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Medial broad 'bh'

These maps refer to words where there is a broad vowel (a,o or u) before and after  the 'bh'.

 

The pattern used in medial broad 'bh' words is seen to be similar to that of medial broad 'mh' words where  there are northern and southern areas using bh=v, with a broad area between where the 'v' sound is not used.

 

As in the 'mh' group with 'samhradh' (summer),  the vowel 'e' is used rather than 'a' in 'sabhal' (barn). With 'gabhail', the use of mh=v in Lewis is less common, and there is an area round the Dornoch Firth in Easter Ross where mh=v appears.  Some use of mh=v is seen for 'gabhail' (taking) in the Black Isle. However, in both cases seen on the map , information was from two respondents, who, in each case had different versions.

 

In the southern area, Arran has the strongest use of mh=v, while in Islay, there is a mixture, including use of the glottal stop/catch (shown on the map as '?')  The pattern of the glottal feature is again similar to that found in the 'mh' words.

 

abhainn/gabhail/sabhal

            river/taking/barn

Move the cursor onto the map to see the second word: click and hold to see the third word

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