 141; de Búrca 1958: 132; Wagner 1959: 31–2; Henderson 1974:
146–7; Ó hUiginn 1994: 561; Ua Súilleabháin 1994: 489; GOI: 94). Retention of /ŋɡ/, /ŋʲɡʲ/ is the rule
in most Scottish Gaelic varieties (e.g. SGDS III: 336–7, IV: 266–7; v: 146–7, 322–3), and is found also
in certain Irish dialects (de Bhaldraithe 1945: 39; Ó Sé 2000: 17–8; Ó Curnáin 2007: 198). In Manx
there may also be retention of /ŋɡ/ in certain items such as bangan ‘branch’ (G. beangán), baŋgan
(J:NM), but also bãŋan (TT), bẽ̜ŋan (JW) (HLSM II: 23). See Jackson (105–6), HLSM (III: 105–6).
249
Ph. aghyin, aghein etc. This item is often confused with accan ‘complaint’ (§4.4.7.3) in Early and
Classical Manx texts (Thomson 1981: 122), and the form aːɣan (JW) (HLSM II: 6, s.v. aghin) may in
fact represent accan.
250
And also with loss of the nasal as -(a)ig, cf. Dillon (1962: 579).
296
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.4.6.2 Other developments of /Nʲ/
sliennoo ‘surname, to surname’, G. sloinneadh, slonnadh; sloinneamhain
The spelling of this in Phillips slonniu, slonniú suggests the expected development
/sloNʲu/. The Classical Manx spelling sliennoo however, and Late Manx transcriptions
ʃlʹe̜ nu TC, ʃlʹĩnu TT, sliennooit ‘surnamed’ ʃlʹe̜ nuə̯tʹ TC (HLSM II: 415), point to an
irregular development to a form /slʲen̠ u/, perhaps influenced by /en̠ әm/ ennym ‘name’
(G. ainm), and lhiennoo ‘children’ (G. leinbh). The non-palatalized [n] may go back
to the by-form slonnadh (eDIL s.v. slondud, sloinded), however.
shin ‘we’, G. sinn
In contrast to the emphatic form shinyn /ʃiŋʲәn/, there is no evidence of the simple
pronoun shin being realized as */ʃiŋʲ/. This is likely because pronouns are usually
lightly stressed. Indeed, transcriptions in HLSM (II: 403) show a form which is
consistently non-palatalized, suggesting that this item has fallen in with historical lenis
/nʲ/ and follows those items such as hene, anney with the development /nʲ/ > /n̠ /
discussed above (§4.4.3).
4.4.7 Unstressed final /an/, /ən/, /ənʲ/
Final unstressed syllables of the shape /Vn(ʲ)/ are generally written -yn, -in and -an in
the Classical Manx orthography. The diachronic derivation and phonological
signification of these orthographical terminations are somewhat complex and merit
detailed discussion.
Table 62. Summary of developments of post-tonic unstressed /Vn⁽ʲ⁾/
orthographical
pronunciation
principal origins
form
-yn
/әn/, occasionally
-(e)an, -(e)ann, -(a)in
/әnʲ/
-in
/әnʲ/, /әn/
-ín, -ean, -eann, -(a)in, -(a)inn
-an
/an/ (marginally
-(e)án (/-éan), -(e)ann
/anʲ/?)
297
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
There are three particular complexities which require consideration:
-yn seems predominantly to represent /әn/, but this includes a large number of
items, mainly verbal nouns, where other Gaelic dialects have Ir. -(a)in(t),
ScG. -(a)inn (§4.4.7.1).
-an is robustly attested as representing /an/, but this includes not only reflexes
of -án but also a number of items where /әn/ (< G. -(e)ann) would be expected
(§4.4.7.3).
-in represents mainly /әnʲ/ [inʲ], but also a fair number of items with /әn/,
especially after slender consonants (§4.4.7.2); a further illustration of the
ambiguity of representation of palatality in the Manx orthography (§1.6.4.6).
In more detail the three orthographical terminations represent the following synchronic
and diachronic forms:
-yn /әn/
the regular plural suffix (ScG. -(e)an), and complex variants thereof, -(a)ghyn,
-(i)nyn, -eeyn, -(t)eenyn, e.g. muckyn ‘pigs’ (G. muc), meeaghyn ‘months’ (G.
mí), joughinyn ‘drinks’ (G. deoch), glionteenyn ‘valleys’ (G. gleann).
verbal noun suffix (G. -(a)in) and complex -aghtyn /axtәn/, (G. -(e)achtain),
e.g. clashtyn ‘hear’ (G. claistin), ennaghtyn ‘feel’ (ScG. aithneachdainn).
various items in G. -(e)an, -(e)ann, e.g. moidyn ‘maiden, virgin’ (G.
maighdean); fyrryn ‘male’ (G. fireann).
certain items with expected G. -(a)in(n), and where it may not be clear whether
Manx has /әn/ or /әnʲ/, e.g. cossyn ‘win, earn’, stem of cosney (G. cosain,
cosnadh), geddyn, feddyn ‘get, find’ (ScG. faotainn) (some realizations with
final [nʲ] in HLSM), screeuyn ‘writing, letter’ (G. usu. scríbhinn, but original
nominative scríbheann, EIr. scríbend).
a handful of items with expected G. -án, e.g. er-shaghryn ‘astray’ (G. ar
seachrán), nieeaghyn ‘washing’ (G. nigheachán).
-in /әnʲ/, /әn/
/әnʲ/, unstressed reflex of diminutive suffix -ín, e.g. drillin ‘spark’ (G. drithlín),
caillin ‘girl’ (G. cailín), kibbin ‘peg, stake’ (G. cipín), gurrin ‘pimple’ (G.
298
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
goirín).
/әnʲ/, a small number of verbal nouns in G. -(a)in which appear to retain final
/nʲ/, e.g. fakin ‘seeing’ (G. faicsin, ScG. faicinn), toilchin ‘deserve’ (G.
toilleamhain, ScG. toilltinn).
/әnʲ/, other items in original -(a)in, e.g. shiaghtin ‘week’ (G. seachtmhain),
Nalbin ‘Scotland’ (G. Albain).
/әnʲ/, items in original -(a)inn, -(a)ing, e.g. cuishlin ‘vein’ (G. cuislinn), Mannin
‘Isle of Man’ (G. Manainn) (see also §4.4.6.1), yllin, uhllin ‘stackyard’ (G.
iothlainn), skillin ‘shilling’ (G. scilling, scillinn).
/Cʲәn/, /Cʲәnʲ/, orthographic <i> indicating preceding slender consonant; it is
not always clear whether or not n is palatalized, e.g. claiggin ‘skull’ (G.
claigeann), egin ‘compulsion’ (G. éigean, -in, ScG. éiginn), mwyllin ‘mill’ (G.
muileann).
/Cәn/, no obvious rationale for orthographic <i>; e.g. cheddin ‘same’ (G.
céadna > *céadan), eddin ‘face’ (G. éadan).
-an
/an/, diminutives and other nouns in original -án (inc. < EIr. -én), e.g. beggan
‘little’ (G. beagán), quaillan ‘pup, whelp, cub’ (G. cuileán), arran ‘bread’ (G.
arán).
/an/, unstressed reflex of other original terminations of the form /Vːnʲ/, with
depalatalization, e.g. imman ‘driving’ (G. iomáin), accan ‘complain’ (G.
acaoine), ingan ‘anvil’ (G. inneóin), follan ‘wholesome’ (G. folláin).
/an/, various items in original -(e)an, -(e)ann, assimilated to the /an/ class rather
than showing expected */әn/, e.g. crackan ‘skin’ (G. craiceann), ollan ‘wool’
(G. olann), astan ‘eel’ (G. eascann), doghan ‘disease’ (G. dochann) (Table
64).
4.4.7.1 verbal nouns in -yn, -in
The verbal noun ending G. -(a)in (Mod. Ir. often -(a)int; ScG. -(a)inn), originally the
dative form of verbal nouns in EIr. -(i)u, e.g. aicsiu ‘seeing’ > (f)aicsin (Stüber 1997:
299
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
231–2), usually appears in Classical Manx orthography as -yn, and judging from the
Late Manx phonetic data is overwhelmingly realized with non-palatalized [n].
The main exception is fakin ‘see’ (G. faicsin, ScG. faicinn), which is consistently
spelled as such in the printed texts (also fackin), even where other verbal nouns
regularly have -yn, and for which there is ample evidence of [nʲ] (HLSM [n] 5, [nʲ] 3,
also Rhŷs [Broderick 2019 s.v. fakin]). Another item where the -in spelling survives
even in the most orthographically standardized texts is toilchin ‘deserve’ (ScG.
toilltinn), but this is not attested in HLSM. Some earlier and less-standardized
eighteenth-century texts have more widespread use of -in, but it is unclear whether this
represents an earlier /әnʲ/ or simply less discriminate use of <y> and <i>.251
Out of 19 verbal nouns in -yn, -in in HLSM only two are solidly attested with [nʲ],
namely fakin and feddyn, geddyn ‘get, find’ (Sc faotainn) ([n] 5, [nʲ] 8).252 This may
have to do with the fact that these are frequently-occurring irregular verbs; in the case
of fakin at least it may also be connected with the contraction to a monosyllabic form
[fainʲ] (Rhŷs: 120, 122). It seems that word-final changes in palatality are more
common in unstressed syllables that in stressed monosyllables.
Depalatalization of this ending is also found in certain Scottish dialects (SGDS II: 416–
7, cluinntinn; Borgstrøm 1940: 68; Oftedal 1956: 252). Whether this is a secondary
development from /Nʲ/, or a reflection of the split development of G. lenis /nʲ/ to both
/Nʲ/ and /n/ in Scottish dialects (Ó Maolalaigh 2001: 16), is unclear. In Manx the
development was perhaps supported by the analogy of verbal nouns with original /n/
(including those with G. -achán > Manx /axәn/, see below), and those possessing
related forms with historical /n/, e.g. lhiastyn ‘owe’, noun lhiastynys ‘debt’ (G.
dleastanas).
Depalatalization is also found in a couple of other items which are not verbal nouns,
including Boaldyn ‘May-day’ (G. Beal(l)taine, ScG. Bealltainn; HLSM [n] 3) and
251
Cf. plurals foilchin ‘faults’ (later foiljyn) and noijin ‘enemies’ (noidjyn), where the ending was
certainly /әn/, in CS (Lewin and Wheeler 2017).
252
There is also one attestation of [nʲ] in bentyn ‘touch, belong’ (ScG. beantainn), alongside three with
[n].
300
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
perhaps screeuyn ‘writing, letter’ (G. scríbhinn), which may have been interpreted as
plural ‘writings’ (although it has itself a plural screeunyn), and/or associated with the
verbal nouns in -yn, unless it represents original nominative scríbheann, EIr. scríbend
(HLSM [n] 3, but pl. skru:nʹən NM).
4.4.7.2 -in
Where -in represents the unstressed reflex of G. diminutive -ín, there appears to be a
tendency towards depalatalization in Late Manx, although the evidence is sparse
(Table 63). There are enough cases of [nʲ] from different speakers and items to suggest
this is not a general merger with /әn/, however.
Table 63. Unstressed reflexes of G. -ín
etymology
English
HLSM
caillin
CM
pronunciation
/kalʲәnʲ/
cailín
girl
inʹ HK
gibbin
/ɡibәnʲ/
goibín
sand-eel
iN JTK
gurrin (K.),
gooddin
(Cr.)
kibbin
/ɡurʲәnʲ/
goirín
pimple
ənʹ TT, ən
JW253
/kʲibәnʲ/
cipín
peg, stake
ən HK, J:JK
perkin
/perʲkʲәnʲ/
ScG. poircean?
porpoise
ən TK, JW
skurrin
/skurәnʲ/
ScG. sgurran?
rump, back
inʹ TC
Similarly original -(a)in in items such as shiaghtin ‘week’ (G. seachtmhain) have
several depalatalized realizations (7 in HLSM
II:
400) but are also found with
palatalization (tʹʃaːxtənʹ HK, saxtinʹ EKh). The same is true of those with
original -(a)inn (§4.4.6.1), such as aalin ‘beautiful’ (HLSM II: 1 [n] 3, HK; [nʲ] 3, JW,
NM, TT).
In some cases where a final broad -n would be historically expected, there is robust
attestation of [nʲ], which can be readily explained as generalization of a feminine
oblique case form, as in dorrin ‘storm’ (G. doineann) (inʹ, ənʹ TC, HK, JW, HLSM II:
253
The latter is under gurran in HLSM (II: 215), but given there are no attested forms with a clear vowel
[a], and no orthographic forms with <an>, it is likely that this is simply a non-palatalized realization
of -in (< G. -ín).
301
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
128),254 and probably egin ‘force’ (G. éigean ‘ā, f.; later also o, m.’ eDIL s.v. éicen;
ScG. éiginn f.) which is feminine according to Cregeen (ənʹ HK, ən JW, HLSM II: 149,
s.v. er-egin).255 In other cases -in appears to represent palatalization of the preceding
consonant, but not the -n, as in mwyllin ‘mill’ (m., G. muileann) (ən JK, W:N, J:EK,
JTK, but one instance of inʹ TC, HLSM II: ), cadjin ‘common’ (G. coitcheann) (ən TC,
TT), claig(g)in ‘skull’ (G. cloigeann, ScG. claigeann) (klɑgən TC, HLSM II: 82).256
Certain other items have -in following a broad consonant, and apparently with broad
[n], for no obvious reason; including cheddin ‘same’ (G. céadna > *céadan) and
myrgeddin ‘likewise’ (G. mar an gcéadna); eddin ‘face’ (G. éadan, ScG. aodann);257
sheeabin ‘soap’ (ScG. siabann). When further endings are added, in can be especially
ambiguous, as in Manninagh ‘Manx(man)’: here the orthographic -in presumably
represents the final /nʲ/ (historical /Nʲ/) in Mannin ‘Isle of Man’ (G. Manainn)
(§4.4.6.1), but is carried over into the derivative, which however has only [n] (HLSM
II:
289) and probably represents G. Manannach.258
4.4.7.3 -an
Transcriptions in HLSM show that the clear vowel /a/ is generally well-preserved
in -an (< G. -án), although reduced realizations with [ә] occur, and the CM
orthography has a consistent one-to-one correspondence between /an/ and <an>, as
254
According to Cregeen this noun is masculine (no evidence either way has come to light in texts), but
it is feminine in other Gaelic varieties (eDIL s.v. doinenn, Dinneen, Ó Dónaill s.v. doineann, Dwelly
s.v. doineann, doireann).
255
In shegin dou ‘I must’, also frequently spelled sheign, the form is frequently reduced to ʃein, sain
etc., with the n frequently depalatalized, probably as a result of consistently preceding /d/, although one
palatalized form is attested in HLSM (II: 395), alongside 7 with [n].
256
But possibly with feminine declension (‘o, n. and [m.] Later also ā, [f.]’ eDIL s.v. cloicenn). Cregeen
does not give a gender for this item; there is one case of lenition in na’n chlaigin ‘than the skull’ (2
Kings 9. 35), but na’n here is possibly treated as regular preposition + article, causing lenition.
257
This noun is given as feminine by Cregeen, a designation which is supported by some agreement
evidence (Wheeler 2017: 24), so an oblique form *éadain could be posited (cf. airh ‘gold’, f. =*óir,
§4.2.1.3); but the data from HLSM (II: 141) and Rhŷs (Broderick 2019 s.v. eddin) has only nonpalatalized [n]. Phillips has mostly -yn (14 instances), one instance of -in, but the spellings of the plural
ydyniyn and edyniyn may be equivalent the ScG. plural aodainnean.
258
As in Éireannach ‘Irish’, Albanach ‘Scottish’ etc.; ScG. Manainneach (found alongside Manannach)
is probably a modern reformation.
302
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
shown in the examples in Table 64. There are also items where G. -an, -ann, -aing (>
Manx */әn/) would be expected, but where -an /an/ is clearly attested (Table 65).
Table 64. Some examples of Manx -an < G. -án
Phillips
arran
an (5)
CM
pronunciation
/aran/
etymology
English
HLSM
arán
bread
an HK, NM,
aᵈn EL ɑ ̣n WQ,
HK, EKh
ɑ ̣n JW, an JK
beggan
an (3)
/beɡan/
beagán
little
ellan
(pl.)
ellanyn (2)
/elʲan/, /alʲan/
oileán, EIr.
ailén
island
partan
/partan/
partán
crab
roddan
/rodan/
ScG. rodan
rat
sporran
/sporan/
sparán, sporán
purse
thurran
/turan/
? torrán, túr +
án
haystack
ɑ ̣n HK, JW, an
EL, ɑn TT
CM
etymology
English
HLSM
/astan/
eascann
eel
/krak⁽ʲ⁾an/
(§2.1.6)
/doxan/
croiceann
skin
dochann
disease
ən NM, an TK,
ən WQ
ən TC, JK, JTK
ɑn TC, ɑ ̣n WQ
an JW, ɑ ̣n TT,
ɑn TC
/foxan/
fochann
/iŋan/
EIr. ingen (ar
méraib)259
young corn in
blade
issue, young,
offspring (of
an JW, JTK,
NM, JW, ɑ ̣n
JK, TC, ɑn JK
an EC, an NM,
pl. paːrtərən,
pɑ ̣ːtərən NM
ɑ̃ ṇ JW, ɑ̆n W:S,
ən J:EK, ɑ ̣n
JW, an NM
an JW, ɑ ̣n HK
Table 65. Unhistorical -an
Phillips
astan
crackan
yn (2)
doghan
foghan
ingan
yn
259
That is to say, a legal term ingen ar méraib ‘nail on fingers’ metaphorically denoting (possibly with
reference to a manner of calculating kinship by use of the hands [McLeod 2000]) ‘descendants beyond
the son of the great great grandson, i.e. collateral kin beyond the third cousins’ (eDIL s.v. 2 ingen;
Patterson 1990: 138–40; McLeod 2000: 6–8), sometimes found without ar méraib (eDIL). This would
agree with Kelly’s etymology ‘Ir. ionga’. Judging from the standard dictionaries (Dinneen, Ó Dónaill,
Dwelly), which lack this sense of ionga, it has not survived in the other modern Gaelic languages. In
Manx it appears to have undergone a semantic shift from referring to distant progeny of humans to
referring primarily to the young of animals; note e.g. the differing translations of ‘fruit’ in Deuteronomy
30:9: As nee’n Chiarn oo y vishaghey ayns ooilley obbraghyn dty laue, ayns sluight dty chorp,
ayns ingan dty vaase, as ayns dty vess hallooin son dty vie ‘And the Lord thy God will make thee
plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the
fruit of thy land, for good’, where ingan refers to animal young but sluight (G. sliocht) to human
303
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
animals)
lieckan
(pl.)
liettanyn
loaghtyn
(Bible, Cr.),
loghtan (K.)
oalan (K.),
oalyn, olan
(PNIM III:
123)
ollaghan
ollan
sollan
ayn, án
ən, ɑ ̣n TC, ɑn
HK
an JK
/lʲekʲan/
leiceann
cheek
/loxtәn/,
/loxtan/
ScG. lachdann
brown, tawny
/oːlan/, /oːlәn/
G. abhlann,
cf. ScG.
abhlan
wafer
/olәxan/
treadle of
spade
/olan/
ealchaing,
ScG.
ealachainn
olann
wool
an JK
/solan/
salann
salt
aN NM, an
NM, JK, JTK,
ən NM, TC ɑn
JW, W:N ɑ̜n
HK
Cases of unhistorical clear vowels in final syllables are attested in Scottish dialects,
e.g. oisean /ɔʃan/ (Ó Maolalaigh 2001: 9) for historical oisinn ‘corner’, and with other
final consonants, e.g. galar ‘disease’, iodhal ‘idol’ etc. Ó Maolalaigh explains cases
such as oisean as resulting from ‘truailliú agus analach […] leis an deireadh
díspeagtha -ean/-ein’.260 Similar analogical substitutions are also attested in Irish (Ó
Curnáin 2007: 124–7). This likely explains the Manx cases given above.
It is perhaps no accident that several of the items given above refer to small animals
(astan, ingan; cf. braddan ‘salmon’, scaddan ‘herring’, partan ‘crab’ etc.), parts of
offspring. For the ending -an, distinguishing this item from yngyn ‘nail’, see the discussion in the present
section. One might otherwise suspect that ingan is to be equated with oikan ‘infant, baby’ (Cr. also
inkan, oinkan) (G. *naoidheacán, Ph. pl. nikanyn, ikanyn), where variants with a medial nasal consonant
(‘on the south side of the island’, Cregeen s.v. oikan) can be explained by rhinoglottophilia (§5.6) and/or
the influence of the original initial n- (Lewin 2019a: 87). Ingan would then represent voicing of the stop
in the medial cluster /ŋk/ > /ŋɡ/. Telling against this interpretation is the fact that ingan ‘young of
animals’ (often in an uncount sense) and oikan ‘human infant’ are clearly distinguished in the texts and
the dictionaries; moreover, the rhinoglottophilia account requires voiceless /k/ (although secondary
voicing is not necessarily precluded). However, the form chied oingyn maaish ‘firstling that cometh of
a beast’ (i.e. ‘first young of cattle’) in the manuscript of Exodus 13ː12 (printed chied ingan maaish)
may attest to confusion or fluctuation between these two items and also a reflex of ionga with historical
/-әn/ rather than /-an/ (actually the manuscript appears to have oingan with y written over a, and then
the whole word rewritten oingyn in the original hand, without subsequent emendation within the
manuscript).
260
‘contamination and analogy with the diminutive ending -ean/-ein’.
304
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
larger wholes (crackan, lieckan, foghan, ollaghan), or substances often divided into
small parts or portions (ollan, sollan, foghan). With the exception of ollaghan and
perhaps doghan, all of them also refer to concrete and natural entities (or in the case
of loghtan, attributes). We may contrast three items showing the opposite
development, historical G. -án > Manx -yn, all of which are more abstract concepts
and may possibly have been influenced by the class of verbal nouns in -yn (possibly
also seaghyn ‘sorrow, affliction’, §3.9.7).261
Table 66. Unhistorical -yn < G. -án
gweeaghyn
nieeaghyn,
niaghyn
ershagh(y)ryn;
shaghrynys;
shaghrynagh
Phillips
CM
etymology
English
HLSM
yn (2)
/ɡwiːaxәn/
guidheachán
curse
ən TC, JW
/nʲiːaxәn/
nigheachán
washing
/erʲ ʃax(ә)rәn/
seachrán
astray;
confusion;
stray
ən TC, W:N,
W:S
ən TC, W:N,
JW, EKh, TT
an (5), yn
(2), án
Some of the data from Phillips (<yn> in foghan, crackan; <an, án> in shaghryn)
indicate that these developments were not complete in Early Manx. The confusion
between these terminations was possibly aided by the breakdown of the /N ~ n/
contrast (in -ann, -án), which may post-date Phillips (§4.4.4).
There are also a few items in final /an/ deriving from terminations with historical */nʲ/.
For the most part, this is depalatalized in the Manx realizations.
Table 67. -an < G. /Vːnʲ(ə)/
Phillips
accan
an (5), æ̆ in
CM
pronunciation
/akan/
follan
ayn
/folan/
imman
an (5)
/iman/
ingan
261
/iŋʲan/
etymology
English
HLSM
acaoine,
ScG. acain
complain,
complaint
folláin,
ScG. fallain
iomáin,
ScG. iomain
inneóin,
ScG. innean,
innein
wholesome
ən TC, NM,
JTK, W:S, aːn
JW ɑ ̣n TC
ɑn TC, ɑ ̣n JW
drive
ɑn, ən TC
anvil
ən TC, aNʹ JK,
ɑn W:N
Nieeaghyn may indeed function as a verbal noun (HLSM II: 324), alongside niee (G. nighe).
305
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
On the whole these items seem to have been assimilated in Manx to the /an/ class.
Since there are, in addition, no known plurals or genitives of these at any period with
/anʲ/, one might posit a constraint against post-tonic unstressed */anʲ/ in Manx (cf. the
apparent constraint against post-tonic unstressed */alʲ/, §4.3.2.2), although against this
we have the isolated example of ingan ‘anvil’ from JK with Nʹ,262 and Phillips’
spelling with <æ̆ in> might be taken as representing final /nʲ/.
Suffixed plurals such as bradanan ‘salmon’ (rather than slenderized bradain) are
typical of eastern Scottish dialects, according to Ó Maolalaigh (2003b: 158), who notes
that there is some evidence of non-inflection of -án in Early Irish (GOI: 178; Carney
1964: 155), as well as occurrence of nominative plurals in -ána, representing spread
of accusative plural forms (see eDIL s.v. bratán). Ó Maolalaigh posits that plurals
in -ain did in fact develop in Eastern Scottish Gaelic, but that the contrast -an and -ain
was neutralized by the extensive merger of original broad and slender lenis /n, nʲ/ in
these dialects. As discussed above (§4.4.3), depalatalization of original lenis /nʲ/ does
not seem to be so widespread in Manx, but is found in certain environments, including
after /a/ in anney ‘commandment’ (G. aithne), so it is possible that there was
depalatalization in final unstressed /anʲ/. We should also note the general decline of
final slenderization in nominal inflection in Manx, especially in the genitive singular,
with only a handful of examples remaining, such as baaish, genitive of baase ‘death’
(G. bás).263
4.4.7.4 Stressed reflexes of G. -éan, -án
As observed by Ó Maolalaigh (2001: 31), Manx overall patterns with Irish rather than
Scottish Gaelic in the development of the diminutive suffix -ín (Manx -een, -in), which
Ó Maolalaigh suggests may derive from an earlier suffix *-éin. In Scottish Gaelic, on
262
John Kneen, the Gaaue (‘blacksmith’) (Broderick 2018a: 131–3), who might be expected to have
been familiar with this word. On the other hand, Kneen gives the impression to me of being a less careful
speaker than some of the other HLSM informants, and the level of confusion and hypercorrection in the
terminal speakers means that individual instances of (non-)palatalization cannot be taken as conclusive
(Broderick 1999: 85–90).
263
There are, however, more cases of retention of slenderization in plurals, including /n/ > /nʲ/ as in eayn
‘lamb’, pl. eayin (G. uan, uain); but cf. raunyn ‘seals’ (Lamentation 4. 3; Cregeen; HLSM II: 361) for
G. rón, pl. róin.
306
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
the other hand, there is no raising of the vowel in this suffix and it falls in with reflexes
of -án, é(a)n.
In one respect, however, Manx may preserve an archaism not otherwise preserved in
Gaelic dialects, namely the apparent survival of a termination /ˈeːn/ in certain items,
which in Irish falls in with -án (e.g. EIr. ailén ‘island’ > Mod. Ir. oileán).
Table 68. Manx -ean /eːn/ < G. -éan (Mod.Ir. -eán)
Phillips
binjean (Cr.,
K.)
cheinjean
/tʃenˈdʒeːn/
jeeigean
(Cr.)
jiulean
soilshean
CM
pronunciation
/binʲˈdʒeːn/
/dʒi(ː)ɡʲeːn/
/dʒuˈlʲeːn/
áyn, éyn,
eyn, en
/solʲˈʃeːn/
etymology
English
EIr. bintén,
< G. binid
teinteán, EIr.
*teintén
G. díog, díg,
EIr. *dígén
deibhleán,
EIr. deidblén
soillseán,
EIr. *soillsén
curds and
whey
bonfire
HLSM
rill
small tenant
farmer264
shine265
ẹːᵈn JW, WQ
eːᵈn SK, eːᵊn
NM, eːn J:EK,
ẹːn TC
There is a similar orthographical contrast in the verbal noun suffix -ail (mostly after
broad consonants), -eil (mostly following slender consonants) (G. -áil) and the
diminutive -age, -aig, -aag (after broad consonants), -eig (after slender consonants)
(G. -óg > Manx *-ág). Here forms *-éil,266 *-éag may conceivably have developed by
analogy with -án, -én.
264
See Thomson (1988: 142), Wheeler (2018 s.v. jiulean).
The use of this as a verbal noun ‘to shine’ seems to be peculiar to Manx, and appears to be a semantic
development of the diminutive soillseán ‘a torch, a taper, a ray of light’ (Dinneen) found in other
dialects.
266
Note however Ó Cuív (1980: 127): ‘It is noteworthy that in some of the verbs the vn. ending follows
a palatalised consonant. Hence the process of analogy has given a morpheme -(e)áil. [fn.] This may be
contrasted with the termination -eáil (gen. of -eál) and related elements, reflexes of earlier -éil, -él etc.
(< *-ethl- etc.). However, there is no doubt that a morpheme -él (with oblique form -éil) was used in the
formation of verbal (or abstract) nouns for some centuries from the late Mid[dle] Ir[ish] period on.’ See
further ibid.: 134.
265
307
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.4.8 Summary of developments in coronal and velar nasals
Figure 13 summarizes the developments in the system of coronal and velar nasals
underway in Early and Classical Manx (1–2) and the point reached in Late Manx (2–
3), based on the discussion above.
Figure 13. Summary of developments of coronal and velar nasals
(1)
n
N
nʲ
Nʲ
ŋʲ
ŋ
(2)
n̪ /ṉ
nʲ
(Nʲ)
ŋʲ
ŋ
(3)
ṉ
nʲ
ŋʲ
ŋ
As discussed above, some aspects of these developments, especially the distribution
of dental [n̪ ] and alveolar [ṉ], remain somewhat unclear, as we are largely reliant on
the descriptions of Rhŷs, which only give a limited snapshot of the range of dialectal,
idiolectal, lexical and diachronic variation and change which may have existed.
4.5 Preocclusion
4.5.1 Introduction
Preocclusion of stressed final nasals and laterals is one of the best-known features of
Manx phonology and has attracted a certain amount of scholarly attention (§§4.5.2,
4.5.3), although there has been no consensus on its characteristics or origins. In writing
the phenomenon is only attested in certain folksong manuscripts in idiosyncratic
orthographies from the nineteenth century, although there is reason to believe it
developed significantly earlier than this.
In the speech of the terminal speakers as represented for example in the Irish Folklore
Commission recordings (Manx National Heritage 2003), preocclusion is very frequent
with some speakers (such as HB, NM), especially with final [n], [nʲ], and rare and/or
very weak in other speakers (such as JK, JTK). It is usually quite weak and often
308
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
difficult to hear, and frequently absent entirely, even in speakers who often have it. It
seems to be particularly prone to absence under weak phrasal or sentence stress and in
rapid speech. Preocclusion appears to vary freely with lengthening of the sonorant
(often with a shortened vowel), lengthening of the vowel (with the sonorant being
short) and occasionally “postocclusion” (with [l]), all of which can be seen as strategies
to enhance syllable weight (§4.5.5).
Some examples are given in the spectrograms below (Figures 14a–g), which were
generated in Praat (Boersma and Weenink 2015). The numbers refer to the disc and
track in Manx National Heritage (2003).
Figure 14a. [ʃeᵈn] shen ‘that’ (G. sin) with preocclusion, HB (1:14)
ʃ
ᵈ
e
n
Figure 14b. [ɡʲeˑᵇmˑ] geam ‘calling’ (G. éigheamh) with preocclusion, HB (1:14)
ɡʲ
eː
ᵇ
m
309
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Figure 14c. [xɨᵈn] keayn ‘sea’ (G. cuan) with preocclusion, NM (2:9)
x
ɨː
ᵈ
n
Figure 14d. [veᵈn] ben ‘wife’ (G. bean) with preocclusion, NM (2:10)
v
ᵈ
e
n
Figure 14e. [ʃuˑlːᵈ] shooyl ‘walk’ (G. siubhal) with “postocclusion”, NM (2:10)
ʃ
310
uˑ
lː
ᵈ
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Figure 14f. [eʳsuˑ(ᵈ)lː] ersooyl ‘away’ (G. ar siubhal) with shortening of vowel and
lengthening of sonorant, NM (2:19). The presence of preocclusion is doubtful.
eʳ
s
uˑ
lː
Figure 14g. [tʃiŋʲː] ching ‘sick’ (G. tinn), NM with lengthened sonorant but no
audible preocclusion, NM (2:9)
t
ʃ
i
ŋʲ
4.5.1.1 Cross-linguistic typology
Cross-linguistically preocclusion or pre-stopping does not seem to be an especially
common development. It is found within northern Europe in North Germanic
(Icelandic, Faroese, certain Norwegian dialects) (Sandøy 2005, Røsstad 2011), Sámi
(Sammallahti 1998) and Cornish (Chaudhri 2007). The distribution, realization and
phonological function of preocclusion in these languages are quite different from one
another, but they all seem to develop from historical long or geminate sonorants and/or
sonorant clusters. This and other features have been argued to provide evidence for a
northern European sprachbund (e.g. Wagner 1964). Iosad (2016b) argues on
311
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
chronological and historical grounds that direct contact influence of these languages
on each other in respect of preocclusion and other features is implausible, but that more
fundamental structural similarities between these languages — which may themselves
reflect older language contact (cf. Salmons 1992) — ‘conspire to encourage the
repeated genesis of shared features’ (Iosad 2016b: 15).
Outside northern Europe, pre-stopping (as it is conventionally known in this context)
is particularly prevalent in Australian Aboriginal languages (Ladefoged and
Maddieson 1996: 128–9; Loakes et al. 2008) and Austronesian languages (Jardine et
al. 2015). The origin of Australian pre-stopping seems to be different to the northern
European phenomena, and has been argued to be a strategy to preserve place of
articulation distinctions in languages which typically have an unusually large number
of places of articulation and few manners of articulation (Butcher and Loakes 2008;
Loakes et al. 2008: 90).
4.5.2 Descriptions
The first detailed description of Manx preocclusion is that of Rhŷs (143–4):
I must mention a phenomenon of considerable importance in the present
pronunciation of Manx. It consists in prefixing to a final nasal the corresponding
voiced mute. Thus […] trome ‘heavy’ (Med. Ir. tromm, Mod. Ir. and ScG. trom
[…]) is pronounced in a way which sometimes strikes one as being τrŏ́ um
[t̪ roum] and sometimes τrọ̆bm [t̪ roᵇm] or τrŭbm [t̪ ruᵇm] with a sort of
precarious b; and similarly with other words such as […] kione ‘head’ (Goi.
ceann) which becomes ki̯ õuν [kʲõun̪ ] or ki̯ ō̃δn [kʲõːd̪ n], while the plural […]
king, is pronounced sometimes kĭƽŋ [kiᶢʲŋʲ]; bleïn ‘a year,’ becomes blĭdñ [bliᵈnʲ]
and […] lhong ‘a ship,’ becomes λŏgƞ [l̪ oᶢŋ] or λŭgƞ [l̪ uᶢŋ]. The same thing
happened now and then with rν [rn̪ ] as in […] oarn ‘barley,’ pronounced orδν
[ord̪ n̪ ] […] (Goi. eórna); and with rn, pronounced r̥ dñ [rᵈnʲ], as in cuirn or keirn
‘the rowan or mountain ash’ ([…] Mod. Ir. caorthainn […]). This modification
began before the orthography of Phillips’ translation had been fixed upon, as
one would otherwise have expected tromm, for example, or trom, rather than
troum, tróym, or trúm. In all the cases mentioned the vowel was short and the
nasal consonant as in tromm was long, so to say, so that metrically speaking u̯ m
or bm is an equivalent for mm. So it is needless to say that the neatest cases of
this phenomenon happen to be all accented final syllables, and those which have
been here enumerated ended, etymologically speaking, in a mixed equivalent
for mm, νν, nn, ŋŋ, or ƞƞ. But (2) the same thing has happened, probably later,
312
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
where the nasal consonant was short but preceded by a long vowel, and here the
reinforcement of the consonantal element took place, metrically speaking, at the
expense of the vowel: at any rate this may be supposed to be the tendency. Thus
though […] thallooin ‘earth’s’ ([…] Med. Ir. talam, genitive talman) retains the
length of the vowel of its final syllable after that syllable is modified, so that
the word sounds τaλū̃ dñ [t̪ aˈl̪ ũːᵈnʲ] with the stress on the last syllable, and […]
bane ‘white’ (Goi bán) is also pronounced with its a not perceptibly shortened
in the South, but in the northern half of the Island the pronunciation in by̆ δν
[bәd̪ n̪ ] with the vowel as short as may be. […] it should be remarked that the
less distinctly one hears the parasitic consonant the less is the quantity of the
vowel tampered with.
(Rhŷs: 142–3)
Rhŷs’s discussion of the topic is notable for his suggestion as to the origins of Manx
preocclusion (§§4.5.4.1, 4.5.5) and comments on its synchronic behaviour as an active
prosodic or metrical phenomenon (§§4.5.5.2, 4.5.5.3); for the evidence provided that
the phenomenon may be lexically conditioned;268 and for evidence of variation
between idiolects and dialects. He notes preocclusion in most of the environments it
occurs, including before labial, coronal and velar nasals and in rhotic-nasal clusters,
and shows an intuitive understanding of the relationship between preocclusion and
vowel and sonorant length. However, it is notable that he does not mention
preocclusion with laterals, although there is evidence of this in his notebooks:
He pronounced ooyl ‘apple’ mostly ūδλ [uːd̪ l̪ ] sometimes ū́ λδ [uːl̪ d̪ ], but in that
case the δ was fainter: the pronunciation ūδλ I have heard of before as the
habitual pron[unciation] of an old man in the neighbourhood of Ramsey.
(John Stephen, Rhŷs notebook 7: 196)
Rhŷs’s notes also contain some comments on idiolectal variation in preocclusion:
this man Brew had a constant tendency to pronounce every final n as dn
(James Samuel Brew, Rhŷs notebook 6: 73)
268
For example Rhŷs (143) claims that preocclusion occurs more often in Jelhein ‘Monday’ (G. Dé
Luain) and Jardain ‘Thursday’ (G. Déardaoin) than in Jecrean ‘Wednesday’ (G. Dé Céadaoin) (Rhŷs:
143). However, preocclusion is well-attested in Jecrean in Rhŷs’s notes: in notebook 6 (p. 152) in a
comparative table of items three out of four speakers have dñ [ᵈnʲ].
313
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Strachan (1897: 55) notes preocclusion only before n, ‘sometimes […] quite distinct,
sometimes barely audible, and records that he ‘seemed sometimes to hear the same
sound when English was spoken, e.g. agädn for again’.
Marstrander (58) describes preocclusion before both nasals and laterals, and also
notices it in Manx English in stūdl ‘stool’, spūdn ‘spoon’, stībm ‘steam’. He notes
that preocclusion occurs irrespective of sonorant quantity, although it is unclear
whether this is a synchronic or a diachronic observation:
Utviklingen synes ikke å ha noe med konsonantens kvantitet å gjøre. Den
forklares heller ikke ved en forsinket åpning av ganeseilet, da den jo også
foreligger ved l.
[The development seems not to have to do with the consonant quantity. Nor is
it explained by a delayed opening of the velum, since it also occurs with l.]
(Marstrander: 58)
Jackson (113–4) notes preocclusion in nasals only; he notes Rhŷs’s and Marstrander’s
descriptions but states he did not encounter preocclusion with laterals or rhotic-lateral
clusters himself. He notes preocclusion in Manx English with final /n/ only, as in ‘seen
= siᵈn and the like’.
Before -n or -nn of either quality when final in stressed monosyllables there has
very commonly developed in Manx a kind of fugitive unexploded d. What
seems to happen is that in producing the n the occlusion begins just before the
velum is lowered, so that the sound is denasalized at the beginning. I write ᵈn
for this. It is most certainly not a glottal stop, as it has been called.
(Jackson: 113)
Jackson notes a number of examples where he only heard preoccluded nasals, such as
bɛᵈn ben ‘woman’ (G. bean), fiːᵈn ‘wine’ (G. fíon), driːᵇm dreeym ‘back’ (G. druim),
ɔːᵈn oarn ‘barley’ (G. eórna). However, he also notes some items for which he heard
both preoccluded and non-preoccluded forms, e.g. tʰrɒᵇm, tʰroːᵇm, tʰroːm trome
‘heavy’ (G. trom), eeym ‘butter’ (G. im), and an item with only non-preoccluded
forms: ‘in ching “sick”, […] with original -nn, I heard only ŋʹ’ (Jackson: 115).
Wagner comments briefly on Manx preocclusion, noting similar developments ‘in
Cornish, West Norse, Lapp, as well as in some Siberian languages’ (Wagner 1956:
314
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
109) and suggesting this is evidence of ‘a certain North Eurasian ‘Sprachlandschaft’’
(he also notes preocclusion in Dublin English, which he attributes to ‘West Nordic’
influence). According to Wagner, preocclusion is restricted to southern Manx:
Im modernen Manx scheinen diese Formen auf die südlichen Dialekte
beschränkt zu sein, während das Nord-Manxische Formen aufweist, die mit
entsprechenden schott[isch]-gäl[ischen] Formen verwandt sind. Karte 89
meines LASI, welche die Manx-Formen für ir. gann „scarce‟ illustriert, gibt
eine Form ɡauә̯n für den nördlichen Dialekt und eine Form ɡoːdn für den
südlichen.
[In Modern Manx these forms seem to be restricted to the southern dialects,
while Northern Manx shows forms which are related to the corresponding
Scottish Gaelic forms. Map 89 of my LASID, which illustrates the Manx forms
for Irish gann ‘scarce’, gives a form gauә̯n for the northern dialect and a form
ɡoːdn for the southern one.]
(Wagner 1964: 293)
Notwithstanding this claim, plentiful evidence is found of preocclusion in the north in
the other accounts discussed here. Indeed, in Wagner’s northern form ɡauə̯n, the
otherwise suspicious [ә] may well represent weak preocclusion. However, it was noted
above (§4.5.1) that two of Wagner’s three northern informants (Broderick 1999: 71),
JK and JJK, mostly have very weak or absent preocclusion, which may explain
Wagner’s claim. Unlike Jackson, Wagner (1956: 109) does note preocclusion with
laterals, giving the example of ʃuːdl shooyl ‘walking’ (G. siubhal).
Broderick (HLSM III: 28–9) introduces preocclusion as follows:
In L[ate] S[poken] M[anx] there can occur usually in stressed monosyllables
(but also in stressed final syllables of disyllables and stressed medial syllables
followed by a short monosyllabic unstressed suffix — whether the stressed
syllable be long or short) ending in a nasal or lateral a development known as
preocclusion. That is to say, that just prior to the articulation of the nasal or
lateral the corresponding (voiced) stop is realized, but with nasal or lateral
relase, i.e. [bᴺ] before /m/, [dᴺ] before /n/, [ɡᴺ] before /ŋ/, [dᴸ] before /l/.
(HLSM III: 28–9)
Broderick’s is the only primary description to note preocclusion in medial positions.
He gives two examples of this (HLSM III: 29):
315
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
brynnagh ‘flattering’ /bre[dʹᴺ]nʹax/
lieenyn ‘nets’ /lʹi[dᴺ]nәn/
(HLSM III: 29)
According to HLSM (II: 49, 277) the realization bre̜ dʹnʹɑ ̣x brynnagh ‘flattering,
comely’ is from JW, found alongside bre̜ nʹərɑ ̣x brynneragh ‘act of flattering’ (ScG.
brionnal, brionnalachd), while lʹiᵈnən lieenyn ‘nets’ (G. líon) is from NM, who has
lʹiᵈnʹ, lʹi.ᵈn, lʹiːᵈn in the singular. A further instance is dʹʒɔᵈnɑ ̣x joanagh ‘dusty’ (G.
deann) (JW), cf. joan ‘dust’ dʹʒɔᵈn (JW) (HLSM II: 238).
Broderick suggests that the preoccluded sonorants are probably to be analysed as
allophones in free variation with their non-preoccluded equivalents:
It is my view that […] though in a given set of circumstances preocclusion can
take place, nevertheless reflexes containing no preocclusion (in most cases) also
occur, thus indicating that preocclusion plays no role whatever in the context of
meaning and import. That is to say, that the preocclusive forms [bm], [dn], [ɡŋ],
[dl] are special realizations of the corresponding phonemes (/m/, /n/ /N/, /l/),
and in this regard I would view preocclusion in LSM as having allophonic rather
than phonemic status.
(HLSM III: 31)
Williams (1994b: 714) comes to the same conclusion. However, Broderick also claims
there is some evidence of incipient separation, including syllabification, and thus
phonologization of the preocclusive stop:
it may be noticed that in his phonetic corpus of LSM Marstrander sometimes
renders the preocclusive dental as a spirant, viz. /[ð]n/, which suggests that it
was becoming separated from its homorganic nasal and the whole unit was
developing into [ðən], as in [bẹːðən] ‘boats’ [baatyn, ScG. bàtaichean]. Indeed
he sometimes writes as if the unit had already developed a centralized vowel,
e.g. (without spirantization of the dental) [ʃedən] ‘that’, usu. [ʃen] [shen, G.
sin]. That is to say, that the dental was now being released orally instead of
nasally, i.e. as a separate segment. In other words a process of phonemicization
was taking (or had taken) place.
(HLSM III: 31–2)
Broderick (HLSM
III:
32–4) uses a comparison with English syllabic nasals in e.g.
‘button’ [bʌtn̩ ] and evidence from verse to argue that a monosyllable containing
316
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
preocclusion can be considered bisyllabic, although it is not clear why it cannot be
considered one long syllable in the terms employed.
The vowel in [ʃedn̩ ] is short, and bearing in mind that in Manx a long syllable
has the value of two short syllables, the short syllable here is, therefore, made
up by the preocclusive element plus the nasal plosion. We can see the same in
[dʹʒidn̩ ] ‘eager’ […] which occupies a position of stress and therefore (in
metrical terms) can have a long or two short syllables. In this instance the vowel
is short, indicating that two short syllables are required to make up the quantity.
The short vowel contributes to the first short syllable; the second is therefore
made up by the preocclusive element plus the nasal plosive. That is to say, that
(in Manx verse terms at any rate) preocclusion renders an additional syllable to
the word (here a stressed monosyllable) so affected. […] It is my view that the
same applies in ordinary speech, i.e. that preocclusion renders a (stressed)
monosyllabe [sic] disyllabic, and a disyllable trisyllabic.
(HLSM III: 33–4)
This argument does not seem to stand up to scrutiny. Even if some kind of exaggerated
articulation were found in verse which could be interpreted, perceptually at least, as
suggestive of an additional syllable (for which Broderick does not present evidence,
although see the written data, §4.5.3), there is no reason to think this would be relevant
to ‘ordinary speech’ where preocclusion seems in fact to have been fairly faint on the
whole, and often absent or only barely perceptible. The English syllabic sonorants do
not seem pertinent to the discussion, given the optional presence of a vowel [ә] as
Broderick himself notes (HLSM III: 32), and the fact that words such as ‘button’ count
without doubt as bisyllabic in all circumstances.
Broderick (HLSM I: 162–3) also comments on dialect differences in preocclusion:
An intrusive d can also appear before final -l, and a g before final -ng. These
features seem to be peculiar to the South.269
(HLSM I: 162)
269
Broderick gives an exception loᶢŋ from TC, but explains this by noting ‘[h]is father came from Lonan
(ie. on the southside) from whom he likely inherited any southern forms in his speech’ (HLSM I: 162).
Another counter-example is kʹiᵈl (W:N) keeill ‘church’ (G. cill) (HLSM II: 245).
317
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The intrusive b [before m] is common to both areas, but from the limited
evidence available it seems to be more absent in the South.
(HLSM I: 163)
It has been noticed that there is significant variation and disagreement between the
descriptions of Manx preocclusion in previous scholarship. The following claims have
been made, and shown here to be inaccurate or incomplete:
some descriptions do not note preocclusion with laterals (Rhŷs, Strachan,
Jackson)
preocclusion is claimed to be restricted to certain dialects (Wagner)
preocclusion is claimed to be syllabic (Broderick)
In part at least these discrepancies between descriptions likely reflect the relative lack
of salience of non-contrastive preocclusion, which has been noted in a cross-linguistic
context:
Butcher and Loakes (2008) note that non-contrastive pre-stopped realizations
are difficult to perceive auditorily, even by field researchers experienced in
working with the languages in question. Our research anecdotally supports this
observation. Members of our research team found non-contrastive lateral prestopping in Kaytetye difficult to perceive, but perceiving contrastive nasal prestopping was unproblematic.
(Harvey at al. 2015: 246)
It is likely that Manx preocclusion has always been non-contrastive insomuch as even
when it was restricted to stressed final fortis sonorants (§4.5.5), it would not have been
the only, nor necessarily the primary, cue for the contrasts, which also involved
differences of place and manner of articulation, and length.
4.5.3 Written evidence
A notable feature of Manx preocclusion is the lack of written evidence for it. Even
though it was certainly prevalent throughout the island by the early nineteenth century
at the latest, going on the evidence of Rhŷs and Strachan, and quite possibly centuries
earlier than this, it is never represented in either of the two main orthographies, and is
318
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
rare in texts with non-standard orthographies. It is, however, indicated in certain
nineteenth-century folksong manuscripts in non-standard orthographies.
Indication of preocclusion is especially prevalent in a song manuscript Manx National
Heritage Library MD 900 MS 08307, edited by Broderick (2015). This manuscript is
of uncertain provenance, but was most likely compiled between 1830 and 1840
(Broderick 1984a: 157). Preocclusion is represented in the manuscript as <dn>, <dyn>,
<din>, <bm>, <bym>. There are at least270 81 instances of indicated preocclusion in
the text of MS 08307. There are also many occurrences of eligible items with no
indication of preocclusion (e.g. dhoan, dhon, wooan, woan, aun ‘brown’, G. donn,
alongside odn, woadn, woadyn), and there are no cases of representation of
preocclusion with the velar nasals or laterals.
Table 69. Representation of preocclusion in MNHL MD 900 MS 08307 (ed.
Broderick 2015)
spelling in MS
CM orthography
etymology
English
kiodn, kiodyn
koodn, ?choadyn
skoadn
creedn
seidn, seidyn
lhedn, laydn
frowdn
dhowdn
vlowdn
odn, woadn, woadyn
foadn
kione
coon
s’goan, s’coan
creen
shegin
lane
frown
dowin
blieaun
dhoan, dhone
foyn (K.), foain
(Cr.)271
boyn
skynn
spain
ceann
cumhang
is gann
críon
is éigean
lán
domhain
bleaghan
donn
fonn
head, end
narrow
hardly
ripe, withered
must
full, many
frown
deep
milking
brown
sward, ground
no. of
occurrences
7
2
1
1
5
2
1
1
1
3
1
bonn
scian
ScG. spàin
heel
knife
spoon
1
1
1
voadn
skidn, skydyn
speidn
270
In a few cases the sense of the passage is unclear and so the reading of the word is not entirely certain;
these are indicated with a question mark in the table below. A handful of other possible instances were
so uncertain that they were omitted entirely.
271
Moore (1896: 70–1) interprets this as foaidyn ‘sods’, but the metre clearly requires a monosyllable
with preocclusion, rhyming with boyn ‘heel’, and it is probably to be equated with Kelly’s foyn ‘the
grass or ground underfoot, earth’s mantle or covering’, Cregeen’s foain ‘the sward, the green grassy
surface of the earth or ground; fo-ain, (under us)’, which is evidently G. fonn ‘base, foundation, soil,
ground, land, territory’ (cf. Ó Dónaill, Dinneen, eDIL). Kelly’s spelling is probably more accurate;
Cregeen’s <i> is unlikely to represent palatalization here, but rather reflects his predilection for inserting
unwarranted <i> (§1.6.5), and in this case he is probably influenced by his proposed etymology, and
perhaps the preceding entry foaid ‘sod’ (G. fó(i)d). The stanza does not occur in the version of the song
given in Broderick (1980–2: 11–3) from the Clucas Collection. In John Nelson’s reading of Moore’s
version he pronounces singular foaid ‘sod’ [foːdʲ] (Trebitsch and Remmer 2003: disc 2, track 19).
319
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
yoadn
Jeleidn, Jeleidyn
lhoodyn, lodyn,
glodyn
keedyn, keadyn,
keeadyn, keedyn,
keddyn
peidyn
shidyn
greedyn
bleadyn, vleadyn
theidyn, huidin
veadyn
feedyn
pleadyn
ghloadyn, chlaudyn,
chloodyn, chloadyn,
cloadyn
headyn, peedyn
lheedyn
voadyn
veedyn
vowdyn
chodyn
yeeadyn
streidyn
roadyn
leadyn
reidyn
lhedyn
graibm
joan
Jelhein
glione
deann
Dia Luain
gleann
dust
Monday
valley, glen
1
2
2
keayn
cuan
sea
11
pian
sheiltyn, shein
green
blein
thoin
mean
feeyn
plain
cloan
pian
saoiltin
pain
think
green
year
bottom
middle
wine
plain
children
1
1
1
4
2
1
2
1
5
hene, pene
lieen
moain
?mee(i)n
?bouin
chionn
eayin
stroin
raun
?lhean
?rheynn
y Lhane
greme
féin
líon
móin
mín
boghainn
teann
uain
sró(i)n
rón
leathan
roinn
*lán < Norse lón
greim
self
linen
turf, peat
tender
waist
fast, tight
lambs
nose
seal
wide
divide
the Lhen272
bite, morsel;
grasp, grip
back
call
jump, leap
before me
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
dreebm, gheeabm
gaibm
leabm, leabym
roabym
dreeym
eam
lheim
roym
druim
éigheamh
léim
romham
bliadhain
tó(i)n
meadhón
fíon
clann
2
1
2
1
It is noteworthy that almost all instances of indicated preocclusion in this text are in
stressed final syllables with a synchronically long273 vowel or diphthong — whether
from an original long vowel or diphthong, as lane /lɛːn/ (G. lán), fricative vocalization,
as lhean /lʲeːn/ (G. leathan), blieaun /blʲau̯ nʲ/ (G. bleaghan), or original short vowel +
fortis sonorant, as kione S /kʲoːn/, N /kʲau̯ n/ (G. ceann). The only possible exceptions
to this are skynn /skʲin/ ‘knife’, which seems to have a short vowel in Manx, although
it has a diphthong scian in other Gaelic varieties (originally bisyllabic sciän, eDIL; cf.
272
Brook forming the boundary between the parishes of Jurby and Andreas (cf. Rhŷs: 143); for
etymology see PNIM (III: 146) and Marstrander (231–4).
273
I.e. underlyingly long; disregarding optional vowel shortening which is a result of preocclusion itself,
and assumed to be non-categorical.
320
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ScG. dat. sgithinn), and one or two items with original fortis sonorants which can have
short vowels in Classical and Late Manx (e.g. chionn S /tʃon/, N /tʃau̯ n/, G. teann).
There are no cases of indicated preocclusion with a short vowel + historically lenis
sonorant, such as ben ‘woman’ (G. bean), although this item appears frequently in the
text. The implications of this will be discussed below (§§4.5.4.3, 4.5.5.2).
Preocclusion is also sometimes indicated in songs transcribed by John Clague (1842–
1908), and edited by Gilchrist (1925) and Broderick (2018e). Examples include hedyn
for henn ‘old’ (G. sean) (Broderick 2018e: 32), a rowdle for er-rouyl ‘mad, keen’
(etymology uncertain) (ibid: 38), kiddlyn for ?keayn ‘sea’ (G. cuan) (Gilchrist 1925:
213), cheady[n] for keayn (ibid.: 214), sheedyn for sheean ‘noise’ (G. sian) (ibid.:
214). Broderick (2018e: 32) argues that spellings such as hedyn provide evidence for
a bisyllabic realization of preocclusion:
Originally monosyllabic, preocclusion developed into a disyllable during the
course of the 19th-century. This particular example was seemingly heard by
Clague as disyllabic. […] Clague evidently did not know much, or any, Manx
at all when he first started collecting material (a point also noted by Gilchrist
[1925]: ix), and so took down the text as he heard it.
(Broderick 2018e: 32)
In later texts by which time his knowledge of Manx has increased, representation of
preocclusion is not in evidence in Clague’s texts, and the orthography is closer to the
standard. Gilchrist (1925: ix–x) comments explicitly on preocclusion in the Clague
collection, and in addition to noting its status as a native development of Manx,
remarks on its appearance in the singing of ‘old sailors of English nationality’:
One point, however, may be noted. Prof. Strachan [1897: 55] speaks of a “d”
sound some-times heard before final “n” of a word, as in “chea(d)yn”=sea. I am
informed that “b” is sometimes similarly heard before “m,” as in
“Tho(b)m=Tom. The same peculiarity used to be found in the singing of old
sailors of English nationality. Captain Whall [1913: 43] calls it a “regulation
pronunciation which has quite gone out.” He gives a verse of “The Female
Smuggler” to illustrate it, which begins: “O come list a-whidle adnd you soodn
shadll hear,” and in this instance of intruded sounds it should be noticed that
they are not necessitated by any extra syllabic notes in the tune. W. Clark
Russell gives similar examples of this sailor mannerism in singing.
(Gilchrist 1925: ix–x, original italics)
321
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Although spellings such as hedyn, kiodyn etc. in these manuscripts could be taken to
suggest a syllabic pronunciation with an intervening schwa, or else a syllabic sonorant
as in Broderick’s example of English ‘button’ (above), it is also possible that any
perception of syllabicity comes from the perspective of English itself. We know that
Clague at least was not a native speaker of Manx and may have only had a limited
command of the language when he began collecting folksongs. It is unclear who wrote
MS 08307, but this collector may have been from a similar background — at any rate
the orthography employed might suggest an unfamiliarity with conventional Manx
literacy. It should be noted that if preocclusion were indeed full syllabified, such that
the preocclusive stops were analysed as intervocalic stop segments, we might expect
indication in MS 08307 of secondary lenition with originally preocclusive stops. With
original intervocalic stops we find e.g. ovvyr [ovәrʲ, oβәrʲ] for obbyr ‘work’ (G. obair),
bathyn [bɛːðәn] for baatyn ‘boats’, (ScG. bàtaichean). However, we do not find e.g.
*leavym for leabym (lheim ‘jump’, G. léim) (however, cf. Broderick’s comments on
Marstrander’s transcriptions, §4.5.2). That preocclusion was especially exaggerated in
singing for metrical reasons, such that it might be perceived as syllabic, is also
possible, but given the complete lack of recordings of Manx traditional singing we can
only speculate on this. There certainly seems to be no evidence of this in ordinary
speech, and so little basis for Broderick’s claims regarding syllabicity.
So far as is known, there are no cases of indication of preocclusion in the often highly
non-standard orthographies of the carval manuscripts and the writings of Edward
Faragher. This may be evidence that preocclusion was not particularly salient to native
Manx speakers.
4.5.4 The origins of Manx preocclusion: previous hypotheses
Four hypotheses have been proposed by scholars for the origins of Manx preocclusion.
Other commentaries are purely synchronically descriptive (§4.5.2) and do not deal
extensively with questions of diachronic development.
322
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.5.4.1 Rhŷs (1894)
Rhŷs (142–3) (see above §4.5.2 for full quotation) suggests that preocclusion began as
a reflex of geminate sonorants (i.e. [mm] > [u̯ m] > [ᵇm]), and later spread to the items
with original lenis sonorants. He remarks that it can be understood as a further
development of realizations more widespread in Gaelic dialects (Rhŷs: 143–4):
if one might venture to relegate to a second place the extreme form of the Manx
modification [i.e. with preocclusion], treating it as a development of the stage
represented by τrŏu̯ m [t̪ roum], for example, in the case of trome, one would
find that it ranges itself with a dialectic peculiarity of the Gaelic of the South of
Ireland. Thus τrŏu̯ m is the pronunciation actually current not only in Manx but
also in a great part of the South of Ireland.
(Rhŷs: 143–4)
It is argued below (§4.5.5) that Rhŷs’s analysis is substantially correct.
4.5.4.2 Chaudhri (2007)
In his thesis on Cornish historical phonology, Chaudhri (2007: 39–44) includes a
discussion of Manx preocclusion as a point of comparison with the analogous
development in Cornish. He notes that, unlike in Cornish, Manx preocclusion does not
occur in medial position (but see §4.5.4.3), and affects both original short and long
sonorants. He suggests that the length contrast in the sonorants had already
disappeared by the time of preocclusion in Manx:
The reason given by Jackson [113–5] that pre-occlusion in Manx does not occur
in non-final stressed syllables is that the affected consonant must be in absolute
final position in the word. This may be because Manx, unlike Cornish, did not
retain the phonemic oppositions /nn/–/n/, /mm/–/m/ by the time of pre-occlusion
(whether or not this had earlier been the case) and the appearance of the long
varieties of /n/ [nn] and /m/ [mm] was determined only by final position in a
stressed syllable.
(Chaudhri 2007: 39–40)
323
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The crucial difference is that Cornish must have retained the long phonemes
/nn/ and /mm/ at least until the time of pre-occlusion. It did not therefore rely
upon a process of gemination based on position. The parallel of Manx and
Cornish pre-occlusion is by no means a direct one.
(Chaudhri 2007: 44)
Chaudhri thus posits a new gemination in Manx by which all stressed final nasal and
lateral sonorants (all at this point short, whether or not they had earlier been geminate
or non-geminate) were lengthened (i.e. (re-)geminated), as a precursor to preocclusion.
With regard to eeym ‘butter’ (G. im) and kione ‘head’ (G. ceann), Chaudhri (2007: 40)
comments that the relationship between preocclusion and vowel lengthening is not
clear:
It is not clear whether this lengthening of the vowel is associated with preocclusion in this word or, if not, which change came first.
(Chaudhri 2007: 40)
In the case of words containing an original short vowel, it seems most likely
that any lengthening of the vowel occurred earlier than pre-occlusion.
(Chaudhri 2007: 42)
Chaudhri (2007: 43) considers that preocclusion in Manx is determined only by
position and has nothing to do with the quality (fortis or lenis; tenseness in Chaudhri’s
terminology) of the sonorant.
In any case, pre-occlusion in Manx happened in words containing an original
short vowel irrespective of whether the consonant was originally single or
double. It happened equally in words containing an original long vowel.
Whether or not a long vowel was originally long or short, it seems that there
may possibly have been a tendency to shorten long vowels to compensate for
the increasing tenseness of the following consonant, as Jackson suggested. Rhŷs
considered that pre-occlusion occurred first after short vowels and later spread
to syllables containing long ones; this appears to fit with his and Jackson’s
hypothesis well […]
The logical consequence of these observations is that pre-occlusion in Manx
had no phonemic motivation but was instead determined only by word final
position in a stressed syllable. This seems to be a good explanation for its
comparatively wider operation, although it does not entirely explain why the
additional changes /l/ [l] > [dl] and /ŋ/ [ŋ] > [gŋ] occurred only in Manx. It may
324
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
have served to emphasise the long nature of a syllable where the inherited
vowels tended to be shortened, although the evidence is equivocal.
(Chaudhri 2007: 43)
Chaudhri’s invocation of Rhŷs overlooks the fact that the latter explicitly links the
genesis of preocclusion with original fortis sonorants (see §4.5.4.1).
Chaudhri (2007: 55) argues that stressed position in itself favours the development of
preocclusion. Although the following comment is made in relation to Cornish,
combined with the above remarks on Manx we may infer that Chaudhri thinks stressed
position in and of itself is sufficient to motivate preocclusion in Manx, given that he
supposes that, unlike in Cornish, there was no longer any fortis-lenis, tense-lax or
geminate-non-geminate contrast in Manx at the time of the development of
preocclusion:
It is reasonable to suppose on a general basis that phonemes are articulated with
additional tenseness in a stressed syllable and moreover that they may receive
heavier articulation when the vocalic element of the syllable is relatively short
and the consonantal element is relatively long. This is a good description of the
environment in which pre-occlusion is in fact observed.
(Chaudhri 2007: 55)
As discussed above, Chaudhri’s (2007: 42) suggestion that ‘[i]n the case of words
containing an original short vowel, it seems most likely that any lengthening of the
vowel occurred earlier than pre-occlusion’ seems to imply an earlier stage
characterized by loss of gemination and lengthening of the short vowel, presumably
by compensatory lengthening, followed by new gemination and subsequent
preocclusion. This seems to be based on an overly simplistic view of compensatory
lengthening / diphthongization and preocclusion as binary alternatives. It is possible
that preocclusion and vocalic lengthening / diphthongization arose more or less
simultaneously; it is normal that multiple cues for a phonological contrast should exist
side by side, and that diachronic changes should involve gradual shifts in the
prominence of different cues. Even in the most conservative Gaelic dialects which
retain long sonorants, the vowel may be somewhat lengthened also, as noted by Jones
(2010: 61) in Jura Gaelic:
325
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The consonants /ʟ/, /lʹ/, /ɴ/, /nʹ/ and /ʀ/ are given by Holmer (1938: 68) as
occurring in lengthened form, represented orthographically by doubling.
Holmer gives such words as ceann, mall and barrachd with these consonants
denoted as long and the vowel immediately preceding them short. He contrasts
this with the forms familiar in northern dialects where the consonant is short
with the preceding vowel undergoing diphthongisation. In the data I have
gathered there does in fact appear to be some lengthening of the vowel
preceding the ‘doubled’ forms of /ʟ/, /lʹ/, /ɴ/, /nʹ/ and /m/ where this occurs in
a monosyllable or in the stressed syllable of a polysyllabic word where the /ʟ/,
/lʹ/, /ɴ/, /nʹ/ or /m/ forms a homorganic cluster with a following consonant as,
for example in beanntan [bi̯ ɑˑɴˑd̬ ən] (‘mountains’). The syllable is long with
partial lengthening of the vowel and lengthening of the consonant as well. I
mark this phonetically as a half long vowel followed by a half long consonant.
(Jones 2010: 61)
As noted by Jones (2010: 62), this is implicit in the medieval Gaelic grammarians’
concept of ‘middle quantity’ (síneadh meadhónach) (Greene 1952), and the occasional
marking of vowel length in such items as far back as the Old Irish period (GOI: 32):
Original short vowels are sometimes marked long when followed in the same
syllable by unlenited m, 1, n, r […]. Accordingly they must have at least
sounded longer than the normal short vowel. Most, though not all, of them are
long in the modern dialects also.
(GOI: 32)
The examples given [in GOI] are of the type ránn, tróm, báll, […]. Now all
these […] still have a short vowel in many of the modern dialects, e.g. Donegal,
where the usual treatment is short vowel plus long consonant. That is what the
traditional spelling points to and the type from which the forms found in the
other dialects […] are logical developments. There is of course no reason to
believe that the vowels of these syllables sounded longer than the normal short
vowels; it was the syllable itself which was half-long and therefore occasionally
marked long. The syllable ferr was felt to be longer than fer, but not as long as
fér.
(Greene 1952: 212–3)
If vowel and consonant length can co-exist simultaneously, and preocclusion is a
development of the latter, then there is no obstacle to the initial restriction of
preocclusion to long sonorants (and sonorant clusters). Chaudhri does accept that
preocclusion may have spread from one environment to another (ibid.: 43), namely
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
‘pre-occlusion occurred first after short vowels and later spread to syllables containing
long ones’.
In explaining why preocclusion does not occur medially, Chaudhri suggests that Manx
‘did not retain the phonemic oppositions /nn/–/n/, /mm/–/m/ by the time of preocclusion’ (since otherwise we might expect medial G. -nn- etc. to give medial [dn] as
in Cornish). However, it is quite unremarkable for the fortis sonorants to develop
differently in medial and final position in Gaelic dialects. In Manx itself there is
typically lengthening or diphthongization, and sometimes modification of quality
(rounding) before coda fortis sonorants (e.g. G. ceann ‘head’ > Manx kione /kʲoːn/,
/kʲau̯ n/, phonetically [kʲo(ː)ᵈn], [kʲau̯ ᵈn]), but before medial fortis sonorants there is
only modification of quality (e.g. G. ceannach ‘buy’ > Manx kionnagh /kʲonax/). In
Gaelic dialects in general we can identify at least four stages, from the most
conservative to the most innovative:
(1) Geminate sonorants retained both medially and finally, with no categorical
vowel lengthening. Donegal dialects (Quiggin 1906: 77–8, 122; Wagner 1959:
17–26; Henderson 1974: 139–44), e.g. kʹaɴːɪ ceannuighthe ‘bought’ (LASID
IV:
143, point 83).
(2) Geminate sonorants retained finally but shortened medially, with no
categorical vowel lengthening or diphthongization. Southern Scottish dialects
(Holmer 1957: 87;274 Holmer 1962a: 21–4, 27–30; Ó Murchú 1989a: 107–10;
Jones 2010: 62–3, 74–5), e.g. ceann ‘head’ kʹɛn‵ˑ, ceannaich ‘buy’ kʹɛ’n‵ɪ̇ç
(SGDS II: 326, 336, point 53, Islay).275
274
Holmer’s (1957: 87) descriptions of Arran Gaelic seem to suggest optional retention of intervocalic
fortis sonorant length, perhaps with morphological conditioning.
275
Holmer (1938: 81) tentatively suggests that medial nn may be lengthened in Islay as transcribes it
and ll as such, e.g. ə-nɔlːᵘikj Nollaig ‘Christmas’, k῾jɛnːiç ceannaich ‘buy’ (ibid.: 137, 197). Jones
(2010: 74) casts some doubt on Holmer’s descriptions, and gives forms such as kʹɑʔɴiç ceannaich. One
wonders whether Holmer perceived sequences [ʔN] as a long sonorant; in my experience glottalization
is often quite weak in Islay Gaelic. On the other hand, Ó Maolalaigh (2014b: 12) suggests that ‘Holmer’s
description reflects the speech of older conservative speakers and that he ignored or failed to hear
glottalisation in the speech of other speakers’. In general, Holmer’s discussion of this topic seems
somewhat confused; so he claims that ‘[i]n Islay, Gigha, and certain parts of Skye, no difference is heard
between the lenited and non-lenited n-sounds’. For what may be regarded as an intermediate stage
327
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(3) Geminate sonorants shortened in all positions but (all or some) fortis-lenis
contrasts retained through place of articulation (dental v. alveolar) and
secondary articulation (velarization, palatalization); there may be vowel
lengthening or diphthongization before coda fortis sonorants. Connacht (de
Bhaldraithe 1945: 106–11; de Búrca 1958: 131–3; Mhac an Fhailigh 1968:
160–3; Ó Curnáin 2007: 210–22, 234–7), Clare (Holmer 1962b: 38–42, 55–6),
northern Scottish dialects (Borgstrøm 1937: 90–95, 111–19; 1940: 38–46, 65–
72, 142–8, 159–65; 1941: 24–29, 35–41, 77–82, 95–99; Oftedal 1956: 87–93,
120–29).
(4) Geminate sonorants shortened in all positions, fortis-lenis contrast in
sonorants entirely lost; there may be vowel lengthening or diphthongization
before original coda fortis sonorants.276 Most of Munster (Ó Cuív 1944: 119–
22; Breatnach 1947: 140–3; Ó Sé 2000: 17–18), Late Manx.
These developments may be represented schematically as follows:277
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
ceannach
/kʲaNːax/
/kʲaNax/
/kʲaNax/
/kʲanax/
ceann
/kʲaNː/
/kʲaNː/
/kʲәu̯ N/
/kʲәu̯ n/
It is quite plausible that Manx was at stage (2) at the point when preocclusion first
developed, and that original fortis sonorants were still geminate at this point (contrary
to Chaudhri’s claim) and thus liable to be affected by the initial development of
preocclusion, whereas medial fortis sonorants had already been shortened, and so were
unaffected by preocclusion, unlike in Cornish.
between (2) and (3) in the Gaelic of Colonsay (situated between the southern area typified by Islay and
the more northerly dialect area typified by diphthongization in items like ceann), see Scouller (2017:
76).
276
Except for /ŋʲ/ as a reflex of /Nʲ/, see above.
277
The details are somewhat simplified, especially as regards vowel quality.
328
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.5.4.3 Ó Maolalaigh (2014b)
Ó Maolalaigh (2014b) briefly considers Manx preocclusion in a paper on ‘glottal and
related features’ in the Gaelic languages. In unpublished lecture notes, he tentatively
suggests that preocclusion resembles the phenomena of glottalization, h-insertion,
devoicing and gemination in other dialects. He notes that Manx preocclusion can
shorten a preceding long vowel, and proposes that ‘preocclusion following long
vowels may be a secondary development’, implying that preocclusion began in
stressed monosyllables with original short vowels.
It seems that pre-occlusion has the affect of shortening a preceding long vowel,
which is reminiscent of the shortening of vowels before geminates in Donegal
Irish. The development of pre-occlusion following long vowels may be a
secondary development.
[…]
My suggestion is that pre-occlusion in Manx may be yet another reflex of
glottalisation in the Gaelic languages.
Phonetically speaking, the preglottalisation of sonorants is similar to preoccluded sonorants or prestopped sonorants in the occlusion or closing of the
oral cavity. They are acoustically very similar, it seems to me.
(Ó Maolalaigh 2014b: 22–3)
Wagner (1956: 109) similarly saw the origins of preocclusion in glottalization:
The occlusive element of the sonores (ᵗn), as well as the pre-aspiration of the
tenues must arise from a glottal stop.
(Wagner 1956: 109)
Ó Maolalaigh (2014b: 23) lays considerably weight on the two examples of medial
preocclusion from HLSM cited above (brynnagh and lieenyn) (§4.5.2), suggesting that
‘[p]erhaps it was once more common intervocalically but has been lost’, without,
however, suggesting a mechanism or motivation for this loss, or for its retention in
these items.
329
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The environments in which pre-occlusion occurs is [sic] very similar to that of
glottalisation and gemination in ScG and Irish, i.e. it occurs in word final
position and intervocalically following a short vowel. Unfortunately, I have
only two examples of this in intervocalic position. Perhaps it was once more
common intervocalically but has been lost.
(Ó Maolalaigh 2014b: 23)
It appears to be implicit in the following discussion from Ó Maolalaigh’s (2014b: 24)
conclusion that he considers the environment of short vowel + lenis (‘light’) sonorant
to be the prototypical environment for preocclusion, from which it subsequently spread
to other environments (short vowel + fortis sonorant, long vowel + lenis sonorant):
The joint evidence from Holmer and Wagner suggest that glottalisation may
have occurred originally only with the light single sonorants.
The absence of glottalisation with tense sonorants originally, can be related to
the fact that glottalisation is not associated with heavy syllables. We have seen
that in the case of syllables with long vowels and epenthetic or svarabhaktic
environments. We can extend that to syllables containing geminate tense double
sonorants too, although there seems to have been fluctuation between tense
geminates and tense non-geminates in intervocalic position.
Given the presence of glottalisation with heavy sonorants nowadays in ScG, it
seems that gemination spread to these once they were reduced to non-geminate
consonants. Perhaps the spread of glottalisation itself was a catalyst in the
reduction of long tense sonorants – just as we have seen in the case of the
shortening of stressed long vowels before geminate and pre-occlusive stops.
The most conducive environment for glottalisation, gemination and preocclusion is a preceding short vowel. Indeed, we have seen that gemination in
Irish and pre-occlusion in Manx can have the effect of shortening preceding
long vowels.
(Ó Maolalaigh 2014b: 24)
Ó Maolalaigh (2014b: 27) further presents the following reconstruction of
preocclusion as a later stage in a series of developments of glottalization. This
reconstruction is predicated on the same (possibly unsound) assumption made by
Chaudhri that degemination in e.g. cam, cill occurred prior to the development of
preocclusion (§4.5.4.2).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
(5) Glottalisation of stops may result in pre-occlusion:
cam kamm > kam > kʹaᵇm, cill kʲiʟʲː > kʲiʟʲ > kʲiᵈl
(Ó Maolalaigh 2014b: 27)
Ó Maolalaigh’s hypothesis that Manx preocclusion developed out of glottalization in
similar environments to those found with the latter phenomenon in southern Scottish
Gaelic dialects supposes that it was originally prevalent word medially. However,
there is no evidence for this.
As Ó Maolalaigh notes, only two possible cases of medial preocclusion occur in HLSM
(II: 49, 277, III: 29). NM’s plural lʹiᵈnən lieenyn ‘nets’ (G. líon) may be influenced by
preocclusion in the singular, or indeed by the /nt/ cluster of the historical irregular
plural lieenteenyn (Bible, Cregeen); similarly JW’s joanagh dʹʒɔᵈnɑ ̣x ‘dusty’ probably
reflects the monosyllabic stem joan. JW’s bre̜ dʹnʹɑ ̣x ‘flattering, comely’ and
bre̜ nʹərɑ ̣x ‘act of flattering’ (the latter without preocclusion, it should be noted) are
anomalous in other ways, as palatalization is not expected here (if the etymology
brionnal is correct). It seems more likely that medial preocclusion here is a speech
error (perhaps influenced by a semantically related item such as taitnyssagh ‘pleasant’,
medial /tʲnʲ/?), than that medial preocclusion was once widespread before its
unmotivated loss. Indeed, if preocclusion ever had developed medially after short
vowels, there would be motivation for retaining it in the interests of increased syllable
weight, as with glottalization and gemination etc. in other dialects. In addition, medial
preocclusion would be expected to be more prone to being reanalysed as medial
clusters /d.n/ etc., with syllable boundary, given the pre-existing phonotactics of the
language; in which case they would be unlikely to subsequently disappear.
As mentioned above, Ó Maolalaigh’s (2014b: 27) reconstruction of the development
of preocclusion with original fortis sonorants apparently suggests loss of gemination
prior to the development of preocclusion. As discussed above in relation to Chaudhri’s
hypothesis, there is no reason to suppose this, and it will be argued that there is good
typological reason rather to suppose that preocclusion developed from original final
geminate sonorants (§4.5.5). The development of an oral stop from a glottal segment
(buccalization), on the other hand, is reported to be typologically very rare (Trask
1995; La Voie 1996: 304; Hall 2009: 150–1).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
If the evidence of MNHL MD 900 MS 08307 discussed above (§4.5.3), is taken to
suggest that preocclusion, after developing in final geminate sonorants, spread first to
long vowel + lenis sonorants, and only subsequently to short vowels + lenis sonorants
(see §4.5.5.2), then the environments in which preocclusion originates and is initially
favoured are quite the opposite of those in which glottalization and the other features
discussed by Ó Maolalaigh (2014b: 14, 27) are most prevalent. Nevertheless, it may
be argued that preocclusion ended up serving prosodic ends similar to those of
glottalization and related phenomena (§4.5.5).
4.5.4.4 Broderick (2018e)
Similarly to Rhŷs (§4.5.4.1), Broderick (2018e: 13) in a brief comment suggests that
preocclusion began with the original fortis sonorants, although he does not mention a
link with the length of the original (geminate) fortis sonorants.
Preocclusion became quite prevalent in L[ate] M[anx] whereby original fortis
/L/, /N/, /M/, /Ŋ/, in losing their fortis quality, would be preceded by the
corresponding stop, viz. /dl/, /dn/, /bm/, /gŋ/ to differentiate them from their
lenis counterparts.
(Broderick 2018e: 32)
It seems more likely that the development of preocclusion precedes the loss of the
fortis-lenis contrasts (§4.5.5), rather than compensating for it as suggested by
Broderick.
4.5.5 The origin and spread of preocclusion
4.5.5.1 Typological and phonetic considerations
Given the typological comparisons with other northern European languages mentioned
above (§4.5.1.1), it seems that the most likely origin for preocclusion in Manx would
be, as Rhŷs supposed, as a development of the original long sonorants /mː/, /Nː/, /Nʲː/,
/ŋː/, /ŋʲː/, /Lː/, /Lʲː/ and the clusters /RN/, /RNʲ/, /RL/, /RLʲ/.
332
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
As far as the nasals are concerned, the initial phonetic cause of preocclusion would be
misalignment between oral closure and opening of the velum, resulting in an interval
where the oral occlusion has been made but the velum is still closed. The longer the
sonorant is, the more time there is for this to occur and be perceived and
conventionalized. In languages which have long nasal sonorants but without consistent
preocclusion, preocclusion may nevertheless occur sporadically.278
An intrusive oral stop is also phonetically natural in the rhotic + nasal/lateral clusters
where there is a transition from a purely sonorant consonant with no coronal contact
to a nasal stop or lateral with complete or partial coronal closure.279 From this
perspective the development is perhaps less natural in the long laterals /Lː, Lʲː/, as
observed by Chaudhri (2007: 54):
The nasals [n] and [m] possess close oral counterparts [d] and [b], whereas the
articulation of the lateral [l] is relatively further removed from that of [d] than
is true of [n]. The exact phonetic realisation of /r/ and /rr/ in Middle Cornish
may have been flapped [r], trilled or tapped [R] or retroflex [ɹ]. However, all of
these sounds would be articulated even less closely to a plosive counterpart such
as [d]. This may explain why /nn/ and /mm/ were inherently more likely to be
pre-ploded as [ᵈn] and [ᵇm] than /ll/ and /rr/. It is likely that the further type of
pre-occlusion [ll] > [ᵈl] occurred in Manx, but not in Cornish, because the
phonetic motivation for these changes was sufficiently greater that the
articulatory distance between [l] and [d] could be overcome.
(Chaudhri 2007: 54)
Marstrander (58) takes the difference between nasals and laterals in this regard as
evidence against oral-velar misalignment as an explanation for the initial development,
but his analysis confounds different periods of the development, and overlooks the
possibility that preocclusion could spread analogically from nn and rl to ll:
Utviklingen synes ikke å ha noe med konsonantens kvantitet å gjøre. Den
forklares heller ikke ved en forsinket åpning av ganeseilet, da den jo også
foreligger ved l.
278
Pavel Iosad, personal communication, has noted this in Welsh honni ‘claim’.
Compare the development of medial ɴr > ɴḍr, ɴṭr and ʟ > ʟḍr, ʟṭr in Cois Fhairrge Irish (de
Bhaldraithe 1945: 36–7), and Manx maynrey ‘happy’ (G. méanar) /meːnrә/ > [meːndrә] etc. (§4.2.5)
(Rhŷs: 149; HLSM III: 18).
279
333
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
[The development does not seem to have to do with the quantity of the
consonant. Nor is it explained by a delayed opening of the velum, since it also
occurs with l.]
(Marstrander: 58)
The fact that preocclusion with laterals is not noticed by some scholars (see §4.5.2),
and seems to be less prevalent in general with laterals than nasals, may be evidence
that the development was not so well-established with laterals.
4.5.5.2 Generalization and reanalysis of preocclusion
From the long sonorants and sonorant clusters, preocclusion would have spread to
original short or lenis sonorants, perhaps in association with the mergers between fortis
and lenis sonorants which seem to have taken place between the seventeenth and
nineteenth centuries (§§4.3, 5.4). Unfortunately, given that preocclusion is not found
written until after this spread had already taken place, there can be no firm evidence
for this supposition. However, the evidence of MNHL MD 900 MS 08307 may provide
a clue. The fact that preocclusion is not found in items of the ben category (original
short vowel + original lenis sonorant) in this manuscript may represent an intermediate
stage, where preocclusion has spread to the lane (G. lán) category (original long vowel
+ original fortis) but not to the ben category.
Possibly preocclusion was reanalysed as a marker of long (i.e. bimoraic) or heavy
syllables — that is, vowel length/diphthongality, sonorant length and preocclusion
became interchangeable and co-existing markers of syllable weight. Compare Iosad
(2016b: 13), who comments briefly that moraicity is ‘possibly’ associated with Manx
preocclusion; and also Chaudhri’s (2007: 43) comment that preocclusion ‘may have
served to emphasise the long nature of a syllable where the inherited vowels tended to
be shortened’. From here, preocclusion would finally spread to the ben category. This
final stage may have been encouraged by the analogy of the small number of
monosyllables with original final long sonorants in which the vowel had not been
lengthened, such as /ka[ᵇ]m/ cam ‘bent’ (G. cam), /tʃi[ᶢ]ŋʲ/ ching ‘sick’ (G. tinn)
(§§4.6.1.3, 4.6.1.12), including those in which short vowels had been retained or
334
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
restored by paradigmatic analogy, such as /tʃo[ᵈ]n/ chionn ‘tight, fast’ (G. teann)
(§4.6.4), as well as anomalous items such as skynn ‘knife’ (G. scian) which may have
had a long vowel or diphthong earlier (§4.5.3).
The pressure of a ‘bimoraic norm’ in Gaelic (cf. Iosad 2016b) may further motivate
the development of /be[ᵈ]n/ etc. Sporadic gemination of consonants after short vowels
in Manx (HLSM III: 27–8), as in other Gaelic dialects, may be a further manifestation
of this tendency (Ó Maolalaigh 2014b: 21). As shown in the spectrograms above
(§4.5.1), preocclusion seems to be interchangeable with sonorant lengthening, and
occasionally “postocclusion” (cf. Rhŷs’s comment cited above on ooyl ‘apple’, G.
ubhal, ‘mostly ūδλ [uːd̪ l̪ ] sometimes ū́ λδ [uːl̪ d̪ ]’, notebook 7: 176), and these can all be
seen as realizations of the same synchronic phenomenon.
4.5.5.3 Preocclusion as a synchronic prosodic process
There is evidence that preocclusion in Late Manx is synchronically a prosodic process
which is implemented after other processes. Hence it may be found in polysyllables
with unstressed final syllables where these are optionally reduced to monosyllabic
realizations via secondary lenition of medial fricatives, as in jeeaghyn ‘looking’ (G.
déachain):
/dʒiːxәn/ > [dʒiːxәn], [dʒiːɣәn], [dʒiː.әn], [dʒiːᵈn]
dʹʒiᵈn HB, SK, dʹʒiəᵈn JK, dʹʒiːən JTK, dʹʒiən JK, NM, dʹʒiɣən, dʹʒiːgʹən
NM, dʹʒiːɣən JW(HLSM II: 229–30)
This may apparently be lexicalized, as in shegin da ‘must’ (G. is éigean do), often
spelled sheign in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century texts, for monosyllabic [ʃeinʲ],
[ʃeiᵈnʲ] etc:
seiᵈʹnʹ HK, saiᵈn NM, baiᵈn NM, ʃein TC, ʃiːn JK, sain JTK, EL, se̜ in JW, sein
EKh, böin RC, brain [sic] W:S (HLSM II: 28, 395–6)
Compare er-egin ‘by force’ (G. ar éigean) with retention of the bisyllabic realization
and no preocclusion: e̜ r ˈẹːɣənʹ (HK), e̜ r ˈẹːɣən (JW) (HLSM II: 149).
335
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Anomalous preocclusion in normally unstressed final syllables may be further
evidence of preocclusion as a live synchronic prosodic process, as in arran ‘bread’ (G.
arán) (HLSM II: 11), cassan ‘path’ (G. cosán) (Rhŷs notebook 6: 133). With cassan in
particular (expected /ˈkasan/ [ˈkazan], [ˈkaðan]) it seems possible that the informant
was deliberately stressing the final syllable to draw attention to the contrast (in vowel
quality) with cassyn ‘feet’ (/ˈkasәn/ [ˈkazәn], [ˈkaðәn]) in response to Rhŷs’s
questioning:
Dawson says tē bĭ́u er y chāδyn [teː biu̯ er ә xaːðәn] he is swift on his feet: but
he calls a foot căs [kas], and căsā́ dn [kaˈsaːᵈn] for a footpath.
(John Dawson, Rhŷs notebook 6: 133)
4.6 Vowel lengthening and diphthongization before coda
fortis sonorants
4.6.1 In monosyllables
In certain short vowel + fortis sonorant combinations in stressed monosyllables, the
vowel may be lengthened or diphthongized, as found also in southern Irish and
northern Scottish dialects (O’Rahilly: 49–52) (cf. §4.5.4.2). The evidence of Phillips
shows that these developments before m, nn, ll were only incipient in the early
seventeenth century, but they are complete by the time of the eighteenth-century texts.
In some combinations there is a clear dialectal split between southern monophthongal
realizations and northern diphthongal realizations (§4.6.1.34). The development of
long vowels before final rr is common to all Gaelic dialects (O’Rahilly: 50), and as far
as is known no dialects preserve a long rhotic */Rː/. The vowel /ɛː/ in the Manx
development of -(e)arr shows it to be of some antiquity (§2.1.3.1). Thus the following
four developments must have taken place in the order shown:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
336
/e/ ea > /a/ (§2.1.3)
/aRː/ > /aːR/
/aː/ > /ɛː/ (§2.2.2)
/ah#/ > /aː#/
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.1 -ionn /iN/ > /in/, /uːn/
Table 70. -ionn
Phillips
er-giyn
CM
pronunciation
/erʲ ˈɡʲin/
erskyn
/erʲ ˈskʲin/
erskyn (3),
aerskyn,
erskin, er an
skyn-syn,m
er an
skynsyn, er
anskyn, er an
skinn, er-yskyn, er yskynn
fynn (K.);
fyn-ruy
(Cr.); Fyn
(NBHR:
169)
lhune
/lʲuːn/
etymology
English
iar gcionn
next, following
280
ós cionn
above
fionn;
fionnruadh;
Fionn
white; (fyn-ruy)
‘having brown
hair or fur’ (Cr.);
Finn (MacCool)
lionn, leann
beer
The short vowel in erskyn and er-giyn (G. cionn) may result from weak stress (cf. Ó
Curnáin 2007: 211), although this would not be the case in the rare item fynn, also
name Fyn; here high register and low frequency may explain the conservative
realization.
4.6.1.2 -im /im/ > /iːm/
Table 71. -im
Phillips
eeym
CM
pronunciation
/iːm/
etymology
English
im
butter
4.6.1.3 -inn /iNʲ/ > /iŋʲ/ (/in/)
See §4.4.6. All items have retention of short /i/.
280
See Thomson 1981: 50.
337
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.4 -ill /iLʲ/ > /iːlʲ/, /ilʲ/
Table 72. -ill
Phillips
keeill
kíll (2), kill,
kííll
m(h)ill
CM
pronunciation
/kʲiːlʲ/
etymology
English
cill
church
/milʲ/
mill, milleadh
spoil
CM
pronunciation
/fam/
etymology
English
feam
stem of seaweed
4.6.1.5 -eam /em/ > /am/
Table 73. -eam
Phillips
fam
Compare famlagh, famyragh ‘seaweed’ (G. feamnach).
4.6.1.6 -eim /em⁽ʲ⁾/ > /em/, /im/, /eːm/ (?)
Table 74. -eim
Phillips
crem (Cr.),
cremagh
(adj.);
cremeyder
‘fault-finder’
greme
(Bible, Cr.),
greim
(Bible, Cr.,
K.), greimm
(Bible)
338
grým, grym̄ ,
gryem,
grĕy̆ m
CM
pronunciation
?/krem/
etymology
English
creim
sore, ailment
/ɡrem/, /ɡrim/
?/ɡreːm/
greim
bite; hold,
grasp; stitch (in
side)
HLSM
(n., vn.?)
grɪmː NM,
grɪm J:TL,
grẹːᵇm TT,
greᵇm JK,
(vn.) grɪmal
NM, griːmə
TT, grĩmə
TC, grãmə
HK, (pret.)
grẽm
̣ TC,
grim TT,
(part.) grĩmətʹ
JW
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
From the spellings and HLSM realizations there appear to have been multiple by-forms
of greme etc. with short and long vowels,281 and their lectal and paradigmatic
distribution is not entirely clear. It may be significant that in the Bible the spelling
ghreimm (suggesting a short vowel?) is restricted to the stem of the verb greimmey
‘seize’, whereas the noun is spelt greme.282
Compare also certain items in G. -éim, where there appears to be longstanding
interchange with -eim(m); cf. ʎem, ʎemˑ etc. leum in south-western Argyll (SGDS IV:
246), and shortening in Teelin Irish bʹemʹ béim, kʹemʹ céim, ʟʹemʹ léim etc. (Wagner
1959: 12).
Table 75. -éim
Phillips
keim
kemm
lheim
liem, lĭĕm,
liæ̆ m, (pret.)
læ̆ ym, (fut.
1sg.)
liemmym
CM
pronunciation
/kʲe(ː)m/
/lʲe(ː)m/
etymology
English
HLSM
céim,
E.Ir. céimm,
ceim etc.
step, stile
léim
jump, leap,
hop
køm, kʹẹːm TC,
kẹᵇm HK, keːm
J:EK, (pl.)
kømən kẹːmən,
kʹẹːmən TC
lʹeᵇm JK, JTK,
J:EK, (vn.
lheimey) lʹimə
HB,
(lheimyragh, ey) lʹe̜ mərɑ ̣x,
lʹẽːmərɑ ̣xən,
lʹemərə TC
4.6.1.7 -eann /eN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/uːn/, /on/)
Table 76. -eann
Phillips
chionn
glione
chiann,
chiàn, chĭăn
CM
pronunciation
S /tʃon/
N /tʃau̯ n/
etymology
English
HLSM
teann
tight, fast
S /ɡlʲoːn/
N /ɡlʲau̯ n/
gleann
valley
S tʹʃɑ̜ᵈn TK,
tʹʃɔᵈn NM; N
tʹʃaun, tʹʃauN
JTK
S lʹɔᵈn EKh,
lʹeN, lʹɑ̜ᵈN,
281
Although forms such as grɪmː (NM) could represent secondary shortening with (weak) preocclusion,
i.e. [ɡriᵇm] (§§4.5.1, 4.5.5.2).
282
There are a number of other spellings of the noun in the Bible MSS, including greim, greym, gream.
339
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
joan
jan, jàn, jann
S /dʒoːn/
N /dʒau̯ n/
deann
dust
kione
kian (10),
kiann, kian̄
S /kʲoːn/
N /kʲau̯ n/
ceann
head, end
283
glen283 NM,
lʹoᵈn, l̠ ɔᵈn, lʹɑ̜ᵈn
J:EK, ɣʹlʹɔᵈn,
glʹɔᵈn, lʹöᵈn,
lʹɔᵈn TT, lʹöᵈn
JW, lʹɔᵈn HK,
glaᵘn TK, glen
SK;
N glʹøun,
glʹöun TC,
glʹaun, gle̜ n,
glʹeN, glʹɛᵘn,
glaᵘn, glɛ̜n,
glʹen JK, JTK,
lʹaun HB,
(Peel) glʹɔᵈn,
glʹo̜ ːn WQ,
glo̤ ᵈn EC
S dʹʒɔᵈn JW
N dʹʒaun JK,
dʹʒøun TC
S kʹɔːn, kʹọːn,
kʹo̜ ːn, kʹoⁱᵈnʹ
NM, kʹo̜ ːᵈn
EKh, kʹoːᵈn
JW, HK, kʹɔ̜ːn
SK, kʹoːn TL,
kʹʲɔᵈn J:TL,
kʹʲo.ᵈn J:EK,
kʹʲoːn, kʹʲoːᵈn
W:S;
N kʹøun, kʹöun
TC, kʹauN,
kʹɛuN, kʹɔⁱᵈnʹ,
kʹọᵈn JK, kʹaun
JTK, HB, kʹɛun
J:HB, J:JK,
kʹŏun J:JK,
kʹʲoun, kʹɑũn
W:N, kjəun Fa,
kʹoːn Myl
Forms with short /e/ such as glen (NM) may be pretonic forms in place-names, and/or influenced by
English ‘glen’, as found in English forms of Manx place-names, e.g. Glen Chass, Glen Auldyn, etc. (see
HLSM II: 502–3).
340
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.8 -einn /eNʲ/ > ?/eːnʲ/
Table 77. -einn
Phillips
beinn
CM
pronunciation
?/beːnʲ/
etymology
English
HLSM
beinn
peak, top,
pinnacle
beːNʹ JK
HLSM
4.6.1.9 -eall /eL/ > /oːl/, (/ol/)
Table 78. -eall
Phillips
etymology
English
broill (Cr.)
CM
pronunciation
/broːl/
breall?
part of tool284
foall (K., PC)
/foːl/
feall
deceit
gioal
giall
/ɡʲoːl/
geall
pledge
gʹoːlʹ TC
giall
gial, giall,
gall, iall
(2), iáll,
jall
/ɡʲoːl/, ?/ɡʲal/
geall
promise
(pret.) gʹɑl TC,
but vn. gʹo̜ ːldən
JW, gʹʲɔːldən
J:EK
lhuss-nymoal-moirrey
(B.), lus ny
moyl Moirrey
(Cr.), luss-nymoal-moirree
(K.)
moll, molley
/lus nә moːl285
morʲә/
ScG. lus
nam meall
móra
/mol/
poll, pohll,
polley (Cr.,
K.)
/pol/
meall,
mealladh
peall,
pealladh
deceive
mat, stick
together,
entangle
284
‘the part of a tool that bruises down by being hammered on, as on the upper end of a jumper, a chisel,
or the point of a rivet. There is no corresponding word in English’ (Cregeen). If the etymology is correct,
this is presumably a further example of Cregeen’s extraneous use of <i> (§1.6.5), perhaps under the
influence of unrelated brooillagh ‘crumbs, fragments’ (Cregeen) (G. brúireach).
285
Rhŷs notes short mol, mụl (Thomas Collister, Rhŷs notebook 7: 198), presumably owing to
postlexical phrasal stress.
341
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.10 -earr /eR/ > /ɛːr/
Table 79. -earr
Phillips
baare; baarey
giare; giarey
kiare
share, nhare,
ba(a)re
CM
pronunciation
/bɛːr/; /bɛːrә/
etymology
English
bearr;
bearradh
gearr;
gearradh
cearr
shave, cut hair
left
is fearr
better, best
CM
pronunciation
/ʃaŋ/
etymology
English
seang
/streŋ/
sreang
lean,
emaciated
string
CM
pronunciation
/am/
etymology
English
am
‘stature, size,
puberty’ (Cr.),
‘time, period,
season, era’
(K.),
disposition, fit
state (SW)287
/kam/
cam
/mam/
Ir. mám, ScG.
mam, E.Ir.
mám, maam
giarr (2),
giar, iar
kiar
/ɡʲɛːr/; /ɡʲɛːrә/
sháyr (3),
shayr (3),
niarr, bâŷr,
b’áyr
/ʃɛːr/, /nʲɛːr/,
/bɛːr/
/kʲɛːr/
short; cut
4.6.1.11 -eang /eŋɡ/ > /eŋ/, /aŋ/
Table 80. -eang
Phillips
shang
streng
stréin, (pl.)
strengyn
4.6.1.12 -am /am/ > /am/
Table 81. -am
Phillips
amm (Cr., SW),
am (K.)
cam, camm
mam
287
kamm
handful; boil,
blain
A rare word in Manx, apparently with specialized semantic developments. The usual word for ‘time’
is traa (G. tráth).
342
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.13 -ann /aN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/uːn/)
Table 82. -ann
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
S /oːn/, N /uːn/
etymology
English
HLSM
ann
in him, it;
there
S ɔːn, ɔːᵈn,
o̜ ːn NM;
N uːn JTK,
JK, u.ᵈn HB
S klo̜ ːᵈn HK,
klo̜ ːn, klo̜ ᵈn
NM, kloːᵈn
JW, klɔːᵈn
TL
S krɔᵈn NM,
krɑdn HK;
N kro̜ n TC
S go̜ ːᵈn,
gɔːᵈn, sko̜ ᵈn
NM, skoːᵈn
JW, skɔːᵈn
EL;
N gøũn,
skøun TC,
gãuə̯n W:N
ayn
ayn, áyn
cloan
klaun (3),
kláun (4),
klaún
S /kloːn/
N /klau̯ n/
clann
children
croan, cron
(Cr.)
kran̄ , kran,
krón
S /kroːn/
N /krau̯ n/
crann
mast, pole,
tree
goan,
goaun
(both
Bible),
scoan
skaun
S /ɡoːn/
N /ɡau̯ n/
gann; is gann
scarce; hardly
Northern /uːn/ is presumably a secondary development under weak stress of */au̯ n/.
4.6.1.14 -ainn /aNʲ/ > /eːnʲ/, /ai̯ nʲ/
Table 83. -ainn
Phillips
bine
(pl.) beinyn,
banniyn,
bainyn
clein
rheynn,
ring (Cr.)
reyn, rǽyn
(2), reynn,
renn, ren̄ ,
rêŷng,
reygn,
ræing, reng,
ren, reyng,
CM
pronunciation
/bainʲ/
etymology
English
HLSM
bainne, boinne
drop
baiᵈn NM,
bɑ̜iᵈnʹ, bɑ ̣in
JW, bɑ ̣ːiᵈʹnʹ
HK, bɑdʹnʹ
W:S, (pl.)
bɑ ̣:inʹən HK
? /kleːnʲ/
clainn, cloinn
(dat. clann)
rainn, roinn
kin
/reːnʲ/, /riŋʲ/
(see also fn.
288)
divide,
division,
share
re̜ idʹnʹ TT,
riŋ JW,
raiᵈn, reːn
TM, rødʹᵊnᵊʹ
TC
343
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ræyng,
ræyn, (impv.
pl.) renji,
reynnigi,
(fut. 1sg.)
renniym
4.6.1.15 -all /aL/ > /oːl/, (?/au̯ l/)
Table 84. -all
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
/boːl/
etymology
English
HLSM
ball
place
bɔːl JK, bo̜ ːl
JTK, bɔ̜ːl
HK, boːl JW,
bᵘo̜ lː HB
ko̜ ːl NM
boayl
ball, boll
coayl
/koːl/
call
lose
doal
kall (5), káll,
kal, kàl,
kiall
dall (3)
/doːl/
dall
blind
hoal, noal
háll, nall
/hoːl/, /noːl/
thall, anall
over
moal
mall (2)
/moːl/, ?/mau̯ l/
mall
poor, feeble,
slow
344
doːl JW, do̜ ːl
HK, JK, HB,
NM
noːl JW,
əˈnɔːl, əˈno̜ ːl
EL, nɔːl,
əˈno̜ ːl TC,
nɑ̜ːl W:S
mo̜ ːl TC, JW,
mɔ̜ːl, mɔːl
NM, mọːl
JTK, mɔːl
HB, J:EK,
mau̜ l J:JK,
mo̤ l W:S,
moːl W:S
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.16 -aill /aLʲ/ > /alʲ/, /elʲ/
Table 85. -aill
Phillips
etymology
English
HLSM
gail, gháil
CM
pronunciation
/kalʲ/
caill
lose
kalʹ JW
keyll
kæil, kélliy
?/kelʲ/
caill, coill,
ScG. coille
wood, forest
saill
sáil
/salʲ/
saill
fat, brawn,
grease,
blubber
kølʹ TC, ke̜ lʹ
HK, kiːl,
kyːl, kiːlʹ
NM, kɪːlʹ
J:NM, xɛlʹ
J:JK, kidlʹ
W:S, (pl.)
ke̜ lʹən HK
sɛːlʹ TC
caill
288
For doail ‘blind’ (n.pl.) (G. daill, doill) see §4.6.3.
4.6.1.17 -arr /aR/ > /ɛːr/
Table 86. -arr
Phillips
baare
báyr
caayr (K.),
cayr (Cr.)
faare
farr, na
fáyrsyn
CM
pronunciation
/bɛːr/
etymology
English
barr
/kɛːr/
carr
/fɛːr/
i bhfarradh289
top, tip,
point, crop
wagon,
coach, car,
vehicle etc.
near
288
The spelling with <ey> and some of the attested realizations of this item in HLSM may suggest a
form with assimilation to the /әː/ set (<G. ao(i)), from an earlier (?allophonic) short [ә] realization – as
also perhaps in rheynn ‘divide, share’ (G. rainn, roinn) (and other items?) (§4.6.1.14).
289
The loss of -adh here is unusual (§5.2). It possibly results from reanalysis of the combination of this
preposition with the definite article, i.e. i bhfarradh an /faRә әN/ > /faRә#N/ > /faR#әN/ > /faR/ > /faːR/
/fɛːr/. This would mean that loss of final unstressed /ɣ/ (</ð/) was early, preceding lengthening in
monosyllabic /aR/ and /aː/ > /ɛː/. The etymology of farradh (EIr. arrad), is obscure, although it probably
involves the prefix ar- (LEIA s.v. arrad).
345
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.18 -a(i)ng /aŋɡ/ > /aŋ/
Table 87. -a(i)ng
Phillips
stang
CM
pronunciation
/staŋ/
etymology
English
sta(i)ng
wooden
horse, stock,
whipping
post
4.6.1.19 -om /om/ > /oːm/, ?/au̯ m/
Table 88. -om
Phillips
etymology
English
HLSM
croym
CM
pronunciation
/kroːm/
crom
S (impv.)
kro̜ ːm TT
lhome
/loːm/
lom
v. stoop,
incline; adj.
stooped
bare
trome
/troːm/290
trom
heavy
S loːm JW,
(lhome-leear)
lo̜ ːm ˈliːr TT
N (lhomelane) lum
leᵈn, lo̜ m leᵈn
JK, (lhomelomarcan)
loːm
ˈlo̜ məkən
S troːᵇm,
troːm NM,
troːm JW,
tro̜ ːm EKh,
tʰroːm J:EK,
tʰroːᵇm J:TL
N trobm JK,
trubm W:N,
tʰrɑ̜ᵇm J:JTK
Rhŷs (143) notes an apparently diphthongal realization of this word as τrŏ́ um [t̪ rou̯ m], alongside
τrŏ ̣bm [t̪ roᵇm], τrŭbm [t̪ ruᵇm], but does not comment on its dialectal distribution. From his comments
τrŏ́ um might also be interpreted as weak preocclusion or geminate [mː], however (§4.5.2). Rhŷs does
not mention these forms in his discussion of the dialectal contrast between diphthongal and nondiphthongal realization of items in -(e)ann (Rhŷs: 160).
290
346
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.20 -oim /om⁽ʲ⁾/ > /em/
Table 89. -oim
Phillips
breim
CM
pronunciation
/brem/, ?/brim/
etymology
English
HLSM
broim
fart
brɪm NM,
(breimeragh)
brɪmərax NM,
brïmərɑx
W:N,
vre̜ mərɑ ̣x TC
etymology
English
HLSM
bonn
heel, sole
/doːn/
donn
brown, bay
/droːn/
(K. droun =
/drau̯ n/?)
dronn
hump;
humpback
/ton/, /to:n/,
/tau̯ n/
tonn
wave
S bo̜ ᵈn TT,
bᵘuᵈn, boᵈn
NM;
N bøun TC,
(pl.) bøunən
TC, baunən
JK
S do̜ ːᵈn TT,
dɔːn J:EK,
J:TL;
N dõ̜ ːn TC,
doːᵈn
S droːᵈn JW,
dro̜ ːᵈn TT,
(adj.) dro̜ ːnɑx
TT
N droːᵈn HK
(adj.) droːnɑ ̣x
TC
to̜ n TC, (pl.)
to̜ nən TC
4.6.1.21 -onn /oN/ > /oːn/, /au̯ n/, (/on/)
Table 90. -onn
Phillips
boyn, (pl.)
boynyn,
boynnyn
(both Bible)
(pl.) bŏynyn
doyn
(Bible),
dhoan,
dhone (both
Cr.)
drone, droyn
(Cr.), dron,
droun (K.)
tonn, toayn,
touyn
(Hymns)
tóyn, (pl.)
tonnyn (3)
CM
pronunciation
S /boːn/
N /bau̯ n/
347
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.22 -oinn /oNʲ/ > /eːnʲ/
Table 91. -oinn
Phillips
breinn
brú (2), bru,
breyn (2),
brey̆ n, brenn
(3), brêin,
brein, (gen.)
brónniy, (pl.
breniyn)
CM
pronunciation
/breːnʲ/
etymology
English
HLSM
broinn (brú)
womb
vrẹːnʹ, (pl.)
brẹːnʹən TC
etymology
English
HLSM
coll
hazel
N køul, køəl
TC
S /poːl/
N /pau̯ l/?
poll
pool
S /toːl/
N /tau̯ l/
toll
hole
S poːl HK,
(unstressed)
pu.l, po̤ l, pə
NM, pəul M
S toːl JW,
NM, to̜ ːl EKh,
töul Mrs EKh
toːl W:S;
N toul W:N
CM
pronunciation
/tolʲ/
etymology
English
HLSM
toill, tuill
deserve
toilliu tɔlʹu,
to̜ lʹu TC, tilʹu
EKh
4.6.1.23 -oll /oL/ > /oːl/, /au̯ l/
Table 92. -oll
Phillips
couyl
(Bible), coll,
cohll (Cr.),
coull (K.)
poyll
towl
toll, tóyll
CM
pronunciation
S /koːl/
N /kau̯ l/
4.6.1.24 -oill /oLʲ/ > /olʲ/
Table 93. -oill
Phillips
toill
348
toilliu tolliu
2, tollíu,
tolliú, toiliu,
toilchin
toilchyn (3),
toilchiyn
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.25 -orr /oR/ > /oːr/
Table 94. -orr
Phillips
coayr (Bible,
Cr.); coair,
coyr, coir
(Cr.); coair,
corr (K.)
coar, coayr
(Bible, Cr.)
Ph. torr̀
torr̀
CM
pronunciation
/koːr/
etymology
English
corr
odd
(number)
/koːr/
corr
*/toːr/291
torr
crane, heron,
bittern
heap
CM
pronunciation
/loŋ/
etymology
English
long
ship
CM
pronunciation
/kum/
etymology
English
cum,
cumadh
congbháil,
ScG. cùm,
cumail
form, shape
HLSM
kɔːr W:S, kɔː
JK, ko̜ ːʳ TT
4.6.1.26 -ong /oŋɡ/ > /oŋ/
Table 95. -ong
Phillips
lhong
long (5)
4.6.1.27 -um /um/ > /um/
Table 96. -um
Phillips
cum,
cummey
cum,
cummal
kúm̄ , gumm,
ghumm,
ghum̄ (2),
ghúmm (2),
ghum
/kum/
hold; dwell
291
This item appears not to survive in CM and LM, except in the diminutive form thorran /toran/ ‘dungheap’ (G. torrán).
349
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.28 -uim /umʲ/ > /iːm/
Table 97. -uim
Phillips
dreeym
drym,
dry̆ im,
dryim, (pl.)
drymmyn,
drimmyn
sym
CM
pronunciation
/driːm/
etymology
English
druim
back
/sim/
suim
sum
CM
pronunciation
/nuːn/
etymology
English
anunn
over
4.6.1.29 -unn /uN/ > /uːn/
Table 98. -unn
Phillips
noon
núnn
4.6.1.30 -uinn /uNʲ/ > /unʲ/, /inʲ/, /iŋʲ/
Table 99. -uinn
Phillips
cluinn,
clynn
cruin(n),
(Bible, Cr.,
K.); cring,
cruing
(Cr.)
cruinn
292
klŭyn,
klŭy̆ n,
kluỳn, kluin,
kluíín, gluyn
(2), gluinn,
gluin
krŭin, krunn,
kruinn,
kruin, krŭyn,
kruyn,
krynn,
krunn, krun
CM
pronunciation
/klunʲ/, /klinʲ/
etymology
English
cluinn
hear
/krunʲ/, /kriŋʲ/
cruinn
round
/krunʲ/,
/kreːnʲ/?
crann (pl.)
masts
These forms seem to represent crainn rather than cruinn.
350
HLSM
krẹːᵈnʹ HK,
krẹːᵈnʹᵊ NM292
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.31 -uill /uLʲ/ > /uːlʲ/
Table 100. -uill
Phillips
buill
puill
puill
tuill
CM
pronunciation
/bulʲ/
etymology
English
HLSM
ball (pl.)
places
buⁱlʹ NM, bo̜ ⁱlʹ
HK, bo̤ lʹ JW,
TC
/pulʲ/
poll (pl.)
pools
/tulʲ/
toll (pl.)
holes
tûːl W:N
4.6.1.32 -uing /uŋʲɡʲ/ > /wiŋʲ/
Table 101. -uing
Phillips
quing
quing (3),
kuing
mwing
CM
pronunciation
/kwiŋʲ/
etymology
English
cuing
yoke
/mwiŋʲ/
mong, muing
mane
4.6.1.33 Summary
Table 102 summarizes the above developments of historical short vowels + fortis
sonorants, showing the environments in which the vowel remains short, becomes long
or diphthongal, and where both developments are found.
Table 102. Predominant CM/LM reflexes of stressed short vowels before final
fortis sonorants
L
Lʲ
R
ŋ
ŋʲ
m
N
Nʲ
i iː
i, uː
i
—
iː, i
—
—
—
e a
oː, au̯
eː
oː, o
—
ɛː
e, a
—
a a
oː, au̯
eː
oː
a, e
ɛː
a
—
o oː
oː, o, au̯
eː
oː, au̯
—
oː
o
—
u u, iː
uː
u, i
—
u
—
—
i
long vowel or diphthong
long or short vowel — no instances
351
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
4.6.1.34 Dialectal variation
There are clear north-south dialectal splits between in some of the vowel + fortis
sonorant combinations (Rhŷs: 160; HLSM I: 161), as shown in Table 103:
Table 103. Dialectal splits in stressed short vowel + final fortis sonorant
sequences
-eann
-ann
-onn
-all
-oll
south
/oːn/
/oːn/
/oːn/, /on/
/oːl/
/oːl/
north
/au̯ n/
/au̯ n/
/au̯ n/, /oːn/. /on/
/oːl/, (/au̯ l/)
/au̯ l/
Notice that -all and -oll are differentiated in the north but not in the south; otherwise
(e)a and o fall together before nn and ll.
Northern varieties also show diphthongs in other items where there are long
monophthongs in the south, as doo S /duː/, N /dau̯ / ‘black’ (G. dubh), ooh S /uː/, N
/au̯ / ‘egg’ (G. ugh), jiu S /dʒuː/, N /dʒau̯ / ‘today’ (G. i ndiu) (Rhŷs: 161; HLSM II: 121,
238, 341).
In the standard Classical Manx orthography (i.e. in the Bible) the orthography
generally, although not exclusively, represents the southern / monophthongal forms
(Table 104). In this connection we may note the southern origin of some of the key
figures in the standardization of the Manx orthography, such as Philip Moore and John
Kelly (both of Douglas), although further research on the orthographic variants in
various texts (such as the Bible translation manuscripts and sermons) is needed in order
to understand more fully how this southern bias came about.
Table 104. Representation of dialect variants in Bible orthography
Bible spelling
etymology
English
chionn
glione
joan
kione
ayn
cloan
teann
gleann
deann
ceann
ann
clann
tight, fast
valley
dust
head, end
in him, in it, there
children
352
dialectal
correspondence
south
south
south
south
? (see §1.6.3)
south
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
croan
goan, goaun, s’coan
boyn
doyn
tonn
couyl
poyll
towl
crann
gann
bonn
donn
tonn
coll
poll
toll
mast, pole, tree
scarce, hardly
heel, sole
brown
wave
hazel
pool
hole
doo
ooh
jiu
dubh
ogh, ugh, ubh
i ndiu, ScG. an-diugh
black
egg
today
south
south / north
south
south
both?
north
south
? (spelling could
indicate both)
south
south
south
4.6.2 Voiced homorganic rhotic clusters
We mostly found lengthening of short stressed vowels preceding voiced homorganic
rhotic clusters rd, rn, rl, as is widespread in other Gaelic dialects (O’Rahilly: 50),
although apparently retention of short vowels with /i/ and /u/.
Table 105. Vowel developments before rd, rn, rl
eard, eird
keird
Phillips
CM
pronunciation
etymology
English
HLSM
duyne na
kerdȷý
/kʲeːrd/,
/kʲeːrdʒә/
ceard, ceird
craft
/kʲeːrdi/
ceardcha,
ScG. ceàrdach
smithy
kʹe̜ ːṛd NM,
kʹed, kʹöd,
köːd JK, köːd
HB, (ferkeirdey, -ee)
fɛṛ kʹödi
J:NM, fer
köʳdʹʒə EKh
kʹe̜ ʳdi TC,
kʹeːdi, kʹeṛdi
JK, kʹaːṛdi,
kʹe̜ ːᵊrdi NM,
(pl.) kʹeːᵊdiə̯n
JK, kʹɛːdiə̯n
NM
/meːrdәrax/,
/meːrdәrәs/
meirdreach
fornicator;
fornication
kairdee
(Cr.),
caardagh
(K.)
eird
maarderagh;
maarderys
fer mardruoil,
mardrys (5)
353
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ard
ard
aird
ard, ardjyn
gerjagh(ey)
syrjey, yrjid
ord
boayrd
oard, oayrd
(Bible, Cr.)
oardaghey
uird
buird
ayrd (38),
áyrd (6), ard
(9), árd (3),
(pl.) ardy,
árdy
/aːrd/
ard
high
aːd J:EK, NM,
Eːd J:CW, öːd
J:TL, öːʳd TC,
ɑːd NM
arjyn (5),
árjyn
/aːrd/, /aːrdʒәn/
aird
direction,
region
gyrjaghy (7),
gyrjaghe,
gyrjaghey
(4),
gýrjaghey,
gyrji (2),
gyrjitt
syrje (3), na
sýrje, nás
ýrje, sirrje,
sýyrje,
b’ýrje; (n.)
ýrje
/ɡeːrdʒaxә/,
?/ɡәːrdʒaxә/
gairdeach
comfort, joy
öːṛd, aːʳd HK,
örd, ïʳd TCr,
ɑ ̣ːd TM
(gerjys)
göːdʹʒɪs AK
/sirdʒә/,
/irdʒәdʲ/293
airde
higher;
height
öːʳdʹʒədʹ TT,
ördʹʒədʹ JW,
HK, ïʳdʹʒədʲ,
jørdʹʒəd TC
boyrd (3),
bóyrd (2),
boỳrd, board,
bord (2)
ordyn
/boːrd/
bord
table, board
/oːrd/
ord
ord- (18),
órd-
/oːrdaxә/
ordaghadh
(sledge)
hammer
order
böːʳḍ W:N,
vɔ̆ːṛd JK,
bᵘu̜ ːṛd NM,
bo̜ ːrd TC
oːʳd, (pl.)
oːʳdən HK
buyrd
/buːrd/
buird
tables,
boards
earrann
part, portion
*earn < earrann, ighearn, iarann
ayrn
ayrn (3), áyrn /aːrn/
(2), arn, árn,
æarn, (pl.)
arnyn (3)
293
aːṛn NM, HK,
aːʳn JW, aːn
TM, NM, (pl.)
aːʳnən TC,
In syrjey, yrjid we seem to have the morphophonemic alternation /a/ > /i/, as often in Manx (§2.1.9),
with <y> representing short /i/. The medial cluster /rʲdʲ/ apparently has depalatalization of the rhotic
(>/rdʒ/), with preceding /i/ treated like io-, with retracted allophone, and even the development of
prosthetic glide [j] in TC’s jørdʹʒəd. In the case of gerjaghey (G. gairdeach), we would expect /a/ or
/e/ (with lengthening) rather than raising to /i/, but Phillips consistent <y, ý> suggests some retraction
before depalatalized /r/; perhaps there is merger with ao /әː/, so gaird- > *gáird > *gaoird-.
354
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
chiarn
(ayrniagh)
ɑ ̣ːrniɑ ̣x,
aːrniə̯n TC
tʹʃaːʳn JW,
tʹʃɑ ̣ːṛn NM,
(voc.) xʹjaːn
J:EK
chiarn (7),
chiárn,
chíarn, charn,
(pl.)
chiarnyn,
chárnyn
iarn (2), iærn
/tʃaːrn/
tighearna
lord
/jaːrn/
iarann, EIr.
iarn
iron
jɑ ̣ːrn TC, jaːᵈn
JK, HK, jaːn
JK, W:N,
nʹaːᵈn HK,
ɡʹaːn JTK
arn, *arn < arraing, arthain
carn
/kaːrn/
carn
cairn, heap
kaːrnən TC
er-mayrn
er mayrn (3),
er m’ayrn
/erʲ maːrn/
ar marthain
left,
remaining
tayrn
tayrn (3),
tăy̆ rn, tarn,
darniym,
tarngi, tarni,
harn, hayrn,
háyrn
/taːrn/
tarraing
pull, draw
e̜ r ˈmɑ ̣ːᵈn HK,
e̜ r ˈmaːʳn JW,
ɛ̆ ˈmɑːᵈn NM,
e̜ r ˈmaːʳn TC
taːn NM, TK,
HB, taːᵈn JTK,
tɑːrən W:S
airn
arn
/aːrnʲ/
airne
sloe
barnagh
/baːrnʲax/
bairneach
limpet,
flitter
böːʳnɑ ̣x HK
/kaːrn/
corn
/kuːrn/
corn
horn,
trumpet
can
kaːrn, (pl.)
kaːrnən TC
ku̜ ːṛn NM
döːᵈn JK,
do̜ ːrən, do̜ ːʳn
TC, (pl.)
do̜ ːṛnən NM
skɔːṛnɑx,
sko̜ ːṛnɑx NM,
skɔːrnəx W:S,
sko̜ ːrnɑ ̣x TC
yiarn (see
also §5.3)
orn
cayrn
karn, gharn
curn
doarn,
doarney
dornyn (2),
dorny, er nan
orny, goyrn
/doːrn/, /doːrnә/
dorn, dornadh
fist
scoarnagh
skorniagh294
(2), skornagh,
storinagh
(sic)
/skoːrnax/
scornach,
scoirneach
throat
/soːrn/
sorn
fire-place in
kiln
sorn, surn
(Cr.)
294
= by-form G. scoirneach?
355
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
oirn
moyrn
taarnagh
uirn
curnaght
moyrn (2),
môŷrn (2);
mórniagh
tarniagh (3),
tárniagh,
(gen.) tarni,
(pl.)
tarniaghyn;
(vn.)
tarnaghy
/moːrnʲ/,
/moːrnʲax/
muirn, moirn
pride; proud
mɔːnax JK
/taːrnʲax/
toirneach
thunder
tøːʳnɑ ̣x, (gen.)
taːrni TC,
töːʳnax JW,
HK, toːnjə
[sic] W:S
kurnagh (3),
kurnah,
kurnaght,
kurnyght
/ku(ː)rnʲaxt/ ?
cruithneacht >
*cuirneacht
wheat
køʳnɑ ̣x TC,
ko̜ ːnax,
köːṛnax,
korənʹax,
kɔ̆ːṛnʹax JTK,
köːnax JK
/duːrnʲ/
duirn
fist (pl.,
gen.)
arlu (5), arlú
(5); iarlaghy
(2), arlyghey,
arlii, arluíít,
arlaghy,
arlyghy,
arliaghy,
arlaghey
/aːrlu/
earlamh, EIr.
aurlam
ready;
prepare,
cook
ɛːlu, öːṛlu NM,
öʳlətʹ HK
merliagh (5),
merliygh,
(pl.) merli (4)
/meːrlʲax/
meirleach
thief
mɛːlʹɑx,
möʳlʹɑx W:N,
mo̜ ːlʹɑ ̣x TC
/ɡoːrlә/
galar
disease
/oːrlax/
orlach, ordlach
inch
/doːrlʲәʃ/
doirling
gap in hedge
durn
(Bible),
duirn (Cr.,
K.)
earl
aarloo;
aarlaghey
eirl
maarliagh
orl
gorley (Cr.
K.), goarley
(Cr.), gallar
(Cr.)
oarlagh
oirl
doarlish
356
dorlys,
dorlysyn
do̜ ːʳləʃ, döːʳləʃ
JW, döːⁱliʃ,
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
dɔilɪʃ JK, doːliʃ
JTK, do̜ ːlïʃ HK
*url < *iorl < iolar
burley
urley
yllrée, ýlrey
uirl
murlhin
(Cr.),
moorlin
(K.)
/burlә/
biolar, biolra
cress
børlə TC
/urlә/
iolar
eagle
öːʳlə, (pl.)
öːʳlɑ ̣xən HK
/murlʲәnʲ/
Ir. muirleóg,
murlóg, ScG.
mùrlag,
mùrlainn
hamper
mŏːlʹin JTK
Note the indication of vowel length in e.g. boayrd /boːrd/ ‘table, board’ (G. bord) in
contrast to rhotic + unvoiced consonant clusters, such as ort /ort/ ‘on you’ (G. ort), fort
/fort/ ‘ability’ (G. feart?), gort /ɡort/ ‘stale’ (G. goirt), which contrast with long /oː/ in
coyrt ‘give, put, send’ (G. tabhairt), loayrt /loːrt/ ‘speak’ (G. labhairt), roayrt ‘springtide’ (G. rabharta).
4.6.3 Other medial clusters
Lengthening and diphthongization may also take place before other, mainly
homorganic, clusters involving sonorants, although it is not nearly as prevalent as in
certain other Gaelic dialects (e.g. Ó Curnáin 2007: 210–22, 234–7).
Table 106. Vowel developments before other medial clusters
Phillips
etymology
English
oonlaghey
CM
pronunciation
/uːnlaxә/
ion(n)ladh
wash
Boaldyn
/boːldәn⁽ʲ⁾/
Beal(l)taine
May Day
/boːndә/
Ir. banda,
ScG. bannd
band (of iron
etc.)
/boːndәrә/
banaltra
nurse
boandey
boandyrey,
boandyrys
boyndy
(‘bondservant’)
baintri
(‘nourish’)
HLSM
bɔːldən JK,
bɑ̜ːldən TM,
vɔːldɪnʹ NM
bo̜ undəʳ TC,
bo̜ ːndə TT
bøundər,
bo̜ ːndər,
vo̜ ːndər TC,
bɑːndərəs
W:N,
bo̤ nðrəs NM,
357
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
bɔ̜ːndərəs
HB,
bõ̜ ːndərə
W:?N
stoandey
/stoːndә/
295
ScG. stannd
standish
blunt,
stammering
relish,
‘kitchen’297
moandagh
/moːndax/
man(n)tach
aunlyn,
oanlyn,
oalyn296 (Cr.),
awnlin (K.)
oanluckey
/oːnlәn⁽ʲ⁾/,
/au̯ nlәn⁽ʲ⁾/
annlann
anlaky,
anlaghy,
anlyky (2),
anliky, (part.)
ánlikit
/oːnlәkә/
annlacadh,
adhlacadh,
EIr. adnacul
bury; burial,
funeral
(moddey
oaldey)
madiállty (2),
(pl.)
madiallty (2)
/oːldә/
allta, allaidh
wild; (moddey
oaldey) wolf
moaldey
/moːldә/
ScG. màlda?
poor, mean
foalsey
/foːlsә/
fallsa
false
oalsum (Cr.),
ousym (K.)
/oːlsәm/,
/au̯ (l)sәm/
Norse
halsband >
*allsam
connlach
tie on cattle
straw
cunnradh,
connradh
exchange,
barter
oaldey
coonlagh
kunlygh
/kuːnlax/
coonrey
kúnre,
kúnrey,
kúynre
/kuːnrә/
295
øunlənʹ TC
o̜ ːnləkə,
õ̜ ːnləkə TC,
oːnlɪkə JTK,
õ̜ ːⁿləkɑ̜ NM,
(part.)
oːnlɪkətʹ
JTK, ɔː̃ ⁿlət,
oːnlɪkʹ JK,
õːⁿləkɪtʹ NM,
oːnlikʹət,
uːnləkʹət,
ũːŋɡlə W:N
fo̜ ːlsə, fo̜ ːlzə
HK
kuːnlax JK,
JTK, TL
But cf. sondagh ‘covetous’ (G. san(n)tach), apparently with short /o/; and fondagh ‘sufficient’ (G.
foghantach), fo̜ ndɑ ̣x TC (HLSM II: 175) where /oː/ might be expected. The tendency to shorten stressed
long vowels in polysyllables (§5.5.1) may explain these forms.
296
‘Though the former of these [oanlyn] may, perhaps, be the best orthography, yet see aunlyn’ (Cregeen
s.v. oanlyn, oalyn). Cregeen’s preference for a spelling clearly indicating monophthongal /oː/ probably
reflects his southern dialect.
297
‘relish or moisture that is taken with bread, potatoes, &c’ (Cregeen), ‘a kitchen, any kind of food
eaten with bread, as butter, cheese, milk’ (Kelly).
358
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Note the diphthongal realizations in some of these items, pointing to the same dialectal
variation as found in monosyllables (§4.6.1.34).
4.6.4 Paradigmatic uniformity
Historically, the restriction of lengthening and diphthongization to stressed positions
preceding coda fortis sonorants resulted in alternations such as the following between
monosyllabic radical forms with a lengthened vowel, and morphologically complex
derivatives or inflections in which the original short vowel was maintained:
glione ‘valley’ S /ɡlʲoːn/, N /ɡlʲau̯ n/ (G. gleann)
gen. glionney /ɡlʲonә/ (G. gleanna)
However, both lengthened and unlengthened forms may spread analogically, as found
in some Irish dialects (Ó Sé 2000: 42; Ó Curnáin 2007: 212–3; Ó Direáin 2015: 43–4,
46). For example, the adjective giare /ɡʲɛːr/ ‘short’ (G. gearr), with a long vowel,
shows the expected alternation with plural giarrey /ɡʲarә/ (G. gearra), with a short
vowel; but the verb giarey /ɡʲɛːrә/, giare /ɡʲɛːr/ ‘cut’ (G. vn. gearradh, stem gearr)
apparently has generalization of the lengthened form (Thomson 1998: 86); similarly
in baarey /bɛːrә/ ‘shave’ (G. bearradh).298 On the other hand, tonn /ton/ ‘wave’ (G.
tonn) and chionn /tʃon/ ‘tight, fast’ (teann) appear to show generalization (or
maintenance) of the short vowel on the pattern of plural tonnyn /tonәn/ ‘waves’, plural
adjective / verbal noun chionney /tʃonә/ ‘press’ (G. teanna; teannadh). In these cases
spellings suggesting expected /toːn, tau̯ n/ and /tʃoːn, tʃau̯ n/ are also found. Further
examples are as follows:
Generalization of short vowel:
mill /milʲ/ ‘spoil’, vn. milley /milʲә/ (G. mill, milleadh), rather than */miːlʲ/ (cf.
keeill /kʲiːlʲ/ ‘church’, G. cill)
moll /mol/ ‘deceive’, vn. molley /molә/ (G. meall, mealladh), rather than
*/moːl/, similarly poll, polley ‘matt, entangle’ (G. pealladh)
Forms from HLSM (II: 195–6): vn. gʹaːrə, gʹaːru, gʹaːro JK, gʹeːrə HB; gaːrəsmɑ ̣d JW giarrysmayd ‘we will cut’.
298
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Generalization of long vowel:
baare /bɛːr/ ‘shave’ (G. bearr) > vn. baarey /bɛːrә/ (G. bearradh), rather than
*/barә/
eeym /iːm/ ‘butter’ (G. im) > eeym(m)ey (Cr.) ?/iːmә/, rather than */imә/
lhome /loːm/ ‘bare’ (G. lom) > lhoamey /loːmә/, lommey /lomә/ (both Cr.), but
lomman /loman/ ‘scorching wind’ (G. lomán), lhommyrt /lomәrt/
‘shear’ (G. lomairt)299
trome /troːm/ ‘heavy’ > tromey /troːmә/ pl., also trommey /tromә/ (Psalm 12:5)
doal /doːl/ ‘blind’ (G. dall) > doaley pl. (G. dalla), doalley300 ?/doːlә/ ‘to blind’
(Exodus 23:8, 32:32–33) (G. dalladh), but dolley /dolә/ ‘to blind, blot’
(Bible), dollan /dolan/ ‘fan’ (G. dallán)
croym /kroːm/ ‘bend, stoop’ > croymmey vn. (G. cromadh) /kroːmә/ (o̜ ː TC,
TT, oː TC, HLSM II: 109)
299
See also spellings loamrey (Cr. , Bible), lomrey (Cr.) ‘fleece’ (G. lomradh) ? = /lomrә/ or /loːmrә/.
It is possible that <oa> here simply represents vowel quality, or recalls the spelling of the stem doal,
rather than representing length, i.e. /dolә/ rather than /doːlә/.
300
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 5
Suprasegmental phonology
5.1 Stress
In earlier periods lexical stress in Gaelic fell on the first syllable,301 and vowels in any
syllable, whether stressed or not, could be either long or short (GOI: 27, 31; O’Rahilly:
83–5; Ó Sé 1989: 148). This remains the case in some Irish varieties today, notably in
most Connacht dialects (Ó Sé 1989: 148; Green 1997: 93).302 However, long vowels
in unstressed syllables are cross-linguistically dispreferred. This mismatch between
stress and syllable weight has long been recognized by Gaelic scholars such as
O’Rahilly (84–5):
Now in a language with strong stress, like Irish, words containing an unstressed
long syllable […] are more or less in a state of unstable equilibrium. Little will
be required to upset the equilibrium, which once upset, will only be restored
when one or other of two opposing tendencies has taken effect. Either […] the
long unstressed syllable will be shortened, or else the stress will be attracted to
the long vowel.
(O’Rahilly: 84–5)
This intuition is captured by the ‘Weight-to-Stress Principle’ (Prince 1990), cited by
Green (1997) in his analysis of developments in Gaelic prosody, which states ‘[i]f
heavy, then stressed’ and contraposed, ‘[i]f unstressed, then light’ (Prince 1990: 358).
Connacht Irish dialects continue to tolerate a violation of the Weight-to-Stress
Principle, while in general (and leaving aside certain details), Munster dialects have
shifted stress to non-initial heavy syllables, while Ulster and Scottish varieties have
shortened non-initial long vowels and retained initial stress.
The situation in Manx is particularly complex in that both solutions are found: some
words have stress-shift, while others have retention of initial stress with shortening of
301
Disregarding elements such as the prefixes of deuterotonic verb forms in Early Irish (GOI: 27). Ó Sé
(1989: 166–8) discusses evidence that Old Irish stress was considerably less prominent than in the
modern dialects; as a result the Weight-to-Stress Principle may have been less relevant in this period.
302
There is evidence that Connacht dialects may have had non-initial stress in the past (O’Rahilly: 99–
100; Ó Sé 1984; 1989: 159–60).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
unstressed long vowel. This is referred to by Thomson (1960: 122) and Broderick
(HLSM
III:
149) as ‘the problem of stress in Manx’. It has been observed since
O’Rahilly (114) that these two developments are conditioned by the weight of the
initial syllable: there is a strong tendency towards stress shift in items with historical
long or ‘half-long’ vowels (including diphthongs), in the initial syllable, while items
with short vowels in the initial syllable are likely to show initial stress with vowel
shortening (see also Jackson: 20; HLSM
III:
148–9; Green 1997: 90–1; Ó Sé 1991).
This is well illustrated by the pair of items /muˈrɛːn/ mooarane ‘many, much’ (G.
mórán), with stress shift, and /ˈbeɡan/ beggan ‘little, few’ (G. beagán). In addition,
many Anglo-Norman borrowings (such as shirveish ‘service’, G. seirbhís; resoon
‘reason’, G. réasún) have final stress, which may be original.
Ó Sé (1991) notes that these tendencies are not categorical, citing counterexamples
with stress shift despite light initial syllables (§5.1.5.2), and suggests that the patterns
observed represent the results of lexical diffusion. Ó Sé (1991: 162) also notes that
‘[w]ords in which a short vowel is followed by a cluster of sonorant consonant +
voiced consonant (e.g. ordóg ‘thumb’) have tended to be treated in Manx like words
with a long vowel in the first syllable (e.g. fág(bh)áil ‘leaving’)’.
In general, stress is transparently represented in the Classical Manx orthography. For
example, the suffixes which have both stressed and unstressed reflexes are clearly
distinguished:
G.:
-án
-ín
-óg
-amhail
-áil
-óir
Stressed:
-ane /ˈɛːn/
-een /ˈiːn/
-age, -aig, -eig, -aag /ˈɛːɡ/
-oil /ˈoːlʲ/
-ail, -eil /ɛːlʲ/
-eyr /ɛːrʲ/
Unstressed:
-an /an/
-in /әnʲ/
-ag /aɡ/
-al /al/
-al /al/
-er /erʲ/
Cregeen indicates stress on most headwords in his dictionary, but as Wheeler (2018:
ii) notes, ‘[t]here is a considerable degree of inconsistency in Cregeen’s marking of
stress’, and stress is not infrequently marked in an unexpected position, usually on the
initial syllable in words where the phonological structure and spelling, and recorded
362
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
fieldwork data, show forward stress. It is possible that some of this variability ‘may
correspond to real variation in pronunciation’ (ibid.: ii), perhaps including
(postlexical) stress retraction (§5.1.3), or that some unexpected stress markings are
printing errors. Because of this uncertainty, Cregeen’s marking of stress is not used as
evidence in the present discussion.
5.1.1 Previous accounts of stress shift and long vowel shortening
5.1.1.1 O’Rahilly (1932)
O’Rahilly (114) claims that non-initial stress was originally introduced into Manx (as
in southern Irish dialects) with Anglo-Norman loanwords. He observes that ‘all such
borrowings have a long vowel in the second syllable, and all, or practically all of them
have (or had) in the first syllable either a long vowel, or else a ‘half-long’ vowel’.
According to O’Rahilly, the addition of these items to the Manx lexicon motivated the
analogical shifting of stress in native items (including earlier borrowings) of the same
(heavy-heavy) pattern. Subsequently, ‘another phonetic law, by which long unstressed
vowels were shortened, came into operation’ and ‘[t]he long terminations of those
words which had escaped the accent-shift were accordingly shortened, as in Scottish
Gaelic’.
Thirdly, ‘after the above changes had established themselves’ (O’Rahilly: 115),
vocalization of fricatives could create new long vowels ‘in hitherto unstressed
syllables’, and ‘the word in its new shape was brought into conformity with the stresssystem of the language’. Although not stated explicitly, it is implied in O’Rahilly’s
account that the first syllable conditioning was no longer operational at the stage when
medial fricatives were vocalized — since otherwise the cited examples annoon ‘weak’
(G. anbhfann), shilleeid ‘slug’ (G. seilchide) etc. would have given something like
*/ˈanan/, */ˈʃelʲәdʲ(ә)/ rather than attested /aˈnuːn/, /ʃiˈlʲiːdʲ/ — and that by this period,
post-tonic unstressed long vowels were no longer permitted in Manx phonology (‘the
stress-system of the language’).
363
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
It will be argued below that much of O’Rahilly’s account is plausible, although internal
phonetic factors may explain the stress shift in heavy-heavy better than the alleged
impact of the Anglo-Norman borrowings, which may, however, have been a
contributory factor. In addition, it is not necessary to invoke, as O’Rahilly (117) does,
‘the influence of Scottish Gaelic’ to account for post-tonic shortening.
5.1.1.2 Jackson (1955)
Jackson (20) notes the first syllable conditioning, which he calls ‘remarkable’.
However, he does not offer an explanation of the phenomenon, or discuss the ordering
of the changes, although he references O’Rahilly’s discussion. He also notes (76–7)
that long vowels arising from vocalization of fricatives may attract stress, but does not
discuss the ordering of this development in relation to other processes.
5.1.1.3 Ó Baoill (1980)
Ó Baoill (1980: 102) makes brief mention of forward stress in Manx in relation to the
lack of epenthesis in items such as colmane ‘dove’ (G. colmán). He argues that stress
shift precedes epenthesis, and draws conclusions about dating as follows:
It is a well known fact about the stress rule of Munster Irish that it must apply
after the application of the rule of epenthesis in words like feargach and
Luimneach. In this case the epenthesis rule blocks the application of the stress
rule. I would suggest that the same procedure applies in the case of epenthesis
in words like colmane and carnane in Manx […] We may conclude from these
relevant facts from Munster Irish and Manx that epenthesis occurs after stressed
syllables only. If this ordering of rules is correct, then the stress rules, which
place stress […] on -ane in words like colmane , carnane and on -aag in faasaag
in Manx, is very old indeed, and may go back at least to the Old Irish period
and perhaps even further.
(Ó Baoill 1980: 102)
However, it is shown below (§5.4) that Ó Baoill’s arguments regarding Manx data are
incomplete and that no conclusion can be drawn from internal evidence about the
relative ordering of epenthesis and stress shift. In any case, Manx and Irish
developments are not necessarily parallel, either structurally or chronologically.
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
5.1.1.4 Broderick (1986)
Broderick303 (HLSM III: 151–3) proposes an alternative explanation for forward stress,
namely that it was a result of shortening of the vowel in the initial syllable:
The contention is that, rather than the first syllable in those words containing
forward stress being shortened as a result of the stress-shift, the opposite is the
case; that is, that the stress is advanced because of the shortening of the initial
syllable. It is also a noticeable feature of Manx that stressed long vowels in
monosyllables are usually, or can be shortened [examples given including eeast
(G. iasc), moain (G. móin); slane (G. slán)] […] It is […] suggested that the
proclivity of Manx to shorten stressed long vowels in monosyllables spread to
the initial (original) stressed long vowel vowel in words of the faagail type […]
causing it to shorten […] as a result of which the stress shifted to the long second
syllable […]
In the case of those words containing initial stress on an original short vowel,
but whose second syllable, once long, has been shortened, as in beggan,
thunnag etc., it may be asked why then did the stress not shift to the long vowel
when it was long. The answer, perhaps, is that the long vowel here had already
become shortened at the time of the stress-shift in disyllables of the faagail type.
(HLSM III: 151–2, original emphasis)
There are several difficulties with Broderick’s account. Ó Sé (1991: 172) identifies
one of them:
I am reluctant to follow Broderick’s […] explanation of the stress shift as
resulting from shortening of stressed long vowels. It is indeed the case that Late
Spoken Manx showed (often variable) shortening of stressed long vowels in
monosyllables, as in slane (slen) [sic] ‘whole’ (Ir. slán), eeast [jis. jiːs] ‘fish’
(Ir. iasc), but I am not convinced that this development is old enough to have
contributed to the stress shift, giving e.g. ˈfágáil > ˈfăgáil > faˈgáil.
(Ó Sé 1991: 172)
In fact the eighteenth-century orthography clearly and consistently indicates long
vowels or diphthongs in moain, slane, eeast etc., so the variable shortening observed
in Late Manx must be a recent development, and, as Broderick himself notes (HLSM
III:
151), it may be associated with preocclusion in items such as slane. Vowel
shortening is longer established, and shown orthographically, in polysyllabic items
303
According to Broderick (HLSM
conclusion’.
III:
151), Heinrich Wagner ‘told me he had come to a similar
365
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
such as firriney ‘truth’ (G. fírinne), currym ‘duty’ (G. cúram), and in certain categories
of items such as frequently-occurring verb forms (§5.5.1). However, stressed vowel
shortening is not sufficiently consistent to be considered a viable explanation for the
regular pattern of stress shift observed in original heavy-heavy items, nor is there any
evidence that it is old enough. We might note also that Late Manx also has a
countervailing ‘proclivity’ to lengthen short stressed vowels (§5.5.2).
Furthermore, Broderick offers no explanation for why unstressed vowel shortening
occurred in the light-heavy category (beggan etc.) without affecting heavy-heavy
items (faagail etc.). His only argument for the earliness of the shortening is that
suffixes with original /aː/ and /oː/ have /a/ in their shortened Manx form, which,
according to Broderick (HLSM
III:
153), ‘indicates that shortening of the second
syllable took place in words of this type before OIr. Á (and Ó), became /eː/ [i.e. /ɛː/]
in Manx’. The latter claim is also made by Jackson (20). However, it is uncertain how
old the fronting and raising of á is (§2.2.2). Phillips (and indeed the later orthography)
represent this primarily as <a, aa> etc., which may have indicated something closer to
[æː, aː] in earlier periods. This less fronted realization seems to have survived even
into the Late Manx of certain speakers or dialects (HLSM III: 123). In any case, it does
not follow that the quality of the shortened /a/ must reflect the quality of the earlier
long vowel. In both Manx and Scottish Gaelic shortened /a/ (in ScG. also /ɛ/)
represents a variety of original vowels (cf. Ó Maolalaigh 2001: 8). There also seems
to have been a constraint in Manx forbidding any vowel except /ә/ and /a/304 in
unstressed closed syllables.305
Broderick (HLSM
III:
153) claims that ‘[t]he addition of the Anglo-Norman/Middle
English loanwords with forward stress would fit into this pattern, and perhaps help to
establish it, but would follow rather than establish the stress-shift’. Broderick mentions
the items such as jarrood (G. dearmhad) with secondary long vowels from fricative
vocalization, but does not discuss how they fit into the chronology of the other
developments, except to note that they pre-date Phillips (1610).
304
And perhaps /e/ in -er (G. -óir).
Compare Ó Dochartaigh’s (1987: 57) discussion of the relationship between vowel shortening and
vowel quality reduction.
305
366
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
5.1.1.5 Ó Sé (1991)
Ó Sé (1991)306 agrees with Broderick in proposing that unstressed vowel shortening
occurred before stress shift, but for different reasons. He notes that his ‘outline is of
course speculative, but it is designed to take account of geographical and social factors,
as well as using such insights as can be gained from quantification’. Ó Sé dates
unstressed vowel shortening to the period between the ninth and thirteenth century
when Man was politically, as well as geographically, close to western Scotland and
Ulster:
It is reasonable to assume that Manx speech shared in linguistic changes taking
place in the vicinity, and that unstressed vowel shortening arrived as part of a
process of spread throughout the region; [Ó] Dochartaigh (1987: 34) shows it
to have diffused across Ulster from northeast to southwest and it seems
reasonable to regard it as a Scottish innovation which gradually spread south,
into Ulster and Man, over a period of some centuries.
(Ó Sé 1991: 167)
For the relationship between the length of the stressed and unstressed syllable, Ó Sé
(1991: 168) cites the case of Achill Irish (Ó Dochartaigh 1978; 1987: 32–4), which has
been observed to show the opposite correlation to that found in Manx:
306
Ó Sé’s is the most detailed treatment of the topic to date, being based on a quantitive analysis of
items from HLSM II. Some of Ó Sé’s analysis of individual items is faulty, however, as the following
examples show (the list is not exhaustive). The items folliaght ‘secret’ (G. folaigheacht) and markiagh
‘ride’ (G. marcaigheacht) should not be included in Ó Sé’s (1991: 177) ‘contracted’ category, as there
is no evidence that -aigheacht ever gave */iːxt/ in Manx as it did in Irish. Rather the treatment is as in
Scottish Gaelic, with retention of a syllable boundary /i.axt/ (Non-coalescence of the vowels here is
probably due to the retention of /a/ before /x/, whereas -(a)idh/ghe(a)- elsewhere gives /iː/ which can
attract stress, as in Creesteenyn ‘Christians’ /kri(ː)ˈstiːnәn/ (*Críostaidheannan > *Críostaíonnan), but
not Creesteeaght ‘Christianity; the eucharist’ /ˈkriːsti.axt/, G. Críostaidheacht). Caaig ‘jay’ (Ir. cabhóg,
ScG. cathag) and scaan ‘ghost’ (G. scáthán) are included under vowel shortening rather than stress
shift, but owing to coalescence of the two syllables the results of the two treatments would be formally
identical, so these items should have been excluded (Ó Sé 1991: 178). Tanroag(an) ‘scallop’ is included
under stress shift (Ó Sé 1991: 179), but in fact the basic form is roagan (Cregeen), with an obscure first
element tan- (HLSM II: 442); it seems that we in fact have vowel shortening in the suffix -án, perhaps
from *rothacán based on roth ‘wheel’? Thassane ‘hiss’ is included as an exception (stress shift despite
initial heavy syllable), on the basis of Ir. tasán, but cf. ScG. tàsan (Dwelly). Seaghyn ‘sorrow’ is
explained as *saochán, and thus an exception of the opposite kind, but may rather be derived from
suaith- (§3.9.7), and is probably a regular development of an original trisyllable (§5.1.5.5).
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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
words of the beagán ‘few’ type retain their second vowel long whereas the
mórán ‘many’ type shorten it […] Manx shows another way for shortening to
spread, by an assimilative rather than a dissimilative relationship between the
two syllables.
(Ó Sé 1991: 168)
Vowel length assimilation, however, is not a known phonological process. An
alternative explanation for the Achill development would be that stress shift occurred
in light-heavy items in order to resolve the violation of the Weight-to-Stress Principle,
followed by stress retraction as in other Connacht dialects (O’Rahilly: 99–100; Ó Sé
1984; Ó Sé 1989: 159–60), while in heavy-heavy items there was no stress shift, but
shortening of the unstressed long vowel. As for Manx, assuming that Ó Sé is right that
vowel shortening in light-heavy items preceded stress shift in heavy-heavy ones,
Green’s (1997) account, discussed below, provides a better explanation.
Ó Sé (1991: 169) claims that vowel shortening spread through the lexis by creating
doublets, affecting first light-heavy items and later beginning to affect those in the
heavy-heavy category:
By assuming short-term variability in the operation of unstressed vowel
shortening we may find an explanation for the doublets, and for the fact that
they involve only words with a heavy initial syllable, the shape which we
associate with stress shift. I propose that unstressed vowel shortening spread by
creating doublets, so arán > (arán ~ arăn). As it diffused through the lexicon
over time the earliest words to have been affected […] lost their original forms
(so only arăn survives) but the more recently affected would retain a double
form (ˈdornóg ~ ˈdornŏg). Those doublets which survived in Late Spoken Manx
(caraig, dornaig etc.) come from this overlap between the two sound changes.
(Ó Sé 1991: 169)
However, the restriction of doublets to original heavy-heavy items can be otherwise
explained. Firstly, initial stress remains the most frequent pattern in Manx, so there is
always potential analogical pressure to assimilate to this pattern (especially, perhaps,
with less frequent or poorly remembered words). Secondly, some of the doublets noted
by Ó Sé (1991: 177–8) contain transparently analysable morphemes which could
easily be restored (e.g. dornaig ‘handle’ = doarn ‘fist’ + diminutive; eeasteyr
368
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
‘fisherman’ = eeast ‘fish’ + agentive suffix), with the unstressed version of the suffix
substituted.
Thirdly, postlexical stress retraction in Irish dialects with forward stress is a welldocumented phenomenon (Ó Sé 1989: 151; 2000: 52–55; Iosad 2013: 70–1) and could
explain some of these cases. Indeed, Ó Sé (1989: 156) himself is careful to note this
possibility when discussing the evidence of Lavin (1957) on stress in an East Mayo
Irish dialect. This appears to be the case in some of the instances from HLSM: for
example, in yn dornaig y skynn shoh [sic] ‘the handle of the knife’ ən ˈdörne̜ g ə skin
ʃo̜ ː (HLSM II: 128), dornaig would be expected to have a secondary postlexical stress
within the genitive phrase. The same speaker (TC) also has expected stress in the same
word: dörˈnɛːg, dørˈnɛːg.
Orthographic evidence is decidedly against the co-existence of by-forms with initial
stress: spellings such as faasaag, caraig, eeasteyr, faagail all clearly show final
syllables with long vowels, and there are no known orthographic variants such as
*faasag, *carrag, *eeaster, *faagal. Moreover, if the variants with initial stress were
original, we would expect them to preserve the original quality and length of the vowel
in the first syllable. However, the form of caraig ‘beetle’ (G. ciaróg) with initial stress
given in HLSM (II: 59) is kʹarɔg (alongside finally stressed kʹəˈrɛːg, both W:S),
whereas, if a form with the original initial stressed syllable had survived without
undergoing stress shift and initial syllable vowel reduction, we would expect a form
*keearag, CM */ˈkʲiә̯raɡ/, LM */ˈkʲiːraɡ/ (cf. ScG. ciarag).
It therefore seems clear that forms such as kʹarɔg represent secondary, most likely
postlexical, restressing of the initial syllable, rather than the result of an inchoate
spread of Ó Sé’s proposed lexical diffusion of post-tonic vowel shortening into the
heavy-heavy category.
According to Ó Sé (1991: 170), vowel shortening was halted by external
sociolinguistic factors:
The social cause for unstressed vowel shortening being discontinued will have
been the collapse of the Kingdom of Man and the Isles in 1266 A.D., providing
a “catastrophic overturn of the social values that are helping the change proceed
369
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
in an orderly fashion” (Coates 1987: 194). Manx was subsequently cut off from
linguistic changes affecting other areas of Gaelic speech.
(Ó Sé 1991: 170)
It is plausible that this historical turning-point would prevent new changes taking place
in other Gaelic dialects from diffusing into Manx. It is unclear, however, why an
ongoing change which was supposedly already well-established in the language would
be halted in this way. On the contrary, given that unstressed long vowels appear to
have been preserved longer in high-register literary varieties used or patronized by
Gaelic-speaking elites, it is more likely that the removal of such elites would
accelerate, rather than halt, the change (cf. O’Rahilly: 105; Ó Dochartaigh 1978: 332).
Ó Sé (1991: 171) claims that ‘stress shift in Manx will postdate the thirteenth century,
and will therefore have coincided with increasing contact with English (containing a
large Romance adstratum by this stage)’. He suggests that ‘there is good reason to
believe unstressed vowel shortening to be an internal development in Gaelic’ but that
‘it is not improbable that language contact did play a role in the stress shift’.
Regarding the ‘contracted words’ with original medial fricatives, Ó Sé (1991: 169–70)
claims that they behave similarly to items with original long vowels:
This study casts some new light on the history in Manx of words like bunadhas,
geanamhail, peacamhail, although only 25 such words occur in the sample. The
fact that these contracted words do not pattern very differently from those with
original long vowels suggests that vowel shortening did not greatly precede
contraction. Some of them are attested in seventeenth century Manx with forms
which have not survived […] Phillips’ translation of the Book of Common
Prayer (c. 1610) has gan(n)oil, gniartuoil for gennal, niartal […]. It is not
impossible that most or all of these words were subject to variability of form at
that time.
(Ó Sé 1991: 169–70)
However, it is not the case that the ‘contracted words’ pattern similarly to those with
original long vowels; on the contrary, they are not subject to initial syllable weight
conditioning, generally showing forward stress regardless of the weight of the
preceding syllable (bunnys, G. bunadhas, and the adjectives in -oil, -al, G. -amhail,
370
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
are special cases, §5.1.4). Ó Sé presumably failed to perceive this owing to the
smallness of his sample.
5.1.1.6 Green (1997)
Green (1997: 92) explains first syllable conditioning as follows:
At an early date, Manx promoted TROQ and demoted MAX(µ) […] in the
primary grammar (made up of native words), this had the effect of shortening
the long vowel in bégaːn […]; but there was no effect on (H H) words like
bóːkaːn […], because they did not violate TROQ.
(Green 1997: 92)
This relates to ‘trochaic quantity’ (Prince 1990: 359; Hayes 1995: 79–85), the
observation that in trochaic languages light-light (and heavy-heavy) trochees are better
formed than light-heavy ones, which provides a motivation for reduction of lightheavy words to light-light without affecting the heavy-heavy category.
Green (1997: 92) assumes that Anglo-Norman borrowings were prespecified for final
stress. He claims that stress shift occurred once vowel shortening in the beagán type
had occurred, and was prompted by the analogy of the Anglo-Norman items:
Later, as happened in [Scottish] Gaelic, old (Ĺ H) words like bʹégan were
reinterpreted as underlyingly (Ĺ L). Once this happened, the only (L H) words
in the language were the end-stressed Anglo-Norman words like bodʹéːl. At this
point, the Cw clusters […] received an epenthetic ә, and later, the sequence әwә
contracted to uː.
(78)
CwV > Cәwә > Cuː
dʹárwad > d′árәwәd > d′áruːd ‘forgetting’ [jarrood, G. dearmhad]
The new (L H) words like d′áruːd took over the forward stress of the AngloNorman words, becoming d′arúːd and the like. Also, the native (H H) words
like bóːkaːn took over the Anglo-Norman stress pattern, becoming boːkáːn.
(Green 1997: 92)
Green (1997: 90–3) claims that items with historical medial fricatives are treated
differently according to whether the fricative was originally intervocalic (e.g.
371
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
geanamhail, Manx gennal) or followed a consonant (e.g. dearmhad). A wider set of
evidence casts doubt on this, however (§5.1.4).
Green’s explanation for first syllable conditioning by appealing to cross-linguistic
metrical preferences is phonologically plausible. A possible objection could be raised
in relation to the fact that in Late Manx all unstressed historical long vowels are
apparently shortened, including those in original initial syllables (O’Rahilly: 115;
Jackson: 20; HLSM
III:
148). Green’s account would require two long vowel
shortenings, first affecting light-heavy items (e.g. arán /ˈaraːn/ > /ˈaran/, Manx arran
‘bread’) and later affecting initial syllables after stress shift (e.g. fuarán /ˈfuә̯raːn/ >
/fuә̯ˈraːn/ > /faˈrɛːn/ > [fәˈrɛːn], [frɛːn], Manx farrane ‘fountain, spring’). It might be
argued that it would be more economical to posit only one vowel shortening, following
stress shift. However, there is some evidence that initial syllables in stress-shifted
items are treated differently to post-tonic syllables, and that vowel shortening may be
a more recent development in the former environment (§5.1.3).
5.1.2 An explanation for stress shift targeting heavy-heavy items
A possible explanation for early stress shift targeting only heavy-heavy items may be
found in the phenomenon of peak delay, whereby the pitch peak moves further to the
right in longer words than in shorter words. As Iosad (2016a: 82) notes, ‘[i]n languages
with peak delay, longer domains are associated with a later placement of the tonal
peak; hence, disyllabic words would have associated their peaks further to the right
compared to monosyllabic words’. One might reasonably suppose that longer
syllables, and thus overall word length, would also result in greater peak delay, and
thus that heavy-heavy items would show pitch peak further to the right that light-heavy
items. There is also potential for a mutually-reinforcing relationship in that pitch rises
are better perceived on longer vowels, and longer vowels are perceived as having rises.
These factors could result in reanalysis of initially-stressed heavy-heavy words as
having primary stress on the second syllable.
372
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Both this account, whereby stress shift preceded post-tonic vowel shortening, and
Green’s proposal discussed above, which posits the reverse, seem plausible. Since both
changes, and also vocalization of medial fricatives, took place before the seventeenth
century and therefore before the beginning of the Manx literary tradition, it may not
be possible to reach a firm conclusion on this matter.
5.1.3 Initial syllable shortening in items with forward stress
Pretonic vowels in old heavy-heavy words are noted as short in descriptions of Late
Manx (O’Rahilly: 115; Jackson: 20; HLSM III: 148), and generally transcribed as such
in HLSM etc., in contrast to the situation in Munster Irish where such vowels retain
their length (e.g. Ó Sé 2000: 46–55), but the spelling evidence presents a mixed
picture. Morphologically transparent forms with stressed endings usually retain the
long vowel spelling of the stem, but this may be merely orthographic:
faagail ‘leaving’, G. fág(bh)áil. fɛ̆ˈge̜ ːlʹ NM, HB, fəˈgaːlʹ, faˈgaːlʹ JK307
(HLSM II: 154)
faag ‘leave’, G. fág, (impv.) fɛːg TT, JW, faagit (part.) fɛːgətʹ HK, fe̜ ːgɪtʹ NM,
fɛːgitʹᶴ AK, faːgɪtʹ JTK (HLSM II: 154)
mooarane (mórán) muˈrɛːᵈn JW (HLSM II: 305)
mooar ‘big, great’, G. mór muːr, muːə TC, muːə JK, NM, muː TK, TL, moːər
NM, mu̜ ːr J:TL, mu̜ ːṛ, mu̜ ːəṛ J:EK, J:JTK, J:HB, muː W:S, pl. muːrə
TC, NM (HLSM II: 305)
Items where the first syllable is no longer a recognizable independent element tend to
be spelt without indication of vowel length, as in the following examples. Notice that
original vowel quality tends to be indicated308 (although with some interchange
between e.g. /u/ and /o/, /a/ and /e/; and /ia/, /ua/ > /a/; /әː/ > /a/, /o/, /u/):
Trinaid ‘Trinity’, G. Tríonóid
smarage ‘ember’, G. sméaróid
saveen ‘slumber’, G. sáimhín
Also with stress retraction ˈfe̜ gɛlʹ, ˈfʹɛːɣal (JTK).
Some deviations from this can be explained by the consonantal environment, e.g. rollage ‘star’ from
G. réaltóg, where initial [rˠ] results in a back quality of the following vowel, represented by <o> (cf.
roie ‘run’, G. rith; roih ‘arm’, G. righ) (cf. §4.2.4).
307
308
373
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
cronnane ‘purring’, G. crónán
suggane ‘straw rope’, G. súgán
sonnaase ‘arrogance’, G. saobhnós (§3.9.11)
caraig ‘beetle’, G. ciaróg
carrane ‘sandle’, G. cuarán
However there are other items such as faasaag ‘beard’ (G. féasóg), peeaghane
‘hoarseness’ (G. piachán), among others, where the spelling could reasonably be
interpreted to allow for maintenance of length or diphthongization in the initial
syllable, perhaps in careful speech. G. féas, *piach have no attested independent
existence in Manx. There are also examples of transparent formations with the semiproductive suffix -oil /ˈoːlʲ/ (G. -(e)amhail, Ir. -(i)úil, ScG. -ail, -eil), such as gloyroil
‘glorious’ (G. *glóireamhail, cf. Ir. glórmhar, ScG. glòrmhor), which might
reasonably be expected to retain some length (and perhaps secondary stress?), i.e.
[ɡlo(ː)ˈroːlʲ]. Items such as thousane ‘thousand’ (tøuˈzẹːn EKh, to̜ uˈze̜ ːn NM,
touˈzaːn JK, HLSM II: 450), sidoor ‘soldier’ (G. saighdiúir), lourane ‘leper’ (G.
lobhrán), boirane ‘troublesome person’ (G. buaidhreán), in which a diphthong is, or
may be, retained in the initial unstressed syllable, show that bimoraic syllables were
tolerated in this position, although they are not found post-tonically.309
The evidence presented here shows that pretonic original long vowels and diphthongs
(a) retained their quality in the Classical and Late Manx periods to a sufficient degree
to be recognized in orthography, and (b) may, in some cases at least, have (optionally)
retained their duration.
This is in marked contrast to the treatment of post-tonic closed syllables, where all
long vowels are reduced either to /a/ or /ә/ (and /e/?), the only vowels which can occur
in this position. This differential treatment between pretonic and post-tonic original
long vowels might point towards the two distinct shortenings required by Green’s
hypothesis (§5.1.1.6), one preceding stress shift and the other following it.
309
However, these seem to have often been reduced to monosyllables and even schwa in production,
e.g. sidoor, səˈduːr TC (HLSM II: 407), sidžūryn [siˈdʒuːrәn] (Rhŷs notebook 6: 58). Phillips’ spellings
appear to represent both diphthongal and monophthongal realizations: sajúr, sêidjúr, (pl.) sajúryn,
sajuryn (3), sejúryn, seidjúryn.
374
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
On the other hand, the peak delay account of stress shift discussed above (§5.1.2),
whereby ˈHH words became HˈH or LˈH could perhaps involve an intermediate stage
with secondary stress retained — or at least some form of prominence — on the initial
syllable, i.e. ˌHˈH or ˌLˈH, which might explain retention of vowel quality and length
in the initial syllable. At any rate, it is not implausible that there should be some
difference in treatment between vowel shortening in a syllable originally stressed, and
in a syllable which had never borne stress.
In addition, paradigmatic uniformity in alternations such as faag ~ faagail would
provide a motivation for retention of vowel quality and length in the stem when
unstressed. This motivation does not exist with regard to post-tonic original long
vowels: although certain suffixes have developed stressed and unstressed by-forms
such as -án > -an /an/, -ane /ˈɛːn/, there is no alternation between these in a single
paradigm.
There is some evidence of complete loss of the pre-tonic unstressed vowel (Rhŷs: 15,
21, 43; O’Rahilly: 115), as found more widely in Irish dialects (Ó Sé 1984). In a
handful of items loss of the unstressed vowel is shown in the orthography.
plaase ‘palace’, G. pálás
praase (HLSM II: 354), puddase (Cr.), potase (K.) ‘potato’, cf. Ir. práta
streipe (Cr.) ‘stirrup’, G. stíoróip (O’Rahilly: 115)
farrane ‘spring, fountain’, G. farrane, fy̆ rā ̣n [fәˈrɛːn], frā ̣n [frɛːn] (Rhŷs: 15)
carrane ‘sandle’, G. cuarán, cy̆ rā́ ṇ [kәˈrɛːn], crā ̣n [krɛːn] (Rhŷs: 15, 21),
kʹəreːᵈn, kʹaˈreːnən SK, kəˈrɛːn J:EK, krɛː̃ nən TC, kre̜ ːnən JTK
(HLSM II: 60)
Mylecharaine, surname, G. Mac Giolla Chiaráin …ch(y̆ )rā̃ ̣ñ [x(әˈ)rɛː̃ nʲ]
(Rhŷs: 15, 43), only without syncope in HLSM (II: 490): moləkɑˈreːn
TT, ˈmɑlikaˈrɛːᵈn, mɑ ̣ləkɑ ̣ˈrɛːᵈn JW
5.1.4 Long vowels arising from vocalization of fricatives
It is clear that first syllable conditioning does not apply to the category of items where
long vowels in non-initial syllables result from Ó Sé’s (1991) ‘contracted words’, since
in most cases these have forward stress regardless of the weight of the initial syllable.
375
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The general development of such items may be outlined as follows, with svarabhakti
assumed in original clusters such as /rv/, /rʲç/:
G. dearmhad > Manx jarrood ‘forget’
/ˈdʲer(ә)vәd/ > [ˈdʲarәwәd] > /dʒaˈruːd/
G. airchis > Manx erreeish ‘compassion’
/ˈarʲ(ә)çәʃ/ > [ˈarʲәjәʃ] > /eˈrʲiːʃ/
The following is an exhaustive list of ‘contracted’ items with forward stress the
etymology of which can be securely determined:310
Historical light311 initial syllable:
annoon /aˈnuːn/ ‘weak’, G. anbhfann
anugh (Ph.) /iˈnuːx/ ‘timely’, G. ionbhadhach
arroogh, erroogh /aˈruːx/ ‘chimb’, G. *earrbhach, ScG. earrach, EIr. errbu
(eDIL)
berreen /beˈrʲiːn/ ‘cake’, G. bairghean
karús, karus, karrýus, karryûs (Ph.) /kaˈruːs/ ‘Lent’, CM Cargys /ˈkarɡәs/, G.
Carghas312
erreeish /eˈrʲiːʃ/ ‘compassion’, G. airchis
elúyn (Ph.) /eˈlʲuːnʲ/ ‘nurture’, G. aileamhain (CM ellyn; §5.1.4.1)
ferroogh /feˈruːx/ ‘eyelid’, G. forbhrú etc.313
inneen /iˈnʲiːn/ ‘daughter, girl’, G. inghean
jarrood /dʒaˈruːd/ ‘forget’, G. dearmhad
kiannoort /kʲaˈnuːrt/ ‘governor’, G. ceannphort
kynoauin (K.) ?/kʲiˈnʲoːnʲ/ ‘fate’, G. cinneamhain
muinneel /muˈnʲiːlʲ/ ‘sleeve’, G. muinchille
parús, parus (Ph.) /paˈruːs/ ‘paradise’, G. parrthas, parrdhas314
310
Pandoogh (Cr.), pantoogh (K.) ‘pant’ probably has /-uːx/ on the pattern of buirroogh, mhinnoogh,
strinnoogh. Khennoogh (Cr.) ‘carping, cavilling’ might be similarly explained as a derivative of G. cáin.
Ladoose (K.) ‘thrift, industry, economy’ may correspond to Ir. ládas ‘self-will, obstinacy’ with /uːs/ on
the pattern of tarroose (PSD: 15) ‘industry’, from tarroogh. An item of similar shape, khyrloghe,
translating ‘brokenhanded’ (Leviticus 21. 19), ‘unsound, carious’ (Cr.), ‘benumbed with cold, torpid’
(K., s.v. kyrloghe) is probably a compound containing lámhach (first element corr-, cearr-, crith-?).
311
It might be pointed out that the svarabhakti assumed in earlier forms of these words would give an
initial heavy syllable (cf. calmane, G. colmán), i.e. [ˈ[dʲarәv]әd] . But it is unclear how the weight
conferred by this could be retained once the svarabhakti vowel + fricative had coalesced as a new long
vowel [dʲaruːd].
312
See fn. 94.
313
See O’Rahilly 1942b: 216–7.
314
CM pargys, pargeiys (Thomson 1995: 115).
376
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
shilleeid (Cr.), shelleed, shilleed (K.), /ʃeˈlʲiːdʲ/ ‘slug, snail’, G. seilchide
strinnoogh /striˈnuːx/ ‘snore’, G. srannfach, srannfadhach
tarroogh /taˈruːx/ ‘thrifty, industrious’, G. tarbhach, tairbheach
thallooin /taˈluːnʲ/ ‘earth, land’ (gen.), G. talmhain
Historical heavy initial syllable:
buirroogh / buˈrʲuːx/ ‘roar’, G. búirfeadhach
brooightooil /bruxˈtuːlʲ/ ‘belch’, G. brúchtghail
carnoain (Cr.) /kʲarˈnoːn/, kiornane (K.), ‘large beetle’, G. cearnabhán etc.315
fegooish /feˈɡuːʃ/ ‘without’, G. (f)éagmhais
jymmoose /dʒiˈmuːs/ ‘wrath’, G. díomdha + as
imnea /imˈnʲeː/ ‘concern, anxiety’, G. imnidhe etc.
jeanúgh, jeanugh (Ph.) /dʒeˈnuːx/ ‘maker’ G. déanmhach, déanmhaidh + ach?
kegeesh /keˈɡʲiːʃ/ ‘fortnight’, G. cóicthigheas
lannoon /laˈnuːnʲ/ ‘twin’, G. lánamhain
mennuigh (K.), mhinoogh (Cr.) /meˈnuːx/ ‘yawn’, G. méanfach, méanfadhach
sheeloghe /ʃiˈloːx/ ‘generation’, G. síolbhach
smooirooil (Cr.) /smuˈruːlʲ/ ‘smile, smirk, titter’, Ir. smúraíl (ÓD)
Similar developments can also be seen in Manx surnames (e.g. Kerruish /kʲeˈruːʃ/, G.
Mac Fhearghais, Quilliam 1989: 65) and place-names (e.g. Barrule /baˈruːl/, Norse
varða-fjall, vörðu-fjall, PNIM
III:
307,
IV:
62). There is also a stressed plural
termination -(t)eenyn which can be traced to medial fricative vocalization:
Creestee /ˈkriːsti/ ‘Christian’, G. Críostaidhe
Creesteenyn /kriˈstiːnәn/ ‘Christians’, G. Críostaidhe + anna + an
annym /ˈanәm/ ‘soul’, G. anam
anmeenyn /anˈmiːnәn/, G. anam + ?adha + anna + an
The reconstruction is conjectural however, and there is likely to have been a degree of
reanalysis and restructuring, cf. the complex array of plural suffixes and extensions
and combinations thereof found in Connacht Irish dialects (e.g. Ó Curnáin 2007: 659–
315
Cregeen’s form points first to shortening of -án to /an/, as regularly in trisyllables, i.e. */ˈkʲarnәvan/,
followed by vocalization and stress shift to /kʲarˈnoːn/. Kelly’s form suggests either a contracted form
*cearnán, with stress shift as in other heavy-heavy items, or modification of the termination /ˈoːn/ to
/ˈɛːn/ by analogy with other diminutives in -ane. Both forms are attested in HLSM (II: 60): koˈnɛːn,
kʹŏˈnã ̣ːn TC, kəˈnoːn W:S.
377
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
881). This termination is found in the following nouns (all in Cregeen and/or the
Bible):
annym ‘soul’, G. anam, pl. anmeenyn
Creestee ‘Christian’, G. Críostaidhe, pl. Creesteenyn
gioal ‘pledge, mortgage’, G. geall, pl. gioalteenyn
glione ‘valley’, G. gleann, pl. glionteenyn
jaghee ‘tithe’, G. deachmhadh, pl. jagheenyn
keeill ‘church’, G. cill, pl. kialteenyn (G. ceall-)
lieen ‘net’, G. líon, pl. lieenteenyn
raane ‘surety’, G. ráth, ScG. ràthan, pl. raanteenyn
According to Cregeen, some of these have a variant plural ending –(t)eeyn, which
presumably represents unstressed /-ti.әn/. Note also other derivatives such as
raanteenys ‘suretiship’, jagheenys ‘to tithe’.
A similar formation is naboonyn /naˈbuːnәn/ ‘neighbours’ (also nabooyn),316 sg. naboo
/ˈnɛːbu/ (ScG. nàbaidh), also naboonys ‘neighbourhood’.
Finally, there is the adjective-forming suffix G. -amhail, which has two reflexes in
Manx, stressed -oil /ˈoːlʲ/ and unstressed -al /al/. The following list is restricted to
words appearing in the Bible:
-oil (also -o(i)lagh)
historical heavy initial syllable: baasoil ‘deadly’ (G. bás), breeoil ‘powerful,
effectual’ (G. brígh), craidoilagh ‘mocking’ (G. cnáid), eadolagh ‘jealous’ (G. éad +
amhail + ach), feohdoil ‘hateful, abominable’ (G. fuath), floaoil ‘fluent’ (Eng. flow),
foayroil ‘favourable’ (G. fábhar), gerjoil ‘joyful’, gerjoilagh ‘comfortable’ (G.
gaird-), gloyroil ‘glorious’ (G. glóir), graihoil ‘loving’ (G. grádh), graysoil ‘gracious’
(G. grás), laaoil ‘daily’ (G. lá), reeoil ‘royal’ (G. rí), sayntoilagh ‘covetous’ (G.
sainnt), schleioil ‘skilful’ (G. ?gleo), sheeoil ‘peaceful’ (G. síth), slayntoil
‘wholesome’ (G. sláint), staydoil ‘stately’ (G. stáid), trocoil ‘merciful’ (G. trócaire)
historical light initial syllable: boggoil (G. bogadh), chymmoil ‘compassionate,
pitying’ (G. time), creeoil ‘hearty, courageous’ (G. croidhe), ennoil ‘beloved’ (G.
TC’s form ˈnaːbunən must be a blend of the two variants; whereas the same speaker has the expected
forward stress in nɑˈbuːnəs ‘neighbourhood’ (HLSM II: 318).
316
378
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
aithne), messoil ‘fruitful, fertile’ (G. meas), paittoil ‘pestilential’ (G. pait), peccoil
‘sinful’ (G. peaca), raahoil (G. rath)
polysyllabic stems: onnoroil ‘honourable’ (G. onóir), spyrrydoil ‘spiritual’ (G.
spiorad)
-al
historical heavy initial syllable: booisal ‘thankful, pleasing’ (G. buidheachas), cairal
‘just, righteous’ (G. cóir), kenjal ‘kind’ (Eng., cf. Ir. cineálta), pleasal ‘pleasing’,
pooaral ‘powerful’
historical light initial syllable: aghtal ‘clever, capable’ (G. acht), baghtal ‘clear,
evident’ (G. beacht), blaystal ‘tasty’ (G. blasta), costal(agh) ‘costly’, cronnal
‘evident, conspicuous, famous’ (G. cron), dunnal ‘courageous, valiant’ (G. duine),
gennal ‘merry, glad’ (G. gean), meshtal ‘drunk’ (G. meisce), niartal ‘mighty’ (G.
neart)
The unstressed form -al is not found in Phillips, where booisal, dunnal, gennal,
meshtal, niartal all appear with stressed -oil (Thomson 1953: 33–4).317 Although there
may be some tendency towards -oil with heavy initial syllables and -al with light initial
syllables, there is no consistent pattern, and the evidence of Phillips seems to suggest
forward stress with -oil across the board as with other ‘contracted’ words, with forms
such as niartal being later developments. The division between -oil and -al may have
developed by analogy with the reflexes of the verbal noun ending -áil, stressed -ail, -eil
/ˈɛːlʲ/, unstressed -al /al/, where the long vowel is original. It may be significant that
the adjectives with -al can in general be characterized as more everyday, registerneutral lexis, whereas many of those with -oil appear to belong to a more literary higher
register, including terms of religious significance such as peccoil, gloyroil, feohdoil
etc., and several (gloyroil, onnoroil) appear to be new formations in Manx unattested
in other Gaelic varieties (glórmhar is Ir./ScG. for ‘glorious’, for example). Onnoroil
and spyrrydoil have stress on a third syllable, whereas there is usually shortening in
such cases (§5.1.5.5). It appears that -oil and -al remained as semi-productive suffixes
317
But Ph. duynalys ‘humanity’, CM dunnallys, alongside adjective duinôîl; Ph. gannylys, ganlys
‘gladness’, CM gennallys, alongside adjective ganoil etc.
379
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
in Manx and therefore these items cannot be taken as evidence of the general pattern
in words containing secondary long vowels from vocalized fricatives.
Green (1997: 90–3) claims that items with historical medial fricatives are treated
differently according to whether the fricative was originally intervocalic (e.g.
geanamhail, Manx gennal) or was part of a consonant cluster (e.g. dearmhad). The
former type, in this account, developed an unstressed long vowel (>*/ˈɡʲenoːlʲ/) at an
early stage, and thus were treated like words with historical post-tonic long vowels.
This implies that such items would be subject to initial syllable conditioning, and that
the initial stress in gennal is explained by the lightness of the initial syllable (as with
the beggan type). However, this overlooks the evidence regarding the -amhail suffix
discussed above. Besides these adjectives, other items with the geanamhail pattern are
rare, and two of them (bunnys < bunadhas and ellyn < aileamhain) appear to support
Green’s claim. However, as discussed below, these may be special cases (§5.1.4.1).
On the whole, then, it appears there is no strong evidence for a difference in treatment
between the geanamhail and the dearmhad types.
5.1.4.1 Exceptions
The two exceptions to the general rule that ‘contracted words’ show stress shift
regardless of initial syllable weight (apart from -amhail adjectives) are bunnys ‘almost;
most’ (G. bunadhas) and ellyn ‘behaviour’ (G. aileamhain).318 Both of these cases can
be explained by lexicalization of post-lexical light stress and/or stress retraction in
collocations. As an adverb ‘almost’, bunnys would often have light sentential stress,
and as a noun ‘majority’ it would often be followed by a genitive or prepositional
phrase bearing greater stress:
318
For this etymology see Thomson (1953: 205), Ó Maolalaigh (2006: 72). Broderick (HLSM II: 145)
derives it less plausibly from ealadhain ‘art, craft, skill’ which would be expected to give */al-/ or */ol-/
(§2.1.3) rather than /elʲ-/. The only attested transcribed form is u̜ lʹən (JTK), which has the expected
slender /lʲ/ but apparent confusion in the initial vowel. The semantic development from aileamhain
‘nurturing, upbringing’ to ‘good / bad manners, behaviour’ also seems more straightforward.
380
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
ˌbunnys ny Creeˈsteenyn (SW: 178)
yn ˌbunnys dy Chreeˈsteenyn (SW: 183)
‘most Christians’
The noun ellyn ‘behaviour, manners’ is rarely found outside the collocations ellyn mie
‘good behaviour’ and drogh-ellyn ‘bad behaviour’. Certainly in the first of these, and
possibly the second, heavier stress on the adjective would be expected, i.e. ˌellyn ˈmie.
Phillips has the latter phrase as ellyn mei (Moore and Rhŷs 1895 I: 452), showing the
prosody of the later form, as well as elúyn on its own translating ‘nurture’ (Moore and
Rhŷs 1895 I: 414), which appears to show the expected development with forward
stress on a long vowel /eˈlʲuːnʲ/. It is possible that there had been a semantic split
between these two forms, and that they were no longer recognized as the same lexeme.
5.1.5 First syllable conditioning: further details
5.1.5.1 Heavy sonorant clusters
Ó Sé (1991: 162) describes the following category of initial syllables as counting as
heavy and causing stress shift:
Words in which a short vowel is followed by a cluster of sonorant consonant +
voiced consonant (e.g. ordóg ‘thumb’) have tended to be treated in Manx like
words with a long vowel in the first syllable (e.g. fág(bh)áil ‘leaving’). Vowels
preceding such syllables were regarded as half long (síneadh meadhónach) by
mediaeval Irish grammarians (Greene 1952). Clusters which are not voiced
throughout do not have this lengthening effect on the first syllable (e.g. altóir).
(Ó Sé 1991: 162)
However, it appears that some combinations of sonorant + (historically) voiceless
consonant can also count as heavy and cause stress shift. Ó Sé includes some of these
in his ‘VRC’ (‘Short vowel + cluster of sonorant consonant and voiced consonant’)
category, presumably on the strength of the Classical Manx spelling, namely chyndaa
‘turn’ (G. tiontódh),319 undaag(agh) ‘nettles’ (G. neanntóg).
319
Medial voicing may be early here; Philips has <nd>, and cf. ScG. tionndadh.
381
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
cheinjean ‘bonfire’, G. teinteán
chyndaa ‘turn’, G. tiontódh
gamshoge (K.) ‘buffoon’, G. gaimseog
injeig ‘paddock, enclosure’, G. inseog
minjeig ‘bundle of heather; she-goat, young hind’, G. minnseóg
molteyr ‘deceiver’, G. mealltóir
undaagagh, ondaagagh ‘nettles’, G. neanntóg
pundaig (Cr.) ‘hard stem of grass’, cf. Ir. puntán
Stress shift is also found irregularly after certain other clusters:
cartage ‘gadder’, G. cart ‘tan, scrape clean, clear away’ + óg?
gorteog (K.) ‘stingy woman’, G. goirteóg (perhaps after Shaw 1780)
fockleyr ‘dictionary’, G. foclóir
kercheen ‘underling’, G. ceirt ‘rag’, ceirtín (eDIL), cf. ceirteachán (ÓD)
kishteig, kishteen (K.) ‘casket’, cisteóg, -ín
raghtaneys (Ecclesiasticus 10. 21), ‘roughness’, G. r(e)acht + án + as
shughlaig (Cr.), shughlage, shulchaag (K.) ‘sorrel’, cf. G. sealgán etc., ScG.
sealbhag, samhrag
But the same clusters may also be followed by vowel shortening:
braghtan ‘bread with butter etc.’, G. breachtán
partan ‘crab’, G. partán
carthan ‘tick’, G. (s)c(e)artán
5.1.5.2 Exceptions
Initial stress and post-tonic vowel shortening in heavy-heavy items:
aashag ‘seat to rest on, a seat made of matted straw’, G. áis + óg
milljag (Cr.) ‘a sweet drink, ale before the hop is added, mead’, G. milseóg
muiltchin (Cr.) ‘two year old mutton’, muiltin (K.) ‘eunuch’, G. muiltín
neaynin (K.) ‘daisy’, G. nóinín
runtag (Cr.) ‘round lump of a thing’, Manx runt, Eng. ‘round’ + óg
scoidan (Cr.) ‘sheet of sail’, G. scód, ScG. sgòdan
skeaban ‘(small) brush’, G. scuabán
stramlag (Cr.) ‘crankled or awkward thing’, G. sraimleóg
strumpag ‘strumpet’, cf. ScG. strùmpaid
teaystag ‘dumpling’, G. taos + óg
tholtan ‘ruin’, G. *tolltán
382
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Some of the above exceptions may be late formations from semi-productive use of the
unstressed diminutive suffixes (as also with some of the occurrences of stressed
terminations below, cf. Blankenhorn 1981: 245), or may represent stress retraction, or
uniformity with the transparent stem (teayst ‘dough’, skeab ‘brush’). Strumpag is
evidently adapted from English ‘strumpet’.
Exceptions – stress shift in light-heavy items:
cliegeen ‘jewel’, G. cleitín
falleays (Cr., K.), falleish (Bible) ‘gleam of light’, EIr. folés, ScG. faileas
fynneig ‘whiting’, G. fionnóg (HLSM II: 181)
fedjeen ‘feather of arrow’, G. eite + ín
ke(e)illeig (K.) ‘pollock, whiting’, ScG. caileag?
lheibeidjagh ‘unwieldy’, G. leibéiseach
peajeog (Cr.), pitteog (K.), piddeog (Ecclesiasticus 31. 24) ‘miser, churl’, G.
piteóg
putage (K.) ‘pudding’, G. putóg
pyshage (K.) ‘mew of cat’, G. pis + óg
robaig, roibage (Cr.) ‘whisker’, G. ribeóg, ScG. ribeag, roibean
For lack of shortening in -een in cliegeen, fedjeen, kercheen, we may perhaps compare
maintenance of length in this suffix in certain Ulster Irish varieties (Ó Dochartaigh
1984: 48–9).
The word fynneig ‘whiting’ (HLSM: 181), which does not appear in the dictionaries,
is doubtful. It is from Ewan Christian of Peel, a ‘semi-speaker’ (Broderick 1999: 5)
‘who first learned Manx from two old ladies in the same street when he was about five
years old, and later from farmers and fishermen in and around Peel’ (ibid.: 75).
Christian was apparently well-acquainted with ‘the Manx names of various birds and
fish’ (ibid.: 75), so his information may be genuine, but the form recorded fɪˈnʹeːg with
medial slender /nʲ/ suggests f(h)ynneig (Cr.), finneig (K.) ‘pod, capsule, small skiff’,
i.e. G. fíneóg, an item with an expected original heavy initial syllable.
The nouns bwaane (G. bothán) and bwaag (G. bothóg), which might have been
expected to show vowel shortening (i.e. /bohaːn/ > */bohan/ > */boː.an/), as in crooag
‘maggot’, G. cruimheóg (/ˈkruṽʲoːɡ/ > /ˈkruṽʲaɡ/ > /ˈkrũː.aɡ/), appear rather to have
383
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
early loss of intervocalic /h/ (</θ/), and retention of length on the suffix, with reduction
of /o/ to non-syllabic /w/ (/ˈbohaːn/ > /ˈbo.aːn/ > /bwɛːn/).
5.1.5.3 Stress-shift in items with fricative vocalization in initial syllable:
There is forward stress in a number of items with original short vowel + fricative in
the initial syllable; it is not certain whether this is because of the long vowel or
diphthong resulting from the vocalization of this fricative, or because the original
medial clusters (/ṽr/, /vl/ etc.) were heavy as in the sonorant-initial clusters discussed
above:
abane ‘ankle’, G. adhbhrann, *adhbarn, *adhbán (§3.4.7.4)
arrane ‘song’, G. amhrán
farrain (Cr.) ‘wild parsnip’, G. feabhrán, odhrán
gollage ‘pitchfork; earwig’, G. gabhlóg
jiulean ‘small farmer’, G. deidhbhleán
lourane ‘leper’, G. lobhrán (but also louyran ‘small castling’, Cr.)
lhemeen, lhemyn (Cr.) ‘moth’, G. leaghman etc.
liehbage (Cr.), liabage (K.) ‘flounder, fluke’, G. leadhbóg
onnane ‘thistle’, G. fo(bh)thannán etc.
5.1.5.4 Verbal nouns in -ail, -eil, -al (G. -áil)
In native items and older borrowings first syllable conditioning can be detected with
the verbal noun forming suffix -áil,320 as shown in the following examples:
light initial syllables, -al:
brebbal ‘kick’, G. breabáil
chebbal ‘offer’, Eng. ‘chap, cheap’
toiggal ‘understand’, G. tuigbheáil
laccal ‘lack, want’
soghal ‘sob, groan’, Eng. ‘sough’
troggal ‘build, raise’, G. tógáil, ScG. t(r)ogail
320
For the history of this and related morphemes, see Ó Cuív (1980). See also §4.4.7.
384
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
heavy initial syllables, -ail, -eil:
baarail ‘spend’, Eng. ‘wear’
faagail ‘leave’, G. fágbháil
farrail ‘fare’
pointeil ‘appoint’
sauail ‘save’, G. sábháil
waiteil ‘wait’
Later -al becomes the ‘the grand Manksifier-general of English verbs; as, trying,
TRYAL;
fixing,
FIXAL,
&c., &c.’ (Cregeen: ix, original emphasis), and is used
productively in numerous loans irrespective of initial syllable weight:
dreamal, campal, layal, spiceal, walkal, plantal, weighal (all in Bible)
There is evidence of fluctuation between stressed and unstressed reflexes of this ending
in manuscript and non-standard sources, as in blakal : bla-caile ‘stare’ (Thomson
1995: 131), K. blakail (usu. blakey, cf. G. spléachadh, ScG. spleuchdadh).
5.1.5.5 Items with original heavy third syllables
In general heavy third syllables do not attract stress, but show vowel shortening,
irrespective of the weight of the preceding syllables:
bwinnican ‘egg yolk’, G. buidheac(h)án, with influence from buinne, ScG.
buidhean?
feayragan ‘fan, parasol’, ScG. fuaragan
foillycan (Cr.), folican (K.) ‘butterfly’, G. féileacán
fynnican ‘egg-white’, G. *fionnacán, cf. Ir. gealacán; ScG. fionnagan
‘crowberry’
Jurynan, orynan (Ph.) ‘Jordan’, G. Eórthanán, Orthan(n)án (cf. Thomson
1995: 127)
laaraghyn, laueraghyn (K.), but loagh(t)rane (Cr.), ‘handle of flail’, ScG.
làmhrachan, Ir. lámhchrann
lhaihaghan (K.) ‘lecture’, G. *léigheachán
lheunican (Cr.), lionican (K.) ‘sty (on eye)’, ScG. leamhnagan, Ir. sleamhnán
(ny) lomarcan ‘alone’, cf. G. lomrachán
Manninan, name of legendary figure, G. Manannán
monnaghan (K.), ‘a fat greasy fellow, a bloated monk’ (K.), manachán
385
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
nieeaghyn, niaghyn ‘washing’, G. nigheachán
ommidan ‘fool’, G. amadán
oohagan (K.) ‘custard’, G. ughagán
panshaghan (K.) ‘paunch’, ScG. painnseachan
shommarcan (K.) ‘primrose’, cf sumark (Cr.), Ir. samhaircín, EIr. sobaircín
‘primrose’, seamróg ‘shamrock’, ScG. samhaircean, seòbhrach
‘primrose’
tuarystal, tooarystal ‘shape, appearance’, G. tuarascbháil
ynrycan, ynrican ‘only’, G. aonracán
Also all items with the agentive suffix -eyder /әderʲ/, G. -adóir, such as fuinneyder
‘baker’ (G. fuineadóir), kiaulleyder ‘musician’ (G. ceól + adóir), coyrleyder ‘advisor,
counsellor’ (G. comhairle + adóir), ooashleyder ‘worshipper’ (G. uaisle + adóir).
Some original trisyllables have bisyllabic forms by syncope:
cughlhin (Cr.) ‘cone’, ?cochall + ín
corlan, curlan ‘earthnut, pignut’, G. cúlarán etc., ScG. cutharlan
creoghan (K.) ‘gadfly; harsh creditor’, G. cruadhachán
earkan ‘lapwing’, G. adharcán
foldyr, foldyr ‘mower’, ScG. fàladair
loagan ‘stagger’, G. lámhacán, ScG. làmhagan
mwatlag ‘welk’, ScG. maighdealag, Ir. maighdeog
oghsan ‘rebuke, reproof’, G. achmhasán, EIr. athchomsán
oikan (Bible, Cr., K.); oinkan, inkan (Cr.) ‘infant’, G. *naoidheacán,
*naoidhneacán, ScG. naoidheachan
roagan (Cr.), raucan (K.), ‘scallop’, G. ?*rothacán
udlan ‘swivel’, G. udalán
Sometimes there is final stress in synchronically bisyllabic items, presumably as a
result of early syncope:
phadeyr ‘prophet’, G. fáidheadóir
scrudeyr ‘writer, scribe’, G. scríobhadóir
Parlane ‘Bartholomew’, G. Parthalón
Synchronically heavy third syllables are found only in loanwords and derivations
involving stressed suffixes:
emperúyr (Ph.) ‘emperor’
offishear ‘officer’
386
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
onnoroil ‘honourable’, G. onóir + amhail
spyrrydoil ‘spiritual’, G. spioradamhail
5.1.6 Quality of post-tonic shortened vowels
There is regularly /a/ in the reduced suffixes -an, -ag, -al judging by the orthography
and by frequent occurrence of [a] in the phonetic data, although there is sometimes
also reduction to [ә]. In some final syllables with shortened long vowels, the Phillips
orthography appears to show /a/ which may have been reduced to /ә/ by the Classical
Manx period:
cassid ‘accuse’, Ph. kassad, kasaid (4), ghassaid, G. casaoid, ScG. casaid
/kasadʲ/
Final -adóir is regularly reduced to -eyder in the Classical Manx orthography, which
appears to suggest /e/ rather than /ә/ or /a/.
5.1.7 Irregular stress in reeriaght ‘kingdom’
Unexpected stress patterns may be lexically conditioned in certain instances. Notably,
reeriaght ‘kingdom’ is found as /riˈriː.axt/ in Late Manx (Rhŷs: 166; HLSM II: 364),
perhaps from a blend of ríoghacht and ríoghraidheacht. The influence of the rhythm
of reciting the Lord’s Prayer may also be relevant (cf. dty ennym ‘thy name’ /dә ˈenәm/,
dty aigney ‘thy will’ /dә ˈaɡʲnʲә/, dty reeriaght ‘thy kingdom’ /dә riˈriː.axt/).
5.2 Apocope
Loss of final /ә/ has been noted especially in Manx and Scottish Gaelic (O’Rahilly:
138–9; Watson 1985: 128), although it also more sporadically occurs in Irish (e.g. Ó
Curnáin 2007: 117–19). In Manx final /ә/ is usually retained in bisyllables, as in e.g.
arrey ‘watch’, G. aire
caashey ‘cheese’, G. cáise
387
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
lurgey ‘leg’, G. lurga
kiuney ‘calm’, G. ciúine
sniaghtey ‘snow’, G. sneachta
thanney ‘thin’, G. tana
It tends to be lost in bisyllables after sonorant clusters /RN/, /RL/, /RLʲ/. However, it
is retained baarney ‘gap’ (G. bearna), farney ‘black-alder’ (G. fearn(a)).
arn /aːrn/ ‘sloe’, G. airne
Baarle /beːrl/ ‘English language’, G. Béarla
chiarn /tʃaːrn/ ‘lord’, G. tighearna
coyrle /kõːrlʲ/ ‘advice’, G. comhairle
oarn /oːrn/ ‘barley’, G. eórna
As observed by O’Rahilly (138), apocope in Manx is more widespread in items with
more than two original syllables (this category may include coyrle, chiarn above):
aghin ‘petition’, G. athchuinge
Boaldyn ‘May’, G. Bealltaine
chaghter ‘messenger’, G. teachtaire
eshlyn, eshlys ‘shroud’, G. eisléine
feanish ‘witness, evidence’, G. fiadhnaise
feysht ‘question, examine’, G. faoiside
immyr ‘bed or butt of land’, G. iomaire
kemmyrk ‘refuge’, G. coimirce
Lhunys ‘Lammas’, G. Lughnasa
maggle ‘testicle’, G. magairle
magher ‘field’, G. machaire
muinneel ‘sleeve’, G. muinchille
roayrt ‘springtide’, G. rabharta, robharta, ScG. reothairt
sharvaant ‘servant’, G. searbhónta
shilleeid (Cr.), shelleed (K.), ‘snail, slug’, G. seilchide
skibbylt ‘nimble, light of foot’, G. sciobalta
sproghil ‘dewlap’, G. sprochaille
staghyl ‘clumsy person’, G. stachaille
troar, troayr ‘crops’, G. treabhaire
388
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
The following are variable:321
-aghey, -agh, vn. termination, G. -aghadh, ScG. -achadh
enney, enn ‘recognition, knowledge’, G. aithne
bochilley, bochil ‘shepherd’, G. buachaille
boandyr, boandyrey ‘nurse’, G. banaltra
dunver, dunverey ‘murderer’, cf. G. dúnmharbhthóir
firriney, firrin ‘truth’, G. fírinne
skaaley, skaal ‘flat dish, saucer’, G. scála
Items with an original termination -t(h)a, -t(h)e (past participles, old genitives of verbal
nouns, etc.) often have apocope, as in:
losht ‘burn, burnt’, G. loisc, loiscthe
nasht ‘betrothed’, G. naiscthe
skeilt ‘cloven’, G. scoilte
Jeheiney-Cheays ‘Good Friday’, G. Aoine an Chéasta
dooinney-poost, ben-phoost ‘bridegroom, bride’, G. pósta, gen. pósadh
sheelt ‘sober’, G. síobhalta, Eng. ‘civil’
skibbylt ‘nimble, active’, G. sciobalta
But /-ә/ is sometimes retained:
cailjey ‘lost’, G. caillte (of sheep etc., otherwise usu. caillit)
custey ‘cursed’, Eng. curse + G. -ta
sailjey ‘salted’, G. saillte
Note that loss / reduction of the participle ending leads to new forms with regular -it,
sometimes reduplicated -jit (cf. Thomson 1970: 149):
currit ‘put’, G. cuir, curtha + Manx -it
riojit ‘frozen’, G. reóite + Manx -it
A few loanwords which in other Gaelic dialects often have an excrescent final schwa
(cf. Ó Curnáin 2007: 123–4) lack this in Manx, and some of these are assimilated into
native paradigms:
321
As far as can be discerned, these are to be interpreted as variant underlying or citation forms; there
appears to be no evidence of the ‘caducous vowel’ found in Scottish Gaelic (Watson 1985; also
Borgstrøm 1940: 50).
389
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
giat ‘gate’, gen. giattey, G. geata (invariable in singular)
oast, in thie-oast ‘inn’, fer-oast ‘hostelier’, G. ósta
pann, panney ‘pan’, gen. panney (Bible), G. panna
pot ‘pot’, pl. pooiyt, G. pota
spot ‘spot’, pl. spuitt, G. spota
sole ‘threshold’, G. sóla
But others have added /ә/:
attey ‘crown’, G. hata, Eng. hat, Norse hattr
barrey ‘bar’, G. barra
cloagey ‘cloak’, G. clóca
boandey ‘bond’, G. banda
bolley ‘boll’, G. bolla
cooiney ‘coin’
foalsey ‘false’, G. fallsa
paggey ‘pack’, G. paca
sthartey ‘job, spell of work’ (EDD s.v. start 11)
thunney ‘ton’, G. tunna
tubbey ‘tub’, G. tuba
Emphatic suffixes / clitics -sa, -se always have apocope or metathesis:
mish ‘I, me’, G. mise
uss ‘you’, G. thusa
ish ‘she, her’, G. ise
shiuish ‘you’, G. sibhse
aym’s ‘at me’, G. agamsa
my ennym’s ‘my name’, G. m’ainm-se
dty egooishys ‘without you’ (CS), G. i d’ fhéagmhais-se
The following irregular verb forms have apocope:
cheayll, geayll ‘heard’, G. chuala
vaik, naik ‘saw’, G. faca
ren ‘did, made’, G. rinne
Other original bisyllables with apocope:
bine ‘drop’, G. boinne
drease, dreast (Cr.) ‘after a while’, ScG. an-dràsta
failt ‘welcome’, G. fáilte
390
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
faare ‘close, near’, G. farradh
feoilt ‘generous’, G. faoilte(ach)
eayst ‘moon’, G. éasca
insh ‘tell’, G. innse
reaisht ‘span’, G. réise
Final -adh (in verbal nouns etc.) is usually retained, except where it coalesces into a
long vowel or diphthong resulting from vocalized fricatives. Note that genitive -aidh
(Manx -ee /i/) may nevertheless appear:
craa ‘shaking’, G. crathadh, gen. craaee
loau ‘rotting’, G. lobhadh, gen. loauee
screeu ‘writing’, G. scríobhadh, gen. screeuee
sneeu ‘spinning’, G. sníomhadh, gen. sneeuee
This termination may spread by analogy to other verbal nouns without original -adh:
snaue ‘swimming, crawling’, G. snámh, gen. snauee
There is variable loss of -adh in freaylley, freayll ‘keep’ (G. friotháladh), and also in
the termination -agh(ey) (see above).
5.3 Syncope
The following concerns phonologically or lexically conditioned syncope in post-tonic
syllables (cf. Watson 1985: 125–6). Syncope within morphological paradigms (as
found generally in Gaelic dialects), is not considered,322 nor is syncope in trisyllables
with original final heavy syllables (§5.1.5.5), or syncope in pre-tonic syllables (§5.1.3).
Syncope is regular in final unstressed -rra(i)n(n), -rtha(i)n(n), -rra(i)ng (cf. O’Rahilly
1942a: 120):
ayrn ‘part’, G. earrann
faarn ‘rain leaking through roof’, G. fearthain
er-mayrn ‘left, remaining’, G. marthain
322
E.g. cossyn ‘win, gain’ (G. cosain), verbal noun cosney (G. cosnadh), or millish ‘sweet’ (G. milis),
comparative ny s’miljey (G. níos milse).
391
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
keirn ‘rowan’, G. caorthann
tayrn ‘pull, draw’, G. tarraing
yiarn ‘iron’, G. iarann323
Syncope is also found in the following. Note that some items have both contracted and
uncontracted by-forms. Some of the contracted forms may be back-formations from
syncopated plurals (cf. Thomson 1999: 401–2).
faarkey ‘bathe’, G. fothragadh, influenced by faarkey ‘sea’, G. fairrge?
fess(t) ‘spindle’, G. fearsaid
feysht ‘question, examine’, G. faoiside
geaysh ‘hair, fur’, G. gaoiside
insh ‘tell’, G. innis
jeelt ‘saddle’, G. díollaid, diallaid
mooads, mooadys ‘amount’, cf. G. méad + as
shleayst, slheeayst, slheeassid ‘thigh’, G. sliasaid
sleayst ‘shovel’, G. sluasaid
taggloo ‘talk’, G. agallamh
yindys ‘wonder’, G. iongantas, Ir. iontas
Compare also Yernagh ‘Irish, Irishman’ (G. Éireannach), but Nherin ‘Ireland’ (an / in
Éirinn) and Sostnagh ‘English, Englishman’ (G. Sa(c)sanach).
5.4 Epenthesis
It has been noted that epenthesis or svarabhakti is more restricted in Manx than in most
other Gaelic dialects (Marstrander: 70–1; O’Rahilly: 203; Jackson: 60; Thomson 1960;
Ó Baoill 1980: 94, 101–2; HLSM
III:
143–5). Notably it is absent in the following
sonorant-stop clusters:
323
Originally O.Ir. íarn, with insertion of an epenthetic vowel in Middle Irish; for discussion see
O’Rahilly (1942a). It seems more likely that the Manx form represents secondary loss of the vowel in
the second syllable, as in the other items listed here, and with reduction of /iә̯/ to /ja/ as in chiarn ‘lord’
(G. tighearna) (perhaps with the motivation of avoiding an over-heavy syllable), than maintenance of
original iarn (see §4.6.2).
392
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/lb/
scolb /skolb/ ‘chip, break shell; stir’, G. scolb
/lɡ/, /lʲɡʲ/
bolg /bolɡ/ pl. builg /bulʲɡʲ/ ‘belly’, G. bolg324
jolg, jialg /dʒolɡ/ pl. jilg /dʒilʲɡʲ/ ‘thorn’, G. dealg
tilg /tilʲɡʲ/ ‘throw’, G. tilg
/rb/
borb /borb/ ‘harsh, rough, severe’, G. borb
/rɡ/, /rʲɡʲ/
jiarg /dʒaːrɡ/ ‘red’, G. dearg
farg /faːrɡ/ ‘anger’, G. fearg
s’merg /smerʲɡʲ/ ‘woe’, G. is mairg325
Early epenthesis appears in monosyllables in the following clusters consisting of two
sonorants, or a sonorant followed by a stop or a voiced fricative, and is already attested
in Phillips:
/lm/, /lʲm/
Collym /kolәm/ name, G. Colm (HLSM III: 144)
hellym /helʲәm/ ‘sounded’, G. seinm (with dissimilation)
324
Ó Baoill (1980: 101–2) notes the anomalous apparent presence of an epenthetic vowel in Manx data
from Wagner (LASID IV: 174, 188) in the cluster /lɡ/ where it is otherwise unattested: ‘[ən wulag uʃtʹə]
an bolg uisce? [vɔlagən ʃeːdʹə] bolgán séide?’ (Ó Baoill’s interpretations). The clear vowel in these is
suspicious as it looks like the diminutive /aɡ/ (G. -óg) rather than epenthesis where /ә/ would be
expected. The first of these looks like yn vullag ushtey ‘the water keg’ (G. mullóg) (the feminine gender
of mullag would explain the lenition, and the informant may have misunderstood Wagner’s prompt to
translate ‘water-bag’, a term relating to the calving of cattle). The second may be confused with
trisyllabic bellyssyn ‘bellows’ (Ifans and Thomson 1979–80: 150; HLSM II: 28), and or phonetically
similar bollag ‘skull’ (G. ballóg), mullag ‘keg’, or mollag ‘buoy’ (G. meallóg); in any case this is a
deviation from expected builg-sheidee (Jeremiah 6:29). Broderick also notes bolg my vaggleyn ‘my
scrotum’ (‘the belly / bag of my testicles’, G. magairle), boləg mə ˈvɑgələn TC (HLSM II: 39),
suggesting that ‘[t]he epenthetic vowel in bolg may be influenced from the central syllable in vaggleyn,
so as to assist in the flow of the phrase’ (HLSM III: 144). Ó Baoill’s (1980: 102) suggested explanation
is rather weak: ‘I would favour the view that the forms with epenthesis are the oldest and that the
retention of the epenthesis in these forms is due mainly to their semantic relationship with the original
stem being obscured or forgotten. What I am suggesting is that the form bolg on its own and in the
phrase an bolg uisce may not be related to each other in the native speaker’s mind.’ It should also be
borne in mind that Wagner appears to have had a tendency to misanalyse Manx and transcribe ghost
features from Irish (§1.5.8).
325
But note Ph. sh’marig etc. The <i> here may represent epenthesis, or perhaps simply palatality?
393
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/rm/, /rʲm/
gorrym /ɡorәm/ ‘blue’, G. gorm
orrym /orәm/ ‘on me’, G. orm
gerrym /ɡerʲәm/ ‘cock-crow’, G. gairm
sterrym /sterʲәm/ ‘storm’, G. stoirm
/nʲm/
ennym /enәm/ ‘name’, G. ainm (§4.4.3)
/nʲb/
kennip /kenʲәp/ ‘hemp’, ScG. cainb, Ir. cnáib
/rʲv/
Ph. teryuf /terʲәv/ ‘bulls’, CM terriu /terʲu/, G. tairbh
Ph. meirif /merʲәv/ ‘dead’ (pl.), CM merriu /merʲu/, G. mairbh
There was presumably epenthesis prior to vocalization of fricatives in e.g. jalloo
‘picture’ (G. dealbh) */dʲalәv/ > CM /dʒalu/, of which Early Manx teryuf etc. is the last
remnant (Thomson 1960: 122).
When further syllables are added, the epenthetic vowel may be absent:326 e.g. enmyn
‘names’ (ScG. ainmean), enmaghey ‘to name’ (ainmeaghadh), gormid ‘blueness’ (G.
goirme + id), stermagh ‘stormy’ (G. stoirmeach).
Where there is forward stress there is no epenthesis in a cluster preceding the stressed
syllable (Thomson 1960: 121).327 Note the maintenance of /v/ in this position:
colmane /kolˈmɛːn/ ‘dove’, G. colmán
sharmane /ʃarˈmɛːn/ ‘sermon’, G. searmóin
marvaanagh /marˈvɛːnax/ ‘mortal’, G. marbhánach
shirveish /ʃirʲˈveːʃ/ ‘service’, G. seirbhís
326
As also with historical vowels, e.g. currym ‘duty’ (G. cúram), curmaghey ‘to charge’; corrym ‘equal’
(G. comhthrom), cormal ‘to compare’.
327
The existence of epenthesis in monosyllables such as gorrym but not in polysyllables with forward
stress such as colmane is treated by Ó Baoill (1980: 101–2) as a puzzle in need of a solution. He suggests
that epenthesis only occurred in stressed syllables, and so must postdate stress shift. However, he does
not note the polysyllabic morphologically complex forms without stress shift which also show absence
of epenthesis, such as enmaghey, stermagh etc. Since this category of epenthesis is restricted to original
monosyllables, an obvious motivation for the development is to break up the cluster in the complex
coda; this motivation would not exist in polysyllables, regardless of their stress pattern, if syllable
boundaries fall within the cluster, i.e. col.ˈmane, ˈster.magh. Alternatively, there would be greater
motivation for syncopation of the epenthetic vowel in longer words.
394
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
It is unclear whether epenthesis in the cluster /rx/ was an early development; it is spelt
<rgh> in Phillips, but as Thomson notes, this is also sometimes the case where a
historical vowel is expected, as in karghey ‘repair, correct’, CM karraghey (G.
coireaghadh, ScG. càireachadh). According to Thomson (1960: 121), it first appears
in the surname Faragher (G. Mac Fearchair) in 1649 (cf. Moore 1903: 23; Quilliam
1989: 76).
/rx/
dorraghey /dorәxә/ ‘dark’, G. dorcha
orraghey /orәxә/ ‘bow-shot’, G. urchar (§4.2.2)
Similar clusters /Nx/, /nx/ are only found in one item in Ph., apparently without
(Thomson 1960: 124), and in a place name:
/Nx/, /nx/
kranghyr (Ph.) /kraN(ә)xәr/ ‘lot’, G. crannchor
Connaghyn /ˌskʲilʲә ˈkonәxan/ ‘Kirk Conchan’ (PNIM
II: 510)
IV:
361; HLSM
There is epenthesis in /lx/ in one item, although this may have been reanalysed
as -achán (cf. the Scottish form):
/lx/
ollaghan /olәxan/ ‘treadle of spade’, G. ealchaing, ScG. ealachainn
Later, epenthesis appears in original polysyllables in other clusters, in which a stop or
a fricative is followed by a sonorant. Some of these are variable in Phillips (Thomson
1960: 124)328 and later, as shown by orthographic and metrical evidence (Thomson
1960: 125; Lewin and Wheeler 2019: 4). This type corresponds to the ‘secondary
epenthesis’ characteristic of Munster Irish (e.g. Noyer 1990).
328
Thomson (1960: 124) also notes variation in derived or inflected forms with expected syncopation
such as doccaragh ‘toilsome’ (G. docrach), focklyn ‘words’ (G. focla), feeacklyn ‘teeth’ (G. fiacla). In
these items, however, it is uncertain whether we have original lack of syncope, epenthesis, or forms
reconstructed from the stem.
395
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/br/
dobberan /dobәran/ ‘mourning’, G. dobrón
/dr/
maarderagh /meːrdәrax/ ‘fornicator, whoremonger’, G. meirdreach
mad(y)ran /mad(ә)ran/ ‘morning’, ScG. maidnean?
/kr/
accyrys (Bible),329 accrys, /ak(ә)rәs/ ‘hunger’, G. ocras, but EIr.
occoras
/sr/
fysseree /fisәri/ ‘knowledge’, G. fiosraighe
gassree, gadyree, gadyrey /ɡasәri/ ‘heat in bitches’, ScG. gasraidh
glasseraght /ɡlasәraxt/ ‘vegetation’, G. glasrach
losserey, pl. lossreeyn /losәrә/ ‘herb’, G. lusra
/ʃrʲ/
casherick /kaʃәrʲәkʲ/ ‘holy’, G. coisrigthe
shesheragh /ʃeʃerʲax/ ‘plough-team’, G. seisreach
/xr/
(er-)shagh(y)ryn /ʃax(ә)ran/ ‘astray’, G. seachrán
ogh(y)rish /ox(ә)rәʃ/ ‘bosom’, G. fochras
Epenthesis is also attested in other medial clusters (Marstrander: 66; Thomson 1960:
120; HLSM III: 144–5), though usually not written (except in the items with -yragh):
/nr/
maynrey ‘happy’, maynrys ‘happiness’ /meːnrә(s)/, G. méanar,
mendrɑ̜ SK, mɛː̃ ndrə, meːndərəs JW (HLSM II: 293)
/mnʲ/ > /mrʲ/
lheimyragh(t) /lʲeːmәrʲax/ ‘leap, jump’, cor-lheimyragh ‘skip’, G.
léimneach
breimaragh (Cr.), bremmeragh (K.) /bremәrʲax/ ‘fart’, G.
broimneach330
329
So consistently in the Bible, but adjective accryssagh ‘hungry’.
These may be influenced by the category of verbal / abstract nouns with G. -aireach(t), and words
of similar shape such as fynneraght ‘coolness, breeze’ (G. fionnuaracht).
330
396
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
/mn/ (>/ml/) > /mr/ (apparently a northern development)
chymney /tʃimnә/ ‘will’, G. tiomnadh, tʹʃĩmnə, tʹʃɪmːnɑ̜ NM, tʹʃïmərə
TC, tʹʃɪmərə HB (HLSM II: 79)
famlagh (Bible, Cr.), famyragh (Cr.) /famlax, famәrax/ ‘seaweed’, G.
feamnach, famlax, fɑ ̣mlɑ ̣x NM, famləx, fömərəx WA,
famərax J:JTK (HLSM II: 158–8)
/rɡ/
margey /marɡә/ ‘market’, G. margadh, maːgə and similar; vörəgə TC
(HLSM II: 290)
An epenthetic vowel may also be inserted in initial /mn > mr/, /mlʲ/, each occurring
radically in one item each (actually fossilized eclipsis in the latter case), from Phillips
(>[mәn-]) (Thomson 1960: 120) through to Late Manx (>[mәr-]) (HLSM III: 145):
/mr/
mraane /mrɛːn/ ‘women’, G. mná, ScG. mnàthan, Ph. mynáyn (5),
mynayn (2), mynanyn [sic], mᵊˈreːn(ʹ) S, mrɛːn S (HLSM III:
145), also gen. sg. Ph. myny, myníí (G. mná, but form probably
= dat. mnaoi)
/mlʲ/
my-leeaney331 (Bible), myleeaney (Cr., K.) /m(әˈ)lʲiә̯nә/ ‘this year’, G. i
mbliadhna məˈlʹinə N/S (HLSM III: 145)
5.5 Vowel shortening and lengthening
Both shortening and lengthening of vowels are attested in Manx in certain lexical
items. The former is often shown in spelling, but the latter is not generally represented
and may be a late development.
Late spoken Manx is also characterized by not a few alterations in the quantity
of stressed vowels […] In a number of words an originally short vowel has been
lengthened, e.g. lhiābbee, sniāghtey, fākin, brēh,332 brīshey, bōght, pōbbyl [sic],
in contrast to E[arly] Mod[ern] Ir[ish] leabaidh, sneachta, faicsin, breith,
briseadh, bocht, pobal, respectively. On the other hand, originally long vowels
331
The initial cluster here may have been reanalysed as preposition my ‘about’ (ScG. mu).
This item does not belong here, but rather shows regular lengthening of a synchronically final vowel
from historical /Vh/ sequences (cf. §2.2.4).
332
397
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
or diphthongs have been occasionally shortened, as in freogh, Gailic [sic],
geayl, in contrast to E. Mod. Ir. fraoch, Gaoidhealg, gual, respectively; cf.
further Manx fidder with Ir. fíodóir (< figheadóir).
(O’Rahilly: 118–9)333
Jackson notes that these lengthenings and shortenings are ‘characteristic’ of Manx, and
suggests that the length contrast in Manx is not very robust in any case.
In principle there are long and short vowels, but the long vowels are sometimes
little more than half-long. This is especially true in the case of Common Gaelic
short stressed vowels which have been secondarily lengthened in Manx in
certain circumstances. These lengthenings are a characteristic feature of Manx
as distinct from Irish and Scottish Gaelic. […] On the other hand, equally
characteristic, […] is […] the frequent shortening of original éa, ao, aoi, ua,
uai.
(Jackson: 9–10)334
Broderick’s observations are similar (HLSM III: 122):
The long vowels are about three-quarters the length of their counterparts in
Irish, especially original short stressed vowels which have been secondarily
lengthened. This feature of secondary lengthening is a characteristic of L[ate]
S[poken] M[anx] […] Equally characteristic, though not so prevalent, is the
proclivity of LSM to shorten original stressed long vowels […]. All such long
vowels can be affected by secondary shortening.
(HLSM III: 122)
The apparent reduction in the length of Manx long vowels noted by Broderick and
Jackson could conceivably have contributed to fluctuation in quantity. However,
compare Scouller (2017: 235–7) for the difficulties of making generalizations about
vowel length. Scouller notes that Colonsay phonemically long vowels are marked as
‘half-long’ in SGDS, but he suggests that this may have been due to the single
informant’s ‘clipped’ speech style and ‘in natural speech, vowel length can be
extremely variable, and that the listener’s perception of a vowel as ‘long’ or ‘short’ is
333
The examples appear to be taken from Rhŷs.
In this passage Jackson (9) also mentions the ‘not very common […] shortening of original stressed
long vowels before final ᵈn and ᵇm’, which is discussed under the phenomenon of preocclusion (§4.5.2).
334
398
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
more important than precise measurement of its duration’. Nevertheless, it is tempting
to see the variability of vowel length in Manx as signs of an incipient reanalysis of
vowel length distinctions as contrasts of quality on the lines of the English tense-lax
contrast; compare also the difficulty of analysing length in diphthongs (§3.9.1).
5.5.1 Vowel shortening
Vowel shortening may be found in a number of items. In most cases, the short vowel
is shown in the Classical Manx orthography, as in firriney ‘truth’ (G. fírinne), in
contrast to feer ‘true, very’ (G. fíor). A number of spellings in Phillips may suggest
short realizations also (cf. Rhŷs: 166), although the picture is not entirely clear as
vowel length is not marked consistently in this orthography. In addition to these cases,
Rhŷs notes a number of examples of shortening of other items where the long vowel
is marked in the orthography, including keead ‘hundred’ (G. céad) (Rhŷs: 7), eayl
‘lime’ (G. aol), meayl ‘bald’ (G. maol) (Rhŷs: 21), vooar (G. mhór) (Rhŷs: 67), dy
bragh ‘ever’ (G. go bráth) (Rhŷs: 67). This shortening may be variable, as in the
following case:
Such a word as freoagh ‘heather’ (Goi. fraoch) should be pronounced frȳgh
[frәːx] according to analogy, and I have occasionally heard it so, but much
oftener it is fry̆ gh [frәx] with a short vowel.
(Rhŷs: 18)
Broderick (HLSM III: 122–40) gives numerous further examples of sporadic shortening
in the Manx of the terminal speakers. These are mentioned by Stockman (1986: 12–
3), who compares them to similar developments in Ulster dialects.
Table 107 contains those items where the evidence suggests that shortening was wellestablished in Classical and Late Manx:
399
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Table 107. Long vowel shortening
Phillips
cheddin,
keddin;
myrgeddin
cheet335
ed (3), æd (2),
ied (3), iedd
CM
pronunciation
/çedәn/,
/mәrˈɡʲedәn/
etymology
English
HLSM
céadna; mar
a gcéadna
same;
likewise
i NM, e̜ TC,
JW, ï HK
/tʃi(ː)t/
tigheacht
come
/çed/
céad
first
e̜ HK, JW, ø
TC, ɪ JK, NM,
i, ɛ JTK, e HB
e̜ (HLSM I: 50)
/kurәm/
cúram
duty, charge
currym
íít (7), iit (4),
ít (2), ît, it (6),
itt
ie (6), iê, ei
(5), êî
ur, or, urr (5)
eaddagh
yd (12)
/edax/
éadach
clothes
earroo
er (8), ér (7),
err, ær (3), ǽr
(5)
ydd, æd (2),
ed (5), yd (5),
yth, éth, eyd,
ýd
edr (5)
/erʲu/
áireamh
number
ï JK, eː JK, e
JTK, NM, e̜
TT
e̜ WQ, ɪ TC
/edәn/
éadan
face
ø TC, ɪ NM
/edrәm/
éadrom
light
/enʲax/
éigin(each)
some,
certain
e̜ HK, e JTK, ɛ
W:N
əˈnʹax NM,
ɛnax HB
/fiderʲ/
figheadóir
weaver
ɪ JK, TT, e̜ TT
íírr, irr (18),
yr, ir (2), ier
(2), iyrr (2),
iirr, yir, eir
od (39), odd
(13)
/firʲәnʲә/
fírinne(ach)
truth; true
ẹ TC, ï HK, ɪ
NM
/fodi/
féad, ScG.
faod
can, may,
maybe
phalỳder
/foldәrʲ/
ScG.
fàladair
mower;
scythe
o̜ JW, HB, ɪ, ɛ
NM, ɔ TC, JK,
NM, ə NM, o̤
HB
o JK
(adj.
Gaelgagh)
gellgah,
golgkagh
(?gel[Thomson])
/ɡelʲkʲ/, /ɡelʲɡʲ/
Gaoidhealg
etc.
Manx
language
chied
eddin
eddrym
ennagh
egnagh (3),
ægnagh, egyn
(3)
fidder
firriney;
firrinagh
foddee
folder,
foldyr, yiarn
foldyragh
Gaelg (Cr.),
Gaelck (K.),
Gailck
335
chit frequent in Bible MSS and elsewhere.
400
i JTK, HB, JK,
W:N, WQ,
NM, ɪ TC,
NM, W:S,
J:JK, J:NM, e̜
JW, e W:S, ᵘe
Fa
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
eatt (4), æatt,
eytt, yæth,
eadth (4), etd
(4), edth (3),
eadh, eath (2),
êath (3), êâth
(2), edtg
aink (16), áink
(8)
eid (2), éid,
ǽid, eidg (2),
æids, æ̀ dj, ǽd,
éad, edg (2),
edj (2), ed, id
/ɡʲedәn/,
/fedәn/
ScG.
faotainn
get, find
ø TC, e NM,
JK, JTK, HB, ɪ
NM
/heŋʲkʲ/
tháinig
came
/hedʲ/, /hem/
théid,
théighim,
théigh muid
will go
irree
irr (27), ir̆ r̆ , írr,
ir, írr
/irʲi/
éirghe
rise
jean, jannoo
(jean) ean
(28), éan, eán,
(jannoo) an
(9), ān (2), ean
(4), ian
/dʒen/, /dʒenu/
déan,
déanamh
do, make
jeig
éeg (4), eeg
(2), ieg (yeig)
(5), éyg
/dʒeɡ/
déag
teen
karraghey
ar (3), arr (2),
ayr, ar̆ r̆
/karaxә/
mend, repair
kirree
irr (5), ir
/kiri/
cóirigh,
ScG.
càraich,
càirich
caoirigh,
caoraigh
mám, ScG.
mam
mám, ScG.
mam
i TC, TL, NM,
e NM, e̜ TT
(hem) e̜ TT,
HK, ɪ TC, JW,
i JW, (hem
main, mayd) ɪ
TC, ï, ɛ NM,
(jed) e̜ TC,
(jem) e̜ HK,
(jem mayd) e̜
HK
ɪ TC, i NM,
JK, iː JK, ĭː
NM
(jannoo) e̜ TC,
JW e JK, NM,
W:N, o̤ JTK,
HB, W:N,
W:S, ɪ TK,
DC, TL, EL,
NM, a NM,
JW, EC, ẹ JW,
ɛ SK, Wa,
J:EK, J:TL,
(jeant) e̜ TC,
(jean impv.) ɪ,
e̜ , (jean fut.) e̜ ,
ɪ
e̜ TC, Fa, Co,
Wa, e JK, TK,
HK, i WQ, e
HB
e̜ NM, JK, e
TK, ɪ TK, ẹ
JW, TK, HK, ï
HK
i, iː NM, ï HK,
ɪ TC
geddyn,
feddyn
haink, daink
hed, jed,
hem, jem,
hemmayd,
jemmayd
mam
/mam/
mam
/mam/
sheep (pl.).
handful (of
both hands)
blain,
blister, boil
401
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
milley (1
Chronicles
21. 12)336
mirril
il (5), iyl. iil
/milʲә/
míle
thousand,
million
iː TK, JK, NM
‘mile’
ir (3), yr (2), ír
/mirәlʲ/
míorbhail
miracle
e̜ JW, HK
/mwari/
East Ulster
Ir. móiridhe
(Dinneen),
móraí (Ó
Dónaill)
grandmother
wɔ̜ːri, wɑːri
NM, mŭā̱ri
[mwãːri],
wo̱ rə [wõrә]
(Rhŷs
notebook 6:
79, 149)
a TC
mwarree
(Bible, Cr.),
moirree (K.)
prash
ass (4)
/praʃ/
*prais, prás
brass
queig;
queiggoo
queig (3),
queigg,
(wheiggoo)
queiggu,
quygu, quygú,
quyggu,
quyggú
/kweɡʲ/,
/xweɡʲu/
cúig, cóig;
cúigmheadh
five; fifth
/reŋʲkʲ/
ráinig
réad, raod,
rud
reached,
arrived
thing
raink
red
ed (10), edd
(4), yd (5),
ydd, ǽd
/red/, /rud/
rhum
(Cr.),337
room
(Bible),
rooym (K.)
reamlagh
(Bible),
rimlagh (Cr.,
NBHR)
saillym
umm, úym,
úy̆ m
/ru(ː)m/
336
al (11), all
(10), ail (15),
âil, âîl, aill (3),
áil, áill
room
kweg NM, TK,
HK, kwɛg HK,
fᵘe̜ g Wa;
kwe.gu NM
ɪ JK, HB, J:TL,
JTK, NM, SK,
ï JK, HB, W:S,
SK, o̤ JK, HB,
NM, SK,
W:Peel, ø TC,
u HB, NM,
SK, ö J:EK, ə
NM
u, ũː, uː TC
/rɨә̯mlax/,
?/rimlax/
ruaimneach
fishing-line
ɪ NM, ï HK,
TK, ü W:S
/salʲәm/
is áil le
wish, want
ɛː TC, aː JW,
J:JK,338 HK, i
JW, ɑ ̣ HK, ɪ
TM
meeil(l)ey ‘mile’ (Bible, Cregeen).
rhum-aarlee ‘kitchen’ (Cregeen).
338
‘In myr ’s ailliu [sic] hene, “as you yourself like,” = mö saːlʹʲu ˈhiːn [John] KN[een ], the Ir. áil, ScG.
àill, seems to have had its vowel shortened and subsequently lengthened secondarily, as otherwise ɛːlʹ
would presumably be expected; a short vowel seems indicated by the Manx spelling’ (Jackson: 25).
337
402
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
scribider
(Cr.), cf.
screebeyder
‘scratcher’
(Cr.)
sheill,
sheiltyn
(Bible, Cr.),
sheltyn
(Cr.), shein
(Cr.), shell,
shellagh,
sheillagh,
shillym (K.)
skynn
íyn
/skribәderʲ/
scríobadóir
grater
/ʃe(ː)lʲtʃәn/
saoil, cf. Ir.
dial. síl
think
vn. ʃĩn JW, ʃïᵈn
NM, ʃiːn JK
/skʲin/
scian, dat.
sciain, ScG.
sgian, dat.
sgithinn339
spliúchán,
ScG.
spliùchan,
spliuchan
stán, stáin,
ScG. staoin,
stàin
ScG.
stàilinn,
Norse stál
knife
iː JK, NM, i
NM, TL, W:N,
JK
splughan
(Cr.)
?/splʲuxan/
stainney
/stanʲә/
steillin,
steillyn
àl
/stelʲәnʲ/
pouch
tin
ɑ̃ ̣ː TC
steel
e̜ TC
stheg (Cr.)
/steɡ/
tooran
‘pronounced
thurran’
(Cr.), tooran
(K.)
toshiaghjioarey
/turan/
?túrán, cf.
torrán
turret, stack
of corn
/ˌtoʃaxˈdʒoːrә/
taoiseach,
tóiseach
deóradh
aon
coroner
one
oː JTK, ɛː, Eː
JK, uː TK, o̜ ː,
u̜ ː J:JTK340
bhéas, bhias,
bhíos, ScG.
will be
iː TC, ‘written
vees but
un
vees
yn (6), ýnn
(3), ynn (3),
yn̄ (2), únn,
un̄ , ún, un, hyn
(2)
víís (6), vîîs,
viss (4)
/un/
/vi(ː)s/
steak
339
Cf. gen. and pl. forms with short vowel, scine, scena (eDIL).
The HLSM examples apparently represent secondary re-lengthening, although it is short according
to Rhŷs (18) even when stressed: ‘the case of […] un ‘one’ […], is the same [as that of freoagh ‘heather’,
G. fraoch], except that the brevity of its vowel is sufficiently accounted for by the fact of its being a
proclitic, though it may now sometimes have the stress but without restoration of its long vowel’.
340
403
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
bhitheas,
bhios
ymmyd
ym, ým
/imәd/
adhmad
use
ynrycan,
ynrican
ynr (5)
/inrәkan/
aonracán
only
pronounced
vy̆ s [vәs]’
(Rhŷs: 166)
ɪ JW, HK, ẹ
HK, e HK
ĩ JW
The above Manx examples often correspond to cases of vowel shortening in other
dialects, such as in frequently occurring verb forms (haink, cheet, hed, jean, jannoo,
geddyn, irree, raink, sheill, saillym) (Quiggin 1906: 14; Mac Gill-Fhinnein 1966: 52–
6; Ó Curnáin 2007: 79). The latter may alternate as ‘unaccented’ (neamhaiceannta)
forms alongside accented variants, used for example in answers to yes-no questions
(Mac Gill-Fhinnein 1966: 52–6). In some Ulster dialects, however, the reduced forms
appear to have been generalized: Stockman (1986), commenting on such shortenings
in Ulster Irish, notes that Gaelic verbs often lack strong sentential stress, and suggests
that reduced forms have spread by analogy to fully stressed positions.341 It is likely
that many of the Manx shortenings represent similar lexicalization of post-lexical
stress.
Red ‘thing’ (G. réad, raod), is generally short rud in the modern dialects (and the
written standards), presumably owing to lack of stress in collocations such as rud ar
bith ‘anything’ (Manx red erbee). Rhŷs (18, 127) gives a similar explanation for
shortening in proclitic un ‘one’ (G. aon) and dy bragh ‘ever’ (G. go bráth), from
phrases such as dy bragh beayn (G. buan), dy bragh farraghtyn (G. mair),
‘everlasting’; lack of stress may also explain shortening in jeig ‘teen’ (G. déag),
toshiagh-jioarey ‘coroner’ (G. taoiseach deóra), rhum-aarlee ‘kitchen’. The
shortening, and vowel quality, in queig ‘five’ (G. cóig, cúig) may be attributed to the
influence of jeig, and to postlexical destressing.
There is a small group of nouns with initial éa- or ao- in Gaelic where shortening
seems to be well established (eaddagh, eddin, eddrym), also feddyn (lenited form
eddyn), and earroo may also have been influenced by these and by earish ‘time,
E.g. ‘/ә danikʹ ʃә ˈraʃ gә foːLʹ? ha ˈdanikʹ/ An dtáinig sé ar ais go fóill? Cha dtáinig’ [‘Has he come
back yet? No’] (Stockman 1986: 13), where the verb has a short vowel in both positions, despite being
fully stressed in the answer.
341
404
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
weather’ (G. iris, EIr. aires). Ymmyd ‘use’ (G. adhmad) may also belong here,
although it may also have been influenced by semantically similar ymmyrch ‘need’
(ScG. imir), ymmyrchagh ‘necessary, useful’.
There is apparently a semantic split between meeilley ‘mile’, with vowel length
retained, and milley ‘million, thousand’ (both G. míle), the latter possibly influenced
by English million (the usual word for ‘thousand’ is the borrowing thousane). Note,
however, the curse my veelley mhillee ort, interpreted by Cregeen as ‘my dirty mile on
thee, or my bad wish on thee’, but more readily explicable as ‘my thousand(fold)
destruction on you’ (mo mhíle millidh ort). Compare also mirril (G. míorbhail), which
may be similarly influenced by English ‘miracle’.
In other cases there may be no obvious motivation for the shortening, although the
bisyllabic cases may be attributed to a tendency observed in Ulster Irish for initial
heavy syllables to be shortened in polysyllabic words (Stockman 1986). This
phenomenon is discussed by Green (1997: 75–9) under the label ‘trochaic shortening’
(see Hayes 1995: 145–9; Prince 1990: 359–70). This phenomenon is explained by the
observation that light-light trochees are cross-linguistically better formed than heavylight ones owing to a preference in trochaic languages for even duration (Hayes 1995:
79–85) (§5.1.1.6).342
The contractions to monosyllabic forms in haink, daink ‘came’ (G. tháinig), raink
‘reached, arrived’ (G. ráinig) and Gaelg ‘Manx’ (G. Gaoidhealg) may be regarded as
a further stage of reduction; in the case of the verbs, see also cheayll, geayll ‘heard’
(G. chuala) and vaik ‘saw’ (G. faca).
342
For another potential factor, see Ó Maolalaigh (2014b: 19), who links vowel shortening in
Stockman’s (1986) Ulster items to the presence of a light sonorant following the vowel in many of them.
405
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
5.5.2 Vowel lengthening
According to Jackson (9), unhistorical vowel lengthening is found in /a/ and /o/:
These lengthenings […] occur only before present-day single consonants, and
seem to affect only original stressed a, ai, o, and ea in its a pronunciation
(Jackson: 9)
This is noted also by Marstrander (61, 68). Rhŷs likewise reports this primarily in /a/:
Open a, long. This is approximately the ā of the English word ‘father,’ and it is
not uncommon in Manx, especially when an a which, etymologically speaking,
is short, has been lengthened in an accented syllable, as for example, in the word
[…] fakin ‘to see’ (Ir. faicsin, feicsin, ScG. faicsinn, faicinn), […] lhiabbee
‘bed’ (Ir. leabadh, ScG. leaba), […] cliaghtey to ‘be wont, a habit or custom
(Ir. cleachtadh, cleachd, ScG. cleachd), […] clashtyn ‘to hear’ (Ir. cloisdin,
ScG. claistinn), […] shassoo ‘to stand’ (Goi. seasamh). […]
I have sometimes heard this vowel [Open a, long] in monosyllables ending with
s, such as glass ‘green, blue, grey’ (Goi. glas), pronounced just like its Welsh
equivalent glâs and so in […] jiass (Goi. deas). But more usually the a in these
words and the like is decidedly short or of an intermediate length.
(Rhŷs: 3)
According to Rhŷs (45–6), the stressed vowel in moddey ‘dog’ (G. madadh) is long in
the singular, but short in the plural moddee:
Short [nasal] y [ә]̃ […] occurs in […] moddee ‘dogs’ the tone vowel of which
is always short and this differs both in quality and quantity from that of the
singular […] moddey.
(Rhŷs: 45)
According to Broderick (HLSM III: 122), however, all short vowels can be lengthened:
This feature of secondary lengthening is a characteristic of L[ate] S[poken]
M[anx] and can affect all (orig[inally] stressed) short vowels.
(HLSM III: 122)
Thomson (1999: 391) notes early evidence for secondary lengthening in the form of
diacritics in the 1707 transcriptions of Manx speech for Edward Lhuyd (§1.5.1) which
406
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
suggest lengthening, again in /a/ and /o/. It is possible that these lengthenings began in
/a/, as there is no risk of merger with /aː/ from historical á, which has become /ɛː/
(§2.2.2). On the other hand, Jackson’s and Broderick’s descriptions suggest that
secondarily lengthened vowels may have remained shorter than historical long vowels,
so full mergers may have been avoided.
In a few items, unhistorical vowel lengthening appears to be long-established and is
shown in the orthography (Table 108):
Table 108. Vowel lengthening shown in orthography
Phillips
fairaig (Cr.,
K.), fairage
(K.)343
sheeiney,
sheeint(yn)
(Cr., Bible)
sooree
spagey,
spaagey
strep, strepey,
strebin
agg
CM
pronunciation
/faˈrʲɛːɡ/
etymology
English
HLSM
faireóg
/ʃiːnʲә/
sine
gland, waxkernel, ‘a
lump in the
groin or
armpit’ (Cr.)
teat, nipple
i TC
/suːrʲi/
suirghe
court, woo
/spɛːɡә/
spaga, Eng.
bag
(O’Rahilly
1927: 27)
ScG. streap,
Ir. dreap
bag, scrip
?/streːpә/,
?/streːbәnʲ/
struggle,
wrestle,
wallow
uː JW, NM,
HK, SK, u
W:N, uː J:EK
i: TC
343
The stress marked on the first syllable by Cregeen, but see §5.1. If there is in fact stress shift as
implied by the spellings, this suggests the strong likelihood of an earlier long vowel in the first syllable
(§5.1); there may have been confusion with fáir, fáireóg ‘nest’ (although this is not attested in Manx).
407
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
5.6 Vowel nasalization
Phonological vowel nasalization is widely attested across Gaelic dialects (Ó
Maolalaigh 2003a; Ó Curnáin 2007: 291–361), although many varieties, particularly
in Ireland, and parts of south-west Scotland appear to have lost this feature, or to have
been in the process of losing it, relatively recently, i.e. in the last two centuries
(Quiggin 1906: 64; Pedersen 1909: 386; Grant 1987: 58; Ternes 2006: 103; Ó Curnáin
2007: 325–332).
Besides the prototypical case of vowel adjacent to original nasal consonants (including
mh */ṽ/), vowel nasality (and denasalization) in Gaelic arises by a number of processes
(Ó Curnáin 2007: 319–24), which produce a system replete with complexity,
exceptions, unpredictability and considerable dialectal and idiolectal variation.
Alongside categorical phonemic nasalization, speakers (including those lacking
phonemic nasalization or having a reduced system) may exhibit a number of other
types of vowel nasalization, including co-articulatory (partial) nasalization (Ternes
2006: 104–5; Morrison 2018: 5), phonological perseverative and anticipatory spread
of nasality (Ó Curnáin 2007ː 293–5, 301–11), and paralinguistic nasalization and nasal
speech setting (ibid.: 311–316, 1860–4). These complexities can make analysis very
difficult (ibid.: 310–332; Oftedal 1956: 41), especially when combined with ongoing
denasalization (Ó Curnáin 2007: 310–1, 324).
Jackson’s (63–4) and Broderick’s (HLSM
III:
147) descriptions of terminal Manx
report only sporadic vestigial remains of vowel nasalization. However, the evidence
of Rhŷs suggests that vowel nasality was much more widespread in the speech of his
informants. He devotes a whole chapter to ‘nasal vowels’ (Rhŷs: 31–48), and presents
a much more complete system, recognizable as similar to those described e.g. by
Ternes (2006) and Ó Curnáin (2007). Rhŷs provides evidence of a wide range of
processes found in other Gaelic dialects, including perseverative spread of nasality
(Rhŷs: 35); vowel nasality after initial clusters cn-, gn-, mn-, sn- and tn- where n is
synchronically /r/ (Rhŷs: 33–4); nasality in items where the nasal consonant is elided
(Rhŷs: 35–6; also Jackson 63; HLSM
408
III:
147); and a number of apparent cases of
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
nasality arising through rhinoglottophilia344 (Lewin 2019a: 85–9), a phenomenon
previously noted by Ó Maolalaigh (2003a: 116–7) in Manx injil ‘low’ (G. íseal).
The near absence of vowel nasality in the terminal speakers recorded in the twentieth
century might be considered a semi-speaker feature of incomplete acquisition,
comparable to the absence of feminine gender concord or the lack of control of initial
mutation (§1.6.9.1); however it may also in part represent the end point of a trend
towards denasalization across the Gaelic world, perhaps connected with language
contact (Ó Curnáin 2007: 359).
For reasons of space this topic cannot be discussed in further detail here, and the reader
is directed to my discussion of vowel nasalization in Lewin (2019a: 82–9).
344
The term rhinoglottophilia refers to the relationship between glottal or laryngeal and nasal
articulations, which have acoustic and perceptual similarities (Matisoff 1975; Ohala 1983). In the Gaelic
context, see Ó Maolalaigh (2003a) and Ó Curnáin (2007: 323).
409
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
410
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chapter 6
Conclusion
6.1 Topics covered
From the outset, the aim of this doctoral research project has been to cover as wide a
range of sub-topics within the historical phonology of Manx as time and space would
allow to be treated in adequate depth. It was recognized that practically all aspects of
the topic (and indeed all areas of Manx linguistics) required in-depth re-evaluation and
fresh analysis in order to bring them to a state where they can be solidly engaged with
by scholars of the Gaelic languages on a basis comparable to descriptions of other
dialects and periods (§§1.1, 1.5).
In view of the breadth of areas in critical need of attention, and the acknowledged
hindrance that a lack of adequate descriptions of Manx presents to Gaelic linguistics
(e.g. Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 5, 11), it was felt that an approach focusing on a number of
(only loosely related) topics in reasonable depth, rather than on a single, narrower topic
in exhaustive depth, was the right one. In principle, however, a number of the chapters
or sections in the present work could form the basis of full theses in their own right.
It was difficult to prioritize topics, and precedence was given to those considered to be
of the widest interest within the pan-Gaelic context (including the development of ao(i)
and ua(i), and the sonorant consonants); those which seemed to be the most complex
and intractable (or to have suffered the most misanalysis in the previous literature),
and therefore in most urgent need of reappraisal and resolution; and simply those
which had long pricked the author’s curiosity.
Initially, topics which seemed to have been covered somewhat more extensively than
most in the existing literature, notably the complex developments in the stress system
(§5.1), were intended to be covered only briefly. However, as the project progressed,
closer examination showed that none of the existing analyses of the topic of stress were
fully adequate, and some contained significant misapprehensions, such that it was
decided that suprasegmental and prosodic topics merited a full chapter of their own.
411
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
On the other hand, the intricate topic of the “new” diphthongs (and triphthongs) formed
within Gaelic dialects during the modern period from the vocalization of medial and
final fricatives (abh > /au̯ /, etc.), and with which Manx in particular ‘teems’ (Rhŷs: 2),
although certainly of equal interest to the other subjects covered in the thesis,346 has
been reluctantly omitted for reasons of space, although one of the most complex parts
of this topic is discussed briefly in the chapter on G. ao(i), ua(i) (§3.9.1).
Apart from Chapter 4 on the sonorants, developments in the consonant system have
not been covered in depth within this thesis. This is despite the fact that the topic of
medial voicing and fricativization (‘secondary lenition’), in particular, is one of the
most intriguing areas of Manx phonology, and one in which change can clearly be seen
in progress during the attested period of the language, and which was still very much
in a state of fluctuation among the terminal speakers (Thomson 1984: 314–5; HLSM
III:
4–13; Williams 1994b: 712; Green 2006). It seems likely that secondary lenition
would correlate with sociolinguistic factors, as well as dialect and idiolect, and that
some of the quantitative approaches introduced in this thesis could fruitfully be
brought to bear on this topic. Similarly, the degree to which the broad-slender
patalization contrast had broken down or entered a situation of ‘wild allophonic
variation’ (Broderick 1999: 81–6; see also Williams 1994b: 712, 737; Lewin 2017a:
156, 187–8) in the language of the terminal speakers has not yet been quantified
(although see §4.4.3).
6.2 Progress made
Although the main ‘outlines’ of the distinctive developments of Manx phonology have
been known to scholarship since Rhŷs’s pioneering treatise published in 1894, the
existing descriptions have been difficult to interpret, and inaccessible and misleading
to the scholar who is not a Manx specialist, but wishes to make reference to the
language in broader contexts. The main achievement of this thesis, then, is to clarify
and describe in a systematic fashion a good deal of what has previously been only
346
See e.g. Ó Maolalaigh (2006) for aspects of this topic in a pan-Gaelic context.
412
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
known in broadest outline or assumed about Manx phonology. For example, it has
long been known that G. ua(i) /ua/ is often fronted in Manx, but the environments and
lexical items in which this takes place have not before been clearly described.
Furthermore, while the superficial similarity here between Manx and Ulster Irish
developments has been noted, it has not been previously pointed out that the
conditioning factors appear to be quite different in the two cases (§3.8).
That ao(i) and ua(i) have some tendency to merge had been noted by previous scholars,
but the full range of evidence for these developments from across the attested period
of the language has not before been collated and analysed quantitatively (Chapter 3).
While some uncertainties and ambiguities in the evidence remain (which, given
imperfections in the data, may never be resolved completely), a solid basis for
reference and further research has nevertheless been provided, and a significant step
forward has been taken in removing some of the “noise” in the ‘mass of raw phonetic
Manx data’ (Ó Maolalaigh 1997: 5) which comprises existing datasets.
By comparing a number of different sources quantitatively (the Phillips orthography;
the eighteenth-century orthography; maximally complete lexical sets for individual
phones or developments drawing on the dictionaries; the independent descriptions of
Rhŷs, Marstrander, Jackson and Broderick; the corpus of transcribed data in
Broderick’s HLSM; and instrumental analysis of the recordings of the terminal
speakers), it is possible to identify patterns which were not immediately obvious in
previous, impressionistic analyses. Even if results based on a single dataset can only
be tentative, firmer conclusions can be drawn when a number of independent datasets
point towards similar patterns, as notably is the case with the topic of ao(i) and ua(i).
With the exception of Rhŷs, whose work traces the development of Manx sounds from
Phillips through to the speech of his own informants, most research on Manx
phonology has drawn almost exclusively on data recorded or transcribed from the last
remaining speakers in the twentieth century, compared directly with Classical Irish
cognate forms, with relatively little consideration of the evidence of the historical
orthographies. These seem to have generally been presumed to be idiosyncratic and
erratic (§1.6.2), too irregular and ambiguous to provide much usable evidence. At any
rate, scholars — especially those commenting on Manx in passing rather than
413
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
specializing in it — have known too little about the conventions of Manx spelling to
make reliable use of orthographic data in their analyses, and when they have tried,
there has been a tendency to ascribe implausible realizations to orthographic
representations owing to deficient understanding of robustly attested patterns and
conventions (see §§1.5.7, 5.1.1.4, 5.1.1.5 for examples).
Redressing the balance, and to a certain extent “rehabilitating” the Manx
orthographies, has therefore been a central concern of this thesis. Throughout, it has
been shown that there are often striking regularities in the orthographies which can be
shown to correlate strongly with particular realizations (e.g. the contrasts between /uː/
~ /uә̯/, /iː/ ~ /iә̯/, §2.2.6, and between /eː/ and /ɛː/ §2.2.3), although it is certainly true
that there are also many frustrating ambiguities (for example, the lack of clarity with
regard to sonorant contrasts, Chapter 4).
The somewhat negative attitudes of many scholars towards Manx, and in particular
assumptions regarding its ‘anglicized’ or even ‘creoloid’ nature (Lewin 2017a), have
resulted in a tendency to assume that certain features of the language as recorded in
the twentieth century were also characteristic of earlier periods, when it is likely that
they are in fact symptomatic of incomplete acquisition and/or rustiness in a situation
of language shift and obsolescence, and belong to the last generation or two of speakers
only (ibid.: 180–93). Making this distinction clearer, and bringing an understanding of
the processes of language shift based on contemporary empirical research on language
contact and bilingualism to bear on the study of Manx, has been a major concern of
my research (Lewin 2014b; 2017a; 2019a) and informs many aspects of the present
thesis.
Nevertheless, it is not always easy to distinguish between internal developments,
contact features, and features related to obsolescence (e.g. the reductions in the
sonorant consonant inventory discussed in Chapter 4). Claims that Manx is in some
way exceptional, such that contemporary phonological frameworks applied to other
languages are unsuitable for the analysis of Manx data, have been treated with
scepticism (§1.5.9), although it is readily admitted that analysis of historical linguistic
data is not always simple, and that conclusions reached are, by necessity, sometimes
tentative.
414
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
This brings us to another resource which has been under-used and to some extent
dismissed (e.g. Jackson: 4): the descriptions and transcriptions made by John Rhŷs in
the 1880s and 90s, including his recently documented notebooks (§1.5.2). Although in
some respects less scientific and more rudimentary than his successors in the twentieth
century, Rhŷs’s descriptions are of paramount importance because they pertain to an
earlier generation of informants, at least some of whom were Manx-dominant speakers
who acquired Manx in communities where knowledge and use of English was not yet
universal. They attest to features such as more consistent and productive use of initial
mutations, the /r ~ rʲ/ contrast (§4.2.1), more extensive preservation of coda /r/, /rʲ/
(§4.2.3), more conservative reflexes of ao(i) and ua(i) (§3.5.1), extensive vowel
nasalization almost completely absent in the terminal speakers (§5.6; Lewin 2019a:
82–9), as well as other linguistic features such as noun gender (Lewin 2019a: 79–82).
Although considerations of space and scope have not allowed too much discussion of
wider theoretical implications, insights from the cross-linguistic theoretical and
typological literature have been brought to bear where appropriate, and have proved
particularly enlightening in the analysis of stress shift (§5.1), vowel shortening in
polysyllables (§5.5.1), and the development of earlier geminate sonorants (including
the emergence of preocclusion, §4.5). The latter discussion in particular constitutes a
significant contribution in placing Manx within the context of prosodic developments
within the north-west European linguistic area (cf. Wagner 1964; Salmons 1992; Iosad
2016b).
In terms of situating Manx in the wider Gaelic dialectological context, it is hoped that
the analyses in this thesis will provide a more solid basis for comparison than has
hitherto been available. It has been shown that, as would be expected, Manx
developments often show similar patterns, trajectories and conditioning factors to
analogous developments in the other Gaelic dialects — for example, some of the short
vowel developments have similar conditioning factors to those evidenced in Ó
Maolalaigh (1997) — although, as noted above in relation to fronting of ua(i), such
parallels should not be taken for granted. The sonorants also show similar
developments to those found elsewhere (e.g. early merger of /l̪ / and /ḻ/ to the dental
lateral (§4.3.2), which is widely attested in Ireland and Scotland), as well as specific
415
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
parallels with Scottish Gaelic (merger of broad and slender lenis /n ~ nʲ/ in certain
items, §4.4.3), but there are also specific Manx developments (e.g. depalatalization of
lenis */lʲ/ in certain limited circumstances, §4.3.2.2).
An important connection to neighbouring dialects is revealed in the analysis of the
Manx development of G. ao(i) which is shown to give a front-central mid unrounded
(or only weakly rounded) vowel /әː/, which also represents agh etc. (Chapter 3). This
bears a strong resemblance to the situation in south-western Scottish dialects (§3.2.1;
Lewin 2018), in contrast both to the rest of the northern Gaelic dialect area (Ulster and
the rest of Scotland), where ao > /ɯː/, contrastive with agh > /ɤː/, and southern Irish
dialects, with ao > /iː/ or /eː/ and agh > /әi̯ /. This connection has not been picked up
by previous analyses.
Other similarities, however, are less likely to be related to any historical affinity or
contact. The developments of lengthening, rounding and diphthongization of short
vowels before original geminate sonorants in monosyllables might at first glance invite
association with similar developments in Munster and the northern Hebrides, but the
evidence of Phillips’ orthography shows that in the early seventeenth century these
developments were only incipient (§4.6), and, on the whole, Manx realizations of this
period would have resembled those found in the conservative varieties of Ulster and
southern Argyll today. If the Manx developments were largely a development of the
mid seventeenth century, there is some evidence that the analogous developments in
Munster and Scotland had taken place at least a century or more earlier (O’Rahilly:
51–2). It is unlikely for sociohistorical reasons (§1.3) that this development could have
spread into Manx from these areas at such a late date; rather, such parallel
developments should be seen as arising from a limited set of options for realizing
common inherited features (§1.4). Similar considerations are relevant in the case of
stress shift and post-tonic long vowel shortening (§5.1).
416
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
6.3 By-products
The development of this thesis naturally involved considerable amounts of background
research and data-gathering, and investigation of tangential topics, not all of which has
found its way into the permitted space, or is relevant to the central focus of the project.
Some of this material has already appeared in print in an article on the cross-Gaelic
dialectological and typological development of ao(i) (Lewin 2018), and an evaluation
of Rhŷs’s work as a fieldworker (Lewin 2019a), including notably a discussion of
aspects of the topic of vowel nasalization in Manx which are only briefly discussed in
the thesis (§5.6). It is hoped that further analyses of related topics, including especially
a discussion of the topic of fricative vocalization mentioned above, can be published
soon.
Throughout this thesis extensive tables of lexical material are given, with Gaelic or
Early Irish cognates provided, or at least tentatively suggested, as far as possible. The
most important previously-available sources for etymologies of Manx words are
Thomson’s (1953; 1954–59) glossary of Phillips’ prayer book, and Broderick’s
dictionaries of ‘Late Spoken Manx’ (HLSM II) and Rhŷs’s notes (Broderick 2019).
These are restricted, however, to items which happen to appear in the material on
which they are based. Other etymologies are given in varia notes on Irish and Scottish
Gaelic lexical items by a number of scholars, notably O’Rahilly (see Lewin 2017a:
147) (and also in his Irish Dialects Past and Present), and in notes to editions of Manx
texts. The former are restricted to items which happen to be of interest from the
perspective of the other Gaelic languages, however, and the latter again to forms which
appear in particular texts. Since datasets in the present study incorporate numerous
lexical items which are attested only in texts for which glossaries are unavailable (e.g.
they may be found in the Bible, but not in Phillips or HLSM), or else are only attested
in Cregeen’s and Kelly’s dictionaries, the above sources may be of little help, and
etymologies for these items had to be identified. During the course of this work, a
sizeable collection of additional lexical and etymological data has been assembled,
which is likely to prove useful in future research. There are several hundred items
whose etymology remains obscure which require further investigation. In these cases,
417
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
the insights into the development of Manx phonology and orthography gained during
the present research have the potential to provide valuable clues.
6.4 Prospects for future research
As mentioned above, some of the innovative methodologies employed in this project
could certainly be applied productively to other aspects of Manx phonology. The
instrumental analysis of recordings of the terminal speakers, which involves timeconsuming annotation of spectrograms, has only been applied in a couple of areas
(§§2.2.3, 3.7, 4.5) but has obvious potential for wider application, including to other
sets of recordings beyond those of the Irish Folklore Commission. The quantitative
analyses of written material, as well as written phonetic transcriptions, have similarly
been applied parsimoniously in the present work, and doubtlessly have the potential to
reveal further insights. A full quantitative analysis of all vowel representations in
Phillips is a desideratum, for example.
The written material on this which much of this thesis is based is largely restricted to
readily available printed material which has been digitized, including the Bible and the
two main dictionaries. The only manuscript source of which extensive use is made is
Phillips’ Prayer Book, for which we have an edition and a full glossary. The analysis
of the eighteenth-century orthography is largely restricted to the “standard” as
represented in the later editions of the Bible, and the dictionaries. Divergent forms
found in less standardized printed sources (such as Coyrle Sodjeh, the earliest printed
book in Manx published in 1707), and in manuscript sources such as the translators’
drafts of the Bible (Lewin 2019b), have only been referred to when they happen to
have come to my attention. Clearly, a more systematic engagement with these sources
would be fruitful.
The majority of the printed Manx texts have now been digitized in one format or
another, an effort to which the present author has contributed (e.g. Lewin and Wheeler
2017; 2019a). In due course it is hoped these texts can be brought together in a similar
online format to the available corpora of Irish (Corpas Stairiúil na Gaeilge and Nua-
418
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
Chorpas na Gaeilge) and Scottish Gaelic (Corpas na Gàidhlig). The manuscript
material presents a more significant challenge, and includes, as mentioned, a sizeable
portion of the original drafts of the Bible translation, around 700 sermons, and
~40,000+ lines of carvals (religious ballads). Relatively little of this material has been
edited,348 or digitized, although the sermons and the carvals have at least been recently
catalogued; see Lewin (2015b) for an edition of the earliest known manuscript sermon.
Much of this material is in quite divergent orthography, and has obvious potential to
provide much additional information on phonological change, dialect, and the
development and refinement of the orthography within the social networks of
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Man.
An obvious priority would be to trace the development of the orthography in the
manuscript sources from the early to mid eighteenth century, prior to its the
standardization in the Bible in the 1770s, and to investigate possible changes in the
orthographic practices of key figures, such as Philip Moore, for whom we have
surviving early sermons from the 1720s, and who went on to train many of the other
clergy and Bible translators and to oversee and edit the Bible translation for publication
(Butler 1799: 186–205). Another important source of information is personal and place
names, especially the extensive data contained in Broderick’s Placenames of the Isle
of Man (PNIM). These have been referred to at certain points in the thesis, but await
more systematic analysis (§1.5.10).
It is hoped in due course to complete a fuller description of Manx historical phonology,
including those areas (primarily the consonantal system) which have had to be omitted
from the present thesis. Similarly, other areas of Manx linguistics (such as morphology
and syntax) await fresh treatment, and these are also areas in which I have taken an
interest and made some progress (Lewin 2014b; 2016a; 2016b), and to which I hope
to return. Questions relating to the medieval origins and development of Manx and its
relationship with other Gaelic dialects (§§1.3, 1.4), and questions of language contact
throughout its history (Lewin 2017a), also deserve fuller treatment.
348
With the important exception of significant parts of the folksong manuscript corpus, which have
been edited by Broderick, Thomson and others, and the original prose writings of Edward Faragher
(Broderick 1981a; 1982b; Lewin 2014).
419
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
420
Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx
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