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Aspects of the historical phonology of Manx Christopher Lewin Tràchdas airson ceum Dotair Feallsanachd Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2019 ii Declaration Tha mi a’ dearbhadh gur mise a-mhàin ùghdar an tràchdais seo, agus nach deach an obair a tha na bhroinn fhoillseachadh roimhe no a chur a-steach airson ceum eile. I confirm that this thesis has been composed solely by myself, and that the work contained within it has neither previously been published nor submitted for another degree. Christopher Lewin iii iv Geàrr-chunntas ’S e a tha fa-near don tràchdas seo soilleireachadh a thoirt seachad air grunn chuspairean ann an cinneachadh eachdraidheil fòn-eòlas Gàidhlig Mhanainn nach robhas a’ tuigsinn gu math roimhe seo. Le bhith a’ leantainn atharrachaidhean fòn- eòlach bho àm na Seann Ghàidhlig is na Meadhan-Ghàidhlig air adhart, agus taobh a- staigh ùine na fianais sgrìobhte agus clàraichte a th’ againn airson Gàidhlig Mhanainn fhèin, tha e a’ suidheachadh nan cinneachaidhean seo ann an co-theacsa farsaing a thaobh rannsachadh dhualchainntean is cànanachas eachdraidheil na Gàidhlig. ’S e tobar cudromach de dh’fhiosrachadh airson cinneachadh nan cànanan Gàidhealach a thuigsinn a tha ann am fianais Gàidhlig Mhanainn. Tha cion sgrùdaidhean siostamach is sheataichean-dàta earbsach airson na cànain air seo a chumail am falach ge-tà, agus air fàgail gun do rinneadh dearmad oirre am broinn raon rannsachaidh na Gàidhlig. Tha cuideam air leth air a thoirt anns an tràchdas air atharrachaidhean ann am feartan prosaideach agus os-mhìreach, air siostam nam fuaimreagan, agus cuideachd air na consain shonarach, a tha dlùth-cheangailte ris na fuaimreagan. Tha na modhan- rannsachaidh a’ tarraing air còig prìomh thùsan: • Ath-mheasadh air tuairisgeulean is seataichean-dàta a tha air an toirt seachad le sgoileirean mu thràth, gu h-àraid na chaidh a thrusadh le Rh ŷs anns na 1880an is 90an, agus clàraidhean den ghinealaich mu dheireadh de luchd- labhairt a tha air an toirt am follais le Broderick anns an Handbook of Late Spoken Manx . • Eadar-mhìneachadh na fianais a tha an lùib an dà phrìomh dhòigh-litreachaidh a tha air an cleachdadh gu Gàidhlig Mhanainn a sgrìobhadh, agus tionndaidhean neo-ghnàthach dhiubh. • Sgrùdadh stèidhte cho fad ’s a ghabhas air stòr-fhaclan na cànain air fad, a’ cur gu feum faclairean Cregeen agus Kelly bhon naoidheamh linn deug. • Measadh uimhireil air na tùsan dàta seo gu lèir far a bheil sin iomchaidh. v • Sgrùdadh innealach fogharach air clàraidhean den luchd-labhairt mu dheireadh. Tha Caibideil 1 a’ toirt seachad cunntas goirid air eachdraidh Ghàidhlig Mhanainn is a co-theacsa cànanach an taca ri dualchainntean Gàidhlig eile, a’ measadh obair sgoileirean an ama a dh’fhalbh, a’ toirt sùil air na bun-thùsan, agus a’ mìneachadh nan duilgheadasan is nan cothroman a tha an lùib nan dòighean-litreachaidh dhan sgoileir. Tha Caibideil 2 a’ sgrùdadh chinneachaidhean anns na fuaimreagan goirid is fada, agus a’ bhuaidh a th’ air a bhith aig siostam nan consan air na cinneachaidhean sin. Tha Caibideil 3 a’ coimhead gu mionaideach air cinneachadh nam fuaimreagan ao(i) /əː/ agus ua(i) /uə̯ / ann an Gàidhlig Mhanainn. Tha an fhianais sgrìobhte, na tuairisgeulan agus an dàta clàraichte gu math toinnte, agus tha cuid de sgoileirean a’ cumail a-mach gu robh an dà fhuaimreig seo air tuiteam còmhla ri chèile agus ri fuaimreagan eile. Leigear fhaicinn gu robhas fhathast a’ cumail suas eadar- dhealachadh eadar na fuaimreagan seo airson a’ chuid as motha anns a’ Ghàidhlig Mhanannaich Anmoich. Tha Caibideil 4 a’ coimhead air cinneachaidhean ann an siostam nan consan sonarach, gu h-àraid na fuaimean R, L is N. Thathar cuideachd a’ sgrùdadh nan atharrachaidhean ann am fuaimreagan ro na sonaraich theanna eachdraidheil, agus a’ toirt sùil às ùr air pròiseas an ro-dhùnaidh. Tha Caibideil 5 a’ gabhail beachd air feartan os-mhìreach agus prosaideach, a’ gabhail a-steach gluasad a’ bheum agus giorrachadh fhuaimreagan fada gun bheum, agus na factairean cumhachaidh a thug buaidh orra seo. Tha Caibideil 6 a’ toirt seachad cho-dhùnaidhean far am measar na tha an tràchdas a’ cur ri sgoileireachd an latha an-diugh, agus dè tha fhathast ri dhèanamh a thaobh rannsachaidh san àm ri teachd. vi Abstract This thesis elucidates some of the hitherto poorly understood aspects of the diachronic development of Manx phonology. By tracing phonological changes from earlier varieties of Gaelic, and within the attested period of written and recorded Manx, it frames these developments within the wider contexts of Gaelic dialectology and historical linguistics. Manx provides an important source for understanding the linguistic development of the Gaelic languages. A lack of systematic treatments and reliable datasets for the language, however, has obscured this fact and led to its neglect within Gaelic studies. The thesis focuses, in particular, on the development of the language’s prosody, suprasegmental features, vowel system and sonorants, the latter having a particular bearing on vowels. Five principal methodologies are deployed to investigate these topics: • Re-evaluation of existing descriptions and datasets provided by previous scholarship, especially those collected by Rh ŷs in the 1880s and 1890s, and material from the last generation of speakers presented by Broderick in his Handbook of Late Spoken Manx . • Interpretation of the evidence of the two main Manx orthographies and non- standard variations thereof. • Analyses based, as far as possible, on the whole attested lexis of the language, making use of Cregeen’s and Kelly’s dictionaries. • Quantitative approaches to all of these sources of data where appropriate. • Instrumental phonetic analysis of recordings of the terminal speakers of Manx. Chapter one places Manx in its historical and dialectological context, reviews previous scholarship, discusses the primary sources, and introduces the interpretative difficulties of the orthographies. Chapter two examines developments in the short and long vowels, and the impact of the consonant system on vowel changes. Chapter three examines the development of the vowels ao(i) /əː/ and ua(i) /uə̯ / in Manx. The written evidence, description and recorded data are complex, and some scholars have claimed that these vowels fell together with one another and with other vowels. It will be shown that these vowels in fact remained contrastive for the most part in Late Manx. Chapter four investigates developments in the sonorant consonants, especially the R, L and N phones. Changes in vowels preceding historically tense sonorants are also examined, as well as the origins and spread of the phenomenon of preocclusion. Chapter five examines suprasegmental and prosodic features including stress shift, unstressed long vowel shortening, and the conditioning factors for these. Chapter six provides concluding remarks assessing the thesis’ contribution to current scholarship, and the prospects for future research. viii Lay summary This thesis is concerned with the pronunciation of Manx Gaelic, the historical Celtic language of the Isle of Man which was the community language of the bulk of the island’s population until the mid nineteenth century, with a few elderly speakers remaining into the second half of the twentieth century. It examines changes in the pronunciation during the period for which we have extensive written, and latterly sound-recorded, evidence (the seventeenth century onwards), and also the changes which separate Manx from the other Gaelic languages past and present. It does not tackle the revived language spoken today mostly by adult learners, which is quite a distinct topic, and deserving of separate attention in its own right. Serious academic study of the spoken language did not begin until the 1880s, and the first audio recordings date from the first decade of the twentieth century, with the bulk being made in the mid twentieth century from some of the very last speakers. This material is extremely valuable, but inevitably limited, and by necessity we must rely extensively on earlier written material and on deductions from variation and changes in the orthography (spelling system). Fortunately, Manx has a fairly extensive corpus of written material, albeit mostly religious translations, including a complete Bible translation (finished in 1772). This material is written in two largely independent orthographies, both of which are in turn largely independent of the conservative literary standards of Ireland and Scotland. This makes Manx unique among Gaelic dialects in having an independent and vigorous orthographic tradition during this period,