Initial Consonant Mutations

For a definition of the basic notion see Initial Consonant Mutation (definition)

Lenition

//see also the main article lenition//

Lenition is an initial consonant mutation which "weakens" (cf. Latin lenis 'weak') the sound of the consonant at the beginning of a word. It is used to mark certain morphological contrasts and to mark inflection. Lenition is often marked orthographically by an "h" following the consonant which undergoes lenition.

For example, the 1st person singular possessive pronoun mo "my", causes lenition on the noun which follows it. The noun peann "pen" begins with a "p", but when it is lenited, it is written as pheann and the pronunciation changes (per the information given on the lenition page.)

(1a)

peann

pen

"pen"

(1b)

mo	pheann
1.S.POSS	pen
"my pen"

Nasalization/Eclipsis

see also the main article Eclipsis

Eclipsis is a morphophonological change triggered by certain function words (such as ar "our"). In words beginning with a vowel, this involves prefixing an orthographic <n-> in front of the word (e.g. ar n-athair, "our father").

(1a)

ahair

father

"father"

(1b)

ar	n-ahair
1.PL.POSS	father
"our father"

See Also

• Initial Consonant Mutation (definition)
• Sounds of Scottish Gaelic

External Links

http://akerbeltz.org/index.php?title=Lenition