LITMIR.BIZ

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as, lom bare, toll a hole; short, as, lomadh making bare, tolladh boring.

      3. Both long and short, like (2) a^[7]: long, as, foghlum to learn; short, as, roghuinn choice, logh to forgive.

U.

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      U has one sound, both long and short, like oo in fool: long, as, ùr fresh, ùraich to renew; short, as, ubh an egg, urras a surety.

      OF THE DIPHTHONGS.

      There are thirteen Diphthongs reckoned in Gaelic; ae, ai, ao, ea, ei, eo, eu; ia, io, iu; oi; ua, ui. Of these, ao, eu, ia, ua, are always long; the others are sometimes long, sometimes short.

Ae.

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      The sound of ae is made up of (1) a long, and (1) e short. This diphthong hardly occurs, except in Gael a Gaul or Highlander, and Gaelic the Gaelic language^[8].

Ai.

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      The sound of ai is either made up of the sounds of both the vowels, or like that of the former.

      1. Made up of (1) a and (1) i: the a long, the i short; as, fàidh a prophet; the a short, the i short; as, claidheamh a sword.

      2. Made up of (2) a and (1) i: the a long, the i short; as, saighde arrows.

      Before a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the i often loses its sound, and only serves to qualify the sound of the following consonant^[9]; hence,

      3. Like (1) a alone: long, as, fàisg squeeze, fàilte salutation; short, as, glaic a hollow, tais soft.

      4. Like (2) a alone: short, as, airm arms, gairm a call.

Ao.

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      1. The sound of ao is like (2) a, long: as, caora a sheep, faobhar the edge of a tool, saothair labour.

Ea.

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      The sound of ea is either made up of the sounds of both the vowels, or like that of one of them.

      1. Made up of (2) e and (1) a: e very short, a long, as, beann a summit, pinnacle, feall deceit; a short, as, meal to enjoy, speal a scythe.

      Before a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the a frequently loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the following consonant; hence,

      2. Like (1) e, long: as, dean do; short, as, fear a man, bean a woman.

      3. Like (2) e, long: as, easlan sick; short, as, fead whistle.

      After a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the e loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the preceding consonant; hence,

      4. Like (1) a, long: as, cèard an artificer; short, as, geal white.

      5. Like (3) a, short: as, itheadh eating, coireach faulty.

Ei.

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      The sound of ei is either made up of the sounds of both the vowels, or like that of e alone.

      1. Made up of (1) e and (1) i: e long, i short, as, sgeimh beauty; e short, as, meidh a balance.

      2. Made up of (2) e and (1) i: e long, i short, as, feidh deer; e short, as, greigh a herd, stud.

      Before a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the i loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the following consonant; hence,

      3. Like (1) e alone: long, as, mèise of a plate.

      4. Like (2) e alone: long, as, éigin necessity; short, as, eich horses.

Eo.

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      The sound of eo is either made up of the sounds of both vowels, or like that of o alone.

      1. Made up of (2) e and (1) o: e very short, o long, as, beo alive, eolas knowledge; o short, as, beothail lively.

      After a Lingual or a Palatal, not quiescent, the e loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the preceding consonant; hence,

      2. Like (1) o: long, as, leomhann a lion; short, as, deoch drink.

Eu.

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      The sound of eu is like (2) e alone: long, as, teum to bite, gleus trim, entertainment.

      One of the most marked variations of dialect occurs in the pronunciation of the diphthong eu, which, instead of being pronounced like long e, is over all the North Highlands commonly pronounced like ia; as, nial, ian, fiar, for neul, eun, feur.

Ia.

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      The sound of ia is made up of the sounds of both the vowels.

      1. Made up of (1) i and (1) a: both of equal length, as, fial liberal, iar west.

      2. Made up of (1) i and (2) a: of equal length, as, fiadh a deer, ciall common sense.

      In cia which? iad they, ia is often found like (1) è.

Io.

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      The sound of io is either made up of the sounds of both the vowels, or like one of them alone.

      1. Made up of (1) i and (3) o: i long, o short, as, diol to pay, fior true; i short, as, iolach a shout, ionnsuidh an attack.

      Before a Lingual or Palatal, not quiescent, the o sometimes loses its sound, and only qualifies that of the following consonant;

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