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§ 476. The y꞉ of the plural ending əNỹ꞉ is generally overlong as also a preceding long vowel if the ə is absorbed, e.g. α꞉Nỹ꞉, plur. of α꞉, ‘luck’, Di. ádh; eirʹi꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘Irishmen’; fʹα꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘fathoms’, from fʹα꞉, Di. feadh; gʹrʹɛəsi꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘shoe­makers; krα꞉Nỹ꞉, plur. of krα꞉, ‘torment’, Di. cradh; kyNʹʃkʹlʹɔ꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘distur­bances’, Di. coinsgleo; kʹɔ꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘mists’, Di. ceó; kʹαləgu꞉Nỹ꞉, ‘lullabies’, Di. cealgadh; sNũ꞉Nỹ꞉, plur. of sNũw, sNũə, ‘com­plexion’, Di. snuadh; ʃLʹi꞉Nỹ꞉, plur. of ʃLʹi꞉, Di. slighe. The ending of the first person sing. of the pres. ind. of verbs of the second conju­gation (‑i꞉m) has an overlong i꞉ as m has been substi­tuted for mʹ.

§ 477. Word-stress always falls upon the first syllable of a simple word, e.g. ·drαNtαn, ‘droning’, Di. dranntán, infin. ·drαNtαnαχt; go̤r, ‘sitting of a hen’, Di. gor, ·go̤rαχəs, ‘cuddling round the fire’; spʹαl, ‘scythe’, M.Ir. spel, ·spʹαlədɔrʹ, ‘mower’, ·spʹαlədαrαχt, ‘mowing’; to꞉nʹ, ‘podex’, ·to꞉nαkαn, ‘a short stumpy fellow’, also the gait of such a person, cp. Cl. S. 30 vii ’04 p. 5 col. 3. The suffixes ‑αn < ‑án, ‑αχ, ‑αχt < ‑ach, ‑acht have very strong secondary stress as also all syllables contain­ing long vowels or vowels that were original­ly long. The relative stress of syllables may be denoted by figures under the syllables,^[1] 1 = chief stress. When we have two syllables with strong secondary stress, the first of the two is usually the stronger. Examples – α₁nα₂s, ‘sore straits’, α₁nα₂stə, ‘dis­tressed’, Macbain has anasta, ‘stormy’, < anfhadh; α꞉₁rNʹɛ₂ʃ, ‘furniture’, Di. áirnéis; bα₁tæ₂Lʹtʹə, ‘wap’ (§ 9); bwi₁α₂χəs, ‘thankful­ness’, Di. buidh­eachas; bα꞉₁tʹi꞉₂nʹ, ‘a mossy pool of water on a bog’, = báitín from M.Ir. bádud, ‘to drown’; bʹα₁Nα₂χti꞉₃, ‘blessings’, = bean­nachtaí; bʹα₁rα₂d, ‘cap’, Di. birréad, plur. bʹα₁rα₂di꞉₃; bʹɛə₁ləstα₂n, ‘big foolish talker’, = béalastán; bʹrʹi₁ŋlɔ₂dʹαχ₃, ‘dreaming’ (subst.), cp. Di. brion­glóideach; dα₁məNtα₂n, dα₁məNtɔ₂rʹ, ‘seducer’, = damantán, ‑óir; du꞉₁r̥α₂χtα₃χ, ‘earnest, zealous’, Di. dúth­rachtach; dʹiə₁gα₂Ntə, ‘devout’, Di. diaganta; dʹrʹəu₁wlα₂s, ‘licen­tiousness’, dʹrʹəu₁wlα₂sα₃χ, ‘licen­tious’, Di. dreabhlas; iə₁sα₂χtα₃χ, ‘given to borrowing’, Di. iasach-