Àirigh – Notes on Lesson 1 - part 2

Synchronic lenition in Scottish Gaelic affects almost all consonants (except /l̪ˠ/ which has lost its lenited counterpart). Changes such as /n̪ˠ/ to /n/ involve the loss of secondary articulation; in addition, /rˠ/ → /ɾ/ involves the reduction of a trill to a tap. The spirantization of Gaelic nasal /m/ to /v/ is unusual among forms of lenition, but is triggered by the same environment as more prototypical lenition. (It may also leave a residue of nasalization in adjacent vowels. The orthography shows this by inserting an h (except after l n r):

Spirantization
/p/	→ /v/	bog /pok/ “soft” → glé bhog /kleː vok/ “very soft”
/pj/	→ /vj/ (before a back vowel)	beò /pjɔː/ ‘alive’ → glé bheò /kleː vjɔː/ ‘very alive’
/kʰ/	→ /x/	cas /kʰas̪/ “steep” → glé chas /kleː xas̪/ “very steep”
/kʰʲ/	→ /ç/	ciùin /kʰʲuːɲ/ “quiet” → glé chiùin /kleː çuːɲ/ “very quiet”
/t̪/	→ /ɣ/	dubh /t̪uh/ “black” → glé dhubh /kleː ɣuh/ “very black”
/tʲ/	→ /ʝ/	deiseil /tʲeʃal/ “ready” → glé dheiseil /kleː ʝeʃal/ “very ready”
/k/	→ /ɣ/	garbh /kaɾav/ “rough” → glé gharbh /kleː ɣaɾav/ “very rough”
/kʲ/	→ /ʝ/	geur /kʲiaɾ/ “sharp” → glé gheur /kleː ʝiaɾ/ “very sharp”
/m/	→ /v/	maol /mɯːl̪ˠ/ “bald” → glé mhaol /kleː vɯːl̪ˠ/ “very bald”
/mj/	→ /vj/ (before a back vowel)	meallta /mjaul̪ˠt̪ə/ “deceitful” → glé mheallta /kleː vjaul̪ˠt̪ə/ “very deceitful”
/pʰ/	→ /f/	pongail /pʰɔŋɡal/ “exact” → glé phongail /kleː fɔŋɡal/ “very exact”
/pʰj/	→ /fj/ (before a back vowel)	peallagach /pʰjal̪ˠakəx/ “shaggy” → glé pheallagach /kleː fjal̪ˠakəx/ “very shaggy”
Loss of secondary articulation
/n̪ˠ/	→ /n/	nàdarra /n̪ˠaːt̪ərˠə/ “natural” → glé nàdarra /kleː naːt̪ərˠə/ “very natural”
/rˠ/	→ /ɾ/	rag /rˠak/ “stiff” → glé rag /kleː ɾak/ “very stiff”
Debuccalization
/s̪/	→ /h/	sona /s̪ɔnə/ “happy” → glé shona /kleː hɔnə/ “very happy”
/ʃ/	→ /h/	seasmhach /ʃes̪vəx/ “constant” → glé sheasmhach /kleː hes̪vəx/ “very constant”
/ʃ/	→ /hj/ (before a back vowel)	seòlta /ʃɔːl̪ˠt̪ə/ “sly” → glé sheòlta /kleː hjɔːl̪ˠt̪ə/ “very sly”
/t̪ʰ/	→ /h/	tana /t̪ʰanə/ “thin” → glé thana /kleː hanə/ “very thin”
/tʰʲ/	→ /h/	tinn /tʲiːɲ/ “ill” → glé thinn /kleː hiːɲ/ “very ill”
/tʰʲ/	→ /hj/ (before a back vowel)	teann /tʰʲaun̪ˠ/ “tight” → glé theann /kleː hjaun̪ˠ/ “very tight”
Elision
/f/	→ Ø	fann /faun̪ˠ/ “faint” → glé fhann /kleː aun̪ˠ/ “very faint”
/fj/	→ /j/ (before a back vowel)	feòrachail /fjɔːɾəxal/ “inquisitive” → glé fheòrachail /kleː jɔːɾəxal/ “very inquisitive”
Reduction of place markedness
In the modern Goidelic languages, grammatical lenition also triggers the reduction of markedness in the place of articulation of coronal sonorants (l, r, and n sounds). In Scottish Gaelic, /n/ and /l/ are the weak counterparts of palatal /ɲ/ and /ʎ/.
/ɲ/	→ /n/	neulach /ɲial̪ˠəx/ “cloudy” → glé neulach /kleː nial̪ˠəx/ “very cloudy”
/ʎ/	→ /l/	leisg /ʎeʃkʲ/ “lazy” → glé leisg /kleː leʃkʲ/ “very lazy”

Continued in part 3