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‘attempt to violate’; kαriə, ‘stag’, Di. cairr­fhiadh; bʹrʹiʃkʹꬶlɔ꞉rαχ, ‘lively’, Di. briosc­ghlórach; kũwαnəN, ‘alike’, Di. coimh­ionann; Lʹïnədαχ, ‘linen’, Di. lín-éadach.

§ 440. Metathesis is a frequent phenomenon in Gaelic dialects as will be patent to anyone turning over the leaves of Dinneen’s diction­ary. It is scarcely possible to formulate any general principle but a tendency to place l and r sounds before the stressed vowel is observ­able in a number of instances (cp. Henebry p. 75), e.g. klo̤pwidʹə, ‘wrinkle in cloth, small enclosure’, Di. cluipide < M.Ir. culpait, cp. Meyer clupait; krõ̤χər, ‘Connor’, M.Ir. Conchobar; krö̤꞉rək, ‘light red’, Di. craorac > caor-dhearg; ro̤bəL, ‘tail’, M.Ir. erball; trαsNə, ‘athwart’, M.Ir. tarsnu; tʹrʹïmuw, ‘drying’, Di. tiorm­ughadh; tʹlʹigʹən, ‘vomiting’, Di. teilgim. Cp. further Di. cruadal < comh­luadar.

§ 441. Common to all Gaelic dialects is the substitution of ʃtʹ for tʹʃ in native and old loan-words such as eiʃtʹαχt, ‘to listen’, O.Ir. éitsecht; bwæʃtʹəm, ‘I baptize’, O.Ir. baitsim; as well as in later borrow­ings from English, where ʃtʹ also repre­sents dʒ, e.g. kαræʃtʹə, ‘carriage’; kʹiʃtʹənαχ, ‘kitchen’; Lɔ꞉ʃtʹi꞉nʹ, ‘lodging’.

§ 442. Further instances of metathesis – αsəlṟiαχt, ‘magic, divina­tion’, Di. asar­luidheacht; αLtuw, ‘grace (before meat)’, O.Ir. atluchur; αskəL, ‘arm-pit’, M.Ir. ochsal; αspəl, ‘apostle’, O.Ir. apstal; dʹi꞉ʃLʹə, gen. sing. fem. of dʹi꞉lʹiʃ ‘dear’, α χri꞉ Nə dʹi꞉ʃLʹə, a term of great endear­ment, cp. CI. S. 18 vi ’04 p. 5 col. 4; eNʹtʹə, ‘kernel’, Di. eithne, Macbain eite, eitean, M.Ir. ettne; kõhərə, ‘sign’, Di. comhartha; kõ꞉nirʹ, ‘coffin’, < comhrainn inflected form of comhra, ‘chest’, Meyer comra (comhraidh Sg. Fearn. p. 96); ko̤fʹαlαn, ‘crowd’, < M.Ir. comthinól; kɔʃrʹïkəm, ‘I con­secrate’, Di. cois­reacaim, Lat. consecro; rɛəLt, ‘star’, M.Ir. retla.

§ 443. Dissimilation of two nasals – α꞉rNʹαl, ‘sitting up late’, Di. áirneán < M.Ir. airne; iNʹærʹ, ‘anvil’, O.Ir. indéin, for the ending cp. erʹ mə χɔNʹʃærʹ, ‘by my con­science’; ʃαnəmɔrʹ, ‘sermon’, Di. seanmóir, cp. ʃαnəmαNti꞉, ‘preacher’, Di. sean­móntaidhe; note also Kilma­crenan = Cill-mac-nenain, Joyce, Irish Names of Places i 49. One of the nasals may be lost as in bα꞉ri꞉nʹ, ‘queen’, by the side of bα꞉nṟi꞉nʹ; smwi꞉tʹuw, ‘to think’,