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no rule. They occur in Lʹĩ꞉wαn, ‘porpoise’, Di. líomhán gréine; əsti꞉ç (also əstiç), ‘indoors, inside’, similarly əmwi꞉ç (əmwiç), ‘outside’, Di. istigh, amuigh; sö̤꞉, ‘tang’ (§ 70); tõ꞉s, ‘to measure, guess’, Di. tomhas. Further in the preterite of certain verb-forms ending in th, dh, gh, e.g. dʹi꞉ mʹə, ‘I ate’, hi꞉ mʹə, ‘I sat’, nʹi꞉ mʹə, ‘I washed’; also in the future si꞉hə mʹə, ‘I shall sit’. For these forms cp. § 112.

Final short vowels in stressed syllables are very short indeed. They may be compared with final l, lʹ, n, nʹ, r and rʹ. To call attention to this the grave accent is sometimes employed in this book.

§ 474. Finck quotes a large number of forms for Aran with overlong vowels and such vowels are frequent in Donegal. In stressed mono­syllables overlong i꞉ may appear instead of iə before a non-palatal consonant (§ 164), e.g. dʹi꞉g, ‘dyke’, Di. díog but dat. sing. dʹi꞉gʹ with ordinary length; fʹi꞉r, ‘true’, O.Ir. fír but gen. sing. fʹi꞉rʹ with ordinary length; fʹrʹi꞉m, ‘through me’ (§ 320); kʹi꞉r, ‘comb’, Di. cíor but dat. sing. kʹi꞉rʹ with ordinary length; pʹi꞉b, ‘throat’, beside pʹiəb, Di. píob; ʃi꞉s, ‘down’; ʃkʹrʹi꞉b, ‘furrow’, Di. scríob. This may also sometimes be heard in dis­syllables, e.g. spʹlʹi꞉nαχ, ‘a tough, wizened beast’, Di. splíonach; ʃLʹi꞉kuw, ‘to stroke’, Di. slíogaim. Overlong u꞉ = i. O.Ir. ú in glu꞉n, ‘knee’, O.Ir. glún; ru꞉n, ‘secret’, O.Ir. rún; dʹu꞉l, ‘to suck’ (§ 52). ii. O.Ir. ua, e.g. u꞉n, ‘lamb’, O.Ir. úan; ku꞉n, ‘harbour’, M.Ir. cúan. ⅄꞉ is overlong in ⅄꞉l, ‘lime’, Di. aol. Any vowel tends to be overlong as the final of a stressed mono­syllable, e.g. bʹjɔ꞉, ‘alive’.

§ 475. More frequently however overlong vowels are due to contrac­tion, e.g. blα꞉χ, ‘butter­milk’, Di. blathach; bri꞉n, ‘quarrel’, Di. bruighean; bwi꞉, compar. of bwiαχ, ‘thankful’, Di. buidheach (also gen. sing. masc. and fem.); bo꞉r, ‘deaf’, Di. bodhar but gen. sing. bo꞉rʹ and denomi­native bo꞉ri꞉m with normal length; bʹα꞉χ, ‘beast, horse’, Di. beathaidh­each, but ʃαnvα꞉χ with ordinary length; fα꞉χ, ‘giant’, Di. fathach; fʹi꞉m, ‘I weave’, Di. fighim; ku꞉N, ‘narrow’, Di. cumhang; Lu꞉hə, gen. sing. of Lui, ‘ashes’, Di. luaith, luatha; Lʹi꞉m, ‘I lick’, Di. lighim; rα꞉χ, ‘drift of snow’ (§ 19); sLα꞉χ, ‘slush’, Di. sláthach; sy꞉m, ‘I sit’, infin. sy꞉, Di. suidhe; su꞉w, ‘to suck’, < sughadh but not in suw, ‘juice’, Di. súgh; ʃu꞉l, ‘to walk’, Di. siubhal; ti꞉dɔrʹ, ‘thatcher’, Di. tuigh­eadóir; trα꞉, gen. sing. of trα꞉i, ‘strand’, Di. tráigh, trágha.