An diofar eadar na mùthaidhean a rinneadh air "Initial High Front Vowels or Where the j in eòrna comes from"
Loidhne 7: | Loidhne 7: | ||
A few examples: | A few examples: | ||
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| <span style="color: #008000;">eòrna</span> || [jɔːRNə] | | <span style="color: #008000;">eòrna</span> || [jɔːRNə] |
Mùthadh on 21:07, 19 dhen Fhaoilleach 2012
Actually this isn't so much about where it comes from but rather how you can tell when it's there and where it isn't.
In a nutshell, it appears when you have a word with an initial high front vowel followed by a back vowel. Which means what exactly?
High front vowels are [i] and [e] in Gaelic, back vowels are [a] [o] [ɤ] [ɔ] [u] and [ɯ]. So if you get any combination of those two (in the said order), you get and initial glide, the [j]. Don't confuse this with the [ʝ] sound (slender gh and dh) - [j] has much less friction. This is a sound you actually get in English words - year, yarn, yen etc.
A few examples:
eòrna | [jɔːRNə] |
iolaire | [juLɪrʲə] |
Eòghann | [jɔː.əN] |
iubhar | [ju.əɾ] |
eallach | [jaLəx] |
eòin | [jɔː.Nʲ] |
ionnsaich | [jũːNsɪç] |
earrach | [jaRəx] |
eòlas | [jɔːLəs] |
Unfortunately, this rule doesn't always work and you get words like iorram [iRəm]. The short answer to this problem is that it has something to do with Old Irish. So the best way of dealing with this issue is to expect a [j] glide when you get e or i before a back vowel, especially if the first syllable contains a long vowel and learn when the exceptions apply.
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